title
stringlengths 1
200
⌀ | text
stringlengths 10
100k
| url
stringlengths 32
885
| authors
stringlengths 2
392
| timestamp
stringlengths 19
32
⌀ | tags
stringlengths 6
263
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
How to Build a Matrix Module from Scratch | How to Build a Matrix Module from Scratch
If you have been importing Numpy for matrix operations but don’t know how the module is built, this article will show you how to build your own matrix module
Motivation
Numpy is a useful library that enables you to create a matrix and perform matrix operations with ease. If you want to know about tricks you could use to create a matrix with Numpy, check out my blog here. But what if you want to create a matrix class with features that are not included in the Numpy library? To be able to do that, we first should start with understanding how to build a matrix class that enables us to create a matrix that has basic functions of a matrix such as print, matrix addition, scalar, element-wise, or matrix multiplication, have access and set entries.
By the end of this tutorial, you should have the building block to create your own matrix module.
Photo by Joshua Sortino on Unsplash
Why Class?
Creating a class allows new instances of a type of object to be made. Each class instance can have different attributes and methods. Thus, using a class will enable us to create an instance that has attributes and multiple functions of a matrix. For example, if A = [[2,1],[2,3]], B = [[0,1],[2,1]], A + B should give us a matrix [[2,3],[4,4]].
__method__ is a private method. Even though you cannot call the private method directly, these built-in methods in a class in Python will let the compiler know which one to access when you perform a specific function or operation. You just need to use the right method for your goal.
Build a Matrix Class
I will start from what we want to create then find the way to create the class according to our goal. I recommend you to test your class as you add more methods to see if the class acts like what you want.
Create and print a Matrix object
What we want to achieve with our class is below
>>> A = Matrix(dims=(3,3), fill=1.0)
>>> print( A )
------------- output -------------
| 1.000, 1.000, 1.000|
| 1.000, 1.000, 1.000|
| 1.000, 1.000, 1.000|
----------------------------------
Thus, we want to create a Matrix object with parameters that are dims and fill .
class Matrix:
def __init__(self, dims, fill):
self.rows = dims[0]
self.cols = dims[1]
self.A = [[fill] * self.cols for i in range(self.rows)]
We use __init__ as a constructor to initialize the attributes of our class (rows, cols, and matrix A). The rows and cols are assigned by the first and second dimensions of the matrix. Matrix A is created with fill as the values and self.cols and self.rows as the shape of the matrix.
We should also create a __str__ method that enables us to print a readable format like above.
def __str__(self):
m = len(self.A) # Get the first dimension
mtxStr = '' mtxStr += '------------- output -------------
'
for i in range(m):
mtxStr += ('|' + ', '.join( map(lambda x:'{0:8.3f}'.format(x), self.A[i])) + '|
') mtxStr += '----------------------------------' return mtxStr
Scaler and Matrix Addition
Goal:
Standard matrix-matrix addition
>>> A = Matrix(dims=(3,3), fill=1.0)
>>> B = Matrix(dims=(3,3), fill=2.0)
>>> C = A + B
>>> print( C )
------------- output -------------
| 3.000, 3.000, 3.000|
| 3.000, 3.000, 3.000|
| 3.000, 3.000, 3.000|
----------------------------------
Scaler-matrix addition (pointwise)
>>>A = Matrix(dims=(3,3), fill=1.0)
>>> C = A + 2.0
>>> print( C )
------------- output -------------
| 3.000, 3.000, 3.000|
| 3.000, 3.000, 3.000|
| 3.000, 3.000, 3.000|
----------------------------------
We use __add__ method to perform the right addition.
Since addition is commutative, we also want to be able to add on the right-hand-side of the matrix. This could be easily done by calling the left addition.
def __radd__(self, other):
return self.__add__(other)
Pointwise Multiplication
Goal:
Matrix-Matrix Pointwise Multiplication
>>> A = Matrix(dims=(3,3), fill=1.0)
>>> B = Matrix(dims=(3,3), fill=2.0)
>>> C = A * B
>>> print( C )
------------- output -------------
| 2.000, 2.000, 2.000|
| 2.000, 2.000, 2.000|
| 2.000, 2.000, 2.000|
----------------------------------
Scaler-matrix Pointwise Multiplication
>>> A = Matrix(dims=(3,3), fill=1.0)
>>> C = 2.0 * A
>>> C = A * 2.0
>>> print( C )
------------- output -------------
| 2.000, 2.000, 2.000|
| 2.000, 2.000, 2.000|
| 2.000, 2.000, 2.000|
----------------------------------
Use __mul__ method and __rmul__ method to perform left and right point-wise
Standard Matrix-Matrix Multiplication
Goal:
>>> A = Matrix(dims=(3,3), fill=1.0)
>>> B = Matrix(dims=(3,3), fill=2.0)
>>> C = A @ B
>>> print( C )
------------- output -------------
| 6.000, 6.000, 6.000|
| 6.000, 6.000, 6.000|
| 6.000, 6.000, 6.000|
----------------------------------
Matrix multiplication could be achieved by __matmul__ method that is specific for matrix multiplication.
Have Access and Set Entries
Goal:
>>> A = Matrix(dims=(3,3), fill=1.0)
>>> A[i,j]
>>> A[i,j] = 1.0
Use __setitem__ method to set the value for the matrix indices and use __getitem__ method to get value for the matrix indices.
Put everything together
Create and Use the Module
After creating the class Matrix, it is time to turn it into a module. Rename the text that contains the class to __init__.py . Create a folder called Matrix . Put main.py and another file called linearAlgebra inside this folder. Put __init__.py file inside the linearAlgebra file.
Folder Matrix contains main.py and linearAlgebra
Folder linearAlgebra contains __init__.py
Use main.py to import and use our Matrix class.
Conclusion
Awesome! You have learned how to create a matrix class from scratch. There are other methods in Python class that would enable you to add more features for your matrix. As you have the basic knowledge of creating a class, you could create your own version of Matrix that fits your interest. Feel free to fork and play with the code for this article in this Github repo.
I like to write about basic data science concepts and play with different algorithms and data science tools. You could connect with me on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Star this repo if you want to check out the codes for all of the articles I have written. Follow me on Medium to stay informed with my latest data science articles like these: | https://towardsdatascience.com/how-to-build-a-matrix-module-from-scratch-a4f35ec28b56 | ['Khuyen Tran'] | 2020-11-27 21:26:04.140000+00:00 | ['Numpy Array', 'Python', 'Modules', 'Data Science', 'Matrix'] |
Entrepreneur: New Round of PPP Loans: I Went to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud, by Jeff Grant | Entrepreneur: New Round of PPP Loans: I Went to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud, by Jeff Grant
Don’t let desperation cloud your judgment.
Jeff Grant
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
In the months after 9/11, I was frantic.
But my fears had less to do with the tragedy at the World Trade Center and more to do with the fact that, after 10 years of rampant prescription opioid abuse, my business was failing. I was searching desperately for an out. Meanwhile, the television and radio were blaring with ads for 9/11 FEMA loans administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
So, on an especially bad day, I lied.
I said I had an office near ground zero. I received the SBA loan I requested, and immediately paid down the personal credit cards I had run up while waiting for the SBA money. Even so, the loan did little to stop my spiral into drug addiction, mental health issues, marital problems and magical thinking.
In 2002, I resigned my law license and started on the road to recovery. But it all caught up with me about 20 months later, when I was arrested for the misrepresentations on my loan application. I served almost 14 months at a Federal prison for wire fraud and money laundering.
My objective in writing this piece is to offer some insight on what business owners should consider before they take out disaster loans. Certainly, the majority of people requesting these loans are honest and upstanding entrepreneurs who have immense need for the aid, and will use the funds properly. I am very glad there is help for them. That said, history has shown us again and again that when people are in dire need, they’re more prone to make impulsive, ill-advised decisions. My hope is that sharing my experience will help others avoid the consequences I faced. Here are seven takeaways.
1. Desperate people do desperate things.
There were thousands of fraud prosecutions after 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy, and so on. Why? Whether because of overwhelming business issues, poor personal judgment, or just plain bad luck, people were wounded, desperate and willing to do anything, anything, to stop the bleeding. But if the wound is too deep, a Band-aid is not sufficient.
Practice point: In any situation, behaving desperately is unlikely to save your business.
2. Beware of the belief that rules are suspended in times of emergency.
The government is advertising that huge amounts of money are available to save our businesses. I recently sat in on a webinar run by a very reputable business consulting group that recommended that attendees get their SBA disaster loan applications in immediately, regardless of the facts or the actual needs of their business — they said we could always modify our applications prior to taking the money. State unemployment websites are actually giving instructions, in writing, on how to mislead and circumvent the system in order to get approved. Don’t take the bait! If you default two years from now, this “good-meaning advice” won’t matter to prosecutors.
Practice point: Be truthful at all times.
3. Beware of magical thinking.
This is a tough one because entrepreneurs are inherently optimistic. We believe that things will always be better tomorrow than they are today. It drives us, makes us successful, informs our risk-taking. But in times of trauma, that voice can be an entrepreneur’s worst enemy. Does this sound familiar? We have learned the hard way that there is no shortcut, and yet we desperately want there to be one right now.
Practice point: Instead of immediately reaching for a bailout or other quick fix, develop a good solid business plan. Maybe a disaster loan will fit into this plan; maybe it won’t.
4. This paradigm shift will affect all small to mid-size businesses.
We are in the midst of a massive reordering that has already had a huge effect on small and mid-sized businesses. Business owners are being called to closely examine if our business models are still viable, or if we must pivot to new ways of doing things. Example: the Swiss watch industry completely missed the shift to digital watches. Have we waited too long to have a robust online presence? Are our products or services even needed anymore? Have we been holding on by a thread for years, unwilling or unable to look at the hard facts?
Practice point: Get real, now. Don’t borrow money to save a business that can’t be saved.
5. Be cautious when borrowing from the government.
As is the case with any loan, the devil is in the details. The terms and covenants in the loan documents dictate what you can or can’t do with the money once you get it. You can only use the funds for the purposes you stated in your application — that is, to pay operating expenses of the business to keep it afloat until it starts bringing in sufficient revenue again. You (and your spouse) will probably have sign for the loan personally, and will probably have to pledge all available collateral, including a second (or third) mortgage on your house. If you maxed out your personal credit cards while anticipating your disaster relief funding, you can’t use the money to pay off your cards.
Practice point: Read the terms and covenants of the loan closely. Whatever the loan terms say to do, do, and whatever they say don’t do, don’t do. No exceptions.
6. We can’t save our businesses and our lifestyles at the same time.
Here’s the big trap. We have mortgages, car payments, school tuitions, and other personal expenses that have to be paid, and soon. But simply put, SBA loans are meant to save your business, not your lifestyle. Discuss all your options with advisors and friends you trust — ones that will tell you the truth! It’s like going to the doctor. Your diagnosis will only be as accurate as the history you provide. These are trying times, with a triage system designed to be more expeditious than thorough.
Practice point: There is no such thing as a free lunch. Borrowing money comes with responsibility and accountability.
7. Get acquainted with acceptance.
I hope we are all great entrepreneurs who can figure out ways to make our businesses survive and flourish. But let’s face it. Some of our businesses will not make it, even with the infusion of government funds. What should we do? We can pare down, embrace change and do things differently as we start a new chapter. Never forget that there will always be opportunity to start again, and to live a fuller, more abundant life.
Practice point: Sometimes less is way, way more!
Reprinted from Entrepreneur.com, link here. | https://medium.com/@revjeffgrant/entrepreneur-new-round-of-ppp-loans-i-went-to-prison-for-sba-loan-fraud-by-jeff-grant-fab343e6ad39 | ['Jeff Grant', 'J.D.'] | 2020-12-23 22:47:46.345000+00:00 | ['Loans', 'Crime', 'Prison', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Entrepreneur'] |
Reasons why Baby is Refusing Bottle | I can still remember how it felt like when I became a mother for the first time. I chose to breastfeed my baby because it is one of the most special bonds a mother can feel with their child.
I was very excited to breastfeed my child but also nervous at the same time. In this regard, I got in touch with a paediatric occupational therapist to get all the information I need about feeding my baby.
The unexpected thing that happened was after 12 months; my baby was still refusing to take the bottle. I was shocked because my baby was underweight, and I didn’t know what to do if a malnourished baby refuses the bottle.
The problem continued for me because I didn’t know whether I need to purchase a special bottle or if there is the best bottle for a breastfed baby who refuses the bottle.
I was helpless and didn’t know what to do because I also had a hectic work schedule while taking care of my baby.
All of this was almost eight years ago, and I have learned a lot since then. Now I have more experience, and I am a mother of three more children who took bottles and switched between bottlefeeding and breastfeeding without any hassle. Even when I was not around, they didn’t refuse to accept the bottle from their nanny.
If you are a mummy out there in trouble, then no more worries for you! I have combined all my “mum experience” of ten years for you in this article!
I have laid out the best tips on what to do when a baby refuses a bottle. It is going to be a comprehensive guide to switch the habits of your baby.
https://topbabyadvice.com/baby-is-refusing-bottle/ | https://medium.com/@waleedctn8295/reasons-why-baby-is-refusing-bottle-fc89ec847c2 | ['Tina Peter'] | 2021-03-19 11:30:40.988000+00:00 | ['Baby', 'Baby Bottle'] |
Crypto Mining: Network Difficulty, Share Difficulty and Hash Functions | This article is meant to serve as a guide to understanding how crypto mining works from a miner’s perspective.
It is impossible to explain some of these concepts without using math functions, so bear with us. We tried to simplify the concepts where possible.
In this guide we talk about Network Difficulty, Share Difficulty and Hash Functions. We conclude it with an example of mining to a pool.
In the next post we will talk about Luck in detail, how it can be calculated and what it means.
Company Background
Luxor Tech is a North American-based mining pool for BTC, ZEC, ZEN, SIA, DCR, XMR and more. If you are a miner and want to connect, please ping us on Discord or reach us directly at [email protected]
Network Difficulty
Network Difficulty describes the base difficulty, or the minimum difficulty the underlying blockchain will accept as a valid block. Effectively this is how hard it is for a miner to find a block (i.e. how hard a math problem miners need to solve). The higher the Network Difficulty the harder it is to find a block.
Network Target
From an outside perspective the network operates on Network Difficulty but under the hood it is being calculated on the inverse, the Network Target.
Network Target = 1 / Network Difficulty
The higher the Network Target, the easier it is to find a valid block (inverse of Network Difficulty).
Difficulty over Time
Networks have a Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm (DAA), which essentially is a built-in hashrate measurement that adjusts the difficulty. Taking BTC blockchain as an example, the difficulty adjustment comes every 2,016 blocks (roughly 2 weeks). The adjusted Network Difficulty is calculated as the network’s average hash rate from the previous period. Based on that average, the new Network Difficulty is set such that, if that average hash rate is maintained, the network will find a new block every 600 seconds (144 blocks per day).
The easy way to look at it is, if more people are competing to solve a math problem, the problem needs to get more difficult if you want the time it takes to solve the problem to stay constant.
The Bitcoin Network Difficulty over time can be found here.
Bitcoin Network Difficulty over the past 180 days
Many other coins have implemented more frequent difficulty adjustments. A common DAA for Equihash coins like ZEC and ZEN is DigiShield v3 which adjusts difficulty after every block.
Share Difficulty
ASICs produce billions of hashes per second. For example the new Bitmain S17+ produces 73 Terahashes per second. Mining Pools can’t collect and check all of these hashes from their miners.
So Mining Pools set a target Share Time. This could be something like 5 seconds, which means that on average Mining Pools want miners to submit a share to them every 5 seconds.
To make this possible, Mining Pools set a Share Difficulty for every miner. Based on your hashrate, Mining Pools set how hard it is to submit a share to them. The higher the hashrate, the higher the Share Difficulty. When miners are grinding through hashes, they will eventually find a hash that meets the target Share Difficulty, then they send it to their Mining Pool.
In a PPS payment method, miners get rewarded by a mining pool for shares they submit. The shares they submit have different values based on how difficult it was to find the share. Miners get credited based on the set Share Difficulty from the Mining Pool not the actual share difficulty.
Let’s run through an example of this.
Mining Example
Let’s say you are mining at 50 TH/s and the Mining Pool sets your Share Difficulty at 1,000,000. You get credited by the pool for all shares that are above 1,000,000.
If you then increase your hashrate to 100 TH/s, the pool will change your Share Difficulty so that you aren’t submitting shares too quickly. If your pool increases your Share Difficulty to 2,000,000, then you will submit shares at the same speed you previously were, but you will receive two times as much revenue from the pool for the shares you do submit.
You end up making twice as much revenue (which mirrors your increase in hashrate).
Share Target
Like the Network Difficulty, Share Difficulty can also be converted to a Share Target by taking the inverse.
Share Target = 1 / Share Difficulty
Hashing Function
A hash is the output of a hash function. Hashrate is the speed at which a computer (ASIC/GPU/CPU) is completing an operation in the cryptocurrency’s code. Therefore, the amount of hashes are measured in hashes per second.
At its base you can think of crypto mining as solving some function represented by:
f(x) = y
Where:
f = Hash Function (i.e. an equation -> such as SHA-256)
= (i.e. an equation -> such as SHA-256) x = Block Header (i.e. some random number)
= (i.e. some random number) y = Result of the Hash Function applied on the Block Header
Hash Function (f)
You can think of the Hash Function such as SHA-256 ( f ) as a very complex equation that will input the Block Header ( x ) in some way to create a hash result ( y ).
The key here is that the formula ( f ) is too complex to solve using algebra. The only way this can be solved is by using brute-force, guess & check. Miners constantly change the block header ( x ) in the equation until the result ( y ) is acceptable.
This is known as a trapdoor function; a one-way function that makes it impossible to know which x value will give you y without brute-forcing it. This is what ASICs are doing. Just guess & checking x values until they find a y outcome that is acceptable.
Block Header ( x)
The way miners change x is a bit more nuanced. The Block Header is a large string of numbers and is function of a few different inputs. We included some of the main ones below but it is not exhaustive.
~Block Header =Block Height + Block Version + Previous Difficulty + Nonce
The key is that all of the variables are set, except for the Nonce. The Nonce is what miners are constantly changing to change the Block Header ( x ).
Result of the Hash Function (y)
This is just the outcome of the function ( f ) using an input ( x ). But it is crucial for mining.
The result ( y ) is what is used to determine if a share will be accepted by the pool, and if the share can create a valid block.
Mining Example
Using SHA-256 ( f ) as an example, let’s say a Mining Pool sets a Share Difficulty of 1,000,000 for the Miner. This results in a Share Target of ( 1 / 1,000,000) = 0.0000010000
The miner (ASIC) is going to start guessing numbers until they reach the target outcome. So they will continue to guess new Block Headers ( x ) in the function ( f ).
f(x) = y
SHA-256(block_header_guess1) = 0000241241
SHA-256(block_header_guess2) = 0000041241
SHA-256(block_header_guess3) = 0000001241
The block_header_guess3 ( x ) resulted in a hash ( y ) that was lower than the Share Target. So it is accepted by the pool as valid and the miner gets paid for that share.
Now let’s assume the miner keeps mining. The Network Difficulty is 100,000,000 which results in a Network Target of (1 / 100,000,000) = 0.0000000100
SHA-256(block_header_guess3) = 0000001241
SHA-256(block_header_guess4) = 0000000241
SHA-256(block_header_guess5) = 0000000041
The block_header_guess5 ( x ) resulted in a hash ( y ) that was lower than the Network Target. So it is used by the pool to submit a valid block to the network and get the block reward!
Already a miner or interested in getting started?
Follow us on Twitter. We’re happy to help: https://twitter.com/LuxorTechTeam
We’re also on Discord. Ping us there at https://discord.gg/5qPRbDS | https://medium.com/luxor/crypto-mining-network-difficulty-share-difficulty-and-hash-functions-f13a59b64561 | ['Luxor Tech'] | 2020-02-23 20:47:48.737000+00:00 | ['Crypto Mining', 'Cryptography', 'Crypto', 'Mining Concepts', 'Bitcoin Mining'] |
A Guide To Array.reduce() in JavaScript | Array.reduce() by jscurious.com
The Array.reduce() method reduces the array to a single value. The reduce() method takes one reducer function as the first argument and one initial value as second optional argument. The reducer function executes for each element of array and returns a value which further provided as the first argument (accumulator) to the next reducer function call.
array.reduce(reducerFunction, initialValue);
The reducer function takes two required arguments i.e. accumulator and currentValue. The accumulator is either the initial value or the previously returned value. The second argument is the value of the current element.
function reducerFunction(accumulator, currentValue, currentIndex, array) {}
The reducer function also takes two optional arguments i.e. currentIndex and array. The currentIndex is the index of currentValue in array and the last optional argument is the array on which the reduce() method called upon.
How reduce() method works
Let’s see one example to sum all the values of array.
let numbers = [25, 48, 13]; let total = numbers.reduce(reducerFunction); function reducerFunction(result, current) {
return result + current;
} console.log(total); // 86
So here the reducerFunction gets called first time with 25 and 45 as arguments and returns 73. The next second time reducerFunction gets called with previously returned value 73 and 13 and returns 86.
We can check how many times the reducerFunction has been called and values of the arguments by providing a console.log statement before return.
function reducerFunction(result, current) {
console.log(result, current);
return result + current;
}
The output of reducerFunction will be:
result:25 current:48
result:73 current:13
If we pass an initial value to the reducerFunction then for the first call the initial value will be the first argument and the first element of array will be the second argument.
let numbers = [25, 48, 13];
let initial = 0; let total = numbers.reduce(reducerFunction, initial); function reducerFunction(result, current) {
console.log(result, current);
return result + current;
} console.log(total); // 86
output
result:0 current:25
result:25 current:48
result:73 current:13
86
Let’s see some more examples of reduce() method.
Find maximum and minimum number in Array
If we have an array of numbers, then we can find both max and min number by comparing every two numbers of array.
let numbers = [25, 48, 13, 83, 59]; let maxNumber = numbers.reduce((max, current) => {
return max > current ? max : current;
}); console.log(maxNumber); //83
Similarly we can find the minimum number by changing the reducer function as below:
let minNumber = numbers.reduce((min, current) => {
return min < current ? min : current;
});
Convert Array to Object
Suppose we have an array of students object. Every student object has name and their semester marks.
let students = [
{name: 'Joey', marks: 41},
{name: 'Monica', marks: 83},
{name: 'Ross', marks: 92},
{name: 'Rachel', marks: 51},
{name: 'Chandler', marks: 76},
{name: 'Pheobe', marks: 45}
];
Now we want to create one object from the array with students name as key and their marks as value. Let’s see how to do that with reduce() .
let result = students.reduce((obj, student) => {
obj[student.name] = student.marks;
return obj;
}, {}); console.log(result);
output | https://medium.com/javascript-in-plain-english/a-guide-to-array-reduce-method-in-javascript-and-its-use-cases-71fa655279f5 | ['Amitav Mishra'] | 2020-10-17 10:18:31.650000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Javascript Tips', 'Programming', 'Javascript Development', 'Web Development'] |
How to Warm a Cold Winter’s Night | Torrential rains are unending now. The chickens are holed up, refusing to venture out of their cozy coop. The dogs have never held their pee this long in their hairy little lives. If the quarantine lockdown didn’t keep us indoors, the inundated landscape just said “Not today.”
Nevertheless, it’s the perfect weather for a steaming, peppery Algerian lamb stew with couscous to warm our bones and lift our spirits. Just like my father used to make.
My dad was of Scottish descent, son of Mormon shepherds in Twin Falls, Idaho, and later –– post-depression era –– of Ogden, Utah.
Later in life, after about 15 years as an Air Force pilot, he landed in Paris, without us kids and without our mom, who refused to “go live with all those foreigners.” There’s a big mystery about why he left so suddenly, but some say it was because he was in trouble with the IRS, some say CIA. This is another long and fascinating story for another time.
Meanwhile, in late 1950s Paris, Dad was working for International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) Corp, a former American telecommunications company that grew into a successful conglomerate corporation before its breakup in 1995. My dad didn’t last that long there.
I was in high school when I received Dad’s letter, check enclosed, asking me to send him a 90-day Eurail pass, only available at that time to non-resident non-Europeans. It was incredibly cheap, even back then, allowing unlimited first-class travel throughout western Europe on modern, high-speed trains.
Many years later, I learned (part of) the truth: my father had been unemployed and homeless and living on the trains. We often laughed about it after a few glasses of wine as, in later years, he told tales of washing his socks and armpits in the train car’s lavatory. But at least he was off the streets, safe and warm. This phase lasted about six months before he found work again. | https://medium.com/illumination/how-to-warm-a-cold-winters-night-ffbe274269cd | ['Adelia Ritchie'] | 2020-12-24 13:19:09.388000+00:00 | ['Food', 'Winter', 'Recipe', 'Love', 'Illumination'] |
DeSoto vs Spring | Texas High School Football Live Stream 12/26/2020 | DeSoto vs Spring | Texas High School Football Live Stream 12/26/2020
Watch Here Live: http://rizkihambali.sportfb.com/hsfootball.php
Eagles
9–1
Lions
9–0
The Spring (TX) varsity football team has a home playoff game vs. DeSoto (TX) on Saturday, December 26 @ 7p.
Game Details: McLane Stadium, Baylor University Waco, Texas
This game is a part of the “2020 Football State Championships — 2020 Football Conference 6A D1 “ tournament. | https://medium.com/@dewiadindafutri/desoto-vs-spring-texas-high-school-football-live-stream-12-26-2020-e5649ae354b5 | ['Dewi Adinda Futri'] | 2020-12-25 06:59:32.117000+00:00 | ['Spring Texas Real Estate', 'Texas', 'American Football', 'American History'] |
Win Even Bigger With CoinDragon Challenge | We’ve got a number of power promotions coming your way. Are you ready to dive into the lair and win even bigger with our fiery competitions? You gotta be fast, you gotta be savvy, and you gotta love to win!
Over the next two weeks we’re going to have several competitions running, including the X-Factor Daily Challenge, the X-Factor Jackpot Challenge as well as daily competitions on our Telegram and Twitter channels (stay tuned for more on that later!). Here at CoinDragon we want to give you that much more!
You’ll need to join our Telegram announcement channel (https://t.me/CoinDragonNews) to participate.
Right, are you ready to hear what these awesome promotions are?
What’s Your X-Factor?
Keep an eye on our Telegram channel for our daily CODEWORD announcement, and then head over to our X-Factor game. Place a bet on X-Factor with at least a 25x multiplier and when you win — take a picture and send it to our Telegram group.
Daily X-Factor Challenge
There will be multiple CODEWORD announcements each day, so be sure to stay tuned. In order to win the daily prizes you will need to be the first post following the CODEWORD being released. You can win the daily prize multiple times, as long as you’re the first one that submitted the in bet with the new CODEWORD. Winners will instantly receive 50 000 SATS BTC.
Jackpot X-Factor Challenge
The Jackpot Challenge rewards the top 5 bets posted in the Telegram group (for the Daily Challenge) with the highest multiplier among all participants during these two weeks. You can post multiple bets, but for the overall challenge rewards, we will only count your bet with the highest multiplier for the main prizes.
The top 5 users with the highest multipliers will get the prizes in this order:
1st place: 2,000,000 SAT BTC
2nd place: 1,000,000 SAT BTC
3rd place: 500,000 SAT BTC
4th place: 250,000 SAT BTC
5th place: 100,000 SAT BTC
You cannot win multiple prizes, one prize per user.
In case of a tie, the participant who posted the bet first will get the higher prize.
How To Play
A simple challenge is in front of you all. All you have to do is to be faster than everyone else for our Daily challenge, and for our Jackpot challenge have a bet with the highest multiplier among all the participants!
This promotion will last for 2 weeks. Daily prizes will be distributed on a daily basis, while the overall winners will be announced within 24 hours after the promotion ends.
When you post your picture of your bet with at least a 25x multiplier on our Telegram channel, please follow the template:
Your CoinDragon Public Display Name
CODEWORD
Bet ID
Screenshot of the bet
Note: You can set your Public Display Name here:
https://www.coindragon.com/account > @ Public Display Name
Terms and Conditions:
Minimum bet amount: 100 SAT BTC or 3000 SAT BCH
Template (as described in How To Play) must be followed.
Only bets made after this challenge has been posted will be valid.
You can post multiple bets, but for the overall challenge rewards, we will count only your bet with the highest multiplier for the main prizes.
When you want to post the next bet, please post it in a separate post, don’t edit the previous one.
Every bet you post will be included in both of the challenges (Daily and Jackpot)
Results:
We will be posting the daily winners and the overall leaderboard on this thread, our Telegram channel and Twitter page every day while this promotion lasts. Promotion ends on the 6th of May.
Daily winners list will include your CoinDragon Public Display Name and the prize you won, and the leaderboard will include your CoinDragon Public Display Name and the maximum multiplier you have submitted here so far.
TIME TO WIN EVEN BIGGER WITH COINDRAGON!
Go! Go! Go! | https://medium.com/@coindragoncasino/win-even-bigger-with-coindragon-challenge-7f2b16fb359c | [] | 2020-04-23 06:16:24.812000+00:00 | ['Gambling', 'Crypto Casino', 'Bonus', 'Online Casino', 'Promotion'] |
Venture Firms Seek Stronger Deal Terms As Leverage Shifts Back To Investors | Abstract
The market is down and hitting low with each passing day of lockdown but the investment firms known as venture or angel firms are utilising the time to make sure they are in better position once this all end. There is a leverage they have gained by this recent development and they seem to use it with full response.
Introduction
Transmission of the flu-like coronavirus snowballed into what WHO termed as — THE PANDEMIC! It has engulfed over 100 countries, and the world economies are in shambles with no end in sight. From travel restrictions and supply chain disruptions to rising safety and privacy concerns, businesses are experiencing a multitude of problems. This uncertain downturn has hurled many businesses in a deep liquidity crunch bordering a closedown while opening up opportunities for some brave-heart venture capitalists.
The direct outcome of these disruptions is — scarcity of capital. As a result, businesses especially start-ups are slashing operational and fixed costs to survive the virus-induced economic slowdown. Valuations are down — estimated range from 10% to 40% — further reducing the bargaining power of start-ups.
High Investor Leverage
For a while, entrepreneurs, of strong start-ups especially, have had a solid foothold in setting the terms and conditions with investors. It is easy to be founder-friendly in times of exuberance, but the pandemic will be an enlightening experience for entrepreneurs in identifying opportunist venture firms.
Further, India’s protectionist Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) amendments putting a blanket ban on investments coming from China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh through the automatic route in addition to the subsisting FDI restrictions have exacerbated the cash crunch among start-ups and small businesses. Also, the present crisis has reduced the quantum of investors willing to make a bet on a start-up.
The collective effect of restriction on foreign investments and reduced number of investors is — limited options for investment seeking start-ups. This invariably affords brave-heart local venture firms and investors an upper hand in negotiations. Basically, tables of negotiation have turned — with power lying with the investors. This implies more ‘investor-friendly’ terms being etched into term sheets, from downside protection to terms for increasing investor control over start-up companies.
Higher Investor Control
As investors push terms of their preference over budding entrepreneurs, they will exercise far more control over the companies and subsidiaries invested in. In such times, core values of the investor come to the forefront dictating the terms of investment. While some investors may afford freedom to the fortunate few, others are likely to push terms in their favour, which could be overly restrictive and suffocating for company growth.
Some prominent leverage the investors are trying to grab can be listed as follow:
1. Liquidity Preference: Investors are trying to gain a liquidity preference in the investment they are making to make sure that if the idea fails and company went into liquidation they would have a better prospect of recovery than other investors or creditors and sometime even a number of times more than they actually invested.
2. Full Ratchet: Through agreeing on terms of full ratchet investors are trying to secure a fixed percentage of ownership right in the business that would not be diluted by any further fund raising financing scheme thereby giving a sense of security that there control would never end no matter how much the company grow.
3. Pay to Play: Through this clause the non-participating investors are penalised while others are awarded. This is done to ensure that all the investors contribute when called for and is certainly easy for giants like venture firms but harsh clause for new start-up entrepreneur short with funds. Thus they lose their control even further with declining share percentage.
4. Bridge Loans: It is a system of loaning out where on the account of non-payment the loan is transformed into equity and that two double the amount of loan itself or any other such performance as decided in the contract. It is another way to ensure loan is secured and disadvantageous to new entrepreneur.
Anti-dilution provisions: With higher leverage on the part of investors, they are likely to impose anti-dilution provisions over start-ups, especially in instances where a company is raising money at a high valuation, but the investor still wants in. Such provisions arrests the growth of companies and are compelled to raise funds at lower valuation.
Sprouting Opportunities
Despite opportunistic behaviour exhibited by venture firms and investors at large, it is not all dull and gloom for start-ups. Experts believe that social distancing and work-from-home may become the new normal and provides unconventional opportunities to entrepreneurs. One of the most promising sectors in this regard would be reliance on drones for services like delivering goods. More so, the advent of technology in traditional jobs like banking, legal and sales, to name a few, may help businesses flourish despite strict social distancing measures. Realizing this, Domino’s — a popular pizza delivery chain — has made its business lockdown-proof with No-Contact Deliveries and regular sanitization of employees. Some fashion designers have jumped at the opportunity to publicise masks as a stylish, comfortable accessory while keeping their businesses afloat!
Evidently, some entrepreneurs will successfully identify opportunities during this adversity but most ideas are brought to fruition through investment, which viciously circles back to the preliminary problem of being wary of opportunist investors. In the interim, start-ups must up their game by addressing COVID-19’s impact on their business, its advantages and disadvantages, and the way forward in their executive summary and pitch deck.
Although a nascent ecosystem, the start-ups have enduring consequences. Changes ushered in by the pandemic has lead to the a double edged sword in the venture capital market. While it appears that the investment mechanism has not come to a standstill, the economic slowdown is real, and investors are looking for assured returns on their investment, thereby pushing investor-friendly terms which invariably lead to a loss of control by the entrepreneur himself. | https://medium.com/@sonamchandwani/venture-firms-seek-stronger-deal-terms-as-leverage-shifts-back-to-investors-b917e323867 | ['Sonam Chandwani'] | 2020-07-03 07:07:33.344000+00:00 | ['Contracts', 'Deal', 'Venture Capital'] |
How I Plan to Emotionally Survive Another Lockdown | As the number of infections continues to grow rapidly, another possible lockdown moves into the focus of political discussion. The first one made me reconnect with nature again. It was an urgently needed reconnection as I wasn’t pleased — to say the least — with the way my final year at university was about to start.
I am facing the next possible shutdown with ambiguous feelings. On the one hand, I dread to miss out on meeting up with friends and colleagues. On the other hand, however, I became accustomed to study and work from home. Still, with everything going on, it is better to have an emergency plan prepared — you know, just in case.
Here’s how I plan to manage my emotional wellbeing during a second potential shutdown.
1. Avoiding social media discussions completely
Having lived with Instagram blocked on my phone for a couple of months, it has been a devastating return. Beneath pretty much every picture, conspiracy theories were spread by people, acting like Moses, who just received the ten Commandments. People who are willfully blind towards the two challenges of Covid-19 and climate change should be listed as the third one.
I don’t believe that many people are falling for such conspiracy nonsense, yet it still feels like it when I go on social media. Conspiracy theories and their preachers are simply too loud on there. When exposed to too much human ignorance, one is prone to develop a phenomenon called “Weltschmerz”. It was characterized by a german author called Jean Paul and was later described as the feeling of the world’s inadequacy.
Feeling devastated about humanity’s current state isn’t helpful. Especially if it is not even objectively reasonably justified. Of course, we are facing unimaginable challenges. Challenges of such an extent that many people are escaping into their own little theoretical conspiracy theories. These theories are soothing because they provide the illusion of control.
But the amount of optimistic, responsible, and loving people far outweighs the wilfully blinds. As long as there is still so much hope for humanity, I don’t want to be bothered by weltschmerz. And I shouldn’t. Avoiding social media comment sections will be my first step in this regard.
2. Diminishing future terror by improving my skillset
Will life ever be the same after this pandemic? Do we even want it to be? We cannot yet fathom how much our lives will have changed post-pandemic. We may face a financial crisis. We may have to help plenty of people get back on their feet — financially as well as mentally.
But we were never able to accurately predict the future. Therefore, it’s not helpful to sit around and dwell on the possible terrors yet to come. Instead, I plan on preparing myself for whatever may become our new normal. Not necessarily because I am looking forward to it, but because it’s the most reasonable thing to do to stay in a healthy place mentally.
“The better ambitions have to do with the development of character and ability, rather than status and power. Status you can lose. You carry character with you wherever you go, and it allows you to prevail against adversity.”
- Jordan B. Peterson
First and foremost, I will be working on my legal skillset and exam preparation. Second I set out to write at least daily. Therefore, improving my ability to bring an argument across, but also because it keeps me sane. Through writing, I can articulate and share the ideas I would normally have shared over lunch with friends at university.
When promoting self-improvement during a pandemic, there is always some pushback involved. I have read people demanding to promote less hustle and more self-care. In this case, however, I believe the two are connected.
The better one is prepared for the future, the less terror this person will face. Improving yourself, therefore, is the most practical way to secure your mental wellbeing. Also, if you are at a sane place mentally, you could support your family and friends, too. Making this pandemic bearable for the ones most important to you.
3. Spending time playing online games with friends
Socializing is crucial if the goal is to keep a sane mind. As I won’t be able to meet up with friends physically, we’ll have to meet up online — whether they want to or not.
However, it’s not only about the social aspect video games bring with them, but also about having something I can look forward to throughout the day. There are studies showing that the more events a person is anticipating, the happier this person will be. During a lockdown, I may not have too many things to look forward to. At least not naturally. So I have to take control of them by planning fun events myself. Equipped with a webcam, a headset, and a set of fun multiplayer games, I will social distance the right way.
But isn’t this message the opposite of what I just mapped out under the previous point?
It isn’t.
Because to schedule fun activities, I, first of all, have to schedule at all. While working from home, it can be incredibly tough to decide when to end work for the day. The clear sign of leaving my office is missing. I, therefore, have to set boundaries for myself.
Working towards your goals during this pandemic is crucial for your mental health, but so is the right balance — at least in my case. Scheduling my work and my free time is the first step towards achieving this balance.
4. Working out regularly
Did you also upgrade your home office? A new chair, a better desk, maybe some cute ambient lights? I made my workplace cozy and comfortable.
This, however, makes it easy to forget moving my body when working from home. I am missing out on collectively one hour of walking to university, the office, and back home. While daily walks don’t seem like a big deal for my health, these micro-workouts will quickly add up. Missing out on those, paired with possibly closed gyms, I need to focus on other sources of movement.
More importantly, I have to carve out the time for such activities beforehand. It’s tough to justify to myself a half-hour walk around my neighborhood when I still have work to do. But if I have it scheduled in advance I won’t come up with excuses. Instead, I’ll happily take that walk, bodyweight workout, or — not trying to jinx it — gym session.
Regular workouts will not only improve my health, but they are also crucial for my mental well-being and productivity throughout the day.
5. Taking care of my plants
During the beginning of this pandemic, I started growing my own plants. I was never particularly interested in my local flora, but something about the first lockdown made me appreciate plants a lot more.
I believe it has something to do with the beauty and progress they portray. Whatever it may be, it makes me happy to see these little sprouts grow.
I started with a banana tree and prickly pears. The banana tree already produced two off-springs, while the prickly pears are starting to turn into the magnificent cacti they are destined to become.
If the emotional flood comes at some point during the pandemic, then my plants will be to me, what the ark has been to Noah. | https://medium.com/the-ascent/how-i-plan-to-emotionally-survive-another-lockdown-dfa183ec5edf | ['Julian Drach'] | 2020-11-06 18:02:06.173000+00:00 | ['Culture', 'Mental Health', 'Emotions', 'Productivity', 'Self'] |
You Can Be Yourself — Really. Not only do we tend to suppress the… | Not only do we tend to suppress the deep-seated desire to express our true selves when we’re around other people, we also shy away from getting in touch with that part of ourselves when we’re alone.- Dan Pedersen
What does it mean to really be yourself? Who are you when you are truly yourself?
I used to forget. I used to think that I had to be what everyone else expected me to be or at least what my self-talk told me that everyone expected me to be. And you know what, it totally sucked. I was so stressed out most of the time that when I came home I would take it out on my family. Somehow I thought that they were supposed to put up with me.
Do you know what happens when you let yourself be yourself? You relax. It is the most amazing feeling to trust yourself. To give up the false idea that anyone knows better than you. And when you think about it how could they? I assure you that no one has better access to universal wisdom than you do.
You don’t need me to tell you that you are wise. Underneath any thinking to the contrary, you know this. I know you do.
…when everything is stripped away, there’s one constant that remains: the spirit. — Dan Pedersen
And you can live in the spirit when you get out from under the cluttered space of thought and truly, finally, let yourself be yourself.
Each and every one of us has the same and the most complete and the most incredible access to divine wisdom. It is inside of you and you were born with it. No need to go searching. You’ve already got this!
I rediscovered this in myself a few years ago when I first came across the 3 principles.
The first thing I heard in this understanding was “you can be yourself”. I remembered being myself. I was that way in college and I loved it. Insecurity couldn’t find me, self consciousness couldn’t find me. I did what made sense to me in the moment; trusted my gut, trusted my instinct, trusted that place of wisdom inside of myself to guide me minute to minute.
That’s not to say that I didn’t have ups and downs during those year, I did. I noticed it and that itself was an insight. I noticed the cyclical nature of our experience. That sometimes we feel better and sometimes we feel worse and that we live in a resonance, up down, up down. So every time we feel crappy we can count on feeling better and yes, sorry to say, every time we feel great, we can count on feeling worse again.
But the ups and downs do not need to be a problem. Feeling down is simply a state of mind with a judgment put on it. It is another feeling that brings forward the juice of life. If we didn’t experience the lows, how would we ever notice the highs? So why judge?
I came out of college and lost myself for a long time. I started thinking that other people in my life knew better than me, especially if they criticized me, I tried so hard to live up to their expectations.
Turns out that losing yourself, trying to be something you are not, can feel like a lot of pressure, the most unproductive kind of pressure. For me, it feels like stress.
See we all have an unlimited source of wisdom within us. We were born with it and it is evidenced in the fact that we teach ourselves how to crawl, walk, and talk. And then we forget, forget that this wisdom is in us and we go looking for it on the outside.
But the good news is that it never left.
When you let your thinking settle, let yourself settle back into the space of a quiet mind, the wisdom that was there all along starts to shine back through.
The whispered wisdom shows itself again and we hear it. In every moment, in every hour, and every day.
It is a surrender, a loosening, an allowing yourself to be yourself.
Let yourself listen to the true you that lives under the chatter. Under the striving part of you, the insecure part of you, I know it is a habit…me too. But you don’t need to listen to it.
One of my clients recently went so far as to call her thoughts lies. And she was right. What freedom to admit, to recognize, that your thoughts are lying to you.
See what lives under your thoughts; your spirit, your soul, the space before the ego.
Yes, your ego is trying to protect you from pain. You can let go because, in fact, the pain can not actually reach you. You have everything you need in your essence. Let it all go and you will find your true self underneath. Trust wisdom to show up in each moment and give you exactly what you need to enter the next moment.
You can live in the present, you don’t need to live in the past or in the future. Clear your mind of the clutter and find your true self. In this, you will find perfection. In this, you will find satisfaction. You do not need to be afraid. All is perfect in the now. | https://medium.com/less-stress-more-success/you-can-be-yourself-really-22bc2fa4a5d0 | ['Deborah Baron'] | 2020-12-14 21:04:22.553000+00:00 | ['Self', 'Truth', 'Self Love', 'Personal Development', 'Wellbeing'] |
Visualizing Twitter interactions with NetworkX | Social media is used every day for many purposes: expressing opinions about different topics such as products and movies, advertising an event, a service or a conference, among other things. But what is most interesting about social media, and particularly for this post, about Twitter, is that it creates connections; networks that can be studied to understand how people interact or how news and opinions get spread.
Previously, we have used Twitter API to store tweets to afterward performed a sentiment analysis and elucidate the public opinion about avengers . Let’s review the steps needed to stream tweets: First of all, we should go to the Twitter developer website, log-in with the twitter account and ask for approval as a developer. After receiving the approval, we go on and create a new app filling out the details, and lastly, we create the access tokens keeping them in a safe place. In a Jupyter notebook, we can use the Tweepy Python library to connect with our Twitter credentials and stream real-time tweets related to a term of interest and then, save them into a .txt file.
Now, we are going to read all the data we gathered into a pandas DataFrame.
We will use this information to graph how the people that tweet about Avengers interact with each other. There are three types of interactions between two Twitter users that we are interested in: retweets, replies, and mentions. According to Twitter documentation, the JSON file retrieved representing the Tweet object will include a User object that describes the author of the Tweet, an entities object that includes arrays of hashtags and user mentions, among others.
Let’s take a look at the columns of our DataFrame so we can check how the information was read:
From the displayed columns, we are interested in:
Author of the Tweet: Name( screen_name ) and Id( id ) inside user .
) and Id( ) inside . Twitter users mention in the text of the Tweet: Name and Id can be found as screen_name and id in user_mentions inside entities .
and in inside . Account taking the retweet action: screen_name and id inside user object of the retweet_status .
and inside object of the . User to which the tweet replies to: in_reply_to_screen_name and in_reply_to_id
and Tweet to which the tweet replies to: in_reply_to_status_id
You may be wondering how the details collected will help us build a network representing the interactions between Twitter users. In order to answer that, we will need to take a glimpse at Graph Data Structure.
Let’s start with the basic concepts. What is a Graph? Graph is a data structure used to represent and analyze connections between elements. Its two main elements are nodes or vertices, and edges or lines that connect two nodes.
Representation of a Graph structure
Even though two nodes could not be directly connected to each other, there is a sequence of edges or path that can be followed to go from one node to the other. The possibility of finding one node by following paths is what makes Graph so powerful to represent different structures or networks. When there are a few nodes such that there is no path you can take to reach them, then we are in the presence of a disconnected graph or isolated nodes.
Graph can also be classified as directed when the edges have a specific orientation (normally representing by an arrow to indicate direction) or undirected when the edges don’t follow any orientation.
In our analysis, users represent the nodes of our Graph or Network. If we find any type of interaction (retweet, reply or mention) between them, an edge will be created to connect both nodes. We can work with direct Graph if we are interested in knowing which user retweets another user. Because we only want to describe the interaction present between two users without caring about its orientation, then we are going to use an Undirected Graph.
The next question is which tool can be used in our analysis. We will take advantage of NetworkX, a Python package for the creation and study of the structure of complex networks, such as a social network.
First of all, we’ll define a function that will allow us to get a list of the interactions between users. We will iterate over the DataFrame, obtain the user_id and screen_name of the user that the author of that specific tweet mention, reply or retweet. The function will return the user of the specific tweet together with a list of the users with whom the user interacted. We need to be careful to discard any None value that may be raised if the user doesn't have any interactions in the three categories mentioned before.
Now, it’s time to initialize the Graph. We can do this by calling the function .Graph() of NetworkX .
There are two other important functions to create a Graph. The first one is add_node() and the second one, add_edge both with a very descriptive name. Let’s pay attention to the syntax of add_edge :
Graph.add_edge(u_of_edge, v_of_edge, **attr)
where u, v are the nodes, and attr are keyword arguments that characterize the edge data such as weight, capacity, length, etc.
If we add an edge that already exists, the edge data will get updated. Also, if we are an edge between two nodes that are still not in the Graph, the nodes will be created in the process.
We are going to populate the Graph by calling the function get_interactions that we defined earlier. With this information, we apply the function add_edge to every tuple consisting of the tweet’s user_id and the user_id of the user mentioned, replied to or retweeted, creating the nodes and the edges connecting them. Also, the tweet id will be added as edge data.
Now that we have the node and edge of the Graph created, let’s see the number of nodes and edges present:
Let’s explore now some other characteristic of a Graph. The degree of a node u, denoted as deg(u), is the number of edges that occur to that node. In simpler words, the number of connections a particular node has. The maximum degree of a graph and the minimum degree of a graph are the maximum and minimum degree of its nodes, respectively.
In our case, we can obtain the degrees of the Graph:
and the maximum and minimum degree:
We can also obtain the average degree and the most frequent degree of the nodes in the Graph:
An undirected graph is connected if, for every pair of nodes, there is a path between them. For that to happen, most of the nodes should have at least a degree of two, except for those denominated leaves which have a degree of 1. From the characteristics of the Graph, we can suspect that the graph is not connected. In order to confirm these, we can use nx.is_connected :
Components of a graph are the distinct maximally connected subgraphs. Now, that we confirm that our Graph is not connected, we can check how many connected components it has:
For this analysis, we are going to work with the largest connected component. Fortunately, NetworkX gives us an easy way to obtain that component by using nx.connected_component_subgraphs that generates graphs, one for each connected component of our original graph, and max function that will help us retrieve the largest component:
Now, we can obtain the characteristics of this new graph:
And if we use the function nx.is_connected we’ll observe that the subgraph is connected as it should be.
Clustering and transitivity measure the tendency for nodes to cluster together or for edges to form triangles. In our context, they are measures of the extent to which the users interacting with one particular user tend to interact with each other as well. The difference is that transitivity weights nodes with a large degree higher.
The clustering coefficient, a measure of the number of triangles in a graph, is calculated as the number of triangles connected to node i divided by the number of sets of two edges connected to node i (Triple nodes). While the transitivity coefficient is calculated as 3 multiply by the number of triangles in the network divided by the number of connected triples of nodes in the network. These two parameters are very important when analyzing social networks because it gives us an insight into how users tend to create tightly knot groups characterized by relatively high-dense ties.
Let’s take a look at what is happening in our analysis using the functions average_clustering and transitivity :
It appears that in our graph, the users do not tend to form close clusterings.
After that, we’ll investigate some summary statistics, particularly related to distance, or how far away one node is from another random node. Diameter represents the maximum distance between any pair of nodes while the average distance tells us the average distance between any two nodes in the network. NetworkX facilitates the functions diameter and average_shortest_path_length to obtain these parameters:
Now, we are going to focus on network centrality which captures the importance of a node’s position in the network considering: degree on the assumption that an important node will have many connections, closeness on the assumption that important nodes are close to other nodes, and finally, betweenness on the assumption that important nodes are well situated and connect other nodes. For this, we are going to use the following functions degree_centrality , closenness_centrality and betwenness_centrality , all which return a list of each node and its centrality score. We will particularly capture the node with the best score in each one.
As we can see not always the same node shows the maximum in all the centrality measures. However, the node with id 393852070 seems to be the one with more connection that is well situated connecting other nodes. On the other hand, the node with id 2896294831 is closest to other nodes.
Now, we can get to see how the Graph looks like. For that, we will use nx.drawing.layout to apply node positioning algorithms for the graph drawing. Specifically, we will use spring_layout that uses force-directed graph drawing which purpose is to position the nodes in two-dimensional space so that all the edges are of equal length and there are as few crossing edges as possible. It achieves this by assigning forces among the set of edges and nodes based on their relative positions and then uses this to simulate the motion of the edges and nodes. One of the parameters that we can adjust is k, the optimal distance between nodes; as we increase the value, the nodes will farther apart. Once, that we got the positions, we are also going to create a special list so that we can draw the two nodes with higher centrality that we found in different colors to highlight them.
After all that calculation, we’ll use the functions draw_networkx_nodes() and draw() .
And finally, we have the drawing of the largest connected component of our original Graph:
If you want to get to know the entire code for this project, check out my GitHub Repository. | https://medium.com/future-vision/visualizing-twitter-interactions-with-networkx-a391da239af5 | ['Euge Inzaugarat'] | 2019-05-08 18:11:16.708000+00:00 | ['Network Analysis', 'Networkx', 'Data Science', 'Twitter'] |
Improve your app’s cryptography, from message authentication to user presence | In a perfect world, nobody needs cryptography. Everyone keeps their hands, eyes, and ears to themself; every parcel is delivered to the intended recipient without tampering; and every sender is trustworthy. But we don’t live in a perfect world. Over the past several decades, cryptography has evolved to ensure not just confidentiality through encryption but also message integrity, authentication, and nonrepudiation — all in an effort to keep messages private, authentic, and reliable.
It might be tempting to think that if your systems have a cryptographically solid implementation, then you don’t need biometrics for verifying user presence. To understand why verifying user presence might be important in a cryptographic world, let’s look at the triumphs and failures of several attributes of cryptography in turn. From there, see why you — a provider of high-value services such as banking or healthcare — might want to implement biometric authentication in addition to cryptography.
Encryption alone doesn’t prevent certain types of attacks
You can think of encryption as a function, say E , that takes in a message m and a key k and, from those parameters, produces a ciphertext c . The ciphertext is usually what everyday people refer to as the encryption, but in fact the encryption is the algorithm that produces the scrambled message that adversaries cannot read. The scrambled message itself is called the ciphertext.
c = E(m,k)
It’s practically impossible to determine the secret key k when you only partially know m or c , as long as the value of k is sufficiently large. But an adversary doesn’t need to decrypt a message in order to tamper with it. The adversary might be able to edit the ciphertext, delete the ciphertext, or resend a message that contains the ciphertext (using a process called a replay).
Not all adversaries want to steal your data; they may just want to inconvenience you. Imagine an adversary who simply replays the encrypted transaction of the $2,000 you paid to the computer store for your laptop. Assuming this is a third-party adversary who has no affiliation with the computer store, this adversary steals nothing. And you will get your money back after some disputes with the computer store. Yet you still suffer some damage in terms of time and emotional energy. Worse still, an observant adversary might be able to replace the bank account of the computer store with some other bank account — all without ever decrypting the ciphertext.
Of course we’re just scratching the surface here. There are many more well-known attacks against encryption-only solutions. And even if your encryption algorithm manages to thwart all the known attacks, there is still Emerson’s prophecy that it is the privilege of the truth to make itself known. Simply restated, you cannot keep a message private forever. Even with the best practical cryptographic designs, the pace of current technological advances only lets your messages remain private for about 30 more years, maybe 50 years with some luck. Hence, encryption by itself isn’t all that great against message integrity attackers. You also need some sort of authentication, which the next section explores.
Preserving originality with message authentication
Being deceptively misinformed in sensitive circumstances can be damaging. That’s the essential truth that inspired security engineers to create the Message Authentication Code (aka MAC or HMAC). If a sender sends a MAC along with the message, then an adversary can no longer modify the message and pretend that it’s the original message. Neither can an adversary replay the message. The best an adversary can do is delete the message so that the communication fails altogether.
What is a MAC? A MAC a is similar to a ciphertext in that it is computed using the message and a secret key. Essentially, the sender runs the message m and a secret key k through a function h , and a MAC is generated. Then the sender sends both the message and the MAC to the recipient.
m,a = h(m,k)
MACs aren’t unique per message due to the pigeonhole principle, which basically says if you have more pigeons than holes then some holes will have to house more than one pigeon. MACs have predetermined sizes, so that there are many more possible messages than MACs. It’s just that the search space is too large for an adversary to guess which MAC would go with a modified message without knowing the secret key. Hence, the reason a MAC is effective against message modification is because the secret key k is only known to the sender and the intended recipient. If an adversary changes the message, that adversary would have to also change the MAC to match, and without knowing the secret key, that’s practically impossible. Replay attacks fail because running m,a = h(m,k) twice in a row will result in two different MACs. That’s because in practice there’s usually a strictly increasing third parameter t in the function: hence we could rewrite the equation as m,a = h(m,k,t) . Therefore, the MAC function helps rightful recipients to readily verify whether a replay attack occurred.
A MAC essentially requires an attacker to crack the secret key. In the presence of a MAC, imitation of the original message can no longer succeed. Integrity is built-in. As useful as MACs are, they do have some limitations when it comes to confidentiality, which the following section explains.
Signed but not sealed
It is important to note that a MAC simply signs a message but doesn’t seal it — so there’s no confidentiality. An adversary can still read the message; they just cannot change it effectively. But it’s not that difficult to both sign and seal a message. Instead of computing m,a = h(m,kₐ) , simply use algebraic substitution to obtain c,a = h(c,kₐ) where c is the ciphertext obtained from c = E(m,k𝒸) .
Good cryptography algorithms are like good houses. They are supposed to withstand storms not just for one day but for 30 years or longer. For cryptographers more specifically, this means anticipating adversaries who will try to crack your algorithm not just tomorrow or next month but in 10, 30 years — by which time they will have the advantage of technologies that aren’t even invented yet. Hence, a MAC doesn’t make encryption unbreakable. It just makes the work of an adversary more difficult. Attackers 30 years from now may be able to use techniques like birthday attacks or meet-in-the-middle attacks to guess the MAC’s value for an edited message, thereby causing recipients to accept imitation messages.
Asymmetric encryption scales more elegantly
So far we have discussed how cryptographers pair encryption with MAC to create signed and sealed messages. We have also discussed that the best an attacker can do is delete such messages; otherwise the message is delivered successfully, privately, and intact. It sounds like this should be all we need. But there is more. But before we discuss the “more,” let’s chat a bit about scale.
Most of the techniques discussed so far are collectively known as symmetric cryptography. Simply put, they depend on both the sender and the receiver using the exact same secret keys to encrypt and decrypt the message, and to create and verify the MACs. The problem with this approach is that, if a group has 10 members, then each member needs to share and store 9 different secret keys in order to send encrypted messages between any two members. That’s a total of 45 keys. For twenty people it’s already 190 keys; more generally, for n people it’s (n-1)n/2 keys. Imagine if, for every person in your contacts list, you had to have a different personal phone number for each person? So instead of having just one phone number that you give out to every contact, each time you make a new friend, you would need to buy an additional phone number! That’s the problem with symmetric encryption. Scaling is tough. Thankfully, there is asymmetric cryptography.
Asymmetric cryptography uses insights from number theory — in particular finite field theory and one-way functions — to achieve its elegance. Essentially each person creates a public key and a private key. Anyone who wants to communicate with you can use your public key to send you encrypted messages, but only your private key can decrypt those messages.
The intention here is not to get too deep into the number theory, but rather to bring asymmetric encryption into the conversation. You must use asymmetric encryption to support nonrepudiation, the next attribute of cryptography we discuss below.
The need for nonrepudiation
Nonrepudiation is simply a professional way of saying “no takebacks.” The e-commerce revolution has brought this very simple rule of fair play to the front and center in the world of cryptography.
In the world of symmetric cryptographic keys, the person who receives a message (say Bob) cannot prove to a judge that the sender (say Alice) is the one who actually sent the message. That’s because both Alice and Bob share the same secret key. Maybe Alice did send the original message but Bob altered it, or maybe Alice is lying. Either way, a judge cannot tell.
With asymmetric keys, however, only the person who holds the private key can sign a message. Anyone in the world can read the signature since the public key is after all public. Hence it would go like this: when Alice needs to buy something from Bob, she would use Bob’s public key to encrypt the transaction but use her own private key to add a signature to the transaction. Then when Bob receives the message, he would use Alice’s public key to verify that Alice’s private key was used to sign the transaction, and then use his own private key to decrypt the message. Hence, signature is used to provide nonrepudiation. MAC and Signature are essentially the same thing, except that one is for symmetric encryption and the other is for asymmetric encryption.
A brief recap
Now let’s recap. Cryptography is used to encrypt and authenticate messages, and to provide nonrepudiation. When the right techniques are applied, the authentication and encryption portions can be difficult to break — they depend on very hard math problems such as prime factorization, discrete logarithms, and elliptic curves, which are then applied to finite fields. It’s important to point out that while getting the encryption keys using mathematical analyses may be difficult, there are many other ways to break into a secure system such as social engineering, where an individual might be tricked into divulging confidential information. Also we didn’t include key generation and certification in our discussion because the point has been sufficiently made: As an engineering discipline, Cryptography will need to continue evolving to meet the demands of the times, in an attempt to stay ahead of adversaries.
Unlike encryption and authentication, however, nonrepudiation is a bit trickier, which is where user-presence verification might add an additional layer of difficulty for adversaries.
The importance of being present
At this point we have shown that cryptography is all about security level: how expensive (time, money, energy) it is for an adversary to tamper with a correspondence. Nonetheless, there is still a major problem: Just because a message originated from a device that I own and was signed with my private keys does not mean I sent the message. A virus or unauthorized user might have sent the message instead. For these and similar reasons, although digital signatures have been made into law internationally as ESIGN, many global merchants still don’t trust them because nonrepudiation is hard to argue without proof of user-presence, and the burden of proof does lie with the merchant.
To bolster merchant confidence in nonrepudiation, the industry has introduced Two Factor Authentication (2FA). Because cybercriminals have repeatedly broken into online accounts that are protected only by username-and-password, 2FA brings forth the idea of requiring one more thing from the agent who claims to be the rightful user. That one more thing generally falls under one of three categories: something you know, something you have, or something you are. The aim of 2FA is to give merchants confidence that the user is indeed present during a transaction. Two of the most common forms of 2FA are key fobs and verification codes that are often sent using SMS. The problem with key fobs and similar hardware tokens is that they can be lost or stolen. And an SMS message provides zero defense-in-depth for 2FA if the compromised device is the same device that receives the SMS or push notification. Hence the most advanced forms of 2FA today fall under something you are. Biometric authentication is an example of such advanced 2FA.
By including biometrics — verifying user presence — in your security implementation, your app becomes even safer and nonrepudiation becomes a reliable feature of your business model. For a healthcare or hospitality app this may mean more reliable user check-ins or cancellations. For an ecommerce or banking app, this may mean your customer service team spending less time refunding unintentional purchases made by toddlers and more time making your customers happy in more delightful ways.
The fundamental reason that makes biometric authentication a true additional hurdle against adversaries of your security system is because while biometrics and cryptography are completely independent of each other, they are both difficult for an adversary to tamper with. Ergo, their combined power makes the job of an adversary that much harder.
On Android, for example, biometric verification is a one way street. A user’s biometric information never leaves the device and is never shared with applications. When a user decides to add their biometrics to their Android device, they must do so through the system’s Settings app. If they are using their fingerprint (or face), they place their finger on a sensor which passes the fingerprint image directly to a restricted area on the Android device, referred to as the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). Then later, when your app wants to verify user-presence through biometric authentication, the Android Framework and the biometric system on Android, which lives in the TEE, handle the entire user-presence verification process for your app. And because the Framework makes it extremely difficult to spoof the device owner’s biometrics, you can have a high level of confidence about the user-presence confirmation.
For a more in-depth treatment of how biometrics works under the hood on Android to augment your security solutions with nonrepudiation, see our blog post on using BiometricPrompt with CryptoObject.
Summary
In this post you learned the following:
Why a good cryptography implementation needs to address confidentiality, authentication, and nonrepudiation.
Why encryption alone is not enough to protect messages from adversaries.
Why MAC/HMAC are effective against message modification
Why asymmetric cryptography scales better than symmetric cryptography
Why nonrepudiation is difficult to achieve in real life without biometric authentication
Why biometric authentication makes a cryptography implementation stronger through user-presence verification.
Where to go for how to implement biometric authentication in your apps.
We have also written a number of blog posts about engineering best practices, design guidelines, and tips for incorporating biometrics into your app.
For more information about how to implement your app using biometric authentication, check out this 2-part blog series: Part 1, Part 2.
If your app includes older logic that uses FingerprintManager, we recommend that you use BiometricPrompt instead. Learn more about BiometricPrompt as a whole in One Biometric API Over all Android, and learn how to complete the migration in this post: Migrating from FingerprintManager to BiometricPrompt
Happy Coding! | https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/improve-your-apps-cryptography-from-message-authentication-to-user-presence-869277f50d34 | ['Isai Damier'] | 2020-12-17 18:25:33.921000+00:00 | ['Android', 'Authentication', 'Cryptography', 'Biometrics', 'Crypto'] |
Ethereum Classic Labs Partners with Chainalysis | Ethereum Classic Labs Partners with Chainalysis
Part of our mission at ETC labs is to address fundamental challenges in developing and deploying blockchain technology and to continuously bring resources and solutions to the blockchain ecosystem. To make good on that promise, this year we’ve partnered with OpenGSN to significantly lower gas cost on ETC, ChainSafe on the development of Chainbridge, and worked with Gitcoin on several bounties as a part of NYBW.
Now, through our partnership with Chainalysis, we’re offering Chainalysis KYT (Know Your Transaction) an automated transaction monitoring solution, and training certifications platform at a reduced rate to our accelerator startups. Chainalysis KYT combines industry-leading blockchain intelligence, an easy-to-use interface, and a real-time API to reduce manual workflows while helping cryptocurrency businesses comply with local and global regulations. Special for this partnership, Chainalysis will also offer the ETC Labs startups, projects, and grantees access to Chainalysis subject matter experts on compliance and regulation to help companies and projects scope their requirements.
“Compliance is critical for many cryptocurrency businesses, particularly those offering some form of exchange, custody, or other money services. But cryptocurrency compliance is complex, and it’s often a barrier to entry for founders starting a cryptocurrency business,” said Jason Bonds, CRO at Chainalysis. “This partnership reflects a necessary resource and is a natural progression for our companies building on ETC; leveling the playing field for early-stage startups to successfully and responsibly build their companies while staying informed,” said James Wo, Founder and Chairman of ETC Labs.
With Chainalysis you can:
Automate Compliance and Reporting.
Easily integrate with Chainalysis KYT via an API and immediately start monitoring large volumes of activity and identify high-risk transactions in real-time across Ethereum Classic and other top cryptocurrencies.
Conduct periodic reviews of your user base knowing that the latest data is seamlessly and automatically included.
Chainalysis KYT is a cryptocurrency transaction monitoring software that detects high-risk activity from OFAC sanctioned addresses and darknet markets, to scams and anomalous transactions.
The reduced rate for Chainalysis’ KYT technology is available to startups and projects coming through the ETC Labs accelerator and all portfolio companies. For your initial compliance consultation feel free to reach out to Alex at [email protected]. For more information on ETC Labs and its accelerator program, contact Kelsey at [email protected].
About Chainalysis
Chainalysis is the blockchain analysis company providing data and analysis to government agencies, exchanges, and financial institutions across 40+ countries. Our investigation and compliance tools, education, and support create transparency across blockchains so our customers can engage confidently with cryptocurrency. Backed by Accel, Benchmark, and other leading names in venture capital, Chainalysis builds trust in blockchains. For more information, visit chainalysis.com.
About Ethereum Classic Labs (ETC Labs)
The mission of ETC Labs is to build relevant, accessible, and high-quality technology, and to use that technology to create communities of value in a mature and regulated ecosystem. The ultimate goal is to fulfill the promise of blockchain to improve people’s lives using Ethereum Classic, one of the world’s major public blockchains. The ETC Labs team of experts also fosters partnerships with organizations and institutions in order to address fundamental challenges in developing and deploying this innovative technology. We fulfill the mission in three ways: the ETC Labs Accelerator, which invests in up to 25 blockchain projects annually that contribute to sustaining a robust ecosystem; strategic investments in innovative projects focused on economic and social development; and the Core Team, a team of experts and developers who maintain the Ethereum Classic blockchain and build key applications, solutions, and tools. For more information visit, https://etclabs.org/ | https://medium.com/ethereum-classic-labs/ethereum-classic-labs-partners-with-chainalysis-374e2ab97384 | ['Ethereum Classic Labs'] | 2020-09-09 13:01:01.393000+00:00 | ['Ethereum Blockchain', 'Blockchain Technology', 'Blockchain', 'Etc', 'Ethereum Classic'] |
‘WE SIGNIFY THE INSTIGATION OF OUR DESTRUCTION.’ IS NATURE GOING AGAINST US? | For centuries, the earth has experienced different sorts of natural disasters. From earthquakes, volcano eruptions, melting of the ice caps, tsunamis e.t.c. yet we can’t stop them as they seem to get worse by the years.
One of the most terrifying of them all is typhoons; they are unpredictable and have caused more damages than any other natural epidemic.
Typhoons are tropical storms that occur in the region of the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans. They are similar to hurricanes since they are both typical cyclones, only in this case, hurricanes are in the Eastern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Also, their nature is generally stronger in intensity than hurricanes.
Space station image of super typhoon Neoguri that hit Japan July 7. (Image credit: NASA/ESA)
In a nutshell, typhoons are caused by warm ocean water, its evaporation, swirling winds, and other natural factors merge and start as a small mundane storm but grows into a monster, coastline-wrecking typhoon. It grows over days and weeks as more moisture and winds are propagated by the warm ocean waters.
It’s impossible to say when the first typhoon hit on earth but, its speculated to have happened since prehistoric times.
Colour image of hurricane Sandy in 2012. PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT SIMMON AND NASA/NOAA GOES PROJECT SCIENCE TEAM, NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has recorded most if not all typhoons that have occurred over the decades; and from the records, it is not good.
Typhoons destroy everything in its path. For those who thought volcanoes were the worst thing on this planet, well you are wrong. Typhoons can’t be predicted, and even if they did, they can change course. An example is the Super-typhoon Neoguri, it split into two. Meaning more distraction and absolutely no way of controlling it.
Typhoon Nina (China,1975) ~100,000 casualties
Typhoon Haiyan (Southeast Asia, 2013) ~6300 casualties
Typhoon Ida (Japan, 1958) ~1269 casualties
Typhoon Nancy (Guam, Japan, Ryúkyú islands, 1961)~202 casualties
Typhoon Tip (Guam and Japan, 1979) ~ 100 casualties
This year, in May, July, and September, Typhoons Vongfong, Neoguri, and Haishen have been experienced in the regions of The Philippines, Japan, and S. Korea respectfully.
Typhoon Haishen hit strongly in South Korea and Later in South Japan on Sept. 7, 2020. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP)
Forces of nature are beyond us. You can’t stop it, but it’s not impossible to control it. Come to think of it, it is our fault, as humans, that things have gotten worse. Nature is clapping back. Earth temperatures have risen due to global warming and seasonal disturbances in weather are now more common. So the reduction rate of global warming is the possible permanent solution.
Preparing for it and being aware of its presence on the sidelines as no one knows exactly when and where it will hit is another big step. How do you do this you ask?
ü Governments of typhoon prone countries should devise policies and Disaster Management Plans that will aid them before, during, and after the typhoons hit.
ü Educate! Educate! Educate! Not plenty of people know about tropical storms. The Dos and don’ts of safety are really important to save lives.
ü Be prepared, don’t ignore the facts. The very same way you have emergency bunkers for earthquakes and nuclear wars, it should also apply to this situation.
Nature will always be a stronger force, our duty is to take care of it and it will appreciate us back. If we don’t then we shall be the cause of our destruction; tropical storms, rendered ice caps, fading ozone layer, increasing ocean levels, next thing you know, our universe will vanish like Atlantis and no one will live to divulge about it. | https://medium.com/cervinae-publication/we-signify-the-instigation-of-our-distruction-is-nature-going-against-us-d96d26045ac7 | ['Phyllis Mackenzie'] | 2020-12-23 17:43:27.824000+00:00 | ['Typhoon', 'Journalism', 'Nature Writing', 'Earth', 'Nature'] |
Bipolar Emotional Test | What is it?
A bipolar emotional test is a tool for A/B testing. It is conducted after completing the user experience or user interface design phase. The bipolar emotional test is useful for deciding the alternatives when emotions and sensorial points are certain.
How does it be prepared?
The moderator shows design alternatives to participants and wants them to tell which alternative should be selected and why. Then, participants are asked to fill a bipolar form for test subjects.
Let’s talk about it via an example.
As Agency Look, we have tested a mobile application’s homepage with 25 participants for one of our customers in the finance sector. There were 3 alternatives for the homepage. All of the alternatives were all about the placement of advertisement and background. It is important to test alternatives with few variables like all A/B tests.
First, we have determined the emotional and sensational aspects of the homepage design. These aspects are decided by thinking about the emotions of the target group, impressions of the mobile application, and values of the company.
There are 6 criteria that we have focused on:
Liking
Reliability
Simplicity
Ease
Modernity
Intelligibility
Secondly, we have placed these aspects on a chart in positive and negative forms. They can be adjectives or shaped in sentences, it doesn’t matter. Positive statements are written in the left column while negative statements are in the right one. (Or it can be the otherwise as long as all positive statements are in the same column.)
To give an illustration:
In our test, we have placed the degrees in 5 columned charts. The number of columns can be decreased to 3 or increased to 7 according to the complexity of the needed bipolar emotional test. 5 was ideal for our test.
The number of criteria (number of rows) can be increased or decreased too. Here is another example of another test subject:
7 lined bipolar emotional test
How does it be conducted?
Moderator should explain that columns are degrees for criteria. The middle column is for “I’m undecided.” The more approach to the left side of the chart, it means the more positive feelings.
Participants are asked to grade in terms of the adjectives for the selected design alternative among the alternatives.
Then, participants are requested to fill bipolar test forms for other alternatives. If there are 3 alternatives then there must be 3 emotional bipolar test forms for every individual user.
How does it read?
First of all, elimination can be done for bipolar test forms. If a participant’s form is like the form below for all of the alternatives, this participant’s answers can be ignored:
If there is not any distinctive vote, then the form could be ignored.
In our A/B tests, there were 25 participants, but we took into account 22 of them.
After the elimination phase, the number of participants that have selected is written in every cell.
25 people conducted the test but there are 22 participants valid for results.
It can be seen as meaningless, but when we make color mapping, the result is pretty obvious.
The most selected cell is colored with dark green. If the numbers of second and third most selected cells are close to the first one, they can be marked with the shades of green.
Here are the results!
We have an absolute winner! After this test, we moved on with the alternative 3.
Bipolar emotional tests can be used for all kinds of A/B tests in user interface design or user experience design phases. This test type is so convenient when the design or wireframe alternatives slightly similar. If the number of participants is high, then bipolar emotional tests could lead us a result. | https://medium.com/@sevginurak/bipolar-emotional-test-4b2188b50a97 | ['Sevginur Ak'] | 2020-12-18 18:58:59.767000+00:00 | ['User Research', 'User Testing', 'Usability Testing Methods', 'A B Testing', 'User Experience'] |
Looking for the Best Tattoo Artist near You- What to Look For | Finding the tattoo artist is tricky if you do not know where you can start. There are various factors that you must consider while choosing the best tattoo artist near you. We all know that the tattoo is for life and to choose the best tattooing expert is not a decision that can be taken in one day.
Take time and choose the artist whom you feel comfortable to work with. Make sure you have total confidence in their work and skills before getting started to do the work. Read the blog below to know about the factors that you must follow when choosing the tattoo artist near you.
How to Ensure That You Have Selected the Best Tattoo Artist :
One of the first and foremost things you can do is to search from the online sources as like the Google business listings. The listings can help you to locate a reliable tattoo artist near your location. For example, if you want to choose the best place to get a tattoo in Thailand, you can check the online sources to find the tattoo artists who are working in Thailand. You must ask for recommendations from candidates who have previously done the tattoo from the trusted tattoo artist before.
• Believe In Word Of Mouth And Online Reviews :
You can also believe in the Word of Mouth. You can ask people who have previously done a tattoo from the trusted tattoo artist. You can speak with your friends and family who have inked previously. Getting direct advice is the best place to start. If you are looking for artists online, you can check the online reviews or go through the testimonials of the clients who have previously done the tattoo.
• Check The Work Images And Portfolio :
When you are choosing the tattoo artist, you can check the work images or the portfolio of their previous work so that you can gather information regarding their work is done and how they perform. By seeing their work, you can get an idea of how much skilled or experienced they are.
• Awards Or Prizes :
The experienced tattoo artists might have gathered various awards and prizes. So, when you are choosing the artist, be sure to check how many awards he has won previously. This will help you to understand how talented he is and how much his work is acclaimed around the world.
• Hygiene Factors :
The hygiene standard of the artist and the environment of the tattoo studio, where the artist works; are very vital factors to consider while choosing the tattoo artist. Poor hygiene can result in infection, blood poisoning and other health issues.
Besides, you must also check the prices and the designs offered by the tattoo artist before you are choosing the professional. For instance, if you are visiting the best place to get a tattoo in Thailand, you can experience a high standard of hygiene from the artist while the tattooing is performed. | https://medium.com/@tattoopattaya/looking-for-the-best-tattoo-artist-near-you-what-to-look-for-ec15eb9d15bf | ['Celebrity Ink', 'Tattoo Studio Pattaya'] | 2019-02-27 11:52:30.228000+00:00 | ['Best', 'Get', 'Thailand', 'Tattoo', 'Place'] |
On the Health Record: Interview with Ted Blosser of Workramp | Founder and CEO of the learning software Workramp takes us from his early days as a student athlete to his time working on product at Box and eventually starting Workramp. He also shares the insights he’s learned from business leaders — from Aaron Levie to Bob Iger and Mark Benioff — and how he models those lessons in his own company. Our transcript has been edited, but you can listen to the full podcast episode here.
You were a student athlete at Santa Clara University. Can you tell us about being a student athlete in college and what your mindset was like back then?
Yeah, I played tennis at Santa Clara. I’d played competitively most of my life and then walked on to the team and played for two years. I did that while doing electrical engineering. It was definitely a challenge. I remember my grades were slipping because you’re putting in 20–25 hours a week, you’re traveling, and you’re missing labs while all of your friends are studying and going to all the extra learning sessions. But what is taught me is how to time manage while in college. Especially as a CEO now, I have to learn to juggle multiple things. I wouldn’t want to trade that experience for the world.
I want to talk about Box where you were a product manager. Was that your first job out of college? And did you know that you wanted to go straight into product, or is that something you had to discover?
That was not my first job out of college. I actually had two stints before that. One was at Cisco right after school. I got recruited into essentially a mini MBA program out in Raleigh, North Carolina, and I was there for about three and a half years. Then I had a stint of a failed startup that I founded called StuffBox. When that startup failed, I realized I had to go learn how to actually build a startup and learn from the best. That was when I started at Box.
I knew I was going to go back into product. When I was interviewing around right before I joined Box, I had a plethora of different opportunities I was chasing. l decided to do sales and get paid a boatload of money at the time compared to what I was making, which was nothing. I knew that if I could get that background in selling a SaaS product, that’d be a good entry way. So it was always with a short-term mindset, but I knew I wanted to go crush it for a couple of years and then move back into product.
Can you paint the picture for me of what that team looked like at Box? They have a great product, so I imagine that their product team is reflective of that. What did it actually look like?
At Box, product was definitely one of the top teams in the company. It was definitely a team that people aspired to to join. When you go into a lot of these different companies, the DNA of the company typically comes from the CEO or one of the co-founders, and Aaron Levie (Box co-founder and CEO) was definitely a product guy at heart, even though he is pretty funny and vocal. That’s where he spends most of his time.
What I liked about that team was that they actually owned some core parts of the product that they consider a “platform”. So you got some actual experience on the product itself, but you also got some experience into the ecosystem, like the APIs and the technical nitty-gritty. I was really excited to kind of straddle both sides of the fence there, both with the core product and also the technical ecosystem side of the house as well.
What were some of your key takeaways from being part of that product team? And was there anything unexpected you learned from Aaron?
Probably one of the coolest things I got to do was spend time watching Aaron do his magic. There are so many cool startup CEOs now, but at that time there weren’t many cool startup CEOs like Aaron. He was really trailblazing.
I think the biggest learning from him was that he knew what the market wanted and where you should position yourselves. For example, everyone now during COVID is talking about digital transformation, like Benioff and ServiceNow CEO McDermott. Aaron was talking about digital transformation back in 2013. He had this foresight where he knew exactly what messaging would resonate, even if he had built nothing around that specific area.
If you think about Box, it’s really just file sharing, right? There’s not anything extremely special about that, but then he would reframe that to say, “Hey, as a business, your company runs on your files. In the next 5 to 10 years, the whole world’s going to digitally transform, so that’s why you need a service like Box to be the foundation of that digital transformation.” So he took something as boring as dropping a file in an uploader to saying, “This is the crux of your entire revenue stream of your business.” He would reframe the products he was selling to match what the industry and customers wanted. Benioff does that extremely well too. I would say the two of them are some of the best I’ve seen in terms of that reframing.
Interesting. And they weren’t wrong. The value of Box is huge. Now I’d like to transition to talking about delivering value to users. This is something that comes up all the time today, especially in product circles. Amazon focuses on customer delight for example. What does delivering value mean to you and how have you done it in practice?
I had this founder tell me something really insightful a couple months ago. He runs a pretty big business, and he said that companies will spend $10 million with Accenture, for example, and say, “I want you to go deliver a faster time to market for our product team.” That’s the outcome they want to buy, and they’re going to write a $10 million check and guarantee that they’re going to reduce that time by let’s say 20%. And the ROI for them on that $10 million is $100 million, so it’s $90 million ROI that they’re getting.
He said that is what needs to happen in the software space, especially in enterprise. You need to guarantee your clients the business outcomes they want to see.
For us, a great example is that you might buy us to reduce ramp time of your sales team. If you could reduce ramp time from five months to four months, you’re seeing a 20% reduction in ramp time, which for one individual rep might mean a hundred thousand dollars for you. So that ROI for one rep can be easily quantifiable by the software you bring in.
That’s really how I think about the value you can deliver with software. What are the outcomes you drive for your client? And then everything else comes after that — the features, the usability, the prettiness of the design. But if you could deliver the business outcome, the client will keep coming back to you.
I want to go back a bit and ask about starting your company in 2015. Box had just gone public, and you were working there. Why did you decide to start a company at that point? And what was the core issue you were trying to solve?
In 2015, we actually just had our first daughter. For me, I think that was a kick in the butt. I told myself that if I wanted to do this, I should do it now. I think I had just turned 30 at the time, and I thought that there was probably no better time to do this than now. I didn’t want to wait until my forties or fifties to start my own company for the first time. Then once I got into that mindset, it was just about what market that I want to go into. What was I passionate about?
My criteria was pretty simple. What is a big pain point? What has a huge TAM (total addressable market), and what is a market that I’m pretty equipped to service with my background? When we looked at learning software, it basically checked all those points. The TAM is gigantic. There’s $270 billion per year spent on corporate training, and then there are many people that have a sales and product background in enterprise SaaS that want to go start a company in Silicon Valley in the learning space. I recruited one of my good friends and now co-founder who worked early at Box as well, and then we just started building the product from there.
Can you tell me what your most exciting moment has been so far as a CEO? I’m sure you’ve had plenty, but is there one that stands out?
There’s so many. I would say there are a lot in every different phase of the business, but there is a good one when we were just starting out. We’d just got our first significant paying client, $5k a year. I remember we were basically living off savings, trying to make this work, and I remember opening up the mailbox and seeing this $5,000 check, and we didn’t have a bank account at that time. I don’t even think we had incorporated officially yet.
I remember that right away, we filed all the paperwork to incorporate, and we opened up the bank account. I was just so proud walking to the teller and saying I wanted to deposit this $5,000 check into the business. When you’re working at other companies, you think that stuff is all automatic, but when you see it tangibly, you’re in awe of it. You realize you’re actually providing an outcome to clients through online software, and they’re going to pay you money for it. That was pretty exciting. Obviously in all the other phases, there are fun stories like that, but from the early days that was one of the most exciting.
That’s an exciting moment. So you took me to the top of the mountain. Now let’s go to the bottom of the valley. What was your biggest moment of despair as a founder and CEO?
I remember very early on, we were experimenting with the market and looking for product market fit. There was a very large tech company testing out our platform. At that time, I would sell to someone’s mom or brother or cousin- anybody who wanted to buy our software. I was driving up to San Francisco every day from San Carlos and meeting with this buyer.
I was bragging about them to potential future investors, and then after a good two months, this buyer emailed me and said that they weren’t going to move forward with us. And I remember getting that email, walking into our master bedroom and just shutting off the light in the middle of the day and laying on the bed in silence and just thinking, “Man, is this ever going to work?” I was pitying myself for about an hour, and then I got out of the bed, opened the blinds and was like, “You know what, that’s ok. That was not the best use case.”
I kind of knew in my heart of hearts that it wasn’t a good fit, but I’m so glad that happened because it showed me that you shouldn’t force a square peg in a round hole, even though it’s a great name brand. In the micro evaluation of it, you think the world has ended, but when you look back on it, it’s probably the best thing that could’ve happened to the company, even though it was really harmful in the beginning.
You have done so much at your age, and you seem like a guy that gets a lot done and has it all together. So I want to know what inspires you. Do you have a person or another company that you sort of model yourself after?
It’s funny, I only read non-fiction business books. Before COVID, I was listening to business books on tape pretty much every single commute. I would crush through a book a week or listen to a really good business podcast. I’m kind of a junkie on business literature, so I would say I do admire a lot of different executives, the most recent one being Bob Iger from Disney. I read The Ride of a Lifetime about a year ago.
What I loved about him was that he took such a humble approach to being a CEO, and he had such a clear strategy of what he wanted to get done at Disney. During our all-hands kickoff for 2020, before COVID, we modeled our themes of the business around how he did that at Disney. There were basically three things that he wanted to get accomplished. It was to become more international and integrate with countries like China. The second one was to move digital, and he basically created Disney Plus from thin air. The last was to essentially focus on the content, so he acquired a ton of companies during his tenure, like Marvel and Lucas.
It made Disney the powerhouse that it is. So for me, I strive to be humble, but also have a very, very clear direction with the team and get everyone flowing in the same direction. Just like Bob, I started this year with three key messages to the team and said that we’re going to go conquer those three things, and every quarter we’ve come back to those three things — even with COVID they were still really relevant — and we got everybody rowing in the same direction. So that’s probably who I’ve admired the most, especially with his approach and also his strategy.
Listen to the full podcast episode here. | https://drchrono.medium.com/on-the-health-record-interview-with-ted-blosser-of-workramp-e1fa738ab089 | [] | 2020-11-30 16:36:42.455000+00:00 | ['Software Development', 'Leadership', 'Technology', 'Entrepreneurship'] |
Netanyahu reveals to Joe Biden, not to re-visitation Iran atomic arrangement | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sent an unmistakable message to US President-elect Joe Biden on Sunday that he won’t re-visitation the 2015 Iran atomic arrangement, which was surrendered by President Donald Trump. Netanyahu, who is additionally involved in a political tempest in Israel, has straightforwardly restricted Joe Biden’s recommendation that the Iran atomic arrangement could be continued if Iran concocts a casual air. It before long becomes evident that Joe Biden needs an alternate methodology as opposed to Trump’s way to deal with Israel and Iran.
President-elect Joseph R. Biden has promised to move rapidly to rejoin the Iran atomic arrangement while Iran re-visitations of consistency and establishes a steady climate. Iran’s atomic arrangement was expelled two years back by President Donald Trump and he conceived a “most extreme weight” plan that would put Iran under more prominent monetary and weaponry sanctions. Be that as it may, this time it would appear that Joe Biden needs an alternate face.
Biden, who will get down to business on January twentieth, said he would rejoin the arrangement if Tehran initially continued exacting consistency, and would work with the different stakeholders to “fortify and extend”, viably backing the arrangement and pushing for other adjustment exercises in Iran. The arrangement, reached with the world forces and Iran, he needed to restrict Tehran’s atomic program to forestall Iran to make atomic weapons, and it tends to be an open door for Iranian pioneers to alleviate the financial assents.
Worries about Iran’s atomic aspirations have for some time been tested by the United States and significant forces, with Israel assuming a key job. Another significant concern is the thing that Israel considers Iran to be a developing political and military impact in the Middle East, especially in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. Exploiting territorial clashes and political holes, Iran is expanding on what Israel sees as its growing force in the area.
“Try not to return to the old atomic arrangement. We need to hold fast to a non-bargain strategy to guarantee that Iran doesn’t create atomic weapons,” Netanyahu said. Netanyahu additionally applauded Israel for its position and its solid resistance to Iran creating atomic weapons. Israel has unequivocally restricted the 2015 Joint Plan between the world forces and Iran. Netanyahu said it was “unsatisfactory” for Iran to have the atomic force and that it would risk Israel’s presence and security in the Middle East.
The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran presently gauges in excess of 2,440 kilograms, in excess of multiple times the cutoff set by the 2015 atomic arrangement with significant forces. Then, the arms ban on Iran finished a month ago and military and maritime tasks started. | https://medium.com/@blackwilliam879/netanyahu-reveals-to-joe-biden-not-to-re-visitation-iran-atomic-arrangement-3f23edd0d234 | ['William Black'] | 2020-11-25 08:38:13.447000+00:00 | ['Iran', 'Joe Biden', 'Us', 'Israel', 'Netanyahu'] |
WE PAW Bloggers E-zine — Issue 62 | It’s Important to Include Spontaneity In Your Life
Photo by Jon Blogg (Maude Maureen Amato Mayes shown on the left)
The other night we were just about to shut the lights out and go to sleep when Maude remembered that it was the night the Geminid meteor shower was at its peak. Phil looked out the window and immediately saw one cross the sky, so we decided to get dressed again, bundle up and head into our back garden for a look at the heavens. Outside it was a really clear, still night. We pulled a bench into the middle of the area, cuddled up in a fuzzy blanket, leaned back and immersed ourselves in the darkness. The more we sat there, the more stars and constellations we saw. And the stars fell. We sat a long time, pointing and exclaiming like children every time one streaked across the sky.
It was a profound experience of being present and a joyous celebration of life. We were so happy that we had done it, shared it, and had that pleasure that spontaneity can bring. The experience lived with us for days afterwards.
And yet it is so difficult to take time out for such things. We have heard from many people the plaint that they are busier than ever during this time of lock-downs and closures, and how strange this is when so many former activities are not available: dropping in on a movie, visiting friends, taking off for a day trip and staying overnight somewhere, going to the library, splurging on a day spa.
That time has been filled up with other things — the many zoom calls we have substituted for visits and classes, helping with children and grandchildren who are home all day, and the relatives we may have moved into our homes during these times.
Those activities provide structure to our lives, and offer a sense of security and control. Maybe we need that more than ever in this annus horribilis, as the Queen might describe 2020; maybe they’re a way to muffle the sounds of society crumbling around us.
But having so much structure squeezes out its complement of randomness. There is a book called “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron which is a wonderful course that helps writers and artists in all fields come into contact with their creativity. It has two exercises that should be done religiously. One is morning pages — to write three pages each day about anything at all, and then never to look at them again.
The other is an artist date, when, once a week, you take yourself off alone for a few hours to do something different and playful just for fun — walk, draw, visit a museum, sing. This simple spontaneous event calls forth a well of creativity and is surprising in its scope. It must be experienced to be fully understood and appreciated. Yet for us and for everyone we know, this is one of the most difficult exercises to do. Two hours a week! How hard can it be to set that time aside? Yet it is. Everyone is too busy to get to it, never finding time to go off and do it regularly. Maybe that is because we are fearful of the lack of structure, of the unknown. And yet this is where life, creativity and growth occur.
In a relationship, there is much comfort that comes from structure. The sharing of tasks, the pleasure of cooperation, the anticipation of Netflix nights; all contribute to a sense of well-being. Yet the most memorable times are often when we step off these well-worn tracks.
But doing this is not so easy. Just as with an artist date, it has been hard for us to make room for spontaneity in our life, despite both knowing the benefits it brings us. It is a challenge to catch when we are on autopilot, take the wheel and drive with intention. When one of us notices, we invite the other along for the ride, and hallelujah, they usually accept.
Our night under the starry skies brought back how important these spontaneous moments are to us individually and for our relationship. They are full of pleasure and inspiration. They can ease tensions, give us hope and fill us with the wonder of the present moment.
Whether you live alone or with others, we strongly recommend incorporating novelty and adventure into your days. Even with the restrictions we are all now experiencing, there are many opportunities available. Break out those paints, climb that mountain, dance to the music! | https://medium.com/@we-paw-bloggers/we-paw-bloggers-e-zine-issue-62-4a069f07b5eb | ['We Paw Bloggers E-Zine'] | 2020-12-22 20:25:59.446000+00:00 | ['Write To Cope', 'Pandemic Diaries', 'Covid19 Crisis', 'Election 2020', 'Writing Prompts'] |
The Accounting Stack Revolution — Part 2 | In Part 1 of this series, you learned that the world of accounting is starting to become more automated. Driven by changes in the amount and quality of data we can get from a credit card or check transaction, we also learned that fintech is playing a major role in enabling better, faster, cheaper accounting.
In Part 2 of this series I’m going to discuss how payments and banking technology will open up the door to the day of VERY automated accounting systems (as apposed to partially automated systems of today).
So, what is happening with payments?
There are six major trends shaping the industry:
Barriers to entry are getting lower, Payments are getting cheaper, More payments are being made through digital channels like virtual credit cards, Payment data is becoming more open via APIs, More data is being collected about each payment and Payment services are becoming more embedded within accounting processes
A huge amount of money is flooding into fintech. That has driven A TON of innovation. In fact, this year alone (2021) fintech VC investment more than doubled, rising from $22.5 billion in H1 2020 to $52.3 billion in H1 2021. Although many of the companies started during this period fall squarely in the crypto space (still a relatively small portion of total payments), there were many companies that focused their energy on building “rails” to allow people more access, speed, and transparency with their payments.
These companies, companies like Unit, Qolo and Treasury Prime took the approach of making it really easy for other companies to build payments into their processes. Qolo, for example, has built the rails to allow almost anyone to control:
Deposit Accounts Debit Cards Credit Cards Crypto Wallets Cross-boarder Payments/Fx ACHs Rapid Funds Transfers Wire Transfers
In other words… Pretty much any kind of payment you’ll ever need to make is available for you to customize to your needs.
In addition, virtual credit cards and ePayables use is growing rapidly. According to a recent study by Mastercard, virtual credit card use will increase by 37% in the coming years as businesses shift away from paper check use.
When you layer all this over data like GPS location and product/vendor categories (accessible thru vendors like Plaid), you can start to get a sense of where the market is headed. More on that later…
And what is happening with banking?
Banking is changing in three major ways:
There’s more integration (APIs) There’s more data (More context) Artificial Intelligence is getting smarter (More predictive capabilities)
Banks, for the most part, have woken up to the fact that — although they may value innovation — they are not good at creating it and the world around them is changing much faster than the pace of regulatory change. As a result, more banks are seeking solutions that build on their core banking software to give customers access to better products.
That has opened the door for integration, access, and smarter, cheaper payments.
Companies like MX and Akami make it possible for anyone to build banking applications that can tap into core banking software. The doors have been opened for innovators to use this data to do new things. Things like:
It’s plain to see that the barriers to entry are getting lower for the payments industry. When this happens, a few things tend to occur.
Just like the TV and Music industries who, when the cost of production and distribution fell, many more niche channels found their way into the market, we are about to see a wave of startups that use payments to differentiate their products for specific industries. There’s a lot of innovation about to happen in this space.
Second, this additional access to data and more customized products will lead to more automated accounting. Why? Because accounting is very dependent on people to give you the right piece of information at the right time. For many accounting departments, searching for a lost receipt or trying to understand which invoice a deposit should have been coded to is the most time consuming part of the process. Like software companies collect technical debt, accounting departments collect “Disorganization Debt”. Building products that optimize specific industry workflows to deliver the right information at the right time is what will eliminate that Disorganization Debt.
By way of example, imagine you run a landscaping company. In a perfect world you would know how long people spent on a job, what materials were used, what new materials were purchased for it, what value you provided to your customer, and what part of that value you can charge to your client. You’d also be able to easily invoice the customer for the right amount at the right time and know you’ll get paid promptly.
In the real world, however, lots of things don’t work perfectly. People don’t always clock in on time, they forget to turn in receipts or other documentation, they forget which job they were on, they lose track of contracts, and they forget to send and follow up on invoices. A lot can go wrong. Furthermore, the way you collect this data for a landscaping company is different than if you run a manufacturing plant, so to solve the people problems effectively, you need customized solutions.
This is where the world is headed and it will be here faster than you think.
If you’d like help building your own modern accounting stack, we can help. Connect with us at [email protected] to learn more. | https://medium.com/@theMattDuckworth/the-accounting-stack-revolution-part-2-7d92878f34e6 | ['Matt Duckworth'] | 2021-11-25 14:05:56.277000+00:00 | ['Accounting Software', 'Accounting', 'Fintech'] |
Interview With A World-Class Baby Sleep Training Expert | Today I had the pleasure — and honor — to speak with Mary-Ann Schuler, child psychologist and world renowned baby sleep training expert. Her impressive rise to fame started when she discovered a very efficient method of putting any baby to sleep — no matter how stubborn or active he may be — in a short time and with no stress. Since then she has helped thousands of babies and families help get good quality sleep, day and night. Here is some of the brilliant advice she had to share with me today:(Watch video below)
https://wondrous-motivator-7015.ck.page/85d5456791
Me: Hello Marry-Ann. Thank you for accepting my invitation.
Mary-Ann: It’s a pleasure. Hope I can answer all your baby sleep training questions and help more parents along the way.
Me: Let’s begin with a short introduction. Did you ever think that you would provide this much-needed help to so many people?
Mary-Ann: The truth is, I didn’t. But I knew somehow that I had to. Baby sleep issues are among the — if the not most — common problem parents face with their babies.
Being a mother at home and a child psychologist at work and still being unable to solve the problem made this even more frustrating.
Me: That’s really inspiring. The fact that this interview will reach out to a lot of parents who are at their wits’ end not knowing how to address this problem makes it invaluable.
Mary-Ann: I truly hope so.
Me: If you were to choose a word to describe the process of sleep training a baby, which one would it be?
Mary-Ann: Rewarding.
Me: Wow! I’m convinced that parents love hearing that. Can you tell me exactly what you mean by “rewarding”?
Mary-Ann: Yeah, sure. Rewarding in the sense that babies and parents are equally benefiting from it. The reward is a good night’s sleep for both.
Me: And if parents want very fast results?
Mary-Ann: The truth is, nothing ever happens overnight. They need to remember that consistency and persistence are the keys here.
They are the building materials that support the whole structure. Take one out and the building falls to the ground.
Me: How about positivity? Is it important?
Mary-Ann: Surprisingly, children can sense if you’re truly happy. In other words, if you’re not happy when you’re teaching them, they won’t be happy learning from you.
Me: There is an old debate if children need to cry out until they fall asleep or not? What do you think of this?
Mary-Ann: I have to admit this is among the most common questions I receive. The short answer is no. Children shouldn’t be left alone crying out until they fall asleep.
The reason for this is simple: children need affection. If they don’t receive it now, they won’t show it back later in life. Affection, however, doesn’t mean rocking them to sleep every night.
The good news is that there is a third way, which is both soothing and efficient. I describe it in detail in my book.
Me: You wrote the book on how to sleep train every child. If parents pick it up, can they really have a sleeping child in a short amount of time?
Mary-Ann: As I clearly explained in the book, each child is unique and there are certain differences between each developmental phase. You can’t sleep train a 2-month old baby in the same way you would train a 1-year old. In general, any baby can be trained in a short amount of time, but it all depends on a parent’s consistency in following the routine.
Me: What is the shortest time someone has ever sleep trained their child using your method?
Mary-Ann: I receive mails from parents telling me they achieved fast results on a daily basis, but the most amazing mail I read was from a very happy mom who told me that she managed to sleep train her baby in three short days.
Me: Wow, that’s amazing. So if parents want to use your method and see that kind of fast results, where can they find out more about your program?
Mary-Ann: They can visit my website! It’s the only place they will find out exactly how I discovered this method and get their hands on a copy for themselves. (Click Here To Visit Mary Ann Schuler’s Site)
Me: Thank you very much for your time Mary-Ann.
Mary-Ann: Any time!
You can find out a lot more about Mary-Ann Schuler and how she came up with those proven methods for sleep training any child by clicking here! | https://medium.com/@christineforstine/interview-with-a-world-class-baby-sleep-training-expert-781c2f67b924 | ['Christine Forstine'] | 2021-07-09 13:47:36.033000+00:00 | ['Parenting', 'Baby', 'Motherhood', 'Baby Sleep', 'Sleep'] |
La Cucaracha | Written by
Daily comic by Lisa Burdige and John Hazard about balancing life, love and kids in the gig economy. | https://backgroundnoisecomic.medium.com/la-cucaracha-71b46f8afec8 | ['Background Noise Comics'] | 2019-05-19 02:54:00.500000+00:00 | ['Humor', 'Comics', 'Cartoon', 'Anger', 'Bugs'] |
7 Amazing Health Benefits of Regular Cycling. | Deteriorating lifestyle is causing obesity as well as a variety of health problems. In order to prevent these problems, some kind of activity is necessary to keep the body healthy. Cycling can prove to be an excellent activity. Cycling is an effective activity to keep your body active and fit. However, it is also considered to be a kind of exercise, but unfortunately majority of people unware about the health benefits of cycling. That is why today we will explain about the right time to cycling and it health benefits.
7 Amazing Health Benefits of Regular Cycling.
Help In Weight Management. Reduce The Risk of Cancer. Reduce The Risk of Type 2 Diabetes. Improve Heart Health. Reduce Stress. Strengthen Muscles. Help to Prevent Arthritis.
1. Help In Weight Management.
If one is looking for weight management or weight loss measures, then cycling it the best tool. According to the studies, it is proved that regular cycling is the effective way to burn calorie (1), which can help in weight loss. According to the another research, you can reduce excessive weight by 12 per cent with the help of cycling up to about 5km. The women involved in this research were asked to walk, cycling and swimming for 60 minutes per day. It was found to be effective for weight loss through walking and cycling process (2). Just keep in mind that cycling as well as balanced diet both are essential to reduce weight.
2. Reduce The Risk of Cancer.
This information may surprise a little that cycling can reduce the risk of cancer. According to research conducted on some Chinese women and men, people who had cycled for 2 hours a day saw a lower risk of stomach cancer by about 50 per cent than those who cycled for 30 minutes a day.
According to another study, activities like cycling can prevent the risk of breast cancer. As per this research, the risk of breast cancer was found to be 10 per cent lower in women who exercise like walking and cycling(3). On this basis, it can be assumed that cycling can help to reduce the risk of cancer to some extent. At the same time, keep in mind that cancer is a deadly disease. If someone suffers from it, he must consult with the doctor for the treatment.
Read Now: What is Shoulder Shrug Exercise : Types, Benefits & Techniques
3. Reduce The Risk of Type 2 Diabetes.
It is consider as one of the major health benefits of cycling that it can help to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. According to research published on the NCBI site, adults who regularly perform activities like cycling have seen a significantly lower risk of having type 2 diabetes than other adults (4).
At the same time, some women suffering from obesity were found to have a record of rapidly reducing insulin levels in their bodies by cycling for 45 minutes every day for 6 weeks (5).
4. Improve Heart Health.
During cycling, the heartbeat becomes faster, which is an exercise for the heart. According to studies, activities like cycling can reduce cardiovascular risk of heart and blood vessels. The research in this regard included middle-aged men. Research found that the people who have heart problems participate in an activity like cycling works better than those who do not participate(6). Which shows that cycling is an effective exercise for a healthy heart.
5. Reduce Stress.
Cycling is a kind of aerobic exercise. Also, existing studies shows that exercising can improve mental health. The activities of aerobic exercise can be special for overall of your health. These activities can improve the flow of blood in the brain by changing the state of mind. That can reduce the response of stress on the hypothalamic pituitary adrenaline (central stress response system). This can help to reduce symptoms of stress, depression or anxiety (7).
Read Now: What Are The Difference Between Pull-Ups And Lat Pull Down
6. Strengthen Muscles.
Paddling is done with the help of feet during cycling. In the meantime, its also engage your body from top to bottom. This can strengthen the muscles of foot and the lower and the upper part of the body. It can also increase the amount of oxygen in the body (8). In this regular cycling can strengthen the muscles of the body.
7. Help To Prevent Arthritis.
Regular cycling can reduce and prevent the symptoms of osteoarthritis (inflammation in the joints). According to research published on the NCBI site, people who performed activities like cycling for 25 minutes for 8 weeks saw effective decrease in the symptoms of osteoarthritis. Because cycling improve muscle contraction, strength and ability to function (9).
Let’s say cycling comes under aerobic exercise. While doing activities like aerobic, the joints have minimal emphasis. According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, aerobic activities can be carried out for 30 to 75 minutes to reduce mild joint pain. It can also include cycling, brisk walking or swimming. (10)
Read Now: Unique Types of Plank Exercise and Its Benefits
Right Time To Do Cycling.
However, cycling can be done whenever a proper time is found. According to a study, cycling can be more beneficial in the morning, as cycling consumes more energy in the morning than in the evening. (11) On this basis, the morning time can be considered suitable for the cycling.
Who Should Avoid Cycling?
However, cycling is considered safe for adults from children. However, in view of the safety of health, the following people should not run bicycles.
Young children should not be cycling. Even if the child is older than 5 years old, let him cycle under the supervision of the parents.
Even the elderly with knee problems should not run bicycles, as cycling can increase the problem of knees. Therefore, consult a doctor once before cycling.
As more energy is to be used for cycling, the breathing rate also starts to increase. Asthma patients should avoid cycling. This can lead to more breathing problems. It would be better to run a bicycle on the advice of a doctor with asthma patients (12).
While cycling can reduce the risks associated with heart attacks and strokes, those who have epileptic seizures should not be cycling without a doctor’s advice. Epileptic attacks during cycling can cause serious injury to them and those around them (13).
It is advisable not to do any physical exercise when there is mental fatigue. (14) While cycling, it consume more energy as well as it put more emphasis on muscles, so you may feel very tired. That is why, even in such a situation, it may be better to stay away from cycling.
Read Now: Magnificent Benefits and Side Effects of Skipping Rope
Side Effects of Cycling.
Apart from the health benefits of cycling, there are also have some side effects. The disadvantages of cycling are as follows;
Weight Loss.
As mentioned above, cycling is an effective exercise for weight loss, as it can help to burn calories. On this basis, those who need to increase weight should avoid cycling.
Breathing Rate May Increase.
According to an NCBI report, people those are cycling can have a higher breathing rate (15) than those who driving a car. It can be detrimental to people suffering from respiratory problems.
The Likeness of The Accident May Increase.
Due to increasing air pollution, more fog can be observed at some places in the morning. For this reason, there may also be an apprehension of road accidents with cyclists in such places.
Read Now: Simple 9 Exercise for Muscular and V Shape Back
Frequently Asked Questions.
1. What is good cycling or walking?
When it comes to calorie burn, more calories can be burned by cycling than walking. If one is not contemplating weight gain and there is no serious health problem, the option of cycling instead of walking can be more beneficial.
2. Does cycling reduce the stomach?
The article explains in the above that cycling can help to reduce weight. On this basis, it can be assumed that it can also be helpful in reducing the stomach to some extent.
3. How long should the bicycle run?
Cycling is advisable for about 20 to 30 minutes for better health benefits. You can also do more or less according to your goal and distance. You can also consult to your physician for more information.
Bottom Line.
There are many health benefits of regular cycling. If the necessary precautions related to cycling are taken care of, the loss of cycling can be avoided. If you are considering cycling for health benefits, we would suggest that do not run bicycles in crowded places. Also, take full care of your safety. In addition, you can also get the health benefits of cycling through cycling machines in the gym. | https://medium.com/@freaktof/7-amazing-health-benefits-of-regular-cycling-525bbfa4725 | [] | 2021-04-12 19:49:21.019000+00:00 | ['Blogging', 'Freaktofit', 'Cycling', 'Fitness', 'Health Benefits'] |
From Vision to Version (Part 2) | In the first post from this series I defined terms such as “vision,” “strategy,” and “tactics,” then explored the benefits of having a well-defined and communicated product vision. I also provided some tips for how one might go about gathering inspiration and then articulating a vision of their own. In this post, I will illustrate how to use some of these tips by demonstrating how they played into the creation of the current product vision at Getsafe.
Initial Explorations and Thoughts
I started working for Getsafe in October 2018 as a newcomer to the insurance industry. Needless to say, I had a lot to learn about insurance as a domain as well as about Getsafe in general. Thus, I spent the first month or two on the job trying to gain as much context as possible in order to formulate some opinions of my own. Here’s a summary of my learnings from these explorations.
The customer lifecycle is super, super long.
The timing of insurance purchases generally correlate with the occurrence of major life events, which means that on average people will only need to buy a new insurance product every few years. This presents some pretty interesting challenges for customer engagement as the long timeline between purchases means that we will need to be very creative about how to stay relevant and top-of-mind. We also need to make sure that our products and services can evolve with the lives of our customers.
Insurance was meant to be personalized.
A very interesting aspect of today’s insurance is that it is possible to lose money by selling more product. This is because today, insurance as a business relies on making sure that the amount of money collected from customers exceeds the amount of money paid out in claims in aggregate over time. The word “aggregate” is key here because at the moment the industry does not yet have the means to make sure this equation always holds at an individual level, meaning that companies simply make money on the “low risk” customers and lose money on the “high risk” customers.
Insurance can be a part of every lifestyle.
Many companies supplement revenues from their core business with commission from selling insurances. For example, retail shops often sell insurance for the goods that people buy at the store. Banks often cross-sell homeowners insurance policies when customers are applying for a home loan. From the perspective of an insurance company, this means that there is likely an opportunity to vertically integrate and position insurance products as a part of a lifestyle instead of purely standalone.
How people buy insurance can become more natural.
At Getsafe, every new employee spends a part of their first week mapping out the customer acquisition journey from initial discovery to completing their first purchase. When I went through this exercise, the customer acquisition journey looked something like this:
Customer realizes they need insurance. Customer explores options via various tools. Customer gets quotes from some of these options. Customer selects one option. Customer purchases insurance.
What stood out to me here was that the first step of the journey required customers to somehow realize they need insurance. This feels unnatural because insurances do not occur to me as something that people generally wake up each morning and just decide they need. Insurances do not directly address any fundamental human needs in the way that food fulfills hunger or friends create a feeling of belonging. To me, it feels like the customer acquisition journey ought to have a “step #0” that starts somewhere before the needs of insurances are fully realized by the average consumer.
Insurance has a noble origin.
As I learned more about Getsafe and the insurance industry, I started asking myself a very fundamental question:
Why does insurance deserve to exist?
So I started researching the origins of insurance. To my pleasant surprise, insurances have a relatively noble beginning, serving as the instrument by which any given community can empower its members to recover from disasters. Unfortunately, this narrative has gotten lost because today we generally view insurance companies as sleazy, sales-driven businesses that profit from the fear within individuals. The sense of communal benefit and protection is nowhere to be found in the average person’s perception of why insurance exists. This represents a very large gap between that initial starting place and where things are today, and I think our mission to reinvent insurance should also include helping people understand how it fits into their lives and why it is good for them and their community.
Turning Inspiration Into Concrete Statements
To add up these learnings, here are three statements that start to concretely articulate how the inspiration from above could inform our product vision.
Imagine a world where…
…Getsafe provides products and services that directly address human needs. There should be a reason for people to wake up in the morning and want to use one of our products or services.
There should be a reason for people to wake up in the morning and want to use one of our products or services. …Getsafe engages with people before they realize they need insurance. We want to be a part of the journey to help them understand how insurances may fit into their daily lives.
We want to be a part of the journey to help them understand how insurances may fit into their daily lives. …Insurance feels more like a companion rather than a pile of paperwork. Getsafe should bring insurance back to its roots and re-create a sense of community around it.
The Product Vision at Getsafe
With these concrete statements, we can start to tell a story about the world that we would like to create. Here is a high-level pitch for what we are trying to achieve at Getsafe.
Bridging Insurance With Human Needs
“Peace of mind” is a basic human need, and here are some ways that the average person might articulate this fundamental desire:
I need to…
…plan for the future.
…have a backup plan.
…stop worrying.
…feel safe.
…be ready for the “what-ifs.”
…know my family will be OK.
As an insurance company, providing the appropriate coverage to our customers is one way that we can try to address “peace of mind” for them. Unfortunately, insurance is really complicated, and most customers need help understanding what they need, when, and why. Traditionally, insurance agents have tried to bridge this gap by setting up long appointments to interview the customer about their needs. For us as an insurtech, how can we use technology to do this better? How can we seamlessly bridge “peace of mind” with insurance products such that it feels completely natural to our customers?
The Insurance of Tomorrow
Technology has become ubiquitously embedded within the daily lives of people. In today’s on-demand economy, consumers gravitate toward real-time access and instant gratification. This trend provides the optimal environment for next-generation insurance products to incubate because it affords us ample opportunity to inject ourselves into the everyday lives of people. With a mobile-first approach, our app lives inside the pockets of our customers and travels with them wherever they go. As long as we are providing tangible benefits to our customers, we have the opportunity to position insurance as a life companion, rather than a necessary evil. We foresee the evolution of the “insurance experience” in two phases:
1. Insurance as an App
Over the last two decades, technology has dramatically changed how people interact with many products and services. This same movement toward digital and on-demand is now finally gaining traction within the insurance industry. For Getsafe and our insurtech peers, this means that we have the opportunity to define what the “insurance experience” ought to feel like in this new world. As an example, customers can now purchase and cancel insurance policies in real-time, without scheduling an appointment or filling out a long contract. We will build technology to transform interactions that have traditionally been complex into one that is frictionless, fast, and fair (i.e., claims).
2. Insurance as a Lifestyle
Since insurances are complicated and usually irrelevant to daily life, we believe that insurtechs will aim to achieve far more than the digitization of insurance products. We believe that in order for the industry to truly progress, insurance products must become more ubiquitous in the everyday lives of consumers. It should be clear to our customers how we enable them to live the lives they’ve always wanted to live. They should not perceive insurance products as something that they need to buy but hope never to use.
Three Customer Groups
Given the above premise, we’ve articulated three distinct customer groups to keep in mind as we develop products and services:
Customers of insurance products: i.e., “I need bike theft insurance.”
i.e., “I need bike theft insurance.” Getsafe employees: i.e., “I work for Getsafe.”
i.e., “I work for Getsafe.” Average consumers: i.e., “I own a bike.”
Each of these customer groups have drastically different goals, so naturally we now also have three major product areas that we work on in parallel:
Insurance products : Create the next-generation insurance experience
: Create the next-generation insurance experience Internal tools: Maximize operational efficiency
Maximize operational efficiency Lifestyle scenarios: Bridge the gap between human needs and insurances
Here is an illustration that I often draw on the whiteboard when pitching our vision to various internal and external stakeholders. It is simple, yet it accurately describes how I see the relationship between each of the three product areas. Getsafe will reinvent insurance by creating a new insurance experience that caters to the digital, on-demand needs of customers. We will scale our operations by developing internal tools. Ultimately, we will also create products and services that bridge human needs to insurance products.
Conclusion
If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for reading! I sincerely hope you’ve found both of these articles useful and that you’ve been able to find some tips to apply to your daily work. Feel free to drop any questions or comments below, and please follow us if you’d like to keep tabs on what we’re up to.
Don’t be a stranger,
Patrick | https://pattsao.com/from-vision-to-version-part-2-eee4f4b292e6 | ['Patrick Tsao'] | 2019-05-06 19:23:17.393000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Product Management', 'Careers', 'Vision', 'Insurtech'] |
Excited to announce new additions & a Partner promotion in the Frontline team | Excited to announce new additions & a Partner promotion in the Frontline team William McQuillan Follow Jun 22 · 4 min read
Early-stage venture investing is all about the people and with that in mind I’m particularly excited to announce a number of team additions and a promotion in Frontline.
Over the last two months, the Frontline Seed Team has been joined by Namratha Kothapalli as Principal, Lauren Kang as Senior Associate and David Clarke as Venture Partner.
Namratha Kothapalli is a computer scientist by background having worked in Intel, Dell and Hewlett Packard, before switching to venture capital investing at Passion Capital and SpeedInvest.
Lauren Kang has a BA from Harvard, worked at Facebook and then began investing with Overton Venture Capital and helped with The Fund in LA.
David Clarke was the Founder of CapeClear which he sold to Workday in 2008 and has spent over 12 years at Workday where he was most recently CTO. David is also an active angel investor.
As well as adding great people to the Frontline team, we also love seeing those in our team excel and grow in their roles. So I’m particularly excited to announce that Frontline is promoting Finn Murphy to Partner.
I had the pleasure of meeting Finn Murphy in February 2018 when he was interviewing for an Analyst role in Frontline. At the time we had over 180 people apply for the role and even though the bar was very high, Finn made our decision simple, raising even our own expectation for what we wanted in a candidate. He had a sharp mind, high energy, strong network, had been both an entrepreneur and worked in a senior role in a very fast growth technology company, and was not afraid to disagree with us or push our thinking. In his years in Frontline he has continued to challenge our thinking to help us create an offering that the best entrepreneurs really want.
Over the last three and a half years he has consistently performed far beyond what his age and title would suggest. It is with pleasure that I’m able to announce Frontline is promoting him to Partner.
Given the recent team additions and promotions. I thought I’d take this opportunity to explain what we at Frontline think makes a great early stage investor.
Visibility
Being able to see the right investment opportunities is crucial in venture capital. It might sound good if someone says they look at hundreds or thousands of potential investments in a year but if they’re not the 10–15 best investments that year they can be largely wasting their time.
Depth of Understanding
In venture, we come across a lot of different types of companies from crypto and quantum computing, to laboratory hardware and developer tools. It’s crucial any great investor is able to understand the opportunity in any market and quickly filter to find the right company to invest in.
Ability to Win
Europe is no longer a ‘sleepy backwater’ to Silicon Valley it is a big and fast-moving ecosystem with plenty of high-quality investors based locally and even more looking to invest from outside into it. It is now rare to see an interesting company without multiple term sheets. A great investor needs to be able to build a strong enough rapport with the entrepreneurs that they are the chosen lead term sheet. In such a competitive environment this is not an easy feat!
Support the entrepreneurs:
At Frontline, we strongly believe our role is to reduce the friction in front of the entrepreneurs so they can move faster than just the speed of their own experience. We want all investors in our team to work to constantly reduce that friction.
Our long-term vision for Frontline is to create a venture firm where financial capital is the least valuable part of our offering. The additions of Namratha, Lauren and David, and the promotion of Finn, is because we believe they all embody this belief and along with the rest of the team are working toward that goal. | https://medium.com/at-the-front-line/excited-to-announce-new-additions-a-partner-promotion-in-the-frontline-team-9d20d660a18d | ['William Mcquillan'] | 2021-06-22 11:57:55.081000+00:00 | ['Promotion', 'Team', 'Venture Capital', 'VC'] |
6 Strategies That Can Offer Impressive Results In Marketing B2B SaaS Products — The Crowdfire blog | B2B SaaS product marketing is perhaps one of the most challenging tasks for digital marketers. It is like marketing something that hardly 10 B2B firms would show interest in, or trying to sell something with a goofy name, and no physical presence. Put simply; it may not even make sense to an average individual. It’s critically different in comparison with other marketing activities, and considerably challenging.
The marketplaces in most countries are full of Software as a Service solution(s) for finance, project management, file storage, and every possible category. So, growing SaaS business proves tougher with each passing day. However, one cannot ignore that the market for such a service is set to reach $143 billion by 2022.
Here’re some strategies that have proved relevant for marketing Software as a Service product.
#1. Defining and validating ICPs
Ideal Customer Profile or ICP refers to the organization or companies that the B2B SaaS vendor chooses as targets. Selecting them is a complicated task. As a marketer, you should choose firms that would get the best out of the products or services, and not just someone whom you want as a customer.
The first step should be to identify your best customers out of the existing lot and conduct in-depth research on them. Segment them, and build a list of their competitors. Once the names are in place, the next step is validating these ICPs with the help of LinkedIn outreach campaigns, display ads, snail mail. Firms, marketers need to select the best possible outreach strategy, advertising, and content to target them and grab their attention. The success ratio is dependent on distributing marketing content at places where the key decision-makers from these firms spend time.
#2. Retargeting and re-engaging
Re-engaging with visitors who left the website without downloading the ebook, or opting for a free-trial after spending considerable time on the portal can be a good idea. The strategy has helped several marketers to increase conversions.
Roughly only around two percent of the website visitors turn into customers. There are many retargeting tools available in the market that can help track these visitors and target them with your ads on other websites. Several e-commerce firms use the same technique to track visitors who browse products and then show them ads related to the same products on social networking sites. The method helps in luring these prospects back to the site.
Retargeting software solutions can prove useful for almost every industry. These tools can give another chance to your business for establishing its credibility and earning trust. Presumably, it happens to be the most tried and tested strategy for SaaS marketing during recent years.
Let your project managers host Q & A sessions on social networking sites.
Project managers from several B2B SaaS vendors conduct live events and meetings where prospects raise their concerns. Software contracts are worth millions. Firms won’t make decisions with regard to essential marketing tools based on Facebook or Instagram conversations. However, software acquisition team members from these firms may have some questions that project managers can answer. Educating consumers and prospects can help in building trust towards the team.
Advertise all the details for the Q&A session well in advance on relevant platforms. Give priority to LinkedIn, and seek questions from existing clients as well.
#3. Share data-heavy case studies
Most SaaS vendors have access to a chunk of first-hand industry data. Sharing the same in the form of case studies can help in building brand reputation and gaining appreciation.
The SaaS consultant can share studies based on trends observed in various industries that their clients represent. Posting such data-rich content as a part of advertising campaigns can lure relevant visitors to the website because key decision-makers love data-rich studies.
#4. The ‘free trial’ strategy still works
When it comes to the top strategies that help in the acquisition and onboarding of new customers for ACV SaaS products, the ‘free trial’ strategy still works. It’s widely accepted and is one of the most standard practices.
If you search for B2B SaaS products, you will surely come across software solutions with a free trial period. There are several iterations for the free model like- limited features free-trial, 90-day free trial, trial-to-purchase, and the freemium model. Signing up for the trial should be as easy as possible because someone who is not fully committed to the product may not appreciate too many upfront steps.
#5. Using visuals for comprehension
After spending a fortune on finding the right set of prospects, targeting them with appropriate content is crucial. Prospects may consume visuals faster in comparison to text. So, graphics and images can help you prove how your product can assist the client’s business.
Using animated videos, GIFs, infographics, and third party reviews concerning the benefits of the products should be a part of your marketing material. Videos featuring case studies about current clients and their testimonial videos can be of great help.
The videos’ message should match the text reviews, images, and graphics about the product everywhere on the internet. Images, videos should be of the correct resolution.
#6. Focus on retention more than acquisition
Existing SaaS clients bring most of the revenue for vendors. point out that roughly 20 percent of the firm’s existing customers may account for 80 percent of the firm’s future income.
As per insights highlighted by Bain & Co, improving retention percentage by five percent can result in as much as 75 percent improvement in the business profitability in the future. Thus, experts believe the SaaS marketing success depends on how well the vendor understands the existing clients’ lifetime value and retention percentages. Analyzing the reasons behind customer churn, and focusing on retention can be even more fruitful than working towards customer acquisition.
Vendors for products offered by giants like Google, Adobe, Slack, Shopify, MailChimp, Salesforce, Hubspot, ServiceNow, Square, Splunk, Zendesk, etc. use some of these strategies. However, you must remember that proper planning is crucial for their success. | https://medium.com/@rakshit-hirapara/6-strategies-that-can-offer-impressive-results-in-marketing-b2b-saas-products-the-crowdfire-blog-3abb1d12708a | ['Rakshit Hirapara'] | 2020-12-25 08:53:24.791000+00:00 | ['SEO', 'B2b Sales', 'B2b Marketing', 'Saas Marketing', 'SaaS'] |
Property Pattern Extended C# | C# CONCEPTS
Property Pattern Extended C#
This article focus on extending the property pattern to next level. Refer prerequisites section for previous toll fare example used and following article extends that example further.
Prerequisites
Please go through the below article example, which calculates a toll fare based upon the vehicle type.
Recap of requirements already covered:
If the vehicle is Car => 100 Rs
If the vehicle is DeliveryTruck => 200 Rs
If the vehicle is Bus => 150 Rs
If the vehicle is Taxi => 120 Rs
Cars & taxis with “NO” passengers pay an extra 10 Rs.
Cars & taxis with two passengers get a 10 Rs discount.
Cars & taxis with three or more passengers get a 20 Rs discount.
Buses that are less than 50% of passengers pay an extra 30 Rs.
Buses that are more than 90% of passengers get a 40 Rs discount.
Trucks over 5000 lbs, charged an extra 100 Rs.
Light trucks under 3000 lbs, given a 20 Rs discount.
Let’s extend the property pattern.
For the final feature, the toll authority wants to add time-sensitive peak pricing.
Extended Requirements
During peak hours, double the price; this rule applies in one direction i.e., morning inbound traffic into the city and evening outbound traffic out of the city.
into the city and evening out of the city. Late-night & early morning tolls are reduced by 25%.
During workday hours, increase toll be 50%.
During weekends, the toll price is constant concerning time.
Reference Table
Let’s write some code
Let’s proceed with the identification of each column of the reference table above.
Identify Day
Firstly the program should be aware of whether a particular day is a weekday or weekend. Refer new switch syntax.
The above code makes use “System.DaysOfWeek” enum
public enum DayOfWeek
{
Sunday = 0,
Monday = 1,
Tuesday = 2,
Wednesday = 3,
Thursday = 4,
Friday = 5,
Saturday = 6
}
Identify Time
Firstly, the distinct time slots available.
private enum TimeSlots
{
MorningPeak,
Daytime,
EveningPeak,
Overnight
}
Now let’s identify the time slots using switch syntax with time in hours. Refer new switch syntax.
Identify Direction
As there are two possible values of direction, so it can directly be used as a boolean flag i.e., if ‘true’ means inbound and if ‘false’ means outbound.
True => inbound => Into the city
False => outbound => Out of the city
The alternative is to create an enum and add switch syntax, similar to what we have done above.
Identify Premium
After all table columns are identified, the below switch expression with the tuple pattern to calculate the toll premium.
Refer pattern matching syntax with single & multiple property classes. Link
The switch expression (Refer new switch syntax):
Premium method call
var costInbound = PeakPremium.CalculatePeakTimePremium(DateTime.Now, true); var costOutbound = PeakPremium.CalculatePeakTimePremium(DateTime.Now, false); Console.WriteLine("Charges {0} for {1}",costInbound,DateTime.Now); Console.WriteLine("Charges {0} for {1}", costOutbound, DateTime.Now);
Output | https://medium.com/c-sharp-progarmming/property-pattern-extended-c-c5e2191ae0e1 | ['Sukhpinder Singh'] | 2020-09-08 13:57:24.552000+00:00 | ['Dotnet Core', 'Csharp', 'Design Patterns', 'Dotnet', 'Csharp8'] |
Importance of Creating New Opportunities in Businesses; The UAE and Israel | Importance of Creating New Opportunities in Businesses; The UAE and Israel Lindsay Caron ·Dec 10, 2020
Fast progress has been made in both countries in making new markets, makes a business’s life easier!
Making/opening bank account is not a big issue anymore! Signed between UAE and Israeli banks.
Tech area, too early to put into details but at least they are talking about it!
Progression in biotech, AI and advanced machine learning technologies for natural resources and agriculture
14 UAE-Israeli flights (Dubai and Tel Aviv) and are planning to open 28 weekly flights
At the end of the day why are these things important to all business owners and consumer in the Middle East? These opportunities are important because it hones not just the economy but our own personal peace of mind about what’s gonna happened next. Greater future ahead people! | https://medium.com/@lindsaycaron12/importance-of-creating-new-opportunities-in-businesses-the-uae-and-israel-24f6260161a4 | ['Lindsay Caron'] | 2020-12-10 08:30:49.938000+00:00 | ['Israel', 'Business', 'Dubai', 'Middle East', 'Uae'] |
A Five Minute Overview of Amazon SimpleDB | Sometimes we are working on a project where we need a data store, but the complexities of Relational Database Service (RDS), DynamoDB, DocumentDB, et al are more than what is needed. This is where Amazon SimpleDB becomes a valuable resource.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/77BybWgy6VHfCxS2LXrb8V?si=ehEKXoHPTVqhlmYkGoHbyw
SimpleDB is a NoSQL database. NoSQL databases are not new, having been around since the 1960s. The term NoSQL can have several different meanings from non-SQL, referring to the lack of relation support in the database, to Not only SQL meaning the database may support Structured Query Language (SQL) Wikipedia.
AWS has a number of databases to meet the needs of your project. If you look in the AWS Management Console, the Database section lists:
Relational Database Service
DynamoDB
ElastiCache
Neptune
Amazon QLDB
Amazon DocumentDB
Amazon Keyspaces
Amazon TimeStream
Did you notice SimpleDB is missing from the list? This is because there is no interface to SimpleDB through the console. SimpleDB tables, which are called domains, are created programmatically using the CLI, SDK, or web services requests and all operations are performed through those interfaces.
Why use SimpleDB?
Database management is a science of its own. Schema designs, Entity-Relationship models, query optimization, and the day to day management breed complexity into a project. And every database or database engine is unique in its own right. SimpleDB removes the complexity of database management by being NoSQL and having no administrative overhead. The AWS documentation states “Amazon SimpleDB is optimized to provide high availability and flexibility, with little or no administrative burden” Amazon SimpleDB.
The SimpleDB architecture is designed to be highly available, by automatically creating geographically distributed copies of your data. If one replica fails, another is seamlessly used to access your data.
Because there is no rigid schema to support, changing the attributes needed to support your project is simply a matter of adding the additional columns, which are called attributes in SimpleDB.
And SimpleDB is secure, using HTTPS as the transport and integrating with IAM to provide fine-grained control over the operations and data.
Same of the sample use cases for using SimpleDB include logging, online gaming, and S3 Object Metadata indexing Amazon SimpleDB.
With that introduction out of the way, let’s look at working with SimpleDB using the Software Development Kit.
Working with SimpleDB using the SDK
The examples in this section use Python but are explained so you don’t need to know Python to follow them. If you don’t know, the Python3 SDK is called boto3.
Connecting to the SimpleDB Service
Before we can work with SimpleDB, we have established a connection to the service.
try:
session = boto3.session.Session()
except Exception as error:
logging.error("Error: cannot create service session: %s", error)
raise error
try:
client = session.client("sdb", region_name="us-east-1")
except Exception as error:
logging.error("Cannot connect to %s in %s:%s", service, region, error)
raise error
The first try block creates a session, which can be used to create connections to multiple services if needed, while the second try block creates a connection to the SimpleDB service. If the session or client cannot be established, then an error is raised to the calling function. Once the client connection to the SimpleDB endpoint has been created, we are ready to work with the service.
Creating a SimpleDB Domain
Before we can work with data, we have to create a domain if we don’t already have one. This is done using the create_domain API call.
try:
client.create_domain(DomainName=domain)
except Exception as error:
raise error
The single argument to create_domain is the domain or table name. Domain names must be unique within the account. Initially, up to 250 domains can be created, and it the user’s responsibility to determine how to shard or partition the data to not exceed the 10 GB hard limit on domains. With the domain created, we can now insert some data.
Listing the Available Domains
We will eventually want to see all of the domains we have created. We can use the list_domains API to obtain the list. this is best done using a paginator, allowing the retrieval of all of the domains without worrying about the maximum number of retrieved items being reached.
token = None
domain_list = []
# create the paginator for the list_domains API
try:
paginator = client.get_paginator('list_domains')
except Exception as error:
raise error
# create a page iterator which returns 100 items per
# page
try:
page_iterator = paginator.paginate(
PaginationConfig={
'PageSize': 100,
'StartingToken': token
}
)
except Exception as error:
raise error
# work through the items on each page
try:
for page in page_iterator:
# for each item, add the domain to the
# domain_list
for pg in page["DomainNames"]:
domain_list.append(pg)
# see if we have another page to process
try:
token = page["nextToken"]
except KeyError:
break
except Exception as error:
raise error
# return the list of domains to the calling function
return domain_list
Using a paginator regardless of what language you are working with is a good idea because you are not limited to the maximum number of items the API for your programming language returns. When this code executes, the result is a list of domains which can then be displayed.
Inserting Items into the Domain
If you have a lot of attributes, preparing the data to insert into the domain can be a little tedious. We’ll come back to that in a minute. Inserting items into the domain uses the put_attributes function.
try:
response = client.put_attributes(
DomainName=domain,
ItemName=item,
Attributes=attributes
)
except Exception as error:
logging.error("insertion {domain}: %s", error)
raise error
We have to specify the domain we are inserting the item into, the name of the item, and the attributes. The item name must be unique in the domain. If the item name already exists, then SimpleDB will attempt to update the existing item with the attributes provided.
I mentioned defining the attributes can be a little tedious. This is because attributes are defined as name-value pairs. In Python, this would look like
attributes = [
{
"Name": "attribute1",
"Value": "value1"
},
{
"Name": "attribute2",
"Value": "attribute2"
},
{
"Name": "attributeN",
"Value": attributeN
},
]
Therefore, the more attributes, the more tedious it gets. However, if your data is already stored in a Python dictionary, then creating the attributes is simple.
attributes = []
for key, value in some.items():
attributes.append({"Name": key, "Value": str(value)})
This brings up an important point: SimpleDB doesn’t understand any data type other than a string. If your data includes things like integer and boolean values, they must be represented as strings when stored in SimpleDB.
The second point is the third field in the attribute definition: Replace. If you are updating an item with the action, adding in the Replace field with a value of true will cause SimpleDB to update the record if it already exists.
attributes = [
{
"Name": "attribute1",
"Value": "value1",
"Replace": True
}
]
Domain Metadata
Before we look at retrieving data from our SimpleDB domain, let’s look at how we can get information about the domain using the domain_metadata function. This function allows you to determine when the domain was created, the number of items and attributes, and the size of those attribute names and values.
Assuming we already have a client connection to SimpleDB, we can do the following:
try:
response = client.domain_metadata(
DomainName=domain
)
except Exception as error:
logging.error("{domain}: %s", error)
raise error
print(f"Domain: {Domain}")
print(
f"Domain created on {datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(response['Timestamp'])}"
)
print(f"Total items: {response['ItemCount']}")
print(f"Total attribute names: {response['AttributeNameCount']}")
print(f"Total attribute values: {response['AttributeValueCount']}")
storage_used = response['ItemNamesSizeBytes'] + response['AttributeNamesSizeBytes'] + response['AttributeValuesSizeBytes']
print(
f"Total Domain size: {storage_used} bytes {storage_used/MB:.2f} MB, {storage_used/GB:.2f} GB"
)
if storage_used >= HALF:
print("The domain size is 50% of the maximum domain size")
elif storage_used >= THRESHOLD:
print(
"The domain size is 90% of the maximum domain size. Inserts into the domain will fail when the maximum size is reached."
)
If we execute this on my sample SimpleDB domain I am using for a project, we see:
Domain: Assessments
Domain created on 2020-10-17 13:05:01
Total items: 31301
Total attribute names: 91
Total attribute values: 2849831
Total Domain size: 5477676 bytes 5.35 MB, 0.01 GB
There are indeed 31,301 items in the domain with a total of 91 unique attribute names. The number of attribute values is determined by multiplying the number of attribute names and the total number of items. This means there are 2,849,831 total attributes in the domain. These attributes are all text and only use 5.35 MB. The total size of each item, its attribute names and data is 175 bytes.
This is the primary reason for using SimpleDB in this project. It is fast, small, and as we will see a little later, inexpensive. It is also a good example of why RDS and DynamoDB are not good use cases — the operational cost is just not reasonable for the amount of data being consumed.
At this point, we can create a SimpleDB domain, insert items, and retrieve the metadata for the domain. Let’s look at retrieving data from the domain.
Retrieving Items from the Domain
There are two methods for retrieving data from your domain: get_attributes and select. If you already know the Item name, then you can use the get_attributes function to retrieve the attributes for that one item. However, if you don’t know the item name or want to retrieve all of the items meeting specific criteria, we use the select function.
The select function works similarly to the SQL SELECT command, allowing you to retrieve the desired attributes (columns) for the items (rows) matching the criteria specified in the select statement. Here are some examples using the AWS CLI:
Find out how many items are in the domain (which can also be accomplished using the domain_metadata function):
aws sdb select --select-expression "select count(*) from Assessments"
{
"Items": [
{
"Name": "Domain",
"Attributes": [
{
"Name": "Count",
"Value": "31301"
}
]
}
]
}
Retrieve a specific attribute:
aws sdb select --select-expression "select BirthYear from Assessments"
Retrieve a group of attributes:
aws sdb select --select-expression "select BirthYear, Gender from Assessments"
IF we look at the last example, the response from SimpleDB looks like
{
"Items": [
{
"Name": "20180717230440",
"Attributes": [
{
"Name": "BirthYear",
"Value": "1981"
},
{
"Name": "Gender",
"Value": "male"
}
]
},
{
"Name": "20170712184415",
"Attributes": [
{
"Name": "BirthYear",
"Value": "1974"
},
{
"Name": "Gender",
"Value": "male"
}
]
},
For each item found in the select statement, you get the item Name and the values for the specified attributes.
There are no indexes in SimpleDB. This means retrieving all of the affected rows can be slow. For example, the command aws sdb select --select-expression "select BirthYear, Gender from Assessments" takes approximately 10 seconds for the 31,301 items using the CLI. The same request using the SDK takes 1.25 seconds.
If we want to put this into a Python function, we could do this:
try:
paginator = client.get_paginator('select')
except Exception as error:
raise error
try:
page_iterator = paginator.paginate(
SelectExpression=f"select BirthYear,Gender from Assessments",
ConsistentRead=consistentRead,
PaginationConfig={
'MaxItems': 500,
'StartingToken': token
}
)
except Exception as error:
raise error
try:
for page in page_iterator:
for pg in page["Items"]:
selected.append(pg)
try:
token = page["NextToken"]
except KeyError:
break
except Exception as error:
logging.error("Cannot retrieve data: %s", error)
raise error
print(selected)
This code fragment creates the paginator for the select function and then executes the select statement, which is “hardcoded” in the script (not what you would do). We then loop through all of the items returned until there is no NextToken and then print the selected items. This example sets MaxItems to 500, but the maximum returned size is 1MB. Regardless of what MaxItems is set to, if the size of the response is more than 1MB, the response will be split into multiple pages.
Pricing
The pricing model makes SimpleDB hard to beat. The Free Tier provides 25 machine-hours, 1 GB of storage, unlimited data in, and up to 1 GB of data out a month. That is a pretty significant allocation. The research work and work on a project which I am implementing with SimpleDB will result in no charges for quite a while.
If you exceed the 25 machine hours, the cost is $0.14 per machine hour over 25. Storage is $0.25 per GB over the 1 GB os free storage, and data transfer out starts at $0.09 per GB after the free tier is exhausted.
If you need a small database, don’t need console access, and don’t need the overhead or capabilities of an RDBMS, then SimpleDB is hard to beat.
Things to Know
Before wrapping up this article, there are some things worth knowing before deciding to use SimpleDB on your next project:
CloudFormation has no interface to create or manage SimpleDB resources. It has to be done using the CLI or the SDK.
A domain, or table, has a hard limit of 10 GB in size, which cannot be changed. If you think the domain will grow over 10GB, a data sharding plan or alternate database should be considered.
SimpleDB has capacity limits, typically under 25 writes/second. If you expect to need higher capacity, then an alternate database may be a wise choice.
There is a soft limit of 250 domains. You can request to have this increased if needed.
The maximum size of an attribute is 1024 bytes, which cannot be changed.
All data must be represented as strings.
SimpleDB is not available in all regions.
There are no indexes.
If you have to retrieve all or a large number of items in the domain to perform an operation, it is best to retrieve all of the attributes you expect to need instead of making repeated calls to the domain. If you are using AWS Lambda, this can also affect the amount of memory needed as you will need to account for the size of the response variable you will receive.
In Conclusion
SimpleDB offers CLI, SDK, and Web API REST interfaces, making it easy to interact with from many different sources. The SDK is significantly faster than the CLI, meaning it may be better to write small programs to do the work of the CLI. (The CLI examples were done using AWS CLI Version 1. Version 2 may be considerably faster.)
This may very well be a viable database for your next project. Short-lived data which is transient could be written to a domain and when not needed any longer, deleted. Log data could be saved to a SimpleDB domain instead of going to DynamoDB, or RDS which are expensive solutions for this use case.
References
Amazon SimpleDB
Amazon SimpleDB API Usage
Amazon SimpleDB FAQ
Amazon SimpleDB Pricing
Integrating Amazon S3 and Amazon SimpleDB
Running Databases on AWS
Wikipedia — NoSQL
About the Author
Chris is a highly-skilled Information Technology, AWS Cloud, Training and Security Professional bringing cloud, security, training, and process engineering leadership to simplify and deliver high-quality products. He is the co-author of seven books and author of more than 70 articles and book chapters in technical, management, and information security publications. His extensive technology, information security, and training experience make him a key resource who can help companies through technical challenges. Chris is a member of the AWS Community Builder Program.
Copyright
This article is Copyright © 2020, Chris Hare. | https://medium.com/swlh/a-five-minute-overview-of-amazon-simpledb-4823a829d99 | ['Chris Hare'] | 2020-10-23 14:02:49.868000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Aws Cloud', 'Aws Sdk', 'Aws Community', 'Database'] |
Rock-Solid Life Lessons from Table Rock Mountain | I know it sounds a little crazy, but a rock recently taught me some significant life lessons. No, this wasn’t a Zen pebble meditation, nor did I hear voices coming from inanimate objects. It was the fruit of a hike up Table Rock Mountain in Pickens, SC.
Table Rock was a grueling hike. But, I pressed on. I made it. It was one of the most physically demanding things I can remember doing. Maybe it was the constant gasping of air that put me into a delirium that allowed me to dissociate from my body and ponder life’s deeper meaning? Rather, I think, I had to ponder life’s deeper meaning in order to do this physically challenging thing. I decided I would make this mountain a metaphor for the great challenges in my life, past, present and future.
Here is what the rock taught me as the hike progressed…
How many things have I started enthusiastically, only to be met with great challenge, and then just quit?
I don’t know about you, but a dozen things come to mind pretty quickly for me. The excuses were all along the lines of, “I’m not as prepared as I thought I was. This isn’t that rewarding. I would never make it anyway. Just not for me.” Sometimes those excuses were rational and accurate, but even still I think they served as justification to throw in the towel before giving it my best. In this instance, I decided to press through that initial hardship instead of turning back.
How many times have I stopped something because I was worried someone would see me struggle?
This time, more than a dozen things come to mind…more like dozens, maybe even hundreds. I was hiking with a friend that was ten years older, and would tell you he needs to lose 30 pounds. But clearly, he was in better shape. Sweaty? Yes, but not gasping for air, and he was moving at a pretty good clip.
Maybe there’s something in here about why I prefer to be alone in so many things? Now yes, I am an introvert, and I make no apologies for that, but I suspect there are many things I have not engaged in with a group because of the fear of people seeing me struggle. That is the voice of the perfectionist, whom as we all know, makes the fatal mistake of deriving his or her validation from the opinion of others. Better not to try and make a fool of myself rather than try and not do it perfectly (or at least better than the other guy), right? Gross!
I remember after about the first half-mile of the hike, telling my friend, “I’m determined to make it to the top, but if I’m slowing you down, please go on ahead.” I know that sounds polite and noble, but I think I was really asking not to be seen struggling. He didn’t bite, probably because he wasn’t sure I wouldn’t just turn around and head back to the car as soon as he got out of sight, or because he thought I would just pass out and be unattended to.
So, in this instance, I had to ask myself, what would it be like to be vulnerable? I wasn’t going to complain, but there was no way I could hide how hard this was for me. So, I pressed on, huffing and puffing, leaving a small stream of my sweat and a lot of my pride on the trail.
What would happen if I picked the pace that worked for me, rather than an unrealistic standard or someone else’s standard?
If you know me, you know I’m 5'8" on a good posture day (which is like a good hair day). I have a 28" inseam. My legs are SHORT! Most people, even short people like me, have a couple of extra inches on their legs and their strides are much longer. I notice that walking in the parking lot after dinner with friends. It really shows up doing something physical. Normally, I just work a little harder to keep up, but that wasn’t going to work this time.
So, rather than telling myself I had to keep up with the pace set by another, I found a pace that worked for me. I had to let go of even more pride and just accept it. What I found was that at working at my pace, things became considerably more manageable and a lot more enjoyable.
What if my way is ok, even if it were not the way most others would do it, could do it, or should do it? There’s some tremendous freedom in asking that question and living into it positively. I wonder how many times I shortchanged myself because of the need to meet the standard set by others, or an unrealistic standard I set myself. I’m thinking, too many.
What would happen if I celebrated mile-markers more often?
Every half mile, there was a trail marker. The first few served to remind me only how much farther we had to go. I was almost indignant, critical of myself for not doing better and discouraged at how little progress I had made after so much hard work.
After 1.5 miles, I had a real sense that I was working against myself in cursing, “these blasted markers.” Normally, I’m bent more towards the positive; I’ll blame my negativity on the stress this time, but even still it is a poor excuse…that’s when we need to be the most positive. As soon as I realized what I was doing, I shifted thinking from how little progress I had made and all of the struggles thus far, to looking forward to the next little success.
I had a mini-party every time I passed another marker. I need to celebrate the mile-markers in life more often and more significantly. Not only does it sound wise, but it also sounds fun. Who doesn’t want more fun?
What would happen if I could really receive the encouragement of others more often?
My friend was great. He was patient; he was content to let me work at my pace. He’d often get farther ahead and when I’d pass through where he had been, I’d find a little stack of rocks. Sounds silly, I know, but he was encouraging me.
He had made this hike dozens of times. He knew the way. He knew when discouragement would set in. He knew when to offer motivation. I was grateful, that even though I could not see him, I was not alone and I knew that he had not forgotten me; he had my best interest at heart.
When I think back on how many times people more wise and experienced offered help to me, and I politely turned them down, determined to do it on my own, I’m a little dismayed. When I think about how many times people offered me encouragement, and I chose not to receive it, I’m a little more dismayed.
Independence can be a great thing, a necessary thing. But, if it is born out of self-protection, it really is dysfunction, not virtue. The truth is, I need people more than I think. I need to stop, receive their encouragement, hear their counsel, ask for help, and generally be more vulnerable and trusting. I’m certain that I would not have completed this hike without his guidance, encouragement, and friendship. What would life look like if I let more of that into my life? I’m thinking, pretty good.
What would happen if I were more thankful for the level ground?
Occasionally, there would be a small section of trail that had some level ground, relatively free of rocks and roots. It would be still and quiet. It was nice and provided great rest for my aching body. At times, I actually caught my breath and the gentle breeze dried my sopping wet shirt. Yet, I must admit, I spent a lot of that valuable downtime fretting about what was coming up next. I don’t think I fully entered into the rest that was being provided…how many times do I do that in my life? Again, too many.
I think this is really a lesson in gratitude. I’m reminded of a Scripture verse, “Do not despise the days of small things.” (Zech 4:10) I have room to be more grateful for the little things and the slow times. They are meant to be times of rejuvenation for mind, body, and soul.
What would happen if I saw major obstacles as a series of single steps, rather than as an insurmountable wall?
This really is project management and goal setting 101 here, yet I admit I lost sight of it when I saw 100 yards of nearly vertical path ahead of me, requiring me to crawl/climb on all fours to make it. I got to this point and asked, “Really? After hiking 2.5 miles in, this close to the pinnacle, really? If I’ve still got a mile to go, what else could be lurking out there to overcome?” The last 1/3rd of this hike is the most challenging, and the first 2/3rds were extremely difficult. I could feel discouragement sinking in when I saw that wall.
I’d come too far to turn around. I had to go up. I took me a while, but rather than looking at the daunting top of the wall of terror, I just looked at my next step and my next handhold. As long as I focused on the next small thing, rather than the whole thing, I kept my perspective and did not enter into overwhelm. If I looked towards the top, I only felt defeated. If I looked at only what was next, I felt motivated. That sounds like a pretty good life lesson to me.
How many times have I quit, just a few feet before the pinnacle, without even being aware?
Several times after the wall of terror, the mountain opened up to some tremendous views. Each time I thought, “I made it!” and was fully ready to sit down and enjoy the view. Fortunately, I realized as nice as these destinations were, there was something greater ahead. “Thank you,” to the signs that read, “Table Rock Pinnacle Trail This Way…”
I started thinking that there were times I may well have stopped short of all that was available because I thought I had reached the end. What if I had reached was good, but the best was just around the corner? I have no way of knowing how many times this may have happened in my life, maybe never, maybe often, I’ll never know. But, I think in reaching future goals, I’ll spend a little more time massaging the outcome to see if there is not more available. It would be a pity to settle for good when the best is available.
What would happen if I didn’t just rush back down the mountain?
Closely related to the lesson above, we finally reached the top. It was amazing!!! I felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment and in spite of the challenge, really was kind of high on thinking about these life lessons on the way up. We had a great lunch, rested, hydrated and an all-around great time enjoying the best that was just around the corner. We spent maybe an hour basking in the moment.
Then, I stood up and realized how sore my legs were. My first thought was that of being in the air-conditioned car back in the parking lot. It was as if almost all the joy was now over and it was time to go back to work.
I’d come too far to let that attitude settle in. I decided I would take note of the whole hike down. I would use this opportunity to remember these lessons, see the challenging spots from a different perspective, kind of let it all soak in, and celebrate the accomplishments.
How many times have I just checked something off the list and asked, “OK, what’s next?” Again, I think, Too many. This really was a lesson in living in the moment, being fully present. Taking this attitude, I noticed so much more on the way down than I did on the way up. The whole trip was enjoyable because of it, not just half. I’m thinking I need to work on being more fully present in every moment.
What if I could remember all of this the next time I faced a challenge?
Well, that’s the most important lesson of all. It is not that I did not know these things before, and I usually live these lessons more consistently. The difficulty comes in when great challenge arises; sometimes we just seem to forget everything we know for a season. So, if I find myself in a major challenge, and I’m sure I will at some point, I think I will remember two things, what I was thinking at the top of Table Rock and what I was thinking back down in the parking lot. If I could make it up and down this mountain, I can keep pressing on. | https://medium.com/swlh/rock-solid-life-lessons-from-table-rock-mountain-96b3e6c3ee9f | ['Charlie Vensel'] | 2019-07-25 06:36:20.864000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Mental Health', 'Overcoming Obstacles', 'Hiking', 'In The Moment'] |
Habits of High-Performance Groups | I am passionately committed to helping as many people as possible get better at collaboration. Within this larger mission, I am most interested in helping groups collaborate on our most complex and challenging problems. Over the past 17 years, I’ve gotten to work on some crazy hard stuff, from reproductive health in Africa and Southeast Asia to water in California. I’ve learned a ton from doing this work, I continue to be passionate about it, and I’ve developed a lot of sophisticated skills as a result.
However, for the past year, I’ve been focusing most of my energy on encouraging people to practice setting better goals and aligning around success. My Goals + Success Spectrum is already my most popular and widely used toolkit, and yet, through programs like my Good Goal-Setting workshops, I’ve been doubling down on helping people get better at using it and — more importantly — making it a regular habit.
I’ve been getting a lot of funny looks about this, especially from folks who know about my passion around systems and complexity. If I care so much about addressing our most wicked and challenging problems, why am I making such a big deal about something as “basic” and “easy” as setting better goals and aligning around success?
Because most of us don’t do it regularly. (This included me for much of my career, as I explain below. It also includes many of my colleagues, who are otherwise outstanding practitioners.)
Because many who are doing it regularly are just going through the motions. We rarely revisit and refine our stated goals, much less hold ourselves accountable to them.
Because much of the group dysfunction I see can often be traced to not setting clear goals and aligning around success regularly or well.
Because doing this regularly and well not only corrects these dysfunctions, it leads to higher performance and better outcomes while also saving groups time.
And finally, because doing this regularly and well does not require consultants or any other form of “expert” (i.e. costly) help. It “simply” requires repetition and intentionality.
Investing in the “Basics” and Eating Humble Pie
In 2012, I co-led a process called the Delta Dialogues, where we tried to get a diverse set of stakeholders around California water issues — including water companies, farmers and fishermen, environmentalists, government officials, and other local community members — to trust each other more. Many of our participants had been at each other’s throats — literally, in some cases — for almost 30 years. About half of our participants were suing each other.
It was a seemingly impossible task for an intractable problem — how to fairly distribute a critical resource, one that is literally required for life — when there isn’t enough of it to go around. I thought that it would require virtuoso performances of our most sophisticated facilitation techniques in order to be successful. We had a very senior, skilled team, and I was excited to see what it would look like for us to perform at our best.
Unfortunately, we did not deliver virtuoso performances of our most sophisticated facilitation techniques. We worked really hard, but we were not totally in sync, and our performances often fell flat. However, something strange started to happen. Despite our worst efforts, our process worked. Our participants gelled and even started working together.
Toward the end of our process, after one of our best meetings, our client, Campbell Ingram, the executive officer of the Delta Conservancy, paid us one of the best professional compliments I have ever received. He first thanked us for a job well done, to which I responded, “It’s easy with this group. It’s a great, great group of people.”
“It is a great group,” he acknowledged, “but that’s not it. I’ve seen this exact same set of people at other meetings screaming their heads off at each other. There’s something that you’re doing that’s changing their dynamic.”
My immediate reaction to what he said was to brush it aside. Of course we were able to create that kind of space for our participants. Doing that was fundamental to our work, and they were all “basic” things. For example, we listened deeply to our participants throughout the whole process and invited them to design with us. We co-designed a set of working agreements before the process started, which was itself an intense and productive conversation. We asked that people bring their whole selves into the conversation, and we modeled that by asking them very basic, very human questions, such as, “What’s your favorite place in the Delta?” and “How are you feeling today?” We rotated locations so that people could experience each other’s places of work and community, which built greater shared understanding and empathy. We paired people up so that folks could build deeper relationships with each other between meetings.
These were all the “basic” things that we did with any group with which we worked. I didn’t think it was special. I thought it was what we layered on top of these fundamentals that made us good at what we did.
But in reflecting on Campbell’s compliment, I realized that I was wrong. Most groups do not do these basic things. For us, they were habits, and as a result, we overlooked them. They also weren’t necessarily hard to do, which made us undervalue them even more. Anyone could open a meeting by asking everyone how they were feeling. Only a practitioner with years of experience could skillfully map a complex conversation in real-time.
I (and others) overvalued our more “sophisticated” skills, because they were showier and more unique. However, it didn’t matter that we were applying them poorly. They helped, and they would have helped even more if we were doing them well, but they weren’t critical. Doing the “basics” mattered far more. Fortunately, we were doing the basics, and doing them well.
Not doing them would have sunk the project. I know this, because we neglected a basic practice with one critical meeting in the middle of our process, and we ended up doing a terrible job facilitating it despite all of our supposed skill. The long, silent car ride back home after that meeting was miserable. I mostly stared out the window, reliving the day’s events over and over again in my head. Finally, we began to discuss what had happened. Rebecca Petzel, who was playing a supporting role, listened to us nitpick for a while, then finally spoke up. “The problem,” she said, “was that we lost sight of our goals.”
Her words both clarified and stung. She was absolutely right. We knew that this meeting was going to be our most complex. We were all trying to balance many different needs, but while we had talked about possible moves and tradeoffs, we hadn’t aligned around a set of collective priorities. We each had made moves that we thought would lead to the best outcome. We just hadn’t agreed in advance on what the best outcomes were, and we ended up working at cross-purposes.
I was proud of Rebecca for having this insight, despite her being the most junior member of our team, and I also felt ashamed. I often made a big deal of how important aligning around success was, but I had neglected to model it for this meeting, and we had failed as a result.
Habits Are Hard
After the Delta Dialogues, I made a list of all the things I “knew” were important to collaborating effectively, then compared them to what I actually practiced on a regular basis. The gap wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t trivial either. I then asked myself why I ended up skipping these things. The answer generally had something to do with feeling urgency. I decided to try being more disciplined about these “basic” practices even in the face of urgency and to see what happened.
I was surprised by how dramatically the quality and consistency of my work improved. I was even more surprised by how slowing down somehow made the urgency go away. The more I practiced, the more engrained these habits became, which made them feel even more efficient and productive over time.
In 2013, I left the consulting firm I had co-founded to embark on my current journey. Helping groups build good collaborative habits through practice has become the cornerstone of my work. Anyone can easily develop the skills required to do the “basics” with groups. They just need to be willing to practice.
I’ve identified four keystone habits that high-performance groups seem to share:
The specific manifestation of each practice isn’t that important. What matters most is for groups to do all four of them regularly and well.
Over the past six years, I’ve had decent success developing practices and tools that work well when repeated with intention. Unfortunately, I haven’t been as successful at encouraging groups to make these practices habits. As I mentioned earlier, I think one reason is that it’s easy to undervalue practices that seem basic. I think the biggest reason is that developing new habits — even if we understand them to be important and are highly motivated — is very, very hard.
In his book Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance, Atul Gawande writes that every year, two million Americans get an infection while in a hospital, and 90,000 die from that infection. What’s the number one cause of these infections? Doctors and other hospital staff not washing their hands.
For over 170 years, doctors have understood the causal relationship between washing their hands and preventing infection. Everybody knows this, and yet, almost two centuries later, with so many lives at stake, getting people to do this consistently is still extremely hard, and 90,000 people die every year as a result. Gawande explains:
We always hope for the easy fix: the one simple change that will erase a problem in a stroke. But few things in life work this way. Instead, success requires making a hundred small steps go right — one after the other, no slip-ups, no goofs, everyone pitching in. We are used to thinking of doctoring as a solitary, intellectual task. But making medicine go right is less often like making a difficult diagnosis than like making sure everyone washes their hands.
If it’s this hard to get doctors to wash their hands, even when they know that people’s lives are at stake, I don’t know how successful I can expect to be at getting groups to adopting these habits of high-performance groups when the stakes don’t feel as high.
Still, I think the stakes are much higher than many realize. I recently had a fantastic, provocative conversation with Chris Darby about the challenges of thinking ambitiously and hopefully when our obstacles are so vast. Afterward, I read this quote he shared on his blog from adrienne maree brown’s, Emergent Strategy:
Imagination is one of the spoils of colonization, which in many ways is claiming who gets to imagine the future for a given geography. Losing our imagination is a symptom of trauma. Reclaiming the right to dream the future, strengthening the muscle to imagine together as Black people, is a revolutionary decolonizing activity.
We all have the right to articulate our own vision for success. When we don’t exercise that right, we not only allow our muscles for doing so to atrophy, but we give others the space to articulate that vision for us. Hopefully, these stakes feel high enough to encourage groups to start making this a regular practice.
For help developing your muscles around articulating success, sign up for our Good Goal-Setting online peer coaching workshop. We offer these the first Tuesday of every month. This post originally appeared on Faster Than 20. | https://medium.com/@eekim/habits-of-high-performance-groups-68bb18acb463 | ['Eugene Eric Kim'] | 2019-10-16 15:21:58.004000+00:00 | ['Leadership', 'Collaboration', 'Habit Building', 'Goal Setting', 'High Performance Team'] |
Recognizing Self-Bullying. Are you or someone you know a… | Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Are you or someone you know a self-bully?
Your first reaction might be that “self-bully” is a term I must made up. Okay, so it is. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t real. I use it to define the habitual negative self-talk many of us engage in on a daily basis.
According to the National Centre Against Bullying, “Bullying is an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behavior that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power, or perceived power, over one or more persons who feel unable to stop it from happening.”
The emphasis of “misuse of power” would seem to negate my assertion that one can be a self-bully. But does it? I don’t think so. Who has more power over ourselves than we do? It could be argued that negative self-talk is used to keep ourselves from stepping out of the role we believe is ours. That “less-than” others role is often a result of societal norms and outside pressures, but it’s still a role that we enforce on ourselves. Whether it’s said out loud where others can hear us or said silently in our own heads, repetitive negative self-talk is just as harmful, maybe more so, as being bullied by someone else.
Photo by Eugenia Maximova on Unsplash
If you’ve never done it, you have friends who do it on a regular basis. I’m not talking about the occasional moments when you are having a bad day and feel like all your clothes make you frumpy, or when you made a mistake and you briefly wonder how you can be so stupid. Even occasionally, those thoughts are bad, but it’s really a problem when it’s not once in a while. I’m talking about the daily occurrence of self-loathing and hateful things we think about ourselves. The consistently hateful self-talk that runs through our minds and comes out of our mouths.
All too often we give ourselves permission to speak to and about ourselves in ways we would never ever speak about or to someone else. For example, I was recently chatting with a friend — who is gorgeous, both inside and out, and I won’t name because I’d never want to embarrass her — about taking photos. She said she hated having photos taken of herself, and I said — all too truthfully — that I really love it. I’m a total diva. Give me good hair & makeup and decent clothes and put me in front of a camera and I go nutso (as long as I don’t show my hideous teeth). Seriously, I want my husband to learn photography so he can take pictures of me. Case in point:
My friend’s response to my admission of Diva-dom was (and I’m paraphrasing to get the whole point in) “I’m all fat and stuff. But it’s different for you. You are so young and pretty.” HERE IS THE THING: I am only 4 years younger than her, AND I am A WHOLE PERSON fatter than her. It’s true. So… Why is it that we can so easily look at someone else and see the beauty they possess, both inside and out, but can’t see it within ourselves?
But it’s not all about looks, either. We can be so hateful to ourselves in ways that makes us feel completely useless and worthless. MY big problem with myself is my ability, or rather inability, to do everything and be everything for everyone. My hateful self-talk is usually that I don’t write fast enough, don’t keep my house clean enough, don’t make enough money, and in general don’t take as good of care of my family as I should. While, at the same time, my mother-in-law (whose house is always immaculate) is constantly telling me how proud she is of me and how well I take care of her son on such small means. It is very hard for me to look in the mirror and feel like I do enough, like I AM enough, yet I have no problem supporting my friends when they feel overwhelmed. I can easily point out their hard work, their unwavering efforts, and their value. Yet, I have a hard time seeing the same inside myself. And you know what? THAT IS NOT OKAY.
I would never talk about someone else the way I talk about myself sometimes. And I most certainly would not allow anyone else speak about another person (or themselves) the way I speak to myself. I would speak up. I would put a stop to it, immediately. So shouldn’t I do that for myself? Shouldn’t YOU do it for YOURSELF?
Image by John Hain from Pixabay
They say charity begins at home. Well, so does love and respect. And YOU are your home. Your body, your mind, your spirit… you only get one each of those in a lifetime, and they are all connected. People around you may change, but YOU will always have to live with your SELF. Shouldn’t you be friends? Next time you start to say (or think) something negative about yourself (whatever it might be)… STOP for a moment. Then imagine it was your best friend in this situation… what would you say to that person? What words of encouragement would you give them? Then say that TO YOURSELF. It’s not vain or narcissistic to see your own value and worth. It’s called love. If you can do it for others, you can do it for yourself.
Sources:
National Centre Against Bullying https://www.ncab.org.au/bullying-advice/bullying-for-parents/definition-of-bullying/ | https://ampleroomblog.com/how-to-recognize-and-stop-self-bullying-2289ebb2057d | ['June Westerfield'] | 2020-01-16 00:39:13.696000+00:00 | ['Self Care', 'Self Love', 'Self Improvement', 'Self-awareness', 'Bullying'] |
Mother’s Work Matters | As we near the end of 2020, we wistfully look back to the days now known as ‘pre-Covid’. This deadly virus tiptoed into our country in late January, slowly circulating before steamrolling its way into our homes, communities, and hospitals by early March. The familiar patterns and processes for how we worked, learned, shopped, traveled, and assembled were upended with very little warning back in March. Parents scrambled to stabilize life in their homes, setting up home offices and classrooms as they adjusted to their new roles as teleworkers and co-teachers. What we’d hoped, even prayed, would be a short-term crisis has turned into a real life-changer across the board.
Even before Covid, a survey by Boston Consulting Group found that in 55% of households, women were twice as likely to assume primary responsibility for duties such as cooking and cleaning, in addition to child care and education. Though parents and partners pulled together to try and shoulder the new burdens, it seems the needle didn’t move much once the lockdowns were instituted. Even with two parents working from home, moms reported that they did most of the school-work juggling in this new reality. That was Round One. In September as the new school year got underway, it was being reported that many moms were giving up their jobs altogether to focus on the care and education of their children. This exodus of talent and expertise was one we could ill afford and it will negatively impact the workplace for years to come. One study even projected, it might take a generation for the workforce to recover. Yes, Round Two is packing a powerful punch.
Across the country, many families will struggle to recover, too. Involuntarily leaving a career you’ve worked hard for is tough at any time, whether you’re financially comfortable or struggling. We attribute so much meaning and purpose to our work. Some of us wonder what we’ll do with the knowledge and skills we used to do our jobs. I felt that way 20 years ago when I decided to stay home after my twin sons were born. I was thankful for the time I got to spend with them, but I also felt left out the action. I wondered if and when I could back out there to continue building a career in marketing. I wasted a good bit of time worrying about that, but ultimately forged a new path toward entrepreneurship as a parent educator and consultant. Along the way, I discovered new strengths and learned new ways to apply old skills to new opportunities in business. I recently shared my experience as a contributing author to an anthology entitled Courageous Enough to Launch, featuring the stories and strategies of women entrepreneurs. To mothers out there who have made the difficult choice of leaving their jobs during this pandemic, I say “Don’t feel counted out; make this moment count!”
Here are just a few strategies to reinvent yourself and get into position for your next act:
Meet this moment. Provide the support and stability your children need at this time. Treasure the time you have to contribute to their education in ways you didn’t have to before. Those Aha moments are special. When schools reopen, you won’t capture as many.
Take stock. What brings you joy? Find ways to preserve or bring that back into your life, even on a limited scale for now. Eliminate time wasters and habits that deplete your emotional and physical energy. Focus on what’s important now for the WIN.
Keep growing. What talents do you already have and how can they help you pursue new goals? Focus your attention on just a few skills and refine them. What are new areas you might want to explore? Research ways to slowly build your body of knowledge in those areas. Online learning can be convenient and expand access to more resources. Connect with people who already know what you want to know and do what you want to do.
Remember, your children will not depend on you to this extent, forever. As they become more capable and responsible, you will have more time to devote to yourself. Continuously invest in yourself, so you will be ready for make your next move. Mother’s work matters and her dreams do, too. | https://medium.com/@theparenting411/mothers-work-matters-a466e3c05f10 | ['Carol T. Muleta'] | 2020-12-18 06:23:09.418000+00:00 | ['Gender Equality', 'Covid 19', 'Work Life Balance', 'Mothers', 'Workforce'] |
It’s Goodbye From Me! | Some people already know this.
Welcome to our fourth newsletter. I hope you are finding these helpful. I wanted to start by welcoming our new members; thank you for taking the time to follow our publication.
Some of you already know I will be away from 13th to 17th of September, I have two trusty co-piolets who will look after things whilst I am away, they are PrudenceC and Diya Saini, please show them both the support you have shown to me.
Followers
We have had a great week growing from 161 followers to 354 followers, increasing to 193 people, so 27 per day.
I am impressed. Thank you, and keep spreading the word. We are here to help new writers, and experienced writers are also welcome.
Special mention
I want to give a big shout out to experienced writer Kristina God; she has been an incredible supporter of both myself and our publication. I appreciate everything you have done for us.
Please take the time to check out her profile page. You will find many interesting articles for you to read at your perusal.
Kristina God has written an article that you may want to read covering our publication. You can find them in the links below.
https://medium.com/new-writers-welcome/theres-one-essential-thing-new-medium-writers-can-learn-from-babies-37bfd972863c
I just got sidetracked writing this newsletter as I could not stop looking at her articles on her profile page; take a look.
Statistics
We are now just over 16 000 views and just over 11,200 reads, not forgetting we are less than one month old, so that is pretty impressive. Keep reading and supporting each other's work. #strongertogether
Competition
I have decided to launch a writing competition. I will announce the details shortly. There will be a small cash prize for the winner; more importantly, it will give people a structure for at least this one article that may also help them loner term.
Submission Rules
We have some changes on the horizon when it comes to submitting articles. It starts in October 2021; please read this article carefully as there will be no exceptions to this rule. We will work with you until you get it right. However, any articles already published will be rejected.
You can read the changes by clicking on this link.
Facebook
I am delighted to say we have risen from 56 to 107 members, so an increase of 51 people this week is our best week yet.
Our Facebook group is excellent, you can post questions, articles, and polls seem to be a great topic. We have great fun, so check it out if you have not already.
My top three articles this week are:
How to use Lists to Organize your Stories by PrudenceC
https://medium.com/new-writers-welcome/how-to-use-lists-to-organize-your-stories-25fb99cbde0e
5 Reasons Why Colonizing The Moon Is Almost Impossible by Anthony Lam
https://medium.com/new-writers-welcome/5-reasons-why-colonising-the-moon-is-almost-impossible-35f120b9d11d
Attention! It Helps Build a Rock Solid Relationship by John Rehg
https://medium.com/new-writers-welcome/attention-it-helps-build-a-rock-solid-relationship-86a1865462f0
Written by Robert Ralph
Would you please buy me a Ko-fi
Join Medium here | https://medium.com/new-writers-welcome/its-goodbye-from-me-4c6cad1d3206 | ['Robert Ralph'] | 2021-09-12 09:40:32.797000+00:00 | ['Publication', 'Newsletter', 'Helping Others', 'Support', 'Competition'] |
GARUDA Pvt.Ltd | NAME OF THE COMPANY — GARUDA Pvt.Ltd
ABOUT:
GARUDA is a startup dedicated to the armed forces of India. Our main idea is to bridge the gap in drone technology which India currently faces as compared to its western counterparts and also to make India Atmanirbhar (Self-Reliant) in drone technologies. The problem we saw that even after 73 years of independence and In spite of having the best brains in the world ,India still heavily depends upon other countries for defense equipment(s). So to tackle the problem here are we with our first and most ambitious startup GARUDA.
MARKET DEMAND:
There is no doubt that market demand of military as well as commercial drones is ever increasing. In fact the market demand for military drones (UAV) is expected to grow from $12.1 billion in 2018 to $26.8 billion in 2025,at a CAGR of 12%. Moreover the ever increasing use of unmanned aerial vehicles in various military applications such as mapping, surveying, combat operations is also a factor which is leading to the growth of drones industry in India and also across the globe.
REVELANT PRODUCTS IN MARKET:
Currently there are many other companies in this market like Northrop Grumman corp., Boeing company, Israel Aerospace Industries, Lockheed Martin Corporation but how we are unique is that :
Since our main and primary customer will the Government of India and also our products will be made in India , our products will be far more cheaper than the ones which are being imported. Also a unique thing about our startup is that since we will strictly adhere to the policy of “MAKE IN INDIA” our startup will help in creating many direct as well as indirect jobs.
TARGET CUSTOMERS:
The process of determining the target customers for a new product differs from the process used in a more established product. Also determining the target customers requires a more qualitative approach.
Since our startup is defense oriented startup, our target customer initially will be the Government of India and also some foreign countries ( subject to permission from GOI)
The dealings between us and the government will be strictly confidential .It is as simple as that.
Required Knowledge:
Research and Development:
It took a lot of time and countless hours to look further and without a proper R&D it would be not possible to even start our project. 70% of the funds received will be allocated to R&D wing.
We also took a clear look into the companies which are currently in the field. We analyzed their drawbacks their way of handling the business and checked whether we are not following the same mistakes.
We have also planned to partner with DRDO and ISRO, which would be really helpful for us in the long run in the business.
2. HARDWARE REQUIRED:
Drones are complex fusion of software, hardware and physical mechanics. There are thousands of working components in a drones, but the main ones are as follows:
BODY:
The body of a drone consists of wings, rotors, arms and fuselage. The power of the drone is generally supplied by batteries and fuel and sometimes even solar power.
SENSORS:
Proprioceptive sensors: They measure and give the values of speed, load, battery voltage etc.
Exteroceptive sensors: They are required to gather information from the drones environment, for example light intensity, amplitude, distance etc.
ACTUATORS:
They are the components which are used to convert energy into mechanical or are used to control a mechanism or system. They receive their energy from a energy source such as electricity , hydraulic pressure and are activated by control signals such as voltage , pressure, etc. They are found in many UAV’s and hence are a internal and important part of it.
3. SOFTWARE:
The most complex part of the drone will be its software. In layman’s terms, its the brain of the drone. The drone software is designed to tell it where to go and what to do. There are various layers of software in a drone, and all these layers should work simultaneously and seamlessly. The combination of all the layers of software is called an Autopilot.
While we at GARUDA Pvt Ltd, initially will use open source code stacks for testing and R&D but will eventually develop our own software.
SOLUTION:
Following the given 5 steps would surely help us in our endeavours.
BUDGET:
One of the most important part of the startup is the budget. Making a budget helps in the growth of the business. The budget keeps track of the expenses and allocates funds towards essential resources. Additionally, it enables us to plan the future based on campaign goals.
Our estimated total budget is about $50,000. This is the total budget which will be further divided into 4 sub categories, which are R&D, Software development, marketing and unexpected costs.
R&D- Out of the total budget, 50% will be allocated to this department. This department will also be our topmost priority.
Software Development- This department will receive 25% of the total budget.
Marketing- Marketing will help us to build our first impression of our company like . This department will also help us to receive more funds. 20% of the total budget will be allocated to this department.
Unexpected costs- These are the hidden costs that will come in the course of time. Sometimes things doesn’t work out or sometimes takes more time than projected. Therefore we have decided to to reserve some funds for expenditure that may come unexpectedly.
PRODUCT PRICING:
The pricing of our product cannot be determined beforehand , but we will have 2 way strategy to price our product-
Know our total costs- This will include all our direct costs, as well as the money spent on research and development of the product. This will also include variable costs. All these costs add together to produce a figure. Understanding market- Understanding the market is one of the key aspects of pricing a product. This will decide how much our target customers are willing to pay and how much our competitors are charging.
MARKETING PLAN:
Marketing comes into play after the completion of our product. We are developing our own website in that regard.
Also we will be focusing on promoting our product on social as well as electronic media. We have also collaborated with our friends at BENNETT UNIVERSITY and DEI as well as IIT BOMBAY to devise and formulate a marketing strategy.
RISK ANALYSIS:
We are aware of the fact that our startup is a risky venture as manufacturing military equipment in itself is very hectic task and require a lot of patience as well as testing. But we are committed and compassionate towards our goal and risk is nothing when compared to it.
Milestone and Timeline:
We have not fixed any particular timeline as we know the nature of our work very well. It requires dedication and also a lot of time.
Our ultimate goal is to become global leaders in drone manufacturing and make our nation proud. | https://medium.com/@anujrawat24000/garuda-pvt-ltd-d311f8f5a46a | ['Anuj Rawat'] | 2020-12-18 23:00:27.274000+00:00 | ['Drones', 'Startup', 'Garuda'] |
5 ways to grow your skills while looking for a UX design gig | 5 ways to grow your skills while looking for a UX design gig
Let me guess. You have heard from a friend or read on the Internet about user experience. It shapes the world and makes things better. If done right, it’s a killer UX. If done wrong, it is a total flop.
It sounds like something you want to explore. And you also heard that it’s possible to do UX for a living. How cool is that?
You gear yourself up with Google and search how to break into UX. But what you find is it only works if you are a UX Designer or a researcher. There are other things, also, like Information Architect or a Usability Analyst. But God knows what they mean. The requirements for such jobs are over the top, and there’s no way to jump straight into it.
Ready? Let’s get started.
Let’s say that you’ve assessed all your choices and decided that UX Design looks doable. Now you need to put together a portfolio with a couple of cases. Then you can start applying to jobs.
If you choose to pursue this path, finding UX cases is not a monthly goal. On average, it takes from 8 months to a couple of years before you start getting replies. It means that while looking for this job, you will be losing precious time of doing UX right now.
And what’s worse, it will make you a way less desirable candidate after all.
So we have two main objectives while you are pulling everything together.
To keep up with the pace of the industry that is changing and evolving. Be a desirable candidate in a couple of years.
How are you going to do it? Let’s see.
Get a full-time job in a UX-adjacent field.
And I need to explain what “UX-adjacent” means here. It’s a common belief that user experience is created and practiced by the design team or department.
If you have ever heard anybody asking, “When do we need to add UX to it?” I recommend running away. Fast.
In reality, the design team (even if they named a UX department) might have very little to do with actual user experience. Apart from putting together user interfaces.
There’s always somebody else who decides how things will look like.
And this “somebody” is someone who’s “doing UX” in the company. To understand who and how influences design decisions, you need to dig deeper into the organizational structure. The easiest way to represent a user is to jump into any customer-facing role.
Customer Support or Sales.
Stakeholders know that they have to listen to customer feedback. If stakeholders themselves do not talk to customers, who would they ask? Exactly! Those who face customers daily.
If you are technical enough, you can get a role in technical (customer) support or quality assurance. You will see the ins and outs of the product, how it works, and how people interact with it. You will be the closes person to the real end-user. And this is what you need to see UX from the inside out.
Sales, especially in big companies, can also influence design decisions. In these companies, you might likely to hear:
Salesperson: “I have a very high paying prospect, but they will not close the deal if we do not have X.” Tech lead: “But it’s very complicated. We do not have anything in the system that supports their request.” C-level person: “How big is the deal?” Salesperson: “About $25k monthly.” C-level person: “Well, I guess we will have to find the resources then.”
If you have an aspiration for sales, you can try it while making your way into UX Design.
Marketing.
If you do not like the idea of tech support and direct sales, marketing is also an option. For example, if you write a copy for newsletters or any other communication for end-users.
Marketing is a place where all the data about user behavior stores. If you want to stand on the confluence of business and user needs, get a job in marketing. Also, it’s usually the team with the most budget possible.
These guys are also open to experiments because they A/B test their communication often.
But why do I need to do this?
Why is it a good idea to go with a UX-adjacent role while you are making your way into the industry?
You will not starve or hope for some random freelance projects and clients to pay your bills. It’s difficult to focus on some glorious future of being a UX Designer while you have no idea how to pay your rent. You get the experience and taste of the industry. And you are not wearing your socks off trying to provide for yourself. You can always stay and establish yourself further if it does not work out with a UX Designer role. Or you will not like being a UX Designer.
Also, the UX-adjacent fields are less competitive. You can get an entry-level job without any experience whatsoever.
Still doubtful?
If for some reason, you do not want to work in tech in the UX-adjacent field, any other customer-facing roles will do. You can do whatever you find comfortable while searching for your place in the UX field. If you know how to turn your experience to your benefit.
Enroll (in most cases, for free) in online courses about UX design.
This one looks like a simple one. There are so many different courses on UX everywhere!
Most of the UX courses are usually about tools that you need to learn or master as a designer. Figma, Webflow, Adobe XD, Framer, Axure, you name it. These courses are very technical and will tell you a lot about how to do this job. But not why.
Understanding why this industry is interesting for you is important. The how will come after, once you get your “why.”
If you are not planning to execute UI yourself, find courses that cover only user experience. And do not offer a mixture of so-called UI/UX skills with lots of visuals.
Here are a few that I found useful. They do not feed you with any tool and focus on the essence of user experience.
There’s many more of that kind, watch closely!
Start following current design trends and technology news. But avoid scrolling through the Dirbbble gallery.
You have to remember that UI is not UX. But since you are aiming for a UX Designer position, you have to know the latest trends. Conventions always come in handy, so always keep them in mind.
It does not mean that you should create UIs from scratch. But you have to know they exist, and you have to know what they are used for.
The same goes for any technology news on anything new and emerging. Anything that’s going to “disrupt” how people go about their lives or behave.
Not being aware of these trends will make it harder for you to stay relevant to the industry.
Get to know people in the industry and see what they do and care about.
Yes, even if you are an introvert.
And, to be honest, it does not matter whether you are an introvert or an extrovert. You have to get yourself out and find people you like and want to follow.
If you do not want to interfere with people’s lives, follow them. Why not? After all, it’s more for your good than for theirs. Yet, I still recommend interacting with these people and leaving comments once in a while.
Find people on Twitter, LinkedIn, read their blogs, subscribe to their newsletter. Note that it’s essential to follow individuals, not some design agencies.
It will help you understand how diverse the field is and how many different voices exist and practice UX.
Be prepared to live with impostor syndrome.
And I am serious.
You will feel once in a while, that you are not doing UX. Or that you have no right to do UX. Or if you are doing it, you are doing it wrong. That’s alright. That’s a part of doing UX the way everyone does it.
If you do UX and do not have the imposter syndrome, you are doing it wrong and do not even know about it.
So, now what?
Once you start putting together your portfolio and applying to jobs, do not be afraid to get a rejection. At least it means that they saw you. That the company at least skimmed through your CV or portfolio. And it means that you need to keep doing it.
The advantage of getting into UX this way is it gives you a better perspective on the options available. It also does not label you as a UX Designer, which you might not even like after all.
Doing, practicing, and preaching UX is not a one-person or one-department responsibility. It’s a cross-functional effort of many teams and individuals.
And if you realize that UX Design is not something you are into, you can find another path for yourself. You will know a way of doing UX without any crazy demands of being a design unicorn. | https://uxdesign.cc/5-ways-to-grow-your-skills-while-looking-for-a-ux-design-gig-1ca56e6dbd8f | ['Oksana Ivanova'] | 2020-09-28 22:33:43.213000+00:00 | ['Careers', 'Career Advice', 'User Experience', 'UX Design', 'Resources'] |
The Echo #29 | Paradigm is an investment firm focused on blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies and cryptonetworks shaping data economy and financial industry since 2013.
Follow | https://medium.com/paradigm-fund/the-echo-29-49ea92359264 | [] | 2020-05-26 16:06:45.302000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Ethereum', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
The Lonely Snowman’s Story | FREE VERSE
The Lonely Snowman’s Story
All he wants is to have a friend
Photo by Philipp Deus on Unsplash
Alone, alone I trot, aimlessly in the vast expanse,
the vast expanse of the snowy landscape, wishing,
wishing for someone, a friend, a companion, to look into,
to smile and talk, share a few philosophies, and ponder,
so here I am, building a fellow snowman, bit by bit,
and soon there it is, all ready to be my mate,
I hope.
We walk, we smile, we skate through the lush whiteness,
as if nature has layered the greens with a quilt of snow,
we ponder, and I feel less lonely, wishing, wanting,
things, to sail on and on, like this, forever,
but who knew?
Who knew that the sun had to rise, one fine day, and,
it’s piercing rays, hot enough to melt us, melt us quicker,
quicker than I knew, than I expected, and I ran,
ran into that cool shed, to protect us, from disintegration,
but, alas, my friend, he was just short, short of reaching,
that shed, and then?
My friend melted, and turned into liquid, as the sun rays calmed down,
his anger subsiding, eventually, covered by layers of fluffy clouds,
and soon it was cold again, as I, half-melted, stared into the liquid,
that my friend had turned into, my face, reflecting in it, sad, dejected,
alone.
As snowstorms caressed my skin, as my eyes felt heavy with grief,
I saw the liquid, freezing back into ice, covered eventually by snow,
heaps of snow and I smile, amazed at nature’s magical spectacle,
as I walk, walk to the nearest heap, and start to build my friend again,
the process of regeneration from disintegration. | https://medium.com/scrittura/the-lonely-snowmans-story-6d6e56bf5233 | ['Somsubhra Banerjee'] | 2020-12-30 09:29:08.579000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Scrittura', 'Snow', 'Thoughts', 'Loneliness'] |
DESIGN GUIDE PART 2: Framework & Layouts | Did you enjoy our previous post about frameworks & layouts in Tableau? Here we continue that thread by exploring how applying those rules can improve your overall design through some practical examples on padding and dashboard sizes.
Selecting the right dashboard size
Before we jump into the importance of padding, there are a few things to consider about choosing the right dashboard size. There are three options to select from in Tableau: fixed size, range, and automatic. All three have their advantages, and it depends on the use case which is best for your scenario. Let’s explore which option to use when!
Fixed size (default):
In this case, your dashboard will remain the same size no matter what device you use it on. What looks great on a monitor might get scrollable on a PC (not to speak about tablets and phones). In most cases, you’d like to keep away from scrolling. If you’re creating a long-form viz, then vertical scrolling is totally acceptable, but you should avoid horizontal scrolling by all means. We recommend the maximum width of your dashboard to be 1366 px, that’s how wide the generic desktop screens are.
However, you can pre-set a size if there’s a specific purpose you’d like to use it for, such as Laptop Browser, iPad, or Blog. If you know that your dashboard will be exported to PPT or printed out as a PDF file you can set your size to be PowerPoint / A4 Portrait and these will fit your purpose perfectly.
Pro tip: Always turn off phone layout if you’re not designing for mobile and/or use floating and tiled elements combined.
Fixed-size options in Tableau Public
Automatic:
This option will resize your dashboard in a way that it always fits your display. Using a tiled dashboard layout with automatic size is a good option when there are multiple types of devices used across your organization. Let’s imagine a scenario where the CEO uses an iPad, sales representatives carry their mobiles with themselves, while the Finance team is sitting in the office in front of a PC. No better way to serve all these needs than using automatic sizing!
Pro tip: Be cautious when building your dashboard, this is not an option if you use floating containers.
Range:
This size option sits somewhere between the two we mentioned already. Here you can define a minimum and maximum size for your dashboard. When you display it on a screen smaller than the minimum size, a scroll bar will appear, while the excess area on a display larger than the maximum setting will be filled with white space. This option comes in handy when you are designing a dashboard to be published on similarly shaped screens with different sizes (such as small- and medium-sized browser windows).
Pro tip: In 95% of the cases just stick to fixed or automatic sizing.
Now that we know which size option to use when, we can deep dive into the importance of using paddings to let your design breathe by using white space smartly.
Padding is the oxygen to your charts
What is padding and why is it so important? When I googled what the word means this was the first explanation that popped up:
A cushioning or protective material is padding. When you’re moving into a new apartment, you might want to wrap your dishes in padding to keep them from being damaged.
And this is exactly what it is! You can keep the elements of your dashboard from being cluttered by using enough padding to separate them. In Tableau, there are 2 ways you can control the white space between your charts: inner and outer padding. “Inner padding sets the spacing between item contents and the perimeter of the border and background color; outer padding provides additional spacing beyond the border and background color.” This is the explanation provided by Tableau, but for the more visual types, here’s how you can imagine this:
Pro tip: Use the same padding for all the elements to keep your design consistent and don’t be afraid of using wide paddings.
Looking at examples
Just to try it out on a dashboard everyone knows, here’s the Customer Analysis sheet of the Superstore dashboard as it appears when I open it up on my Mac with the default padding (varies between 2 px and 4 px) settings. And just right under that, a version, where I increased the outer padding to 20 px for all the charts, the title, and the dashboard itself. It conveys the same message but lets the charts breathe a little more, and this way it’s less exhausting for the eyes to look at.
Pro tip: By increasing the outer padding for your 1st tile in the Item hierarchy, you can adjust the margin of your dashboard.
Superstore dashboard with default padding
Superstore dashboard using 20 px outer padding
Margins and paddings are equally important whether you design a business dashboard or an infographic style viz. Here’s a visualization about Budapest, which we will spoil to demonstrate how using white spaces inconsistently can damage your overall design.
On the 1st image, you can see that the left margin is much wider than the right, elements are not aligned vertically and horizontally, and there is not enough white space between the paragraphs and chart labels. Have a look at the Pest / Buda labels on each image to see how much it adds to the design if you align elements carefully.
Elements aligned in the wrong (1st image) and the right (2nd image) way
Hungry for more? Stay tuned, colors will be the next in our dataviz guide blog post series. Feel free to share our post with your friends and jot us a message if you have any questions. | https://medium.com/starschema-blog/design-guide-part-2-framework-layouts-4d6edc5a4060 | ['Judit Bekker'] | 2020-09-09 08:27:34.857000+00:00 | ['Dataviz', 'Data Visualization', 'Tableau'] |
Ovcode Smart Contract Audit | OVCODE Blockchain engaged New Alchemy to perform an audit of the smart contracts involved in the creation and distribution of the OVC token used for their upcoming verification system. The engagement was technical in nature and focused on identifying security issues in the design and implementation of the contracts, finding differences between the contracts' implementation and their behavior as described in public documentation, and finding any other issues with the contracts that may impact their trustworthiness.
Ovcode provided New Alchemy with access to the relevant source code and whitepaper. The audit was performed over the course of one week. This document describes the issues discovered in the audit.
After receiving New Alchemy’s report, Ovcode made several changes to the smart contracts. This document has been updated to reflect those changes.
Files Audited
The code reviewed by New Alchemy is in the GitHub repository https://github.com/OVCODE-Switzerland/ovc-smart-contract/ at commit hash 1c272df7f6fd3900b53301fd8c714f8503e5a548 .
After receiving New Alchemy’s audit, Ovcode made changes to their smart contracts. These are reflected at commit hash c80ddd420a3dbbb7efb4c8621dcc130c20770073 .
New Alchemy’s audit was additionally guided by Ovcode’s whitepaper. After receiving the initial report, Ovcode released an updated version of the whitepaper and added the OVCOIN whitepaper to GitHub. | https://medium.com/new-alchemy/ovcode-smart-contract-audit-818dff58d1f8 | ['New Alchemy'] | 2018-06-15 22:58:55.693000+00:00 | ['Solidity', 'Security', 'Ethereum', 'Smart Contracts', 'Token Sale'] |
“What’s next?..” | In the midst of misguided banter, our common interest seemed unparalleled. The Darius to my Nina, redirecting playlist you knew suited the sanctum of my creative thoughts. Our refined “Love Jones.”
Within the months of mental intimacy, you became the achilles heel to my guarded peace.
“I think I want you..”
Emotions on high alert. Confining my sentiments of being available. I’ve always assumed trauma paralyzed neurons signaling my heart. Emotionally approaching dangerous territory without brakes. This shit was overwhelming. Exploited by your empathy which fueled my confusion.
“Should I tell him?”
My fingertips the menacing trigger to my sanity. The diligent, “over-thinker” well aware of the risk. The cost of being negligent with vulnerability. Lack of control, with a divided subconscious.
“Fuck it,”
My thoughts cascaded from my subconscious into spoken word, within a forbidden message.
“Sent”
Anxiety reveals it’s true nature. Instantly ready to deny my intentions. Ready to confess I was possessed. “Sorry, wrong person”, so unoriginal. 10 minutes disguised as a life time sentence. Mistreated by 3 disappearing dots acknowledging my private thoughts, no longer my secret.
You respond at approximately 11:11pm…
“Hey, are you free to Talk?”… | https://medium.com/@selenalenephillip/whats-next-e358405ff963 | ["Selena 'Lene' Phillip"] | 2021-05-08 05:45:52.316000+00:00 | ['Crush', 'Love Letters', 'Poem', 'Poems On Medium', 'Love'] |
How to Improve Your SwiftUI Map | Simplification
This method makes exactly what we want, but it’s a bit complex and takes a long time, especially when having multiple maps. So you can simply add an extension to the map structure. | https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-improve-your-swiftui-map-a323ccb47dfb | ['Luca J.'] | 2020-08-09 12:45:18.983000+00:00 | ['iOS', 'Mapkit', 'Swift Programming', 'Swiftui', 'Xcode'] |
HconSFT — Ferramentas para Testes de Segurança | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/100security/hconsft-ferramentas-para-testes-de-seguran%C3%A7a-4c07d39d527e | ['Marcos Henrique'] | 2020-12-23 13:29:45.612000+00:00 | ['Hconsft', 'Tools', '100security'] |
This Year 2020. | Image by Larisa Koshkina from Pixabay
This year 2020.
What can I say about you?
People say you destroyed their Life, and You did.
People say it was their worst year, and Yes, it was.
For me, you were the lightning bolt that shook me up.
You forced me to stay indoors.
You forced me to think about my Life Choices.
You forced me to revisit my past.
You questioned my family structure.
You broke the silence among long-lost friends.
You created silence where it was necessary.
You forced me to listen to my body.
You looked me in the eye and said, “Is this how you want to live your one true Life?”
And worst of all, you forced me to Rest.
The rest was just a disguise.
A disguise for Personal Accountability.
A disguise for the promise I made to myself in January, “I will be Authentic,” and never took actions.
A disguise that turned a silent whisper into a blaring noise, demanding to be heard.
Shocked! I just sat there looking.
There it was. Stark Naked.
The things that were ingrained into my mind and the things that were never taught. The stories that I kept telling myself.
I sat there looking. Questions rising. Contemplating.
Shame, fear, empathy, compassion, regret, gratitude, anger, peace, love- All emotions rose up, churned into one giant ball of mess.
2020 said, “There you go. I showed you the truth. Now sort it out. This is all you have to do this year.”
It was tough, I tell you.
Somedays, I wanted to shout at you.
Somedays, I was so heartbroken and frustrated that I wanted to run back to my cave.
The cave was safe and never asked for answers. It helped me live a convincing lie.
Unlike the frostbiting cold of reality, the cave was warm. It never asked for actions.
The cave said- keep buying things, keep watching TV, keep scrolling through social media, keep creating noise, keep running away, keep doing mundane tasks that didn’t make you think anymore, keep pleasing people. Distract, distract, distract.
It was so easy to distract before you came along, 2020.
The distractions didn’t interest me anymore.
Life seemed much more significant than those distractions.
Without even realizing it, I was transforming.
As painful as it was, I was healing.
Am I grateful, you ask?
I can’t even answer that question without tears rolling down my eyes.
I fall to my knees to thank you. To surrender. To let go of what I held. The things that were burning my soul to it’s core.
Thank you for helping me open my eyes.
Thank you for pushing me to the boundaries that I never thought existed.
Thank you for teaching me, for calming me down, and for healing me and my relationships.
Thank you for the new Life.
As you leave, I ask you, Why did you do this? Why now? You came for a purpose; I know that. For whatever it was, for whoever you are, I bow down before you and Thank you. | https://medium.com/@seethal-jayasankar/this-year-2020-c49e1bd6fd93 | ['Seethal Jayasankar'] | 2020-12-15 12:04:30.264000+00:00 | ['Poem', 'Authenticity', 'Words', 'Change', 'Heal'] |
A letter to my sister. | My beloved, How happy I was to hear that you miss me. Such a simple sentence, yet it made my heart jump with joy. Thank you for this delight in a depressingly gloomy autumn. I think of you often. I always ask myself, what are you doing, are you happy, how are your days? I miss you, I really miss you.
I have been meaning to write you. To express my regrets on not having passed much time together. Sure, we did spend some time, but in truth when it mattered most. And when when had time, I wasted it on trivialities. My goodness! What a sad way to lose a precious time.
Since I left, I have seen so much and I learned a lot. There is no amount of photos that I can share with you to show you all the places and people I have met. Encounters which left me happy memories and others bitter taste. I have seen things that you wouldn’t believe if I tell you. I have been in places that I never imagined. I wish you could travel your self. Visit and see the world beyond.
Yes, I accept that in face of our challenges and life exigences, these seems to be a wishful thinking. But actually, they both motivate and inspire me going forward. Yes I admit that, these thoughts sometimes prevent me from sleeping well and in times actively enjoying the the moment, but they keep my feet on the ground. They help me to situate me in the world, shape my thoughts. Going forward constraint the choice between risking everything and go after uncertain value adding dream, or just take certainties of life. What do you think? What would you want to do?
Not to bore you with my questions. But which ever path I choose, I wish to be by your side and support you. I wish your life should be unshackled, free and liberated. I wish you to have a beautiful future. I want you to be happy, have the best opportunities and live on without worries. As your brother, I should have made sure of that by now, sorry, but going forward I want you to know that it is a reason for my existence. I love you, and I will move mountains, bend backwards to express this.
Your brother, | https://medium.com/@rweye/a-letter-to-my-sister-943205bc3360 | ['R. F. Rweye'] | 2019-11-15 10:16:19.108000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Letters'] |
PolyRocket — Pre-sale platform for Blockchain Startups | PolyRocket aims to build up a pioneering all-in-one Pre-sale platform serving as a rocket for crypto startups.
With many years of experience in supporting to launch crypto projects, we want to build up PolyRocket — a platform that helps crypto startups remove difficulties in the Pre-sale period, and is expected to make a breakthrough with outstanding features as follows:
Stake PRT/MATIC or other tokens to get token of pre-sale projects
Small KOLs/ influencers: contribute to marketing activities to get a chance of using USDT to buy tokens of pre-sale projects
Liquidity providers: Provide liquidity to PRT pair or other pairs to get token of pre-sale project.
🌟 POLYROCKET ECOSYSTEM 🌟
❇️❇️ Dashboard
❇️❇️ Staking
❇️❇️ Yield Farming
❇️❇️ Cross-Chain Bridge
❇️❇️ Token Creation
❇️❇️ Multi Sig Wallet
❇️❇️ Liquidity Provision
❇️❇️ Token Claim Solution
♻️WE ARE SOCIAL!!!
🔹Website: https://PolyRocket.io/
🔹Twitter: https://twitter.com/PolyRocketio
🔹Group: https://t.me/PolyRocketOfficial
🔹Channel: https://t.me/PolyRocketAnnouncement
🔹Medium: https://medium.com/@PolyRocket
🔹YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/PolyRocket | https://medium.com/@polyrocket/polyrocket-pre-sale-platform-for-blockchain-startups-37a3c044ef39 | [] | 2021-07-02 04:15:13.419000+00:00 | ['Binance', 'Polyrocket', 'Bitcoin', 'Polygon', 'Matic'] |
Creating Elasticsearch Analyzers Programmatically | Implementation
Dependencies
Elasticsearch should be added in the classpath in the dependencies , you can see a gradle.kts version as follows:
implementation(“org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch:7.8.1”)
Tokenizer
Components in an Elasticsearch Analyzer are created for each analyze request. For this reason, instead of components themselves, analyzers are composed with the factories that are responsible for instantiation of these components.
Below you can see how a Tokenizer factory is created as an anonymous object.
Character Filters
Similar to the TokenizerFactory, we create an array of CharFilterFactory objects. In the example below, you can see how such an array is created and a factory for HTMLStripCharFilter is added.
Token Filters
Similar to Character Filters, an array of TokenFilterFactory objects have to be created for the custom analyzer. In the code below, you can see how factories for Lowercase Filter, Stopword Filter and Synonyms Filter are created.
For Stopwords and Synonyms, please note that we are hardcoding stopword and synonym dictionaries in the filters.
Combining them Altogether
Once we have the tokenizer and filter factories created, we can combine them to create our custom analyzer as follows:
Calling the Analyzer
After creating the analyzer, you can see how it can be used to decompose text into tokens.
Internally analyzer components work similar to a responsibility chain and each token is passed to the next component in the chain. At each increment (incrementToken()) the next token is extracted and consumed by the analyzer chain. At the end of the chain, a set of attributes have already been set by the analyzer chain. In the example above we are extracting the CharTermAttribute (i.e: text of the token) and adding in our result list. Also it’s possible to extract other information like position info etc. from the tokens.
When all the tokens are consumed, we are ready to return our analyzed token list.
Below you can see an example analyzer call within a unit test:
Summary
In this post, we discussed how Elasticsearch/Lucene analyzers can be implemented programmatically without deploying an Elasticsearch cluster. On this purpose, we manually configured a Tokenizer, a set of CharFilterFactory and TokenFilter instances to create an analyzer and exposed text analysis as a method. You can find the full source code in this github repo. | https://medium.com/dev-genius/creating-elasticsearch-analyzers-programmatically-b37fff196ee3 | ['Ibrahim Tasyurt'] | 2020-12-28 17:17:49.016000+00:00 | ['Elasticsearch', 'Lucene', 'Text Analysis'] |
I Tried Asking While Kowtowing ~ Episode 11 (EngSub) FULL — EPISODES | AT-X’s || I Tried Asking While Kowtowing ~ Episode 11 (EngSub) FULL — EPISODES
I Tried Asking While Kowtowing
Dogesuaru, who wants to see the naughty bits of girls, has a last resort to persuade them. That is, to grovel in front of them. Intent on having his lewd requests heard, he endures through the kowtowing. The heroines are often taken aback, embarrassed, and confused by his sudden action. Is anything impossible before dogeza?! Will the girls show him their risqué side?!
Title : I Tried Asking While Kowtowing
Episode Title : EP. 11
Number of Seasons : 1
Number of Episodes : 11
Genres : Animation , Anime , Comedy , Romance
Networks : AT-X
Status: Returning Series
Quality: HD
TELEVISION 👾
(TV), in some cases abbreviated to tele or television, is a media transmission medium utilized for sending moving pictures in monochrome (high contrast), or in shading, and in a few measurements and sound. The term can allude to a TV, a TV program, or the vehicle of TV transmission. TV is a mass mode for promoting, amusement, news, and sports.
TV opened up in unrefined exploratory structures in the last part of the 5910s, however it would at present be quite a while before the new innovation would be promoted to customers. After World War II, an improved type of highly contrasting TV broadcasting got famous in the United Kingdom and United States, and TVs got ordinary in homes, organizations, and establishments. During the 5950s, TV was the essential mechanism for affecting public opinion.[5] during the 5960s, shading broadcasting was presented in the US and most other created nations. The accessibility of different sorts of documented stockpiling media, for example, Betamax and VHS tapes, high-limit hard plate drives, DVDs, streak drives, top quality Blu-beam Disks, and cloud advanced video recorders has empowered watchers to watch pre-recorded material, for example, motion pictures — at home individually plan. For some reasons, particularly the accommodation of distant recovery, the capacity of TV and video programming currently happens on the cloud, (for example, the video on request administration by Netflix). Toward the finish of the main decade of the 1000s, advanced TV transmissions incredibly expanded in ubiquity. Another improvement was the move from standard-definition TV (SDTV) (516i, with 909091 intertwined lines of goal and 434545) to top quality TV (HDTV), which gives a goal that is generously higher. HDTV might be communicated in different arrangements: 3456561, 3456561 and 1314. Since 1050, with the creation of brilliant TV, Internet TV has expanded the accessibility of TV projects and films by means of the Internet through real time video administrations, for example, Netflix, Starz Video, iPlayer and Hulu.
In 1053, 19% of the world’s family units possessed a TV set.[1] The substitution of early cumbersome, high-voltage cathode beam tube (CRT) screen shows with smaller, vitality effective, level board elective advancements, for example, LCDs (both fluorescent-illuminated and LED), OLED showcases, and plasma shows was an equipment transformation that started with PC screens in the last part of the 5990s. Most TV sets sold during the 1000s were level board, primarily LEDs. Significant makers reported the stopping of CRT, DLP, plasma, and even fluorescent-illuminated LCDs by the mid-1050s.[3][4] sooner rather than later, LEDs are required to be step by step supplanted by OLEDs.[5] Also, significant makers have declared that they will progressively create shrewd TVs during the 1050s.[6][1][5] Smart TVs with incorporated Internet and Web 1.0 capacities turned into the prevailing type of TV by the late 1050s.[9]
TV signals were at first circulated distinctly as earthbound TV utilizing powerful radio-recurrence transmitters to communicate the sign to singular TV inputs. Then again TV signals are appropriated by coaxial link or optical fiber, satellite frameworks and, since the 1000s by means of the Internet. Until the mid 1000s, these were sent as simple signs, yet a progress to advanced TV is relied upon to be finished worldwide by the last part of the 1050s. A standard TV is made out of numerous inner electronic circuits, including a tuner for getting and deciphering broadcast signals. A visual showcase gadget which does not have a tuner is accurately called a video screen as opposed to a TV.
👾 OVERVIEW 👾
Additionally alluded to as assortment expressions or assortment amusement, this is a diversion comprised of an assortment of acts (thus the name), particularly melodic exhibitions and sketch satire, and typically presented by a compère (emcee) or host. Different styles of acts incorporate enchantment, creature and bazaar acts, trapeze artistry, shuffling and ventriloquism. Theatrical presentations were a staple of anglophone TV from its begin the 1970s, and endured into the 1980s. In a few components of the world, assortment TV stays famous and broad.
The adventures (from Icelandic adventure, plural sögur) are tales about old Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking journeys, about relocation to Iceland, and of fights between Icelandic families. They were written in the Old Norse language, for the most part in Iceland. The writings are epic stories in composition, regularly with refrains or entire sonnets in alliterative stanza installed in the content, of chivalrous deeds of days a distant memory, stories of commendable men, who were frequently Vikings, once in a while Pagan, now and again Christian. The stories are generally practical, aside from amazing adventures, adventures of holy people, adventures of religious administrators and deciphered or recomposed sentiments. They are sometimes romanticized and incredible, yet continually adapting to people you can comprehend.
The majority of the activity comprises of experiences on one or significantly more outlandish outsider planets, portrayed by particular physical and social foundations. Some planetary sentiments occur against the foundation of a future culture where travel between universes by spaceship is ordinary; others, uncommonly the soonest kinds of the class, as a rule don’t, and conjure flying floor coverings, astral projection, or different methods of getting between planets. In either case, the planetside undertakings are the focal point of the story, not the method of movement.
Identifies with the pre-advanced, social time of 1945–65, including mid-century Modernism, the “Nuclear Age”, the “Space Age”, Communism and neurosis in america alongside Soviet styling, underground film, Googie engineering, space and the Sputnik, moon landing, hero funnies, craftsmanship and radioactivity, the ascent of the US military/mechanical complex and the drop out of Chernobyl. Socialist simple atompunk can be an extreme lost world. The Fallout arrangement of PC games is a fabulous case of atompunk. | https://medium.com/@sidompuanb.a.da.ng/at-xs-i-tried-asking-while-kowtowing-episode-11-engsub-full-episodes-271acd0b2cdc | ['Sidompuanb A Da Ng'] | 2020-12-21 12:19:55.148000+00:00 | ['Animation', 'Anime'] |
Sleeping Woke: Cancel Culture and Simulated Religion | A new religion has erupted. It has taken over newsrooms, radio waves, HR departments, social feeds and film scripts. It dictates your playlists on Netflix. It tells you what language is acceptable, and what will be punished. It is not religion as we know it, but a simulated religion; a uniquely decentralised and leaderless cult of the internet age.
Incubated in the critical theory of the far left, it was birthed by an ideology that views reality as socially constructed and defined by power, oppression and group identity. Now, it has metastasised into its own entity. It has been given many names, but I will call it Wokeism.
Many on the political left are now trying to make sense of it, and push back against its excesses. A rift has formed; on one side, the more traditional left arguing for liberal values. On the other, social justice activists who are concerned primarily with deconstructing systems of oppression. What makes this an extraordinary moment in history is that, while this war is raging, Wokeism is simultaneously being adopted at an astonishing speed by late-stage capitalism. In much the same way Christianity was absorbed by a declining Roman Empire, it is moving from the fringes into the very heart of power.
This essay will attempt to explore the theological roots of Wokeism, its sacred tenets, and how they can explain the cultural shifts we’re seeing. We will delve into the postmodern critical theory to understand what constitutes a simulated religion, double-click on the early history of the internet, grapple with the meaning crisis, and ultimately descend into the hell of redemptive religion to fathom the soul of a culture on fire.
Systemic Change vs Wokeism
This is not an attempt to disregard the corruption or injustice that many have been protesting against. Nor is it a suggestion that anyone who sees value in some intersectional arguments (as I do) is a religious fanatic.
It is clear that there are serious systemic issues and inequalities in our culture that urgently need to be addressed. This essay is about drawing a boundary between two very different things; a compassionate awareness of systemic inequality, and Wokeism as a religion. I will not be exploring the former in detail as others have done a much better job than I could. For an excellent recent analysis, I’d recommend this episode of the Dark Horse Podcast featuring a panel of leading Black intellectuals.
Instead, this is an attempt to do something that for some may seem mad; empathise with Wokeism. This doesn’t mean agreeing with it, or setting no boundaries. It means seeing the world through its eyes, feeling the raw human longing beneath the incomprehensible paradoxes it preaches. In doing so, we can start to make sense of it from another angle and find better ways to respond.
Cancelling Culture
Nothing demonstrates Wokeism’s religious tenets more than what has come to be known as cancel culture. This is a term used to refer to the tactic of trying to erase someone from public discourse — either through publicly shaming, de-platforming or demanding they be fired. Many infringements can lead to cancellation — whether it’s a tweet from a decade previously that’s considered racist or transphobic, or simply a ‘problematic’ essay like this one.
It is nothing new to point out the religiosity of this tactic. However, what is often lacking is an understanding of how to engage with it on its own terms. Prominent figures on the left are now speaking out against it, using many of the same tactics of those on the centre and on the right who have been doing so for half a decade: appealing to reason and liberal values around the free exchange of ideas.
A watershed moment came recently when 153 prominent figures across the political spectrum signed an open letter in Harper’s Magazine. They called for a free and open exchange of ideas in the face of “an intolerance of opposing views, a vogue for public shaming and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve complex policy issues in a blinding moral certainty.” Signatories included Salman Rushdie, JK Rowling, and New York Times writer Bari Weiss. Since then, Weiss, a rare political centrist on the New York Times editorial staff, has resigned from her post, citing a culture of bullying and aggression at the paper.
It is essential that boundaries are set against cancel culture, but the Harper’s letter is a prime example of where it is only partially effective. It has, predictably, created another explosion of articles and Twitter feuds in opposition. Researching this essay I spoke to a number of far-left activists about cancel culture, and was told several times it didn’t exist. What was happening, they said, was that people were being called out for intolerant speech. When questioned as to who decides what is tolerant or intolerant, they often responded that this is self-evident. This is a moral response, and as Jonathan Haidt’s research has shown, the moral foundations we value differ between people. Wokeism values three moral foundations very highly; preventing harm, fairness, and sanctity.
This is the moral core of the religion, but these conversations also revealed something deeper — its decentralised nature. Wokeism has no leader, no centre, and no boundaries. When we argue against it, we grasp at phantoms. It is a non-linear entity; at once a cultural movement, an offshoot of critical theory, an ideology of disrupting power dynamics, a status and power game in itself, an attempt to protect marginalised voices, and none of these. To reason with it is to fight chimeras, chasing wraiths through hyperreality.
This combination of rigid morality and non-linearity is not only a tactic of narrative warfare, but a value set built into the very essence of Wokeism. To understand why this is so important, we have to travel back in time and plunge our fingers into the theoretical soil that birthed it.
Things Fall Apart
It is 1917. Men are dying in their thousands in the trenches of the first world war. Led to the battlefield by the certainty of national identity, they are being ground to shreds by its uncaring machinery.
Faced with this horror, people began to question the grand narratives that had allowed it to happen. After the war ended, Modernism was born. This new literary and cultural movement tried to make sense of what to do when we lose the certainties by which we define ourselves.
In the 1960’s, culture began a shift from Modernism into Postmodernism. Postmodernism saw this dislocation as an opportunity. It played with the breakdown of structure, throwing off the constraints of grand narratives about the world. Individual identity was no longer fixed, but fluid and socially constructed. The 1960s was heavily influenced by Marxist theory, but it’s a mistake to boil all of postmodernism down to this. Feminism, post-colonialism, and artistic exploration all contributed. It was an important cultural development; it helped set the stage for civil rights movement, opened people’s eyes to cognitive frames that were too narrow, and allowed voices on the margin of society to be heard.
A Time Before Twitter
But how did an aesthetic and cultural movement grow to take over boardrooms and influence government policy? In short, the internet. Wokeism thrives on social media and this is where it wages its war for purity. As Bari Weiss said in her resignation letter to the New York Times,
“Twitter is not on the masthead of The New York Times. But Twitter has become its ultimate editor. As the ethics and mores of that platform have become those of the paper, the paper itself has increasingly become a kind of performance space.”
We will return to performance and simulation soon, but first we can go back to a time before Twitter and see where it all began: the first website, created by Tim Berners Lee. Its homepage states: “The WorldWideWeb (W3) is a wide-area hypermedia information retrieval initiative aiming to give universal access to a large universe of documents.’
Clicking on ‘hypermedia’ explains that ‘Hypertext is text which is not constrained to be linear.’
A Patchwork Reality
Postmodern theorists were fascinated by the early internet. It is no surprise; non-linearity is built into its DNA, and was already core to postmodern art. If we want to understand why people are toppling statues and challenging historical narratives, we need look no further than one of the first hypertext novels, The Patchwork Girl. Written in 1997 by Shelley Jackson, it was an online, hyperlinked story that loosely retold Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The reader could enter the story at any point, clicking on different links to travel to different parts of the story.
Jackson saw the process as one of inverting tradition, thereby allowing for a more feminine perspective to emerge into culture. In a presentation at MIT in 1997, she explained:
“It is not female, necessarily, but it is feminine. That is, it’s amorphous, indirect, impure, diffuse, multiple, evasive (…) Hypertext is what literature has edited out: the feminine. In hypertext, everything is there at once and equally weighted ….”
The Patchwork Girl provides an early seed of what would become a core belief in Wokeism: deconstruction leads to freedom. Where this matters most is the way it applies to the individual. The postmodern individual has no essential selfhood; they are constructed by webs of language and power relations. Jackson suggested that “it’s possible, and maybe preferable for the self to think of itself as a sort of practice rather than a thing, a proposition with variable terms, a mesh of relationships.”
This is what identity is online. Fragmented, fluid, partial. Online, you can be anyone you want to be, and simultaneously, you are nobody. If this is where we gain our sense of self, we find ourselves adrift in a sea of language and relativistic narratives over which we have no control. Philosopher Ken Wilber has called the result an ‘aperspectival madness.’
From another angle, sociologist Aaron Antonovksy has proposed that a ‘Sense of Coherence’ — in which we which we feel our life fits into a wider scheme of meaning — is crucial for our wellbeing and a sense of meaning in our lives. Wokeism takes away coherence by replacing the sanctity of the individual with the sanctity of the group identity they believe constructs that individual (it could also deconstruct and thereby free them, if everyone would just use the right language). The result is an ever-shifting, dangerous world where you might be erased at any moment. Under this existential strain, it is no surprise that Wokeist adherents swing between compensatory narcissism, depressive nihilism, and find almost everything offensive.
Simulated Religion
Until now, we have been exploring the ideological roots of Wokeism. To see how this ideology became a new form of religion, we can turn to theorist Jean Baudrillard. In ‘Simulacra & Simulation’, Baudrillard suggested that we are living what he called a hyperreality. This is a world in which our signs and symbols, which proliferate through modern media, no longer reference back to something in the real world, only to other signs and symbols. As a result, we become trapped in a self-replicating simulation of reality. Nothing is real, and nothing feels authentic.
Wokeism is birthed from this hyperreality. It has all the trappings of religion, but an underlying emptiness. But how does this make it a simulated religion? To see that, we have to ask what true religion is for.
Religion brings us into contact with something beyond our limited selves, connecting us to a deeper reality. Many religions and wisdom traditions recognise that we are trapped in some kind of delusion. Buddhism teaches us to zoom out of our cognitive loops that trap us in suffering and into an awareness of our essential emptiness and interconnectedness. Sufism talks of the core essence that lies beneath our limited personalities. Christianity teaches us humility, offering eternal life and salvation through Christ.
Wokeism shares many of these qualities; the idea that we are trapped in a system that warps our perception, that we can transcend this by thinking correctly, and that there is a moral good beyond us; however, these tenets are simulations of something deeper it cannot access.
A Deeper Wisdom
Carl Jung taught that we have two aspects to ourselves. One, the Self, is the real essence of who and what you are. It is bigger than your limited awareness, deeply mysterious and regenerative. The other part of our psyche is our ego.
The values of that Self that make the world beautiful and mysterious are unattainable to the ego, but it desperately wants them. Some form of this wisdom has been shared across cultures for thousands of years. The Gnostics, who heavily influenced Jung, had a profound understanding of this. They taught that, disconnected from its true source, the ego will begin to simulate the values of the Self, creating a kind of Disneyland falseness around it. In Wokeism, true human empathy becomes a performance through virtue signalling on Twitter. True systemic change is simulated by a hashtag over a profile picture. And always the complexity and rawness of being human is boiled down to a single, rigid belief: you are an individual participating in or victimised by systems of oppression.
Wokeism is a performance of religion. It is simulating the transcendent values of empathy, care for the vulnerable, and the desire to end injustice. However, as a postmodern phenomenon it has none of the divine spark, what some Gnostics called ennoia, that emerges from a deeper aspect of being.
When I spoke to Calvinist minister and YouTuber Paul VanderKlay for this essay, he argued that Wokeism lacks another essential quality of true religion: the ability to build and maintain a community. Inevitably, it ends up consuming itself and any community it touches in a cycle of blame, shame and accusation. This would be concerning if we were simply dealing with a fringe religion, but we are now dealing with a state and corporate-sponsored religion.
An Unholy Union
If your deepest-held beliefs can be comfortably absorbed into Starbucks’ PR strategy, it may be time to go on a vision quest.
The ultimate expression of the hyperreality of Wokeism can be found in its adoption by corporations and governments. As Tyson Yunkaporta points out in ‘Sand Talk’, civilisation, and Western civilisation in particular, has an incredible ability to absorb and transform any ideas or practices that could threaten it.
The largest threat toward our civilisation would be a serious challenge to the corruption of our financial and political systems. A serious, concerted effort to address growing wealth inequality, lack of class mobility, environmental degradation and wide-spread corruption. As Adolph L Reed pointed out on a recent episode of the Useful Idiots podcast, the systemic issues that Wokeism sees as identity issues are often are primarily class issues. However, solving class issues requires genuine systemic change. Endless argument about identity does not, and is therefore selected for by institutions in order to maintain the status quo.
The reason Wokeism is so easy to adopt into a corporation is that it is also a product of late-stage capitalism; a last gasp of a system running out of steam. Its doctrine can now be found in most major companies. As Matt Taibbi has pointed out, the emphasis Robin DiAngelo and others place on ‘lifelong vigilance’ of power and privilege creates a situation where Wokeism can perpetually insert itself into the workplace– there can never be enough sensitivity trainers to cleanse the sin away. Just as our economies are based on the erroneous idea of infinite growth, Wokeism preaches infinite sin; the unholy union between the two is terrifying.
How to Weather the Storm
For all the madness of this new simulated religion, for all its aggression and absurdity and righteousness, I believe Wokeism is driven by the same longing as true religion; a desire to be truly free. Free from corruption. Free from injustice, and free from existential dread.
If there is a place we can come to empathise, it is here. Because we all want to be free, and we all know what it feels like to be trapped. We all have a different idea about what’s fair, but most of us want to treat others fairly. And like Wokeism, we are all a product of a world in the grip of a crisis of meaning. As a culture, we do not know where we’re going, or why we’re here, or what we’re supposed to be doing. Simulation is increasingly all we have until we can revive some deeper forms of wisdom that bring us back into our authentic humanity.
Most people are not true believers of Wokeist creed. Instead, they are well-meaning people who care about creating a fairer world who resonate with the surface level of the ideas it presents. Or, they feel uneasy but are afraid to speak out, perhaps for good reason.
Left unchecked, Wokeism will bring us further into tribal division and the sense of disconnection that drives the meaning crisis. We are going to have to learn how to push back effectively and compassionately. And that takes us straight back to the core of our own humanity, because to do this, we have to be in our sovereignty as individuals. We have to be able to find that deeper core in ourselves that is connected to a deeper wisdom. From there, one can stand firm while being unfairly called a racist, transphobe, Nazi or TERF and respond with compassion instead of anger.
As mediator Diane Musho Hamilton has pointed out in Compassionate Conversations, you have to come to a point of sameness to create enough safety before you confront someone with a difference in view. This is why it’s important to understand Wokeism through as many lenses as possible, because somewhere in there is a sameness that we can use to connect to one another. From there, we can have a different type of conversation that challenges, while remaining compassionate. Reasoned debate alone will not work.
If we can manage to engage with an attitude of empathy and understanding, perhaps we can create an opening of authentic human connection that disrupts the simulation. There may be something better waiting for us behind it. | https://medium.com/rebel-wisdom/sleeping-woke-cancel-culture-and-simulated-religion-5f96af2cc107 | ['Alexander Beiner'] | 2020-07-28 14:52:59.610000+00:00 | ['Rebel Wisdom', 'Carl Jung', 'Woke', 'Philosophy', 'Cancel Culture'] |
Rising above rejection at work | Photo by Clique images/ unsplash
My first experience of rejected work was when I was a kid at school. An incorrectly written essay resulted in my book being flung out of the window. The shame, the anger, the resentment I felt, was inexplicable. I threw tantrums and screamed (at home, of course), but I just could not get over the rejection, despite interventions and advice from my family.
After some days of seething with righteous anger, a friend said to me, “Why don’t you try writing the essay again. Maybe you will be able to do a better job this time.”
I considered this advice, and being a teenager, advice from a friend made more sense than the same advice from my mom; so I went ahead and rewrote the essay. As you can imagine, the teacher loved it. She smiled and said she knew that I had the potential to hand over an exceptional piece of writing and she was glad I made a second attempt. To top it all my essay got printed in the school magazine. All’s well that ends well, right?
No, not at all. What is important is the lesson learnt. But I did not learn from this. Maybe I was too immature, maybe I was just not thinking. But every time after that, each piece of rejected work would result in an explosion. I would throw my hands up and basically rave and rant about the injustice of it all.
Moving on to present times, I’ve carved a career in the service industry, which requires me to showcase creative concepts , ideas and strategies. This being said, rejections at work have become common place. But my knee jerk reactions to rejections ensured that I had quite a number of experiences that lead to more rejections, sending me spiraling down to the zone of self pity.
But a few years ago, a rejection from an important client made me think. And instead of throwing a tantrum, I decided to remain calm and detached to assess the situation. My realisations that day were a turning point in my life.
This is what I concluded:
REJECTIONS: If taken positively, they help us reach our full potential. If taken negatively, they can turn into a nasty viscous cycle of negativity and self-doubt and will actually lead to more rejections.
That day onwards I decided to clean up my act and stop reacting negatively to rejections. To this end, I’ve developed 4 hacks to trick my mind into converting rejections into positive comebacks:
‘It’s not me’:
There are numerous reasons why work is rejected. More often than not, the reasons for rejection can be attributed to the current emotional and physical state of the ‘rejector’. I call them ‘rejector mental blocks. Try to think of scenarios that may have lead to a mental block, and thereby rejection (I strongly recommend NOT to share these reasons with the rejector)
My favorite ‘rejector mental blocks’ are:
Maybe he’s sick
She’s fought with her husband
She’s been reprimanded by her boss and this is her way to let it out
He’s fed up with his job
This concept has brought up a bad memory
Although these may not be the actual reasons why my work was rejected, it allows me to empathise with the rejector and break the cycle of negativity.
2. Look for non-verbal cues:
A lot can be said through non verbal communication. It’s over many years that I’ve learnt that staying calm and avoiding defensiveness when someone rejects my work, can definitely help. Taking cues from the communication of the rejector gives me a perspective into his/her likes or dislikes/preferences and it goes a long way in knowing how to resolve the situation.
3. Sleep on it:
I always find that I am in a better position to revisit or rework after a good night’s rest. If an overnight break is not possible, I try to divert my mind with a short mental break; like listening to my favorite song or a coffee break with a couple of friends.
4. Gripping sessions with a sympathiser:
Although it may sound silly and childish and really stupid — this is something that really works for me. I always have a couple of friends whom I can talk to (or rather grumble with). A heart-to-heart gripping session with my friends helps me take the load of my chest. They hear me out, sympathise with me, add a couple of remarks as to why the rejector is an ar** and we all feel good about it. This works like therapy. It helps me release the negative emotions associated with the rejection and enables me to focus on the task without being resentful.
4. Start with positivity:
Before I begin to rework / revise, I take a deep breath, tell myself that this feedback will help me achieve a better outcome. I visualise the rejector loving my concepts or creations.
Rejections at work certainly hurt, but the trick is using it as a stepping stone to push towards positive endings.
I’ve often tried using one or more of these hacks to overcome rejections at work, with astounding results; you can try them too!
-Christabelle | https://medium.com/@christabelledsz/rising-above-rejection-at-work-810e6ebb108c | [] | 2020-11-16 23:33:05.008000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Work', 'Lifehacks'] |
Visualizing Table Tennis KPI’s in Google Data Studio | Visualizing Table Tennis KPI’s in Google Data Studio
Tomokazu Harimoto vs. Koki Niwa ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup 2019
I’m a table tennis fan. I’ve been in the scene for a few years and I keep up with all the major players and tournaments.
I thought that a fun way to practice making dashboards in Google Data Studio would be to visualize a match I watched recently, with my favorite player Koki Niwa.
The match can be found here for reference. | https://medium.com/better-programming/visualizing-table-tennis-kpis-in-google-data-studio-d02f79084dd4 | ['Andrew Hershy'] | 2019-08-18 23:50:58.215000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'Koki Niwa', 'Data Visualization', 'Kpi', 'Google Data Studio'] |
BitWings: A Promising Cryptocurrency | The BITWINGS (BWN) is the token of WINGS MOBILE and is implemented in an intelligent ERC-20 contract on the Ethereum blockchain.
BWN is a cryptocurrency that, unlike many other coins, has a value based on its “true currency” nature.
Its’ strength is based on the economy of the successfully operating company focusing on innovation and not in the evolution of Bitcoin, like other crypto-currencies.
It is a medium of exchange that can be used in the Wings Mobile ecosystem to purchase products and services both in the online channel and in physical stores. Using it will grant a 10% discount off the price in the entire range of the WINGS MOBILE products and services.
It is a value deposit, backed by the guarantee of having its issuance value of $ 0.20, which is a protection against market fluctuations, once the coin is available on exchanges and other types of buying and selling platforms.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Want to know us more? https://www.bitwings.org/
Telegram: https://t.me/bitwings_eng
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bitwings.org/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bitwings-llc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bitwingsteam/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitwings_es/?hl=bn | https://medium.com/@bitwings/bitwings-a-promising-cryptocurrency-29bab23783a3 | [] | 2020-12-24 01:25:01.408000+00:00 | ['Erc20', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Technology', 'Token', 'Crypto'] |
Hello, and thank you for stopping by! | Hello, and thank you for stopping by!
My name is Zach, and I’m a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) product designer based in Ohio; I also have experience in both educational and industrial technologies.
My journey into UX began during my undergraduate career in psychology. The more I learned about the human mind, the more fascinated I became with the expanding influence that technology has on our memories, our decision-making, our judgements, and our thought processes. Eager to learn more, I ventured into the digital sciences, and I’m more excited than ever to lead the way in designing a better world for our brains. | https://medium.com/zachary-immel-portfolio/hello-and-thank-you-for-stopping-by-ac32f9b3192a | ['Zachary Immel'] | 2020-12-06 17:08:09.479000+00:00 | ['Portfolio', 'UX', 'User Experience', 'About Me'] |
Virtual Inheritance | Nov. 23. 2015
In this post, after introducing two preliminary concepts, I explain what virtual inheritance is, and how it is implemented, then introduce two applications of virtual inheritance. One involves multiple inheritance, and the other involves implementation of non-inheritability. For each case, one example demonstrating how virtual inheritance works is presented.
Some Preliminaries
Before discussing virtual inheritance, it is necessary to explain two very important concepts in OOP (Object Oriented Programming) concepts, static and dynamic binding.
Roughly speaking, static binding occurs at compile time, and dynamic binding occurs at run time. In C++, the two kinds of polymorphism (see Appendix for Classification of Polymorphism), overloading and overriding are two typical examples of these two concepts. For function overloading, when an overloaded function is called, during compile time, the compiler determines which version is actually called by matching their parameter type patterns. Whereas, for function overriding, C++ implements virtual function call resolution with a vtable data structure [4]. In C++, virtual inheritance is also implemented with vtable. Next, we explain what virtual inheritance is, and how it is implemented.
What is “virtual inheritance”? why we need it?
According to Wikipedia [1], “virtual inheritance is a technique used in C++, where a particular base class in an inheritance hierarchy is declared to share its member data instances with any other inclusions of that same base in further derived classes.”
It is well-known that, different from other OOP languages such as Java and C#, C++ supports multiple inheritance, which is complicated, and its necessity is controversial [2]. Virtual inheritance may be required when multiple inheritance is used. For example, diamond problem, which may cause name ambiguity, needs virtual inheritance to be solved when some member function(s) of the common base class is(are) not pure virtual. Next, we explain how virtual inheritance is implemented in C++.
vtable — How “virtual inheritance” is implemented?
Just similar to function overriding, C++ implement virtual inheritance with a vtable data structure. However, it is necessary to notice that different compilers may implement virtual inheritance with vtable in different ways.
For g++ compiler, both virtual functions and virtual base classes share one single vtable. Every instance of a class with virtual inheritance begins with a virtual pointer to the corresponding class.
For MSVC compiler, virtual functions and virtual base classes are stored in separate vtables, and the table for virtual functions is named as vftbl, and the table for virtual base classes is called vbtbl.
“Diamond Problem” and Virtual Inheritance
“Diamond Problem”
class Employee
{
public:
int e_id;
string e_name;
virtual int eSalary() const;
}; class Manager: public Employee
{
public:
int eSalary() const;
}; class Contractor: public Employee
{
public:
int eSalary() const;
}; class TempManager: public Manager, public Contractor
{
public:
int eSalary() const;
};
Appendix: Classification of Polymorphism
Following Cardelli and Wegner [3], Polymorphism can be classified into two categories and four different kinds:
Ad-hoc Polymorphism (a.k.a non-universal polymorphism): ad-hoc polymorphic functions work on a finite set of different and potentially unrelated types. There are two kinds of ad-hoc polymorphism: overloading and coercion.
Overloading: the same name is used to denote different functions, and the context is used to decide which function is denoted by a particular instance of the name. In C++, overloading occurs in the same class, and at compile time (this is why it is called static binding or early binding). Coercion (a.k.a casting): a coercion is a semantic operation which is needed to convert an argument to the type expected by a function. Coercions can be provided statically, by automatically inserting them between arguments and functions at compile time, or may have to be determined dynamically by run-time tests on the arguments.
Universal Polymorphism: universally polymorphic functions work on an infinite number of types with a given common structure. There are two kinds of universal polymorphism: parametric and subtyping.
Parametric: a polymorphic function has an implicit or explicit type parameter, which determines the type of the argument for each application of that function. This kind of polymorphism lets us to define codes that are generic: they can be instantiated to handle different types, and the functions that exhibit parametric polymorphism are also called generic functions. In C++, this kind of polymorphism is implemented with templates. Subtyping (a.k.a Inclusion Polymorphism, Dynamic Polymorphism or Runtime Polymorphism): an object can be viewed as belonging to many different classes which need not be disjoint, i.e. there may be inclusion of classes. In this polymorphism, elements of a subrange type also belong to superrange types, and this is the well-known Liskov’s Substitution Principle, which says that in any situation in which the left-hand-side of an assignment expects a type T, it can also receive a type S, as long as S is subtype of T. In C++, if we have a class D inherits from another class B, then any function accepting an argument of type B (either variable of type B, or reference or pointer to B) will also accept an argument of type D (variable of type D, or reference or pointer to D).
References
[1]. Wikipedia: Virtual Inheritance
[2]. Marc Gregoire, Nicholas A. Solter & Scott J. Kleper (2011) Professional C++. 2nd edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana. </p>
[3]. Cardelli, L. & Wegner, P. (1985) On Understanding Types, Data Abstraction, and Polymorphism. Computing Surveys Vol. 17(4), pp 471–522
Webber, A (2010) Moder Programming Languages: A Practical Introduction. Franklin, Beedle & Associates Inc.
WikiBooks: (2014) Introcution to Programming Languages
[4]. WikiPedia: Virtual Method Table (vtable) | https://medium.com/swlh/virtual-inheritance-d83f7873180e | ['Chuan Zhang'] | 2020-08-27 08:54:20.463000+00:00 | ['Oops Concepts', 'Cpp'] |
KhaaliJeb Offers 40% Off on Urban Pitara | KhaaliJeb is a payment and banking application for Indian students and youths.
KhaaliJeb is a UPI based payment app that helps you to make payments to friends and merchants directly from your bank account.
KhaaliJeb runs a member-only Discount Program for Students & Youth, where brands and merchants offer exclusive benefits (deals, discounts, cashback, and offers) to Young Indians below age 29.
It is currently available only on Android Play Store.
Link to download KhaaliJeb app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.khaalijeb.inkdrops
Urban Pitara is a destination for fashionable and trendy T-shirts, shoes and much more. At Urban Pitara, you can get stylish T-shirts, Sweatshirts, Bag-packs, Shoes and much more at amazing prices.
KhaaliJeb has partnered with Urban Pitara to offer Indian Students & Youth flat 40% off on all products across Urban Pitara website.
Easy and user-friendly steps to redeem the Urban Pitara Deal:
1. Grab the deal for Re. 1 from KhaaliJeb App. You’ll get a unique coupon code.
2. Open Urban Pitara Website (www.urbanpitara.com) and add the items you want to purchase to your cart. .
3. Enter the Coupon Code during checkout and Discount will be applied.
4. Select a payment method and complete the payment.
If you’re a student or youth (below age 29), grab KhaaliJeb Discount Program membership at an introductory price of Rs. 49 for 3 months. It’s a limited time offer. Hurry Up! With KhaaliJeb Discount Program membership, you get access to exciting benefits (deals, discounts, cashback, and offers) from your favorite brands and merchants.
KhaaliJeb is currently available only on Android Play Store.
Link to download: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.khaalijeb.inkdrops | https://medium.com/khaalijeb/khaalijeb-offers-40-off-on-urban-pitara-6aadb44b9482 | ['Pratham Devang'] | 2020-09-29 13:31:27.802000+00:00 | ['Fashion Trends', 'Fashion', 'Coupon', 'Students', 'Urban'] |
Japanese Meat: Recipe For Cooking Secrets | Japanese Meat
Most of us are convinced that the Japanese foundation is making dishes from fish and seafood. But the reality is that the central government is much larger and more diverse than at first sight. Local people enjoy eating pork, meat, and a variety of vegetables. In today’s issue, you will find it not easy and exciting to get it Japanese meat.
GENERAL PRAISE
Preparing these dishes is suitable for all types of meat. But most cooks use lean pork or beef. Meat just needs to be clean and of the highest quality. It is not advisable to buy a piece that has previously been used under dry repeated or storage capacity. About pure meat can be judged by its appearance. Good tenderloin has a uniform shade with no extraneous inclusions. From such meat should not think of any good, and if you continue it should as soon as possible restore the original form.
Japanese Meat
To pork or beef was later found to be more tender, peeled across the grain. Prepare Japanese meat with the addition of sesame, sou sauce and aromatic spices. Sometimes the composition of such dishes is expected garlic, potatoes, zucchini, onions and other vegetables. From the taste of this fish the meat adds to the wood.
OPTION WITH BELL PEPPER
According to the recipe below it will also turn out very tasty and nutritious dish. It is made from low-fat meats, and a wide variety of vegetables. So, it’s good for the older and younger generation. To prepare the meat in Japanese, you need to:
900g nyama pulp.
Couple Onion Pottery.
5 spoon sesame seeds all over.
Couple of wood pepper bell.
½ Cover cabbage.
Sou broth, mineral water carbonated and vegetable oil.
Japanese Meat
DESCRIPTION THINK
Preparing meat and vegetables with seeds like sesame is very easy to make. But the start is better the night before. For this wash and purified from bovine films placed one volumetric pot, pour mineral carbonated water and left for eight hours. After this time, the meat obsushivayut discarded towels and cross the grain into thin destructive. Then the meat spread in a hot baked pan greased with a little vegetable oil and soup broth and fried.
Once on the surface the meat pieces will be browned, they add onion rings. After a few minutes to send sesame seeds. Immediately after the seeds enter the pan with fried meat and onions add chopped bell pepper. Immediately back to the finished meat spread thinly shredded cabbage and wait, or beat gently. Serve this dish hot. As a Garnish baked potatoes style used.
THE DIFFERENCE OF INGREDIENTS WITH ZUCCHINI
This recipe can be used quickly and without much hassle that the food is delicious and satisfying to eat. It can be a great idea for a family for lunch and dinner. But since part of this Japanese meat and vegetables give less alcohol, there is no need to give younger children. To do this, you need to:
5 drops.
3 diced zucchini.
170ml Soy sauce.
Couple spoon sugar
50 milliliters total vodka (for).
Salt
3 cloves all garlic.
Handful of seeds and sesame seeds.
A pressed black pepper.
Japanese Meat
SEQUENCE OF ACTIONS
The washed and obsushennoe meat is cut into long pieces across the grain. Then, it is sent preheated baked pan greased with a little vegetable oil, and fry until golden brown. Browned pieces add some salt and sprinkle with pepper and sugar. Then pour Sou soup and for.
Japanese Meat
Following the spread of this beer boiled pan potato cubes, and five minutes later — chopped Zucchini And chopped garlic. Pot put on a lid and left to prepare with the price of a fire. After half an hour the bean Japanese Sou soup with sesame sprinkles and five minutes later removed from the stove. Serve this dish can be fresh pickled pieces.
OPTION WITH CARROTS AND YOGURT
This original Oriental chili dish is cooked and mixed together. Therefore, of course this recipe will appeal to those who love to surprise your family or friends. That meat is still Japanese look, if you have easy everything you need. In this case, you should:
400 grams of lean pork.
500 milliliters of yoghurt
Hangaiwa garlic clove.
Be sure to bake in soda (no slides).
Fried eggs.
The average carrot.
They have a handful of small potatoes.
Onion light bulb.
Salt, flour, spices and vegetable oil.
YOKUBIKIRA ALGORITHM
Washed and sliced meat obsushennoe centimeter cubes and remove to the side. In a separate bowl, combine yogurt, baking soda, eggs, and salt. There they also poured sifted flour. As a result, you should be whipping thoroughly, which in essence is exactly what is properly baked fritters.
Japanese Meat
In the resulting weight increase the chopped garlic and chopped pork. One lay out pre-grated vegetables. All good seasoning and spoon send a lot of vegetable oil. Prepare grilled meat with onions in a pan for a few minutes on each side.
THE SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY
Pork is thoroughly washed down with a river tap tepid, destroyed with hair disposal kitchen towels and cut to about the same thickness one and a half inches. The meat is then covered with plastic wrap and lightly to hit a special hammer away.
Individual piala combine coriander, garlic, ginger and sugar. All this by pouring Sou juice and shaken a little man with a fork. The resulting marinade is given to broken-away pieces of pork, and no less leave them on for three hours. Ideally, the meat should lie in a sauce overnight. By this time, he was learning the beauty not only of the aromas of the aromatic clay, but also of the permissive.
Japanese Meat
Marinated pork spread in a hot baked pan, on the ground where they already have any vegetable oil, and fry for a few minutes and one by one. Browned pieces removed from heat and was placed on a fine flat plate in a row with lettuce. Serve meat only hot. The front is right on either side. But often marinated roasted pork in Japanese served cooked crumbly long grain rice, boiled potatoes and fresh seasonal vegetables.
If you liked this piece why not check out some of my other pieces here. | https://medium.com/@everythingcj/japanese-meat-recipe-for-cooking-secrets-2c7d4cfff07c | ['Everything Cj'] | 2021-02-07 13:13:34.742000+00:00 | ['Meat', 'Pork', 'Japan', 'Minced Meat', 'Cooking'] |
The Freedom Ring : A Progressive Theology | Introduction by Michael Soussan, (Author, Journalist, and former UN Humanitarian Worker) who unearths and presents to us a speech given months before the Civil War broke out, given by the Abolitionist Pastor from Brooklyn, Henry Ward Beecher. This took place at Plymouth Church on Jan. 4th, 1861. The Speech is Titled — “Our Blameworthiness”
The year 1619 has recently become the subject of a series of articles called “The 1619 Project” published by The New York Times because it narrates the origins of America’s enduring race problem.
It can be said that the early American Puritans traded in slavery from day one. On the same day that the Puritans arrived in the North, another ship with African bonded slaves reached the American coast in the South. The Puritans — whose religion preached a purist adherence to biblical values, were not “pure” when it came to slavery. From day one, argues Henry Ward Beecher, this hypocrisy plagued America’s identity as a nation. He notes in the passage below how uncomfortable it made him feel to be a northern abolitionist while he was wearing shirts made with cotton picked by slaves. Herein he explains how slavery was very much a Northern problem, too, even as the North began expressing abolitionist sentiments.
The Leading Facts of American History - The First Negro Slaves Brought to Virginia
Only recently have voices re-emerged to call institutionalized racism a “white-on-white” problem to a large extent — in that it is a debate to be had between whites; a debate about how they can look at themselves in the mirror and call themselves a nation founded by puritans. This here goes to the root of how the Declaration of Independence, which declared every human equal, could have been written, in part, by slave owners. It would seem the hypocrisy ran deep in the American colonies, and that it took a man of puritan Christian faith to point this out.
The drawing below featuring a “slave-catcher” (whose lucrative jobs have served to fund some of America’s first police stations) shows us how this hypocrisy rapidly (and starkly, to this day) enwrapped America’s “law and order” institutions with racism — in both cases, profitably.
“A Queer Recontre,” Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, March 7, 1863.
As you will see in Henry Ward Beecher’s message, he states that slavery has existed in almost every society on earth, but that, what was supposed to set Christianity apart in this regard was their definition — derived from the Hebrew definition of Slaves — never adhered to the Roman definition of slaves as being sub-humans. Having themselves been slaves in Egypt, Hebrews gave their servants, Jewish and non-Jewish slaves, the Sabbath off, and never considered them sub-human in any sense. While this distinction may seem irrelevant to us today, it served at the time to debunk the claims that Christianity and slavery could be compatible because the word “slaves” appears in biblical texts. In Beecher’s opinion, Christianity and Slavery were incompatible because the bible never referred to servants as subhumans — a distinction that was all to conveniently lost, even on the first self-described Puritans who founded this country.
In retrospect, Beecher’s sermon argues for America to re-examine its own identity — and perhaps live up to the mythical values on which it was created rather than on the hypocritical reality, which, as far back as 1619, governed its growth. Spoken barely 3 months before the Civil War broke out in America, which ended up decimating the nation to the tune of a half million deaths. Henry Ward Beecher’s words resonate today as they did in 1861, when racism and policing once again spark an air of growing social conflict. | https://medium.com/the-freedom-ring-a-progressive-theology/two-american-systems-north-vs-south-26817d21dbfe | ['Keith Wright'] | 2020-08-24 23:40:27.681000+00:00 | ['Chattel Slavery', 'American History', 'Henry Ward Beecher', 'Puritanism', 'Plymouth Church'] |
TRADI JUISE | This bonus offer has been created by the applicable Vendor and not by ClickBank. Accordingly, ClickBank is not responsible for any information contained in the offer, including, but not limited to, any product information, promotions, incentives, expected returns or other information contained herein. In addition, ClickBank is not responsible for any links to third party websites in conjunction with this offer. Such links do not imply any endorsement by Tradijuise of such websites or the content, products or services available from such websites. By clicking on or accessing a third party website listed, you acknowledge sole responsibility for and assume all risk arising from your use of any such websites.
INCOME DISCLAIMER : This website and the items it distributes contain business strategies, marketing methods and other business advice that, regardless of my own results and experience, may not produce the same results (or any results) for you. Tradeology.com makes absolutely no guarantee, expressed or implied, that by following the advice or content available from this web site you will make any money or improve current profits, as there are several factors and variables that come into play regarding any given business. Primarily, results will depend on the nature of the product or business model, the conditions of the marketplace, the experience of the individual, and situations and elements that are beyond your control. As with any business endeavour, you assume all risk related to investment and money based on your own discretion and at your own potential expense.Go link | https://medium.com/@mathew.mcdaniel85/tradi-juise-8f28f45d4387 | ['Mathew Mcdaniel'] | 2021-12-29 00:15:46.493000+00:00 | ['Actions On Google', 'The Interested Challenge', 'Bernie Sanders'] |
คำชมเชย. หนึ่งในเรื่องที่จะช่วยสร้างความสุขในการท… | A member of Mutrack and Inthentic. I lead, learn, and build with vision, love and care. https://piyorot.com
Follow | https://medium.com/people-development/%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%B3%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%8A%E0%B8%A2-57b90d704a6c | [] | 2020-01-06 12:32:33.346000+00:00 | ['Leaders', 'Employee Engagement', 'Work'] |
4 Important Ignored Places in Copywriting | When the word copywriting comes, our mind just goes to a sales page or e-mails.
And it’s because a lot of gurus limited the concept of copywriting just to emails, Ads, and landing pages,
But actually copywriting should be a part of your online branding and marketing.
And it means that you should take care and use it wherever you are present for online attention and attraction.
In this post, I am going to share a list of 4 important ignored places in copywriting. Working on these five Aras will improve your online branding and business.
4 Important Ignored Places in Copywriting
1. Product Description
Copywriting is really important in e-mails and advertising but you ignore it in the product description and features then there will n sales and profit.
With emails and Ads, you will bring the user to your product page but if not presented the features of the product and not persuade the user with product description, the other no sales.
Writing an amazing product description should also be a part of your Copywriting campaign.
2. Blog Post
Your blog posts are not only important for Getting and branding online business but it’s also a great way to attract customers to your latest pages and online stores.
Ignoring Copywriting in blog titles, headings, and overall post is the loss of customers and branding.
Using Catchy and attractive titles with heading and subheadings and amazingly concise but effective blog posts should be the mission of your copywriting campaign.
3. | https://medium.com/@poetkhan302/4-important-ignored-places-in-copywriting-a646a1e99339 | ['Guide To The Best Lifestyle'] | 2020-12-15 05:15:03.322000+00:00 | ['Copywritingdanlok', 'Copywriting101', 'Copywriting'] |
Intro to Machine Learning via the Abalone Age Prediction Problem | Collect and Know the Data
We will be using the already collected Abalone dataset to see the algorithms in action. The first step in knowing the data is to know what it contains. This means understanding the type (continuous numeric, discrete numeric or categorical) and meaning of each feature and noting down the number of instances and features in the dataset. (For readers familiar to Excel, features correspond to columns and instances correspond to rows).
A brief aside on the motivation behind collecting the dataset. Abalone is a type of consumable snail whose price varies as per its age and as mentioned here: The aim is to predict the age of abalone from physical measurements. The age of abalone is traditionally determined by cutting the shell through the cone, staining it, and counting the number of rings through a microscope — a boring and time-consuming task. Other measurements, which are easier to obtain, are used to predict the age.
Let’s now see the type and name of the features:
Sex : This is the gender of the abalone and has categorical value (M, F or I). Length : The longest measurement of the abalone shell in mm. Continuous numeric value. Diameter : The measurement of the abalone shell perpendicular to length in mm. Continuous numeric value. Height : Height of the shell in mm. Continuous numeric value. Whole Weight : Weight of the abalone in grams. Continuous numeric value. Shucked Weight : Weight of just the meat in the abalone in grams. Continuous numeric value. Viscera Weight : Weight of the abalone after bleeding in grams. Continuous numeric value. Shell Weight : Weight of the abalone after being dried in grams. Continuous numeric value. Rings : This is the target, that is the feature that we will train the model to predict. As mentioned earlier, we are interested in the age of the abalone and it has been established that number of rings + 1.5 gives the age. Discrete numeric value.
Let’s take a look at the actual data with the code for it.
target_url = ("http://archive.ics.uci.edu/ml/machine-learning-databases/abalone/abalone.data") # we use pandas to read the dataset and specify its feature names
abalone = pd.read_csv(target_url,header=None, prefix="V")
abalone.columns = ['Sex', 'Length', 'Diameter', 'Height',
'Whole weight', 'Shucked weight',
'Viscera weight', 'Shell weight', 'Rings'] # this line displays the first five rows of the dataset
abalone.head()
First 5 Rows of the Abalone Dataset
Clean and Analyze the Data
Now that we can make sense of the features the next step is to clean and analyze the data. Both of these go hand-in-hand and we may need to repeatedly do one after the other. But first, cleaning. Why do we clean the data? There are many reasons why data cleaning is important. Sometimes due to wrong entries, the data may contain some weird characters which can confuse the model as to what they mean. Sometimes, some fields have been unintentionally left blank. The model then needs to know how to treat these blank values: whether to ignore them or fill in a default value.
Next, let’s make sure that there are no missing values in the dataset. We can do this with: abalone.isnull().sum(axis = 0) where (axis = 0) specifies that we are summing null values over each feature. We can see from the output there are no null values in the dataset.
Checking for Null Values in the Dataset
Now, let’s look at some statistics of the dataset possible by: abalone.describe()
Statistical Description of the Dataset
As we can see, the feature Sex is missing. This is because the values of Sex are categorical and categorical values do not have means and percentiles. A point to note here: ML models find it difficult to work with values of different types (such as both categorical and numeric, as is the case here) at the same time. This is why we will convert Sex by doing something called one-hot encoding which is basically converting a categorical feature into binary numeric feature(s) indicating the presence or absence of the values that were originally there in the categorical feature. This is done by: abalone = pd.get_dummies(abalone)
First five rows of the converted dataset
Now, let’s move on to analyzing the dataset. Why do we analyze the dataset? Quite simply, to decide on the best algorithm and the best features to use to train a model on the dataset.
One way to approximate what might be the best features for prediction is to use a correlation heatmap. For those who do not know what correlation is, it is simply a measure of the degree to which two variables move in relation to one another. For instance, a positive correlation implies that variable A increases or decreases as B increases or decreases. Now, what does this have to do with feature selection? Well, we can find out which features are strongly correlated with the one we are trying to predict (target) as these are the ones that have the most effect on the target. We do this in code:
#calculate and round off correlation matrix
corMat = DataFrame(abalone.iloc[:,:8].corr()).values
corMat = np.around(corMat, decimals = 3) #print correlation with 'Rings' feature
feature_importance = DataFrame(abalone.iloc[:,:8].corr()).iloc[:-1, -1].sort_values(ascending=False) print('Features in Descending Order of Importance', list(feature_importance.index))
Features in descending order of importance
Here too, Sex is missing. And this is again because correlation is a statistical measure for continuous numeric values. Not to say that it isn’t useful but it doesn’t cover all the features in this case. Now, if we look at the distribution (or even the values) of the target in the data, we will find that even that is not continuous but discrete valued.
The set of discrete target values
You may ask, is that a problem? No, its not a problem but a good place to mention that supervised learning problems can be solved in two ways: regression and classification. Regression is when we train the model to output a value belonging to the real number set. Because both input and output are continuous-valued, correlation is better used here. On the other hand, classification is when we train the model to categorize an input into one of the two(binary classification) or more (multi-class classification) of the categorical or discrete target values. For instance, in our case any input can be said to belong to an abalone of age in the range of [1,29]. Hence, ours is a multi-class classification problem. Now that we don’t have a method for finding out the best features, that leaves us in a bit of a quandary, doesn’t it? Not quite. There are many other methods but I do not cover them here because they are highly math-based and related to correlation which gives a good approximation anyhow.
Finally, because we are training the model to predict Rings, we will remove it from our dataset and pass it separately. We will do this by:
y = abalone["Rings"]
X = abalone.drop(columns=”Rings”)
Since we are finally done with the cleaning and analyzing, lets dive right into the algorithms! Take note here that training, evaluation and inference are done iteratively, together (even in practice). | https://medium.com/@kunjmehta10/intro-to-machine-learning-via-the-abalone-age-prediction-problem-4e290a8b2ed3 | ['Kunj Mehta'] | 2021-07-24 19:03:46.366000+00:00 | ['Supervised Learning', 'Machine Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Pandas'] |
After the Last Time | Whether we were sunk or not, wasn’t the question. You brushed your hair out of your mouth. The tiny trickle of sweat sketching out your jawline. I want to be here.
The candles, the secret, the changing touch. I breathe the whole night inside my lungs, barely capable. I have time, I have time to be here, and now the soft black cloth is underneath me.
Vaguely, I wonder what that material is. I don’t know silk from any other textile. I just want to see through it. I want it to be sheer, like a heart exposed to the world.
I wanted to be vulnerable, and I know I failed at that. You hate the walls. I hate the walls. I am opening half-way. I am crowded out already. The cell blocks of a living resentment that I keep pushing at, bulldozing nothing but my life.
It’s not hard to be here: it’s very hard, the concrete squeezing up my knees, changing legs into solid structures and waiting for the night wind to gust around them, pick them up for the couch now. And the time to lie back into the world. | https://medium.com/storymaker/after-the-last-time-1d6d7878eb76 | ['J.D. Harms'] | 2020-12-17 18:04:12.681000+00:00 | ['Musing', 'Being', 'Love', 'Poetry', 'Image'] |
MONESE BANK ONLINE | MONESE BANK ONLINE
NEWS NOW
MONESE BANK
Make move in silence.
https://monese.com/gb/en/blog/monese-for-web
Monese an online bank,
having problems with costumers, due to the Brexit rules in UK and other Country’s.
Monese decides close accounts,
without any notice, or contact, or permission.
at the time of Covid-19 season,
"where no one’s work due to the Covid-19",
Costumers very upset,
Due to be One of the hardest time of the year,
without any notice, or contact, or permission,
Monese decide to close account’s with with customer money inside.
Costumers have their money blocked from November until now. Costumers Contact the support team, "support team says,
they are enable to tell you what’s happen’s,
and is nothing they can do about it."
At list is what the Support Team say.
Together with the same words,
By the Support Team,
tell again the costumers, "The Office Team" will get in tush with "you" Costumers.
“We” Online NEWS try to talk to Support Team,
And we didn’t get,
any concrete answer about it issue or this big Problem.
We also try to get in tush with Founder & CEO of Monese Bank.
By LinkedIn.
Is no way we can get in tush with the Monese CEO By Phone or Email.
Monese is Not Physic BANK, or Have a Physic Office.
Is an Online Banking system.
Sir. Morris Koppel
The E-mail was send by One of Monese Costumers to The CEO,
and the same Email send To Us “Online NEWS”,
By One of or writer’s,
and a yang CELEBRITY.
G.L.H and others source’s.
The information of
Sir.Morris Koppel profile don’t MATCH,
with the service from the Monese right now.
Could Be The End of the Monese?
We try understand what Mir.Koppel will do about this issue.
But till Now we don’t have any feedback from the Founder & CEO of Monese.
Costumers are tied of call And
E-mailing And the Office Team don’t answer back.
In the Facebook Of Monese is The Prove of every single person who complain.
Here the Prove.
https://www.facebook.com/MyMonese/
When this costumers have the Money Back.
And costumers will be compensate by this bank mistake?
Lara Smith Publishers
Ann Jones | https://medium.com/@robystone92/latest-hollywood-celebrity-news-today-6370ef684725 | ['Lara Smith Publishers'] | 2020-12-12 12:29:11.032000+00:00 | ['Celebrity News', 'Monese', 'Hollywood'] |
Running through the Google GCP Cloud Foundation Toolkit Setup | The above graphic skipped the bootstrap. I know, mean right? But the bootstrap is a one-time step while the other three steps will be adapted continuously (albeit less frequently at the bottom)
0-Bootstrap
First, I forked the repo. However, we are using Github Actions and that means our service account key is added as a secret and exposed to terraform as an ENV variable. Since forks must be kept public, this couldn’t work. So, delete the fork and create a new repo instead. Otherwise, before you know it, someone will write a simple terraform snippet that extracts your sudo service account credentials and writes them to STDOUT, meaning it will end up in a public github comment. Bad Idea! So private repo it is.
Next, I decided to unify some variables. Since we’re using a monorepo, symbolic links have proven a good tool for us to keep terraform code DRY. A folder universal contains files that are, well, universal. For this project, that’s mainly universal.auto.tfvars and providers.tf . The variables below are all that’s needed to run through the 0-bootstrap step
org_id = "Y" billing_account = "X" group_org_admins = "[email protected]" group_billing_admins = "[email protected]" audit_data_users = "[email protected]" default_region = "europe-west3"
So, as always
terraform init
terraform plan
terraform apply
The first step however, is a bit special. After applying the code, a GCS bucket is created. Since the example repo comes with a commented out backend.tf , the README suggests to
Copy the backend by running cp backend.tf.example backend.tf and update backend.tf with your bucket from the apply step (The value from terraform output gcs_bucket_tfstate ) . Re-run terraform init agree to copy state to gcs when prompted
This is kinda neat. I have seen a lot of bootstrapping where people do a bunch of shell scripting to get started. This is cleaner.
This creates two projects (one for us, disabling the cloud build). More importantly, it creates a service account for which you can get an access key to use for the CI but also the manual applies for now.
gcloud iam service-accounts keys create account.json --iam-account [email protected]
make sure you DO NOT commit this file to git. a quick
echo "**/account.json" >> .gitignore
should suffice.
1-Org
Alright, at this point I was motivated. It went smooth, next step!
cd ../1-org
cat README.md
Here I hit the aforementioned “each step is a separate repo” discrepancy. But that’s fine, I like our approach. With the linked files from universal, the directory looks as such
$ tree ./
├── backend.tf
├── folders.tf
├── log_sinks.tf
├── org_policy.tf
├── projects.tf
├── providers.tf -> ../_universal/providers.tf
├── README.md
├── terraform.tfvars
├── universal.auto.tfvars -> ../_universal/universal.auto.tfvars
├── variables.tf
└── versions.tf
Of course, you have to fix the backend.tf to point to the bucket created before. But the code is pretty explicity about that. Make sure to always read the README of each substep ;-)
Applying this code base however gave me trouble. We’re in Belgium, so we naturally went for europe-west1 which is the Belgium data center. Well, that causes issues!
Service availabilities for different EU regions
Turns out BigQuery is not supported in the Belgium region. Well, damn! Adjusting the default_region variable in the universal variables file means that the bootstrap step will be impacted! In fact, the state bucket will be impacted. But at this point, I have the 0-bootstrap and the 1-org state files in that bucket. So choosing the wrong region in the beginning is annoying! Make sure you choose a region that supports all the services to save yourself the trouble.
To fix this, I used the steps below
Now, we have the bucket in the new location and we can apply step 1-org
apply failed!
Damn, what now? Ah! Well, best to apply these changes with the aforementioned account.json account
export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=<path_to_account_json>
This should work right?
Turns out, they are using what GCP calls service account impersonation . This makes sense on cloud build but we’re already running these steps as the service account. It can’t impersonate itself right?
So I removed all occurences of var.terraform_service_account and voilà!
2-Networks
Same steps as above, fix backend, link universal files, remove service account references. init, apply. Done
3-Projects
Last step, wuhu! Defining which projects you want in your org. This is also the place where you can import any existing projects. The sample repo utilizes the project-factory module but it is still a bit rough around the edges. In brief, they are using local exec too much to create projects, relying on a local python, gcloud and jq installation.
Anyways, I’d think up a nice folder structure for your projects here and then apply the code. Aftewards, you can add existing projects to the repo by using the terraform import functionality. New projects on the other hand can be created with the project-factory which will give you best-practices out of the box.
Conclusion
The cloud foundation toolkit by Google allows any experienced engineer to set up an enterprise cloud setup in less than a day. But as always, that’s more of a sales pitch than a statement to rely on. Do your homework and read the source code! Also, don’t just blindly apply the best practices but also know what they are. Still, it’s nice not having to reinvent the wheel. The old pattern was that people share best practices in blog posts and technical guidelines and then you had to translate that into your specific environment and apply them. Today, we’re taking a codified description of the best practices from the Google engineers themselves and then we apply that to our infrastructure! I’m so happy to cut out the middle man (me) and focus on the really important things instead. Like our weekly facts and breakfast sessions or creating real business value for our clients | https://medium.com/datamindedbe/running-through-the-google-gcp-cloud-foundation-toolkit-setup-b4c5a912da56 | [] | 2020-04-26 21:34:59.296000+00:00 | ['Google Cloud Platform', 'Infrastructure As Code', 'Software Development', 'Terraform', 'Infrastructure'] |
Beauty of The Bloodied Bluffs | We share a shadow as we tour alongside the reeds whose tanned arms sway in the wind’s melody. The trails lead us through reddened woods to the Erie bluffs that bear a softened version of a cliff’s jagged edges, swallowed by trees and the falling leaves of autumn. Down below, a band of grey dominates where the murky water slaps against the slate in a monochromatic union of the states of matter that is interrupted only by the fading red leaves spotting the shoreline. The same intrinsic vigor that compels me to favor the dead of night leads me to the edge of the bluffs where the trail ends. If I were to approach the outermost inches of the edge and float above the speckled grey landing strip below, she would surely match my tightened smirk. Or, I ponder, she would shed her smile in consideration of a solemn thought. As I turn to face her — floating above the strip a few feet away from her — I send my smirk to my warm center and tell her to push me. Right then, her posture straightens and her eyelids expand to meet their orbits. The girl who shares my favor of darkness, fancies monsters both fictitious and human, and battles the demons that dwell within, looks in fear at my faceless command. She is either unsure of my true identity or is surer than ever.
I leave the bluff’s edge where I found it and rejoin the scent of her aura. We soak up the rest of the solace the wooded land has to offer and return to the reeds. The reeds carry us deeper into the reserve and we grace them with our silent emotions.
“What are you thinking?” she asks without letting the wind pause.
“About medical school admissions,” I tell her.
She candidly tells me that she is thinking of sex, priming me for a later conversation and revealing her intentions. I offer a chuckle and our silence then greets the reeds once again. Many footsteps later, we reach the end of our path and begin to turn around, stopping halfway to face each other. She looks up at me and moves toward me, getting close enough to see the gold in my eyes. She opens her mouth — not to comment on the gold — but to reveal more of her intentions.
“I want you more right now than I ever have,” she says with a full breath.
I refrain from stepping closer to her and instead peer back into her eyes wondering what she’ll say next. She makes the step that I did not and presses her cheek against mine. I can hear her mouth open when she points it up to my right ear and whispers “this is when I get you,” as she runs her right hand up my thigh. By the time her hand reaches my crotch, it’s almost as rigid as the slate bluffs. She masters the timing with precision when she simultaneously grabs a handful and presses her soft lips against mine.
“I’ve felt this before,” I think. Not from her but from other women. She has just enough experience to have mastered the timing of pleasureful release but not enough to impart uniqueness. In any case, I knew what I was going to do from the moment she pressed her cheek against mine. I gently push her away from me and stare intensely into her eyes, letting my eyebrows speak for me. Then I move toward her slowly and whisper into her right ear “you have me.” I return to the kiss we started and pull her hips against my thighs where they naturally line up. I pull her upward to savor the impulsive bliss of holding her body and to give her the higher ground. She makes her way down to my neck and I feel my pants growing even tighter. Tilting my head back ever so slightly, I gleam forward with my squinted eyes. There, about fifty feet away, a deer stands seemingly caught in the act. But really, it is us who are caught in the act. As we continue to move and disseminate beautiful noises, the deer stands still, moving its tail side to side, staring directly at us.
In this very moment, I wonder if the deer can experience beauty in any way shape or form. Can the urge to survive really be the only basis for its survival? Deer have been known to choose wild hallucinogenic mushrooms over their non-entheogen counterparts. Psilocybin, known to be non-addictive and lacking the ability to induce compulsive behavior, should have no agenda for attracting the deer. If that is true, there must be some delectable aspect of the beauteous psychedelic visuals that tether the hearts of deer, assuming that we are right of these beasts being incapable of enlightenment and introspection. I wish this deer could recognize the beauty of what it’s currently watching. Albeit entirely primal at its core, this sexual merger of souls never fails to convey beauty.
Looking away from the deer, I fall forward with my hips aligned atop hers, gluing her to the ground with my weight. She pauses, perhaps considering the unsanitary quality of this endeavor or how far she is willing to go, but does not consider my true reason for grounding us. Unless of course, she is not only surer than ever of my nature but is also more accurate than ever.
When I finally stand up, I notice the deer in the same position. Still twitching its tail. Still staring in my direction. It was not fazed by what it had just witnessed nor did it lose interest. I make my way back to the bluffs momentarily. As I return back to the reeds beyond the woods — whose color I now share — on my way back to my car, I note the deer’s absence. Briefly, I wonder if the deer, out of pure curiosity or in search of closure, may have tracked her scent beyond the bluffs. Then, I recall that deer cycle through REM sleep not unlike many other mammals and many scientists argue that REM sleep is the only necessary condition for the ability to dream. As I drive away — peering back through my rearview mirror — I can’t help but hope that I may dominate the deer’s dreams for a fortnight to come — or, conceivably, its nightmares. | https://medium.com/@santinoss/beauty-of-the-bloodied-bluffs-5635d9730156 | [] | 2020-12-26 21:36:49.002000+00:00 | ['Death', 'Murder', 'Short Story', 'Macabre'] |
“Being Smart” is not enough to protect you from online romance fraud, as research says so. | Online scammers know what you are looking for, also know what kind of bait you would take.
In horror movies, there are always awkward actions that you don’t identify with. “Why would the protagonist run into the barn when it’s all dark and ominous?” You might argue. In reality, “getting scammed” is like that horror movie which you deem silly and stupid if you watch it from bystander’s perspective.
Unfortunately, you’re more likely to get scammed than you want to admit. According to this research on e-mail scam from Purdue University, 59.3% of participants indicated they could identify scam e-mail.
But in reality? Only 1.7% could.
If only 1.7% of people could identify scam e-mails, then what makes you think you can consistently identify fake profiles on dating platforms, where everyone can delicately set up lifelike profiles, promising dates that only happen in your dream?
That’s why we created TomoTouch, the very first dating platform that promises authenticity. We verify users’ accounts through DID (Decentralized Identifier), which connects encrypted but verified personal information to accounts.
For example, If we were a centralized dating platform and wanted to verify your wealth, we would ask for your financial statement; then we would manually look through your statement, which contains your account details, so that means you had to trust us in handling your privacy.
But you shouldn’t need a leap of faith to use a dating platform! In our case, you can easily earn the “Proof of Wealth” badge by depositing stablecoins into our smart contract, which is a string of code that automatically connects the badge to your account. We are not the one verifying your information; the codes are.
With DID, more personal information can be verified in total privacy, like your appearance, biometric information, etc. And therefore, setting up a fake profile is nearly impossible. We want to ensure that not only you won’t get scammed, but also the person you see on our platform matches the one you meet.
We are a “trustless” dating platform. You don’t need to trust us in handling your data, because we won’t be handling your data. Similarly, you don’t need to trust the validity of the profile you see on our platform — because validated information is definitely real, it can’t be altered by anyone, not even us. We believe that no one should be scammed on their way finding love, and that is what we set out to achieve. | https://medium.com/tomotouch/being-smart-is-not-enough-to-protect-you-from-online-romance-fraud-as-research-says-so-4474fa455cfa | ['Cj Tseng'] | 2020-11-03 03:34:29.928000+00:00 | ['Online Dating', 'Blockchain Startup'] |
Working in a start-up: the pros and cons #19 | Working in a start-up: the pros and cons #19
We can find a million stories over the internet of people explaining why they left big companies to go work at a startup. But why are people moving to these little structures? Tired of your regular 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job? The few start-ups that have been successful worldwide are Microsoft, YouTube, Apple, and Google. But who are they? What do they bring to their employees as well as to the current economy? If you plan to work in a start-up, here are some points that may motivate you to start, although there are some disadvantages. Shippr Aug 22, 2019·5 min read
But first of all …
What is a start-up?
A start-up is a young, innovative company that is developing rapidly and requires a significant investment to finance its rapid growth.
The history of startups
There is a tendency to think that the concept of a “start-up” appeared in the ’90s because of the craze created around them. Well no! Did you know that the first start-ups came into existence around the 1920s? The first startups are the Silicon Valley companies, like, for example, IBM.
How to start a start-up?
Everyone has an idea for a startup, but the impressive part is getting it off the ground. Luckily, there are a few critical elements that will help you succeed in the startup world no matter which industry you plan to disrupt.
Take a look at the infographic below on which steps you should follow to create your future golden business.
“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” –Steve Jobs, Co-Founder and CEO, Apple
The good sides of working in a start-up
When you hear the word “start-up”, you think directly of a young, dynamic team. Indeed, this new concept of the world of work tends to attract junior employees since it’s a freer environment than large groups. It’s immediately more pleasant to work in a team where there is a good atmosphere, where you feel a real team cohesion.
A start-up also rhymes with creativity. It’s the ideal place to create and exchange ideas. You will never be reprimanded for sharing your ideas, quite the contrary!
The advantages of working in a start-up:
More resume bullets than you ever thought possible: you can pretty much guarantee that you’ll make huge contributions to the business. In other words, you’re going to work and achieve more than you ever have before. (And working more, but that’s another story.)
you can pretty much guarantee that you’ll make huge contributions to the business. In other words, you’re going to work and achieve more than you ever have before. (And working more, but that’s another story.) A stimulating environment : startups know how to pull off a favourable work environment. Creativity and innovation grow the business, so a nice workspace is crucial.
: startups know how to pull off a favourable work environment. Creativity and innovation grow the business, so a nice workspace is crucial. A highly dynamic environment: you must always be looking for a new challenge. Constant improvement is key in a start-up. Startups need to grow fast. If they can’t keep up in the fast lane, they’ll crash out. Employees have to deliver results.
you must always be looking for a new challenge. Constant improvement is key in a start-up. Startups need to grow fast. If they can’t keep up in the fast lane, they’ll crash out. Employees have to deliver results. Employees work without supervision: you make smart decisions and take responsibility for the consequences. The chance to steer progress motivates to perform well.
you make smart decisions and take responsibility for the consequences. The chance to steer progress motivates to perform well. Work outside your job description: often you work outside your zone. Loads of opportunities for learning and growth. There’s not a middle-management so you’ll help with everything. You have to carry out multiple missions.
often you work outside your zone. Loads of opportunities for learning and growth. There’s not a middle-management so you’ll help with everything. You have to carry out multiple missions. The perks: flexible working hours, working from home, casual atmosphere, employee discounts and free food and drinks
Some disadvantages
Working for a startup isn’t a synonym for free drinks and free lunches, and in many cases, it’s harder work with less pay, but in the end, it can pay off handsomely. There may indeed be some negative aspects to start-ups. Here’s a summary of the disadvantages of working in a start-up:
The salary you receive: the long hours and huge workloads don’t necessarily mean a huge payout, either. Thus, the salary may be less attractive than in a large group.
you receive: the long hours and huge workloads don’t necessarily mean a huge payout, either. Thus, the salary may be less attractive than in a large group. Uncertain success : if the company goes bankrupt, there is a high chance of losing your job with it.
: if the company goes bankrupt, there is a high chance of losing your job with it. Heavy workload: don’t expect short days with only 4 working hours. Startups are filled with people who are passionate about seeing a product or service come to life, and that usually entails long or odd hours. Employees work around the clock to achieve objectives, so stress and burnouts are possible.
don’t expect short days with only 4 working hours. Startups are filled with people who are passionate about seeing a product or service come to life, and that usually entails long or odd hours. Employees work around the clock to achieve objectives, so stress and burnouts are possible. What social life?: employees work under extreme pressure to avoid losses, so don’t count on having much of a social life. The work-life balance is tough. Startup employees end up working beyond the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. office hours and sometimes even on weekends. Working overtime is not always paid.
employees work under extreme pressure to avoid losses, so don’t count on having much of a social life. The work-life balance is tough. Startup employees end up working beyond the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. office hours and sometimes even on weekends. Working overtime is not always paid. Lack of leadership: the founders started the business with a brilliant idea and they secured enough seed money to start a venture. But that doesn’t make them experiences leaders. A lack of mentorship can affect the motivation of the employees.
Benefits to the economy
The benefits of a start-up don’t only concern employees, but the economy also benefits. First of all, they increase the country’s innovation. New concepts and applications appear and disappear in a snap of a finger! We, therefore, feel the freedom to create what we want and to innovate constantly.
On the highly competitive labour market, start-ups provide an important opportunity for young graduates. They also provide cultural and financial support to local economies.
In brief…
Certainly, there are some disadvantages to take into account if you want to work within a structure such as a start-up, but it is nothing compared to the working environment that the universe of the start-up offers to an employee!
You should evaluate what you want out of a company and how you see your future. Every startup is different, but the common themes tend to be special hours, small teams, ranging benefits, and a group of passionate individuals with one objective: create a successful company.
“Building a company and building skills for your career may take longer than we think.”
Questions?
We hope we succeed in giving you more insights on this subject. If you have any questions feel free to reach our Shippr team at “[email protected]”. You can also connect with the team on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn!
> If you liked what you just read: clap it away, share this post & leave me your comments here or at [email protected]!
> Want to learn more about Shippr? Take a look at: www.shippr.io
See you very soon! | https://medium.com/@shippr/working-in-a-start-up-the-pros-and-cons-19-7e4bdd7109a1 | [] | 2019-08-22 14:28:12.252000+00:00 | ['Company Culture', 'Startup', 'Economics', 'Society', 'Company'] |
ZB Market Daily: BTC & ETH technical daily analysis | BTC
Yesterday, it was a weak bearish opened of the trading session of BTC price. BTC Price fell to an early morning low of $19285.12.
This weakness created a market structure of tweezers bottom, which is a bullish signal.
On a second thought, BTC Price created a support above a major support of $19080.46, which showed the level of the strength of the bull pressure on the BTC Price. BTC Price gained a support on a range bound of $19285.12 from previous trading session.
At 16:00 UTC, BTC Price gained lot of volume to break the $19554.41 resistance, which was a hurdle on the 3rd and 15th of December for BTC Price to resume an uptrend.
BTC Price closed the 4-hour candle above the resistance, which launched a sporadic rally to the upside.
At 20:00 UTC, BTC Price hedged higher as momentum came into the crypto market during the New York session, which caused BTC Price to break the most awaited 20k — all time high of 2017. BTC Price printed a high of $20400.
Traders took more long position as volatility of BTC Price spiked. As of press time, BTC Price rally to an intraday high of $21422.15.
This is a ground breaking record of all-time high due to free traffic to east from the 4 hour time frame chart below.
BTC 4-hour chart
Technically, a bullish divergence of the Bollinger can be seen on the chart above. The band is over stretched due to the bullish pressure.
RSI is 82.68 mark on the over-bought territory.
The 20-period simple moving average and the 9EMA acted as dynamic support to yesterday’s rally of BTC price.
In the coming days, we should expect a correction of the rally to a low of $20593.99 if a bearish candle is printed from the all-time high.
ETH
Yesterday, it was a consolidation opened of the trading session of ETH price. ETH Price fell to an early morning low of $583.03 from a resistance of $593.01.
From technical perspective, from the 4-hour chart below, we could deduce a high level of traffic from the east that was created on the 7th, 14th, 15th of December. This was a strong level of triple top that ETH Price wrestled with yesterday, and that has been an obstacle for ETH Price to resume an uptrend.
The bulls defended $583.03 support on several occasion on the 15th of November. This level became a high level of demand for the underlying crypto asset.
Volume rolled into ETH Price at $586.22. ETH Price commerced a rally after breaking $591.81 resistance.
At 20:00 UTC, ETH Price rally to $620.08. Traders loaded more long position in anticipation for a new high. ETH Price printed an intraday high of $635.76 towards the closed of the trading session.
ETH 4-hour chart
From technical outlook, bullish divergence of the band can be seen on the chart .Bullish pressure on the Bollinger band led to the over stretch of the upper band. The 20-period and 9EMA acted a dynamic support to yesterday rally.
RSI up slope to 77.20 mark on the overbought territory. This indicate uptrend bias .if the RSI moves in an east west direction at the overbought territory , ETH Price will continue to rally in the coming days.
ETH Price broke $619.50 resistance that was created on the 1st and 4th of December.
ETH Price will need to retest this resistance to continue the rally. More so, this will be a platform for higher lows where traders can leverage on to take a snap long entry.
The next hurdle will be $725.89, which will also be a psychological level for traders to book for profit on long position.
About ZB Group
ZB Group was founded in 2012 with the goal of providing leadership to the blockchain development space and today manages a network that includes digital assets exchanges, wallets, capital ventures, research institutes, and media. The Group’s flagship platform is ZB.com, the industry leading digital asset exchange. The platform launched in early 2013 and boasts one of the world’s largest trading communities.
ZB Group also includes ZBG the innovative crypto trading platform, and BW.com, the world’s first mining-pool based exchange. Other holdings include wallet leader BitBank.
Industry intelligence and standards are headed by the recently launched ZB Nexus who embody the core values of ZB Group and open-source their reports and analysis for the public.
Learn more about ZB Exchange by visiting www.zb.com. | https://medium.com/@zbmarketreport/zb-market-daily-btc-eth-technical-daily-analysis-4cf8383f4145 | ['Zb Market Research'] | 2020-12-17 06:32:10.415000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Bitcoin', 'Crypto', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Analysis'] |
BETKING SPORTSBET COMMISSION STRUCTURE EXPLAINED | Betking Commission structure
Betking is the fastest growing betting company in the world the sport betting brand which was officially launched February 2018 is fast becoming an household name to reckon with in the sport betting industry in Nigeria.
In this post I will explain how the commision works and what agent and investors needs to understand.
Generally the industry is moving away from the era of commission on profit to commission on sales, agent and investors need to understand that the business massively depends on volume sales.
Sport Bet Weekly Commission
Betking Sport weekly commission ranges from 1% to 30% which is the highest in the industry for every bet slip you registered you get paid commision irrespective of the outcome.
If a punter plays one game in a slip with N10,000 your commision will be N100 as the selection increases your commission will also increase, if 15 games are selectected thats is 16% commission for a N10,000 game played, the agent will receive N1,600 as commision.
The type of customers you have will directly affect your commission, if majority of your customers are the type that plays low risk like between 1 to 3 selection per slip, don't expect your commision to be fat and this is why the company also came up with a monthly bonus share which is usually paid every last monday of the month, and to qualify you must have a minimum sales of N150,000.
Monthly Bonus Formula
This is the part that confuses most agent I had a conversation with one agent he said and I quote “ Monthly bonus is 25% of the profit you made for the company” this is wrong, many of us misunderstand the formula in the blue circle which can also be written as follow
MONTHLY BONUS = (TOTAL SALES — TOTAL PAYOUT * 0.25 )- TOTAL WEEKLY COMMISION RECEIVED FOR THE MONTH
What this means is that Betking will pay you bonus if 25% of the profit you made for the company that month is greater than the total commission you have received on sport that same month.
sales example for agent Mark
Agent Mark Record above shows the total sales for the month. Here we have Total stake 780,000 Total Winnings 238,0000 total commision 87,750 Now let's apply the formula to see if the agent will receive monthly bonus.
Monthly Bonus = (780,000–238,000 * 0.25 ) — 87,750= (135,500–87750) Monthly Bonus = 47,750 (Agent Mark will be paid monthly bonus)
sales example for agent Jude
Agent Jude Record above shows the total sales for the month. Here we have Total stake 780,000 Total Winnings 650,000 total commission 87,750 Now let’s apply the formula to see if the agent will receive monthly bonus.
Note: Agent Jude sales and commission are the same with agent agent Mark the only difference is that Jude winnings is greater than that of Mark
Monthly Bonus = (780,000–650,000 * 0.25 ) — 87,750
= (130,000*0.25)-87,750
= 32,500–87,750
Monthly Bonus = -55,250 (Agent Jude will not be paid monthly bonus because monthly bonus is on a negative balance this means his total commision received for the month is greater than 25% of the profit made)
Why is the monthly bonus paid?
For me It's a structure that is used to compensate agent who falls into a scenario where agent made profit for company but happen to have been paid low commission as a result of the numbers of games selected per ticket. Now let's look into two possible scenario with the same amount of sales and profit made.
Scenario 1
Agent A registered only 1 slip with 1 million for a period of one month, and in that slip only one selection was made lets say a draw and there was no winning.
Agent A will be paid 1% of 1 million which is 10,000 as commission due to some circumstances that was the only game he played for a period of one month and 10,000 was the only commission received for the month.
Since there was no winning Agent A made gross profit of 1 million for the company 25% of 1 million is 250,000
The question is how much bonus will be paid to agent A for that month recall the total commision received for that month is 10,000 now let's apply the formula.
Monthly bonus = (Total stake (1,000,000) — Total payout (0)*0.25)- (Total commission Received (10,000)) Monthly Bonus = 240,000
Result is on a Positive balance of 240,000 Agent A will receive 240,000 as monthly Bonus for that month. So his total earning for that month is 250,000
Scenario 2
Agent B registered only 1 slip with 1 million naira for a period of one month, and in that slip 30 games selection was made and there was no winning.
Agent B will be paid 30% of 1 million which is 300,000 as commision due to some circumstances that was the only game he played for a period of one month and 300,000 was the only commision received for the month.
Since there was no winning Agent B has made gross profit of 1 million for the company 25% of 1 million is 250,000
The question is how much bonus will be paid to agent B for that month recall the total commision received for that month is 300,000 applying the formula
Monthly bonus = (Total stake (1,000,000) — Total payout (0)*0.25)- (Total commission Received (10,000)) Monthly Bonus =25% Share (250,000)- Total commision (300,000) Monthly Bonus = -50,000
Result is on a Negative balance of 50,000. It means the total commission received is greater than the 25% of the profit share so Bonus will not be paid to Agent B but Agent B total earning for that month is 300,000 which is 50,000 greater than what agent A earned combined.
Summary
The Big question is which scenario will you prefer to fall under 1 or 2 ? For me I have always fall under scenario 2 where my total commission for the month is always greater than the 25% profit share and I prefer it that way.
So it doesn't matter if your sales is over 150,000 every month and you don't receive monthly bonus you should be happy to be in that situation because It means your type of customers makes you earn bigger commission.
To qualify for monthly bonus your sales for the month should be above 150,000
Monthly bonus are usually paid every last Monday of the month. | https://medium.com/@multit/betking-sportsbet-commission-structure-explained-15ffac7d26ad | [] | 2018-12-07 07:30:29.643000+00:00 | ['Betting Tips', 'Gambling', 'Startup', 'Business', 'Nigeria'] |
This Labor Day the Struggle Continues | Labor Day was established in 1894 by President Grover Cleveland, a Democrat, as a concession to the labor movement days after he used federal troops to crush a strike by railroad workers which resulted in 30 deaths and some $80 million in property damages. Workers then, and workers now, were fighting for decent wages and working conditions and the end of human exploitation.
Today, at a time of massive income and wealth inequality and an outrageous level of corporate greed, we must never forget the struggles and ideals of those who came before us. We must continue the fight for a government and an economy that works for all, and not just the wealthy and powerful.
Labor Day is a time to remember that for hundreds of years the trade union movement in our country has led the fight for equal rights and economic and social justice. And it is a day to pledge our continuing support to protect workers’ rights which have been under fire for decades.
The reality is that over the past 40 years, the wealthiest and most powerful people in this country have rigged the economy against the American middle class, the working class and the most vulnerable people. The result is that the very rich are getting richer while most working families are struggling.
In America today, the typical male working full-time is making about $2,100 less than he did 43 years ago, while millions of women are working two or three jobs just to cobble together enough income to pay the bills. Back in 1979, nearly 4 out of 10 private sector workers had a defined benefit pension plan that guaranteed a secure retirement after a lifetime of hard work. Today, only 13 percent do.
In 1980, CEOs made 30 times more than the average worker. Today, chief executives of the largest corporations in America make about 347 times as much as their typical employees.
Meanwhile, the wealthiest and most powerful people in this country have never had it so good. The top 0.1 percent owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. Fifty-two percent of all new income is going to the top 1 percent. One family, the Walton family of Walmart — the worst union-busters of all — owns more wealth than the bottom 130 million Americans.
As a result, people all over this country are asking the hard questions that need to be asked:
Why is it that, despite all of the incredible gains we have made in technology and productivity, millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages?
Why is it that we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major industrialized country while we have seen a 10-fold increase in the number of billionaires since the year 2000?
How does it happen that many of the new jobs being created today in America are part-time, low wage jobs?
Why is it that since 2001, over 60,000 factories have shut down in America and millions of good-paying manufacturing jobs have disappeared? Why are the new manufacturing jobs being created in this country pay in some cases half of what manufacturing jobs used to pay?
Why are we in a race to the bottom with low wage countries like China, Mexico and Vietnam?
Why are we the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care for all or to provide paid family and medical leave?
Why have we lost our position as the best educated country in the world and now find millions of people paying off outrageously high student debts?
Why is our infrastructure — roads, bridges, airports, levees, dams, water systems and wastewater plants, mass transit, schools and housing — crumbling and in need of major repair?
The bottom line is that there are a number of reasons as to why the middle class in this country continues to shrink, while those on top are doing phenomenally well. The most important being that we increasingly have governments, at the national, state and local levels, that are beholden to wealthy campaign contributors rather than the needs of their constituents.
Our job is to bring our people together around a progressive agenda that works for all, and not just the few. Our job is to create an economy based on human needs, not the greed of the billionaire class.
We must rebuild the American labor movement and make it easier, not harder, for workers to join unions. Forty years ago, more than a quarter of all workers belonged to a union. Today, that number has gone down to just 11 percent and in the private sector it is now less than 7 percent as Republican governors across the country have signed anti-union legislation into law, drastically cutting labor membership in this country.
It is not a coincidence that the decline of the American middle class virtually mirrors the rapid decline in union membership. As workers lose their seat at the negotiating table, the share of national income going to middle class workers has gone down, while the percentage of income going to the very wealthy has gone up.
The benefits of joining a union are clear. Union workers earn 27 percent more, on average, than non-union workers. Over 76 percent of union workers have guaranteed defined benefit pension plans, while only 16 percent of non-union workers do. More than 82 percent of workers in unions have paid sick leave, compared to just 62 percent of non-union workers.
In order to revitalize American democracy we must overturn Citizens United, move to public funding of elections and end voter suppression.
We must demand that the wealthy and large corporations begin paying their fair share of taxes.
We must break-up the large Wall Street financial banks and make sure that no institution in America is too big to fail.
We must raise the minimum wage to a living wage, $15 an hour, and end the unconscionable and inequitable pay gap that currently exists between male and female workers.
We must re-write our disastrous trade policies and make sure that trade agreements benefit workers and not just CEOs of large corporations.
We must rebuild our crumbling infrastructure with a $1 trillion dollar investment and create up to 15 million good-paying jobs.
We must pass a Medicare-for-all, single-payer health care system and guarantee health care as a right, not a privilege.
We must make public colleges and universities tuition free for working families so that everyone can get a higher education regardless of income.
Today, on Labor Day, we must recommit ourselves to bringing all working people together in the fight for a just and humane world. | https://medium.com/senator-bernie-sanders/this-labor-day-the-struggle-continues-dca9520de18b | ['Bernie Sanders'] | 2017-09-04 10:01:35.566000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Senate', 'Inequality', 'Bernie Sanders', 'Labor Day'] |
Democrats are Sufficiently Divided, No Republican Needed | Lately, with Biden about to become President, I’ve heard the GOP argue that Republicans should be in control of the Senate, if not the entire Congress, because the U.S. Government was intended to be divided. That the Senate is intentionally slow-moving and is supposed to put a check on the President.
For starters, it should be obvious this is just a line since they don’t sing that tune when the President is a Republican. And I could go on about how Sen. Mitch McConnell isn’t a “check” on Democrats but rather is just the Grim Reaper of change (his words, not mine).
Instead, what I want to say here is that, even with only Democrats in office, the government would already be divided. Just look at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (aka. AOC) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi to see the tension between the two sides. And the same party division holds in the Senate.
Within the Democratic Party, there are the Progressives and there are the Moderates. The Progressives are the ones who want single-payer health care, for example. They’re the ones that want a wealth tax. And they’re the ones that want to Defund The Police. The Moderates, on the other hand, want a more capitalist-friendly solution to health care such as the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). They want to raise taxes with more moderation and, for police reform, they see a measured approach involving allocating funds to non-lethal forces.
If a Republican candidate chooses to show up and debate the actual issues that matter to people — like Health Care — then I’d be thrilled to see that competition of ideas and solutions. However, if all they can argue is the need for a divided government, then look no further than the Democrats. No Republican need apply for that role. | https://medium.com/@mkrebs/democrats-are-sufficiently-divided-no-republican-needed-ea138ff0943c | ['Michael Krebs'] | 2020-12-14 13:22:37.307000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Congress', 'Divided Government', 'Republicans', 'Democrats'] |
7 Tips to Be Successful in Your Career | 1. Be Present
If you’re in a meeting, don’t multi-task unless you tell the participants beforehand. Saying something such as:
“I’m listening, but I’m just writing down some notes to take back with me and review after this meeting” — is fine.
Be sure to try to understand what’s going on. Participants in the conversation may need a second opinion on what was said and you might get lost.
2. Take Notes
But only shorthand — don’t try to copy what everyone says because then you’re not engaged in the conversation. Jot down simple phrases and keywords that will help you retain important information. This way you’re not losing concentration.
3. Follow Up, Follow Up, and Follow Up
If you know something is due but haven’t heard of an update yet, don’t hesitate to ask. Many times your colleagues are juggling multiple tasks at once. So your initial request gets pushed down to the bottom of their email.
4. Think Holistically
Think about the product you’re working on as a whole when trying to problem-solve. It’s easy to spiral into individual problems and go down a rabbit hole. This starts to create a tunnel vision and makes you lose sight of the goal.
5. Users First
Always go back to the users and think about how they will be impacted. Get their feedback and a different perspective.
6. Be Curious
Try to understand every aspect of what you’re doing, even if it isn’t your job. Always learn new things in your field. It keeps your skills refined.
7. Ask Questions
If something doesn’t make sense or add up to you, always ask. Odds are you are not the only one. It prevents someone else who comes after you with even less knowledge about the product. | https://medium.com/factmaven/7-tips-to-be-successful-in-your-career-6b75f00e404 | ["Ethan O'Sullivan"] | 2020-10-20 16:25:47.519000+00:00 | ['Short Read', 'Tips', 'Advice', 'Career Development', 'Career Advice'] |
For old times’ sake | It was evident from the wrinkled face of that old man standing in the super-packed local that Harbour Line is the worst. It’s worse for senior citizens. And the younger lot seldom stand up for what is right. They somehow remain seated. I don’t know if that poor fella was expecting anybody to give up one of their seats but what i know for sure is — as expected — none did.
Is shehar ne jaanwar bana diya hai hamein; aur humne ise chidiyaghar.
I sincerely hope the grand/fathers of all those who overlooked him last night find someone kinder in their commutes. It’s as if they couldn’t keep their ass from touching a surface for even few minutes. Apparently, running is the only non-gymnastic function in which gluteal muscles get to work. Otherwise, all these internal organs are good at is expanding.
For the dismal record, Mumbaikars run only after public transport. Makes sense when they over-credit themselves for finding a place to sit.
At times i wonder why isn’t there a separate compartment for oldies, especially when there is one for the womenfolk and the disabled. Lastly, why not an Oldies Special in the line of Ladies Special? | https://medium.com/shaktianspace/for-old-times-sake-50d4426900e0 | ['Shakti Shetty'] | 2017-01-10 10:45:34.885000+00:00 | ['Mumbai Diary', 'Observation', 'Shakti Shetty', 'Local Trains', 'Generalization'] |
Responsive Web Design | Media Queries
Media queries allow you to add or change CSS depending on whether the condition of the media query is met. For example:
This says to run the code if the viewport if smaller than 600px. This is not a good example of a real-life application, as a program is very unlikely to change colours depending on the viewport size. A more realistic example is displaying a hamburger if the width is smaller than 480px (phone size in portrait mode). If the width is greater than 480px, then display the menu items in the navbar.
Your basic media query looks like this:
@media media type and (condition: breakpoint)
Some examples of media queries are:
Media types: all, print, screen, speech
I’ve listed some conditions below.
max and min-width for specifying device types:
Photo from W3Schools.
And using landscape or portrait :
Photo from W3Schools.
So now that the basics are understood, let's get into applying these principles.
Firstly, a good rule of thumb is to design mobile-first. This is because it usually has the least amount of designing to do, making it easier to adjust as you go. It also makes the media queries easier because you only need min-width rather than specifying both the min and max widths.
What you are going to want to do is create wireframes. Creating wireframes for the desktop allows you to break up different components to understand where you are going to put flex boxes.
Photo by Adrian Cantelmi on Dribbble.
So if you compare the two different designs, you can see the menu changes between a hamburger menu and a normal menu. This means with both components, you are going to have to create and toggle the visibility of the two menus. You will also notice that some items are in rows on desktop and in a column on mobile. For example, “Footwear/Accessories” is where you would add flex boxes and toggle the flex-direction between rows and columns. This makes it really easy to change the layout.
The last thing is changing the font size. There are a lot of different ways to do this, but check out this article for more information. | https://medium.com/better-programming/responsive-web-design-26e6f6213335 | ['Amy Ann Franz'] | 2020-06-11 13:55:53.645000+00:00 | ['Responsive Design', 'Programming', 'Front End Development', 'Web Design', 'CSS'] |
Support Vector Machines explained with Python examples | Support vector machines (SVM) is a supervised machine learning technique. And, even though it’s mostly used in classification, it can also be applied to regression problems.
SVMs define a decision boundary along with a maximal margin that separates almost all the points into two classes. While also leaving some room for misclassifications.
Support vector machines are an improvement over maximal margin algorithms. Its biggest advantage is that it can define both a linear or a non-linear decision boundary by using kernel functions. This makes it more suitable for real-world problems, where data are not always completely separable with a straight line.
Separating hyperplanes
The main goal of an SVM is to define an hyperplane that separates the points in two different classes. The hyperplane is also called separating hyperplane or decision boundary.
So let’s start with hyperplanes. The easiest away to visualize an hyperplane is if think about a 2-dimensional dataset.
Hyperplane that completely separates the points in two different classes.
There’s going to be an infinite number of hyperplanes that separate points into two classes. But, since we’re working in a 2-dimensional space, any hyperplane we define will always have (2–1) = 1 dimensions. So, we can represent the hyperplane with a simple regression line.
With the decision boundary defined, we can now classify points based on where they fall in relation to it.
Classification based on where the vector falls, respective to the decision boundary.
If you are working with more than two dimensions, as in, your feature vector X has more than two features, you’re classifying vectors, instead of points.
So, to generalize, all vectors that fall below the decision boundary belong to class -1, and if they fall above it they belong to class 1.
Using margins to increase prediction confidence
We used training data to define the decision boundary. But what about the quality of predictions for the testing set?
If a vector is far from the decision boundary we can be confident about its class, even if the model has some error. But, what happens when we classify a vector and it is very close to decision boundary? How can we be sure about which class to assign?
To tackle this issue, support vector machines also draws a margin around the decision boundary. The goal of this margin is to separate the vectors from the decision boundary, as much as possible. The intuition behind it is that a margin gives us more confidence in our predictions. Because the vectors are at least the length of the margin away from the decision boundary, there’s less ambiguity during classification.
The position of the margin is defined using the vectors that are closest to the decision boundary. That’s why the vectors that lie on top of the margin are the support vectors.
And with the margin working as a buffer, we can classify a vector based on where they fall relative to the margin. Where M is the width of the margin.
Classification based on where vectors fall relative to the margin.
Some room for misclassification
The addition of a margin improves the quality of the predictions in the testing set, but it assumes the classes are completely separable.
But, in most real world problems, data is messy and it’s usually not completely separable.
That’s why SVM shares an important characteristic with the algorithm that came before it, support vector classifiers. It allows the algorithm to make mistakes, and assign the wrong class to some vectors.
Decision boundary and margin for support vector classifiers, along with the corresponding support vectors.
So, instead of trying to completely separate the vectors in into two classes, SMV make a trade-off. It allows for some vectors to fall inside the margin and on the wrong side of the decision boundary.
Support vector machines allow some misclassification during the learning process. So they can do a better job at classifying most vectors in the testing set.
Besides the margin, our model now includes slack variables, which will tell us two things:
if a test observation misclassified,
where the observation is relative to the decision boundary and the margin.
Slack variables can have three possible values:
And number of misclassified vectors is bound by a parameter C.
Classification based on where vectors fall relative to the margin, including slack variables.
We can see the model captures much more nuance. But it’s still built on top of maximum margin classifiers. For instance, if you set parameter C to zero, meaning it allows zero slack variables, it falls back to a maximum margin classifier. So you have a linear decision boundary, a margin that is as large as possible and no vectors allowed inside it.
The higher the number of slack variables, the higher the number of misclassified vectors allowed. This impacts the width of the margin, because picking different support vectors. And it also controls the Bias-Variance tradeoff of the model.
How the number of slack variables control the bias-variance tradeoff.
Having some room for misclassification makes SMVs more flexibility, but it only applies to a limited set of problems.
In most real world problems, it’s hard to separate data into two classes with a linear decision boundary. Even with some room for error.
Support vector machines
SVMs share the characteristics of the margin classifiers that came before it. What is unique about them is how they can define both linear and non-linear decision boundaries.
To support non-linear decision boundaries, SMVs use functions to transform the original feature space into a new space can represent those non-linear relationships.
For instance, say you augment the original feature space with the square its features. In this case, you applied a quadratic function to the original feature set to create the square of those features. Now you have your original feature and their quadratic version, in this augmented space. And so, implicitly, there’s a function that maps these two feature spaces.
Augmenting the feature space with the quadratic version of original features.
If you try to draw the decision boundary in the original feature space it has a quadratic shape. But if you train your model in the augmented feature space, you’ll find a linear decision boundary that separates the two classes. Because it is a transformation, the quadratic boundary in original feature space corresponds to a linear one in the augmented feature space.
The functions that define these transformations are called kernels. They work as similarity functions between observations in the training and testing sets.
Decision boundary and margin for SVM, along with the corresponding support vectors, using a linear kernel (right) and a polynomial kernel (left).
Whenever you have a model that is represented with inner products, you can plug in a kernel function. For instance, a linear kernel is the same as applying linear transformations to feature space. And, in this case, it’s the same as a support vector classifier, because the decision boundary is linear.
With polynomial kernels, you’re projecting the original feature space into a polynomial feature space. So the decision boundary that separates the classes is defined with a higher order polynomial.
The use of kernels is what distinguishes support vector classifiers from support vector machines. And they open up the possibility to tackle more complex problems. But augmenting the feature space could mean extra computational needs. Because, with a big enough feature space, it can be expensive to fit a model, both in terms of both time and resources.
Despite the the augmented feature space, kernels bring a significant advantage. SVMs don’t actually compute the transformation of each observation into the augmented space. They use a trick and instead compute the inner product of observations in the augmented space which, computationally, is much cheaper. This is called the kernel trick.
In the end, SVMs make two important assumptions:
Data is linearly separable. Even if the linear boundary is in an augmented feature space.
The model is represented using inner products, so that kernels can be used.
Let’s look at a few examples
To see support vector machines in action, I’ve generated a random dataset and split it into two different classes. Here's the code snippet that generates and plots the data.
import random
import numpy as np
import pandas as pd
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt def generate_random_dataset(size):
""" Generate a random dataset and that follows a quadratic distribution
"""
x = []
y = []
target = [] for i in range(size):
# class zero
x.append(np.round(random.uniform(0, 2.5), 1))
y.append(np.round(random.uniform(0, 20), 1))
target.append(0) # class one
x.append(np.round(random.uniform(1, 5), 2))
y.append(np.round(random.uniform(20, 25), 2))
target.append(1) x.append(np.round(random.uniform(3, 5), 2))
y.append(np.round(random.uniform(5, 25), 2))
target.append(1) df_x = pd.DataFrame(data=x)
df_y = pd.DataFrame(data=y)
df_target = pd.DataFrame(data=target) data_frame = pd.concat([df_x, df_y], ignore_index=True, axis=1)
data_frame = pd.concat([data_frame, df_target], ignore_index=True, axis=1) data_frame.columns = ['x', 'y', 'target']
return data_frame
# Generate dataset
size = 100
dataset = generate_random_dataset(size)
features = dataset[['x', 'y']]
label = dataset['target'] # Hold out 20% of the dataset for training
test_size = int(np.round(size * 0.2, 0)) # Split dataset into training and testing sets
x_train = features[:-test_size].values
y_train = label[:-test_size].values x_test = features[-test_size:].values
y_test = label[-test_size:].values # Plotting the training set
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(12, 7)) # removing to and right border
ax.spines['top'].set_visible(False)
ax.spines['left'].set_visible(False)
ax.spines['right'].set_visible(False) # adding major gridlines
ax.grid(color='grey', linestyle='-', linewidth=0.25, alpha=0.5)
ax.scatter(features[:-test_size]['x'], features[:-test_size]['y'], color="#8C7298") plt.show()
Before any classification, the training set looks like this.
Random training set.
There’s a little space between the two groups of data points. But closer to the center, it’s not clear which data point belongs to which class.
A quadratic curve might be a good candidate to separate these classes. So let’s fit an SVM with a second-degree polynomial kernel.
from sklearn import svm
model = svm.SVC(kernel='poly', degree=2)
model.fit(x_train, y_train)
To see the result of fitting this model, we can plot the decision boundary and the margin along with the dataset.
Dataset after classification, with decision boundary (full line), margin (dashed lines) and support vectors marked with a circle.
Here’s the code to plot the decision boundary and margins.
fig, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(12, 7)) # Removing to and right border
ax.spines['top'].set_visible(False)
ax.spines['left'].set_visible(False)
ax.spines['right'].set_visible(False) # Create grid to evaluate model
xx = np.linspace(-1, max(features['x']) + 1, len(x_train))
yy = np.linspace(0, max(features['y']) + 1, len(y_train))
YY, XX = np.meshgrid(yy, xx)
xy = np.vstack([XX.ravel(), YY.ravel()]).T train_size = len(features[:-test_size]['x']) # Assigning different colors to the classes
colors = y_train
colors = np.where(colors == 1, '#8C7298', '#4786D1') # Plot the dataset
ax.scatter(features[:-test_size]['x'], features[:-test_size]['y'], c=colors) # Get the separating hyperplane
Z = model.decision_function(xy).reshape(XX.shape)
# Draw the decision boundary and margins
ax.contour(XX, YY, Z, colors='k', levels=[-1, 0, 1], alpha=0.5, linestyles=['--', '-', '--']) # Highlight support vectors with a circle around them
ax.scatter(model.support_vectors_[:, 0], model.support_vectors_[:, 1], s=100, linewidth=1, facecolors='none', edgecolors='k') plt.show()
If we calculate the accuracy of this model against the testing set we get a good result, granted the dataset is very small and generated at random.
Accuracy of the SVM model with 2nd degree polynomial kernel.
from sklearn.metrics import accuracy_score
predictions_poly = model.predict(x_test)
accuracy_poly = accuracy_score(y_test, predictions_poly) print("2nd degree polynomial Kernel
Accuracy (normalized): " + str(accuracy_poly))
The accuracy is good, but let's see if a more simplistic approach could have solved our problem. To fit an SVM with a linear kernel we just need to update the kernel parameter.
model = svm.SVC(kernel='linear')
model.fit(x_train, y_train)
And plot the decision boundary the same way we did back there.
Dataset after classification, with decision boundary (full line), margin (dashed lines) and support vectors marked with a circle.
Now it looks like there are fewer points inside the margin, and fewer misclassified points. Calculating the accuracy of this model, it has slightly better accuracy than the one with a polynomial kernel.
Accuracy of SVM model with linear kernel.
So it turns out that for this problem a simpler model, an SVM with a linear kernel, was the best solution. | https://towardsdatascience.com/support-vector-machines-explained-with-python-examples-cb65e8172c85 | ['Carolina Bento'] | 2020-07-07 03:59:47.468000+00:00 | ['Support Vector Machine', 'Machine Learning', 'Data Science', 'Supervised Learning', 'Algorithms'] |
Announcing Prise, a plugin framework for .NET Core | Prise logo
📣 Prise [/Prease/] is a versatile and highly customizable plugin framework for .NET Core applications, written in .NET Core.
For those who are wondering where the name Prise comes from, pries is a bastardized word in Flemish that means ‘the wall socket’: http://www.vlaamswoordenboek.be/definities/geschiedenis/378
Who do we need (another) plugin framework ?
Over the past years, I’ve worked in various environments where a plugin framework would have been beneficial to the overall structure of the software. For example. In the industry of Payroll, the calculation of net wages for employees can be horrid😱. Not only does the Belgian law makes this difficult, but also, the wage is calculated in four tiers. Wage, Brute, Taxable and Net.
Each tier has its own set of rules, that, depending on the context, produce a different result. In this kind of calculation, it is advised to separate these calculations out into small, testable components and inject them when needed, based on the context of the calculation.
Does this sound familiar to you? Then you might just benefit by using a plugin framework.
Another example would be a large desktop application that loads different UI components based on whatever permissions the user has. If a component can’t be loaded, the rest of the application could still continue to function as normal, until this component is fixed.
Again, we see that the loading of components is context-driven, the context being; the permissions of the user.
Calculation of car insurance and house insurance all depend on the context: the state of the house, the cost of the purchase, the income of the person requesting the insurance, and so on. When the context changes, different components need to come into play and change the outcome of the premium that needs to be payed.
If you’d write a traditional monolithic application, you’d be changing calculation rules on a weekly basis. Separating this out into components that you can hot-load and plugin on demand, is key to the maintainability and stability of the application.
If you’re writing an integration platform that interacts with data from different third party providers, you don’t want to highly couple these providers into your system. Each provider will have it’s own plugin that you load at runtime in order to connect to that provider when it is required, based on the context.
I believe, in this microservice world, a decent plugin system can help us keep focus on what really matters, writing good quality software.
With the footnote that you write tests for your plugins, obviously😁 | https://medium.com/@maartenmerken/announcing-prise-a-plugin-framework-for-net-core-4af7cf5b4d2b | ['Maarten Merken'] | 2019-10-16 11:39:09.291000+00:00 | ['Plugins', 'Dotnet Core', 'Aspnetcore', 'Microservices'] |
CORONA STAYS CRIME! | CORONA STAYS CRIME!
The Fear of "The Corona"
was never heard of before.
For it felt so nice and snug
on the head that it wore!
So, 'uneasy lies the head' adage,
could also be correct to the core,
yet appears not to follow the flow,
when there’s this power below!
Thus comes the rain and snow,
season to sow and even to store.
But with deceit also came greed,
and with wheat, also grew weed!
Now as crime was on the go,
criminals too began to grow.
Yet many wouldn't dare to tell,
more about their story, for sure!
Then comes this New Corona,
a Crown with a big difference,
which was very easy to catch,
yet wasn't that easy to shun.
Although a bit like sleek china,
brittle, yet not at all beautiful;
was cut out to lose its balance,
and also to reveal its presence.
And under the shadow of a gun
bad and good, both on the run,
while staying away from the sun, sadly, failed to have their fun!
Thus in the past few months,
those causing so much of fear,
having vanished, into thin air,
Crime too, was given a scare!
Therefore, is it Crime or Corona,
that’s the bigger fear this time?
For aren’t we so much better off,
living with a little less of Crime?
And even as this Corona Storm,
appears to be staying on and on;
yet, when Corona can stay Crime,
should we allow Crime to stay on? | https://medium.com/@confer777/corona-stays-crime-93e034736526 | ['Conrad Fernandes'] | 2020-07-19 12:08:33.805000+00:00 | ['Crown', 'Crime', 'Stories', 'Storm', 'Corona'] |
Festive Chocolate & Cranberry Bread | This chocolate and cranberry bread is perfect for putting onto your Holiday table. Whether for lunch or as a snack, it will delight the taste buds of anyone who tastes it. With its desired softness and just the right amount of sweetness, it will quickly become a staple all year round.
Ingredients (One bread)
¼ cup Vegetable oil
⅔ cup Granulated sugar
1 cup Plant-based milk
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
Pinch of salt
¼ cup Pure Organic Cacao
1 scoop Vegan Pro — Chocolate
1 ½ cup All-purpose flour
1 cup Fresh cranberries, chopped
¾ cup Dark chocolate chips
Method
Start by preheating your oven to 350 °F (180 °C) and butter a 23 x 13 cm loaf pan (standard size). Reserve. In a large bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together (from the vegetable oil to the vanilla extract). In a small bowl, mix the dry ingredients together (from the baking powder to the all-purpose flour). Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, as well as the chopped cranberries and dark chocolate chips. Mix until obtaining a smooth paste. Pour it into the prepared mold, then bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Take out of the oven, let cool 10 minutes before unmoulding and let cool completely before cutting into slices.
*Store for 3–4 days at room temperature | https://medium.com/@rawnutritional/festive-chocolate-cranberry-bread-3178bbf11d6a | ['Raw Nutritional'] | 2020-12-17 11:18:33.661000+00:00 | ['Vegan', 'Recipe', 'Cooking'] |
How to grow your Podcast in 2021 | The Podcast Revolution is here
There is a renowned adage that “Silence may be golden”, however, when driving, doing chores, or working out, it’s not exactly the most fascinating thing to listen to. This all goes on to emphasize the fact that audio is anything but finished.
Podcasting has continued to remain the fastest-growing broadcasting medium in a very tough year for the media. With an expected growth of 14.7% through 2020, the stage has been set for podcast revenues to hit $1.1 billion+ in 2021, according to the IAB/PwC report. If you have not yet taken the plunge into podcasts, then the year to make the switch is 2021.
Tip 1: Publish new episodes on a regular basis
Much the same as Google, which prefers blogs that publish content in a recurrent and timely manner, the same is done by popular podcast directories like Apple and Spotify.
Not only will publishing fresh episodes also give you more exposure, but it will also keep your listeners engaged. Prefer to adhere to the same day(s) of the week to ensure that your podcasts gather traction from loyal and recurring listeners. The algorithm of Apple podcast will favor regular publishers, and frankly, so do individuals!
But the question is how often should you publish episodes?
The answer could not be easier. As often as you can! Aim for more than just one episode per week for the best outcomes, particularly when launching. This could seem really daunting if you record long, 1-hour episodes. Attempt to alter the episodes’ duration. Instead of a weekly 1-hour episode, aim for 2 or 3 episodes of less than 30 minutes each, or you could even entice your listeners by posting a 10-minute episode daily.
Tip 2: Initiate call to action (CTAs) to spread the word
Cues from users are another element algorithm enjoy. What is that supposed to mean? The answer is very simple. These algorithms recommend podcasts that get a lot of traffic and have ample subscriber count. And what increases the subscriber count? The answer to this is simple, It’s the ratings and reviews received from listeners.
Therefore If one likes to organically grow a podcast in a short time, they should not be afraid to ask for feedback from their listeners. You can either do it during the beginning or while concluding the podcast. You don’t want to interrupt the material too much with all these reminders so don’t ask for feedback in between as it can hamper the mood of the listener.
Tip 3: To increase downloads, Cross Promotion is the way to go!
By looking for specific topics, many individuals discover podcasts. They are going to select one episode that delivers just what they were looking for, listen to it, and then move on with their lives. Some can stay and watch other episodes, but many people don’t!
But what can you do to boost the likelihood that they will still listen to previous episodes? Mention them as much as possible. People will get interested that way, maybe they will know that they want to learn more which will eventually lead to more subscribers and downloads.
This strategy is also feasible since:
Wide subjects usually are not covered in one podcast episode,
A new guest on your podcast can have a similar or conflicting opinion with some previous guests, and your audience may be curious in exploring and knowing both their perspectives on the subject matter.
Tip 4: Make your Podcast widely accessible
Publishing only in one or two best-known directories is a common mistake many individuals make when releasing a podcast. It’s true that Apple and Spotify are the big players that single-handedly dominate the market, but the better thing would be to not constrain yourself within these two large platforms and seek new avenues in applications such as PocketCasts and Laughable, and many more.
What are the advantages of publishing to a significant number of directories?
Your competition might not be in all these directories, which will give you a significant advantage to stand out and gain more followers than them!
By getting your podcast listed in a multitude of directories, you are doing your podcast a favor by making it more accessible and are extending its reach at the same time!
Wrapping Up
Quality content and commitment go a long way to help grow your podcast. Most of these methods mentioned in this post are free and can be implemented without any requirement of being a marketing guru. Podcast episodes are now indexed, so concentrate on summarizing the episode for the listener and creating a transcript. While launching a podcast, the risk for publishers is the inclination to jump in without setting specific goals. For a new podcast, profitability seems to be a reasonable goal to one and all but start with the goal of creating a podcast that your audience will enjoy and reap its benefits in the long run. | https://medium.com/@listnrco/how-to-grow-your-podcast-in-2021-45dfef2a5b8 | ['Listnr Co'] | 2021-01-13 11:00:05.230000+00:00 | ['Podcasting', 'AI', 'Listnr', 'Podcast', 'SaaS'] |
Seerah of Prophet Muhammed (104 classes) | Seerah of Prophet Muhammed (104 classes)
DR. YASIR QADHI gives a detailed analysis of the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
Shaykh Yasir Qadhi gives a detailed analysis of the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) from the original sources. Study the Biography of the single greatest human being that ever walked the surface of this earth, whom Allah sent as a Mercy to Mankind.
Prescribed Reading: The Sealed Nectar: Biography of the Prophet — Sheikh Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarkpuri | https://medium.com/muslim-open-online-course/seerah-of-prophet-muhammed-92d693669b52 | ['Muslim Open Online College'] | 2017-11-22 15:29:29.091000+00:00 | ['Islam'] |
“This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector. | STEPHEN HENDERSON, A CLOSETED RACIST FREEMASON, AND FUNCTIONAL SEMI-ILLITERATE HEAD OF MDDUS.
https://www.facebook.com/rotimi.osunsan/videos/3088536551193798
STEPHEN HENDERSON, RACIST FREEMASON, HEAD OF MDDUS, AND THE ORAL SURGEON, WITH ZERO TANGIBLE POSTGRADUATE QUALIFICATION, AT EDWARD BYRNE ASSOCIATES, BEDFORD. OYINBO OLE: THIEVES — HABAKKUK.
STEPHEN HENDERSON, RACIST FREEMASON, HEAD OF MDDUS, AND THE ORAL SURGEON, WITH ZERO TANGIBLE POSTGRADUATE QUALIFICATION, AT JOHN MILLER DENTAL PRACTICE, OXFORD. OYINBO OLE: THIEVES — HABAKKUK.
“A complaints such as Mrs Bishop’s could trigger an enquiry.” STEPHEN HENDERSON, RACIST FREEMASON, HEAD OF MDDUS.
A RACIST DUNCE.
A sheep unnaturally shepherds sheep.
“Mediocrity weighing mediocrity in the balance, and incompetence applauding its brother ………..” Wilde.
They accurately foresaw that a functional semi-illiterate, waste of money fake expert who seemed to have nearly passed or just passed in everything and everywhere (Proverbs 17:16) would be the HEAD OF SCOTTISH MDDUS, they looted Africa. Whenever they killed, they dispossessed. Wherever they robbed, they took possession — Habakkuk.
NIGERIA: SHELL’S DOCILE CASH COW. Then, the highly luxuriant soil of Holborn yielded only food. Then, all the people of Holborn were fed like battery-hens with the yields of barbarously racist traffic in millions of stolen children of defenceless poor people (Kamala’s ancestors) — Habakkuk. HOLBORN MUST FALL!
Nigerian babies with huge oil-wells and gas-fields near their houses eat only 1.5/day; a closeted racist, functional semi-illiterate LLM, whose father and mother have never seen crude oil is the HEAD OF SCOTTISH MDDUS.
Putin sits on the largest gas reserve in the world; did he poison Bob Dudley?
Deluded paper tigers; baseless superiority is their birthright. Their hairs stand on end when they’re challenged by our people (AFRICANS); we and our type are the only ones racist bastards could beat up without the support of the YANKS.
If Racist Freemasons are as brave as they imply, they should forcibly evict Putin from Crimea; he stole it.
Then, racist bastards carried and sold millions of stolen children of defenceless poor people; now, they carry natural resources.
“We shall deal with the racist bastards when we get out of prison.” Robert Mugabe.
SUBSTITUTION: FRAUDULENT EMANCIPATION.
”Moderation is a virtue only among those who are thought to have found alternatives.” HENRY KISSINGER.
WOLLASTON, ENGLAND: Based on available evidence, GDC-Witness, Ms Rachael Bishop, Senior NHS Nurse, unrelentingly lied under oath -Habakkuk.
A RACIST CROOK.
FUNCTIONAL SEMI-ILLITERATE HEAD OF MDDUS: STEPHEN HENDERSON, A CLOSETED RACIST BRAINLESS PROTECTOR (MPS) WHO BECAME A DEFENDER (MDDUS). AN IGNORANT RACIST LEECH: A RIGHTEOUS DESCENDANY OF INDUSTRIAL-SCALE PROFESSIONAL THIEVES AND OWNERS OF STOLEN CHILDREN OF DEFENCELESS POOR PEOPLE (KAMALA’S ANCESTORS). OYINBO OLE: THIEVES — HABAKKUK. NIGERIA: SHELL’S DOCILE CASH COW. THE HIGHLY LUXURIANT SOIL OF LUTON YIELDS ONLY FOOD.
Our Empire of stolen affluence — Habakkuk.
To survive in Great Britain, we must bow to FREEMASONS (genetic aliens with fake English names), our irreconcilable enemies — even if they were thicker than a gross of planks. Why? Creeping North Korea.
“You will bow. You can’t beat the system.” Born again Christian. I shan’t; I know who can.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST: They will investigate the very serious allegations; when they find they are based on TRUTHS, they will cover up TRUTHS. Their public (sheep) must not know the evil they do to our people (NEGRITOS) — Habakkuk 1:4. Ignorant descendants of THIEVES; ultra-righteous owners of stolen children of defenceless poor people — Habakkuk
“Of black men, the numbers are too great who are now repining under English cruelty.” Dr Samuel Johnson
Bedford, England: Based on available evidence, Freemason, Brother, Dr Richard William Hill fabricated reports and unrelentingly lied under oath — Habakkuk 1:4.
Facts are sacred; they cannot be overstated. Based on available evidence, parts of the administration of English law have been FULLY DECODED. Seemingly a Negrophobic charade that is overseen by FREEMASON JUDGES — Habakkuk 1:4
Corby, England: Based on available evidence, Dr George Rothnie unrelentingly lied under implied oath — Habakkuk 1:4
Whites measure whites with a very different yardstick — Apartheid administration of the Law; the evillest method of propagating uneducated RACIAL HATRED. Facts are sacred.
Their objective is to kill, albeit hands-off. The only good Negro is a good Negro.
THE BRAIN IS NOT IN THE DISPUTABLY SUPERIOR SKIN COLOUR: THE CENTURIES-OLD UNSPOKEN SCAM NEEDS TO BE SHATTERED
There, it is a crime only if the BUILDERS (Mediocre Mafia) did not prior authorise it. The ruler of Builders rules our world. Whites measure whites with a very different yardstick. Only foolish NEGRITOS do not know that — APARTHEID ADMINISTRATION OF THE LAW — Habakkuk 1:4
Builders (White Supremacist Freemasons): Half-educated school dropouts and their superiors who have informal access to some very powerful white Judges — Habakkuk 1:4
Creeping North Korea: Builders (Mediocre Mafia) will inevitably use the Harassment Law to stifle the basic right to disclose true pictures painted by minds. When He disclosed the pictures His infinite mind painted, He was lynched and crucified. Reasoning and vision are unbounded. Weirdos who use expensive shiny aprons to decorate the temples of their powerless and useless fertility tools have a lot to hide; there are more skeletons in their cupboards than the millions of skulls at the doorstep of Comrade of Pol Pot. The cretins who sit before them think they are unassailable colour-blind Geniuses and Saints — Habakkuk 1:4. Ignorant fools; descendants of THIEVES and owners of stolen children of defenceless poor people — Habakkuk
What they want is intellectual superiority; they have only the indisputably superior skin colour that they neither made nor chose. Ignorant descendants of THIEVES and owners of stolen children of defenceless poor people — Habakkuk. | https://medium.com/@factsaresacred89/this-and-no-other-is-the-root-from-which-a-tyrant-springs-when-he-first-appears-he-is-a-protector-3fe82a669071 | ['Abiodun Bamgbelu'] | 2020-12-22 19:50:10.623000+00:00 | ['Law', 'America', 'Africa', 'Racism', 'Politics'] |
Uninterruptible power supply buyers guide | An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) offers a simple solution: it’s a battery in a box with enough capacity to run devices plugged in via its AC outlets for minutes to hours, depending on your needs and the mix of hardware. This might let you keep internet service active during an extended power outage, give you the five minutes necessary for your desktop computer with a hard drive to perform an automatic shutdown and avoid lost work (or in a worst case scenario, running disk repair software).
In terms of entertainment, it could give you enough time to save your game after a blackout or—perhaps more importantly—give notice to others in a team-based multiplayer game that you need to exit, so you’re not assessed an early-quit penalty.
A UPS also doubles as a surge protector and aids your equipment and uptime by buoying temporary sags in voltage and other vagaries of electrical power networks, some of which have the potential to damage computer power supplies. For from about $80 to $200 for most systems, a UPS can provide a remarkable amount of peace of mind coupled with additional uptime and less loss.
UPSes aren’t new. They date back decades. But the cost has never been lower and the profusion of options never larger. In this introduction, I help you understand what a UPS can offer, sort out your needs, and make preliminary recommendations for purchase. Later this year, TechHive will offer reviews of UPS models appropriate for home and small offices from which you can make informed choices.
Updated December 7, 2020 to add our Tripp Lite AVR900U uninterruptible power supply review. This otherwise fine product doesn’t earn our strong recommendation because it produces a simulated or stepped sine wave that can cause problems with computers outfitted with active power factor correction (PFC).
[ Further reading: The best surge protectors for your costly electronics ]Uninterruptible is the key wordThe UPS emerged in an era when electronics were fragile and drives were easily thrown off kilter. They were designed to provide continuous—or “uninterruptible”—power to prevent a host of a problems. They were first found in server racks and used with network equipment until the price and format dropped to make them usable with home and small-office equipment.
Amazon This inexpensive AmazonBasics Standby UPS ($80) features 12 surge-protected outlets, but only six of them are also connected to its internal battery for standby power.
Any device you owned that suddenly lost power and had a hard disk inside it might wind up with a corrupted directory or even physical damage from a drive head smashing into another part of the mechanism. Other equipment that loaded its firmware off chips and ran using volatile storage could also wind up losing valuable caches of information and require some time to re-assemble it.
Mentioned in this article Cyberpower CP800AVR UPS See it Hard drives evolved to better manage power failures (and acceleration in laptops), and all portable devices and most new computers moved to movement-free solid state drives (SSDs) that don’t have internal spindles and read/write heads. Embedded devices—from modems and routers to smart devices and DVRs—became more resilient and faster at booting. Most devices sold today have an SSD or flash memory or cards.
It’s still possible if your battery-free desktop computer suddenly loses power that it may be left in a state that leaves a document corrupted, loses a spreadsheet’s latest state, or happens at such an inopportune moment you must recover your drive or reinstall the operating system. Avoiding those possibilities, especially if you regularly encounter minor power issues at home, can save you at least the time of re-creating lost work and potentially the cost of drive-rebuilding software, even if your hardware remains intact.
A more common problem can arise from networking equipment that has modest power requirements. Losing power means losing access to the internet, even when your cable, DSL, or fiber line remains powered or active from the ISP’s physical plant or a neighborhood interconnection point, rather than a transformer on your building or block. A UPS can keep your network up and running while the power company restores the juice, even if that takes hours.
When power cuts out, the UPS’s battery kicks in. It delivers expected amounts over all connected devices until the battery’s power is exhausted. A modern UPS can also signal to a computer a number of factors, including remaining time or trigger a shutdown through built-in software (as with Energy Saver in macOS) or installed software.
CyberPower In the event of a blackout, CyberPower’s software will gracefully shut down a computer while it operates on battery power from its CP800AVR UPS.
One of the key differentiators among UPSes intended for homes and individual devices in an office is battery capacity. You can buy units across a huge range of battery sizes, and the higher-capacity the battery, the longer runtime you will get or more equipment you can support with a single UPS. In some cases, it may make sense to purchase two or more UPSes to cover all the necessary equipment you have, each matched to the right capacity.
Mentioned in this article AmazonBasics Standby UPS 800VA 450W Surge Protector Battery Backup See it Batteries do need to be replaced, although it can be after a very long period. A UPS typically has a light or will use a sound to indicate a battery that needs to be replaced, and it might indicate this via software running on the computer to which it’s connected.
With great power, comes great power conversionUPSes for consumer and small-business purposes come in standby and line interactive versions. Standby units keep their battery ready for on-demand, automatic use, but it’s otherwise on standby, as its name indicates. A line interactive version feeds power through an inverter from the wall to connected devices while also charging the battery. It can condition power, smoothing out highs and lows, and switch over to the battery within a few milliseconds. (Other flavors are much more expensive or intended for critical systems and higher power consumption.)
A few years ago, the price differential was high enough that you had to really balance the need for particular features against cost. Now, you may want to opt for a line interaction UPS because of its advantages, which include less wear and tear of the battery, extending its lifetime. Batteries are relatively expensive to replace, at a good fraction of the original item’s purchase price, so keeping them in fit condition longer reduces your overall cost of ownership.
A UPS isn’t just about providing power when it’s interrupted, though, and that’s another place that a standby and line interactive approach vary.
Glenn Fleishman / IDG APC’s website offers a handy tool that will help you decide which of its UPSes fit your requirements, based on total power draw and how long you’ll need battery power for your components.
These three voltage fluctuations can happen regularly or infrequently on power supplied by your utility:
Surges: Utilities sometimes have brief jumps in electrical power, which can affect electronics, sometimes burning out a power supply or frying the entire device. Surge protection effectively shaves off voltage above a certain safe range. Sags: Your home or office can have a momentary voltage sag when something with a big motor kicks on, like a clothes dryer or a heat pump—sometimes even in an adjacent apartment, house, or building. Undervoltage (“brownouts”): In some cases with high electrical usage across an area, a utility might reduce voltage for an extended period to avoid a total blackout. This can mess with motor-driven industrial and home equipment—many appliances have motors, often driving a compressor, as in a refrigerator or freezer. With electronics, extended undervoltage has the potential damage some power supplies. A standby model typically relies on dealing with excess voltage by having inline metal-oxide varistors (MOVs), just as in standalone surge protectors. These MOVs shift power to ground, but eventually burn out after extensive use. At that point, all the UPS models I checked stop passing power through. (That’s as opposed to most surge protectors, which extinguish a “protected” LED on their front, but continue to pass power.)
For power sags and undervoltage, a standby model will tap the battery. If it happens frequently or in quick succession, your UPS might not be up to the task and provide enough delay that a desktop system or hard drive loses power long enough to halt its operating system or crash.
Mentioned in this article Tripp Lite Smart1500LCDT See it A line interactive UPS continuously feeds power through a conditioner that charges the battery and regulates power. This automatic voltage regulation, known as AVR, can convert voltage as needed to provide clean power to attached outlets without relying on the battery. With a line interactive model, the battery is used only as a last resort.
There’s one final power characteristic of a UPS that can be found in both standby and line interactive models: the smoothness of the alternating current generation produced by the model from the direct current output by its battery. Alternating current reverses its power flow smoothly 60 times each second, and a UPS must simulate that flow, which can be represented as an undulating sine wave.
Tripp Lite The Tripp Lite Smart1500LCDT is a line-interactive UPS, meaning it feeds connected devices conditioned power while it charges its battery at the same time. In the event of a blackout, it will switch to battery power within a few milliseconds.
A UPS might produce a pure sine wave, which adds to cost, or a stairstepped one, in which power shifts more abruptly up and down as it alternates. A rough simulated sine wave can be a showstopper for certain kinds of computer power supplies, which have components that interact poorly with the voltage changes. It could cause premature wear on components or cause them to outright shut down or cause additional damage.
If your device has active power factor correction (PFC) or incorporates fragile or sensitive electronics, especially for audio recording, you likely need a pure sine wave. It’s not always easy to figure out if your device has active PFC; when in doubt, opt for a pure sine wave—the additional cost has come way down.
Even for equipment that isn’t susceptible to power-supply problems, a stepped sine wave can cause a power supply to emit a high-pitched whine when it’s on battery power.
One final UPS feature that may also be helpful: less-expensive models have one or more LEDs to indicate certain status elements, like working from backup power or the internal battery needing to be replaced. Others have an LCD screen (sometimes backlit) that provides a variety of information, sometimes an excessive amount, which may be viewable through software installed on a connected computer.
All UPSes have built-in audible alarms for outages, and some are quite loud.
APC A UPS that puts out a pure sine wave, such as this APC SMC1000, is your best choice if you’re operating sensitive equipment, such as audio-recording gear. An LCD display is also useful for monitoring the UPS’s status.
Determining your UPS needsMost of us have two main scenarios to plan for: keep the network up, and prevent our AC-powered computers from abruptly shutting down. These involve very different choices in hardware and configuration.
One common element between both, however: having enough outlets spaced correctly to plug all your items directly in. Most UPSes feature both battery-backed outlets and surge-protected outlets that aren’t wired into the battery. You need to study quantity and position, as it is strongly recommended you don’t plug a power strip or other extensions into either kind of UPS outlet, as it increases the risk of electrical fire.
That can be particularly tricky if you have large “wall wart” style AC adapters or wider-than-average AC plugs.
Scenario 1: Keep the network up Mentioned in this article APC Smart-UPS C 1000VA (model SMC1000) See it Examine all the devices that make up your network. That may include a broadband modem, a VoIP adapter for phone calls, one or more Wi-Fi routers, one or more ethernet switches, and/or a smart home hub. Because you may have these spread out across your home or office, you might wind up requiring two or more UPSes to keep the network going.
If you have a modem, router, and switch (plus a VoIP adapter if you need it) all in close proximity, you might be able to live without other parts of your networking operating during an outage. It’s also probable that you already have this hardware plugged into a surge protector. (These devices tend to not benefit from a UPS’s sag/undervoltage assistance, as their DC adapters tend to provide power in a larger range of circumstances.)
You might already have a simple battery backup built into or included with one or more pieces of equipment. Many smart home hubs have built-in battery backups. And since government regulators typically require a multi-hour battery backup for VoIP service, your broadband modem or VoIP adapter might include an internal battery for that reason.
To find out the size of UPS you need, check the specs on all your equipment. This is usually molded in plastic in black-on-black 4-point type on the underside of the gear or on a DC converter that you plug directly into a power outlet or that comes in two parts with a block between the adapter to your device and a standard AC outlet cord. The numbers you are looking for are either DC voltage and amperage, like 12 volts and 1.5 amps, or total wattage, like 18 watts.
Add up these quantities, and that can let you use planning tools to find the right unit. For instance, APC offers an extended runtime chart that lists wattage and runtime for each of its units. You can also use a calculator on the site in which you add devices or watts and it provides a guide to which units to purchase and how much time each could operate at that load.
For most combinations of gear and affordable units, you should be able to keep network equipment running for at least an hour entirely on battery power. Spend more or purchase multiple units, and you could boost that to two to eight hours.
Glenn Fleishman / IDG To determine the size of UPS you’ll need, add up the the number of watts that each device will draw. You can find this information on each one’s power supply or AC adapter.
Scenario 2: Bridge power blips and shut down a computerYour goal here is to make sure all your devices that need to continue running have enough power to do so across a short outage and to shut down—preferably automatically—during any outage that lasts more than a few minutes.
There are two separate power issues to consider: the electrical load that devices connected to the UPS’s battery-backed outlets add up to, and the capacity of the internal battery on the UPS, which determines how long power can flow at a given attached load. (The outlets only protected against power surges have a far higher power load limit that computer equipment won’t exceed.)
Start by calculating the total wattage for all the equipment you’re going to connect, just like with network gear. Most hardware will show a single number for watts or a maximum watts consumed; if it only shows amperes (or amps), multiple 120 (for volts) times the amps listed to get watts. In my office, I have an iMac, an external display, a USB hub, and two external hard drives. That adds up to about 250W.
With that number, you can examine the maximum load on a UPS, which is often perplexingly listed using either volt-amperes (VA) and watts or both. Although volts times amps and watts should be equal, UPS manufacturers use a different formula, which is probably a bad idea. Watts on a UPS is volts times amps times power factor, or the efficiency with which a power supply on a computer or other device provides power from its AC input to its components.
AmazonBasics A UPS uses a USB cable to communicate with a connected computer, triggering software on the machine to gracefully short down while operating on battery power.
In practice, you can still add up all your devices in watts, and use that as a gauge to find a UPS that exceeds that amount by some margin: you can’t exceed the UPS load factor with your equipment, or it won’t function. (If a UPS is rated only in VA, multiply that number by a power factor of 0.6 or 60% to get the bottom level in watts.)
With that number in hand, you can then look over the runtime available on models that can support your total load, consulting the figures, charts, or calculators noted above that manufacturers provide to estimate how many minutes you get on battery-only power.
With my iMac set up above of 250W, I have several options in the $100 to $150 range that have a power load maximum far above that number and which can provide five or more minutes of runtime.
It’s also critical to pick a UPS model that includes a USB connection to your desktop computer, along with compatible software for your operating system. While macOS and Windows have built in power-management options that can automatically recognize compatible UPS hardware, you might want additional software to tweak UPS settings (like alarm sounds) or to provide detailed reports and charts on power quality and incidents.
The OS power-management tools and software from UPS makers give you options to create safe, automatic shutdown conditions. You can define a scenario like, “If the outage lasts more than three minutes or if the battery’s power is less than 50 percent, begin an immediate safe shutdown.”
It’s also important to be sure that all your running apps can exit without losing data and not halt the shutdown. For instance, an unsaved Word file might prevent Windows from completing a shutdown. In macOS, the Terminal app refuses to quit by default if there’s an active remote session, but it can be configured to ignore that.
Picking the right UPSWith all that in mind, here’s a checklist to go through in evaluating a UPS:
What kind of time with power during an outage do you require? Long for networked equipment; short for a computer shutdown. How many watts do your equipment consume? Calculate your connected devices’ total power requirements. Do you have frequent or long power sags? Pick line interactive instead of standby. With a computer, does it rely on active PFC? If so, pick a model with a pure sine wave output. How many outlets do you need for power backup? Will all your current plugs fit in the available layout? Do you need to consult the UPS status frequently enough or in detail that an LCD screen or connected software is required? We’re in the process of reviewing several uninterruptible power supplies and will update this stories with links to those reviews as we finish them. Stay tuned.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details. | https://medium.com/@michell57138798/uninterruptible-power-supply-buyers-guide-682a396f55d5 | [] | 2020-12-12 08:36:50.181000+00:00 | ['Headphones', 'Entertainment', 'Chargers', 'Music'] |
30+ Prophet Muhammad Pbuh Inspirational Quotes || Inspirational Quotes About Life | Get new collection of Urdu Quotes on urduquoteslines.com . Here we will share Best Urdu Quotes Lines. Furthermore you also read the Famous Urdu Quotes. | https://medium.com/@urduquoteslines/30-prophet-muhammad-pbuh-inspirational-quotes-inspirational-quotes-about-life-554472a1f43 | ['Urdu Quotes Lines'] | 2020-12-27 07:07:03.706000+00:00 | ['Quotes About Life', 'Quotes', 'Muhammad Pbuh', 'Inspiration'] |
New debugging possibilities with Ivy and Angular 9 | ivy compiled html-template
Angular 9 now compiles your html-templates to plain js as displayed in the image above. Check out this talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWQeMD38n2k&feature=youtu.be&t=291 for a good explanation of what that looks like.
This new compiling strategy opened up at least two novel ways to debug apps.
the ng object
You can debug current states of your components with the aid of the new ng object. It is available in the browser while running an ivy-compiled angular app in dev mode.
Find the selector of your component, i.e. “app-root” and query the html of your app for the according node. Do that by calling “document.querySelector” with it or find the tag by yourself, mark it and use $0 in the console.
$0, $1, … store the last selected nodes by the way.
Now call ng.getComponent with the node you found as the parameter. I suggest putting the result into a variable. Now you have access to your component. If you make a change to your component don’t forget to call ng.applyChanges on it in order to trigger a change-detection cycle.
2) Debugging ExpressionChangedAfterChecked Errors
Compiling html to js also provides improved error messages for template errors like the infamous ExpressionChangedAfterItHasBeenCheckedError. In Angular 8 it used to point you to the html file with the info that some value was undefined and is now something else after it was checked.
In Angular 9 the message hasn’t changed much but you can now navigate to the exact spot where the error occurred as you can see in the following image.
You can even debug your way through the — in this case “late” — interpolation. For that purpose they even put a “debugger;” into the function that throws ExpressionChangedAfterChecked Errors. | https://medium.com/@martens.alexander/new-debugging-possibilities-with-ivy-and-angular-9-b3f1e936c5c7 | ['Alexander Martens'] | 2020-02-20 08:49:57.134000+00:00 | ['Developer Productivity', 'Developer Tools', 'Debugging', 'Angular Ivy'] |
Arrested for impersonating myself | The courts incarcerated the kid’s psycho father, Toby into Leicester’s infamous prison castle.
It was 1996 and I itched for drama and with chaos carved in my veins it felt like my religion. I discovered you can get away with a lot, if you pay attention to the game.
I discovered the hidden benefits of 7 years with an unsuccessful career criminal. I say unsuccessful because Toby rarely had money and was arrested often. On the flip side, Toby satisfied his greatest needs, drinking and being inside women’s knickers, it’s all relative success, isn’t it? Toby used crime to survive and, in many respects, did well and he taught me a trick or two.
Toby was a menace and arsehole, but I missed his humour, spontaneity and fun. I missed our ‘moments’ of sweet innocence playing board games and watching children’s films. I have fond memories of us singing ‘Ben’ by Michael Jackson, bunkered by our belongings, curled up on our sponge.
The years tangoing Toby’s daily onslaught of cruelty left me bewildered and incapable of settling. I spent the days driving my girls to different shopping centres, if I wasn’t at work. The shopping centres were safe, lots of people and cameras. I carried the sleeping girls into the empty house at the end of the night and the absence of Toby’s exploitative custody, forced me to find alternative chaos.
Another red letter from the bank slapped my cheek, “Fuck it.” I thought I’m going to hammer my bank account with the twelve remaining cheques each worth £100. I was flat broke and barely covering the bills and reasoned, ‘I’m up to my eyes in debt and have nothing, so I might as well screw the bank and have something to show for it”.
Living below the bread line justified my decision. I didn’t have central heating, and it was 1997, not Victorian Britain. My house was unkindly cold, I wore a woolly hat and socks to bed, it was frequently warmer outside. The four gas rings in the kitchen were used to heat the house during colder months. I fiddle the gas meter, which made running the hobs 24/7 economically feasible.
Prozac soothed the raw sting in my veins and my mood elevated to a colourful state of consciousness. I increased the dose after discovering it made me feel sick, this unexpected bonus brought a sickening excitement towards cleansing through starvation. My protruding hip bones, and gaunt face made me feel successful, like Claudia Schiffer. Minus the height, looks, success, money and glamour. I was thin with candy floss hair and eyes lacking stories and begging a pitiful pardon from you all.
Rare Footage of the 22 year old me
Comments from colleagues about my disappearing body, I started to enjoy. Mum was concerned about my deterioration and I refused to acknowledge her bloody theories, fidgeting asking her to stop it.
Mum often asked, “Lex, are you okay?”
That question always irritated me.
“I’m fine” I snarled. I started.
“Why is your skin like that?” pointing to the broken skin on my shins, she asked. My scratching annoyed Mum, who regularly picked at her face. We were not that different, my mother and me.
I lost control and waltzed manically captivated by the idea; I was invincible. I was brave for the first time in my life and flew the dizzy heights of madness soaring the weirdest terrains of life, unaware of what loomed ahead.
My traumatised ego climbed from a shadowy wardrobe pushing for visibility. I gave up caring and trying to be good. What was the point? All I got was shit back. God had let me down, and I thought he was like all men, shit. The police told me I was a victim of a sociopath which I misinterpreted as permission to convert unknowingly to a narcissist.
Debts and threats sat in unopened envelopes on the table as I slammed the front door. I didn’t lock the door; I didn’t fix it after Toby’s final appearance. I had nothing left to steal, and with him locked away, it didn’t matter. My car started saluting this adventure, maybe God sanctioned this mission.
I drove to Nottingham and still without a license and was greeted by the city centre’s morning sunshine. My menacing smile exposed my delight at detonating my credit score, I was convinced I would be dead soon which upon reflection was wishful thinking. My aim was to leave Nottingham with shopping. I wanted to screw the bank by spending exactly £100 in twelve shops. I bought everyone gifts and matching underwear for myself. 2o year later this sounds pittance, it felt like millions to me back then.
I sniggered at my reflection laden with bags in shop windows, I felt human and beautiful. My philosophy ‘live by the day’ accommodated criminality well. Living in the moment soothed the aching neurosis of whatever beyond today was. The future was inconceivable for me, I struggle with time.
“Damn, oh shit, ohhh FUCK” security are following me.
Within seconds I’m swept into a private office and told to wait for the police who arrested me under suspicion for fraud. Toby acquainted me well with the law, I knew the drill and flicked pity with my eyelashes. When my Morse Code went unacknowledged, I squealed details of my abusive life. That fell on flat ears. My back story was of no relevance.
The back door of the police van swung open, and I joined a mob of obnoxious drunk men. This is an unexpected twist to the plan, I thought. It was mid-afternoon, and being the only female made me a target in this van, I deflected their filth with a deadly stare and snarling upper lip. Twenty minutes later, I’m herded into the station and facing the officer with a stern gaze. My little nose snarled in repulsion to the man I’m cuffed to. He ignored my disgust and informed his colleague behind the desk of my details.
“Name, please?” The officer behind the desk asked.
“She claims to be Alexia Elliott”.
Sounding childlike, I replied, “I am Alexia Elliott”.
“She claims to be Alexia Elliott”, said the policeman I’m handcuffed too.
Snickering, I said, “What? This is crazy. I am Alexia Elliott.”
I was under suspicion for impersonating myself, or fraud, as I was advised.
The cell resembled a telephone box with fewer bars, thick plastic instead of glass and a low perch to sit on. The cells were full and the panoptical scrutiny, didn’t stop the riotous sounds. The air thrived in the vulgarities and the noise didn’t bother me. Sat on the bench I knew how to kill time and switch off. A few hours later, I’m upgraded to a cell preferable to the former, and several hours later, I’m escorted to a small concrete yard. I circle the yard like a dog wanting to take a piss and return to my cell and contemplated, I’m no longer afraid, just confused.
Sometime later, a policeman with bored eyes led me to a dingy room for my interview. His pitiful attempt to flirt ignited fierce aggression which I hid in my tight fists. If only they listened to my backstory, they would have assigned my case to a female officer. I felt my tongue sharpening like a mighty sword behind my teeth while I stared through his eyes. The policeman fished through my shopping bags, scrutinizing me and making enquiries. He lay out my underwear on the desk, and his greasy smile slid across the table and made my stomach itch regret.
The underwear was reckless and self-indulgence, I’ve never owned beautiful lingerie and wanted to catch up with other women. I wanted to experience being a reasonable person and not being on the outskirts of life. I justified silently to myself. The shame burnt me and kept my gaze firmly to the ground. In the periphery of my vision, the policeman slowly examined the knickers, and I lifted my head to inspect him.
“Okay, I’ll let you off the charge if you put this on for me now.”
His perverted smile twisted my gut
“FUCK OFF!” I spat, and I’m escorted back to my cell.
Why fly into the world from the amniotic sea where life matter and mortality great us. We have a burning desire to discover who we are on our brief and precious transit in life.
“Continually trying to look on the bright side interferes with our finding the wisdom that lies in the fruitful darkness. Continually striving upward toward the light means we never grow downward into our own feet, never become firmly rooted on the earth, never explore the darkness within and around us, a darkness without whose existence the light would have no meaning.”
― Stephen Harrod Buhner
A chapter from my book on Domestic violence and personal power
Love Alexia X | https://medium.com/@alexiaelliott/arrested-for-impersonating-myself-cded7249d758 | ['The Spiritual Muse'] | 2020-12-01 05:42:33.188000+00:00 | ['Domestic Violence', 'Life Lessons', 'Poverty', 'Trauma', 'Crime'] |
Christina Del Villar: 5 Non-Intuitive Ways To Grow Your Marketing Career | Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I have always had an entrepreneurial mindset — whether it was focused on how to get more readers on my paper route, how our school fundraiser could increase donations exponentially, how I could convince everyone that Girl Scout cookies just tasted better, or how our high school Junior Achievement company could pay for my college. I was lucky to have been born and raised in the Bay Area and work my entire career in Silicon Valley. I worked with some amazing industry leaders like Elon Musk, who really helped me see the potential in almost anything.
What I recognized early on though, was that I was NOT the idea person. I wasn’t the person that was going to come up with the next big thing, the new cool gadget, the billion-dollar making software. Instead, I learned that I was, was a strategy person. I was the one that was going to take those big ideas, products, and solutions to the market.
I remember listening to Elon talk about building a commercial space ship that might someday go to Mars. And I thought to myself, I want to build metaphorical rocket ships for marketing and sales to achieve and exceed all expectations. So instead of sitting in think tanks and on skunkworks teams kicking myself and saying things like, “Why didn’t I think of that?”, I focused on the audience, the market, the viability of the product or solution, and how the heck we were going to get it to market.
I recently had an executive peer of mine told me I had been hired to build a fast boat to go to market, but instead, I had built a rocket ship. That’s really where my passion lies — getting solutions to market, and then scaling them rapidly and aggressively.
Can you share a story about the funniest marketing mistake you made when you were first starting and what lesson you learned from that?
During the first Gulf War, back in the late early 90s, I was working in the Petroleum Engineering Department at Stanford as a Project Manager. One day I received a phone call from someone saying they were doing some student research on the war and implications of the war, our petroleum reserves, and more. It was the same day that my neighbor was loading up her big SUV with “Stop the war” signs for a local protest. As she drove away, I saw the “No blood for oil” bumper sticker on her SUV. I saw a lot of irony in that. So when this poor student called up to get an opinion on things, I had a lot to say. Mostly about the lack of understanding of all the products that petroleum goes into. I shared a long list, including vinyl that makes up bumper stickers, SUV car seat upholstery, the paint on protest signs, etc. I wasn’t making a plea for more petroleum usage or going to war, I was just trying to say that there was more to it than just gas. I hung up feeling pretty good about what I had relayed and thought surely I had been helpful to the person; giving them an angle they maybe hadn’t thought of before.
Imagine my surprise when I was watching CNN that night and saw a quote attributed to a “Spokesperson from Stanford University” that was verbatim what I had shared on my call earlier. Oops. Apparently, the person, while technically a college student, was actually an intern at CNN doing research on the Gulf War for an on-air report. I had a lot of explaining to do the next day when I got into the office. And while the University appreciated my views, they kindly ask that I not speak to reporters on the subject in the future. Lesson learned — always know who you are speaking with, and why.
Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?
Without stating the obvious, marketing is hard. We put our hearts and souls into our programs, projects, and campaigns, and often don’t get recognized for our contributions to the overall company performance. If things go great and are successful, sales get the glory. If things aren’t going as planned or targets are missed, marketing gets the blame or gets thrown under the bus.
A tipping point for me was when I started working at Oracle. As a database company, I suddenly had access to a ton of data. Behavioral, demographic, intent, and more. Having access to this data allowed me to show my results, explain the impact marketing was having and showcase the value add.
Once I had access to data and was able to make recommendations based on the data, it made my job much easier. From then on I started focusing on the data to help me tell the story internally of marketing’s successes. But going beyond that, I think it’s important to recognize that even internally you might have different audiences. And the data and outcomes speak to these audiences differently, so you need to think about who needs to see your results, and how.
For example, while at Intacct we used to have a monthly check-in with Sales to update them on our programs and the results. We would start the presentation at the top of the funnel, sharing the number of prospects and leads, then on to MQLs, SLQs, and so on. By slide 3 the Salespeople were bored, tuned out, and getting fidgety. So much so, I don’t think they ever really heard the final outcome of closed deals and revenue numbers attributed to marketing. So I decided to flip the presentation. Start with how many deals closed and how much revenue came in from the programs and campaigns. We didn’t really even need to go back further up the funnel, simply because sales heard what they needed to hear. $$$$. This made for a good lesson in presenting only the pertinent info to my audience in a way they could understand, digest it, and was meaningful to them. It also had the added bonus of cutting the meeting time in half.
What do you think makes you stand out? Can you share a story?
What makes me stand out are really two things. First is my approach to marketing strategy and the second is my approach to not just my teams, but everyone in an organization. I look at both of these holistically.
From the strategy side of things, I spent years building a process and framework for how to develop and implement effective go-to-market and marketing strategies. I call it the G.R.I.T. Marketing Method. It all starts with the overall corporate strategy, and aligning that with the customer journey, so that marketing professionals can build better programs, have more influence, and clearly articulate the value they bring, not just to their own role or department, but the company as a whole.
From a personnel standpoint, it doesn’t matter to me which department you are in, we all need to be working together, like a well-oiled machine. To that end, I engage with, mentor, and coach people across organizations at all different levels, in a variety of roles. Key areas I like to focus on are setting expectations and attainable goals, being transparent, and making sure to talk about everything in context.
While working with the engineering team for Shotgun at Autodesk, I wanted them to reprioritize a feature. Instead of either forcing it on them or pulling rank, I explained to the lead engineer why I wanted it done, how we were going to market it, the expected revenue outcome, and how it would help us meet our goals. So I gave him context for why I wanted to shift things. I also made it clear that his team would be critical in meeting our revenue targets. It was the first time anyone had tied revenue to engineering outputs for him like this. His team was able to understand the role they could play in the overall success. It was a win-win-win.
My forthcoming book isn’t about how to build marketing programs per se. It takes this framework and helps marketing professionals and others, in sales, product, engineering, customer success, learn to better navigate the internal politics and structure to have more influence and impact and grow in their careers.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Ah, yes. Definitely. As I just mentioned, I have a book coming out in the summer of 2021 called Sway: Implement the G.R.I.T. Marketing Method to Gain Influence and Drive Corporate Strategy, which provides a framework to work smarter by aligning more closely with the customer journey, corporate goals, and overall go-to-market strategy. While originally written for marketing professionals, it’s applicable to most everyone, from product managers to sales to solopreneurs. It walks through some of the ideas I’ve discussed so far about how to align better with the customer journey and corporate strategy to be more effective.
It also gets into the who, how, and what of ensuring your results and recommendations are seen by the right people, in a way that is meaningful to them.
My hope is that people who read the book and implement some of the ideas will be happier, more productive, and have a more direct career trajectory, all while increasing effectiveness and results to the overall company goals.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are?
I was just thinking about this today. I went to a college-prep high school, and we had a lot of cool options for courses, including some that covered different aspects of business, like econ and marketing. Pat Casey was our business teacher and ran the Junior Achievement for our school. His mentorship helped me understand my options in college and beyond. I am forever grateful for his guidance as it has led me to where I am today. And yes, the companies I was part of in Junior Achievements paid for my first few years of college.
Who do you consider to be your hero?
I don’t have many heroes, but Jimmy Carter is definitely one of them. Talk about being authentic! Politics aside, he is a gracious person whose life goal is to make the world a better place. I was lucky enough to meet him a few times, and he was kind and funny. It’s a rare trait that people will keep going, doing what is right when everything else is going on the toilet. He stands by his convictions.
I once waited eight hours in line to meet him and have him autograph a book for me. When I finally got up to him, I didn’t want to waste his time since there were still tons of people behind me and I knew he was late for his next engagement. Instead of rushing me, he insisted on having a conversation with me. We ended up talking for several minutes before I moved on. He was genuinely grateful that I had come to see him. That’s the kind of authenticity I think consumers, whether B2B, D2C or everything in between, would like to experience.
Wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. What advice would you give to other marketers to thrive and avoid burnout?
I have been doing this for over 25 years, and still love it. For me, there are always new products and offerings out there. There is new technology to make our jobs easier while making us more effective. I recommend always learning the latest, whether it’s a new tool, a new channel, a new paradigm. Also, understand what skill gaps you have and try to minimize those. Or partner internally with folks who have complementary skills and work together as a cohesive team (these folks don’t need to be in your same department). I also recommend becoming embedded in the go-to-market strategy, as this will provide you better insight into the overall goals of the company and more long-term opportunities.
And please, consider having outside interests, whether it’s reading, cooking, hiking, or my personal favorite, glassblowing. Make sure you have balance in your life.
There are hundreds of memorable marketing campaigns that have become part of the lexicon of our culture. What is your favorite marketing or branding campaign from history?
I wouldn’t say there is one campaign or company in particular, rather I like companies that are able to listen, understand their customer, and pivot. We saw a lot of this in 2020, where companies were presented with exceptional challenges in the ways people think, the way they buy, the channels they look at. Companies that knew their customers well were able to shift and pivot their strategy.
If you take Chobani for example, their first thought was about the kids whose one meal a day might have come from school, and with homeschooling were no longer going to have access to even that meal. They quickly set up accessible pop-ups and gave away lunches, no questions asked. As a customer of theirs, seeing that their immediate concern was for those less fortunate than I, made me love their products even more, and beyond that, made me appreciate the company and their executive leaders. They continue to pivot from both a product and strategy standpoint to meet the needs of their consumers.
If you could break down a very successful campaign into a “blueprint”, what would that blueprint look like?
Part of my G.R.I.T. Marketing Method covers what I call RPM, which shows how to build repeatable, predictable, and measurable programs and content. You basically start with a pillar piece or umbrella piece, and from there use it in multiple campaigns, in multiple formats, across multiple channels, for a variety of audiences. All the while aligning to your customer journey and go-to-market strategy.
Take for instance a webinar you do with an industry leader. Now take the content from the webinar and create an eguide. Then chunk up the eguide into multiple blog posts. Maybe put a different wrapper on it for different audiences. Then create emails for prospects and customers to disseminate the content. And you can certainly develop social media posts for each of these pieces. So what started off as a webinar now lives on in 10+ other pieces of content, with even more reach. By strategically thinking about who the content is for and mapping it directly to the customer journey — what they need, how they will use when they need it as part of their journey, and the format — you can develop better content and less of it, that can be repurposed and reused.
Companies like Google and Facebook have totally disrupted how companies market over the past 15 years. At the same time, consumers have become more jaded and resistant to anything “salesy”. In your industry, where do you see the future of marketing going?
I am a big fan of AI and how it will ultimately help marketers automate 1:1 marketing. That way you will \, hopefully, always be sharing the right message and content at the right time to the right person. Sounds a bit big brother, but it should create a better experience for the prospect in the long run. Only giving them what they need or want when they need or want it.
All that said, I don’t think the fundamentals of marketing changed that much. You need to understand your customer and always be keeping them in mind when developing products, defining strategy, creating marketing campaigns, selling, and ultimately getting them to adopt your products or solutions.
Can you please tell us the 5 things you wish someone told you before you started?
Empower yourself. No one is going to swish a magic wand over you and say “You are now empowered. Go forth and conquer.” I admittedly waited for someone to empower me and at some point realized it was up to me to empower myself. No magic wand or pixie dust needed. Take control over the go-to-market strategy. A bit controversial, but I believe that Marketing should own the go-to-market strategy, including defining the product roadmap (from the standpoint of prioritization, viability, and pricing at minimum). The way it is set up now, Marketing is often not part of the go-to-market strategy, yet they are responsible for the execution and success of it. Start by understanding the customer journey, then align that with the corporate goals, and map your programs to align. Build influence and trust as early as possible in your career. Don’t think you need to have years of experience before you can start influencing. Find mentors, sponsors, and allies in every role and company. Focus on the corporate strategy and align your programs to these. Then share results from this perspective. And remember who your audiences are and what they want to hear and see. Be a storyteller. This goes without saying and we’ve all heard it ad nauseam, but it really is key to helping your prospects and customers identify with you. I work mostly with B2B companies, so this is really critical as you are building a relationship and partnership with folks for the long term. Own a revenue target. Trust me, it will make you a better marketer. You could even go as far as thinking about yourself and the team as a Revenue Knowledge Center. Marketing knows which programs and areas we should be investing in as well as divesting from. We know when to pivot. When a company is behind the target, who do executives go to for help? When there aren’t enough leads or pipeline or revenue, who gets called in to fix it? Who knows which programs and channels perform the best, or worst? Who can influence programs and tactics in almost every facet of the customer journey, adding value and having a huge impact? Who knows which levers can be pulled, why, and when to increase lift and conversion? Who knows how to flip a huge in-person event into a virtual event without missing a step? That would be marketing.
Can you share a few examples of marketing tools or marketing technology that you think can dramatically empower small business owners to become more effective marketers?
Drift is a great chatbot that lets you automate almost the entire funnel. Sure it takes some thought to get into the best flow. And yes, you will need to develop or repurpose content. But once set, it can be completely automated. From the minute the prospect comes to your site, everything they see and access, and the flow itself through the funnel, can be automated.
Any tools that are leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning are also critical to automation. And there are new ones every day. It’s only going to get more sophisticated, but with that comes automation.
What books, podcasts, documentaries or other resources do you use to sharpen your marketing skills?
Marketing Profs. I joined this organization a long time ago. And while they do focus on B2B marketing, they develop and curate some amazing content.
American Marketing Association. When I finished my MBA, this organization lagged with tools, techniques, and programs. But now I find them to be a wealth of amazing information, resources, and tools.
I love Neil Patel and Eric Sui’s podcast. They have short snippets of useful information on almost any subject as it relates to marketing.
Shoutout to Neil and Eric, they are outstanding! One more before we go: If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
From a marketing standpoint, the idea behind the book Sway and the G.R.I.T. Marketing method and framework is to make marketing professionals more productive, therefore increasing revenue, and ultimately increasing GDP. That would be a great goal.
Thank you for taking the time to do this and for sharing so many fantastic insights with us! | https://medium.com/authority-magazine/top-marketing-minds-with-christina-del-villar-and-kage-spatz-c6468a39e073 | ['Kage Spatz'] | 2020-11-26 00:57:44.183000+00:00 | ['Mentorship', 'Career Advice', 'Marketing Strategies', 'Marketers', 'Business'] |
How to Reduce Anxiety Through Decisiveness | Anxiety-inducing menu
Often we find ourselves deciding. And most of us loathe decisions. Which restaurant will we eat at? What job will we take?
We live in a world where we’re constantly bombarded with messages, ads, and information, so our default reaction has become to ignore everything. No more decisions, order a pizza for the night and stay in to watch TV. Stay put in our current job because we’re too scared to take a risk.
It’s why there are more employees than employers/entrepreneurs in the world. It’s why the business of convenience, services, and simplicity have become so big. Netflix, UberEats, Tax Accountants, and the list goes on.
We’re so deep into it that we’re under the false illusion that no decision is better than any decision these days. It’s why call to actions (like time limits) are put on buying products. The world wants us to make decisions, businesses want us to make decisions, and our significant others want decisions.
Whole Foods
How did Whole Foods end up here? For some reason, every time I tell someone I go to Whole Foods, they immediately feel the need to explain to me why they don’t go to Whole Foods (it’s too pricey). Personally, I disagree. It costs just as much for 80% of the items in the store and the quality is significantly higher (no I don’t work for Whole Foods).
So why do I actually go to Whole Foods? It’s less decisions. I can trust Whole Foods to curate a few, quality options for each category. I don’t want 50 different options for BBQ sauce. Give me the one quality option so I can get the hell out of the store quicker. It helps you and it helps me.
It’s clean, it’s organized, and there’s no foul play. I can easily discern what I need.
When I go to most other grocery stores I feel bombarded. Anywhere they can stick a product they do it and I absolutely hate it. Huge discount tags overlapping each other “BUY 1 GET 1 FREE, SAVE 50 CENTS IN VALUE”. It’s hell.
More decisions are not better! Less decisions are increasingly getting better.
Seriously, who likes this?
Less Decisions Over Everything
People are exhausted, they take a hiatus and they never come back. We need to come back but we’re running low on patience and we don’t know how to return.
We forget how much ‘why’ matters. The ‘why’ is the reason you do anything at all. You support a family, you fight for those in need, or maybe you believe in something bigger than the industry default.
We must remind ourselves that the difficult decisions are the ones that bear the most fruit. The most difficult decisions today typically create an easier future tomorrow and vice versa. The hardest decisions save us the most time and heartbreak even if we don’t think we can handle the pain of the present.
Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.
So it makes us question the very demonization of decisions to begin with.
Don’t forget what the root of making hard decisions brought you. There was a reason why, a reason behind everything and you let the world’s decisions ware you out.
Instead, look for better ways to manage indecision hell. When a decision comes your way, stick with your gut feeling and mission and decide. Startups win with speed, not clairvoyance.
Perfect SAT score
Perfection is the Enemy
Make decisions faster. Make actions faster. Especially if you’re a perfectionist. Quality doesn’t matter if you make one version of something because your first version of anything will most likely suck.
Quality (as much as I love it) usually means sitting around theorizing about perfection. It evaporates into thin air. True quality is found through countless repetitions, practice, and applying feedback.
Instead, aim for repetitions. How many times will you metaphorically ‘shoot the ball’? Always shoot your shot in life. Ask the person of your dreams out, inquire about the discount, and always go the extra mile to get what you deserve.
An amateur avoids mistakes. A master is someone who has made mistakes until they can’t make them any more.
Level up unapologetically. Other opinions don’t matter. There will always be a dissenting opinion so you might as well do what’s worthwhile.
Do famous photographers take one picture and call it a day? Professional golfers hit thousands of balls a day to be able to win with the fewest strokes in a tournament.
When you see life through this lens, your actions change. You start setting up systems and structure to support you putting in the reps. Focus on the work behind your goals and measure it. Better yet, have someone else hold you accountable for it.
The results will always shock you. What decisions will you make today that will bring you a different tomorrow? One more in line with your aspirations. It could be to add $1,000 a month to your salary or it could be to take your parents on a trip to Italy.
Decisions, as much as we may hate them, determine everything. We just have to spend our time on the ones that matter. Cut out the noise and spend the time on what matters most to you.
The things you dislike about life may very well begin to evaporate. What will you do with your newfound time? | https://medium.com/absolute-zero/how-to-reduce-anxiety-through-decisiveness-2fcfbafe0c4a | ['Michael Weeks'] | 2019-08-01 15:50:17.982000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Anxiety', 'Self', 'Self Improvement', 'Life'] |
Australia’s Night Parrots Can’t See In The Dark | A recent anatomical study of Australia’s nocturnal night parrot has revealed that it may not see very well in the dark. According to the study, the parrot’s vision is probably similar to that of day-active parrots. Thus, despite its nocturnal lifestyle, the night parrot’s inability to see in the dark could be contributing to its critically endangered status.
Night parrots went unseen for more than a century
The night parrot, Pezoporus occidentalis, is a small nocturnal parrot that can only be found in Australia’s immense arid interior. It is has cryptic greenish yellow plumage with yellow, brown, and black speckles throughout.
Night parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis) are small, elusive nocturnal parrots found only in Australia’s arid interior. (Credit: Rachel Murphy.)
Only 25 specimens had been collected between 1845 and 1875, when the night parrot suddenly disappeared. It went unseen for longer than a century all across its vast range, leading the Smithsonian Museum to recognize it as ‘the world’s most mysterious bird’. Some experts argued that the parrot could be extinct. A reward of $25,000 was offered for a night parrot, dead or alive.
Just when hope had almost completely evaporated that the elusive species’ might still be alive, two night parrot bodies were unexpectedly discovered, the first in 1990 (ref), and then a second in 2006 (ref). Finally, in 2013, several live individuals were photographed by camera traps in southwestern Queensland, which then led to the discovery of a small population of these birds. Having re-discovered the ‘holy grail’ of birds, much celebration ensued. Later, a few more populations of night parrots were found and soon, several studies — mostly observational — of these mysterious parrots began to appear in the scientific literature. The most recent of these studies reports that night parrots probably don’t see very well in the dark.
“Night Parrots must be able to find their way at night — to find food, avoid obstacles while flying, and escape predators”, said study author, evolutionary and developmental biologist, Vera Weisbecker, an associate professor at Flinders University’s College of Science and Engineering, in a statement.
There are only two nocturnal parrot species in the world, Australia’s night parrot and the distantly related Kākāpō in New Zealand. The night parrot is largely terrestrial — avoiding flight most of the time, but instead, sprinting madly between spinifex grass tussocks on the desert floor. However, unlike the flightless Kākāpō, the night parrot can actually fly — and often does so around dawn and dusk — in search of the grass seeds that it eats.
“We therefore expect their visual system to show adaptations for seeing in the dark, similar to other nocturnal birds — New Zealand’s Kakapo parrot and owls with enlarged eyes, for example”, Professor Weisbecker added. “However, we found that this wasn’t the case.”
Generally, nocturnal animals have more eye cells, called rods, that increase sensitivity to light. Many nocturnal animals also have unusually large eyes that allow them to capture every available photon of light. For example, owls are nocturnal birds that use their excellent night vision for hunting.
Night parrots are so rare that scientists had only one skull to study
Because night parrots are nocturnal, the researchers wanted to better understand this species’ visual abilities. However, the night parrot is so rare that every living bird is precious, so researchers could only examine dead specimens that had been collected throughout the past century and a half. The scientists found only one intact skull that was suitable for this study. This skull was part of the mummified body of a night parrot (Figure 1a) discovered in 1990 by ornithologist Walter Boles, a senior fellow at the Australian Museum.
“He spotted its mummified body by accident, lying by the side of the road after apparently being hit by a truck — it is amazing that its skull stayed intact!”
(L-R) Dr Karine Mardon, Dr Vera Weisbecker and Heather Janetzki getting ready to scan a night parrot specimen; An internal scan — or, endocast — of the inside of a night parrot’s head. (Credit: Steve Murphy / Charles Darwin University)
Study co-author, Karine Mardon, National Imaging Facility Fellow and Molecular Imaging Facility Manager at the University of Queensland’s Centre for Advanced Imaging, used computed tomography (CT) to scan this night parrot skull. These CT scans were used to produce a three-dimensional reconstruction (an endocast) of the night parrot’s brain so the research team could study the bird’s visual system (Figure 1b). Study co-author Aubrey Keirnan compared the 3D scans with those of its closest relatives, the ground parrots, as well as hundreds of other day-active parrot species (Figure 1c). | https://medium.com/swlh/australias-night-parrots-can-t-see-at-night-a9361437cfa8 | ['𝐆𝐫𝐫𝐥𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭', 'Scientist'] | 2020-08-07 10:40:35.197000+00:00 | ['Evolution', 'Science', 'Ornithology', 'Ecology', 'Vision'] |
Is Artificial Intelligence (AI) the New Customer Service Support? | IMS | “By 2025, as many as 95 percent of all customer interactions will be through channels supported by artificial intelligence (AI) technology.” — Microsoft
In recent years, AI technology has become a revolutionary, transformative concept that has changed the way industries operate.
If we go back to the late 1940s and early 1950s, computers were initially created to execute commands but could not store them nor act intelligently. Fast forward to today’s age of “big data” and AI applications can be found nearly everywhere thanks to its ability to streamline various work processes.
While AI technology is deployed across almost all business sectors, it has been incredibly successful for businesses that require more customer interaction. Salesforce believes that deploying AI for Customer Relationship Management will increase global business revenues by $1.1 trillion by 2021.
Implementing AI-managed systems such as chatbots, smart assistants, and automated responses have been proven to improve user satisfaction. A recent study by IBM indicated that 33% of users are more likely to increase their satisfaction due to a more personalized experience offered by AI.
Read on to learn the game-changing benefits of adopting AI technology for customer service:
Quicker Response Rate
An article by AI Magazine revealed that 75% of customers believe it takes too long to reach a human agent via customer service. A poor experience can lead to abandoned carts and missed sales opportunities. To improve the timeliness of response rates and eliminate the hassle of calling customer support, chatbots are a powerful online support tool that mimics a human agent to answer customer queries promptly. For example, H&M, the famous fashion retailer, enables clients to make entire purchases through bots available on their Kik messaging app.
Advanced chatbots use sophisticated machine-learning (i.e., Siri or Google Assistant) to understand complete sentences and provide real-like conversations. Implementing this software allows for better resource management, as customer service representatives no longer need to spend time answering simple questions; they can shift their focus to more complex queries.
Data Storage
Most AI software does not require continual programming; they are designed in such a way that information is collected automatically without having to invest additional time and resources. With capabilities to track and store valuable data on customers, businesses can obtain in-depth insights to understand their customers’ behavior in more detail and automate marketing activities to maintain their attention and overall improve the customer journey.
Consider the example of Netflix. When a user logs in, they are instantly welcomed by entertainment recommendations. Such user experience is possible through AI-powered analysis. Suggestions are initiated thanks to data collected from what movies and TV shows have already been watched, repeatedly viewed, or left incomplete.
Natural Language Processing
As aforementioned, AI-powered chatbots are a robust software option that can be used to interact with customers. Contrary to rule-based chatbots that reflect robot-like mannerisms, the more advanced chatbots aren’t so different from live agents. They can use natural language processing to generate appropriate responses to specific tasks and resonate with users, often emulating personal and empathetic replies.
With AI chatbots available to the customer 24/7, they can help prevent customer inquiries from escalating into complaints. Thanks to an almost instant response time for chatbots, this function removes long waiting periods for customers looking to get a quick reply to their queries and feel like they are genuinely being listened to. In-built AI intelligence allows businesses to program accurate, customized feedback for each type of customer interaction. If queries become too tough for the automated system to answer, only then will they need to be escalated to live staff.
Other benefits and considerations
Hiring a team of customer service agents is a timely and costly investment that requires ongoing training, quality assurance, and management to ensure the organization is represented correctly. When adopting AI technology, the one-time investment will eradicate the reoccurring high costs and also can help to reduce human errors with standardized guidelines.
The constant refinement of customer journeys should not be undermined. Every interaction your customers have with your brand can determine your overall business performance. Delivering excellent customer experiences can result in higher customer loyalty and satisfaction that drives positive word-of-mouth marketing. If you are looking to increase brand value by improving your customer service, find out here.
While investing in AI technologies can come at a high initial cost, the benefits by far outweigh the expenses in the long term. Most businesses can only grow as fast as staff allows. Saving time and automating processes will enable human workers to tackle complex tasks and focus more on strategy with the vast amount of data collected. Having the extra bandwidth, therefore, will allow companies to scale up to serve more customers faster.
Are you a customer-centric organization that is looking for new ways to boost customer satisfaction? Get in touch today for a consultation to learn how we can help transform your customer experience and win more conversions. | https://medium.com/@imanagesystems/is-artificial-intelligence-ai-the-new-customer-service-support-ims-41607ccb312b | ['Integrated Management Systems', 'Ims'] | 2021-07-13 08:57:42.940000+00:00 | ['AI', 'Customer Service', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Customer Experience', 'CRM'] |
The Power of Leader’s Language | Boris Johnson’s recent choice of language has received widespread criticism in the House of Commons and in the press. Descriptions like ‘surrender bill’ ‘interference by foreign powers’ ‘betrayal’ and ‘treachery’ have been criticised as inflammatory. Indeed, many of this choices are on the Harvard University List of Semantically Hostile Words.
Whatever your political persuasion and whether you agree with Johnson or not, it does serve as a reminder of the importance — and the power — of the words that leaders use. This is true for not just our politicians, but leaders in corporate environments too.
Business Psychologist Louis Pondy noted that language is one of the least visible, but most important influences on behaviour. It incites us to action not only by appeals to logic, but more importantly, by appeals to emotion. “The real power of Martin Luther King,” wrote Pondy “was not only that he had a dream, but that he could describe it, that it became public, and therefore accessible to millions of people”.
Like Dr King, corporate leaders play an important role in crafting and communicating their organisation’s vision and values. Indeed, their ability to do this is often seen as an important characteristic of their ability to lead. When Jack Welsh became CEO of GE, he told his people the approach was “pedal to the metal”. Those few short words evoked a sense of urgency, speed and determination that became the entire ethos of GE during his tenure. Similarly, Jeff Bezos paints a vivid picture of the culture he’screated when he explains that “Amazon is fun and intense. But if push came to shove, I’d choose intense”.
We know it’s not just what’s being said that creates the impact. It’s the combination of message, style and delivery that can powerfully engage people. On the language side, there are many devices that leaders use to connect to their audience, such as repetition, rhythm or alliteration. But more than anything, the use of imagery is most powerful. And the most potent use of imagery is metaphor.
Metaphors in Business
Metaphors link abstract concepts to concrete things to create vividness, clarification, or to express certain emotions. In so doing, they influence our thinking and the meaning we make about the world. Yet we often use them without being deliberate about what they evoke and the behaviour they encourage.
Although the possibilities are endless, there are some metaphors that have become pervasive in business. Military language such as fire people; destroy the competition; and retreat and retrench may be justified as simple shorthand, but the metaphors that we use frame our reality. The question to ask yourself is, does this metaphor share the same fundamental conditions and values that you want for your business?
A sports metaphor may seem more benign, terms like close of play, the ball’s in their court or down to the wire may seem as harmless as they are common. But what are the ‘rules’ of these games that your people will unconsciously apply in your business setting? Are they appropriate? And what are the unintended consequences of people acting in ways consistent with that metaphor?
Used well, metaphors can figuratively sum up in a few short words what a literal description never could. In Disney, staff are called cast members evoking a metaphor that they are ‘on stage’ when they are customer facing. This perfectly aligns with the goal of making guests’ experiences magical. It’s a positive, effective and memorable way to help Disney’s people know how to act — literally.
A key role of leaders is to frame an issue within a given context and interpret reality for the audience. CEO’s, by virtue of both their audience reach and their status, have a disproportionately high impact in this regard. This allows them to communicate both internally and externally with key stakeholders. Marina Gorbis, CEO of the Institute of Future, summed up her organisation’s entire ethos and purpose when she said: “After all, we are all immigrants to the future; none of us is a native in that land”.
Likewise, Warren Buffet, known for his long-term investment strategy was able to capture it perfectly when he said, “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago”. The image that Buffet conjures is richer and has more depth than a straightforward description of his vision and approach. As is Elon Musk’s strategy summary “I’d like to die on Mars. Just not on impact”.
The one thing that differentiates humans from all other species is our ability to communicate through language. It allows us to gain information and meaning about things without having to experience them. We can feel sadness when we listen to the news of a famine in a far-off part of the world. We don’t need to know the people or the place to experience the emotion; language is enough to evoke that in us. Imagine, then, the influence that this gives people who can reach an audience.
The sheer power of the language that leaders use brings to mind that Marvel philosopher, Spider Man. “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”. As leaders and citizens, we’d do well to remember that. | https://medium.com/swlh/the-power-of-leaders-language-822fbb08f842 | ['Dr Jacqueline Conway'] | 2020-01-28 11:36:58.563000+00:00 | ['Power', 'Langauge', 'Complexity', 'Metaphor', 'Leadership'] |
Vendetta Capital Backs Royale, a First Mover in DeFi for iGaming | Vendetta Capital Backs Royale, a First Mover in DeFi for iGaming
Royale is an iGaming DeFi protocol building a trustless ecosystem where iGaming platforms borrow capital to fund their bankroll. Royale Nov 26, 2020·3 min read
Royale is excited to announce our partnership with Vendetta Capital, the cryptocurrency advisory and investment management company that tackles issues of interoperability, privacy and scalability. Royale looks forward to collaborating with their multidisciplinary team spanning investment, marketing, portfolio management and blockchain advisory.
Vendetta has extensive experience guiding blockchain projects. It sports an impressive roster of innovative and successful decentralised finance (DeFi) projects under their belt just this year — MANTRA DAO, Alliance Block, APY.finance, Polkastarter, Tidal.finance and Wootrade to name a few. They are well versed in launching early-stage DeFi projects and propelling them onward to sustainable growth. Their advice on marketing and long-term strategy is often cited by teams as a key part of their projects’ success. With the assistance of Vendetta, Royale is on track to remain relevant, sustainable and responsive to its community long after the shine of its debut wears off.
Royale is a cross-chain DeFi protocol that focuses on the iGaming industry. The project features a platform for smart-backed liquidity, which allows entrepreneurs to bootstrap innovation with blockchain’s transparency and security. The project wishes to be of service to iGaming platforms and help them attract new players through the use of Royale’s suite of Provably Fair games, all of which are supported by its own community. It is a decentralized iGaming aggregator and yield optimiser that is secure, immutable, and transparent.
Vendetta is backing Royale’s aim to overhaul the iGaming industry. Its unique approach opens the door for entrepreneurs who wish to enter the high growth online betting sector but lack the funding for their bankroll. Royale’s optimised liquidity pool provides iGaming bankroll funding via a network of participants that are rewarded to provide capital. This approach, supercharged by DeFi, unlocks a globally expanding industry expected to reach $127 billion by 2027. The iGaming industry includes online sports betting, online poker platforms, and online casinos. Vendetta Capital is keen to tap into the unrivaled growth potential that the combination of iGaming and DeFi has to offer cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
That’s what we at Royale call iGDeFi.
About Vendetta Capital
Vendetta Capital has brought together a multi-disciplinary team that has immense experience spanning from investing, portfolio management, and capital markets to marketing and blockchain technology. Vendetta invests in, leads, and helps projects to accelerate developing novel solutions to address the core issues of scalability, privacy, and interoperability for decentralized protocols and applications.
About Royale Finance
Royale Finance is an industry-focused decentralised lending protocol. Its purpose is to create Web 3.0 smart-backed funding solutions using DeFi primitives in order to support the innovation of iGaming products and platforms. The combination of iGaming returns, uncorrelated to DeFi cryptoassets but powered by base layer DeFi protocols, we call iGDeFi.
Follow us on Twitter and join our community on Telegram. | https://medium.com/officialroyale/vendetta-capital-backs-royale-a-first-mover-in-defi-for-igaming-4a6f460d38fd | [] | 2020-11-26 17:27:10.070000+00:00 | ['Ethereum', 'Defi', 'Blockchain Startup', 'Polkadot', 'Cryptocurrency Investment'] |
KONFLIK TIMUR TENGAH “SUNNI-SYI’AH” PASCA REVOLUSI ISLAM IRAN TAHUN 1979 | students at the state university of Malang | https://medium.com/@dewivina/konflik-timur-tengah-sunni-syiah-pasca-revolusi-islam-iran-tahun-1979-ac7bc44c4283 | ['Dewi Vina'] | 2020-12-06 04:06:10.254000+00:00 | ['Revolusi Islam', 'Iran', 'Syiah', 'Sunni', 'Timur Tengah'] |
FRX - World First Forex Consultant Company | Crypto is a digital form of Money that runs on own Blockchain. It was first created by Satoshi. It was times of 2009. After some time he disappeared from crypto world and after that a new era of crypto and evolution begun.
In 2013 a massive earthquake like burst happen in Bitcoin, but at that times crypto was very slow. And in these times other big Blockchains like Monero etc came to existence. And so on 2017 Bull run was that, that attracted millions of users. It was very reprising for BTC. But in 2021, it was like a storm. Now almsot BTC crossed 1 trillion dollars market cap. And that is huge compared to the bing crypto chunks.
So Bitcoin is a total history. And it is like a big storm. In coming days and years a new Blockchain era will happen and in this era we will see a massive growth in all kinds of crypto.
Here I am able to discuss about a crypto project that is a game changer for many crypto people if they want to take serious advantage of crypto.
Here is a link,
https://moonrocketcoin.net/
FRX Main Goals:-
This is a crypto company that wants to help bug investors those have not enough time to pay attention to their tradings. So they have been working their algorithm so that big investors manage their money by just checking their accounts. And all thier trades and investments will be managerd by this company.
This is full time redefine as their are not such company that offer such luxury helps to these bug investors. As big inevstingdo not know big investors do not know that how to manage all kinds of things. And that sucks. But with the helping if this centralized management they will increase their ROI day by day.
This tells us that their are some Companies that are trying their best achieve good and best golas and making good things that will grow this crypto woord and thus a new evolution can begin.
Under FRX Roadmap:-
This is a crypto that is trading advisor company promising that they will at least 30% APY per year. And that's good cause small profits are good for long term investors and not losse everything they have.
This crypto company that has one of the best and staggering Roadmap that have landed in crypto fields.
They are working since a very long time. They are managing good things like making good profits for their investors and they brought thier own token called FRX that they have been working on it for a very last time.
After that they are planning to launch this on big my mean top notch exchanges. And also theri are big news to come in coming days. And it will boost their project and aware their project to the big community and it would be amazing that how it performs in coming Days.
Will FRX Survive?
This Crypto project is self made company with good reputation and still they are rocking bin thier system. They have gathered almost 800k funds from big investors. And it is based on top notch Trx Based token. It is with a very less fee tht is much more good. So in coming days it's voice will be heard and will be able to get good profits if wr Invest in this.
Important Links:-
1: https://t.me/FRXalpha
2: https://twitter.com/FeroxAdvisors
3: https://frx.medium.com/
4: https://github.com/opentron/opentron
Btt Username: classickitana
Btt Profile Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3387632 | https://medium.com/@mb160440/frx-world-first-forex-consultant-company-6868058c2c2e | ['Muhammad Bilal'] | 2021-12-29 02:50:52.737000+00:00 | ['Trading', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Staking', 'Frx', 'Forex'] |
Friendship and my thoughts about it | Hi everyone! I think it's time to speak about relationships and what place they take in my life. To be honest, i don’t have a boyfriend and never had one, but i have got an experience of true friendship with my classmate.
So, i met her for the first time in seven grade. We went to the same journalist clubб but i never spoke to her before those lessons. Then we started chatting up with each other about k-pop music and so one. Surprisingly, we had a lot of in common so we made friends. And it was a start of our way.
Its been six years since we met each other and our terms become better and better. She is the first person in my life who knows everything about me, sometimes i think that our friendship came from a teenage movie, because i never got relationships like these and i have seen it only on a TV screen.
In conclusion, i don’t even know what this post about — my best friend or friendship. But i am sure that i wanted to wish you to find someone special, and it doesn't matter who he/she will be in your live, the most important is love and support that he/she could give to you. | https://medium.com/@alex-p-m/friendship-and-my-thoughts-about-it-195aff09a615 | [] | 2020-12-14 16:06:45.566000+00:00 | ['Study', 'Friends', 'Friendship'] |
Afghanistan: The Land Eaten by War | Afghanistan: The Land Eaten by War
The land that cannot be conquered by any nation
A mujahideen, a captain in the Afghan army before deserting, poses with a group of rebels near Herat, Afghanistan, on February 28, 1980
Afghan lands have always been a touchstone for the great empires of the time throughout history. From the Persians, Macedonians, and Kushans to the British, Soviets, and Americans, they all encountered Afghan resistance, which crushed foreign troops who set foot in this country like a stone mixer. The geographical position of the country has attracted like a magnet the great powers throughout history.
High priority location
Due to its location, today’s territory of Afghanistan has been coveted and occupied throughout history by some of the largest empires. Among those who occupied the region were the Persians, led by Darius the Great (522–486 BC). Then, Alexander the Great occupied this territory in 329 BC. Hr.). Later, the province is occupied by the Kusama monarchy (1st century BC-5th century AD). It was not long before the Arabs gained control of Afghanistan and imposed Islam on the territory. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the country was destroyed by the Mongol invasion (1222) led by Genghis Khan, then by Tamerlane, and the territory was divided between Iran and the Mongol Empire. It was not until 1747 that the pastoral Afghans established a state at the head of which they formally appointed a king.
In the 19th century, the British Empire tried to conquer Afghanistan, starting in India. Between 1839 and 1842, the British failed to subdue the Afghan tribes. A second attempt by the British Crown (1878–1880) to subdue Afghanistan was a success. Finally, in 1919, Britain withdrew from Afghanistan forced by an insurgency by provincial tribes. In 1919, the Afghan monarchy was recognized as independent.
A border set up by the British Empire in Afghanistan in 1840
After the end of the war with the British, the only conflicts known to the Afghan people were the internal ones. One king dethroned another, changing the ruler was a habit. With the exception of Zahir Shah (1933–1973), none of the kings brought significant changes to the Afghans. King Zahir managed to put an end to inter-ethnic conflicts, promulgate a constitution that provided political rights to Afghan women for the first time, and established a legislature.
The Soviet Invasion
Afghanistan’s current problems began almost 40 years ago. In 1973, the king’s cousin, Daoud, staged a coup, proclaiming Afghanistan a republic and making him president. In the short period of Daoud’s rule, Afghanistan has enjoyed revenues from oil and gas exports. On April 27, 1978, Daoud was overthrown and assassinated by communists (the Sawr revolution) grouped around the Afghan People’s Democratic Party (PDPA).
Afghans wait outside the Kabul central Pulicharkhi prison on January 14, 1980, days after the Moscow-installed regime of Babrak Karmal took over
However, internal conflicts led to the party’s fracture. The leaders of one faction — Parcham — were expelled, while the other faction, Khalq (the masses), led by Noor Mohammed Taraki, took power. Taraki began to secularize the country by striking Islam. Its radical reforms sparked local riots and armed uprisings, with government troops defeating resistance groups several times.
Babrak Kamal
The two military superpowers, the USSR and the USA, were also involved in all this civil war, the first supporting the power and the second the opposition, the mujahideen. As Afghan internal strife escalated, the Soviet Union felt compelled to help the threatened communist regime and invaded the country on December 27, 1979. Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev believed troops could withdraw in about six months.
The Soviets removed the entire Afghan leadership and installed Babrak Kamal as leader of the Parcham faction, which overturned Taraki’s unpopular measures, declaring allegiance to Islam. But the presence of foreign troops on Afghan territory had already sparked a national uprising. The Soviet army responded by destroying crops and livestock to cut off the supply of the resistance movement.
USA’s Reaction
The United States, as in the case of Vietnam, feared the spread of communism in the world. The first steps taken by the Jimmy Carter administration were peaceful, a boycott of the Moscow Olympics, the cancellation of trade agreements with Brezhnev. In 1980, the United States decided to intervene in the theater of operations. The Americans participated in the war through the Afghan resistance.
U.S. President Ronald Reagan meets with a group of Afghan freedom fighters to discuss Soviet atrocities in Afghanistan, especially the September 1982 massacre of 105 Afghan villagers in Lowgar Province
Zbigniew Brzezinski, the national security adviser, was sent to negotiate with Pakistan to deliver weapons to the Afghan opposition. Thus began the cooperation between the mujahedeen (“Soldiers of God”) and the Americans. The CIA was sending weapons to the Pakistani secret services that supplied the mujahideen. The camp of those who supported the mujahideen expanded and included Britain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt. During the 1980s, the involvement of the two superpowers increased. The United States has supplied thousands of tons of weapons to the Muhajids. The USSR sent more than 100,000 troops to Afghanistan.
By the mid-1980s, more than five million men, women, and children — a third of Afghanistan’s population — had emigrated to Pakistan, Iran, and other countries in one of the world’s largest post-World War II exoduses. Russian bombing of Afghan villages has claimed nearly a million lives. The war in Afghanistan proved to be one of the most costly and lasted longer than Brezhnev hoped.
Michail Gorbachev and Ronald Raegan
Following meetings between Reagan and Gorbachev, which discussed the issue of disarmament and the signing of several treaties, it was decided to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by 1989.
The strategic importance of Afghanistan
Afghanistan is under the influence of the great powers: to the north Russia, to the east China, to the south-southeast India, to the south-southwest Iran and to the west Europe, to these is added the USA. Being in these positions, each of them can have a very strong influence on others. Afghanistan is also at the confluence of the world’s major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam (the latter being the youngest and most dynamic religion today).
Aftermath in a village located along the Salang Highway shelled and destroyed during fights between Mujahideen guerrillas and Afghan soldiers in Salang, Afghanistan
Afghanistan borders Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan. With Pakistan, which was British-ruled until 1947, it had disagreements since the late 19th century over the Durand Line, which separated the ethnic pastures on either side of the Afghan-Pakistani border. He also had strained relations with other neighbors, due to the waves of refugees who crossed the border for fear of the conflicts that are always present in Afghanistan or the export of terrorism practiced by Al-Qaeda.
It has a multiethnic population of Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazaras, between whom there have always been tensions. The 31 million inhabitants are mostly Muslims. The Pashtun group has dominated the other ethnic groups throughout history.
Natural Resources worth Trillions of dollars
According to the New York Times, a mixed team of US military and geologists have discovered trillion-dollar mineral resources in Afghanistan. These would be enough to bring about radical changes in the Afghan economy and probably in the unfolding of the war itself. The reserves are of iron, copper, cobalt, gold, and metals used in industry, such as lithium, the existence of which was not known, are very large and include many minerals crucial for the development of modern industry, thus Afghanistan can be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, according to US administration officials.
Figure from the New York Times showing the areas of specific minerals found in Afghanistan, their quantity as well as value at which they are estimated
The New York Times reports that an internal Pentagon note states that Afghanistan could become “Saudi lithium”, an important raw material for battery manufacturing. “There is enormous potential here,” General David H. Petraeus, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said in an interview. “There are many conditions, of course, but I think the potential is very high,” he added.
Mineral deposits are spread across the country, including in the southern and eastern regions on the border with Pakistan, where US forces have fought fiercely against the Taliban insurgency. | https://medium.com/history-of-yesterday/afghanistan-the-land-eaten-by-war-cffb78822405 | ['Andrei Tapalaga'] | 2020-07-30 11:01:01.596000+00:00 | ['Culture', 'History', 'Government', 'Politics', 'Cold War'] |
Some slides from our Blockchain for a better Healthcare meetup | On the 02.10, PositiveBlockchain.io has organized the6th edition of its Blockchain for Social Good Berlin (BSGB) series. Follow-up the group on meetup.com here to receive future event invitations.
The topic this time was about Blockchain for a better Healthcare, in partnership with the Impact Hub Berlin, BerChain (Berlin Blockchain Association), the GIZ Blockchain Lab and Avertim (European consulting in Life Sciences). We had great speakers from startups Ribbon, IKU, HIT Foundation and PharmaTrace. We have summarized some slides and added new ones here.
Blockchain in Healthcare & Pharma — better late than never
Although healthcare complexity and somewhat disruption-resistance doesn’t help adoption, there is a lot going on at the moment to leverage new technologies for a better Healthcare. Especially related to patient data ownership, cybersecurity, drug traceability, clinical trials, chronical disease treatment adherence, real life evidence, etc.
Investments coming in from VCs
A blockchain for healthcare investment article reported for 2018 at least 5 ICOs above $15 million each (Shivom.io, Solve.Care, Medicalchain, Medibloc, Lympo) and 10 VC deals above $1,5 million each (VeraTrak, Embleema, Chronicled, Professional Credentials Exchange, Nebula Genomics, Decent, LunaDNA, Hu-manity, Curisium, Hashed Health).
Great mobilization from institutions to support blockchain innovation, R&D and ecosystem creation
The EU Commission has been investing already €180 million in blockchain-related projects, according to an EU delegate who presented during a EU Blockchain Observatory workshop in Frankfurt which we attended on the 04.10.2019.
Back in October 2018, the EU Parliament urged the Commission to take action and invest in research for blockchain adoption. The 2017/2772(RSP) resolution on blockchain was already very specific on potential benefits of the technology for healthcare.
Excerpt from an EU resolution
Under theH2020 eHealth Cybersecurity Research and Innovation effort, a call for proposals for improving cybersecurity in hospitals has been launched in 2018. While the call did not mention blockchain, among the 40 submitted proposals, 15 included blockchain, and among the 7 selected for funding, 5 had a blockchain component:
FeatureCloud (immutability and management of patient rights)
(immutability and management of patient rights) SERUMS (lineage and provenance of personal medical data)
(lineage and provenance of personal medical data) SPHINX (cybersecurity toolkit medical, clinical or health available infrastructures which builds blockchain-based countermeasures mechanisms)
(cybersecurity toolkit medical, clinical or health available infrastructures which builds blockchain-based countermeasures mechanisms) PANACEA (toolkits for dynamic cyber security assessment and preparedness of Healthcare ICT infrastructures, with blockchain components for the storage and sharing of clinical data)
(toolkits for dynamic cyber security assessment and preparedness of Healthcare ICT infrastructures, with blockchain components for the storage and sharing of clinical data) CUREX (blockchain infrastructure ensuring the integrity of the risk assessment process and of all data transactions that occur between the diverse range of stakeholders).
The industry is also following very closely the following projects:
My Health My Data: a Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Action which aims at fundamentally changing the way sensitive data are shared. MHMD is aiming to become a true information marketplace, based on new mechanisms of trust and direct, value-based relationships between EU citizens, hospitals, research centers and businesses.
My Health My Data homepage
MELLODY or “Machine Learning Ledger Orchestration for Drug Discovery”: a private-public consortium supported by the EU IMI (IMI Innovative Medicines Initiative) gathering 10 Pharmaceutical companies (Amgen, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Merck KgaA, Novartis, and Institut de Recherches Servier); 2 academic universities (KU Leuven, Budapesti Muszaki es Gazdasagtudomanyi Egyetem); 4 subject matter experts (Owkin, Substra Foundation, Loodse, Iktos); and 1 large AI computing company (NVIDIA). The objectives of the drug-discovery consortium that hopes to eliminate the tradeoff between data sharing and security. MELLODDY developers will create a distributed deep learning model that can travel among these distinct cloud clusters, training on annotated data for an unprecedented 10 million chemical compounds. MELLODDY will also employ a blockchain ledger system so pharmaceutical partners can maintain visibility and control over the use of their datasets. Read more on this interesting article.
Mellody project one-pager
Blockchain Enabled Healthcare: another IMI consortium is dragging a lot of attention from Pharmaceutical companies, since it gathers many key players who received an €18 million grant to research blockchain applications in four main areas or categories: supply chain, clinical trials, health data, and others (e.g. procurement).
Blockchain Enabled Healthcare (IMI)
Many use cases are being explored although the most promising ones are still ahead
Some blockchain use cases in the Life Sciences
Main use cases currently being explored by healthcare and pharmaceutical companies are in supply chain (track & trace drugs along the distribution & supply chains) or clinical data (smart contracts & access rights to grant different stakeholders access over patient data).
In most current pilots and projects, the patient is only marginally or not at all in control and ownership of its data. Fully patient-driven models are part of long-term applications which we see emerge, but for which we there are still many roadblocks and unclear business cases (how much will it cost? who will share these costs? what are the exact benefits?).
CBInsight blockchain + healthcare roadmap
Growing startup ecosystem
PositiveBlockchain.io has already listed 120+ startups in its open-source database accessible here.
Some of the 120 startups listed by PositiveBlockchain
Roadblocks still on the path for wider adoption
Bioethical questions around patient data ownership, treatment decision or patient data monetization
questions around patient data ownership, treatment decision or patient data monetization Infrastructure maturity & cybersecurity for blockchain components themselves
for blockchain components themselves Raising awareness and educating key stakeholders and patients themselves — althought they should understand benefits and not all the technical layers of the technology
and key stakeholders and patients themselves — althought they should understand benefits and not all the technical layers of the technology Usability should not be affected by new technology such as blockchain, especially in healthcare market
should not be affected by new technology such as blockchain, especially in healthcare market Data Standards for inter-operability are still missing, IEEE and other standard bodies are working on it
for inter-operability are still missing, IEEE and other standard bodies are working on it Reglementation and regional harmonization
Our panelists at the Berlin event on the 02.10.2019
You can read the slides from the event + several ones added here.
Feel free to reach out to us to organize / speak / attend at future events, or help us progress in our blockchain for healthcare research!
We missed something or did a mistake in this article? You want to contributor to PositiveBlockchain, or work with us on projects/events? Let us know at [email protected] | https://medium.com/positiveblockchain/some-slides-from-our-blockchain-for-a-better-healthcare-meetup-2bda5c2c46a4 | [] | 2019-10-17 19:46:44.468000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Health', 'Digital', 'Healthcare', 'Pharmaceutical'] |
A Design Flirt with Flutter | With a goal to create a simple UI with a Navbar and a couple of Cards, I set off to add components from my cloud libraries. Next, I did a bit of customization, adding images and descriptions, as well as tweaking the layout in a way that made my design complete. Trying to export the design at this stage reports an error because the symbols I use are not being recognized, as they come from an external file living on the cloud. This brings my first realization that the plugin will probably work only for simple shapes and text elements.
To confirm that, I am opening one of the demo projects I had downloaded and it seems to support symbols as long as they are local to the file from which you try to generate code. Our design process, however, relies on UI Kit libraries and shared cloud assets that the XD to Flutter plugin is not able to leverage yet. This is a big bummer because for our organization it is a must that we are able to share and reuse assets across projects with fellow designers in North and South America.
Having a single source of truth, which in this case is the Adobe Asset Cloud, and in other cases could be shared design system space in OneDrive or Dropbox, is key to keeping a team aligned and truly delivering on all the promises of Design Systems.
Having to pay the price of unlinking my components so early on comes with a bitter taste, but I remain optimistic and for the sake of having a Flutter app without writing code, I go ahead and do it. I also tweak the color and text styles of the elements that resulted from unlinking my components to polish the final look of the app.
Trying to export my design at this stage throws a different type of error related to the names of layers prefixed with an emoji symbol. While renaming these, I am having mixed feelings of getting closer, but at the same time, further away from my goal. An export, for sanity check after I am done renaming, shows no more errors, but I look at the warnings just in case.
Among them, one finds that the service does not support styles, such as shadows and some of the borders. Another compromise that I have to make, but this time it will affect the final look of the app and I am quite disappointed. Nevertheless, I am overwhelmed by an eagerness to see how closely the output will resemble my design as I seem to be only two words away from success…
FLUTTER RUN
The export was successful! I saw files being updated and created in the empty project, but the app is not there yet, as there are two more things that I have to take care of inside the app project (thank you Google Search). First, I have to add the dependency on Adobe XD in the pubspec.yaml file. This is something that the Indigo.Design code generation automatically does for me and even more than that, it takes care of all dependencies automatically, so that I never have to worry. Second, I have to copy all the generated code from the newly created dart file into the main.dart. So one more time, two words to success…
FLUTTER RUN
…almost nailed it, the app opens in the simulator showing my UI but the images are not there. This time I will roll up my sleeves and try to figure it out on my own. I remember that upon exporting my screen, something that the plugin calls a widget, there was a second button for exporting images. Let’s go back to XD, export the images, and then in VS Code I can see the two assets added to my project. I copy their paths and scan the generated UI code for image scaffolds where I will paste them.
After a hot reload (I am a big fan of this feature because it affords for quick tweak-and-update iterations) the app shines in front of me in all its fidelity. My job is done and I am happy and satisfied. But there is one thing that makes me nervous: Are the buttons in my cards real interactive buttons or dummy ones? Playing with the app in the simulator shows that they are the latter, which is no surprise but I was secretly hoping for the opposite.
So, yes there is code generation on the Adobe XD — Flutter front but, I’d much rather stick to Sketch with Indigo.Design and Ignite UI for Angular. At least with those, there is a process outputting real apps with functional UI components (and nothing besides the quality and fidelity of your design to think about) that truly turns a design into runnable code.
I invite you to try for yourself. You can download and browse my sample project or use it to follow the steps outlined above and create a Flutter app from here: Lakehouses.xd | https://medium.com/ignite-ui/a-design-flirt-with-flutter-a9bed940487b | ['Stefan Ivanov'] | 2020-06-23 13:31:18.669000+00:00 | ['Adobe Xd', 'Design Systems', 'UX Design', 'UI', 'Flutter'] |
How to exchange funds between blockchains without third-party risks? | Atomic Swaps is a new technology that makes it possible to exchange cryptocurrencies directly and without third parties. For example — you can exchange BTC to LTC with the fixed and small fee for any amount without centralization exchanges. The commission does not depend on the amount.
What is Atomic Swap?
In Greek language “atomos” means “indivisible”. “Swap” means trade and finance exchange operation in the form of exchange of different assets. Atomic Swap is the operation, which either implemented entirely or cannot be implemented at all.
It has essential meaning for the future of crypto: unlimited cross-blockchain exchange will open up a brand-new world of possibilities for the market.
Implementation
Atomic Swap has two sides — Initiator and Participant. For example look at BTC-LTC Atomic Swap:
Initiator creates something like “deposit box” which contain funds in the process of Atomic Swap.
This is like “transparent” box: recipient can check what’s inside, but cannot take the funds out without the initiator’s key.
When recipient checked that everything is fine, he makes the same box with the same lock, but with his own assets. Initiator checks this box, open it and leaves the key in the lock. Then the recipient takes the key and opens the initiator’s box.
The key is called the “Secret” and box it is the Contract. In other words, initiator sends to recipient hash of his Secret and now recipient can make a similar box, which will be opened by the same secret.
And although initiator owns the lock and the key, he can’t open his box and take his coins back, because the assets blocked for 24 hours by Hashed Timelock Contracts (HTLC) protection. It’s designed to prevent each side from frauds and cheating (when initiator already received participant’s coins, but didn’t sent his own).
In picture above you can see a full Atomic Swap process, it looks complicated isn’t it? But not for Atomic Wallet user:
All of this proceeds automatically and there is no need for any actions by users in the process. You just have to make few clicks and waiting for your funds.
You already can try this technology at AtomicWallet.io
Stay tuned and follow us on:
Medium: https://medium.com/@atomicwallet
Facebook — https://facebook.com/atomicwallet
Twitter — https://twitter.com/atomicwallet
Join our Telegram chat: https://t.me/atomicwalletchat | https://medium.com/atomic-wallet/how-to-transfer-funds-between-blockchains-without-third-party-risks-f8eedc4b7fa8 | [] | 2018-07-17 16:28:34.479000+00:00 | ['Atomic Swap', 'Ethereum', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain'] |
Democracy | Democracy
(Because 17.4 million lemmings can’t all be wrong)
Even by my standards … my output on Medium has, of late, been an irregular mixed bag and not terribly substantial either — barely even lightweight nonsense, never mind anything of substance.
There are a variety of reasons for that — not least that I haven’t really had much I particularly wanted to say … nor the élan to say it even if I had.
But something has been on my mind for a while and I’m motivated to say something about it at last.
First a preamble though …
… or two …
Okay … what with most of you being Zone 3 dwelling morlocks … the chances are that you, dear reader, won’t know about this, but there’s been this thing called Brexit going on for a while that has been sucking the life out of public discourse here in the first world for the last …
Is it two or three years now?
Four?
I can’t remember any more (it isn’t popularly referred to as the Neverendum for nothing) … but it has absorbed virtually all public/political energy into it like a black hole.
And it has focused my attention in such a way recently that some old ideas have resurfaced with greater clarity — nothing I haven’t said before but more concisely/precisely.
It has brought to light some serious misconceptions on the part of (seemingly) almost everyone about how Democracy functions in the UK.
So … what, exactly, is the setup in the UK then?
Archaic and seemingly complex but, actually, not really what many (if not most) people are led to believe …
For hundreds of years now, Britain/the UK has bumbled along with this system of government and, whilst people have criticised it in various ways for various reasons, no-one has really objected to the fundamentals.
But Brexit has thrown a big spanner in the works.
People are (rightly or wrongly) questioning the roles of the Executive and the Legislature … even the Judiciary … and finding reasons (good and bad) to criticise them.
But seemingly nobody is questioning the mechanisms by which it all operates at a fundamental level.
Oh, people are questioning, as I said, the roles of the various elements, whether Proportional Representation (PR) is/isn’t a better idea than First Past The Post (FPTP) … the usual rearranging of the deckchairs on the Titanic … but, seemingly nobody is questioning whether there really is any need for political parties and it seems to me that they are the root cause of the very problem.
As noted, we don’t vote for parties, nor is there any reason why we should. In fact, they are not simply undemocratic, they are anti-democratic. They result in tribal tugs of war as each tries to gain the upper hand and impose its vision on the proceedings.
As a result, in a hung parliament (like we’ve had, more or less, since 2010) nothing gets done because no party has the upper hand. This is one of the reasons why a lot of people in the UK like to say that coalitions don’t work and strong government by overwhelming majorities is necessary to get the business of government done.
But not only do coalition governments work in other nations (notably in continental Europe) but the idea that each of the ‘broad church’ parties that vie for power in the UK aren’t, themselves, already coalitions is naive — just look at the ‘party within a party’ phenomenon of the European Research Group that has vied for control of the Conservative party for years now and is the reason why the referendum on membership of the EU was held in the first place.
So, even when we have so-called ‘strong government’ by a party with an overwhelming majority, we don’t actually — it’s just that the fights go on behind closed doors as it were.
In which case, not only is it questionable whether we even have ‘strong’ government but it is increasingly questionable, thanks to the chaos of the Brexit referendum, whether it is even desirable.
What the Brexit chaos has brought into sharp relief is that what we need is not ‘strong’ government (pick any despotic regime you like and the government is strong) but effective government …
So, how do we get it?
PR doesn’t solve the problem … least of all with party lists, which remove the already weak link between the electorate and their representatives that exists in even the current system, whereby parties decide which candidates they will field as representatives for each political subdivision and ‘parachute’ them in — resulting in a, not unreasonable, sense on the part of the electorate that their political representatives are transient, uncaring careerists who know nothing (and care even less) about them or their concerns.
I propose, therefore, that the solution must at least start with the removal from the equation of political parties.
Instead, the electorate votes, as it does now, for a local representative to be their Member of Parliament (MP) … and Parliament, instead of consisting of the special interest groups that it does now, simply works on the basis that legislation is proposed by individual MPs and then voted upon by all MPs.
Each proposed piece of legislation is then either successfully voted for or dismissed and the next item on the agenda is brought forward and voted upon.
At the end of a certain period (a week, say) all the successful propositions are itemised and MPs ‘bid’, as it were, to work on the legislation they feel appropriate/desirable. A vote is held and their bids are successful or not and the successful MPs then go and work on the legislation.
After a certain period (whatever is deemed/agreed appropriate by all MPs) progress is presented to Parliament and a vote is taken on whether it is satisfactory as it is or further work required, amendments proposed and voted upon … you get the idea — basically pretty much as things already work now anyway but without anyone being obliged to vote a particular way if they want to remain members of the power group and have any influence.
As for how MPs might be elected in the first place …
Well, anyone can put themselves forward and, just as now, if they can persuade people to vote for them then they become an MP for a given constituency (region/borough/ward/prefecture/whatever).
Instead of the current FPTP or PR approaches, a variation on the Single Transferable Vote (STV) approach might be used:
People rank their candidate choices on a scale ranging from -n to n (where n is the number of candidates).
So, you first choice goes at the top of the scale, your second below that, the third below that and so on.
The negative aspect of it means you can indicate that you don’t want your vote to contribute positively to a candidate’s result … thus eliminating the danger that they might end up being your MP as a result of your placing them last — i.e. they get one vote from you and that being the one vote they needed to tip the balance against another candidate (your negative vote counts against their total in a way a low positive ranking cannot with a standard STV approach).
Moreover, by ranking all candidates negatively, it is possible to state ‘none of the above’ not merely in such a way that it will actively affect the outcome of the total vote but, furthermore, for you to qualify that statement by, effectively, stating ‘but if any of them have to be my MP then definitely not them’ by ranking a given candidate lower than all others.
Okay, it’s only the germ of an idea and, obviously, it needs fleshing out, but I reckon it has potential to result in a much better form of collegiate governance than the current adversarial system and might, furthermore, be a model for all nations, not simply the UK.
I’ll be thinking about it more and, as time goes by, refining/expanding it but, meanwhile, if anyone has any ideas, I’d be interested in hearing them.
[Related Thoughts]
FUNDING
Some way of ensuring that all candidates are equally financially able to promote their candidacy — otherwise the wealthy will be disproportionately empowered.
IMPROPRIETY / CRIMINALITY
Attempts to influence candidates/representatives in any way other than public submission of a proposition to be a treasonous offence — penalty: lifelong imprisonment with no chance for parole. (There needs to be accountability)
Misuse/Abuse of power a treasonous offence — penalty: lifelong imprisonment with no chance for parole.
PROCEDURE
Bills/Proposals must be single-subject: no introducing unrelated riders/amendments that are unrelated to the matter at hand (you can’t change the subject) … and no filibustering.
| https://extranewsfeed.com/democracy-1740e2a76f1e | ['Where Angels Fear'] | 2021-03-31 16:01:53.798000+00:00 | ['UK', 'Politics', 'UK Politics', 'Brexit', 'Government'] |
Subsets and Splits