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What is BitLocker Recovery? — Learn with 3 Easy Steps | BitLocker Recovery — Hi there, do you know when you open your computer, sometimes a wrong click forwards you to the Blue Screen. What is the blue screen? Not with the wrong clicks sometimes blue screen with lack of wrong command or for exceptional cases when your pc don’t shutdown or restart properly. Onwards this issue occurs and this is not a big issue but you need to fix it.
Many users want to lock their pc with password. So, they easily access their computer systems. Why I am saying this because if your computer is password protected so you can easily access your account. Suppose if you lock your computer with your password encryption. And somebody wants to open and also you want to open but you forgot your password. So, what can you do? Many times, you fill up the password when your computer is not open, finally you want to create a new one to your account. Indirectly this Blue Screen appears and which you will want to do is totally failed.
Now move on, you only have to restart your pc. After restarting you see the blue screen. If your computer is password protected so your computer will show you a BitLocker Recovery. Our topic is on the BitLocker Recovery but all above explanation help you to understand why Bit Locker show to you.
Bit Locker is generally generated by the , you need to setup or secure your computer with using Microsoft or . Create Microsoft account and get access of this. This is very good feature of Microsoft to lock your drives. And help in this critical situation. They lock your drives and keeps your data safe.
Unwanted action or activities observed by this feature and your computer generally takes this after any such issues present with your pc. If you see the Bit Locker Recovery Screen on your computer so what is the next step to do? Don’t worry about that see the snap below to configure the same problem I will explain to you or not.
Here are the steps to unlock your Pc from Bit Locker Recovery. You have to insert a unique keys here as you see in the above snap.
Just need to open this URL aka.ms/recoverykey After opening the page just login into your account and note your keys which is related to your pc or desktop. Write key on the Bit Locker recovery page and click on continue ok Recover your PC.
After clicking on continue your computer restart automatically and open your Window.
Ends up, now all the points clear to you if you like this post share it, and also share your views in comment section below. See you in the next post. Ta Da!
MukulTech.com | https://medium.com/@mukultech/what-is-bitlocker-recovery-learn-with-3-easy-steps-119a22a9d84d | [] | 2020-10-25 09:25:06.066000+00:00 | ['Google', 'Bitlocker Recovery Key', 'Recovery', 'Windows 10', 'Bitlocker'] |
How to Create 1305 Tests Targeting Gitlab in 5 Minutes With Humlix | How to Create 1305 Tests Targeting Gitlab in 5 Minutes With Humlix Humlix Follow Jun 25 · 4 min read
Humlix is a web API request builder and quality assurance tool that automatically generates tests. All you need to do is provide examples of how to call your API methods, and Humlix will use it to start doing its magic.
To put Humlix to a real test, we decided to try it on a real industry giant, and GitLab seemed to be a suitable candidate because of its size and that we can run it locally. Therefore, in this post, we will let Humlix create tests targeting GitLab Community Edition (gitlab-ce) and specifically its GitLab Groups API. We will use gitlab/gitlab-ce:11.2.0-ce.0 docker image and later try to repeat the same scenario on the currently latest version gitlab/gitlab-ce:13.1.0-ce.0
Let’s start with the end
By showing Humlix how to call the /api/v4/groups Gitlab Group API method, we could discover a bug that would have been hard to detect using regular unit tests. You can see that Humlix generated 1305 tests towards gitlab-ce in the screenshot below and that calling:
/api/v4/groups?page=461168601842738792
resulted in a status 500 Internal Server Error.
We can see the cause of the problem by going into the production.log file for GitLab and see that during the execution of some SQL statement, the error was:
2020–10–02_19:43:52.85686 ERROR: bigint out of range 2020–10–02_19:43:52.85689 STATEMENT: SELECT “namespaces”.* FROM “namespaces” WHERE “namespaces”.”type” = ‘Group’ ORDER BY “namespaces”.”name” ASC, “namespaces”.”id” ASC LIMIT 20 OFFSET 9223372036854775820
So in just a couple of minutes, we were able to detect bugs in production code.
A user has already reported this issue in the GitLab issue tracker system. To check if GitLab has fixed the bug, we can repeat the same scenario on the currently latest version gitlab/gitlab-ce:13.1.0-ce.0. Humlix once again located the same problem.
We can also verify it using this cURL command:
curl -I localhost/api/v4/groups?page=461168601842738792 HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error
As you can see, this problem has existed for a long time, even between different versions, but Humlix was able to find the bug within minutes.
How to generate tests with Humlix
You need to download Humlix. Remember to sign up for the Humlix mailing list to stay up to date with the latest news. You can follow the Humlix getting started guide if you don’t know how to run it.
Select the HOME menu and click on ADD SUITE and create a test suite called GitLab Suite.
Press the Add request link and create a new test request called Get a group list by page.
Go to the ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES tab and change the environment name to GitLab Environment. Add two variables base_url and gitlab_token. Set the values according to your setup.
Go to the REQUEST tab so that you can see the Humlix test request builder. Select GET verb and Http protocol and add {{base_url}}/api/v4/groups. Add a new query parameter page of type integer according to the picture below.
Now we are ready to perform some tests. To verify that your setup is working, you can run a test with precisely the data you entered in the request builder by pressing the Run single test button.
If everything works as expected, you should receive something like this in the log area.
The result above shows that our setup works and that your Gitlab API token is correct.
Disclaimer: Don’t perform the next step unless you are sure you are targeting a test environment running GitLab that you can re-create without losing anything important. Humlix will generate many requests and could cause a heavy load on production servers.
Now you can press the Generate tests button to see some real magic.
If you don’t get the same result, you can experiment with the test request settings. E.g., you can change the Max number of generated test calls to 1000 and rerun the test generation.
Now you have seen what Humlix is capable of in just a few minutes and how easy it is to let Humlix create tests for you. Download and try it out if you haven’t already! | https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-create-1040-tests-targeting-gitlab-in-5-minutes-with-humlix-5150b85d8664 | [] | 2020-11-10 12:43:49.925000+00:00 | ['Software Development', 'API', 'No Code', 'Testing'] |
“Have A Second Goal Ready In Case You Reach Your First” With Hollywood Composer Scott Doherty | “I’ve learned that goal-setting is really important — for a variety of reasons. First, they are your roadmap to success, and your lighthouse when you get off track. But from an interpersonal standpoint, goals are critical for self fulfillment. I find it important to celebrate my successes along the path — celebrate the wins — no matter how big or small. I also think that it’s important to always have something to strive toward. Things can change really fast in the business I’m in — and big opportunities can present themselves sometimes very quickly. As such, I make sure I have a variety of goals to keep myself engaged and always growing.”
I had the pleasure of sitting down with lifelong musician and composer Scott Doherty, who has received much recognition for his compositions on numerous film and TV projects, including ‘Weeds’ and ‘Orange is the New Black’. We discussed his career and some of the things he has learned over the years in the entertainment industry.
What is your “backstory”?
I arrived in Los Angeles at the age of 18 after driving across country from Maine. My first job was running live sound at the infamous Coconut Teazer on Sunset Boulevard. I had some success playing in bands, performing at venues like The Troubadour and a number of other L.A. mainstays. I like to say that composing found me, and I began writing music for TV and films. Currently, I’m the co-composer on the Netflix Original series ‘Orange is the New Black’.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your music career?
Not long after moving to L.A., I took a job at Guitar Center in Hollywood. On a particularly long and loud night in the keyboard department, I found myself alone on the sales floor as the other two employees had gone to the parking lot for an extended smoke break. I was about to walk out due to frustration when I heard a voice behind me say, “Are you busy, sir?” I turned around to see Stevie Wonder and a friend, looking to pick up a few last minute items before going to a nearby recording studio. I could not find two of the three items he was looking for, but managed to find the last harmonica we carried in E flat. By this point my co-workers had returned and watched in complete amazement as Stevie asked me to open the harmonica case and proceeded to play “Isn’t She Lovely” just three feet from my face.
Which people in history inspire you the most? Why?
I’m inspired by innovators. People who build things, who create things. People who dare, who dream, who do things that have never been done before — and things people say can’t be done. Some of the people that inspire me are celebrated and known, others are people I know personally who wow me and challenge me to be better — as an artist and as a person. | https://medium.com/thrive-global/have-a-second-goal-ready-in-case-you-reach-your-first-with-hollywood-composer-scott-doherty-864e142a2e43 | ['Yitzi Weiner'] | 2018-07-24 19:25:48.963000+00:00 | ['Film', 'Culture', 'Wonder', 'Music', 'Hollywood'] |
Give Value to Others to Find Meaning in Your Life | One of the biggest challenges people face in their lives is to discover their life’s true purpose. Some of you could align it with your profession, while others might want to dig deeper.
Even after being successful, many of you are not satisfied with the career choices, life choices and keep questioning your existence. When you are under pressure in your life, the confusion may persist for a longer period of time or throughout life.
So, what does living a meaningful life mean to you?
Do you want to help others?
Are you thinking of volunteering with a non-profit organization?
Do you want to lead a peaceful life with yoga and meditation?
Or
It could be anything that brings peace and joy in your life.
But do you have to wait for a specific time to lead a life of purpose?
The answer is No.
You can start now, at this moment.
When you give value to those around you, you lead a meaningful life. And you can find value in the smallest of activities every day. Here are a few things listed below which you can practice.
Be Kind: Be kind to others. This is one of the simplest acts of finding meaning in life, but very few practice it. You can be kind to your loved ones, with your co-workers, with your house help, and all service providers. By being kind, you are spreading happiness, peace in someone’s life. Isn’t this giving a meaning to your life?
Show Empathy: Like kindness, try and understand others. People are dealing with various challenges. All they are looking for the least, is someone who can understand them. When you show empathy, you lift somebody’s spirits; you add value to their life.
Listen Effectively: You need to be a good listener to understand somebody. Time is one of the most precious commodities these days. Nobody wants to spare their time listening to the concerns of others. But everybody has a right to be heard. If you have elderly parents at home, a child who loves to talk, spend some time listening to them. You will add value to their life.
Share Knowledge: You all must have realised the importance of being a life-long learner. Share your knowledge with others instead of hoarding it. See how others benefit from it. This can provide immense satisfaction to your life.
Motivate others: We are living in tough times. People are struggling with low self-esteem. You have the power to use words, which can encourage people, and add to their confidence. Complement somebody, appreciate them for their work, tell them they are unique and special. Your one word of encouragement can work wonders. When you raise positive emotion in others, you change their life for good.
Solve Problem: You could help someone who is struggling to keep pace with the latest technology. You can gift somebody a book to read, you can help a job seeker built a perfect resume, you can help an elderly with a doctor’s appointment, or you can help somebody create their website. There are numerous ways in which you can solve somebody’s problems. You need to reach out, ask and offer your help.
Smile: Smile often; smile when you look at strangers. Smile, when you are talking to somebody, smile when you exercise. Smile is contagious. Spread it to add value in people’s lives.
Meditate: When you meditate, your mind is calm; you have clarity in life and control over your emotions. You raise your energy levels and spread positivity around. Mediation not only adds value to your life, but it also does an excellent service to the world.
Prioritise: It is essential to set your priorities right in life. It could be your family, health, career, or anything depending on your choice. When you prioritise, you find things that matter most in your life and you do away with the rest.
Reflect: Reflect on your life. Ask yourself these questions, what do you love doing? What would you love to do every day effortlessly? Invest time in doing what makes you happy. You have the best answers to all your qurestions. Spend time with yourself.
Think differently and help others think differently. When you add value to people’s lives, you discover your purpose.
Do what makes you happy. These small positive acts will help you add value in the life of others and help you find purpose and your inner calling.
Don’t wait for a significant opportunity to come your way. Change moments with well-intentioned acts to make it big. | https://medium.com/@vandy2006anand/give-value-to-others-to-find-meaning-in-your-life-2a7c5a66065a | ['Vandana Anand'] | 2020-12-20 14:27:31.040000+00:00 | ['Passion', 'A Meaningful Life', 'Value Creation', 'Life Purpose', 'Meaning Of Life'] |
Android CI/CD pipeline with Bitrise: Deploy your apps to Google Play Store | In the mobile app industry, Continuous Integration(CI) and Continuous Deployment(CD) play an important role in terms of letting teams to deliver code changes frequently, safely, and automatically. Today, there are lots of different CI/CD tools like Jenkins, CircleCI, AppCircle and etc, but in this post, we will be talking about Bitrise.
Before I deep dive into the topic let me explain what CI/CD is and why we really need it.
What is Continuous Integration?
It is a software development practice that checks if the codes are acceptable for integration. CI workflow may include operations like app compilation, static code reviews and unit/UI testing with automated tools.
What is Continuous Deployment?
A continuous process which deploys codes to production system for every change that passes automated tests successfully.
Why should we use CI/CD?
If you are working with a team, you should be familiar with the development process. Each team member opens pull requests and merges their codes in a continuous cycle. In most cases, the master branch should be the most stable one and ready for production when merging codes to it. However, how can we make sure that it is fully reliable and tested properly?
That’s the part where CI plays an essential role. For each code integration, it runs an automated build in the background and checks whether tests are successful or not. The advantage of using CI in the project is that developers can fix potential bugs as soon as possible.
In addition, the importance of using CD in the project enables the team to work more efficiently and increases the quality of the whole development process.
Setting up Bitrise
The first thing to do is to open bitrise.io and create a new Bitrise project. This will only take 2– 3 minutes because Bitrise really simplifies this process for you.
After connecting your repository, Bitrise adds an SSH key into your repository automatically as a deploy key (This can be done manually if you have private dependencies). When the configuration is completed, Bitrise will ask you to register a webhook in your repository. This is really important because when you register a webhook, any code change in the repository will trigger the primary workflow.
That’s it :) If the validation is successful, Bitrise will give you the default workflow based on the project configuration.
Setup Google Play Project
First, you need to deploy the first APK or AAB manually to Play Store.
Secondly, open API ACCESS page in Play Store and link your API project by clicking “Create new project”
Then, click on Create new service account. This will redirect you to Google Api Console
After completing service account details, don’t forget to create a private key (JSON file) and download it. We will use it later on.
Now the last step is to grant access to the service account on Play Store. After that, we will have completed Play Store part of the deploying process.
Let’s open bitrise.io
After login with your account, select the project that you want to deploy and click on Workflow Editor.
The next step is to click on Code Signing tab. After uploading keystore file and keystore credentials, we need to upload the service account JSON key which we downloaded before.
In Bitrise, we have two workflows. Primary and Deploy . Just to clarify, both of them are created automatically when you add your app. They have almost the same steps and basically what they do is to activate the SSH keys, clone the Git repository, deploy build artifacts, and handle caching. Deploy workflow has extra steps for building the project and if the build is successful it deploys it to Play Store or any other market. For this tutorial, we will be only interested in deploying app to Play Store.
and . Just to clarify, both of them are created automatically when you add your app. They have almost the same steps and basically what they do is to activate the SSH keys, clone the Git repository, deploy build artifacts, and handle caching. Deploy workflow has extra steps for building the project and if the build is successful it deploys it to Play Store or any other market. For this tutorial, we will be only interested in deploying app to Play Store. In deploy workflow, click on Android Build step. This step actually is similar to the primary workflow except for one thing. As we are planning to deploy it, we need to choose release variant. Build type is up to you. Choose apk or aab.
Next, click on Android Sign step. Bitrise generated env variables for us in the Code Signing tab when we provide our keystore credentials, so we can use them all for filling the required fields. If you are uploading apk, then you can use $BITRISE_APK_PATH. For aab it is $BITRISE_AAB_PATH. One final thing to mention is that, If your app targetSdk is 30, then you need to enable apksigner and choose v2 for APK Signature Scheme
We are really close to the ending! For the last step, you need to add Deploy to Google Play step to the end of the Workflow. Add your service account JSON key file path, app package name, and apk or aab file path to the required fields. For the track field, you need to choose where you want to deploy your app (internal, alpha, beta, production, or any custom track). That’s it! Your app is ready to auto-deploy.
One more thing that I need to mention is when we need to trigger deploy workflow and how. Let me introduce you to Triggers. Go back to Workflow Editor and click on Triggers. For my case, I need to trigger deploy editor when somebody pushes codes to master branch. You can add as many triggers as you want. Also, for every pull request, I wanted the primary workflow editor to be triggered so that we can verify if something needs to be fixed before merging it. By the way, for every build, Bitrise notifies you via mail or slack about build status.
Bitrise really makes developers’ life easier even if you do not have any experience with CI/CD before. We did all the processes with Bitrise visual editor without writing a single line of code or something :)
CI/CD at Armut🍐
We were using CircleCI at Armut for a couple of years. However, we migrated our applications successfully to Bitrise recently. There are two reasons which make us choose Bitrise over CircleCI.
Ease of use : Bitrise workflow editor provides us very simple and pleasing user interface. The best part of this tool is, we don’t have to struggle with .yml files.
: Bitrise workflow editor provides us very simple and pleasing user interface. The best part of this tool is, we don’t have to struggle with .yml files. Out of memory(OOM): CircleCI container started to throw OOM exception for each build lately. We tried many solutions like increasing container default size and Java heap size. However, we could not overcome the build error.
By the way, if you are curious about how CI/CD was implemented at Armut before, you better check this post.
Happy Coding! | https://labs.armut.com/android-ci-cd-pipeline-with-bitrise-deploy-app-to-google-play-store-6bd95f652f8c | ['Caner Gulgec'] | 2020-11-27 14:57:04.073000+00:00 | ['Continuous Integration', 'Android', 'Engineering', 'Continuous Deployment', 'Bitrise'] |
Now Be The True You | The Galactic Centre and Your Truth
Have you felt recently a hunger to know the truth, to be the true you? The full moon on 17th June will help you voice your beliefs, especially those connected to your soul´s mission.
Ready To Unveil Your Truth?
It takes place at a powerful location in the heavens — pointing directly at the Galactic Centre at the centre of the Milky Way. This full moon in Sagittarius unleashes its powerful magic…
…the point of creation! Sagittarius represents our quest for truth. 21 is the number of truth and joy and this is the 21st century. Sagittarius creates peace of mind for each of us due to the wisdom we receive.
Knowing our truth sets us free to feel joy — which according to David Hawkins´ scale of consciousness vibrates higher than love.
The Galactic Centre is a black hole, an energy vortex, the womb of creation. View it is our “physical connection” to Spirit. When aligned with the Centre, its particles accelerate the unlocking of your unconscious mind. Urging you to release the beliefs restraining your soul from completing its mission.
This extraordinary full moon helps you unveil your truth to yourself. It will enable you to be more deeply in touch with what matters to you — even if hidden until now.
To act from integrity, being authentic with yourself, and to know you are ready and able to handle it. You will be able to thrive as a consequence of this wisdom, this awareness. Coming from your inner knowing, your optimism and faith will be enhanced as the solutions you seek accelerate your success.
My question to you is did you use the previous two weeks to set your dreams and ideas into motion and so creation? Have you allowed yourself to be guided toward new and exciting experiences? Or, have you held onto your established beliefs, even though you know they no longer serve you or are past their sell by date?
This is as true for humanity as a whole as each of us individually.
Ready To Embrace Your Dreams?
The June full moon is the last moon phase of the current eclipse cycle, which began with the solar eclipse on 5th January. For many reasons this is a full moon to make your long term dreams come true — are you ready to embrace them?
We are on the cusp of a new cycle so Jupiter is currently retrograde to help us internalise our learning. To welcome a wave of downloads from Spirit as conscious evolution is in full force. Use them to discover your truth and connect to your immortal being, your soul.
2020 is the year of perfect vision. So you are being primed to adjust your vision to see and sense clearly. Then you will have a clear view of your potential. And so a purpose for your life, doing what you love to do, the reason you incarnated!
For to quote Eleanor Roosevelt “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
For some weeks the almost constant guidance I receive has been to create freedom for my soul. The purpose is to allow what can be viewed as a new operating system to be established. One which crosses timelines. The practical Earth one and our timeless view of what is possible and will arrive.
Stepping away from our beliefs and having prejudices as to what must arrive — no expectation! This is the “old way” of our beliefs determining what will happen. Which is why many of the tools and practices for manifesting no longer work.
As each of us recognises we are unique so we will move away from the need to belong to certain groups, in all their forms — from our DNA to our society. Rather we will move to connect to our soul family. No longer will there be the belief we must please a certain group to be accepted.
Allowing Co-Creation To Happen?
This full moon is straddled by the two most important planetary aspects of 2019: the expansive Jupiter squares the dreamy Neptune the day before, and the make it happen Saturn sextile Neptune the day after. Both aspects occur three times this year, the closest being at this full moon.
Together they are helping you to give your life meaning. Around this full moon our imaginations will be in full flight. So beware of possible deception, especially self-deception. Usually through the distractions we have created for ourselves.
My suggestion is to connect in places of creativity, such as art galleries, Nature and other quiet places. Focus on your spiritual gifts and expect unusual spiritual experiences to appear. Once you make them real, your financial flow will increase.
The key is for your awareness to be open. Accepting you have available to you unlimited resources, not only those you believe you have at the moment! Be open to non-verbal communication and the power of your imagination.
Follow your intuition, then you will be able to go beyond the horizon of your personal expectation. Instead view yourself as a co-creator with Spirit in the Galactic Centre´s womb of creation.
How much you can rely on yourself either to see those desires clearly or to act on them, will depend on your relationship to your own feminine and masculine energies. Are they in balance or not?
To assist you gain insights from Your Best Self, Your True Self, Your Full Potential Self, here is a link to an mp3 resource — Your Full Potential Self.
Creative and visionary ability is essential to know and implement your soul´s desires. They need to work in harmony with your capacity to be practical, discerning and organised.
How Old Are You?
Focusing on taking small steps each day will help avoid overwhelm. Enabling you to achieve what you seek without being diverted.
When insurmountable hurdles seem to be holding you back from what you want, my suggestion is to observe your beliefs. These subtle, unconscious patterns and beliefs are usually restraining you.
When asked how old are you there may appear to be only one answer to the question. However, each of us is made up of many ages. Stuck in a moment which is contained within your personality, your energy field.
No matter how much emotional processing you have already completed, there will be moments when you respond from an immature part of you. Certainly not as a conscious adult, let alone an eternal spiritual being!
This point of transition is reminding us all of perhaps the most important work in this lifetime — to free ourselves. Every occasion we go back along the road of our life and collect parts that became detached, we uncover more of our truth. As our soul is more complete, so we become more understanding, more resourced, more compassionate and more accepting of our true nature.
My passion is to help you to take action to do so….
…need support to change your story, identify how to use your gifts, accelerate your business, address your relationships and alter the patterns you feel stuck in? I invite you to email me by clicking on the Contact tab to explore possibilities.
Seeing The Truth Of The True You
Or a moment for you to Quest perhaps? Shamanics in Portugal´s 2019 Vision Quest is planned for 20th to 23rd September. There will be a half day Introduction to Shamanic Journeying on the morning of 20th September, followed in the afternoon by assembly ready for the Vision Quest.
A full list of events can be found on Shamanics in Portugal´s Facebook page as well as web site.
A word of caution, the energy of the full moon could encourage impulsiveness. Yes be spontaneous, though guided by your intuition and truth rather than impulse! If for a long period you have not been excited, inspired or even optimistic about something, take a moment to pause.
18th June is ideally a day for rest ahead of an intense boost on the 19th to help us move something forward. Possibly that which previously seemed too hard or challenging to address.
Two days later comes the solstice, which are activations of the Galactic Centre. This 21st though also has Neptune going retrograde until 27th November and the Sun moving into Cancer.
Neptune joins Saturn and Jupiter as retrograde. Whatever actions you take now will reflect in the “final outcome” of these transits in the last part of 2019.
The inward reflection of the retrograde makes this an exceptional moment for spiritual self-development. Seeing the truth and where we have been in fantasy and illusion. What follows will be clarity, especially as to what is possible.
Making this an ideal period if you offer such a service. Especially for those who have travelled far from their truth, been attracted to other means to help them handle their emotions or had no support to process.
The Sun´s move into Cancer attracts us to connect with and learn about our culture of origin, our family tree and history. It will also be encourage spending time with your family in order to better understand ourselves both as a family and as individuals.
Mercury begins on the 23rd its two week pre-retrograde shadow. This one is in fiery Leo so it could awaken the dormant artist inside you, and/or boost your drive to create!
Next Up The New Moon and Eclipse
June’s alignments are preparing us for the influential eclipse cycle starting on 2nd July with a total solar eclipse. These are a prelude to the Saturn and Pluto conjunction on 12th January 2020 — their previous meeting was 500 years ago!
They are already influencing us to focus on finding our authority, taking a stand, and creating sustainable systems and structures. The new moon on that day rises in Cancer, its impact will last about six months.
To Knowing The True You | https://medium.com/@gregoryreecesmith/now-be-the-true-you-c9a63d316999 | ['Gregory Reece-Smith'] | 2019-06-17 22:24:46.160000+00:00 | ['Astrology', 'Spirituality', 'Change Your Life', 'Personal Growth', 'Business Development'] |
Lil Nas X’s Liberation Is Yours | Born in 1989, I arrived a few moons too soon to be part of Gen Z. But damn, bearing witness to y’all is magic. Young people are transforming the world in nearly immeasurable ways that will not only secure a better tomorrow but that also demand freedom — of expression, from oppression, for all — today.
For me, no one embodies this more than Lil Nas X.
A shot from the “Industry Baby” music video, choreographed by Sean Bankhead.
He’s “just functioning at an entirely different level,” said Black List founder Franklin Leonard, following the latest ceiling-smashing release from the rap and pop star. Prison-themed, the music video for “Industry Baby” speaks volumes to the intricacies of America’s defining feature: injustice.
Injustice within the American prison system and almost every other institution. Injustice against Black LGBTQ+ people and other structurally marginalized groups. Generational, ongoing, exhausting, murderous injustice. This makes his Bail X Fund, the accompanying fundraiser for the Bail Project, all that much more powerful. Lil Nas X is naming the bullshit, and he’s created a collective opportunity to do something about it.
“Music is the way I fight for liberation. It’s my act of resistance,” he said. “I also know that true freedom requires real change.” But that’s the thing: Lil Nas X’s art is the real change.
By day, I write and edit to end racial capitalism and bring about economic equality for people of color. Always, though, I am driven by the belief that winning liberation — fully realized — will mean that everyone can live free, safe, and secure as their truest selves.
From redefining the yeehaw agenda through “Old Town Road” to pole-dancing his latex-cladded ass on down to hell and claiming Satan’s throne in “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name),” Lil Nas X is blasting through barriers. But more than that, he’s owning his identity — and trolling the bigots, racists, and basics along the way — without mercy or remorse.
When it comes to US policy and politics, I often cry for what I know Black and brown children have to endure. With Lil Nas X, I rejoice for what Black and brown children can celebrate, especially within themselves.
The night before the release of “Industry Baby,” Lil Nas X posted an iPhone note he wrote to his younger, 20-year-old self: “I need you to realize that you have the opportunity to be the person that you needed growing up,” he said. “And I need you to remember that the only person who has to believe in YOU is YOU.”
Lil Nas X is, for many reasons, the person I needed growing up. And he’s helping me actualize that person for myself. This is how you empower. This is how you uplift. This is how you heal the world.
In just two years of dominating the public sphere, there’s already so much to unpack when it comes to Lil Nas X and his joyful, ambitious, and thoughtful demonstration of liberation.
I don’t know about you, but I’m rooting for Lil Nas X. I’m rooting for him because I’m rooting for you. Because I’m rooting for us. | https://medium.com/@kendraboz/lil-nas-xs-liberation-is-yours-cb368f2478fb | ['Kendra Bozarth'] | 2021-07-28 16:10:03.451000+00:00 | ['Gen Z', 'Justice', 'Prison Reform', 'Liberation', 'Lil Nas X'] |
What’s Going On At Local Hack Day: Build? | Hi friends,
We are shaking things up a bit for Local Hack Day: Build and wanted to make sure we can answer your questions before you need to ask.
What is Local Hack Day: Build?
Local Hack Day: Build is a week-long celebration of creating hacks both big and small. Choose between daily and week-long challenges that vary in difficulty, so whether this is your first time coding or you’re a seasoned expert, Build has something for you. The more challenges you conquer, the more points you’ll earn. Tune in each day to check out the leaderboard and show off all that you’ve built.
You can sign up right now!
What are these Challenges?
Local Hack Day: Build will run from Sunday, January 10th to Monday, January 18th. During this time, you can expect challenges for all skill levels. These challenges can be completed on your own time, and new ones will be released each day via email and on the live site! Once the daily challenges are announced, you’ll have 24 hours to complete and submit them in order to earn those points on the leaderboard.
If the daily challenges aren’t quite your speed, there will also be plenty of week-long challenges you can complete at any time. These will range from quick technical challenges to tasks you can complete with your guildmates, both beginner-friendly and technically advanced so there is something for everyone.
How do I earn points and swag?
Earn points for yourself and your Guild by completing our challenges throughout Local Hack Day: Build. Points are rewarded based on both your participation and completion of challenges throughout the week of Local Hack Day: Build. These range from daily challenges to week-long challenges which can be as simple as posting on your social media or as advanced as completing a workshop and building a hack.
We have some seriously cool swag up our sleeves for Local Hack Day: Build and we’ve made it simpler than ever for you to earn it. It all starts with checking in to events. Whether it’s a workshop or just the day of the event, you can earn tons of stickers to deck out your laptop, postcards, and more.
Everyone who checks in and completes a single challenge will receive:
An MLH Sticker
An Ellie Season Sticker
A Local Hack Day: Build Hexagon Sticker
A Thank You Postcard
If you check in each day, you will receive:
What is a Guild? How can I be a part of it?
One of the best parts of our community is that it allows people to meet and make connections with others, regardless of where you live. Guilds are smaller communities within Local Hack Day. Whether you come in with a Guild or not, you won’t be hacking alone. Those who don’t already have a Guild will be assigned to a randomly generated one where you can meet hackers from around the world and complete challenges together.
I want to form a Guild. What does that entail?
One of our favorite parts of Local Hack Day is the Guild system. Form one of your own to hack alongside your friends and fight for a spot on the leaderboard. Who wouldn’t want bragging rights for having one of the most active guilds within the MLH community?! Every time you complete a challenge during the week of Local Hack Day: Build, you’ll earn points for your Guild. There’s strength in numbers so it’s important to spread the word and we are here to help by providing you with pre-made marketing templates and this blog post with tips on marketing (#4 specifically). Use these templates to share the excitement with your club, friends, and local hackers! The more members you have, the more points you’ll get and the faster you’ll climb your way up the leaderboard.
Starting a Guild is as easy as filling out a form. Make sure to get yours registered before it’s too late!
If you have any further questions, we are happy to answer them. Please email [email protected] and expect a response in 2–3 business days. | https://stories.mlh.io/whats-going-on-at-local-hack-day-build-79511d80030d | ['Emily Akers'] | 2020-12-16 21:09:58.363000+00:00 | ['Computer Science', 'Local Hack Day', 'Major League Hacking', 'Hackathons', 'Coding'] |
Best Gallery Or Museum In West Virginia: Parkersburg Art Center / 2020 American Art Awards | The five gallery areas can be used singly or in tandem, offering a 12-month schedule of national and international traveling exhibits, as well as regional solo, group and student exhibitions. The Art Center is the host gallery for annual and biennial juried exhibitions by state arts organizations including the West Virginia Watercolor Society (WVWS) and West Virginia Allied Artists. The West Virginia Art Educators Association (WVAEA) holds its annual convocation and best-of-the-state K-12 exhibition at the Art Center. “The River,” a juried show for professional artists in Ohio and West Virginia, has its home base in Parkersburg at the Art Center.
Eight dedicated classrooms include two state-of-the-art clay zones as well as “Melissa’s Garden,” an innovative outdoor Learn/Play space for children. Classes and workshops run year-round for all ages, beginning with toddlers. PAC’s pre-school program, “ArtStart,” is nationally recognized for excellence, and offers a developmentally-appropriate, arts-based curriculum with the goal of enhancing the students’ creative, social, and intellectual development. Summer “Camp Creativity” brings ten weeks of age-appropriate art training and fun for young people aged from 4 to teen. Educational programs for home-schooled students and individuals with physical and/or developmental disabilities are available.
The Art Center is very much a part of the Mid-Ohio Valley community, and is in constant use as a select venue for wedding receptions, corporate annual meetings and social gatherings of all sizes. PAC is one of the originating partners of ArtOberfest, an annual street fair with live music, sales booths for artists, chalk artists and locally produced food and craft beers. They also play host to the annual “Black Saturday Artists’ Market”, free community “Arty Parties” during the winter months and a wonderful masquerade party in October.
The Parkersburg Art Center (PAC) is a nonprofit, non-government entity, and is supported with financial assistance from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, the National Endowment for the Arts (with approval from the WV Commission on the Arts) and also by the Wood County WV Commission, memberships, sponsorships, business and private contributions.
The Parkersburg Art Center is located at 725 Market Street in downtown Parkersburg at the corner of Market and Eighth Streets.
Hours are 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Cost is $2 for non-members but always free for Art Center members and children 12 and under. Wednesdays are free days.
Find out more about the Art Center on Facebook or their website www.parkersburgartcenter.org.
AWARD VIDEO OF PAC HERE:
www.AmericanArtAwards.com annually awards 25 museums and galleries in spring, and with their critique in autumn, awards 300 artists (painters, photographers, sculptors and digital artists).
SEE ALL 25 BEST GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS HERE: https://www.americanartawards.com/the-25-best-galleries-museums-2020/ | https://medium.com/@thombierd/best-gallery-or-museum-in-west-virginia-parkersburg-art-center-2020-american-art-awards-73ceaa82eeb5 | ['Thom Bierdz'] | 2020-06-15 21:21:47.117000+00:00 | ['Artist', 'Awards', 'Best', 'Museums', 'Art'] |
Stock Ticker Confusion: What are Words? | If you’d invested $100 into Zoom Technologies Inc. (ZOOM) stock on March 21, 2019, you’d now, roughly one month later, be around $45,000 richer. Which sounds too good to be true, is, while very true, a great example of one of my favorite stock market phenomena.
Chances are that you have heard about the recent IPO of Zoom, the California-based video conferencing platform, which went public on April 18 and currently has a market cap of roughly $16 billion. The thing is: Zoom Video Communications Inc., the video conferencing platform, does not trade under the ticker ZOOM but under ZM. Zoom Technologies Inc. (ZOOM) and Zoom Video Communications Inc. (ZM) are not one and the same company. Zoom Technologies Inc. is a Beijing-based producer of smartphone spare parts and traded at $0.005 over the counter last month and did not post revenues since 2011. The other Zoom just listed last week and thus didn’t trade at all last month.
Obviously, people were misled by the similar names of the two companies (and the misleading stock symbols). However, while you should never underestimate what people are capable of (including attempting to buy public shares of private companies), this is most likely due to news-scanning trading algorithms and possibly a handful of smart human investors betting on exactly this inefficiency. The hilarious thing about this is — if you had actually bought a bunch of ZOOM shares last month, believing it to be ZM, you would have made a great return, given you closed your position on time.
Nevertheless, this is by far not the first time this is happening. The phenomenon of the co-movement of stocks with similar tickers was already analyzed by Michael S. Rashes’ in his 2002 publication in the Journal of Finance with the great title: “Massively Confused Investors Making Conspicuously Ignorant Choices”. Here, Rashes looked at the price movements of MCI Communications (MCIC), once one of the largest telecommunications firms, and MassMutual Corporate Investors (MCI), a closed-end mutual fund. Rashes:
“In spite of the fact that MCI and MCIC have little to do with each other, there has been an unusual amount of comovement between their stock prices, particularly within the period during which MCIC was engaged in merger negotiations. In addition to return correlation, the stocks have experienced an extreme degree of correlation with respect to their volume patterns and volatility levels”.
A similar thing happened in 2013 when Twitter went public and people mistook its stock with that of Tweeter, a Boston-based electronics company that had filed for bankruptcy and was liquidated five years prior. Another time this occurred was when Snap Inc., the parent of social media platform Snapchat, filed its prospectus for its upcoming IPO in 2017, thus its shares were not trading at the time. This, however, did not stop investors from sending up the stock of Snap Interactive, a totally unrelated company up by 122%. However, investor confusion does not always send stock prices up. In 1997, Castle Convertible Fund, another closed-end mutual fund, that trades under the ticker CVF had to learn this the hard way. To the fund management’s surprise, CVF’s stock suddenly went down by 32 percent without any proper reason. Apparently, a few confused investors had caused a selloff, as they mistook the company for the Czech Value Fund, which was abbreviated as CVF in a Financial Times article published that day and faced tremendous losses.
A question that remains is what to do in this situation as a regulator or as a company. This is not always clear. When his stock surged, Alex Harrington, CEO of Snap Interactive commented:
“An investor who does even the slightest bit of due diligence should recognize we are a different company. I have no obligation to set the record straight”.
When Tweeters stock shot up, regulators halted the trading of its shares — also because the company was de facto bankrupt, which made this move justifiable. This is an important fact, because what if investors genuinely loved Snap Interactive and the stock move was uncorrelated to Snap Inc’s upcoming IPO. Halting trading in that scenario would’ve been a strong interference with market mechanisms. Nevertheless, usually, it’s pretty clear what’s driving such a stock move, as in the ZM/ZOOM case. And usually, companies would realize that and swiftly issue a press release letting people know that their company might not be the one investors expect it to be.
Now, is this is a serious issue? Not really. First of all, most people and/or algorithms are smart enough to buy the right stock. Also, the actual trading volumes are not as big as that they would have an impact. Yet, it shows that even in very automated environments, a margin of error still exists. All in all, its a minor inefficient irregularity — yet still an interesting one. | https://medium.com/@bpgargerle/stock-ticker-confusion-what-are-words-61dacc0385bd | [] | 2019-04-28 00:02:54.504000+00:00 | ['Nasdaq', 'Zoom', 'Stock Market', 'IPO'] |
I find delightfully interesting that in each of those cases proponents of self-defined Liberal… | I find delightfully interesting that in each of those cases proponents of self-defined Liberal Rationality lose themselves in dark waters as soon as numbers come into play. An instructive example: in every swing state where battle for White House reached hills worth to die on Joe Biden overperformed Democrat Senate candidates. In other words, he claimed far more more votes than did Democrat Senate candidate, whereas Donald Trump received only slightly more votes than Republican Senate candidates. It seems that a large number of Democrat supporters had voted for Biden while choosing to lazily ignore his comrades. However, Pew Research Center survey reported that in those same states “overwhelming shares of voters” before elections planned to support “the same-party candidate for Senate.” Stranger things indeed. | https://medium.com/@loadeddice/i-find-delightfully-interesting-that-in-each-of-those-cases-proponents-of-self-defined-liberal-b5d3b6a87c25 | ['Loaded Dice'] | 2020-12-25 09:07:04.031000+00:00 | ['Joe Biden', 'Donald Trump', 'USA', 'Election 2020', 'Fraud'] |
Periodopausal | Photo by Josefin on Unsplash
When my daughter got her period a few years ago she introduced me to an app called Clue. It tracks your period. You input your symptoms (happy, headache, ovulation, tender breasts), your mood (happy, sensitive, sad, PMS), and your flow (light, medium, heavy, spotting). The majority of my friends report by the hundreds of days when their last period was. The word on the street is that, once you don’t get your period for a full year you are officially in menopause.
I still get my period every month but I’ve noticed my period has changed drastically in the last several months and so I’ve re-engaged with my Clue App to see if I can get a handle on what’s coming. This past month my period lasted for thirteen days. I only had one or two heavy days and the rest were just spotting. Annoying and unpredictable spotting. So I’m not in menopause yet, but I am definitely perimenopausal or periodopausal as I have started to think about it.
I get irritated with the constant drip system that has become my body. I hear myself complaining to my family, “Oh my GOOOD. I still have my period!” It must get old, hearing crazy Laura go on again about how many days it’s been. I know I’m not unique or special. I am totally aware of the fact that, at age 51, I am in good company with lots of other women who experience a similar period surprise party every month, never knowing exactly what to expect.
There is a part of me that feels grateful to still get my period. I get to share the period supply closet with my daughter and it makes me feel like I’m still kind of young. My period is familiar. I’ve been experiencing it every month for over thirty-five years. The other day at dinner my daughter, complaining of her own period woes said, “Mom, if I live to age 95 like GeeGee if you calculate all the days of my periods, it comes to twelve years. I will have bled for twelve whole years of my life.” That’s a lot of bleeding.
My period has not always been thirteen days. I have a feeling that it will slowly start to creep back down until it disappears entirely. So what’s all this complaining about? What’s the lesson? I’m attached to my period. I am holding on tight to this natural process that I’ve experienced for the majority of my life. While it comes out as a complaint, when I look back and think about it, I can detect excitement and satisfaction, “I still HAVE it!” vs “I still have it!”
When my daughter got her period I wrote her a letter. I bought her eight different boxes of pads and panty liners. I bought her special padded period panties and I cried as I told her how much I loved her and always would. Getting the period is a big deal. And not getting it is a big deal too.
There should be a ritual for this moment. It should be a ritual moment acknowledging these many years of periods in our lives. It should be special, it should be something that feels like saying hello and goodbye at the same time. Maybe we write ourselves a letter or have a big bonfire burning all of our old undies. Maybe we jump in a frigid body of water in the middle of winter or go on a long hike and howl at the top of the mountain. It will be different for each of us, but I think we should each do something to honor this milestone. | https://medium.com/the-forgotten-generation/periodopausal-837460d16738 | ['Laura Culberg'] | 2020-12-27 14:02:22.585000+00:00 | ['Ritual', 'Gen X', 'Menopause', 'Menstruation', 'Aging'] |
Vuetify — Data Tables. Vuetify is a popular UI framework for… | Photo by Andrew Barrowman on Unsplash
Vuetify is a popular UI framework for Vue apps.
In this article, we’ll look at how to work with the Vuetify framework.
Data Tables
The v-data-table component is used to display tabular data.
It includes features like sorting, searching, pagination, editing, and row selection.
For example, we can write:
<template>
<v-data-table
v-model="selected"
:headers="headers"
:items="desserts"
:single-select="singleSelect"
item-key="name"
show-select
class="elevation-1"
>
<template v-slot:top>
<v-subheader>Dessert</v-subheader>
</template>
</v-data-table>
</template>
<script>
export default {
name: "HelloWorld",
data: () => ({
singleSelect: false,
selected: [],
headers: [
{
text: "Dessert (100g serving)",
align: "start",
sortable: false,
value: "name",
},
{ text: "Calories", value: "calories" },
{ text: "Fat (g)", value: "fat" },
],
desserts: [
{
name: "Frozen Yogurt",
calories: 159,
fat: 6.0,
},
{
name: "Ice cream sandwich",
calories: 237,
fat: 9.0,
},
{
name: "Eclair",
calories: 262,
fat: 16.0,
},
],
}),
};
</script>
We have the v-data-table component to add our table.
The v-model has the selected rows.
items have the items to display.
single-select lets us toggle single select.
The headers prop have the headers.
The value is an array with some objects.
The text property has the column heading text.
align has the text alignment.
sortable lets us set whether it’s sortable or not.
value has the property name of the entry to display.
Pagination is automatically included.
Grouped Rows
We can group different rows together with the group-by and group-desc props.
For example, we can write:
<template>
<v-data-table
v-model="selected"
:headers="headers"
:items="desserts"
:single-select="singleSelect"
item-key="name"
show-group-by
group-by="category"
class="elevation-1"
>
<template v-slot:top>
<v-subheader>Dessert</v-subheader>
</template>
</v-data-table>
</template>
<script>
export default {
name: "HelloWorld",
data: () => ({
headers: [
{
text: "Dessert (100g serving)",
align: "start",
value: "name",
groupable: false,
},
{ text: "Category", value: "category", align: "right" },
{ text: "Dairy", value: "dairy", align: "right" },
],
desserts: [
{
name: "Frozen Yogurt",
category: "Ice cream",
dairy: "Yes",
},
{
name: "Ice cream sandwich",
category: "Ice cream",
dairy: "Yes",
},
{
name: "Eclair",
category: "Cookie",
dairy: "Yes",
},
],
}),
};
</script>
We have the v-data-table component to display items in a group.
The group-by prop takes the string with the property key to group by.
The show-group-by prop lets us add the group by button to let us group by the properties.
Sort on Multiple Columns
We can sort a table by multiple columns.
For example, we can write:
<template>
<v-data-table
:headers="headers"
:items="desserts"
:sort-by="['calories', 'fat']"
:sort-desc="[false, true]"
multi-sort
class="elevation-1"
></v-data-table>
</template>
<script>
export default {
name: "HelloWorld",
data: () => ({
headers: [
{
text: "Dessert (100g serving)",
align: "start",
sortable: false,
value: "name",
},
{ text: "Calories", value: "calories" },
{ text: "Fat (g)", value: "fat" },
],
desserts: [
{
name: "Frozen Yogurt",
calories: 200,
fat: 6.0,
},
{
name: "Ice cream sandwich",
calories: 200,
fat: 9.0,
},
{
name: "Eclair",
calories: 300,
fat: 16.0,
},
],
}),
};
</script>
We added the sort-by prop with an array of the property names to sort by.
sort-desc lets us set whether to sort the column in the position in sort-by in descending order or not.
Conclusion
We can add tables that can be sorted and grouped with Vuetify.
Enjoyed this article? If so, get more similar content by subscribing to our YouTube channel! | https://medium.com/javascript-in-plain-english/vuetify-data-tables-416294cadefe | ['John Au-Yeung'] | 2021-01-02 18:52:02.657000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Software Development', 'Programming', 'Technology', 'Web Development'] |
E-Sports - The Hype is Real. | E-Sports - The Hype is Real.
League of Legends has dominated the online gaming market since approximately 2012. During that time, League of Legends had about 12 million people a day, and around 32 million unique players every month. 4 years later, League of Legends is still growing, and currently has over 70 million players a month. This record had never been achieved before, not even by other super popular games like World of Warcrafts, DoTa or Starcraft.
A lot of people still argue that E-Sports are not real sports, and they’d tell you clicking on your mouse and tapping on your keyboard does not count as a sport! While it’s true that gaming is hardly athletic, it is not as easy as some people think it is. It takes extreme dedication, practice and talent to be on top. It doesn’t even matter if League of Legends is considered a real sport or not, its viewership tops the audience of many traditional sports. E-sports is more successful than many sports around the world.
Riot Games, creator of League of Legends, has been devoting a lot of resources on developing the E-Sports scene, and one of the things it does is to host annual League of Legends World Championship Series. The world championship title is the highest recognition a pro League player can achieve. Riot Games hosts World Series in different regions every year, and it took place in different nations in Europe last year. This year, it is back to the USA, and will be played in 4 different cities, starting from San Francisco, Chicago, New York and conclude in the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Riot Games has created the hashtag #Worlds on Twitter for fans to chat about what they think about the World Series, and it’s a trending hot topic on Twitter. Let’s use the Stratifyd Signals data analytics platform to take a look at how #Worlds is taking over Twitter by storm.
Signals extracted and analyzed approximately 10,000 comments from Twitter
From the feedback and contributor ratio, it is easy to see that most commenters are repeat commenters.
We’ll start from Geo Hotspots.
As mentioned earlier, League of Legends is popular in many countries around the globe, and it has teams from Europe, North America, South Korea, Taiwan, Brasil an Russia participating, which explains why the Geo Hotspots are literally everywhere on the map. We do see the most comments coming from North America, but it doesn't mean NA is the biggest market for League of Legends, we need to take into consideration that most Chinese fans don't use Twitter as much, and China is considered to have the most viewers.
When we examine the Buzzword section, we can basically understand the story people are discussing about. Albus Nox Luna, the wildcard team from Russia, who NOBODY expected anything from, has become the first wildcard team to ever advance to the quarter finals. It's the hottest topic in League of Legends worlds and the number 1 trending topic on Reddit.com.
If you shift your focus to top contributors, you can see that there are channels dedicated to discuss League of Legends and many other loyal fans that participate in the discussion regularly. If you look closely, you’ll discover that most active commenters are male, which makes sense since League of Legends is a male dominant game so far.
Focusing attention on the Temporal Trends, notice that comments peaked at 11:20 PM on Oct 6th, when Albus Nox Luna secured their spot in the quarter finals by defeating the ROX Tigers, the team who is the biggest favorite to win the whole tournament. This is a Cinderella story, and apparently everyone loves the underdog. Many fans call it the biggest upset in League of Legends history, picture Davis versus Goliath, yeah, the giant fell.
Many traditional sports are facing a problem of losing fans, or having difficulty of getting fans to attend live events. League of Legends on the other hand, encounters a different challenge, which is how to break the 5 year curse of online games. A lot of online games can attract large amounts of players in the beginning, but the enthusiasm usually starts to die out after 3 to 5 years, and get replaced by other newer, cooler games. How to make sure League of Legends stays visually updated and mechanically competitive is one of the main concerns for Riot Games now. Other than the game play aspect, it is also important to make sure players are happy with their gaming experience and perceive this game positively.
In order to understand and improve player experience, Riot Games sends out questionnaires before every new season begins, asking what the fans would want to see. As an avid League of Legends player, I have gotten and responded to these surveys. Riot Games has stated that they have a lot of player feedback data but it will take time to go through everything and address the issues players are not satisfied with. This here is an obstacle many companies encounter. They have the data, they just don’t have the time or tool to analyze it. If this happens to be the difficulty your business faces, the answer is a data analytics tool that’s fast, powerful and easy to use, like Signals.
Are you interested in using Signals on analyzing large volumes of structured and unstructured data? Visit our website and sign up for your free trial today! We’d love to help you weed through data and get the insights you need. | https://medium.com/@mira.tseng/e-sports-the-hype-is-real-d6eb66132951 | ['Mirabelle Tseng'] | 2016-10-14 18:58:12.647000+00:00 | ['Esports', 'Gaming', 'Customer Experience', 'Big Data', 'Social Media'] |
Sarcasm and Blogging | What can I do to fill what would otherwise be blank space in a blog no one asked me to start? More importantly, can I really grab people’s attention and have them read all the way to the end? Can I please feel validated for writing about my life even though it would keep going on with no damage if I didn’t have a blog?
If you want to be able to do all of this — and more (…maybe)! most people, millennials especially, are at risk of forgetting that they have a front-door — keep reading for my know-it-all guide (free of charge because YOU never asked for it!) on grabbing people’s attention with BS* titles and content we all occasionally question about how much we needed to read it!
Let me start us off with a picture of a pot-plant:
Isn’t he (she? xie?) adorable?
And right there, we have a thousand words and even less of that dreaded blank space.
But we all know the famous saying “too many chefs spoil the broth” (attributed to Marie Antoinette right before she let people eat brioche), so in this educational post we are also going to highlight the importance of being concise and making sure readers aren’t able to get confused.
*Blogging Sarcasm
That, my readers and fellow bloggers, is how we can accomplish getting people to read all the way to the end of a post; and if they don’t, we won’t know it! | https://medium.com/@psyghostis/sarcasm-and-blogging-e4b7e2f81d78 | [] | 2020-12-21 14:38:35.457000+00:00 | ['Humour', 'Informative', 'Blogging'] |
Stop Waiting for Someone to Change | Learn your value and find inner strength
Another day and everything’s the same. The person you want to be different carries on as always, putting you down, treating you badly, or cheating on you.
Today will be different you say. “I’ll be kinder, more patient, have a better sense of humor and I won’t get upset.”
Try as you might, though, to be forgiving, extra loving, and understanding, and the parent who makes you feel like nothing, the spouse who bullies you, or the friend who speaks words that cut you like a knife affects you the way they do typically.
“I’ll wait. I’ll heal the pain from childhood that makes my partner angry or disrespectful.” “I’ll give the pal who leaves me out and stabs me in the back one more chance, and then another.” “I’ll be so resilient nothing will hurt me.”
Such thoughts enter your mind, and for a second, they soothe you. “It will be all right this time” becomes your mantra and “I can cope.”
Do Leopards…
People can change, but, and there are so many buts, the undeniable truth — the real question you must ask — isn’t whether the sibling who tells lies about you, the tyrannical boss who berates you, or the cousin who meddles and makes your life difficult will change. It’s about you.
Why are you stuck? Why do you go through the painful mill incessantly? Are you following a pattern of self-destruction? Why haven’t you demanded better treatment or left an impossible situation?
And the questions continue
Why have you allowed someone to walk over you? What stops you making an impact to procure better treatment or saying enough is enough?
What does your reaction to poor treatment say about you?
Does it remind you how you already feel? Is it so familiar you’ve grown used to it and can’t see a way out? Are you reliant on the person who upsets you and scared to alienate them?
You can’t shine when you allow people to dull your best qualities to make way for theirs. They want all the attention and need you to make yourself small so they appear larger. Get it?
They’ve got problems, and despite being bullies are special too. They have reasons for their actions, but it’s not up to you to be dragged along a painful path with them and let them use you.
A leopard can change, but you can’t make them
People can change, but nobody can force them. Life will sculpt them and they might decide to alter, but it’s not your job — or within your power — to enforce their transformation.
So, and I know it’s painful to hear, we are back to you. You’re the only person on Earth you are in charge of and can change. As such, you’re responsible for taking care of yourself and can’t afford to wait for anyone else to do it for you.
Life’s lessons often sting like hell. They plunge you into deep stormy water and say “let’s see if you can swim.” The more storms you meet, though, and ride out successfully, the easier it becomes to float.
Staying afloat, however — successfully, at least — isn’t about learning to hang on in there while the waves smash against your skull. It’s about finding out who you are and recognizing your value.
You only let people mistreat you consistently if you don’t feel worthwhile. Their negative behavior (although absolutely their fault, not yours) shows what you will put up with according to how important or insignificant you imagine you are.
Rise up
Challenges in which people behave badly toward you beg you to rise. They require you learn your value and find inner strength. Once you note your significance, courage grows and you react powerfully. Not with aggression, but with the strength that’s been inside you all along.
At such a time, unkind words bounce off you because you understand they don’t resemble the truth. You recognize you need not put up with bullying behavior and reach out for help or change your course alone.
You might choose to stop seeing so-called friends, or relatives, who refuse to treat you with love. There’s no need to get angry or hate them — that’s counterproductive — but you can show them something new and helpful. Stand up for yourself and they will behave differently (because they want to) or back off.
It’s not my place to advise anyone what to say or whether to remain attached to someone who is a negative influence on them, but it’s okay for me to say rise. Dig deep, recognize your value, feed a sense of worthiness with powerful self-talk, and shine. | https://medium.com/the-bolt-hole/stop-waiting-for-someone-to-change-e3d724420ab4 | ['Bridget Webber'] | 2020-09-25 14:42:10.268000+00:00 | ['Self Esteem', 'Relationships', 'Personal Development', 'Relationship Advice', 'Self Improvement'] |
The one word that can end all wars is LOVE. But it can’t just be a word. It must be an ACT. | The one word that can end all wars is LOVE. But it can’t just be a word. It must be an ACT.
It’s funny that you used the words “comedic explanation” because I was laughing as I was reading the paragraph just before seeing these two words. When you began your next paragraph, I’m like: “How did he I was laughing?” LOL.
But your use of the other word “superpower”? That’s not a joke.
Why is that people have no problem understanding that a superhero with superpowers is fiction? But they insist on believing that being a superpower is real.
A SUPERPOWER IS NOT REAL! It’s a figment of man’s imagination. Just like superheroes.
* * *
Dear Leaders: Look at the facts.
There were and are nations who could and can boast that they have the largest military force IN THE WORLD! But does that stop other countries from looking at them from a distance and thinking: ‘Eh! They must have a weak spot somewhere.’
That’s why when a large military force tries to approach the country with a smaller military force, the country with the smaller force starts strategizing.
That’s why there’s such a thing as a WAR ROOM!! Those military geniuses get together and say “You not even gonna bully US!! How many soldiers we got? How much weaponry? Where are our allies? Etc. Etc. Etc. Justification? It’s not war. It’s self-defense. On the ‘outside’ it just looks like war.”
Don't you see Mr. or Ms. Leader with the Goliath-complex? Trust me on this.
If you really were a real superpower, EVERYBODY WOULD ALREADY KNOW!!
There would be NO WAR because everybody would be too scared to fight YOU!
Really! | https://medium.com/express-yourself/the-one-word-that-can-end-all-wars-is-love-but-it-cant-just-be-a-word-it-must-be-an-act-e06df96a3ef | ['Treathyl Fox'] | 2020-06-03 17:53:53.768000+00:00 | ['Claps On Medium', 'Love', 'Peace', 'War'] |
Bengi and Duke leave SK Telecom T1 — Faker remains | Bengi and Duke leave SK Telecom T1 — Faker remains
Little more than a month after winning the world championship, the Korean roster sees two players depart. Sam Nordmark Nov 29, 2016·2 min read
Photo via Riot Games/Flickr
The roster that won the 2016 League of Legends world championship has broken up.
Toplaner Lee “Duke” Ho-seong, or its veteran jungler Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong in 2017 have left SK Telecom T1. The announcement comes roughly one month after the squad took home the 2016 League world championship, marking the third world championship title for SK Telecom T1 in four years.
Despite these rather substantial changes to the roster, the South Korean team also made it clear that the majority of the team would still continue playing under the SK Telecom T1 banner. This includes League’s all-time greatest player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, whose new offer from the organization was described as “unprecedented” by South Korean sports site Naver Sports.
Faker and Bengi in particular have competed on the same roster since early 2013 and won the world championship the very same year. While Bengi’s form has been questioned in the years since SK Telecom T1’s first triumph, which is in steep contrast to Faker who has consistently been contending for the title of world’s best player, the jungler is still a fan-favorite.
The implications of this move may prove to be one of the defining moments of competitive League in 2017. Former KT Rolster toplaner Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho may be taking Duke’s former spot in SK Telecom T1. KT Rolster’s recent addition of former ROX Tigers star toplaner Song “Smeb” Kyeong-ho and former EDward Gaming midlaner Heo “PawN” Won-seok would see the creation of two super teams in Korea. | https://medium.com/@S_Nordmark/bengi-and-duke-leave-sk-telecom-t1-faker-remains-4d49ec77eeff | ['Sam Nordmark'] | 2016-11-29 14:06:40.005000+00:00 | ['Esports', 'League of Legends'] |
10 new features for Figma that would solve lots of headaches | 1. Round-trip component editing.
There’s a “Go To Master Component” option when you need to edit a component from the frame you’re on. What about a way to return to the design you were initially working on? I spend 10% of my time zooming around my pages to find the right frame I was working on. “Return to design” would be a phenomenal button and/or keyboard shortcut. Also a solid metaphor for these 9 other feature requests.
2. Show me where my components live.
If you’re making a design system, sometimes you use components, other times you make things that you never end up using. Show us where components are used in a project file (or even across files). Either list the layers or reveal a clickable overlay where these components are. Designers who have systems can then remove components they’re not using. I could see someone spending hours trying to figure out if Icon XYZ is actually being used somewhere.
3. Remove all prototype links.
Currently, users have to click on each link and remove them one by one. It’s frustrating. How about a “Remove All” button for that frame? Easy enough.
4. Drag & drop image uploading into a mask.
This would save a lot of headaches clicking to edit image layers and searching for files over and over. You can option + command + drag components onto existing ones to replace them. Images would be great too, because profile photos don’t come in one flavor!
5. A new background layer type.
Fixed and Scrolls are already game-changers for building working prototypes. What about a Background type? Too often there are things like search bars that scroll on top of images or map backgrounds. Yes, Overflow Behaviors solve this, but always seem to be slow/buggy when previewing a prototype on mobile or desktop. Backgrounds need some love too.
6. Mobile app.
I have the app running next to my desktop app all the time. What about some updates to make it more robust, faster, and work on tablets? Ooh—one more thing: Saving Prototypes to the device would be killer for user testing.
7. Unsplash photo integration.
They have an API, and it would help a ton of designers insert great photography into their designs. Search + Insert/Drag photos would be simple enough to add via the toolbar.
8. Current users’ ring colors.
Red, yellow, green, purple and orange? They all indicate the same status? Really? How about green or better yet, a little green dot if someone is actively viewing the file. That’s universally understood. Also, orange is not a good default background color for users. Black & white is a solid choice. AAA accessibility contrast ratio for little things like these go a long way.
9. Share button.
I’m nitpicking, but light blue? I understand you need to call it out, but a white background would be just fine. When you look at the toolbar, blue makes more sense as a “you’ve selected this option” highlight color. Most share buttons on desktop UI tend to be in the upper right anyways—no need for any more baby blue when we’re looking at designs for over 8 hours/day.
10. Prototype linking between pages.
Designers tend to keep things organized across pages. Linking our prototype screens across pages would be phenomenal. This would be awesome for teams who have delegated design work for a single product into segmented tasks like homepage versus settings. The Power Rangers could combine their powers, Figma, be our Megazord. | https://uxdesign.cc/10-new-features-for-figma-that-would-solve-lots-of-headaches-58f9c5f5f049 | ['Julian Jensen'] | 2019-01-03 00:38:57.913000+00:00 | ['Figma', 'UI', 'Product Design', 'Prototyping', 'UX'] |
Perdenin Diğer Tarafı | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/t%C3%BCrkiye/perdenin-di%C4%9Fer-taraf%C4%B1-b6ac56a7e920 | ['Can Özcan'] | 2020-12-25 14:16:00.827000+00:00 | ['Perde', 'Türkçe', 'Türkçe Yayın', 'Nefes'] |
What happened when my side project suddenly went viral? | My project botmake.io usually had around 1000 daily visitors with quite a stable graph for a long time. It was running on a $10/month DigitalOcean server (2GB memory and 1 CPU) was quite enough for that traffic. The stack of the project is LEMP and it is built with Laravel.
One day I got an email alert notification my website is down 😱. I quickly logged into the server and restarted the PHP-fpm (this always works in panic situations) and the website was up again. Then I quickly checked Analytics if this is happening due to high traffic and yes I saw around 200 people in real-time and the server already was operating on the limits in terms of CPU and memory.
The first thing that came to my mind was to increase the capacity of the server I switched to a $20/mo server (2 CPU and 4GB memory) and was thinking it will be enough to solve the problem. Yes, it helped a bit but traffic also continued increasing and I started to see around 400 people. It was time to increase some limits in configurations as PHP-fpm children, max MySQL connections, etc. After these changes server was able to manage more people but it was going down sometimes. On that night I went to sleep when traffic was around 500 real-time visitors. I couldn’t properly sleep because was worrying about the server. And when I checked Analytics in the middle of the night from my phone I saw 800 real-time users. I wanted to wake up and do something however then laziness won 😅 and I decided to handle in the morning.
The peak moment of the traffic
The next day I decided to get some help from my experienced DevOps Engineer friend Osman, he is working in a game company and everything is about performance in game companies, he has a ton of experience with scaling applications. He suggested some PHP-fpm configuration changes like changing process manager type to static and assign a static number of children (around 100) on startup to decrease CPU usage. And these changes worked quite well for a short time until traffic started to increase again.
I couldn’t find the screenshot when it was 1000 :(
The website started to get around 900 visitors and there were a lot of hiccups. Sometimes because MySql connections weren’t enough and sometimes because PHP-fpm children weren’t enough. The next step was to increase capacity and change configurations for both. After increasing the max allowed number of connections and children this time system started to consume more memory than available. My first reaction was to increase server capacity again. This time I upgraded the server to $40/mo (4 CPU & 8GB Ram) and it was quite a strong machine this time. But even after this upgrade traffic continued to grow and I started to see 1000 real-time visitors.
In parallel to configuration changes I already started doing code optimizations. I added more Redis caching to decrease stress on the database and also made some UX changes to prevent people from sending messages to bots until the bot responded to the previous query. All these changes had some positive effects but weren’t enough as traffic also was increasing.
Then Osman installed some tools on the machine to start sending data to Grafana and we started to see all necessary data in one place and that was helping us a lot. I have never used Grafana before, a really cool tool. There was a single DB query that was not optimized well and waiting a lot and consuming a lot of memory and CPU. It was because of one missing index on the table. After we identified the problem fix just took me 5 minutes to code. After this change memory and CPU usage dramatically decreased.
MySQL indexes are extremely important, learn them very well as a developer.
Then I continued in the same way and found some other queries which could be improved with some indexes. After adding all these necessary indexes to my tables. My application started to be super fast than it has been ever before.
Also special thanks to Tanaydın who taught me a lot about MySQL optimization, he also jumped on Zoom call and helped me to identify one of the complex queries. We solved the last problem and MySQL started to perform really well, in parallel to it all other resource consumptions decreased to the ideal levels.
CPU is operating quite efficiently now. Max peak is 25%
What was the reason for the sudden increase in traffic? 📈
You are probably wondering what was the reason for this sudden increase in traffic to the website. Since botmake.io is the tool for creating chatbots 🤖 and these chatbots always have the potential to go viral. This is what happened. Someone from Spanish-speaking countries created an anime bot and it went viral, people really liked it and started to create their own bots and share their bots on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Bots on the website are listed by popularity and this is the current best bots on the website. Almost all of the anime characters bots. To be honest I have no idea why these characters are so popular.
Top 10 visitor countries.
The funny part is my website is not even in Spanish, it is in English. But users can create their bot independent from language and browser auto-translate features are improved a lot, so language is not the barrier for websites anymore.
How did I use this opportunity to monetize the traffic? 💰
Since most of the traffic was teenagers, I understood it is not going to help my premium package sales and they won’t be able to afford it. Normally it was never in my plans to put advertisements on the website but it was the best option to monetize the teenager traffic. I put some Adsense ads on the website and it started to make some cash. I also sold 2–3 premium packages in that period.
Lessons learned 🎓
Some queries which I forgot to optimize were some features that I added later and I was focused more on functionality and forgot to optimize. When the amount of traffic and data on the database was low it is not possible to notice the slowness but you will notice it at some point. So avoid technical depth while being excited about the new cool features. Always be sure you added correct MySQL indexes. | https://medium.com/@faridmovsumov/what-happened-when-my-side-project-suddenly-went-viral-58cbbedc0663 | ['Farid Movsumov'] | 2020-11-17 21:06:52.183000+00:00 | ['Side Project', 'Side Hustle', 'Bots', 'Monetization', 'Laravel'] |
Founders’ silent struggle — Key takeaways (Part 9) | Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Getting addicted to the constant high of an adrenaline rush is exciting. A dream of changing the world and making a difference is inspiring. Pressure, competition, passion for the dream force people to push abilities beyond their limits. Startups and sports are very similar in that. However, the support systems are very different between founders and professional athletes.
In sports, elites have all the help to drive their performance results. They train every muscle on their body and mind to handle pressures, they are supervised by doctors and advised by personal coaches daily.
Founders, in contrast to athletes, have to learn how to survive these pressures on their own, in silence and constantly pretending what everything is “amazing”.
If we want to get stronger and not weaker from failures it all depends on our preparation to face them.
Due to startup development pace and experimentation with novel ideas founders have to elevate their self-management skills to much higher levels.
Key takeaways reflecting on founders from all around the world candid interviews:
Pivots are necessary;
Startup failure doesn’t mean that the founder is a failure;
Have a financial and emotional safety net;
Never sacrifice family;
Build meaningful relationships;
Ask for help sooner;
Create a very strong support system. | https://medium.com/ofounders/founders-silent-struggle-key-takeaways-part-9-94f41371f690 | ['Inga Stasiulionyte'] | 2020-04-06 08:44:09.236000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Interview', 'Startup', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Founders'] |
Checklist: 8 Telltale Signs You Need a Word-of-Mouth Strategy | The best way to grow ANY business is for your customers to grow it for you. That’s where word of mouth comes in: customers going out of their way to tell other people (prospective customers) about your products and services.
Since the cavemen days, this has been the most effective and cost-effective form of customer acquisition. Yet today, even though (and perhaps because of the fact) we are surrounded by advertising options, we almost reflexively design marketing programs that talk TO customers, instead of letting the customers talk with each other.
At Convince & Convert, we believe that every company in the world could benefit from a better word of mouth strategy. But some companies need word of mouth more acutely. Are you among them?
Here’s our quick checklist that helps determine if you really need a word of mouth boost:
1. Your Customer Acquisition Costs are Going Up
One of my favorite sayings isn’t ENTIRELY true, but it’s true enough. It’s from Robert Stephens, founder of GeekSquad:
Advertising is a tax, paid by the unremarkable.
If you have to buy every click, every lead, and every sale you simply are working too hard to get new customers.
2. Your Sales Team Has to Tell Your Entire Story, Every Time
This one is more B2B than B2C. If potential customers show up and don’t know ANYTHING about your company or your offerings, it’s because nobody told them about you first; they just parachuted into your funnel, probably from Google. Unless you have an incredible sales team, those cold leads are the hardest and most expensive to close.
3. You Have Low Branded Search Traffic
Speaking of Google, if very few people are searching for the name of your company or your products/services, it typically means (unless you’re new) that you have insufficient awareness and brand-name demand. That can at least partially be solved with a strong word of mouth strategy.
4. Your Budget Allocation is Lopsided
A report from Adobe said that approximately 80% of the average B2B company’s revenue comes from existing customers, in some form. Yet, those companies spend approximately 2% of total budget on customer experience and customer service — the very things that create word of mouth and referrals.
If your marketing and operations budget for customer acquisition is dramatically larger that the budget for CX and retention, you probably need better word of mouth.
5. You’re Losing Deals on Price
If your potential customers are looking at you vs. competitors and consistently going with the lowest price, you aren’t giving them anything psychological or emotional that justifies the economics. This is one of the great benefits of word of mouth strategy: real people make recommendations that make it okay for other people to make a purchase.
Look at Peloton, the wildly popular exercise bike/treadmill and online classes system. Peloton word of mouth is so strong, it’s almost cultish. But the raving fans are what powers the brand. Taken out of context, and absent that word of mouth, it would be tough to justify the expensive bike + the ongoing fees.
6. You Don’t Have a Consistent Differentiator Bubbling up in Social or Reviews
One thing we know to be true is that competency doesn’t often create conversation. Customers expect you to be competent, so meeting that expectation isn’t particularly talkable. What creates word of mouth are elements of your experience that are OUTSIDE the norm; things customers do not expect.
When you have something like that (we call it a talk trigger, and have a whole strategy system for creating them for our clients), it shows up consistently in social media and online reviews.
For example:
Have you ever been reading something and you read it like 6 or 7 times and you have that revelation that you’ve been reading the same page over and over and haven’t comprehended anything. And then you realize its the Cheesecake Factory menu and your whole table’s pissed at you — Bert Macklin (@NighthawkSmash) December 25, 2018
(here are a bunch of others)
7. You Have Poor Social Media Engagement
There can be other reasons why your social media is mediocre or worse. But one consistent element of companies that have strong word of mouth is that their organic social gets engagement. Customers WANT to interact with the business, and they WANT to tell the story to their friends.
8. You Have High Employee Turnover
Like social engagement, there can be other culprits here. But, we find that companies with strong word of mouth have a culture aligned around the customer experience, and making it talkable. It’s no accident that those businesses also work hard to create an outstanding experience for their personnel. This is all about the values of company leadership, ultimately.
Because if your employees aren’t your biggest advocates, you have problems much bigger than word of mouth.
It’s possible to have strong word of mouth without a great corporate culture, but a lot less likely.
So there you have it: our checklist for whether you need word of mouth in your business. If we can help you, ask us for a free call to discuss. | https://medium.com/convince-and-convert/checklist-8-telltale-signs-you-need-a-word-of-mouth-strategy-d041706df11d | ['Jay Baer'] | 2019-04-02 03:22:24.360000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Word Of Mouth', 'Sales', 'Business', 'Word Of Mouth Marketing'] |
Second Space Experiment for Aleph Zero | Future private astronaut who will conduct our space experiment, Eytan Stibbe, visited our headquarters
We’re excited to share that an Aleph Farms experiment was selected to be part of ‘Rakia’ Mission to space, led by the Ramon Foundation and the Israel Ministry of Science and Technology. One of 44 experiments to be chosen, it will be launched to the International Space Station as part of Axiom Space Ax-1 Mission, pending NASA and Axiom approval, together with the second Israeli in space, Eytan Stibbe, at the beginning of 2022. This will be Aleph Farms’ second trip to space, following a successful ISS experiment in 2019. In this new experiment we will focus on tackling the challenge of cultivating the cells in microgravity.
Aleph’s space program, Aleph Zero, builds upon our mission to produce quality meat locally, even in the most remote places on Earth with minimal natural resources. When people live on the Moon or Mars, Aleph Farms will be there as well.
“Aleph Zero is helping us achieve our vision for secure and unconditional access to high-quality nutrition for anyone, anytime, and anywhere. We are thrilled to collaborate with Eytan and the whole team to advance game-changing food solutions for space and for Earth.”, says Didier Toubia, Co-Founder and CEO, Aleph Farms.
Access to fresh food is a key obstacle to long term space exploration. If we are to travel to and eventually colonize Mars or the Moon, we need food production systems that are bioregenerative and that can locally feed communities with quality nutrition.
The constraints of space unleash creativity and have already ignited many innovations we know and use today, such as solar panels, GPS navigation, and even hydroponic agriculture. Space is the next frontier. It’s a scarce and hostile environment where you don’t have the luxury of borrowing from future generations. We couldn’t imagine a more perfect environment to build our platform for efficient food production. | https://medium.com/@alephfarms/second-space-experiment-for-aleph-zero-b6d293d5dd66 | ['Aleph Farms'] | 2021-05-05 20:33:40.147000+00:00 | ['Food Security', 'Meat Growers', 'Aleph Farms', 'Space Exploration', 'Aleph Zero'] |
“Kindness is ability to know, what is right thing to do & courage to do.’’ | “Kindness is ability to know, what is right thing to do & courage to do.’’
When is comes to kindness — people do things that make them genuinely happy and the whole world to. In my life kindness is to do right things and right time otherwise,those deeds are meaningless!! To feed a person when he is hungry,to give shelter. | https://medium.com/@muhammad.tayyab172/kindness-is-ability-to-know-what-is-right-thing-to-do-courage-to-do-22b99f8dc1b5 | ['Tayyab Sial'] | 2020-12-12 17:25:22.666000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Friends', 'Street Food', 'Sketch', 'Kindness 101'] |
What I’ve learnt from *TikTok* | A teen that is finding her place in life. Using words to let her weirdness to shine through., to create something for people, that are a little lost too. | https://medium.com/@pineapple-panda/what-ive-learnt-from-tiktok-8587d1ede988 | [] | 2020-12-20 10:53:12.246000+00:00 | ['Teenagers', 'Tik Tok', 'Journey Of Self Discovery', 'Life'] |
The Decade Long Struggle for Syria | When the Arab Spring erupted in 2011 it very quickly spread to Syria where the Syrian people took a stand against the corrupt, tyrannical, and the brutal regime of Al-Assad. For decades the Ba’athist regime operated a police state and used sickening methods of torture to preserve its iron fist over the country and its people. Those who were unfortunate to get caught in the rule of terror were subjected to either inhumane and gruelling torture or harsh imprisonment, with prolonged sentences, whilst others disappeared altogether, never to be heard from again by friends or families. The Syrian people truly lived a nightmare. However, when the Egyptian regime struggled with the uprising, this inspired the Syrian people to take their frustration to the streets to demand a real change by overthrowing the despotic regime of Assad.
The uprising in Syria took place across the length and breadth of the country which caught the regime by surprise, leading to its fierce response. By 2013 the Ba’athist regime had lost the north of Syria and the Syrian people were on the cusp of launching an attack on the capital Damascus itself. It was at this point when the United States and other countries intervened since the fall of the Al-Assad regime posed severe concerns for American interests. Since the uprising in Syria, every interested power that has involved itself within the Syrian conflict did precisely the opposite of what the people desired, which was to see the end of the Al-Assad regime. It is these foreign interventions that prevented the fall of the Al-Assad regime, complicated the struggle of the people, and eventually impeded the uprising.
Thwarting the Revolution
The uprising in Syria and the wider region posed problems for not just the global powers but also regional players.
For America, Syria has been a pro-American regime since day one ever since Hafez al-Assad took the reins of power. Syria, for many years before the revolution, played a vital role in safeguarding US interests within the region of Levant. Over the years, the United States has used the regime in Syria to both coerce and placate Israel over the Palestinian issue. Also, both Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar in the past have utilised the rhetoric of invoking the Golan Heights loss due to the 1967 Six-Day War in bolstering the regime’s popularity and survival amongst the Syrian people. However, at the same time, the regime never gave up its pursuance of regaining the Golan Heights. And America has used this dilemma of the Golan Heights between Syria and Israel for decades to coerce Israel through Syria whenever it deemed it necessary. Nevertheless, during the Trump Administration, Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights finally became recognised by the United States.
Syria also maintained a protracted presence in Lebanon to marginalize French-backed-Maronite influence in the country. Not only did Syria marginalize the French influence for the US in Lebanon, but Syria also created a fertile atmosphere for Hezbollah to thrive as both the Al-Assad regime and Iran possess a cordial relationship. The US has used this affiliation to balance Israel and its expansionist agenda because the US would never tolerate any power in the region to become too powerful neither the Arabs nor the Israelis.
In 2012, Rick Gladstone in New York Times stated, “The departure of Assad, the thinking goes, not only would threaten to sever Syria from Iran, which has long been a goal of the United States and its Arab allies but also could deprive Iran of its main means of projecting power in the Middle East. If Assad were to fall, Iran would lose its conduit for providing military, financial and logistical support to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.” The very reason that the US wants to keep the regime intact just goes to show that the rhetoric between Iran and the US is overstretched. Due to the above reasons, the US wanted to maintain the Al-Assad regime due to the crucial role it plays in America’s architecture in the region. When Russia proposed in 2012 for Al-Assad to step down as part of a peace deal, it was vetoed by the US, which would have halted the death of hundreds of thousands of people in Syria.
As for Russia, it needs access to the Mediterranean. Due to the NATO-Turkey presence in the Black Sea, Russia needs access to the Mediterranean Sea since warm waters are a geopolitical challenge for Russia. Russia for long had naval bases in Latakia and Tartous as part of an agreement with Syria. Russia also has arms agreements with Syria which it wants to retain, and to give the impression of foreign influence in the country. Russia cannot allow an area of its interests to fall under Western dominance as it would make it look feeble which would give NATO the pretence to intervene in the Caucasus, which are Russia’s geopolitical red lines. Russia also intervened in Syria to convey its material prowess to the world, which scores more points psychologically than it does strategically. Putin’s ultimate goal has been to show off Russia’s military capabilities and preserve its commercial interests in Syria. The illusion of influence that Russia projects matters to her more than the leverage of actual influence.
For the UK and France, it is to see Al-Assad fall, which means to see American hegemony wane in the Middle East. Henceforth, via the EU, the former powers ratified severe sanctions on the Assad regime. Since America’s rise as a superpower and its intrusions in the Middle East after WW2, the former European powers have been troubled and reluctant to see America further grow its influence and encroach over their interests in the Middle East. Moreover for Britain, owing to its close relationship with the American power, it has used this relationship to always try to get involved wherever America goes and attempt to interfere with US plans. Hence, why the pro-British Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) monitors pulled out of Syria creating pressure for the US to deal with Syria on its own. Alex Spillius for the Telegraph stated that the more the UK helps to get rid of Assad the greater stakes it leaves behind for the country. Simultaneously, over the years, the UK has also continued to provide logistical support to the US in Syria from time to time. This clearly illustrates the deceptive nature of Britain as it likes to play both cards with its so-called special relationship with the US.
China’s interests were straightforward and were short-lived. The Chinese didn’t want the uprising in Syria to be successful. Since it would encourage and inspire the Muslims in Xinjiang to do the same since the bond that exists between Muslims all across the globe has proved to be robust and indestructible. Therefore, leaving China with no choice but to participate in Syria. This decision created more trouble for China than it was worth and its involvement in Syria was short-lived.
Hence, all powers except the European powers wanted Assad to remain in power since every power had vested interests regarding the Assad regime and wanted the regime to stay intact.
Maintaining the Baathist Regime
The US first needed to neutralise the uprising and the rebel group called the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Thus, the Obama Administration decided to initiate a covert CIA program to fund the Free Syrian Army (FSA) faction in southern and northern-western Syria. This was done to create a stalemate between the regime and the rebels because Obama was determined in reducing the presence of US troops in the region as a result of the Bush Administration’s disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan. Therefore, the US could not use its forces to stabilise the regime; instead, it used the FSA, as a proxy group because the rebels were none the wiser. Hence, the rebels failed to notice that the United States was using them for its selfish interests.
The former plan helped the United States influence the FSA’s actions and prevent them from toppling their long term ally Bashar al-Assad since the US had no other alternative to replace the regime with another pro-American regime. Furthermore, the US did not want Assad to also unleash himself uncontrolled and further deteriorate the delicate situation in Syria henceforth; the US opted to create a stalemate between the rebels and the regime until another plan could be derived for the country by the United States.
On the other hand, Bashar al-Assad subsequently decided to release a copious number of prisoners to propitiate the people and dampen their sincere attempts in overthrowing the regime and establishing a new government. These prisoners with questionable backgrounds would go on to form ISIS. Newsweek outlined, “In 2011, the majority of the current ISIS leadership was released from jail by Bashar Al Assad. No one in the regime has ever admitted this or explained why. Abu Muhammad al-Joulani, (founder of the Jihadist group, Jabhat al-Jabhat al-Nusra) was rumored to be there. Mohammed Haydar Zammar, (one of the organizers of the 9/11 attacks) was there in the prison. This is where the Syrian part of ISIS was born.” A former member of the Syrian Security Services told the Abu Dhabi newspaper, the National mentioned that “The regime did not just open the door to the prisons and let these extremists out, it facilitated them in their work, in their creation of armed brigades”.
Both the release of the prisoners and the CIA approaching the rebels and assisting them was to infiltrate the resistance and pollute the efforts of the people to bring real change to Syria.
The US also took advantage of Russian concerns in Syria to preserve the despotic regime of Al-Assad. Russia hoped that cooperation with the US by getting involved in the Syrian crisis could help remove the US and EU sanctions due to its Crimean annexation of 2014. Under the Trump administration, Mike Pence suggested that the administration’s decision on sanctions would depend on whether “we see the kind of changes in posture by Russia and the opportunity perhaps to work on common interests,” including making common cause against the Islamic State.
In reality, however, Russia became bogged down in the war in Syria and on numerous occasions was being used by the United States for its selfish interests. Russia entering Syria was a strategic blunder for Putin as Russia’s major concerns are located around its periphery in Central Asia and the Caucasus, therefore being embroiled in Syria makes little strategic sense for Russia. This manoeuvre helped America keep Russia’s focus concentrated within a region that poses less significance as compared to other primary interests located around Russian borders. It also helped America in influencing Russian actions in Syria.
When it comes to the Kurdish fighters, the US used its Kurdish allies in coercing the Assad regime, as it wanted to make it difficult for Russia from keeping the regime stable. But, in reality, the US wanted the Assad regime to remain intact. The truth is that the US never wanted the regime to collapse since it is a pro-American regime. But since Russia was also helping the Assad regime survive, America wanted to sabotage Russian efforts and make things more complicated for the Russians. For this reason, the US continued to support the Kurdish fighters against the Assad regime, which over the years has drained Russia in Syria. The mainstream has severely exaggerated Russia’s power and influence in Syria because the reality illustrates that Russia has been exploited by the US on numerous of occasions since America’s influence in Syria is merely greater than Russia’s.
In October 2019, the Turkish incursion into North-East Syria helped dismantle the Kurdish fighters that the US had always supported until Ankara’s entry. However, many are confused to why the US would betray its Kurdish ally?
The issue is that the Kurdish fighters were getting the better of the Assad regime; therefore, the US decided to withdraw its support towards the Kurds and get Turkey involved instead because the US didn’t want Assad to get toppled otherwise, all of US efforts will go to waste in Syria. Henceforth, the Turkish entry resulted in preventing the Assad regime from collapsing by the hands of Kurdish fighters. In reality, Turkish actions have never extended into Syria’s heartland; instead, it has always been restricted towards the Kurdish fighters in Syria’s North-Eastern areas. The Turkish actions in Syria also contradict Erdoğan’s so-called Islamic rhetoric because he should have used his power to finish the conflict and save innocent people from being slaughtered in Syria. Instead, Turkey targeted the Kurdish fighters who simply wanted to eliminate Assad’s tyranny even though America was using them. But it is clear that the US didn’t want such a thing and neither Turkey, instead, it went along with the US plan.
The other issue is that the US also needed a better-equipped army than the Kurds to secure North-East Syria due to its strategic importance because of the vast sums of oil present in the region. And since the US was determined to further reduce the presence of its troops in the country it had to get other parties involved to safeguard its interests.
The Financial Times stated that “ Just a week after Turkey launched a blistering military offensive into north-east Syria, the Assad regime Ankara tried to help topple is emerging as one of the biggest winners. On Monday, President Bashar al-Assad’s troops were rolling back into a region the regime quite seven years ago, after the Kurdish militants being targeted by the Turkish air and land assault was forced to strike a deal with Damascus.” It is clear that the US wanted Turkey to come in and preserve the Assad regime by thwarting their own allies-the Kurds. James Jeffery, a former American ambassador to Turkey and Iraq said: “the Kurds were a temporary tactical manoeuvre and no longer necessary for the US.”
Turkish actions in Syria illustrate that the relationship between Ankara and Washington is not in turmoil. Instead, it is all a theatre show where, in reality, there has been immense cooperation between two in Syria. When the Turkish incursion occurred in 2019, the US applied sanctions on Ankara; however, three days later, those sanctions were removed. It shows how serious the US was in punishing Turkey for its actions.
Syria and Arab Spring a Decade Later
The Syrian people rebelled against their regime as it never represented their beliefs and sentiments. They took to the streets to overthrow an illegitimate and despotic regime and take charge of their political destiny. However, various foreign powers and the regional powers derailed the revolution for their narrow interests. Different powers had national interests in Syria, and it was the US who dominated the Syrian landscape and overcame all other powers and their interests by either joining them or by creating tactical obstacles to counter their plans.
Today, the Assad regime has regained most of its grip on the country, and it’s people, and there is a strong possibility of Assad departing from power. Still, the regime, on the other hand, would remain intact since the US cannot replace the current regime and also cannot allow the same face to rule over its people in the future. The Assad regime is not one man is Assad stepping down would not change anything; it would merely be a curtain of deceit on the Syrian people.
The Syrian people just like all other people in the region rose to change their situation. Whilst this has been derailed, for now, the underlying issue has not gone away, which is that the situation of the people in the region is calamitous today than it was ever before. Tyrannical rule, extreme poverty, high unemployment, and economic inequality are only increasing. It is thus inevitable that another Arab Spring will emerge that will challenge the status quo, it’s now just a matter of time as to when this will take place. | https://medium.com/@irpolitikin/the-decade-long-struggle-for-syria-10fe9c2209e8 | ['Hashim Abid'] | 2021-02-19 14:54:36.411000+00:00 | ['Arab Spring', 'War', 'Middle East', 'Syria'] |
A Guide to Reflective Meetings | Product Management
A Guide to Reflective Meetings
Differentiating when to use retrospectives and post mortems with your team
Reflection is one of the most important parts of growth, within individuals and within teams. Whether you are a product manager or not, you will likely encounter many work situations that require reflection. This act enables us to learn from the past and improve for the future. In the context of product development, two types of formal reflection are often used: retrospectives and post mortems. You may hear professionals using these two words interchangeably, but they mean two different things. Thus, both forms of reflection have different applications in your work.
Image Source: Pexels
What is a retrospective, and when should we use it?
The word retrospective comes from Latin, meaning to “look back.” In Agile development, retrospectives are a central part of the process. This is a regular ceremony which includes all team members and provides the opportunity to reflect upon previous sprints. Given the preplanned nature of a retrospective, it is a proactive mechanism to reflect upon work. The dictionary defines the noun version of retrospective as “an exhibition or compilation showing the development of the work…over a period of time.” Within the context of Agile software development, the definition is even more precise:
The Sprint Retrospective is an opportunity for the Scrum Team to inspect itself and create a plan for improvements to be enacted during the next sprint. — scrum.org
If you are familiar with Agile, you’ll know that a retrospective serves to have the entire team answer several questions: what went well in the past sprint? what could have gone better? what can be done to improve next sprint? These questions allow your team to celebrate wins, fix potential issues, and hold each other accountable. Using the retrospective framework on a regular schedule enables continuous improvement. By identifying better ways of working together and eliminating disruptive patterns, the team boosts productivity and morale.
Image Source: Pexels
How is a post mortem different, and when should we use it?
On the other hand, a post mortem translates literally to “after death.” This not only implies a reflection back on something, but that the event was not necessarily positive. The prevailing output of a post mortem are lessons learned. These meetings do not necessarily translate to actionable items, but ideally can provide best practices for the future. Although a post mortem is reasonable to conduct at the conclusion of any project, my experience has typically been that such a review occurs when something has gone wrong. Therefore, a post mortem is a more reactive response that leads to reflection.
Again, if we think in the context of product development, a post mortem is often preceded by a root cause analysis (RCA). In a root cause analysis, we seek to understand the variables that led to an undesirable event occurring. We know that many of the most serious issues arise from multiple contributing factors, not a single point of failure. It’s therefore important to build a full picture and timeline of the causes of the problem. This forensic analysis becomes “evidence” that can be discussed during a post mortem.
Image Source: Pexels
What else should we know about reflection meetings?
While frequent reflection can make us better performers, there are diminishing returns with formal meetings to accomplish this task. If your team holds a retrospective after every sprint and has post mortems on a frequent basis, you may begin to experience meeting fatigue. This analysis of every action and event can reduce the morale of a team, while fostering an environment where people are afraid to make any mistakes. Keeping retrospectives spaced appropriately and using post mortems only when needed will ensure that these meetings are more useful to the team.
It’s also important to note that retrospectives and post mortems are both about actions and teams, not people. Neither form of reflection seeks to place blame on individuals. We all make mistakes; how we react and learn from our mistakes is what is most important. Therefore, it is important for retrospectives and post mortems to create safe environments where we can analyze areas for improvement. Lastly, we want to make sure to recognize positive actions and events along with the negative ones; this reinforces the types of behaviors and outcomes we seek in our work. | https://medium.com/trust-the-product/a-guide-to-reflective-meetings-eecedcc23e6a | ['Tom Comerford'] | 2020-10-13 14:55:07.465000+00:00 | ['Post Mortems', 'Product Management', 'Retrospectives', 'Meetings', 'Process'] |
I created a second brain in Notion | My journey towards creating a second brain started with excessive documentation of everyday things like Recipes, Quotes, etc.
It started with a fad, and I was barely using my “first brain” to create it. In a bit, I realized what I wanted to store and what I didn’t. Things like recipes may be good to have, but I really don’t mind searching for a new recipe when I feel like cooking. It really does not need a system because it is not something my brain wants to store and reference like everything else.
I have been using this space, creating the system brick by brick for about 4 months now, and it has finally reached a place where it has become the true Inbox that David Allen talks about in his book, Getting Things Done.
Here’s a quick preview…
I love the minimal(ish) design
Inbox
The Inbox is a quick space for me to create a quick note, without worrying about the Notebook it belongs to. It is where my brain can dump anything and everything it is currently chasing down.
Every week, during my weekly reset I just tag them in their appropriate Notebooks with a single tag. Neat, right?
Notebooks
Notebooks allow me to contain the major notes under one area of life on one page. This is inspired by Thomas Frank’s design.
Each notebook can have further sub-categories, as needed. For example, Cyber Security would have a sub-section to store notes on Computer Networking. I think two levels is the most I need my nesting to be in any notebook.
The trouble I’ve had with One Note, which is by far the best app to manage such a structure is the fact that while it is so well built for such notes, it isn’t flexible enough to include anything simpler so it still ends up leaving you with two different systems for your overall notes.
Also, did I forget to mention the feature to work within templates? It works wonders, especially when you are making notes within the same category or type, and Notion has really saved me so much time and effort on that front. | https://medium.com/pagesweturned/i-created-a-second-brain-in-notion-c17f555c4887 | [] | 2020-12-19 16:53:22.066000+00:00 | ['Productivity', 'Notion', 'Notetaking', 'Journal', 'Second Brain'] |
Series: Puntopia | Series. Puntopia. Title: Under the Skin. Av. de Cotai, Taipa. Macau.
NB: Quasi-Fictional Street Photography Series.
©richard mark dobson
You see them wander Puntopia’s glitzy malls with ruddy faces, and you might think it’s a casino cognac flush! But no, it’s more serious than that. They’re overtaken with what’s known as a Puntopia induced ‘wanting’ flush. Not flush with cash mind you, but desire. This is lust so acute it gets under their skin, like scarlet fever. It’s a sort of foot down, full throttle craving for the shiny red object. An icon of style, with a name they can’t pronounce, with a price tag they can’t afford.
The punters here today, from Dingnan county with their cheap dolly birds, hoping to win the jackpot, have most probably never heard of Enzo, and sadly, Enrico from Manila, charged with keeping an eye on it, this objet d’art and desire, has to make sure they don’t scratch it. For while peering inside hoping to get a glimpse of it’s leathery interior is not banned, they, the punters, almost squatting down to see through low windows, at close quarters, often in a state of inebriation, does give the management reason to enroll Enrico to stand close and attentive. He doesn’t speak Spanish or Chinese, only Tugalog and English. The punters don’t speak Italian. It doesn’t matter to the management. Punters must be seen and preferably not heard. They can look but can’t touch, and unless they win the jackpot they can’t have either…..it’s Enrico’s job to enforce the house rules. 24/7, 365 days a year.
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to see more of this series and peruse the fine art giclee prints, please visit the artists website at;
https://richardmarkdobson.com/personal-work/existential/puntopia/1 | https://medium.com/@richardmarkdobson/series-puntopia-a04f1063a7d4 | ['Richard Mark Dobson', 'The Rmd Gallery'] | 2020-12-02 15:17:16.982000+00:00 | ['Longing', 'Consumerism', 'Desire', 'Street Photography', 'Ferrari'] |
When Mental Illness Becomes a Friend | I have read several articles today composed by writers who seem to be wondering why people who have mental difficulties making them miserable don’t do something about it. It doesn’t come across as intentionally judgmental or critical, but seems more like genuine confusion as to why these individuals don’t appear to want to change things so their lives improve.
In one article, the writer asked about a friend. “They were so competent before, I mean like uber-competent. They have two Masters, a Ph.D. and an M.D. How is it possible that someone like that doesn’t seem able to fold the laundry or clean up? It’s almost like they don’t even realize these things need to be done or maybe like they don’t care anymore.”
In another article the question was, “Do depressed people somehow lose the desire to be happy or do they just not know how to achieve this? It seems like they just aren’t interested in being happy anymore.”
I wanted to try to answer these questions as many people don’t know or understand just how much mental distress affects people. Yet the question about them not wanting to be happy is also an important one to address. There are a few truths to discuss about this matter.
There is a difference between transient symptoms we all have and chronic, more severe symptoms that are part of a mental health condition.
When I teach abnormal psychology, I make the statement that most mental disorders are just more extreme versions of what we all experience in a more moderate way. So we all know what anxiety or depression feels like although for most people it doesn’t reach the level of being considered a disorder. While this is the case, there is a difference between what we all experience and what those with a significant problem in this area experience.
This is because when these things last for a long time or become chronic, they wear people down. This affects their immune system, their beliefs about themselves and the world, the degree to which they can maintain a social support network and whether or not they can take part in activities they once enjoyed. Thoughts that are in line with the disorder also occur when it lasts a long time. For example, people with depression often have thoughts related to worthlessness, hopelessness and pessimism.
The difference between passing symptoms and long term, severe symptoms also occurs because of the person’s mindset. When mental health issues can be associated with a cause such as failing a class, breaking up with a significant other or other similar life events the person usually doesn’t think that the resulting problems will be part of their life permanently.
They understand their altered mental health is the result of something that other people go through and get over and expect to do the same. Those with chronic mental health problems, though, don’t necessarily associate them with any particular life even even when there is one, and while there is always the hope they’ll get better, a big part of them doesn’t really believe it.
The stigma associated with mental illness also lead to difference between milder, transient symptoms and longer duration, mental health issues. The messages that people hear about mental disorders such as they indicate a person is flawed or weak can be internalized by those experiencing more chronic problems and this can lead to a worsening of symptoms. At the same time, even given how distress these problems may be, sometimes the person may feel some reluctance when considering being cured.
Sometimes it can just be too much to do even the simplest of things.
It struck me how much this is the case, when I read an article written by Erika Sauter, called Letters to Friends and the Motherfucking Sad. She describes what it’s like to not be able to do every day activities even when there’s not much to them. For example, she describes the difficulty she has folding laundry.
“I should fold it and put it away. I don’t because I don’t have it in me today, the same as the day before and maybe not tomorrow, either. I turn around, walk back up the stairs and plop myself on the couch.”
It’s not that she isn’t able to do this or doesn’t know how. While people who are depressed due to a life event that will pass may feel down in the dumps while they are doing what they need to do, or maybe leave something for the next day, those with serious depression can’t bring themselves to carry out normal daily activities. Garbage may pile up on counter tops, cleaning may not be done for weeks, packages may remain where they were first put down for months, but although the person knows these things need to be done they just can’t. They tell themselves they’ll do it after a break, tomorrow, when they are feeling better, but days run into weeks which run into months and nothing changes
Often with mental health issues, passions still exist if only for brief periods. The memories of these passions and the dreams that made life exciting are still there even if the same degree of
Sometimes a person with a mental problem may still feel a passion for something but be unable to engage in it.
Often times with mental health problems, an individual no longer has the desire to do things they once enjoyed. Sometimes though, the person still has moments when old passions for certain activities return or at least has very strong memories of what it felt like to have those passions.
When the person tries to engage in the activity they were once passionate about, even during those times when there’s a glimmer of the old desire, they just can’t quite manage it. The inability to do what they once loved, just adds to the problem. There may also be the thought that if the time they’ve wasted when their problem has prevented them from doing much of anything, had been used in pursuing their passion they could have accomplished something remarkable. Instead, they feel even worse about themselves, and may be convinced they’ll never be able to do the activity again.
Is It Always All Misery Though?
I think the answer to this lies in how you define misery. This is because even with everything I said above, that the problem becomes familiar and thus, on some level, safe. When you feel a certain way for a long time, even if it’s not a positive one, it starts to become normal. Even though there is a desire to give it up and have a happier life, at the same time, the thought of doing so can be scary because it is unfamiliar. The problem itself may even be seen in some ways as positive.
In the article mentioned above, the author says:
“My mind suffers from agoraphobia and my body from depression. There’s an unspoken beauty where the calmness meets the chest crushing pain. Sometimes people feel sad because I’m sad, but there’s strength in sadness. Depression does rob me of self worth and life experiences, and the belief that some day I’ll prevail but it also provides the ability to live in the moment. Mindfulness. Depression is the gift of mindfulness. It’s not so bad for me, you know?”
I took this to mean that when those moments of calm arrive they are practically miraculous when compared to what the author calls the “chest crushing pain.” And even though the depression robs her of hope that she’ll ever be free of it, the inability to focus on the future means that she is able to live in the moment, something she perceives as positive. “It’s not so bad for me, you know?”
Sometimes, because of the familiarity and talking themselves into the idea that there are positives to the problem, the person can have a part of them that doesn’t want to give it up. I can remember treating a man with schizophrenia who had an amazing response to medication and therapy. The symptoms disappeared he was able to fully get back into life.
He got a good job and started started participating in social activities and making friends. He rented a nice apartment, off the street for the first time in several years. He continued to improve over the three months that I worked with him and I can remember leaving that rotation thinking he was definitely one of the success stories.
I was stunned to find out only a month later from the intern who had taken my case load for that rotation, that the patient was off his medication and back on the street. There was an outreach team who tried to help the large number of mentally ill homeless people. They took me to where the patient slept and I convinced him to come in to see me for one session.
Though his psychotic symptoms were back he could still explain why it was he had given up all the improvements to his life. He said that he didn’t know exactly how to navigate the “new world” he experienced off of his medication, so even though life on the streets might have been harder it felt more familiar. He added that while “normals” might think that what he referred to as his “psychotic world” might seem chaotic, unpredictable and frightening, it was what he’d known for over 20 years and he missed it when the medication caused it to disappear.
Take Away
It can be hard for people who have never had serious mental health issues to fully understand what it is like for those who have. Even though it may seem like we understand what chronic depression or anxiety feel like because there have been times we felt depressed or anxious, the truth is it is a very different experience for the people who suffer from these types of problems long term. It’s important to recognize that unless we have had to contend with a similar difficulty that wasn’t situational or short term we can’t assume to know what it’s like for those who have a disorder.
It may not make sense to us how a mental problem that prevents someone from taking care of even the smallest of chores or from living in the real world can be viewed as having any positive parts. It may seem counter-intuitive that someone may feel ambivalent about getting better. It’s important to accept those with these types of problems on their own terms and meet them where they are, not where we expect them to be. Doing this in a supportive manner is the best way to help them not have to deal with feeling as if they are isolated from caring others in their life as well.
Thanks to Erika Sauter for inspiring this article. | https://medium.com/invisible-illness/when-mental-illness-becomes-a-friend-f2a4f57289e | ['Natalie Frank'] | 2019-05-23 09:03:59.326000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Mental Health', 'Mental Illness', 'Mindset', 'Psychology'] |
Comparison Is The Thief of all Joy | Comparison Is The Thief of all Joy
5 things that happened when I decided that success wasn’t measured by someone else’s ruler
Photo Credit: canva.com
Apples and Oranges. When two things are polar opposites we refer to apples and oranges. Apples and oranges are categorized as fruit but the great thing about them is that they don’t try to be like one another. Their taste is different, their aesthetic is different and their messaging is different.
Oranges are known for their Vitamin C and Apples are known to keep the doctor away. Two fruits, essentially doing a very similar job but marketing themselves differently as they play at their own strengths.
What would happen if an apple noticed the success of the orange and became inundated with spiraling insecurities about needing to fit in and be more citrus and pulpy? It can certainly try, but will ultimately fail. Sure, people will gravitate to one or the other, but trying to please the masses will result in pleasing no one.
In my industry (marketing freelancer) Instagram success seems to be a large factor to anyone who wants to give freelancing a crack. As soon as you involve yourself and start networking you soon realize that success is measured by followers, scaling your business, and building a course or product suite. It doesn’t matter what sort of service provider you are, these are sure to come up as you scroll through posts from others in your market.
I got sucked into marching to their march, singing the same tune and creating content that looked exactly like what I had been engaging with. The results? Let’s just say they weren’t very good, and let’s just say the feeling of being myself was very much fading away.
So what happened when I stopped comparing myself, started creating value that I felt aligned with, and decided then and there that success wasn’t measured by someone else’s ruler?
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
5 Things That Happened To My Business When I Started Being Myself
The Attract and Repel Method
As I started niching down and creating content that I had felt aligned with my social following had started to change. The people that were there for my virtual assistant content had dropped off as the content I was now putting out was more genuine to my marketing roots. Although my followers were dropping, I was starting to speak, engage, and create interest in the following that I was after. Sticking to your roots, being unapologetically yourself- you will soon start to see that your ideal following will gravitate towards you. Content Creation Freedom
The content flowed effortlessly. It wasn’t so hard to come up with content plans, a strategy, and messages that I wanted to get across because I wasn’t met by a brick wall every time I sat down to write. Not only did it flow, but it was also creative. I threw all inhibition out of the window and filtered through my acting and storytelling roots. Engagement Soared
I was building a community off of my values, not someone else's and the content was genuine, this resulted in better engagement as I didn’t have people following that weren’t interested. It’s better to have the right following that engages with you than the wrong following that acts like crickets every time you drop a piece of value or news. Booked Out, Come Back Next Year
I have been booked out before but the work that I was receiving was anything but fun. It was work that I thought I had to do just to keep my business afloat. Not anymore. As I switched and geared my business towards marketing campaigns and attracting the type of clients that wanted to have fun and take risks. I started to sign clients that I was aligned with. I was genuinely interested in their journey and excited to get to work on their business. Now I’m thinking about starting to build a team in the new year! My business has been scaling organically without having to create a course in sight. Happier Mind, Happier Life
I genuinely liked showing up to work. I genuinely wanted to make an impact. The work invigorated me and gave me life. I felt that I finally had found my purpose and that my “why” was starting to see the light of day. I finally had found a place where I wanted my business to go, a clearer vision and realization that this was the very reason I had started my business in the first place. I didn’t feel heavy, I felt light and I felt excited for where this would take me.
My Instagram reels may not be me pointing and dancing, my content may be on the lighter side, I may not be posting every single dang day and my strategy isn’t solely based on social media. I may not have the following the some have but I know my community is the success that I seek. I know that how I’ve built and molded this business, the direction it is growing and the fact that I can take the rest of the day off today is because I decided to give myself a chance.
Shed the comparison bug. Find what makes you distinct and use it. Because nobody can be you, and that is the beautiful thing about creating something for yourself.
Nataleigh is a marketing freelancer and founder of The Virtual Fairy Godmother. Her mission is to make marketing and strategy fun and impact audiences like the good ol’ days. This is one marketer that isn’t afraid to seek outside the box. | https://medium.com/the-innovation/comparison-is-the-thief-of-all-joy-3e76263fb795 | ['Nataleigh Elzein'] | 2020-12-08 15:02:42.067000+00:00 | ['Success Mindset', 'Business', 'Content Marketing', 'Mindset', 'Comparison'] |
How to Install PostgreSQL 13 server on Windows | How to install PostgreSQL in your local system for learning and practicing PostgreSQL.
PostgreSQL was developed for UNIX-like platforms, however, it was designed to be portable. It means that PostgreSQL can also run on other platforms such as Mac OS X, Solaris, and Windows.
Download PostgreSQL Installer for Windows
You need to download the installer from PostgreSQL Official website.- Go to the PostgreSQL official website, download section for Windows http://www.postgresql.org/download/windows/
Install PostgreSQL step by step
Click on the installer file, an installation wizard will appear
The following each step and its options for installation. Start Installing PostgreSQL
Specify installation folder, choose your own or keep the default folder.
Enter the port for PostgreSQL. Make sure that no other applications are using this port. Leave it as default if you are unsure.
Choose the default locale used by the database.
You completed providing information for the PostgreSQL installer. Click the Next button.
The installation may take few minutes to complete.
Click the Finish button to complete the PostgreSQL installation.
Verify the Installation
First, click on pgAdmin 13 to launch it. The pgAdmin 13 GUI will display.
Congratulation! you’ve successfully installed PostgreSQL database server. | https://medium.com/@magazie/how-to-install-postgresql-13-server-on-windows-e97035a4b705 | ['Maga Zie'] | 2021-04-06 07:02:12.299000+00:00 | ['Postgresql13', 'Windows', 'Database'] |
‘Too much sugar’ is surely a thing… | Photo by Mikhail Nilov from Pexels
Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that your body uses for energy and is also considered the source of all health evils. But how much of it is harmful is the real question. According to many health organizations and medical experts, the amount of sugar intake has been the biggest public health concern.
Signs that tell you that you are eating too much sugar
Increased hunger and weight gain:
Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has been linked to weight gain. Also consuming sugar makes you want to eat more sugar.
Irritability:
Eating too much sugar can be the reason if you’re feeling moody or irritable.
Low energy and fatigue:
Sugar is something that can be easily absorbed and digested and that might be the reason you are feeling fatigued. It is also a very quick energy source but no matter how much you eat, after 30 minutes you are going to be hungry again and will feel low.
Cravings for sweets:
The feel-good effect of sugar on your brain might be the reason you are craving sweets all the time.
High blood pressure:
Scientists say that high levels of glucose can damage the lining of your blood vessels which makes it easier for lipids like cholesterol to stick to the walls of blood vessels. This hardens the blood vessels causing your blood pressure to shoot.
Acne and wrinkles:
Research shows that advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which are products of excess sugar, encourage skin aging.
Sleep issues:
The sleep cycles and quality of sleep are regulated by the light and the temperature of the room, as well as glycemic control. So a diet with high sugar can cause long-term sleep issues.
Joint pain:
Consuming too much sugar might lead to systemic inflammation, which might ultimately lead to joint pain.
Why is sugar present in almost all foods?
The reasons why sugar is present in almost all foods are given below:
Adding sugar to foods makes them more appealing
Sugar is added because of its preservative abilities
It serves as a bulking agent in ice creams and baked goods
It balances the acidity level of foods containing vinegar and tomatoes
It fuels fermentation
It gives baked goods flavor, texture, and color
Nutrition labels and sugar
The threshold for the products being high or low in sugar is given below:
High: more than 22.5 total sugar/100g of serving
Low: 5g or less total sugar/100g of serving
Why are added sugars a problem?
As it provides extra calories and provides very little nutritional value. Eating too much sugar might lead to multiple health problems.
Weight gain: Added sugar adds to the problem of weight gain as it is extremely calorie-dense. Poor nutrition: If you are choosing sugar-laden foods instead of nutritious foods then you might miss out on important nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Tooth decay: Sugar promotes tooth decay as the bacteria multiplies and grows. You are more likely to get cavities if you drink or eat more foods with added sugar.
Some of the different names of added sugar
Cane syrup Malt Maple syrup Molasses Honey
Conclusion:
Sugars, though are considered a source of energy, can have negative effects if their consumption exceeds a certain point. So it’s really important to look out for the sugar content in your meals and diet. If the amount is too high, it is paramount you control its intake. | https://blog.arisoapp.com/how-much-do-you-really-need-to-worry-about-sugar-7b263b82147e | ['Naurin Ansari'] | 2022-01-27 08:15:26.388000+00:00 | ['Health', 'Sugar Free', 'Diabetes', 'Nutrition', 'Sugar'] |
Solving for Publishing Dilemmas | Having my cake while feeding all of you
Solving for Publishing Dilemmas
Short-form Solution
Photo by Igor Rodrigues on Unsplash
I love KTHT; KTHT is my tabernacle and its denizens are my family. Yet our numbers are just enough for two companies and some of my battles require an army. Communication SNAFU’s abound and I fear my family gets lost to me. I think messages like this broadcast within KTHT can bridge the gap and I hope my Muse, our fearless 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘊., agrees.
Yesterday I was accepted as a writer for ILLUMINATION-Curated and two of my pieces were published there.
This story completes the tetralogy that is the dMan (father) saga and ties it together with the story of my Mark of Cain and the very happy ending that such foretells.
This 5-minute read is a profound story of the meaning of past lives and soul healing. Please read and let me know whether you believe it’s a parable with a message that I have standing to deliver, a parable that I have no standing to write, or a true story, in which case my standing is unquestionable regardless of how one feels about the message.
Please and thank you.
YG
N.B.: The term SNAFU originated in WWII among the troops on the ground: “Situation Normal; All Fucked Up.” | https://medium.com/know-thyself-heal-thyself/solving-for-publishing-dilemmas-53c9613fd1c1 | ['Yohanan Gregorius'] | 2020-12-27 16:33:20.613000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Storytelling', 'Spirituality', 'Healing', 'Racism'] |
Walmart announces new at-home return process | Make a Walmart return without ever leaving your home.
Walmart is introducing its solution to the biggest inconveniences of online shopping: the dreaded returns.
Customers can now return items shipped and sold by Walmart.com without making the trek to a third-party shipping location or local store. You can now schedule your returns through Walmart’s new service Carrier Pickup by FedEx and never leave your home.
How to make a Walmart return
Here’s how to start a free return without venturing outside:
Go to the Walmart website or open the Walmart app. Log into your account. Open your purchase history. Find the item that you want to return and click or tap Return. Choose Carrier pickup and select your appointment date. Print out the return label. Pack up your item, affix the label and hand it off to FedEx.
If you don’t have a printer, you can drop off your box at a FedEx Office location. The associate will scan the QR code associated with your return and handle the printing and shipping for you.
You can also ship your package yourself or visit a local Walmart store to process your return.
What to consider with Walmart’s at-home return service
While carrier pickup is convenient, consider these drawbacks before choosing this return option:
Return pickup window is all day. While you can schedule your return date, FedEx can come anywhere between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., so you’ll need to be home all day.
While you can schedule your return date, FedEx can come anywhere between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., so you’ll need to be home all day. Packing supplies. You’ll need packing tape and a printer to have your package ready for pickup.
You’ll need packing tape and a printer to have your package ready for pickup. Refund delays. Unlike in-store returns that are generally processed on the same day, online returns take longer to credit your account.
Unlike in-store returns that are generally processed on the same day, online returns take longer to credit your account. Walmart.com items only. Third-party items purchased online are not eligible for Carrier Pickup.
While many stores like Target and Nordstrom offer free returns, and USPS also allows you to schedule a free package pickup, Walmart’s new return service takes this to a new level with its streamlined return service. So you can shop more and skip the hassles of online returns.
Photo: Getty Images | https://medium.com/finder-news/walmart-announces-new-at-home-return-process-6177f8644164 | ['Kimberly Ellis'] | 2020-12-21 22:20:07.902000+00:00 | ['Delivery', 'Return', 'Walmart', 'Online Shopping'] |
Cities serve as testbeds for evolutionary change | by Carolyn Beans
Urban living can pressure flora and fauna to adapt in intriguing ways. Biologists are starting to take advantage of this convenient laboratory of evolution.
Every student of evolution knows the story of the peppered moth. The species comes in two colors: one a peppered white, the other black. During Britain’s industrial revolution, hungry birds spotted the lighter morph in soot-coated forests surrounding cities. Meanwhile, the rarer and better camouflaged darker morph avoided becoming lunch and carried the darker gene variant to a higher frequency in the population. When pollution cleared, the lighter morph again became more common. Although the methodology of the original peppered moth research came into question in the late 1990s, subsequent research confirmed its findings.
Researchers are studying white clover in cities across the globe to learn more about how urbanization shapes evolutionary change. Image credit: Marc Johnson (University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada).
Yet despite this classic case of natural selection under urban conditions, so iconic that the peppered moth adorns the logo of the Society for the Study of Evolution, biologists have mainly chosen to study evolution in places with less human disturbance. “Most people didn’t think that cities were really interesting biologically, that they were kind of anti-life,” says evolutionary ecologist Marc Johnson, who directs the Centre for Urban Environments at the University of Toronto Mississauga.
That mindset is changing as Johnson and others use cities as powerful testbeds for evolutionary mechanisms. Because species often live both within and beyond city borders, researchers can directly compare populations to pinpoint whether and how these mechanisms respond to the urban environment. They can also compare the same species’ responses across different cities. “That’s why a lot of people are getting excited about this,” says Johnson. “They like the idea of these replicated studies on a global level.”
Indeed, researchers are beginning to team up for multicity studies in multiple countries. And in a 2017 review of urban evolution research, Johnson and coauthor Jason Munshi-South (an evolutionary biologist at Fordham University) listed 192 studies, more than half published in the last 5 years. Johnson’s team discovered that to better tolerate the cold, urban clovers in Canada evolved to lose the genes responsible for an herbivore defense. Other researchers found that a lizard species evolved longer limbs and stickier feet to navigate Puerto Rican cities, an ant gained heat tolerance in the urban heat island of Cleveland, and the gene pools of New York City rats have diverged between uptown and downtown.
But the field is young, and many questions remain. How commonly do species truly evolve to settle into urban abodes as opposed to accommodating urban life with the tools they already have? What factors determine why one species evolves and another doesn’t? And do species repeatedly evolve in the same ways across different cities? The answers could further illuminate the mechanisms and limits of evolution within cities and beyond.
Evolving Priorities
Some urban evolutionary biologists initially entered the field in search of species to study closer to home. For Johnson, it was something of an adaptation to new circumstances. “I’ve spent most of my life trying to get out of cities. Once I became a professor and had a young family, it was harder to go away.” So he looked for evolution on his home turf.
Johnson, like many evolutionary biologists, was interested in how the mechanisms of evolution — natural selection, gene flow, genetic drift, and DNA mutation — each contribute to an evolutionary change in a population of plants, animals or microbes. He had good reason to suspect that cities might influence these mechanisms.
“Humans have touched every part of this planet either directly or indirectly,” says Johnson. “But cities are different.” Aspects of city living such as intensified noise, light, and heat could change which traits natural selection favors. Infrastructure such as buildings and roads could block gene flow — the movement of genes from one population into another that occurs when individuals migrate or release genetic material such as seeds or pollen. And because urban populations of plants and animals are often smaller and tucked into isolated patches of green space, they may be more susceptible to genetic drift — random fluctuations in the frequency of gene variants within a population. Although more studies are needed, some preliminary evidence even suggests that pollution in cities could act as a mutagen, increasing the rate of DNA mutation.
Johnson tests how natural selection, gene flow, and genetic drift shape the evolution of white clover (Trifolium repens), a tiny weed that blankets city roadsides, suburban lawns, and rural pastures. By studying the clover across this urban-to-rural gradient, he can search for evolutionary shifts associated with city life.
Johnson focuses on one particular white clover trait: the ability to make hydrogen cyanide. Individual white clovers wielding this chemical defense are better at warding off insects and other herbivores. Those that can’t produce the defense better tolerate freezing temperatures.
In a recent study, Johnson and his team explored how urbanization influences the frequency of hydrogen cyanide producers in 20 cities in southern Ontario. In each city, they tested for hydrogen cyanide production in clovers along a transect from the city center to rural surroundings. The researchers discovered that urban white clovers were more likely to lack the herbivore defense, with hydrogen cyanide producers increasing in frequency by about 0.6% with every kilometer of distance from an urban center.
Despite the fact that cities are often warmer than surrounding regions, Johnson’s previous work had suggested that some city centers in northern climes actually have colder minimum winter temperatures than nearby natural areas, in part because there’s less insulating snow cover. It seemed likely, then, that these cooler city temperatures act as a selective pressure pushing white clover to lose the herbivore defense in favor of cold tolerance.
But adaptation by natural selection isn’t the only possible explanation. The random fluctuations of genetic drift give any gene variant a chance of being lost. Hydrogen cyanide production requires two genes and a specific allele, or gene variant, of each. With either missing, the plant can’t produce the defense.
Johnson and his team extracted DNA from plants along urban–rural gradients to test whether genetic diversity decreased in urban populations, a telltale sign of genetic drift. But they found no clear differences. And they found ample evidence of another evolutionary mechanism: gene flow. Gene flow can increase a population’s genetic diversity but also hinder its ability to adapt if gene variants that are beneficial in one location get pushed out by other versions flowing in from elsewhere. Johnson’s team found that urban clovers adapted despite regular gene flow. “What this suggests,” he says, “is that cities could be a powerful force for evolutionary change by natural selection.”
Surviving the Urban Heat Island
For the acorn ant (Temnothorax curvispinosus), the response to urban temperatures at the other extreme may be more complex. These “very convenient little ants that live inside acorns” inhabit both urban and rural areas, says evolutionary ecologist Sarah Diamond of Case Western Reserve University. Diamond studies whether the ants’ temperature tolerance is influenced by the urban heat island effect — where structures like asphalt roads and concrete sidewalks retain and exude heat, raising the city’s ambient temperature several degrees above that of the surrounding countryside.
Diamond is particularly interested in untangling whether city ants better tolerate extreme heat simply because they grew up in a hotter place — which would be a “plastic” response to new conditions, but within their original capacities — or because they’ve actually evolved a greater ability to handle higher temperatures. The answer could help fine-tune models of ecosystem responses to climate change.
In a 2017 study, Diamond’s team found evidence for both phenomena. When they brought ant colonies from urban Cleveland and nearby rural areas back to the lab, the offspring of both urban and rural ants tolerated higher temperatures when they were reared in hot rather than cold laboratory conditions. However, in both the hot- and cold-reared groups, ants with city roots tended to tolerate higher temperatures better still than ants with rural roots, suggesting a genetic basis for increased heat tolerance in the urban ants.
Even so, the researchers wondered whether these results could be generalized to other cities. The team repeated the study, this time collecting colonies from urban and rural sites across Cleveland, as well as Cincinnati and Knoxville, TN. They found that Cleveland ants produced the same results as before, and so did Knoxville ants, although only those reared at warmer temperatures. But there was no difference in heat tolerance between urban and rural Cincinnati colonies.
There are many possible reasons why the ants in Cincinnati didn’t evolve, says coauthor and evolutionary ecologist Ryan Martin, also of Case Western Reserve University. One is that they just didn’t need to. There’s less of a difference between urban and rural temperatures in Cincinnati than in the other two cities. “The plastic response may be sufficient to cope with the relatively small increase in urban temperature,” says Martin.
An Uptown-Downtown Divide
Urban living has also left an imprint on the gene pool of one of the most infamous city dwellers, the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus). Munshi-South uses genetics to study how the New York City landscape influences the genetic structure of brown rat populations. “Genetic structure is simply measurable genetic differences between groups of organisms,” explains Munshi-South. “It does not imply that they have adapted to be different from one another. The important point is that the groups are following separate evolutionary trajectories.” This could potentially set the stage for future adaptive evolution in each group.
In a 2018 study, Munshi-South discovered rats in the city’s Manhattan borough are divided into Uptown and Downtown tribes, possibly because they don’t cross Midtown, a mostly commercial area that may offer fewer food resources.
To test whether urban infrastructure regularly divides populations in other cities, he invited rat researchers from New Orleans; Vancouver; and Salvador, Brazil to bring rat tissue samples to his lab for genetic analysis. With more than 1,200 rats sampled across four cities, the researchers screened each animal’s genome for SNPs — places where a single letter in a genetic sequence can vary. More closely related individuals will usually share more-similar SNP profiles, so researchers were able to map distinct populations across the cities.
The results, also published in 2018, suggest the urban landscape commonly impedes gene flow in rat populations. Just as in Manhattan, the rat populations were divided — in Salvador and Vancouver by roadways and in New Orleans by waterways.
The team is now building habitat-suitability maps that predict in more detail how urban features may influence rat movements. “We take variables that describe city landscapes,” explains Munshi-South, “the age of buildings, types of sewers, the amount of roads, the percent green space cover, human socioeconomics.” They input all of this data into a model that predicts how these features influence the genetically distinct populations they’ve already identified. If the prediction is accurate, they could potentially use the model to forecast rat movements in other cities without having to genetically profile local rats.
The results, says Munshi-South, could inform pest management. “That is the hope,” he says. “That this fine-grain understanding of how rats form these local populations will allow [public health departments] to target rats at the right spatial scale.”
Adaptive Compromise
For some urban dwellers, success can come down to survival of the fastest. Evolutionary biologist Kristin Winchell, a postdoctoral researcher at Washington University in St. Louis, studies urban adaptation in a lizard long recognized as a champion of rapid evolution. “The cool thing about urban environments is it’s a natural experiment,” says Winchell. “We’re not doing any manipulation, so it’s a more realistic capturing of natural selection as a whole.”
“The cool thing about urban environments is it’s a natural experiment. We’re not doing any manipulation, so it’s a more realistic capturing of natural selection as a whole.” — Kristin Winchell
In a 2016 study, Winchell explored whether the Puerto Rican crested anole, Anolis cristatellus, adapted to urban life. In forests, crested anoles often perch on tree trunks. In Puerto Rican cities, they regularly cling to surfaces such as buildings, glass windows, and metal fences. But the team noticed that some anoles slipped and fell on these surfaces and wondered if natural selection favored traits that would allow the lizards to cling more adeptly.
Winchell and her team caught crested anoles in the Puerto Rican cities of Mayagüez, Ponce, and San Juan, as well as in forests beyond each urban area. The researchers measured traits that could be important for perching on city structures, such as limb length and the number of modified scales, known as subdigital lamellae, on the underside of lizards’ toes that help them cling to surfaces. Compared with forest lizards, urban lizards had longer limbs and more lamellae, differences the team confirmed were genetic, rather than a plastic response to growing up on city perches.
Still, Winchell wondered exactly how this adaptation benefited lizards. To find out, she created lizard racetracks — runways covered in bark, painted concrete, or aluminum sheeting, whose inclines she could set to 37° or 60° — then clocked lizards on the tracks. Her results, published last year, showed that both urban and rural lizards performed poorly on steep tracks and that having longer forelimbs correlated with more slipping and slower sprint speeds. But on the more gradual incline, urban lizards were the clear winners, regardless of the surface material.
Winchell now thinks natural selection may primarily favor longer limbs for speedily traversing the ground from one urban perch to the next while also favoring more lamellae to help compensate for the disadvantage of longer forelimbs when actually on an urban perch. “The urban habitat is a lot more open,” explains Winchell. “They can’t jump between perches like they can in the natural environment.”
The Limits of Urban Adaptation
Despite clear and repeatable examples of urban evolution, researchers still can’t say how commonly city species evolve to embrace urban landscapes. In a recent meta-analysis of experimental and observational studies reporting more than 1,600 phenotypic changes across species, urban ecologist Marina Alberti of the University of Washington and her team conclude that animal and plant traits shift more rapidly in urban areas. But most studies in the analysis didn’t measure natural selection or identify an underlying genetic basis to the change. “Phenotypic change doesn’t necessarily translate to genetic change,” says Alberti. Some species, for example, may have the flexibility to respond plastically to cities.
Other city residents may thrive without changing at all. “Raccoons do great in cities. Are they evolving?” questions Martin. “They might have characteristics that make them good already.” In other cases, urban species may be just getting by. Winchell found that another anole species primarily perches on city trees and other vegetation. “If that type of habitat is lost or becomes more isolated,” she says, “that species is probably not going to persist in the urban environment.”
Evolutionary biologists need more tests of adaptation caused by clear selective pressures to determine which factors influence whether it happens and how consistently. To date, the majority of urban evolution studies have focused instead on the more neutral mechanisms of gene flow and genetic drift, partly because these are often easier to measure than natural selection and partly because of the specific questions that interested particular researchers.
Munshi-South says the field is broadening as more people enter it. “I think now you’re going to start to see a diversification and a lot more effort to understand adaptation,” he says. Indeed, the National Science Foundation recently awarded a $500,000 grant to Alberti, Johnson, Munshi-South, and others to build a global network of researchers who will develop multicity studies to explore how urbanization drives evolutionary change and the potential for that change to influence entire ecosystems.
Johnson is also taking his white clover project global. More than 550 collaborators are repeating his study in more than 180 cities across the world. “To the best of my knowledge, this is the largest scale and largest collaborative evolutionary project ever attempted,” he says. Initially selected for convenience, Johnson now sees the urban white clover as a robust model for understanding how urbanization affects evolution more generally. “We can answer evolutionary questions,” he says, “at a scale and with replication that we never thought was imaginable.”
Originally published at www.pnas.org on February 19, 2019. | https://medium.com/proceedings-of-the-national-academy-of-sciences/cities-serve-as-testbeds-for-evolutionary-change-aaca5f498160 | ['Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences'] | 2019-02-21 14:49:28.734000+00:00 | ['Cities', 'Animals', 'Evolution', 'Adaptation', 'Environment'] |
A Decidedly Dumb Thing I’ll Likely Do Again | “What the fuck am I doing?”
I’m almost certain I said this aloud at 3 A.M. in my cloistered studio apartment, which is, in fact, just a small bedroom with a modest bathroom attached. If I did, it was likely heard in the next room over, as the dividing walls are wafer-thin. I know this because I’ve been made privy to much of my neighbor’s shower crooning, and, more recently, a nasty hack of a cough that leads me to suspect that The Virus has entered the building.
Let me explain. I promise that it won’t be especially illuminating or interesting.
My blog was only recently conceived. I’m still figuring out what I’d like to do with it. More than anything, I’d like it to be a kind of rummage bin for ideas, somewhere to air thoughts that don’t conform to journalistic standards in the way of narrative formula and content. That, and maybe a respite for the disillusioned and chronically curious. Yeah. Something wildly idealistic like that.
Anyways, I had started drafting a list of the books I read in 2020, complete with abbreviated reviews and favorite quotes. I had probably already devoted at least two hours to the thing, thinking I’d publish it on the site within the next few weeks. And I would’ve, too, if I wasn’t roused and shaken in the wee hours by the following self-appointed dis: ‘Who the absolute fuck would wanna read that?’
Of course, this sent me spinning into a biting series of thoughts in aforementioned dark, cloistered room: If my first love was creative writing, why was I pursuing journalism? If the goal was to dabble in experimental fiction, why had I settled so comfortably within the predictably diaristic, first-person narrative? And wasn’t this all kind of ‘showing my ass’ a little? I mean, if you consider writing to be an art form, it’s one of the most straightforwardly revealing of the ‘artist’ behind it. You can only hide so much behind language. It’s fucking intimate, man.
Obviously there are better creative mediums for the reserved. I just don’t have any sort of knack for them. I mean, at least I can put Ink to Page. Anyhow, at this point I was wide awake and feeling a little ill. I had concluded that I was just another millennial trying to Do Something that was ultimately an exercise in navel-gazing, and a total crock. Sleepless nights breed hasty hyperbole like that.
When in distress, I tend to turn to those who are more compelling in their misery. So naturally I turned to one of America’s favorite doomed darlings, David Foster Wallace. Love him or hate him, the man had a wickedly succulent mind*. (I also admittedly needed reassurance that a writer who leaned literary could deliver in the sphere of journalism.)
I flicked on my lamp, cracked my copy of A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, and started reading the title essay, in which Wallace details his weeklong stay on a luxury cruise. In the first few pages, Wallace makes it known that he is writing on assignment for Harper’s, that all expenses have been paid for by the magazine, and that this seafaring indulgence was not his idea. He is also predictably critical of his wealthy, cosmetically-altered company:
I have, in dark moods, viewed and logged every type of erythema, keratinosis, pre-melanomic lesion, liver spot, eczema, wart, papular cyst, potbelly, femoral cellulite, varicosity, collagen and silicone enhancement, bad tint, hair transplants that have not taken ― i.e. I have seen nearly naked a lot of people I would prefer not to have seen nearly naked.
But the line that follows hits hardest:
I have felt as bleak as I’ve felt since puberty, and have filled almost three Mead notebooks trying to figure out whether it was Them or Just Me.
As someone who has too often been the moody bitch in the hoodie, I can promise it’s almost certainly Just You. The resident asshole. The snob. The fool. Prematurely dulled, disappointed, or disgusted by a perfectly harmless lot. More often than not -at least in my experience- that’s probably been the case.
In other words, whether you’re staring at the ceiling at 3 A.M. or vigorously filling Mead notebooks, the conclusion is the same: Self-awareness is crippling, writers are creeps, and an attempt to sidestep the narcissistic anxiety of the digital age is a torturous exercise in futility.
If you’d like to hear from an expert on the matter, here’s DFW in “ E Unibus Pluram “:
The persons we young fiction writers and assorted shut-ins study, feel for, feel through most intently are, by virtue of a genius for feigned unselfconsciousness, fit to stand people’s gazes. And we, trying desperately to be nonchalant, perspire creepily on the subwa y.
Stay tuned for further perspiration.
+++
*Here’s Bret Easton Ellis on DFW: “I often considered David the most overrated writer of our generation, as well as the most pretentious and tortured…But I still liked the idea of David and the fact that he existed, and I also think he was a genius.” (I admire both writers for different reasons, and it doesn’t surprise me that they weren’t especially chummy.) | https://medium.com/@lydia-sviatoslavsky/a-decidedly-dumb-thing-ill-likely-do-again-ed79f71635d0 | ['Lydia Sviatoslavsky'] | 2020-12-16 22:54:49.240000+00:00 | ['Narcissism', 'Writing Tips', 'Anxiety', 'Writing', 'Millennials'] |
How To Win A Hackathon | How To Win A Hackathon
3D rendering of the trophy we won
Hackathons are filled with people who are good at programming and designing. It’s very tempting to start coding right away, however this might not be the best strategy if you are in it to win it.
What is a Hackathon?
The concept of a hackathon is to create (hack) something in a short amount of time. Most of these hackathons include programming in some sort or form. There are many different flavors of hackathons and this is very important to keep in mind if you want to rank high.
I distinguish hackathons in two main types. One with a theme where it’s all about creativity — like a game development hackathon — and the other kind is focussed a some very specific goal. The latter is the case for the hackathon we attended.
Are there still hackathons with the corona virus lurking? Good question. The hackathon has been postponed multiple times due to corona so the organisation decided to host the event online in a virtual environment. This meant that everybody worked from the comfort of their own bed… I mean home.
The Theme of the Hackathon
The Hackathon (Odyssey) we attended was all about creating solutions for a social/environmental problem in the world. Something they did really well is inviting stakeholders who are very knowledgeable about the problems. This resulted in an inspirational environment to generate ideas that are actually realistic instead of just something fun.
Photo: Grabing plastic on a beach. Source: from the odyssey website
The challenge we were faced with was creating a solution that promotes reducing plastic pollution in the world in a practical way. To put that in their own words:
Our oceans contain an estimated 86 million metric tons of plastic comprised of five trillion individual items. The tracking and re-use of this plastic for upcycled packaging is growing, with initiatives including Dell’s Next Wave, VMware’s blockchain and DAML to track plastics origins. Communities and individuals risk injury when sourcing the plastic, and corporations fear being held accountable for investing in child labour, as the communities cannot prove who sourced the plastic. Social aspects are the key challenge to the current process. Source
Our team
Right of the bat we had a good start because we had a great composition of people with different complementary traits in our team. A mixture of people who are great at presenting, programming frontend, programming backend and managing servers. Our team consisted of myself from School of Data Science and people from Circularise.
For some background about us (with a pinch of shameless advertising): School of Data Science is teaching skills in the fields of Data Science, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing and programming in general. The company Circularise is working on a Blockchain solution for transparency and traceability for a circular economy.
Our strategy
The goal of the hackathon was to create a solution for a problem. I repeat: The goal of the hackathon was to create a solution for a problem. Not the most functions in a prototype, not the best code and not even the best presentation. It’s all about the best idea and everything we do besides forming our idea is to help present that idea to the judges.
This might be a bit frustrating for people who love to program or design because you ideally spend a large chunk of your time talking. Almost everything we coded before we derived to our final idea ended up in the bin. This is exactly what I envisioned before entering this hackathon so I didn’t even code one line up till this point.
You also see that some teams start well in advance of the hackathon. This might actually be counter effective. It’s all about listening to the stakeholders and letting go of your ego, because the chances are high that you don’t know the best solution before talking with the stakeholders. If you already did a lot of work before the hackathon started you might be tempted to hold onto your idea instead of accepting the sunk cost. That being said, a couple of our team members already did a brainstorm session before the hackathon to get a first rough idea of a solution.
Phase 1: Deriving to our idea
Image by xresch at Pixabay
We spend the first 40% of the 48 hours iterating on our idea. The goal of this phase is to: first get a lot of different ideas on the table, followed by filtering and fine tuning them. The process looked something like this:
understanding the problem thinking of an idea talking about our idea to stakeholders radically changing the idea talking about our idea to stakeholders altering the idea talking about the idea to stakeholders finetuning the idea talking about the idea to stakeholders finetuning the idea
This process was managed by using a shared board (we used miro) in which we could all write down our ideas and discord (because of corona). We closed this phase by creating a mockup of the prototype and discussed it in detail until we all agreed to it.
There are multiple benefits of spending so much time in this phase:
Obtaining a better suited idea to the problem.
Getting to know the questions of the stakeholders/judges.
The stakeholders/judges already know you and your idea before the presentation.
Less mentally draining than coding something that will be tossed out of the window.
Phase 2: Creating the prototype
Image from Austrian National Library
Before going into the hackathon we had the original idea to have one front-end developer, two backend developers (including me) and one person that maintains the project. However, the prototype we made actually required two frontend applications for the presentation so I worked on the front-end aswell instead. The other two people of our team started preparing the presentation.
It probably helped a lot that we are all quite experienced in programming; at the point that it just feels like executing instead of trying to figure out how to program something. Of course, we still had our struggles during some parts of the code but all by all it went quite smooth. This whole part took us about 50% of the total time.
Phase 3: Finalizing
The last 10% of our time was spent on integrading our codes together and incorporating it into one story for the presentation. We started this process a couple of hours before the end of the hackathon so it didn’t feel rushed.
The presentation
The presentation went great. It really showed that we talked a lot with the stakeholders because we knew about the questions the jury might have. The answers to these questions were incorporated into the presentation or, at least, we had an answer ready.
The time we spent on programming ended up being 2 minutes of material for the 19 minutes presentation (including question time). You might ask: is it even worth programming? Well yes! It’s extremely powerful to showcase your idea with functional code instead of just some copy pasted visuals in a presentation. Additionally, it makes your team look more professional.
Our result
Image of our product wasteparty
For the people who are interested in our idea: Wasteparty is a system in which we promote transparency end-to-end. People who gather plastics are rewarded by adding transparancy and environmentaly friendly practices. This should reduce exploitation such as childlabor. Companies can therefore buy renewable plastics with a lower chance of getting backlash resulting in damage to their brand. Additionally we introduce a system in which companies can invest money locally to promote more ethically sourced plastics.
If you want to know more about Wasteparty, you can send me a message or get into contact with the people of Circularise.
Take aways
The last thing you want after an intense hackathon is to have your idea being smacked down with a few small questions by the judges. So spend most of your time obtaining a knowledge of the stakeholders. Everything else you do should be focussed on enhancing the presentation of your idea.
If you are going to join a hackathon which has no specific goal — like a game development hackathon — than it’s probably totally different. But I still hope you found this article useful or interesting in some way…
More of me
My website
My own projects on youtube: | https://medium.com/@rckvnk/how-to-win-a-hackathon-6bf0c687b72d | ['Rick Vink'] | 2020-11-22 16:30:57.920000+00:00 | ['Sustainability', 'Hackathons', 'Hacking', 'Odysseyhack', 'Odyssey'] |
Lost and Lookin’ | If you’re a fan of the mournful heart-render, “Lost and Lookin’ (for my baby)” covered by Sam Cooke, Lou Rawls, and a host of others, that’s not what this story is about. Sorry.
No. Rather, this piece is about the fact that I don’t know my ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to navigating uncharted territory in my car. So many times over the years, I’ve been “lost and lookin.’ Even well-charted territory can be new ground for me, depending upon my state of mind.
As a kid, I got lost in my neighborhood, regularly. I don’t know why but can only surmise that a synapse or two in my brainpan isn’t firing on all cylinders. And this was before I was introduced to weed.
I’d ride around the hood on my bike, impervious to time or space or anything, really, replaying episodes of the detective shows I loved so much, in my head.
I was a fanciful kid. Always making up stuff, and I dearly loved to pretend that I was a private investigator ala “77 Sunset Strip.” Now those dudes were cool. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as Stuart Bailey, Roger Smith as Jeff Spencer, and Edd Byrnes as that fricken’ Kookie with his comb!
They looked fly and they talked it, about as fly as white guys can be, anyway, and they had a secret place in this little girl’s heart.
I had friends, sure, but I was also perfectly happy to romp around by myself. But sometimes, during one of my particularly pleasurable flights of fancy, I’d wander off, and even if my ramblings took me only a few blocks from my home, I’d be completely discombobulated. Lost! As if I was a stranger in a strange land. And the more time goes by, the more I’m starting to feel like exactly that.
My mom and dad, and other people would tell me time and again, “Sherry, just remember that the lake (Michigan) is in the east.” Or the west. I don’t even know as I grew up in a suburb of Chicago and my response would always be, “But I can’t see the damned lake!”
So, yeah. Nailing down north, south, east and west is a non-starter for me. I’ve always found my way by utilizing landmarks. “Ok, so there’s a Taco Bell on the left corner and a nail salon on the right.” Like that.
I’m talking basic stuff.
Not knowing where you’re going can get you into trouble. I had an experience that was so surreal that thinking about it to this day gives me the willies. And it was all because I didn’t know where the fuck I was.
My husband and I had just moved to a suburb far west of Chicago, where we were previously living. We knew very little about the town other than the fact we got a. great deal on a stellar home.
It felt like we’d landed on the moon. Twenty years ago, when we moved in, the burb was very countrified, at least in comparison to Chicago proper. I was still working at an ad agency in the city, too, and had a nightmare of a commute.
One day, I had to be on set for a commercial we were shooting. I don’t remember what it was for, only that I’d written it! Anyway, the shoot went on for hours and it was late by the time we wrapped up, so I was told to take a cab home. No Uber or Lyft, or even, navigational software, then.
The cab arrived, manned by a very nice (or so I thought) Pakistani fellow, and off we went. Note that my husband and I live about forty-six miles from downtown Chicago, a ride that should have taken about forty-five minutes for a driver who knew where the hell they were going.
Mine did not. Let me repeat. For my cab driver, my home address might have been in upstate New York for all his directional acumen. It was the blind leading the blind, guys, and let me tell you, the shit got crazy.
I did my best to “direct,” however that said, I got us on the wrong highway going in the opposite direction from where we were supposed to be heading.
Every time I’d try to point this out to my driver, he would giggle in response. In fact, that’s all he did was giggle. After a while, it started to scare me. Was I going to be jacked? If so, why? I didn’t have anything this guy would want. Well…maybe I’m selling myself short, just a bit.
But I digress. So onward we went, around and around in circles. Literally. I was so lost I couldn't think straight. Plus, I was exhausted, mentally, and physically. It had been a long day and all I wanted to do was get home and dive into one of my husband’s perfect martinis.
As it turned out, that wasn’t going to happen, for hours. That’s right, I said, hours.
If memory serves correctly, I must have had a phone or borrowed the driver’s car phone because I recall frantically ringing up my hubby in an effort to get some help. He, in turn, called the cab company to see what the hell was going on with this giggling maniac. I suppose in retrospect, I could have called them myself but I was a mess at that point.
The driver even giggled when I told him his ass was grass!
Finally, after some help from the company dispatcher and my husband, I made it home, in one piece, but traumatized. I practically fell through the front door.
I’d been in that cab for no less than four hours. I know. Hard to believe, but it happened. And all because I never know where the hell I’m at.
As you might expect, the bill for the ride was in the “hundreds.” Yes, the agency heads were askance, but I seem to recall that I was fully reimbursed. I can only imagine what they thought happened. I just told the truth. What else was I to do?
Today, I’m just as clueless when it comes to finding my way around. Even with my phone’s GPS, I can take a wrong turn. Like yesterday, for an example. I had to take my car for a vehicle admissions test so I could renew its registration for a cool $160.
Even though I’ve driven on the main road leading to the place for years, I spaced out and went a mile and a half out of my way coming home. I completely missed my turn-off.
That’s not such a big deal, certainly, but when I get lost, I start to panic. It takes about ten seconds until I’m virtually useless. When that happens, I pull off the road and try to regain my focus.
Maybe this is the reason I lack direction in other areas, most specifically, in my “career.” I no longer know what the hell I want other than to write. I’m here, I’m there, I’m everywhere and none of it is paying off in the way that I’d hoped. I’m still lost and lookin.” For what, I’m no longer sure.
As I told a writer friend here, I feel like a hamster on a wheel, going nowhere, fast.
Maybe this is why that cab driver was giggling. He was prescient. He saw something in me, a lost soul, perhaps. Whatever it was, it made him laugh his head off.
Not the best sign. | https://medium.com/the-top-shelf/lost-and-lookin-7745123e6b9c | ['Sherry Mcguinn'] | 2020-12-01 18:19:18.941000+00:00 | ['Lack Of Direction', 'It Happened To Me', 'Sherry Top Shelf', 'True Story', 'Humor'] |
How I Keep my Long-Distance Marriage Healthy | Photo by Jasmine Wallace Carter from Pexels
My husband is an over-the-road truck driver which means he travels pretty much every time he leaves home for work. Now, when I say he travels, I mean far. Really far. He’s currently on his way to Edmonton, Canada- it’s not the first time he’s done this and it definitely won’t be the last. When he leaves, he not only has to leave me behind but also our 6-month-old baby girl. The sacrifices he makes to keep our family sustained is an endless list, which is what makes it so EASY to love him, even more, every single day.
My husband is gone about 10–15 days out of each month, and when business is really good he can be gone even longer. He hauls hazardous chemicals all around the United States and up into Canada as well. When he’s dispatched [assigned a new load] he usually wakes up around 4 to 5 in the morning and is out of the house within the hour. We get a quick kiss and hug goodbye and then he’s out the door. I always tell him, “Come back home to me” and he always replies that “of course [he] will.” This has been our ritual for the last 3 years, and it’ll continue to be until we are blessed to have him home full time.
Being a truck driver means staying away from your home, family, and friends 80% of the time. I still can’t begin to imagine how my husband feels when he’s over 2,000 miles away from home…but I know exactly what the separation of 2,000 miles feels like. I’ve had numerous friends and family members wonder aloud, “How does she do it?” and I’m often told, “I could NEVER do that” once they hear how long he’s been gone. Plus having to take care of our daughter? “No way!” they always say. Yes, I’m still married to him. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, I get lonely. But, I know our marriage is stronger than ever and I know our baby girl still feels his presence around her even in his absence.
I’m asked all the time how we manage to stay so connected to each other when he’s out on the road and how we keep our relationship strong. I know I can’t be the only trucker’s wife out there, or the only person with a significant other [SO] whose job keeps them away from home for days at a time, so I’m hoping this article really helps anyone who is struggling to find the glue to keep their relationship together.
So, without further delay, here are my tried and true tips to keep a long-distance relationship strong and healthy. | https://medium.com/@jsilvawrites/how-i-keep-my-long-distance-marriage-healthy-9c3a9727e5bd | ['Jennie Silva'] | 2019-11-21 19:31:42.898000+00:00 | ['Long Distance', 'Couples', 'Relationships', 'Marriage', 'Love'] |
Tips to Master in Zoom | Under the coronavirus situation, a lot of people have to work at home, relying on remote working platforms such as Zoom. But as a beginner to Zoom, I have encountered a few embarrassing moments in Zoom for inappropriate usage. For example, I forgot to mute myself in class so that everyone in class heard my murmur clearly; my face flushed in a second when the instructor called my name. More than that, in one presentation, my group partner was in an awful environment setting and used an all-back virtual background: when he smiles, there’s a black hole on his teeth.
Reflected upon my experiences in Zoom, I have summarized a list of helpful tips you can use, as a paticipant or presenter.
Tips for Participants:
1. Mute when you are not talking.
Sometimes, when you press the space button for a while, your microphone would unmute automatically and your voice would be heard by everyone. Be sure that you don’t press anything by mistake, or others in the meeting would be distracted by your noise!
Microphone Off
You have been muted, and others cannot hear you talking. You can click on the icon to unmute yourself.
Microphone On
You are unmuted and ready to talk. You can click here to mute yourself.
2. Turn on the camera for better interactions.
Don’t be shy to show your beautiful faces! Facial expressions are very helpful to the meeting, both for speakers and listeners.
Camera On
Your camera is on, and everyone can see your face.
Camera Off
Your camera is off, and people can only see your name displayed in the gallery.
Camera Off
3. Raise your hands in the participant list if you have questions.
When you are having a meeting with a large group of people, you won’t be noticed by physically raising your hands. Instead, you can raise hands to notify the meeting host in the participant list.
a. Go to the participant list.
Paticipant List
b. Click on the blue hand icon at the bottom of the list.
The Bottom of Participant List
c. After that, you can see a blue hand displayed next to your name on the list, which means you have successfully raised your hands.
You have successfully raised your hand.
Tips for Presenters:
1. Make sure you are in a good setting
A good presentation environment would make you look more energetic, confident, and comfortable, which helps to double the persuasion of your speech.
2. Use your slides as a virtual background
“What kind of virtual background should I use for today’s presentation?” This is the question that bothered me for every presentation I make. Using a professional virtual background could add value to your presentation.
Meanwhile, as a listener, even with a neat background, I don’t feel like watching an engaging offline presentation most of the time. Why? Because I am easily distracted by the lecturer image and slides on separate windows.
Sample of Using PPT as Virtual Background
However, here’s one way to embed the speaker into the slide — using PowerPoint slides as a virtual background!
a. Click “Share Screen”.
b. Click “Advanced” shown in the middle of the top.
c. Click “PowerPoint as Virtual Background”.
d. You can drag your image to everywhere on the screen.
You are one step to the best speaker!
By applying this format, your audience would not be bothered to adjust their set to watch your presentation and slides at the same time. Also, they won’t be distracted by your virtual background and able to concentrate more on the content. However, your animation on slides won’t be displayed if you use it as background. So, if the animation is significant in the presentation, you need to create more slides to show animations step by step.
3. Set up polling questions for interactions
Indeed, listeners can hardly follow up for a long time in a virtual setting, but with polling questions, they can pause for a while and reflect on the previous content. In short, Slicing your presentation with meaningful questions is a good approach to improve presentation quality.
4. Avoid technical issues
Technical issues always have negative impacts on the quality of the presentation as they would cut down your content and disrupt listeners’ attention. Thereby, it’s important to prevent as many technical problems as possible. An easy and effective way is to have a dry run before the final presentation, checking whether your microphone, camera, and Internet connection work smoothly. Also, if you enter the Zoom meeting with two devices, don’t forget to “double” mute one device (e.g. turn on the silent mode on your device and turn off the microphone on Zoom). Otherwise, there would be a terrible echo noise when you are presenting.
5. Don’t forget to share the sound when you are presenting with videos
When sharing screens, presenters may easily forget to share sounds. When clicking on the button of “share screen”, at the left bottom of the jump-up page, you can find a little click-box for sharing sound. Be careful that you have closed all other software with sounds such as email or social media platforms; otherwise, every audience can hear the notification sound when you receive a message or email. | https://medium.com/@julieimida/tips-to-master-in-zoom-911a585d96e5 | ['Julie Xu'] | 2020-12-09 02:09:11.829000+00:00 | ['How To Use', 'Online Presentation', 'Beginners Guide', 'Zoom'] |
The Song of the Written Word: What is Melodic Writing? | Experienced writers use a subtle art of creating subliminal harmony in their writing. You have felt it, even if you’ve missed it. And you can do it too.
First of all: hail to all editors. Editing is an art I have undervalued for a long time and which I never really had a lot of luck with. I always edited and proofread my own work even though I knew I had ‘a fool for a client’. I’m not good at editing. I’m not good at proofreading. But I did not have any good options. Editing is not given much importance in the Portuguese publishing world, as far as I’m concerned. Only now do we see people actually asking for that kind of professional care. At least that’s my experience. So it took me all these years to finally have some experts editing my work. And a couple of first experiences weren’t that good. But now they are: I have a couple of editors working on my texts, both in Portuguese and English. And I am particularly happy with the editing of my new novel LAURA AND THE SHADOW KING.
But there are a few things I do that editors are not particularly keen to accept or understand — so I had a few struggles about this with the ones I work with. Let me speak to you today about what I call Melodic Writing. It’s something I picked up long ago from Virginia Woolf and then Jack Kerouac, and which I noticed many brilliant writers practice, even if maybe they are not aware of.
Virginia Woolf is one of my favorite authors. Even though I could never get into some of her work, as ORLANDO, other pieces still blow my mind. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE is one of my favorite novels. But the first book of her I read, back in my twenties, was THE WAVES. And I was completely struck by the opening to the book. Let me transcribe the first two paragraphs:
The sun had not yet risen. The sea was indistinguishable from the sky, except that the sea was slightly creased as if a cloth had wrinkles in it. Gradually as the sky whitened a dark line lay on the horizon dividing the sea from the sky and the grey cloth became barred with thick strokes moving, one after another, beneath the surface, following each other, pursuing each other, perpetually.
As they neared the shore each bar rose, heaped itself, broke and swept a thin veil of white water across the sand. The wave paused, and then drew out again.
This is a beautiful piece, by any standard. But there is one thing that absolutely blows my mind each time I read it and completely changed the way I write: even though you can develop an image in your head of the waves reaching the shore… you can also feel them. Please read the opening again, but now notice one thing: the sentences feel as waves themselves. They have a cadence so well structured that it is as if the sentences themselves are waves. Look particularly at the last wave:
As they neared the shore each bar rose, (the wave swells)
heaped itself, (it peaks)
broke and swept a thin veil of white water across the sand. (it stretches across the sand)
The wave paused, (the wave stops, as stretched as it can be)
and then drew out again. (and then goes back.)
This is brilliant writing. Every comma, every stop, every word is there for the specific rhythm you need. There’s no rule to that. If you edit this text with the idea that commas have a specific function and should be put here or there because of some rule, you might just ruin the whole thing. It would be easy to take out the last one, for instance, and just have: «The wave paused and drew out again.» But that is not what happened: «The wave paused — comma — and drew out again.» And suddenly the sentence pauses as well and mimics the action of the wave.
I don’t know if anyone ever studied this in Literature classes. I never did. But as far as Creative Writing is concerned, this melodic writing is extremely powerful. Subtle intelligent writing lives on the subtext, on what’s implicit, but Melodic Writing takes this to a whole new level. It works on your unconscious. It taps into your emotions at another level. And it’s not just Woolf that does it. I recognized it later in Jack Kerouac, for instance, in LONESOME TRAVELER, as he describes in several pages how a railroad worker runs to catch a train. And in Hemingway. And in Whitman. Here’s a verse from SONG OF MYSELF:
The smoke of my own breath,
Echoes, ripples, buzz’d whispers, love-root, silk-thread, crotch and vine
I don’t know about you, but the second sentence seems to me as a cloud of smoke moving through the air out of one’s mouth.
I believe Melodic Writing is a thing. I don’t know if writers do it on purpose or by instinct, but they do it, and some in a really brilliant way. So I’m very careful with people that tell me that one sentence is unnecessary or a particular word is excessive. Rhythm takes precedent. Editors have a difficult time understanding me on this. I think I’m finally working with one that is starting to understand. Let me give you an example from my own work (far inferior to the other examples, but bear with me).
The soldiers were trying to convince the injured nurse to let herself be carried on a blanket and she was trying to convince them she could walk. Then, a gunshot sounded in the next room and everyone shut up.
In this text, the first thing that my editor tried to get rid of was the word ‘Then’. Unnecessary to editors, of course. It just seems not to convey any information. The impact, she said, is conveyed by the dry sentence: A gunshot sounded in the next room and everyone shut up. But the thing is: ‘Then’ mimics the shot. It is there for a reason. I could just have said: Bang, a gunshot sounded in the next room. It just manipulates the rhythm and the attention span of the reader towards a specific event.
This may not seem a lot to you, but in the overall writing, it has an impact. And as it gets more and more refined, it has a higher and higher impact, just as the opening of THE WAVES had on me. I hope one day I’ll be able to write that well. Kudos to Woolf. I’ll keep training and applying and admiring from afar. | https://medium.com/swlh/the-song-of-the-written-word-what-is-melodic-writing-d7712aa6f800 | ['Bruno Martins Soares'] | 2020-03-05 03:10:05.699000+00:00 | ['Writing Life', 'Writing', 'Melodic Writing', 'Writing Tips', 'Creative Writing'] |
I Am Living In A Box | I am living in a box
I created it to keep me safe
I thought I was free
I could no longer see my box but it was there
I kept bumping into it
Invisible restrictions
Constrictions
How to live prescriptions
All part of my box
I created it to keep me safe
I thought I was free
I can now feel my box I know it is there
I’ve tried kicking and punching it
It flinches
Moves a few inches
Then invades me like chinches
They live in my box
I created them to keep me safe
I thought I was free
I thought I was free
I thought I was free | https://medium.com/illumination/i-am-living-in-a-box-d61c60ffff30 | ['John Walter'] | 2020-07-28 05:28:09.574000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Freedom', 'Self', 'Safety', 'Mental Health'] |
Beer the Bear | A Poem
Photo by Hans-Jurgen Mager (souce: Unsplash.com)
Add honey to my beer
’cause I’m a bear
whose sugary nature
might just be too much to bear.
What is this weight I feel?
Holy salmon! It’s a slimy eel…
Or was it just a hallucination?
Then my dear, much salutation!
For tonight we drink
For tonight we shall ink
The legendary “Tale of Lonliust the Frog!”
Love, from Breevo the Bear | https://medium.com/muddyum/beer-the-bear-bae6875d9f3b | ['Hung Phung'] | 2020-06-25 22:58:44.474000+00:00 | ['Bears', 'Beer', 'Humour', 'Nature', 'Poetry'] |
Teaching a Self-Driving A.I. To Make Human-Like Decisions | In this situation, both the optimization-based and machine-learned models within our behavior planner had determined that the right course of action in this instance was to yield to the static pedestrian in the roundabout. This was a safe action, but something a rider in our robotaxi would not be pleased to wait for. A human driver would undertake them on the right albeit slower than usual.
In High-Quality Decision Making, we teach our self-driving A.I. to navigate this situation—and importantly, others that resemble it—by adding “rich” data to our dataset. This rich data has two components:
The recorded driving data of the event. Explicit instructions on what our self-driving A.I. did well (an affirmation) or where it needed to improve (a correction) in that event.
In the above instruction, a member of our data team took a look at the recorded driving data and codified—explicitly—the actions they would have taken if they were in the driver’s seat. In this case, the author says we should have navigated the vehicles and the pedestrian on the right, and that we should have done so slower than usual.
What’s special here—and what makes this data rich—is that other machine learning approaches (e.g., end-to-end) may feed recorded driving events with just subtle signals (i.e., driver take-over) into their model, without also feeding explicit detail on was right or wrong in the event. It is then up to the machine-learned model itself to infer exactly what the self-driving A.I. did right or wrong, with the theory being that with enough data, it will figure this out by itself. Our approach explicitly feeds our machine-learned model detailed instructions—interpretable by both machine and human—on exactly how a human would have handled the situation. With this smaller, richer data—and by bounding what the machine-learned model is tasked to do—we have achieved great results.
After training the machine-learned model with our newly added rich data, our self-driving A.I. can now navigate the scenario. The yellow ghost car that gets stuck is utilizing the behavior planner before re-training.
After training, our robotaxi navigates the situation with ease.
It’s important to note that this situation being handled correctly after adding the explicit instructions is not what’s exciting (it is a form of overfitting, after all), but rather how we are seeing the machine-learned model generalize from a relatively small dataset to other situations.
With now thousands of pieces of rich data—similar to the above example—fueling the machine-learned model in High-Quality Decision Making, we are now regularly observing our self-driving A.I. making human-like decisions. These decisions are often not wow-worthy, but it’s the sum of many subtle driving interactions—like nudging for a pedestrian or slowing down appropriately—that makes for a human-like ride.
Here are a few examples of those subtle decisions made by High-Quality Decision Making.
Our self-driving A.I. slows down before nudging right to give the pedestrian more room.
Our self-driving A.I. yields for the crossing pedestrian, but doesn’t wait for them to exit the road before making the unprotected turn.
Our self-driving A.I. slows down to understand if the overtake can be made without interfering with the pedestrians.
Our self-driving A.I. makes a cautious overtake with multiple pedestrians around us.
Our self-driving A.I. overtakes pedestrians cautiously on a curve. | https://news.voyage.auto/teaching-a-self-driving-a-i-to-make-human-like-decisions-a9a9597dd156 | ['Oliver Cameron'] | 2020-12-23 20:03:20.042000+00:00 | ['Self Driving Cars', 'Autonomous Cars', 'Technology', 'Machine Learning', 'Startup'] |
Why ‘Rush Hour 2’ Is My Favorite Childhood Movie | It’s no secret that there isn’t that much Asian-American representation in film — a culture war hot topic that’s been addressed recently. Growing up as a first-generation Asian-American, I certainly did not see all too much Asian representation in film, but there was one actor I consistently saw:
Jackie Chan.
I saw Jackie Chan in a lot of movies my family liked in the early to mid 2000s, which were of the action-comedy variety. These included Rumble in the Bronx, Police Story, and Mr. Nice Guy. Jackie Chan was and still is known for being a master actor and stuntman in every movie — his ability to make seemingly impossible kicks and jumps look easy made him a legend to many Americans.
To me, however, it was different — Jackie Chan was just the only Asian I saw in American movies, and that trend has stayed constant. When I first started teaching in Baltimore City, I remember covering a 12th grade math class where the students didn’t know my name, so they called me Jackie Chan. The second thing I’m usually called is Bruce Lee, but for a long time Jackie Chan was the symbol and emblem of Asians in America.
All of my students are Black, and Rush Hour 2 is a movie where Chris Tucker, a Black man, and Jackie Chan, an Asian man, work together, laugh together, and act together. It’s a movie that might have been ahead of its time given the anti-Black prejudice I’ve personally experienced within the Asian community. All of my students are Black and my girlfriend is Black, and we all have a lot of difficult conversations and experiences together, and I always found Rush Hour 2 as an engine to dive into those difficult conversations, with a lot of laughter.
My favorite Jackie Chan movie, where he became more than just an actor but someone I saw myself in, was Rush Hour 2. (It wasn’t Rush Hour because I simply saw Rush Hour 2 first.)
The plot of Rush Hour 2 goes as follows: following the events of the first movie, where LAPD Detective James Carter (played by Chris Tucker) and Hong Kong Chief Inspector Lee (played by Jackie Chan) are on vacation. During their vacation, a bomb goes off at the United States Consulate General, which kills two undercover U.S. customs agents.
Lee is assigned to be the investigator of the case after his boss tells him that the one person involved in the bombing was Ricky Tan, his father’s former police partner, who is suspected of killing Lee’s father. They discover that Rick Tan leads the Triads, and then Lee and Carter go on a journey in both Hong Kong and Los Angeles to bring justice to Ricky Tan and his Triad associates.
I have seen Rush Hour 2 at least seven times — I couldn’t get enough as a kid for one simple reason: it was really funny. I probably first saw it when I was six. Movie reviews, by and large, however, didn’t like the movie. Rush Hour 2 has a 52% positive rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Fortunately, audience members liked the movie more than the critics did with a 74% rating.
I watched Rush Hour 2 with everyone. I saw it with my mom, my dad, my brother, and all of my friends. They would start to get annoyed by me wanting to watch the movie so much. But I insisted, of course, and we kept watching. It became much more than a movie every time, but an event and experience that the theaters couldn’t parallel.
I have not seen the movie in years. But it holds an indelible mark in my heart not only because of the experience and the bonding conversations I had with others, but because seeing Jackie Chan succeed in a very commercially successful movie, in retrospect, was a major breakthrough for how I saw myself.
Yes, I did try all the kicks and moves that Jackie Chan did in the movie, like every other Jackie Chan movie. No, I wasn’t successful. To this day, I can barely touch my toes when I reach down, and doing kicks and stunts like Jackie Chan requires a fair amount of flexibility.
But I will always remember the joy in seeing an Asian-American actor in Jackie Chan become commercially successful in America. Sure, I’d seen Asians in film before — but those were often Chinese movies and soap operas I often watched with my parents. Rush Hour 2 made $347.3 million, which certainly showed that the movie had rich, international appeal.
“Jackie orchestrates yet another masterful display of chop socky mayhem that sees him disposing of bad guys with everything from a Persian rug to a wastepaper bin,” Neil Smith said at BBC.
End Credits Blooper Reel for Rush Hour 2
I don’t quite remember a movie whose bloopers I kept replaying on YouTube over and over again. I loved Chris Tucker in the movie as much as I loved Jackie Chan, and the chemistry between the two made the dialogue particularly funny.
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker navigate a landscape of Black-Asian relations and do it as masterfully as they could have in 2001. They clearly get along in their lines as well as in the bloopers, and I personally recently talked to a reporter about the Asian-American experience in America. I told the reporter that my experience is different from most other Asian-Americans in America — in the classroom and in much of my personal life, I navigate Black spaces while many Asian-Americans, in my personal experience, tend to navigate more White spaces. Frankly, I found my situation a bit unusual for Asian-Americans and the reporter did as well.
The movie rings true to me today, and in 2020, I doubt a movie like Rush Hour 2 would have been made — so I can’t talk about the movie without getting into its critiques of racial stereotypes and jokes. In one particularly tense scene, when both protagonists are tied up in the back of a truck, Carter says that he’ll slap Lee, and Lee retorts by telling Carter that “I’ll bitch slap you back to Africa.”
Since the movie was made in 2001 and it’s now 2020, it’s clear that that line hasn’t aged very well — at all. Other lines in the movie haven’t either.
However, in a 2006 journal article published in the Journal of Communication, Ji Hoon Park, Nadine Gabbadon and Ariel Chernin explored the ideological implications of racial stereotypes in comedy through an analysis of Rush Hour 2. They had Asian, Black, and White participants engage with racial stereotypes in the movie, and Asian and Black participants, in particular, found the racial jokes a source of pleasure and found that “the negative portrayals of their own race…did not produce oppositional discourse.”
Basically, the authors of the study conclude that the comedy of Rush Hour 2 “naturalize[s] racial differences.” Another study from Matt Lee at Elon University said that the movie perpetuated the most racial stereotypes of Asians than any other ethnicity. But Lee also notes that Rush Hour 2 was groundbreaking in that it had two minorities as its leads and an Asian and Black man as its heroes, which just didn’t happen at a time.
Yes, Rush Hour 2 was flawed, but I can’t name a single other movie, even in 2020, that included a Black man and Asian man as its dual leads. Where other movies failed to go, the Rush Hour franchise did in a way that, to this day, is the only film I’ve watched featuring the biracial dynamics between Asian and Black Americans, much like my relationship or my connections with my students.
“A movie like Rush Hour, released in 1998, rather than showing the “progressiveness” of Hollywood, demonstrated instead its reliance on traditional stereotypical tropes when portraying people of color,” wrote Bea Conti at Emory University. “However, with a Chinese lead man and a Black American lead man, the movie broke decades-long rules on who could be leads in Hollywood.”
Contrary to popular belief, I don’t really find it that offensive when I’m called “Jackie Chan” by my students. In fact, I’m glad to be compared to Jackie Chan and I understand that a large part of the comparison is just a lack of exposure to Asians in film, culture, and daily life.
Rush Hour 2 may have been made over 20 years ago, but I still love the movie. It went where no other movie did and holds a personal connection, close to home. And it made me laugh — a lot. | https://medium.com/make-it-personal/why-rush-hour-2-is-my-favorite-childhood-movie-f7177d3dce23 | ['Ryan Fan'] | 2020-08-22 12:01:01.850000+00:00 | ['Equality', 'Self', 'Film', 'Race', 'Culture'] |
End of Paper Money offers Opportunity for Blockchain Companies | Events in India demonstrate that the impending death of paper money is a major opportunity for blockchain-based financial services companies. The chaos created by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drastic demonetization demonstrates the potential and danger of the cashless future.
Modi stunned Indians on November 8, 2016, when he went on TV and declared that the nation’s two most popular banknotes would be worthless within 50 days. All 500 rupee and 1,000 rupee notes were withdrawn from circulation and replaced with new bills.
Demonetization was designed to discourage terrorism, smuggling, organized crime, tax evasion, and counterfeiting, Modi claimed. Some government officials later admitted the move was done to force India into a cashless society. | https://medium.com/rubius-inc/end-of-paper-money-offers-opportunity-for-blockchain-companies-eba47612629d | [] | 2018-08-03 08:51:18.604000+00:00 | ['India', 'Money', 'Blockchain', 'Demonetization', 'Bitcoin'] |
What is so special about mongoose library when working with MongoDB | What is so special about mongoose library when working with MongoDB
Understand what makes it popular from other npm libraries
Photo by Max Nelson on Unsplash
In this article we will explore why mongoose is the preferred library, when working with MongoDB and what makes it popular.
So let’s get started.
Take a look at the following code for MongoDB
In the above code, we are inserting a new document into users collection.
The inserted document has name, email and age fields.
Consider, we have provided a registration form where user enters this information which we are storing in MongoDB.
But there is no guarantee that user enters the valid data while registering. User might enter a string in the age field and number in name field.
If we want to prevent the user from entering bad data, we need to add validation to check for each input field. So you might need to trim the value, convert it to lowercase as user might enter the data in uppercase etc before saving the data into the database.
Imagine, you have added the validation for all fields and in future if there comes a requirement of adding a new field to the collection like salary or phone number, you need to add another validations to handle that. This is cumbersome as you need to verify the validation if it handles all scenarios and modify the validation function to handle new scenario.
Mongoose fixes all of these issues by providing in-built basic validations. It also allows us to write our own validation if required. So making it difficult to mess with the data to be inserted.
Mongoose also requires to declare the type of data each field contains so it’s impossible to enter wrong type of data.
That’s enough about details. Let’s dive into mongoose and understand how to use it.
Install the mongoose using
npm install [email protected]
To start with, we will create a basic code using mongoose
Create a new file mongoose.js and add the following code
Start the MongoDB server to listen to the connections.
To execute the above code run
node mongoose.js
This will create a new document inside the users collection with the provided data.
Note, even though we have provided the User as model name, mongoose pluralises it and creates a collection with name users.
As you can see in the code, we specify the type of each field in the document while creating the model.
Now change the age value from number to string and run the code again using node mongoose.js
const user = new User({
name: 'David',
email: '[email protected]',
age: 'John'
});
So if you try to insert wrong type of data into the collection, mongoose will throw an error and will not allow you to insert the document.
If you want to mark some fields as required we can as required: true while creating the model.
As you can see, we have marked the name and email as required so if we try to save the user without name or email, mongoose will throw an error.
Now suppose, we want to trim the user input and convert to lowercase value while saving the document, we can do that as shown below
When we run the code, we can see that new document is correctly inserted.
Even though, we have provided spaces before and after the name and email, both of them are trimmed and name is converted to lowercase while saving.
So by just adding a single property to model, mongoose makes it so easy to do validation instead of repeating the code for every field.
We can add our own validation also for any field by adding a validate method in the model. The value provided by user is passed as the first argument for the validate method.
This method gets called for every data inserted into the collection and if the validation fails, the data will not be inserted to the collection
Here we are trying to save users with wrong email address tim@example which will fail because of our added validate method.
So using in-built validations and allowing us to add our own custom validation, mongoose makes working with MongoDB a very easy task.
To learn more about mongoose library navigate to https://mongoosejs.com/
That’s it for today. Hope you learned something new today.
Don’t forget to subscribe to get my weekly newsletter with amazing tips, tricks, and articles directly in your inbox here. | https://medium.com/javascript-in-plain-english/what-is-so-special-about-mongoose-library-when-working-with-mongodb-65096b97f8ae | ['Yogesh Chavan'] | 2020-09-29 15:54:30.120000+00:00 | ['Nodejs', 'JavaScript', 'Mongodb', 'Programming', 'Web Development'] |
Permissionless Professors #9: David Perell | We believe monetization is a hidden secret. Secrets hiding in plain sight. From the psychology of anchoring, the mathematics of power-law pricing tables, the application of demand elasticity, and the market positioning of your price — your path to better monetization awaits.
Follow | https://medium.com/monetization-manifesto/permissionless-professors-9-david-perell-b58b936ef9e6 | ['Gary Bailey - Monetization Manifesto'] | 2020-12-17 15:40:31.549000+00:00 | ['Growth', 'Marketing', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Startup', 'Monetization'] |
8 Global Cryptocurrency Market Trends in 2020 | 1. China will continue to influence the industry
China arguably became the most influential international actor in the cryptocurrency market in 2019, to a large part displacing even the United States in this regard. However, we believe that in 2020 the “boy who cried wolf” effect will gradually reduce market reactions to news of Chinese state reactions to the industry. Especially after the recent story when the mention of bitcoin in the main newspaper of the country turned out to be nothing more than a provocation. It seems to us that the process itself will force many participants to reformat the industry, both on the China territory and beyond.
Changes to the regulatory environment will especially affect miners. Although Beijing has declined to ban mining outright, a national cryptocurrency policy will encourage miners to relocate their operations to other jurisdictions. Incidentally, we already saw this in part in 2019. Even Iran joined the list of countries now attractive to cryptocurrency miners, and the United States has grown its own mining capacity. Presumably, the US will support the continuation of this trend as it attempts to compete with blockchain and state currency developments in China.
Many of the advantages offered by cryptocurrencies and blockchain, in general, are taking hold in China, which is investing more into the industry than all other countries. In 2020, we will with no doubt begin to see the first fruits of this focus. At the same time, these technologies will contribute to the Chinese state’s control of its people and economy, although this will not negate their other benefits such as speed, reduced costs, and solving the problem of trust.
2. Central Bank Digital Currencies
Along the same lines, we believe the most anticipated currency of our day is the digital yuan. Given China’s leading position in the world economy, a digital currency will be a significant change in the global financial system. China has been actively introducing numerous modern technologies into its citizens’ daily lives, so we have no doubt that the party’s plans will come to fruition as the crypto yuan spreads rapidly.
2020 also may be the year other countries release their own digital currencies, but the crypto yuan will most likely appear first.
The addition of Central Bank Digital Currencies to states’ agendas is largely due to the increased recognition of the potential of cryptocurrencies in general and stablecoins in particular. International organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) have repeatedly expressed their opinions that central banks should begin developing their own analogs to modern cryptocurrencies.
Interestingly, digital currencies for certain regions have also been discussed — in particular for the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). China can probably offer its national cryptocurrency for this role, in a move which is fully consistent with Chinese plans for its use in international settlement. Of course, this does not mean that the other countries in BRICS will agree to this suggestion.
The European Central Bank is also preparing to develop its stablecoin and has already set a working group. So it is likely that soon we will find out about the project, which will be a kind of hybrid cryptocurrency with the features of stablecoins and regional currency.
In the further future, we can expect a single global digital currency. In October 2019, the Bank for International Settlements held the first G20 Central Bank Governors Summit which discussed the idea of a global cryptocurrency. In Switzerland, Benchmarks Regulation and the Swiss Central Bank have already created a center for the development of a single settlement token among the world’s central banks.
All of these facts indicate that the transition of states to digital currencies is simply part of the next stage in mankind’s development — and its appearance is rather a matter of time.
3. Strengthened Ties Between the Cryptocurrency Market and the Global Economy and System
The cryptocurrency market was previously considered a separate, closed system, with inscrutable trends and movements. Now, we are witnessing the gradual integration of these markets into the global financial system, as well as deeper repercussions in the crypto industry from economic and political events. Of course, we are far from seeing cryptocurrencies able to exert an equally powerful effect in the other direction, as their overall market capitalization is still much too small.
In 2019, against the backdrop of a trade war between the United States and China, Bitcoin began to be regarded as a “safe haven” asset. It was, however, only one of several such assets, which also included gold. Bitcoin was generally used more to diversify a portfolio than to confidently store a large percentage of wealth. Economic and political instability in certain countries — Venezuela, Argentina, Hong Kong, etc. — also contributed to the strengthening of this role for Bitcoin.
Many negative predictions have surfaced for 2020, foretelling a crisis for the economic and financial system that will be many times more serious than the 2008 crisis. In particular, the introduction of negative interest rates by central banks, the growth of global debt, and the slowdown of world production are named as reasons for concern. However, these challenges may prove opportunities for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which can establish themselves as a means to preserve accumulated capital.
In addition, a series of events is expected in 2020 that will have rippling effects across the globe. Among these is Brexit, the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union. There is some speculation that, after Brexit, the UK will turn to cryptocurrencies to solve difficulties with international financial transactions.
Finally, the US presidential election is coming in November 2020, and the result could affect that country’s policy on cryptocurrency. Even in 2019, brief Twitter statements by the President of the United States significantly influenced the mood of the cryptocurrency market.
4. Messengers and Social Networks as Players in the Cryptocurrency Market
Today, messaging apps are striving to become more universal, offering the functionality of both marketplaces and digital wallets. The most notable contenders are:
The TON blockchain network and GRAM cryptocurrency created by Telegram
The developing blockchain ecosystem of Korean giant Kakao, which includes its own Klaytn blockchain network, its own Klay cryptocurrency, decentralized applications (dApps) on the Klaytn network, the largest Korean messenger KakaoTalk, and KlaytnPhone smartphones based on the flagship Samsung model — and another model probably soon to be released based on LG. In the future, the blockchain component will be able to integrate with other Kakao projects, in particular, the KakaoPay payment system and the online banking service Kakao Bank
Japanese messaging app Viber and its stablecoin, Rakuten Coin, which will be exchangeable for fiat on the Rakuten Wallet exchange and is maintained by the messaging app’s owner, Rakuten. The company will likely announce long-term plans to integrate this stablecoin into the recently launched Moneytou payment service;
The ecosystem of the Canadian messaging app Kik, based on the Kin token (which runs on the Stellar blockchain).
An even more grandiose development was conceived by Facebook, which presented the project of the universal stablecoin Libra this year, access to which could be available to all its users, that is, more than 2 billion people around the world. However, this announcement ultimately played against Facebook. Most countries made it clear that they would not allow the launch of the currency within their borders. As a result, Facebook decided to move away from the project, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently informed the United States Congress.
It is noteworthy that Facebook, Telegram, and Kik each had to deal, in one form or another, with US authorities in 2019, and their projects’ prospects were significantly hindered as a result. This indicates how seriously the American government takes the capabilities of these projects.
Thus far, prospects look more positive for Asian messaging apps: Japan’s Viber and South Korea’s Kakao. Both messengers are clearly planning to develop their projects at an international level, and we will see new stages of development for both in 2020.
5. The Development of Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
In 2019, decentralized finance (DeFi) began gaining popularity. The essence of DeFi is to provide financial services built on blockchain and smart contracts. Most such services today are cryptocurrency lending platforms, as well as derivatives markets, decentralized exchanges, and payment solutions. The algorithmic stablecoin DAI is in this segment as well. However, this is only a small part of the financial services and tools which can be transferred to the blockchain.
Based on DeFi Pulse’s data gathered directly from the blockchain, DeFi on the whole doubled in volume across 2019. According to Genesis Global Trading, $870 million in cryptocurrency loans were issued in Q3 2019 — a 250% increase over loans in Q3 2018. The total volume of loans has already exceeded $3 billion.
The volume of interest from investors confirms the industry’s confidence in DeFi, which is the second most popular investment category for the largest funds focused on cryptocurrencies and blockchains, according to The Block analyst Ryan Todd.
One of DeFi’s defining characteristics is a strong preference for the Ethereum network, where it has taken the place of the collapsed ICO market. The success of Ethereum’s update roadmap in 2020 and its ability to withstand growing congestion will determine the development path of many DeFi projects.
However, Ethereum is not the only game in town. Ripple has announced a new DeFi focus, including a new project that bills itself as a “bankless” bank account. We can expect active DeFi development on other blockchains in 2020, perhaps even on blockchains which are little known to the public.
Some new projects may be associated with large banks and corporations. Forbes recently ranked DeFi as one of the major trends in the fintech sector in 2020, indicating how much of the market the sector might capture.
6. Staking May Revitalize the Market and Repurpose Major Players
Proof of Stake (PoS) mining algorithms were proposed back in 2011, and the first implementation was completed in 2012. Proof of Stake was suggested as an alternative to Proof of Work (PoW). In Proof of Stake, the chances that a block is formed by a network participant depends not on that participant’s computing power but on the amount of the network’s cryptocurrency — “stake” — that participant holds.
In 2019, staking gained significant popularity, while at the same time gaining new centralized characteristics. Cryptocurrency exchanges and custody solutions began to offer interest on the storage of cryptocurrencies using the PoS algorithm. As a result, large exchanges have already become leading nodes on some Proof of Stake blockchains.
The most popular ways to quickly earn money on cryptocurrency were once mining and trading, but now there is a simpler alternative: staking on an exchange. In this case, the user does not need to deal with the technical details of mining, nor master the complicated techniques of trading.
One of the main problems associated with staking is the increase in centralization it causes, which has already drawn criticism of Proof of Stake algorithms from the crypto community.
At the same time, staking essentially turns cryptocurrency exchanges and custody services into investment banks of a sort, increasing the number of functions they serve in the industry and, in parallel, their influence. This was one of the main reasons that cryptocurrency exchanges in 2019 led the industry in total funds raised.
Judging by the growing popularity of centralized staking, we can expect that next year it will become one of the main objects of discussion and regulation in many countries.
7. The Legal Status of Stablecoins will be Determined
The interest in stablecoins that arose in 2018 returned with renewed vigor this past year.
During 2019, various companies announced the issuance of their own cryptocurrencies backed by fiat currency or commodities such as precious metals or gemstones. The climax of this trend was the Libra project from Facebook, which we mentioned above. It was Libra that made national governments consider the possible consequences of the widespread use of stablecoins — namely, the potential impact on established financial, economic, and social systems.
It was stablecoins issued by commercial organizations, not Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, that were recognized as a threat to the financial system in the United States, Europe, and East Asia. In 2019, legal and economic assessments made up the extent of regulatory feedback on stablecoins, including recommendations from international organizations. However, it is now obvious that in 2020, or shortly thereafter, laws will be adopted in the leading countries of the world to regulate fiat-backed cryptocurrencies. If Libra is any indication, stablecoins will be subjected to severe restrictions. Bills have already been written in the European Union and the United States to this effect.
Still, it is worth noting that the government of Bermuda has allowed taxes to be paid in the stablecoin USDC, despite the negative assessment of stablecoins made by most states.
In any case, stablecoins are being actively developed. In 2018 and 2019, venture capital funds invested $200 million in the industry.
Since the start of 2019, the capitalization of stablecoins has nearly doubled, mainly due to Tether (USDT). Tether remains the undisputed leader in market capitalization and in trading volume, where it often leads even Bitcoin. But in addition to use on exchanges, Tether began to gain popularity as a settlement currency for purchasing goods and services. The advantage of using USDT is its simplicity and speed for cross-border transfers. Tether demonstrates that it is easier for stablecoins to gain mass distribution than it is for Bitcoin or altcoins. By pegging value to a fiat currency, the problem of unpredictable volatility characteristic to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is removed.
It is often noted that stablecoins could reduce the dominance of the US dollar and stimulate international trade relations.
While Tether still dominates the stablecoin market, it has serious problems within the US judicial system, where two lawsuits have been filed against it. Proceedings will take place this year. This fact, and the trend towards strict legislation on stablecoins, gives us reason to expect that Tether will be supplanted by alternatives issued either by large corporations — which will have all necessary licensing from governments — or as Central Bank Digital Currencies by the states themselves. The presence of CBDCs would essentially eliminate the need for USDT and similar assets. In fact, USDT and other stablecoins may even be banned or at least confined to the ecosystems of the entities which issue them.
8. The regulation will Grow Stronger
In 2019, most countries were actively developing legislation to regulate the cryptocurrency market. In many of these lands, the new laws begin to take effect in 2020.
In addition, the Financial Action Task Force’s anti-money laundering requirements were released and should be integrated into government legislation around the world by the summer of next year.
Thus, in 2020 there will be tightening regulation on the activities of cryptocurrency companies. “Know your customer” (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements will become widespread, and user verification will be required of all legally operating cryptocurrency sites.
If any platforms continue to not require verification, then will likely lose any fiat gateways, making it extremely difficult for users to withdraw digital assets from them into fiat or to use those assets as a means of payment. And given the blockchain’s auditability, crypto assets from these platforms may simply not be accepted by other sites.
All of this may lead to the disappearance of those who use cryptocurrencies precisely because of the anonymity and freedom from state control that they offer. However, this new regulation is one of the necessary conditions for the arrival of institutional players and the integration of cryptocurrency into the real-world economy. | https://medium.com/exmo-official/8-global-cryptocurrency-market-trends-in-2020-d381ced608d8 | [] | 2020-01-24 14:28:34.997000+00:00 | ['Trading', 'Crypto', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Ethereum', 'Bitcoin'] |
Here Is the Epic Future Blockchain Is Going to Create | I have been following Blockchain for quite a while now. I understood the technology was innovative. But, I always wondered if it was hyped ? Diving deep into the field and interacting with thinkers assured me it wasn’t. Few insights written here, surfaced in my conversation with the Marketing Director of Vanywhere ,Gil Ram (Thank you Gil).
Open Business
It’s actually called Decentralised Autonomous Organisation, I use “ Open Business” to make it sound simple. Open Source communities which are the backbone of organizations like Linux, Google, etc have the least or no politics. I am not talking about the organization but their projects.
For example, Hyperledger is a project by Linux Foundation. It will help you build applications for private Blockchain. People around the world contribute to this project. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you are if you do good work, your code will be merged to the source. You are solely recognised for your work.
I have observed people who know how to play cheap politics overpower people who work hard. In a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation, everyone’s work will be recorded on a transparent Blockchain. Your salary would be provided by the system which evaluates your work.
Open Business will have the future of Open Source projects. Anyone anywhere with a business idea could start a Decentralised Organisation. Anyone could be a part of it, a programmer could be automatically added to the system based on his git profile. Every member of the organisation would be paid solely based on what each one brings to the table.
The Future Is Going to Be Great For Producers
You might have been already bored by the words “Eliminating middleman”. Let me tell you why it is a big deal. If I have to sell a book on Amazon, they take 50% of the sale as commission. Writing a book is hard work. It would take months to write a book.
It would take double the time to find a publisher. These publishers have their own biases (JK Rowling Turned Down By 12 Publishers), even if your work is good it would never see the light. In case you get lucky and your book was published. The majority of the cut goes to the publisher.
If you self-publish the book you have to break your sweat on marketing it. On top of that seeing Amazon take a huge cut is really painful. Only a few people dare to fight these challenge and become producers. Producers in almost every industries are exploited.
The vegetables you ate today was produced by a farmer. In India, most farmers live in poverty. Datatery Popat Ghadwaje, 42, committed suicide after days of hushed chanting “the sky betrayed”.
We can’t control the sky. But, giving a good deal of their hard work is a must. Governments try to solve the problem by giving farmers easy/reduced loans or pensions. These things don’t work. We need to go to the root of the problem and address it. We need system thinking here. We need a system that enforces farmers to get properly rewarded for their hard work.
Middleman is hungry for power, fame, and money. Blockchain replaces them with computers. Computer systems are not hungry for power, fame, and money (Except for Bitcoin). Can a computer system replace middleman?
What does a middleman do? He finds producers and consumers, buys from the producer for less and sells it to the consumer for a higher price. This can be easily replaced by a program, except the computer will give the producer a reasonable price. It’s also important that the program is transparent and not controlled by an individual. This system is what the Blockchain enables.
The future is going to be great for writers, composers, singers, farmers, or producers in general.
What about freelancers?
Upwork takes 25% of my earnings, if I earn $1000 for a project, they take $250. That is a substantial amount! So how does Blockchain help? Upwork has infrastructure cost, they need to pay for their server, database, maintenance, etc. On a public blockchain like Ethereum, the infrastructure cost is reduced drastically. Reading data from Ethereum is free.
On a centralized infrastructure which Upwork is based on, the more the people, more servers to handle the load and more money is needed. On a decentralised network, more the people, less money is required because the load is used to favour the Blockchain network.
On a blockchain based platform, the fee can be as less as 4%–2%. I have to only pay around $40 or $20 as commission. That’s drastically less compared to $250. Vanywhere is building a blockchain based platform.
Vanywhere
I recently came across Vanywhere (yet to launch). The idea is to help people monetize their skill.
It’s not limited to freelancers like in Upwork. If you have skills in cooking, fashion, traveling, sports, etc, you have an additional source of income with Vanywhere.
The brilliant thing about Vanywhere is that they are a platform based on Blockchain. This means their infrastructure cost would be drastically less and they would take less commission compared to sites like Upwork who presently eat 25% of my revenue.
Kindly note, this post is sponsored by Vanywhere.
Claps Please 👏 , Thank You 😊. Follow us, HackerNoon and me (Febin John James) for more stories. I would like to introduce you to two amazing services. Coinbase is an easy to use cryptocurrency wallet that supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. Earn pays you bitcoin for reading emails. | https://medium.com/hackernoon/here-is-the-epic-future-blockchain-is-going-to-create-afe167c90568 | ['Febin John James'] | 2018-03-21 23:41:22.269000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'ICO', 'Blockchain', 'Bitcoin', 'Innovation'] |
Edamame Salad Is My Favorite “Found” (by Accident) Recipe | Image by Albert Law for Kaz Matsune
I never imagined Edamame could be turned into a Salad.
In Japan where I grew up, Edamame was served only one way: boiled with a sprinkle of salt. The only variation was either hot or room temperature. That was it (or you could use table salt or sea salt.)
You’ve seen it — at Japanese and Sushi restaurant in the US and wherever sushi is served.
Fresh Edamame is an excellent (healthy) snack in summer — a perfect companion to a glass full of draft beer at Beer Gardens in Japan.
These days, it’s hard to get fresh Edamame, especially if you are in the US, as most are precooked frozen kind. But if you ever get a chance to taste the fresh one, you will taste the difference like night and day. It’s worth it.
Where can you find the fresh Edamame? Try your local farmer’s market.
If not, you can grow it in your backyard — easily. (OK, I haven’t grown Edamame, but I have seen my dad do it and looked easy, or so he said.)
Then I met Edamame salad in Sonoma.
My wife and I drove to Sonoma on one weekend. At the local supermarket deli section, I saw peeled edamame salad with red bell peppers, julienned carrots, and onions.
“Edamame….salad?” I said to my wife. “Yes, this looks really good. Let’s buy it.” She usually notices and buys new things before I do (this is why I married her.)
“Oh, it tastes nice. Vinegary (is that a word?) and tasty.”
That was when I said, “Maybe I can do better and put this on our private sushi dinner menu.”
I started with vinegar because it will be the foundation for this salad. Like the body of a car, the material for the dress- cotton, silk, or linen. Apple cider vinegar was good but lacked a character. Fruit vinegar seemed like the way to go, but fig was too strong (and dark). I tried strawberry, peach, and pear, none of which made me go, “Ahhh!”
It was time to change the direction. That was when I met Champagne vinegar- a perfect match for Edamame.
The rest came much easier — fresh lemon juice, EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil), Himalayan salt, and of course my favorite sweeter, agave to finish. The edamame salad was done. (big thanks to the original chef who invented it.)
Whenever we host a private sushi dinner, this is a great starter — refreshing and satisfying.
It tastes the best second day, but the color of Edamame will change darker because of the marinate. That is the trade-off. If you want to go for the taste, don’t mind how it looks, I would let it marinate overnight in the fridge and taste it the next day. If you want it to look nicer, marinate for less than six hours before serve.
Edamame Salad (serves 4–6)
Ingredients
Edamame, Peeled, Frozen or fresh ½ lbs.
Red Bell Pepper (can mix yellow and orange) 1 whole
Olive Oil 3 Tbl
Champagne Vinegar 6 Tbl
Lemon Juice 2 Tbl
Himalayan Salt 3 Tbl
Agave nectar 2 Tbl.
Instructions
In a pot boil water and cook edamame for 3–5 minutes. Drain water and let it cool down. Small dice red bell pepper, add to cooked Edamame. Marinate edamame and bell pepper in vinegar for at least three hours. Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and agave nectar to taste. Let it marinate for five minutes before serving.
Kaz Matsune is a founder of Breakthrough Sushi, Two Places Technologies, investor, entrepreneur, and author of four books including How I Became A Sushi Chef.
If you enjoy this story, here is another story you may like.
Subscribe to my weekly summary newsletter to get a free copy of my latest book, The How of Sushi. | https://medium.com/the-cookbook-for-all/edamame-salad-is-my-favorite-found-recipe-by-accident-c2a22c9c2c42 | ['Kaz Matsune'] | 2020-08-26 14:56:35.271000+00:00 | ['Asian', 'Cooking', 'Recipe', 'Japanese Food', 'Food'] |
Just Another Day in Trump’s America | Bill Barr went on TV to do a reality TV interview with ABC to say that Trump’s tweets make it harder for him to do his job and that he won’t be bullied or influenced by anybody. Nobody believed him. Everybody knows it was just a scripted made for TV moment to make it look like Barr doesn’t work for Trump.
Trump tweeted hours after Barr’s televised performance: “The President has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case.” A.G. Barr This doesn’t mean that I do not have, as President, the legal right to do so, I do, but I have so far chosen not to!
Bill Barr is making it possible for Trump to use the DOJ to punish his enemies and reward his loyalists. He protected Trump by spinning the Mueller Report ahead of its release to influence public opinion and succeeded. He interfered with his own justice department to recommend that Trump’s buddy get a light jail sentence. He inserted himself into the Southern District of New York’s Trump cases about hush money and illegal campaign donations. Morale within the justice department is at an all time low. More prosecutors are resigning in protest. Like Mike Pompeo not having the backs of members of the State Department, Bill Barr doesn’t have the backs of anybody in the DOJ, just DJT. He’s the Trump crime family attorney.
Trump committed another quid pro quo right in our faces. He is trying to shake down the state of New York so the AG there will stop investigations into him on tax fraud, pursuing his tax returns and investigating his businesses. He tweeted: I’m seeing Governor Cuomo today at The White House. He must understand that National Security far exceeds politics. New York must stop all of its unnecessary lawsuits & harrassment, start cleaning itself up, and lowering taxes. Build relationships, but don’t bring Fredo!
The New York AG tweeted back: When you stop violating the rights and liberties of all New Yorkers, we will stand down. Until then, we have a duty and responsibility to defend the Constitution and the rule of law. BTW, I file the lawsuits, not the Governor.
Feeling all powerful and untouchable after the Republicans crowned him king, Trump admitted that he sure did send Rudy to Ukraine to find damaging information about his political opponents after he lied about it and said he didn’t and there’s nothing anybody can do about it. I. AM. THE. KING.
Former communications director Hope Hicks is returning to the White House to be an aide to Jared Kushner because she’s good at keeping secrets plus she is un-hirable at the age of 32 now that she has worked for the fat bastard. Sean Spicer and Rience Preibus are coming back, too. Trump has run through everybody who is stupid, blindly ambitious and incompetent enough to work for him and now he has to resort to re-hiring the boobs who he fired in the first season of his reality TV president show.
Trump says he’s going to bar all officials from listening to his phone calls with foreign leaders because he’s the boss so he can do whatever he wants. The Republicans said so.
Today marks the 2 year anniversary shooting of Parkland and not a damn thing has been done to keep the public safer from out of control gun violence because the Republicans said so.
In other news, Tucker Carlson revealed the Twitter handle of the jury foreman in the Roger Stone case who defended the prosecutors, ex-con American televangelist Jim Bakker is selling a liquid that will kill the coronavirus for $300, Medal of Freedom recipient, Rush Limbaugh, said Mr. Man Donald Trump will “have fun” with Pete Buttigieg because he kisses his husband, the Florida Bar is investigating Republican Congressman frat boy Trump ass kisser Matt Gaetz, Sean Spicer will record a Valentines video for you for $199, and a new bill could finally make it legal for unmarried people to have sex in Virginia.
Support the Daily Crime Report on Patreon!
For a copy of the Trump-Ukraine Impeachment Inquiry Report, click here.
For a copy of the Mueller Report, click here.
For a list of attorneys giving legal analysis about the imploding Trump presidency on Twitter, click here.
For the best journalists to follow on Twitter, click here.
For straight news, check out these reliable sources on Twitter.
The Daily Crime Reports are being published as “quarterly reports” (three month groups) as part of “The Treason Chronicles” on Amazon for Kindle. To purchase one or more quarters, click here. | https://medium.com/@spikedolomite/just-another-day-in-trumps-america-ca32e3c7d5ba | ['Spike Dolomite'] | 2020-02-14 15:21:29.055000+00:00 | ['Bill Barr', 'Republicans', 'Quid Pro Quo', 'Trump', 'Politics'] |
Poetsville | Jackson Pollock, “White Light” 1954
Words are flung in arced tongues,
Amid the din of bottles clanging,
Champagne-popping in smoke-ringed revels.
Someone flings a salvo of punned pantoums
As the walls scream with indignant epistemes,
Ceiling crawling with sordid images, teeming metonyms
And contorted referents. ‘Ahoy!’ goes the bray.
And across the room, scarred, anagrammed,
Someone howls Ginsberg like an angel-headed hipster
And another, utopian-dreaming, hurls darts,
Like witty aphorisms on a clean white sheet,
Prophesying, ‘One day, a place for us all.’
By midnight, there is only a hum from the fluorescent tube
That flicks and spurts to the swirl of heady ideas,
And fancies fit for kings, and drag queens,
And princely sums are squandered
For a priceless turn of phrase. Night descends
And the Raven cries its distant tale.
Tomorrow the house will start again,
Erudition-powered.
© Nikhil 2020
*N.B. When Viraji Ogodapola tagged me for a prompt on Rejoicing, or a celebration, I could only think of one thing to celebrate — the only kind of mysticism worthy of complete and utter devotion, Poesy.
So, it made sense to conjure a house full of poets, celebrating the act of creative explosion. Rather than Saturnalia, I saw Bacchanalia! | https://medium.com/scrittura/poetsville-b4b03282dabb | [] | 2020-12-21 10:07:34.531000+00:00 | ['Prompt', 'Saturnalia', 'Poetry On Medium', 'Jackson Pollock', 'Poems And Stories'] |
A digital copy is available for purchase. If you’d like to own a copy, buy the ebook at Amazon! Check out other SFF books by the author at Amazon’s author page. | A digital copy is available for purchase. If you’d like to own a copy, buy the ebook at Amazon!
Check out other SFF books by the author at Amazon’s author page. | https://medium.com/triple-eight-palace-of-dreams-happiness/the-temple-cat-quahr-and-the-misanthrope-empath-db234a65e3f1 | ['J.A. Pak'] | 2021-01-11 07:10:22.423000+00:00 | ['Cats', 'Manga', 'Comics', 'Graphic Novel', 'Sff'] |
Never Have I Ever’s Devi could be the next major piece of BPD representation in the line of Rebecca Bunch or Bojack Horseman if Mindy Kaling wanted her to be. | Never Have I Ever’s Devi could be the next major piece of BPD representation in the line of Rebecca Bunch or Bojack Horseman if Mindy Kaling wanted her to be. Matthew Ramsey Jul 15·4 min read
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Never Have I Ever Isabella B. Vosmikova/Netflix
SPOILERS AHEAD FOR BOTH SEASONS OF NEVER HAVE I EVER
Let me start out by saying that I adore this show.
I really do. In a world of overblown, dramatic teen shows like Riverdale and artsy, complex teen dramas like Euphoria, Never Have I Ever is a down-to-earth teen comedy that balances between the genre it’s in and the dramatic, artsy styles of its contemporaries. The lead cast is diverse, and the writing feels like the most relatable for any teen show on the air right now. It’s also been a wonderful showing of what teen mental health actually is. Or at least, it’s trying to be. Main character Devi, played excellently by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, is a bold, self-thinking teenage girl who goes through the regular stories of high school.
We learn that her dad died before the first season started, and she almost moves to India by the end of it, all throughout going to her therapist. But Devi has one major problem, and that’s her compulsive, risk-taking behavior that normally ends up being self-destructive, a la her almost life-ruining desperation to be with Paxton Hall-Yoshida, or most recently, dating two boys at once, getting a nose piercing at a tattoo parlor in the middle of the night, or being determined to tear apart her ex Ben and his girlfriend Aneesa (who recently moved from her old school after being bullied for her anorexia), the latter of which ended up in Devi accidentally letting loose the fact that Aneesa has the eating disorder (which she did not know at the time). Her decisions happen frequently, even though she constantly realizes they end up being the wrong choices. She also suffers from anxiety, anger and what seems like mood swings. Most of these decisions from season 2 are to win one of the two boys over.
She all and all seems very similar to one character that was on television before her — Rebecca Bunch from Rachel Bloom’s Crazy Ex Girlfriend. Bunch talked to Josh randomly in NY, (who she had dated at a summer camp in high school), then moved from NY (where she just got a promotion at her job) to California (where she gets a brand NEW job), became friends with Josh current girlfriend, kissed that girlfriend, became friends with his entire family, eventually becoming a BRIDESMAID at one of his sister’s weddings, and tries to move back to NY (even after both the jobs) when she finds out Josh doesn’t feel the same, then in season 2 gets into a love triangle with him and his friend, only for his friend to move and then for her to get into a love triangle with her new boss and Josh, only for her to do even crazier things that escalated even MORE when she chooses Josh and he proposes, leading to him abandoning her at the altar, which leads Rebecca to try to get revenge on him, which ends up with her completely cutting off everyone she knew, becoming dangerously suicidal, flying to her emotionally abusive mother’s home in New York, and eventually cutting her off too after she realizes what she was planning, and overdosing on the plane ride to god knows where. When she gets back to California and she goes to the doctors, he diagnoses Rebecca with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), which is a mental health disorder that is commonly associated with all the things that Devi is plagued with. To sum it up, Devi essentially is a younger version of Bunch in a sense, with lesser extremes and less emotions. When you think about it, it’s more or less what this show seems to be leading up to be. Yet there is almost no foreshadowing of that happening.
As a show that proclaims to be a forefront for advocating teen’s mental health, not taking the big step with giving Devi BPD seems like a person not being truthful to their campaign promises. There are have really been only 2 confirmed characters in TV with BPD in the past 5 years, those being Rebecca and Bojack Horseman from the Netflix original series. The amount of noise it would make would be huge. And, it would push positive representation for BPD in media. It seems like a win win, so it’s baffling how Mindy and co. haven’t come to that conclusion yet. Devi even has a therapist similar in character to Dr. Akopian in Dr. Jamie Ryan (which could also just be a bi-product of the sassy yet comforting black woman therapist, which could stem from the early 1800s racist “mammy” caricatures,) who could easily diagnose her in a poignant scene. In a show full of representation, this would be some of the biggest TV had seen in a long time. | https://medium.com/@matthewramsey08/never-have-i-evers-devi-could-be-the-next-major-piece-of-bpd-representation-in-the-line-of-rebecca-379d40356e59 | ['Matthew Ramsey'] | 2021-07-15 21:12:12.266000+00:00 | ['Netflix', 'Film', 'Mental Health Awareness', 'Mental Health', 'TV'] |
Santa Claus and White Supremacy | Why we need to understand the striking resemblance between the two
Photo by Alicia Slough on Unsplash
As we near the Christmas season, we will undoubtedly be flooded with the usual sights and sounds of the holiday. Millions of kids worldwide will be looking forward to the 25th, and those who are young enough will, in addition, be looking forward to a visit from Santa.
We all have memories of staying up all night before Christmas day or spying on the Christmas tree when we were younger, with the hopes of catching a glimpse of that jolly fat man, ol’ Saint Nicholas. But what seems to be an innocent way to have fun and keep your kids behaved is all a cover for a dark reality. For when we truly investigate the American tradition of Santa Claus, we find disturbing ties to white supremacy and racism- callbacks to the US’ historical past which in many ways continues to thrive through to the present.
To understand these ties, let us first examine the mythology of Santa himself, and along the way we can see the comparisons to reality.
Santa Claus enters your house through your chimney. In order to bestow gifts and presents near one’s Christmas tree, children are told that Santa sneaks in through the chimney, undetected and unnoticed. Seems innocent and humorous, right? Wrong! What do this remind me of? Colonialism! When white people like Columbus (a major racist) came from the European countries to colonize native lands, it only resulted in the near genocide of many Natives there. But what would they tell the Natives? They would say that they were there to help these people! But did poor Pocahontas and Sacagawea know any better? Sadly no. But when we continue to propagate this idea that it is okay for a white stranger to barge into your land as long as they promise to give you “gifts”, we only serve to further the legacy of colonialism. Children leave cookies and milk for Santa to eat- this too is very problematic. This practice is a form of tribute, which can best be understood as a form of submission. Looking to historical examples for comparison, we can see that imperial nations often demanded tribute from conquered territories in exchange for safety, among other things. The relationship is clear: Santa is superior, and kids are inferior- just as captured states are inferior to their imperial overlords. Teaching kids to leave food for Santa is a way to brainwash them into submission, and creates an unhealthy dependency on one’s oppressors. Santa only gives you gifts if you have “behaved”: otherwise you get coal. When parents tell children this, they are essentially teaching them that they must conform to the parents’ standards of right and wrong. This is a form of control. Slave masters often used this sort of rhetoric to control the actions of those enslaved to them, since they were in the position of power. The enslaved understood that their livelihood depended on how their masters viewed them. As with point #2, this is another form of submission. Whether it’s slaves behaving to survive, the working class behaving for their wages, or kids behaving for gifts, the similarities are undeniable and ominous. Santa watches you even when you are sleeping. I don’t think that I need to elaborate much on this fact, for the stalker undertones are clear. All parents should be wary of teaching this to their children, especially their daughters. “No creepy white male stalkers allowed in this house” is what parents must have their kids understand.
THE SOLUTION: Now that we have identified the problems of Santa Claus and the disturbing messages of subservience in exchange for “gifts”, how should we reform this Christmas tradition in a way that guarantees equality, inclusiveness, and liberation from its racist mythology?
The answer is simple. Get rid of old white Santa Claus and replace him with a pansexual disabled woman of color, who, instead of giving gifts based on behavior, gives all children equal gifts no matter what. And we should tell children that she gives extra gifts to trans and non-binary children, for the struggles that they endure are harder than that of most other children today. We need a Santa that looks out for the marginalized, oppressed, and exploited in accordance with current progressive cultural beliefs (as well as one who looks like the marginalized and exploited). Then I will have no qualms about celebrating this annual event. Let these changes be a stepping stone towards a brighter tomorrow. I believe that we can and we must do this; our children and the future depend on us. | https://medium.com/@genderbender246/santa-claus-and-white-supremacy-d9b96d08b7f8 | ['Sirius Naught'] | 2020-12-17 00:32:41.059000+00:00 | ['Cookies', 'Christmas', 'Holidays', 'Santa Claus', 'White Supremacy'] |
How to Enable and Use VPN on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One | How to Enable and Use VPN on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One Dean Foster Apr 21·3 min read
VPN (Virtual Private Network) has become a vital part for those people who tend to spend a lot of time on the Internet. In the internet world, a user faces several restrictions, and to bypass those restrictions, they have to utilize VPN services. VPN also improves internet privacy and enables the user to access those additional services that aren’t available in their region or aren’t provided by their internet provider.
Enabling a VPN service on a smartphone and PC doesn’t take much effort, but enabling it in Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One could be a challenging task. By enabling the VPN service on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One, users can access to some streaming platforms that are blocked by an internet provider of a certain region. If you’re also curious about how to access or bypass blocked streaming content related to YouTube, Netflix or any other, then here’s what you must do.
Is It Necessary to Use VPN on Xbox?
As mentioned above, VPN offers the user to connect their internet connection with a virtual network which allows them to access additional content. The Xbox users already have enough games and entertaining things, but the need for bypass and access unavailable games, apps and video services make the user use a VPN service.
Most of the time, VPN lowers the internet speed because of routing data, but in some conditions, it can improve the speed too. With the help of a VPN, you can access some blocked gaming sites and games. Additionally, you can keep your IP address safe through VPN. So, here’s the procedure to configure VPN on Xbox.
How to Configure and Use VPN on Your Xbox
Configuring a VPN app or VPN support on Xbox is not a process. To activate a VPN on Xbox, first, you must enable VPN on your Windows PC and then share the network with your preferred cable. So basically, you’ll need an ethernet cable to share your Windows PC VPN internet to Xbox. If you’re using VPN for the first time, then, first of all, you have to choose a VPN app for your Windows 10 PC. Once your PC gets configured with VPN, you’ll need to link it with your Xbox using an ethernet cable. Here’s how you can share VPN-configured PC connection with Xbox.
Link your ethernet cable between Xbox and PC with configured VPN.
· Tap the Start button.
· Open Settings.
· Press Network & Internet option.
· Press VPN.
· Tap Change adapter options.
· Make a right-click on the VPN icon.
· Choose the Properties option.
· Press the Sharing option.
· Press on the Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection column.
· Tap on the Select a private network connection column.
· Select Xbox’s ethernet connection.
· Tap OK.
· Tap Xbox button on Xbox controller.
· Tap the RB button on the Xbox controller three times frequently.
· Choose Settings.
· Open the Network section.
· Press on the Network settings.
· Choose the Test Network connection option.
Now, this is everything you must do to configure your PC’s VPN connection with Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S console. While your PC’s network is connected with Xbox, make sure the VPN connection is enabled.
Connection
Great thing about Windows 10 is that users can find a reliable VPN from the Microsoft Store and install through there directly. Some VPN apps ask for a purchasing subscription to access their full features, but they also provide a free trial to choose the right VPN service. So before starting the setup procedure, pick a smooth VPN to bring more titles on Xbox.
Hey, this is Dean. I am a cybersecurity expert and help people remain safe in the online world. Hackers are always looking for their prey, so you need to be safe and keep these hackers at bay. McAfee offers perfect online security to netizens. To download, install and activate the McAfee product, visit mcafee.com/activate. | https://medium.com/@deanfostersk/how-to-enable-and-use-vpn-on-xbox-series-x-s-and-xbox-one-e1ad92f6719d | ['Dean Foster'] | 2021-04-21 06:47:20.032000+00:00 | ['Free Vpn For Xbox One', 'How To', 'Mcafee Antivirus', 'VPN', 'Mcafee'] |
How The Obama Administration Destroyed Nigeria’s Path to Progression | Nigeria’s Buhari and Former US President, Barack Obama
Nigeria is a country that has been struck with never-ending bad luck that stems from a history of defiance that began to sprout from the roots of colonialism — which dealt a heavy blow to a nation that will never recover.
The reason why the movie of the year — Black Panther — continues to enlighten and brighten the outlook for eager-minded fans that still can’t get enough of the global blockbuster — is simple and endearing. The idealistic view that Wakanda could’ve existed in all its majestic glory — without the scarring of global interference is almost too much to accommodate without wiling out.
Unfortunately — that dream rests with the mountain of ticket stubs that are piling up to the tune of millions of dollars that White executives at Marvel and Disney will gladly claim for a job well-done.
The bullshit of injustice continues — as once again the people that inspire what some may consider an award-winning script — are left in the cold while the pompous poachers collect their due without incident. They are able to afford that level of betrayal because it was ordained back when their ancestors conquered lands they invaded for the sake of greed.
Nigeria could’ve been Wakanda.
We were set up to win — but then it all went to hell — after the ports were overtaken by British ships that were filled with the evidence of how and why our destiny shifted beyond reach — under the tutelage of well-costumed heathens who professed the word of a God that didn’t authorize such blasphemous acts in his name.
And now centuries later — the resources that were supposed to enrich our existence and supply the accompaniments to allow our competitive entry in the global economy have been re-routed to foreign powers for their betterment — at the expense of a desperate nation that is still unable to enjoy the privilege of basic amenities.
Through the years of military coups and periods of dictatorship — there was always the possibility that things could improve in ways that would give Nigerians the ability to finally enjoy the convenience of being who they are — without salivating for opportunities to save us from our assigned heritage.
Luckily for me — I was born in the States — during the seventies — which was known as the era when tons of Africans were flooding “civilized” territories with the goal to escape uninhabitable homelands for a shot at the big time.
Now — that I’m still in one piece after weathering the tumultous climate of the eighties and early nineties — I am equipped enough to comprehend the fact that the greed that destroyed my country — still persists today in various forms.
I was force fed the goodness of America and how once I was mature enough to claim my citizenship — I would never have to look back. I was blessed to be born in such rich country that could rival the vibrancy of Oz and give the Wizard a run for his money.
There’s some truth to my good fortune — but then there’s a catch.
The other less ideal option — never stood a chance before it was eaten alive by colonizers and it sure as hell doesn’t stand a chance now — especially when that tradition of circling vultures — still persists.
If I knew then what I know now — I’m not so sure I would’ve readily absorbed the now fading rhetoric of how flawless America is — compared to other struggling nations that are hampered by poverty or the virus of bribery and corruption. I most likely would’ve strongly considered staying in Lagos — to further my education and reserved long vacations for the country of my birth.
I say this because adulthood forces you to be analytical with the aid of a porous mindset — and when that happens — virtually nothing escapes you — which can be an empowering tool that almost leads to shocking results.
Suddenly your heroes become villains and almost everything that you considered undebatable is re-initiated with a plethora of question marks.
President Trump is a bad guy whose actions and remarks match his abhorrent behavior. Former President Obama and his longtime confidante and advisor David Axelrod are supposed to be the good guys — who won the hearts of the world with a triumphant victory and the promise of why “Yes We Can” was the anthem of change.
Yet — there is damning evidence that illustrates how the Obama administration continued the tradition of interference to the detriment of a nation that can’t afford to be coerced into elaborate schemes that aren’t aimed to improve the welfare of a people that have needlessly suffered for far too long.
When the Chibok schoolgirls were kidnapped by the Nigerian-based terror cell Boko Haram back in April 2014 — the world was alarmed at the sheer audacity of armed militants being able to overwhelm the Nigerian army under the supervision of a tragically unfit Head of State.
President Goodluck Jonathan’s apologetic stance and overly-calm demeanor in the face of a national crisis was more than enough to thwart his ambitious efforts of a re-election. But — his feisty opponent during the electoral season wasn’t a massive improvement — in fact he was exactly what Nigeria didn’t need or deserve.
Current President Muhammadu Buhari already had his turn demolishing the fragility of a nation that since his departure back in 1985 — had endured the vileness of legions of military leaders that caused more harm than good — while also keeping their Swiss bank accounts consistently bloated with stolen loot.
Turns out that we had paid attention and learned from the best — when it comes to de-stabilizing those who are already systematically vulnerable.
Buhari ruled Nigeria for only two years (from 1983–1985) and his regime was often times characterized as “Buharism.” This term was inspired by “the harsh right wing military dictatorship after 4 years of civil rule in Nigeria, 1979–1983” — under Shehu Shagari.
Buhari ushered in the climate of dictatorship that only got worse after he was removed by another coup that was spearheaded by the abominable General Ibrahim Babangida. But before then — his policies were very much in line with the desire to stifle freedom of speech — by jailing journalists or artists who dared to use their craft as a weapon against injustice.
The former and re-activated Head of State had the backing of the Obama administration during his electoral bid back in 2015 which ultimately led to his victory. Axelrod’s Chicago-based firm AKPD — that professes to “represent Democratic candidates and progressive causes” — interfered in Nigeria’s 2015 election by supporting Buhari’s initiatives through heavy duty guidance on behalf of the Nigerian political party — All Progressives Congress (APC).
Truth be told — there’s absolutely nothing “progressive” about Buhari’s motives when you consider that his track record from decades ago — still haunts him. His militarized approach to a civilian template misfired greatly and alienated him from the greater population. As a Northerner — his applications disproportionately served that part of the region — which escalated the growing residue of tribal disharmony.
Axelrod’s firm was paid a shitload of money to guarantee Buhari’s historical win and even though the deal was carried out with the intention to keep it out of the press — it was exposed around the time the Chibok girls were kidnapped. AKPD claimed that once the girls were missing — they withdrew their project — but emails from that period were discovered — proving that the firm still maintained contact with Buhari’s APC — even after issuing a denial.
It has to be said that the Obama administration helped to destroy Nigeria’s path to progression — by supporting an aging former military dictator who was in no condition to help heal an ailing country. The personal interests in investing in something that was doomed from the start is the aching realization that even the good guys will get you — if there’s enough profit to seduce their loyalty.
A few weeks ago — it was announced that a little over a hundred Nigerian school girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram. And now the 101 school girls from the Northern town of Dapchi have been reportedly returned to their families — even though the rumors that 5 of them were killed — still persists.
Despite Buhari’s presence and empty promises to bring back ALL the girls that were taken almost four years ago — the tradition of suffering children who are stuck in a leaderless country is the legacy that remains.
Nigeria has accommodated its fair share of setbacks — but the burden of revisiting the bad old days with the assistance of an administration that gave America its long-awaited “Messiah” is the “fuck you” that I didn’t see coming.
The election cycle will begin again in 2019 — and with the damaging report that includes Nigerians being sold as slaves in Libya — while others are killed in certain parts of Europe as they try to cross the Mediterranean sea — it’s impossible to predict how a roaring comeback with the appearance of newly-minted candidates with “progressive” views will be implemented within the confines of a purposefully staged process.
But — no matter how miraculously we defeat our demons — there’s no denying that the wasted years under Buhari was the poisonous sting from the Obama administration that will undoubtedly soil his legacy to some degree.
And that could be a somewhat adequate settlement. | https://nilegirl.medium.com/how-the-obama-administration-destroyed-nigerias-path-to-progression-13c0ce8bb708 | ['Ezinne Ukoha'] | 2018-03-21 16:40:47.459000+00:00 | ['America', 'World', 'Nigeria', 'Politics', 'Africa'] |
Who’s Behind the Magic of the Waze Map? | Who’s Behind the Magic of the Waze Map? Waze Follow Mar 22 · 6 min read
Short answer: a lot of people who love to help
Under the Hood gives you an inside look at different parts of Waze — straight from the people working on them every day.
As Communities Team Manager, I’ve been working with map editors for four and a half years now. To the rest of the world, the map might seem like something really simple that just shows up when you put in an address. But behind every Waze route is a community of volunteer editors getting you to your destination as efficiently as possible. They add roads, mark real-time road closures, and map new features like lane guidance, all for the sake of helping their fellow Wazers. There are many moving parts behind-the-scenes, but anyone can be part of the magic.
Waze Map Editors: The heroes behind the map
To put in brief terms, map editors build, fix, and protect the map. But they do a lot more than that. There are tens of thousands of people from around the world in places like Brazil, the U.S., Europe, APAC, and Israel who volunteer their time. While any Wazer can report real-time alerts like traffic or hazards on the road, only map editors can make updates like new streets or changes in turning lanes.
Editors can select segments of the road in the editing platform to add updates like real-time road closures.
How people (usually) become Waze map editors
Anyone can become a map editor. A lot of people start because they see an error on the map — maybe their address is missing, they want to add a business location, or they got a route that didn’t make sense to them. They’ll report the issue, and once they learn they actually have the power to make the change, they take the initiative. That’s the common thread between many of our editors: When they see a problem, they take the extra step of fixing it for themselves and for other people in the community.
Intro to the map editing tool
The first place a new editor goes is the editing platform. If you open it to fix something minor, it can be a little overwhelming because there’s so much you can do.
The first time you log in, you’ll see tutorial videos and resources to help you navigate the platform. Then you’ll see the street network where you can make basic edits like adding street numbers or editing roads in your neighborhood.
Editor’s Mode in the Waze app gives editors a rich view of the map as they drive.
Finding answers with Wazeopedia
If you’re a Waze editor, Wazeopedia is your Bible. That’s where you find all your local Community rules. It’s important to follow local guidance because things vary a lot on the local level.
Each type of road — freeway, ramp, major highway, primary street, and more — has a different color and mapping system so Waze’s routing algorithm can process it. The editor platform is a powerful tool, but Wazeopedia is key to learning about what it all means and how it works.
The more you edit, the more you move through the ranks and get more edit access.
Matching with a mentor
The Waze forum is a great place to connect with other editors and get immersed in the community pretty quickly.
Usually, another map editor will ask if you need help and point you to the right resources. Some of our most experienced editors become mentors. They answer questions, show you how to use the tools, and hold one-on-one sessions to show you the ropes. They can help connect you with the rest of the community, too. If you have questions, there’s a chat available, and someone is almost always there to answer.
Our editors are great at helping newcomers feel welcome. A lot of people start out with the intention of just editing the map and end up finding awesome people with shared interests and making friends.
Mentorships and events like map raids help strengthen the community and improve the map.
Moving through the ranks
New editors typically want to fix a specific, one-off problem, but they need to have the right permissions. That’s one of the ways the community protects the map.
Since most edits aren’t reviewed before they go live, the map uses a permissioning system with two types of permissions to ensure accuracy. The first kind of permissions is granted to new users, who can only edit areas they drive in, which means they’re just contributing their local knowledge.
The second kind involves locked levels, ranging from one through six. Everyone starts out at level one and can only make edits that are available to level one editors, like making changes within a one-mile radius. Level six editors, on the other hand, may have country-wide access. When you look at a street in the editing platform, you’ll see a lock, which shows the level you need to achieve to edit it. As you make more edits, you earn access to higher levels, which come with more permissions.
How long until Waze map edits show up?
After you make an edit, it doesn’t go live immediately. Once a day, we run a process called the “tile builder.” Essentially, it translates the changes in the editor to the Waze map. The tile builder takes a few hours, but for the most part, new edits go live the same day it runs. There’s a lot of excitement around the Waze Status, a blog that shares when the map tiles are updated and shows how recently those updates went live.
Test driving and fine-tuning new features
Once an area is fully mapped, that’s often just the beginning. A big part of what the editors do is what we call “map enrichment.” They add new features like toll pricing and railroad crossings that help drivers anticipate the road ahead.
Before new features become public, community members test how they work. In the early testing phases, they start mapping and trying to understand how it affects what’s displayed on the map. Then, they prepare guidance for the entire community so they can make the necessary updates in their local area.
Map editors can also add and edit features like lane guidance in the editing platform.
Now that Waze offers lane guidance that shows drivers the best lane to be in based on upcoming turns and directions, our editors map those, too. The effort started on Wazeopedia. Community Champs published an article on how to map lanes and included examples and screenshots to help people learn. Once the lead editors understand the feature, it’s easy to teach the broader community how to map it.
When you report an issue, map editors are here to fix it — or help you learn how to fix it yourself!
The community is organized and disciplined when it comes to keeping the map up-to-date. Their contributions are what makes the map so valuable, including their collaboration with everyday drivers on the road. Any time Wazers report an issue on the map, the editors are the ones checking it out and working on a solution. Next time you see a problem or something you want to add, remember that you have the power to fix it. There’s a whole community ready to help you learn how.
Ready to rise through the ranks of the Waze Community?
Start your map editor journey here. Check out the Community Wazeopedia for helpful tips, or watch one of our Master Class videos on map editing to learn the ropes. For friendly advice from other Wazers, you can always swing by this forum for editors with friendly Wazers who can answer questions. | https://medium.com/waze/whos-behind-the-magic-of-the-waze-map-ef1775dad18d | [] | 2021-03-22 13:32:54.675000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Waze', 'Under The Hood', 'Maps', 'Waze Community'] |
What product quotes really mean to product managers | Lee Iacocca, former CEO in with Crysler and famed former Ford executive, is a great source of quotes.
“When the product is right, you don’t have to be a great Marketer”, is much like the Elon Musk quote that gets mentioned regularly — “Any product that needs a manual to work is broken” — in that it is intended to indicate the desire to reach the point where your product is just understood by your customers, without the need for further explanation.
There are many quotes that are rolled out in relation to product management, and in this post, we’ll take a look at a few of them and what they really mean and what is means for us product managers.
“Don’t find customers for your products, find products for your customers.”
As with many product quotes, this Seth Godin gem puts the customer at the centre of all operations, and for us as product managers we’re constantly reminded to understand the customer, listen to the customer, talk to the customer.
When a new product idea is generated it’s going to be based on the need of a customer. It will have come from some level of feedback from a user of a system, service, or product, that has led to the thought that ‘wouldn’t it be good if …’, and the product or feature idea is born. This is the ultimate finding of a product for your customer.
Over time though, when a product is a little longer in the tooth, there are opportunities for complacency within a business, and a transition happens where we move from finding products to finding customers. It’s subtle, and it happens over time, but the product starts to lose touch with its customer base (through a variety of factors from competition to a lack of investment), and instead of your customer being the focus and the products adjusting to meet their needs, the reverse starts to happen and we start chasing customers to buy our products.
The importance there is ensuring that we always keep our eye on the ball, or rather our eye on the customer, to ensure that our product is evolving to meet the needs of the customer.
“If you don’t sell, it’s not the product that’s wrong, it’s you.”
Estee Lauder, founder of the eponymous cosmetics brand, also finds herself with a popular quote related to the ‘pay attention to your customer’ category, but with a slice of “pay attention to your business practices” thrown in.
For her, it is the people that run the business that make or break the product, which when you see it written down like that is an obvious thing to say, however, we often package up many factors of a product’s success on to the product itself.
“The product is unreliable” is a direct result of decisions made to not focus on the reliability of the product, whether through product management or management strategy.
“The product doesn’t have the same features as its more successful competitor” is a direct result of the product team not being aware of the changing needs of the customer and competitive landscape.
“The product is too expensive compared to the rest of the market” is again the responsibility of the product team for not identifying the desire for cheaper alternatives, and for not working with the business to position the product in the right niche.
Being honest with ourselves is key, but once we’re honest we need to have an environment where we can freely share our opinions and often go against the status quo.
Product managers need to be prepared to say ‘no’, ‘that’s not what our customers want’ or ‘we need to pivot’ in order for the product to keep selling.
“I strongly believe that missionaries make better products. They care more. For a missionary, it’s not just about the business. There has to be a business, and the business has to make sense, but that’s not why you do it. You do it because you have something that motivates you.”
On the surface you could take this Jeff Bezos quotation and say that when we’re talking about missionaries we’re talking about people going out into the world and selling the product through persuasion and promotion, but that’s not what he’s referring to here.
Bezos is talking about internal missionaries. People within the business with an understanding of what they’re trying to achieve and importantly why they’re trying to achieve it.
Although Amazon started out as an online book retailer, it was always in Bezos’s mind that they were to be the online retailer of everything, and it’s this underlying core desire to be the number one retailer on the planet that drives the entire business to bigger and better things.
How many of us work in businesses where the core reason for being (or as Simon Sinek says ‘The why’) is so clear?
Once this core reason is there then you’ll be able to cultivate missionaries to make the products better, but without it, it is impossible to have such focus and belief in the product. What are you believing in?
You can’t believe in ‘people messaging each other’ or ‘flinging birds at pigs’. They aren’t reasons to get out of bed.
“Most businesses think that product is the most important thing, but without great leadership, mission and a team that deliver results at a high level, even the best product won’t make a company successful.”
Robert Kiyosaki takes the underlying truth to the missionaries quote and focuses in on the things that make great products possible, and this is often the overlooked part of being a great product manager.
Product managers do not create the most amazing ideas or find the best solutions, they lead people through a process that can deliver great results.
PMs are not an island. We can’t deliver anything without those around us, and if we don’t take our teams with us, then what we hope to achieve simply won’t be possible.
“Product management really is the fusion between technology, what engineers do and the business side.”
Finally, the last word goes to former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who puts product managers firmly in the middle of the business, between engineers and ‘the business’, which is a version of the familiar Martin Eriksson venn diagram.
In most of the smaller businesses that I’ve operated in, the product team literally sit in the middle of the business, halfway between the techies and the non-techies. This location puts you in the middle of all the conversations that you need to be part of, as you translate the needs and the solutions across all parties.
As businesses get larger, and physical centrality might not be possible, it then becomes the job of the PM to visit the teams regularly and rely messages, instructions, feedback, and ideas across the business. The PMs can direct the activities that lead to the delivery of a great product, which requires huge amounts of understanding and communication skill.
Conclusion
It doesn’t matter what the product related quote is, they’re all focusing on the main core points:
Listen to all your customers, both happy and unhappy
Know the reason for your business to exist and deliver on this
Be the conduit for information across all parties
If you can do this, then you’ll be a successful PM.
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About Rob
Rob was a footballer, cinema manager and recruitment consultant before getting in to software products. He’s been looking after products and hiring product teams for 20+ years, is currently product owner at luxury watch retailer Watchfinder and writes about how those who want to get into product can go about doing so. | https://medium.com/getting-started-in-product/what-product-quotes-really-mean-to-product-managers-73b93e5e1235 | ['Robert Drury'] | 2020-06-22 10:22:35.993000+00:00 | ['Product Owner', 'Product', 'Product Management', 'Product Manager', 'Software Development'] |
Things you should know about Scott Harrison and Charity: Water. | Thirst. It does things to people. Some go mad looking for a source to quench their thirst. Others find solace in finding solutions to quench humanity’s thirst.
The first remain consumers. The latter has all the markings of a successful social entrepreneur, Scott Harrison’s tribe.
It wasn’t always like that for Scott. In fact, things were a lot, a lot different before he started his social enterprise Charity: Water. For the longest of time before his life took a decisive step (for the better!), Scott was the ubiquitous ‘party hard’ variety whose line of business was in fact, making others party hard!
From 18 to 28 years, this is precisely what he did. And he did that for close to 40 establishments which lined his pockets with commissions and perks, sometimes by as much as USD 3000 to 5000 on a single night!
As a promoter of nightclubs and high life where he would host parties for names that included MTV, VH1, Bacardi, and Elle, Scott was paid to keep people partying by making available everything that made people party through the night. His typical work-day began when humanity readied for bed and ended when most folks were hard at work be it in offices or factories. Money was good and was a reason he stuck on for a while.
With a great home in the form of a New York Apartment, a Beamer to cruise around in, life did seem set. All the same, it was a mess given that he and his partners never did the essential paperwork that goes behind registering an entity. Taxes too were pending. That said, he did want a break, in fact, a clean break which came to him in the form of an epiphany during one of his parties that had over a hundred guests. It was then that he made up his mind to mend things for the better, and forever.
Scott’s next trip brought about the turn in his life and started almost immediately when he left the shores of the US. It was at Punta Del Este in Uruguay that he promised himself to change things completely in return. He did so, and over the years it has brought change to millions worldwide who now have accesses to clean drinking water.
Things back then on his return from Uruguay weren’t great. He was broke. And he didn’t have a place called home. Holed up with a friend from his partying days, he started to apply to humanitarian organizations for a position.
None reverted, and not surprisingly given the limited use they would have of a party manager. Mercy Ships, a non-profit NGO of floating hospitals bringing medical aid to the needy worldwide happened because Scott agreed to pay them USD 500.00 every month for taking him on board.
Stationed off the coast of Liberia, Scott had the opportunity to take pictures (close to fifty thousand of them!) of all manner of suffering humanity who had gangrene, leprosy, tumor, and even worse with one thing in common. Lack of access to clean drinking water. These he emailed to his contacts from his partying days. And they, unexpectedly, started to donate to the cause.
A second trip followed with even more money coming in. And then came the realization of the importance of clean drinking water, and how so many people worldwide don’t have continuous access to it.
A 2017 report of WHO and UNICEF mentions that 3 in 10 people worldwide don’t have accesses to clean drinking water. A total of 844 million have no access to water at all, and 159 million are forced to drink untreated water. This results in the death of close to 350,000 children under 5 years of age every year besides causing deadly diseases like typhoid, hepatitis A, cholera, and dysentery.
With his photographs making the right impression, it struck Scott that he too could make a difference. This led to the birth of Charity: water in 2006 for which, in its initial days he did the craziest things possible to get more donations including increasing the cover charges for entry to some of his events!
With time, people understood and appreciated his concerns and donated without restrictions. These days his biggest benefactors are those who come through word-of-mouth publicity and include over a hundred families which donate regularly and are part of a forum called the Well.
Charity: Water raised over USD 1.5 million in its very first year of existence which went up to over USD 50 million in 2017. In all, the organization has raised over USD 300 million from over a million people worldwide. With time and persistent efforts, Charity: Water came to the attention of celebrities with the likes of Will Smith donating over USD 100,000 in 2010.
Charity Water has grown phenomenally in size over the years. It has close to a hundred employees in just the US itself and significant numbers in countries where its projects are being commissioned.
As for Scott Harrison, the once party animal, his time these days is spent furthering the cause. Not bad when it’s about change. In the present case, it remains all the more significant, given that the cause completely changed one individual who then went about changing the lives of millions. And all that it took was a thought from deep within the heart.
Source.
Social Entrepreneurs. | https://medium.com/@insightssuccess/things-you-should-know-about-scott-harrison-and-charity-water-1bdc19687ba1 | ['Insights Success'] | 2021-06-17 06:03:11.675000+00:00 | ['Charity Water', 'Social Entrepreneurship', 'Scott Harrison', 'Humanitarian', 'Social Entrepreneurs'] |
Razor Network Inks Partnership With Persistence | Background
There is a vast gap between appropriately matching the demand and supply of capital in the real world. Traditional finance institutions lack innovation to meet the needs of both borrowers as well as lenders. On one side, due to almost negligible interest rates, these traditional finance institutions fail to attract lenders.
On the other hand, MSMEs struggle to borrow, especially due to capital adequacy requirements imposed on financial institutions post the Global Financial Crisis. Therefore, they frequently struggle to obtain loans from centralized institutions. Persistence aims to fill this lacuna. By providing capital for the MSMEs, it will give these businesses a fair chance to grow and expand exponentially.
Persistence is a Protocol powering Institutional Open Finance. This innovative protocol facilitates the borrowing of crypto assets, mainly stablecoins, using real-world assets as collateral.
The stablecoin market is proliferating, and there will be a tremendous increase in the supply of borderless and instantly settled capital looking for new ways to generate yield. Increasing the speed and efficiency of real-world trade, payment, and business financing enables fundamentally new capital to enter the cryptocurrency industry.
Asset tokenization, asset exchange, and liquidity aggregation are the main features of Persistence. Persistence enables more efficient global capital allocation.
In a recent announcement, Tushar Aggarwal, CEO of Persistence, said,
“We’ve laid the technical groundwork for a new era of blockchain-powered real-world value creation, and we have built a strong network of strategic partners. It’s time to push ahead full-force on our mission to bring institutions and real-world assets to DeFi to help the industry to reach its full potential.”
However, to push forward its mission, Persistence needs a trustworthy, innovative, and reputed partner like Razor Network that provides decentralized oracle service to connect smart contracts with real-world data in a fast and secure manner.
Razor Network employs the PoS consensus algorithm and guarantees that nodes behave reliably by enforcing strict penalties in fraudulent or prohibited behavior. Razor Network has no single point of failure, which minimizes the risk exposure of users.
The oracle is the most critical piece of infrastructure for any decentralized finance project. With this integration, developers on the Persistence blockchain will always be assured that they can access external data with the highest security and speed.
Speaking about the partnership, Hrishikesh Huilgolkar, CEO of Razor Oracle Network, said, | https://medium.com/razor-network/razor-network-inks-partnership-with-persistence-9b4efaa03428 | ['Himanshu Bisht'] | 2020-11-02 12:29:04.363000+00:00 | ['Defi', 'Cryptocurrency News', 'Blockchain Development', 'Blockchain Startup'] |
I’m taking the air. | I’m taking the air. The first morning in a week where I have been able to slip away and not be necessary.
The air smells sweet. There are birds tweeting their halloos and a gentle breeze wipes every surface.
The distant hymm of main road traffic carves a slight but persistent mark.
As I travel, the acoustics of wall proximities play with the sound.
Idea. 10 minute drama. Written and performed by me. 6 tales. Short and unrelated. Achievable and no budget excreted time.
I love the freedom to stroll and the idea of your drama. What would the theme be?
I suppose each would be a revelation of some kind.
I like that. Revelations by a thinking man.
It’s akin to a short fiction.
I don’t know the stories yet but I get moments of inspiration which may easily sustain a short story.
Getting a story to be read may be easier if they can also listen. It’s an idea.
I found out that the same minute I had an idea about what I wanted to write, life would go out of it. I’m a Bear of Little Brain, as Winnie the Pooh would say. My challenge is to try to keep the themes out of what I’m writing as long as possible… Einstein said it better: “No worthy problem is ever solved on the plane of its original conception.” … It’s got more integrity if it comes in of its own accord.
So you think go and write when the idea strikes.? Like it’s a galloping mare that you need to stand astride otherwise she passes unstruck and proceeds to land in another’s lap.
Planning is for flights, dinner and parties. When fucking, writing or conversing one instead is a conduit.
Don’t get in your own way.
Exactly.
I think you’re right.
My best stuff hits me like thunder bolts. Sometimes it needs to percolate- but often times I’m just a conduit to some voice I barely recognize.
I know when I have the ideas they are beyond a plan. They are existing as a reality. Like a captured dream. They dissipate like most under the warm light of scrutiny.
Like mist.
And we are back to an artist needs for solitude.
You can’t capture lightening bugs in a storm.
A jumper, pulled apart thread by thread, stitch by stitch may reveal the pattern and the amount of wool used. It no longer serves to keep you warm however. | https://medium.com/muse-writtings/im-taking-the-air-746b898d9ad4 | ['Teri Bayus'] | 2016-07-19 19:30:48.908000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Storytelling', 'Creating Artist'] |
Of course, compared to the great purges of the Twentieth Century, this is pretty tame stuff. | Of course, compared to the great purges of the Twentieth Century, this is pretty tame stuff.
There’s no being banished to work in the salt mines (Siberia), no doctor’s plot to be eliminated (Stalin), there’s no standing in front of a firing squad blindfolded, nor being sent to the showers in ovens in dozens of concentration camps (purge/genocide), nor being strung up by the neck with piano wire (Hitler), nor Red Guards set loose in class warfare purges (Mao), nothing like entire populations banished to the countryside to work as peasants in the killing fields of Cambodia (Khmer Rouge/Cambodia).
The McCarthyism of the 1950’s in the US, in the Senate hearings to uncover alleged Communists and their fellow travellers, was a purge without such deathly consequences, but which still destroyed hundreds of reputations and the former lives of a great many innocent people of former public promenance.
Still, there is this centuries’ purge in Turkey by President Erdoğan of the hundreds of thousands of alleged followers of the Gulen movement, with Police, teachers, university staff, doctors, soldiers, and public servants fired, or suspended from their jobs in the public sector, and
“Gulen supporters in Turkey are subject to wrongful imprisonment, denial of job opportunities, cutting of health care benefits, freezing of assets, and confiscation of passports".
Wikipedia
Of world concern at present is the purge that’s occuring in China in its northwestern region of Xinjiang, with the repression of its Uighur population and other ethnic minorities, with internment camps and forced sterilization, at the behest of President Xi and the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
No, the stuff going down here, by the hierarchy of the Republican Party, is pretty small beer 🍺 by comparison.
Still, a purge is a purge, however fewer in numbers it may be, if the intention is there, and it’s carried out.
This Republican purge is the classic stuff/ modus operandi of how authoritarian regimes around the world carry on.
This little purge, but of big concern, is the banishment of those big tent Republican dissenters to the “Big Lie" of the last Presidential election; that asserts “Trump won it".
This is the stuff of Orwellian “thoughtcrime", where the banishment of the truth, and of the individuals who utter it, resonates with the cognitive dissonance of “doublethink” with a confused Republican base.
So, this one is perhaps not one to be classified as “A Great Purge", given the minor nature of this exclusion of these now ‘great unwashed’ from the ranks of the purists, or high priests, of the cult of Trumpism.
However, it is still a watershed for the Grand Old Party of yore, and one directing itself into an entirely new watercourse, one that leaves behind its past policies in a now dried out old Republican river bed, where the tenets or shibboleths of the old Republican Party once run. | https://medium.com/@jhcorlis/of-course-compared-to-the-great-purges-of-the-twentieth-century-this-is-pretty-tame-stuff-a6a2a1e3dbc7 | ['John Corlis'] | 2021-05-17 17:12:15.712000+00:00 | ['Republicans', 'Trumpism', 'Trump', 'Politics', 'Republican Party'] |
Flattering oneself | My Rust skills are slowly crawls out of nothing, and I start to feel pleasure out of crazy things I do with types. I suspect I will reject all that complexity as I mature, but to reject complexity one need to embrace it fully at first. I done this with Python and Ansible (mostly with Ansible, Python is more of a beast), where I claim myself to be a guru (I can do crazy tricks, I know when to do them right and I know how to avoid situations where I need to do them). I really hope to achieve the same level of enlightening with Rust.
So, here is my petty yield I’m proud of:
impl Thread { pub fn new<C, T>(x: u32, y: u32, closure: C) -> Self
where
C: FnOnce(SyncSender<Buffer>,Receiver<Command>) -> T,
C: Send + 'static,
T: Send + 'static
{
let (control_tx, control_rx): (SyncSender<Command>, Receiver<Command>) = sync_channel(1); let (draw_tx, draw_rx): (SyncSender<Buffer>, Receiver<Buffer>) = sync_channel(1); spawn(||{closure(draw_tx, control_rx);}); Self{
control_tx: Some(control_tx),
draw_rx: Some(draw_rx),
buf:Some(Buffer::new(x, y))
} }
}
What’s here? I want to create a thread and an associated channels to communicate with a thread. Thread executes a closure (with no arguments).
I want to pass the closure to my function (new), and it need to accept arguments about two channels. So I create a second closure, which takes that closure with two arguments and make it a closure with no arguments (placing arguments as ‘captured’ values in closure). The value for those arguments are passed from this function. Basically, someone gives me a function accepting two arguments, I put two values there to be used as arguments and run that function in a thread (passing whole package into spawn function):
spawn(||{closure(draw_tx, control_rx);});
Two big ugly lines with let — they are trivial, I just make two channels.
The function signature is less of my invention than it looks. I’ve mostly copied signature of spawn function adding two additional arguments to Fn trait.
Lastly, when I construct return value I used type ‘ Self ’ with is the type the my method is written for. Basically, Self here is just a name for Thread type.
The call to this function looks like this:
for cpu in 0..cpus{
control[cpu] = Thread::new(
x,
y/cpus as u32,
move |draw_tx, control_rx|{
println!("Spawning thread for cpu {}", cpu);
calc(draw_tx, control_rx, x, y/cpus as u32);
}
);
I need those ‘ draw_tx ’ and ‘ control_rx ’ in my calc function to communicate with the main thread.
The most funny thing here is this:
T: Send + 'static | https://medium.com/journey-to-rust/flattering-oneself-301435b931cb | ['George Shuklin'] | 2020-11-04 21:23:44.208000+00:00 | ['Multithreading', 'Rust', 'Generics', 'Closure', 'Programming'] |
How to resign | How to resign
I wanted to leave Monzo on the best possible terms. Here are the steps I took and why I think they were important. Natasha Vernier Apr 6, 2020·7 min read
I recently resigned from Monzo having worked here for nearly four and a half years. I say here — I am still here! I have loved my Monzo journey and wanted to find a way to leave that maintained my relationships and didn’t end in me sneaking off to interviews, rushing in late to meetings and taking secret phone calls in the stairwell. I spoke to a friend who has experience running startups, and we came up with a plan for how I could resign in the best possible way. These are the steps I took, and why I think they are important.
Speak to your manager, and other people you trust and respect at your company, before handing in your notice Talk openly about notice periods and make it work for both sides Ask for opinions on what you should do next Ask for introductions If needed, try to hire your replacement Start the handover before you leave Work out what you want from the time you have left
Speak to your manager, and other people you trust and respect at your company, before handing in your notice
Oftentimes, things that are causing you unhappiness or frustration at work are eminently solvable. It might be that you want more context, more clarity, a different role, more (or less) responsibility, or more money. And probably, your manager or other people in the company don’t know you want these things. So as a first step, speak to your manager, and other people that you trust and respect, to find out if changes can be made to make your work life happier.
When I was thinking about leaving Monzo I had long conversations with my manager and with the CEO. I told them both the reasons I was thinking about leaving, what frustrated me, what I adored about Monzo, and what some of the things I thought I could do next were. We talked about all the possible roles within the company that I could do and whether more money or less responsibility would entice me to stay.
Having these conversations meant that I knew what I could be doing within Monzo, and also had confidence in some of the things that I could go and do elsewhere. I also knew that I would be able to maintain the relationships with some of the people I respected most if I did leave. But most importantly, I knew that neither more money nor a different role would make me want to stay.
So before you make that final decision, talk to the people you trust within the company. Understand all of your options and be honest with yourself and them about what it really is that is driving the change.
Talk openly about notice periods and make it work for both sides
You’ll probably have a contracted notice period of 1 or 3 months, but, like everything, you can negotiate it if it works for both sides. If you are committed to continuing to work hard, then it’s unlikely your company would say no to you working 4 months rather than 3, or alternatively, if you have been open with your manager about why you are leaving, they are likely to be supportive if you want to leave after only 2.
Either way, work out what it is you want and ask for it.
My contracted notice period was 3 months but at the time of handing my notice in I didn’t have a job to go to. I also wanted to try to hire my replacement so that the team wouldn’t be without a leader for any prolonged period of time. After being totally upfront about this with my manager, we agreed that I would work at least 3 months, but likely longer, and that as soon as I had a job we would agree my last day. As it turns out, I will end up working 4 months and have hired my replacement who will start a month and a half after I leave. This set up was much better for me — it gave me the headspace to find a new job I really wanted, rather than scrambling for something to pay the bills — and it worked out better for Monzo too — the team won’t be without a leader for very long at all.
Ask for opinions on what you should do next
It’s likely that those you work closest with know what you are, and are not, good at. They will know how much stress you can handle comfortably, whether you thrived in a smaller or larger company, whether you were good at building something from zero to one, or later on in the development cycle, and whether you get excited about B2C or B2B products. So I recommend that you speak to people about what might come next. Ask their opinion, talk through potential roles, and be open to new ideas.
When I was looking for new roles I did this with my manager, some peers I work closely with, and some team members. It definitely helped me realise that going to work at another Fintech of a similar size to Monzo would not be the right step for me now. I was better when Monzo was smaller, and I have learnt so much about building something from scratch that I want to put into practice.
Ask for introductions
It’s likely that the most valuable things you’ll take away from a startup experience like Monzo are relationships. And if the people you work with know that you are looking for something new, it’s likely they will want to, our at least be willing to, introduce you to their contacts.
Introductions can lead anywhere — you might learn something new or discover a new career path. This might not be where your next role will come from, but it’ll certainly help you narrow your options.
I knew of a couple of interesting startups which I asked our CEO to introduce me to. Some lead to coffees and some lead nowhere, but if nothing else it was a sign of his faith in me that he’d make those introductions in the first place. I also got a really interesting introduction from an engineer in my team which I was pretty sceptical about to begin with, but which turned out to be highly valuable.
In the end, my new role didn’t come from these introductions, but they definitely helped me work out what I wanted to do next, and as a bonus I made 5 or 10 good contacts that I’m sure I’ll speak to again.
If needed, try to hire your replacement
If your company is going to hire a direct replacement for your role, then no one knows what’s required in the role more than you do! I’m going to write an essay about how I approach hiring at some point, but the short version is — try to hire someone you’d want to work for.
I wrote the job description, reviewed the applications, and then had an initial coffee with people who I thought would be a good fit for the role. I also suggested the interview set up and the people who should be involved. We managed to get down to two excellent candidates within a few months, and made an offer soon after. Despite a long notice period, because we kicked this off as soon as I handed in my notice, there will only be a month and a half between me leaving and my replacement starting.
Start the handover before you leave
Depending on what your role is and how long you are working, it can be helpful to begin your handover well before you actually leave. It can be really difficult to work out what knowledge you have that no one else has, or even what conversations you have been in that other people need to know about. The quickest way to find out is to let other people start doing parts of your role; any knowledge gaps will become apparent pretty quickly.
At the time of writing, I have three weeks left at Monzo. As of last week I have split my main responsibilities between two members of the team. I am still going to the same meetings and keeping on top of the work, but I am trying to let them chair meetings, set agendas and answer questions. If they need to ask me something, I’ll still be here, but we will hopefully work out what the most important knowledge gaps are before my last day.
Work out what you want from the time you have left
Something that I have been really struggling with is working out how much to still be involved in direction setting. If I were staying at Monzo, there are some things I’d really fight for, but given I am leaving soon, is there any point? Of course I am still working hard and doing what’s right for the team, but other people will be running things soon enough, and my opinion just won’t matter any more.
I worked out before I handed in my notice that one of the main reasons for leaving when I am leaving is that I want to maintain the relationships I have with my colleagues. For other people in different roles it might be that you want to optimise for releasing one last product, getting a project finished, making a cost saving, or learning a new skill. For me, these last four months are all about relationships.
And so as I work my notice that is what I keep reminding myself about. The most important thing is to maintain those relationships. I am trying to do what is right and keep the ship moving, but if it will damage a relationship, I am trying to step back quickly and remember what it is I want from the time I have left. | https://medium.com/@natashavernier/how-to-resign-a2c014efea90 | ['Natasha Vernier'] | 2020-04-13 13:46:30.274000+00:00 | ['Tech', 'Startup', 'Business'] |
If You Want a Better Life, Tell Yourself Better Metaphors. | If You Want a Better Life, Tell Yourself Better Metaphors.
The Story You Tell Yourself Is the Story You Live By
You probably do not notice it but we use metaphors all the time.
Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash
We use metaphors to sound more than just cool and philosophical. Metaphors enable us to bring structure to our daily lives, create new meaning, interpret our past experiences, and plan our future aspirations. In short, like the role of DNA, metaphors are the linguistic building blocks to our reality.
They are so ingrained in what we do and how we do it that they have become invisible to us. We barely give it a second thought and that’s why metaphors are so powerful. They operate in the background of our existence, almost like the strings and we are the puppets.
Metaphors control how we interpret the experiences in our lives. For instance, metaphors give a conceptual meaning to a highly abstract concept such as love. The most common metaphors we have for love is: Love Is A Journey. This is why we get common phrases such as:
We’ve hit a roadblock in our relationship
This relationship has come to a dead-end
I feel like we are spinning our wheels in this relationship
A few of these are actually starting to sound familiar to me…
Metaphors are also the reason we associate the abstract concept of being ‘happy’ with the orientational metaphor of being ‘up’. You’ll often hear people say:
I am on a high today
I feel like we are coming up
That boosted my spirits
By the same token, we tend to associate ‘sadness’ with being ‘down’.
I am feeling a bit low today
My spirits sank
I am depressed
In essence, the distillation of everything that makes life meaningful (e.g love, happiness, sadness) can only be adequately captured through metaphors. We can’t escape the metaphor’s power to shape our experiential existence and bring meaning to our daily activities. We could not have designed a more perfect linguistic tool to program how we think, feel and act.
I hope you are starting to see why metaphors are so important.
What I am trying to say is that the metaphors we tell ourselves are the metaphors we live by. They ultimately constrain the range of possible actions and opportunities we think we have in a given context. We act to be coherent with the stories we tell ourselves. Humans are made to avoid cognitive dissonance, we don’t like being consciously inconsistent with ourselves. We want our actions to align with our identity and for better or for worse, metaphors are what define our identity.
The implications of this are enormous.
If you live by negative metaphors, you will only really have negative experiences.
For instance, two people can have the same experience but live by different metaphors and thus elicit different actions. Where one person can experience learning and excitement, another person can experience failure and discouragement.
The interpretation is solely determined by the metaphoric filter we use. Thus, the only difference between one person moving and one person stagnating in life are the metaphors they tell themselves.
This is not exactly new either. There has been an enormous amount of research into this field in recent times. Carol Dweck’s fixed and growth mindset is essentially a theory that uses contrasting metaphors for human intelligence.
The fixed mindset follows the metaphor that the mind is concrete . It is difficult to change once set and only gets more difficult as you age.
. It is difficult to change once set and only gets more difficult as you age. The growth mindset is a metaphor that the mind is a sponge. It is the notion that the mind is malleable and can change with enough deliberate effort.
Both of these metaphors rely on a broader metaphor of the mind as a substance. Whichever metaphor you identify with will shape how you view, interpret and act in your world. Choose wisely.
What Can You Do?
What should be clear by now is that most of the metaphors we live by come from our own context or culture. This means we are not innately born with metaphors but are instead indirectly or directly given metaphors from our parents, caregivers and society.
This brings both good and bad news.
The good news is that metaphors can be treated like a habit. This means that through proactive behavioral changes you can train yourself to break bad metaphors and establish good ones. Metaphors exist in your mind. If you can reimagine metaphors, you can reimagine your life. This might take some time and conscious effort but the payoffs can be enormous.
The bad news is that we can live most or all of our lives unconsciously. If we never really know what our metaphors are, we will never know how to change them. What is then not made conscious to us will only be experienced as fate. We will always remain victims of our metaphors and the cycle continues on and on.
For instance, if you live life by the metaphor that Life is Dangerous, you will only act and then experience life according to that metaphor. You’ve trapped yourself in your own linguistic prison.
On the other hand, if you live life by the metaphor that Life is a Journey, the inevitable setbacks, stumbles and heartbreak that are associated with journeys can be interpreted as a necessary part of a long and beautiful adventure.
It is really quite simple and we often get the simplest things wrong.
Summary:
We all have the ability to live better lives and that starts with having better metaphors.
The process of improving your life involves consciously recognizing previously unconscious metaphors and how you lived by them. Self-help is really just a constant process of deconstructing old metaphors and constructing new ones.
Choose better metaphors and you will have a better life. Continue to live by toxic metaphors and you will have a toxic life. | https://medium.com/curious/if-you-want-a-better-life-tell-yourself-better-metaphors-95387fbdb218 | ['Michael Lim'] | 2020-10-17 04:29:16.231000+00:00 | ['Creativity', 'Books', 'Language', 'Self Improvement', 'Reading'] |
My Greatest Fear as a Writer | It’s a lifelong dream of mine to be able to write for my career someday, so I’ve been reading up on writing. I started with Jeff Goins’s Real Artists Don’t Starve. Then I moved on to Ryan Holiday’s Perennial Seller. Next on the list is Michael Hyatt’s Platform. As much as I’ve been enjoying it all (and learning a lot!), one very unsettling thing has surfaced for me: my greatest fear.
My greatest fear as a writer is what George Orwell listed as one of his reasons for writing: sheer egoism (from his essay entitled “Why I Write”). Amidst all of the self-promotion, self-affirmation, and self-study that comes with being an independent writer these days, what if it all becomes about self? I write because it’s my passion and calling, but my ego is always looking over my shoulder with a coy smile, always whispering, “You know, this is really all about you.”
To be clear, none of the books I’ve read about writing advocate for egoism in any sense. And I should say I’ve been profoundly helped and encouraged by what I’ve read. But the threat of egoism remains. I’m always questioning my motives. “Did I write this for my readers, or did I write it so that my readers would praise me? Is it more important that this essay or article or book gets out there and helps someone, or that I build my self-image as a result?” My head offers answers that are at odds with my heart.
Pride and egoism, you see, cannot be written off so easily for writers. I’ve read that self-promotion as a writer is really only selfish and egotistical if the product you’re trying to promote is not something that you truly believe in. In other words, if you honestly believe that your writing is going to help people, then it would be selfish not to promote it and not to market your work. While I think there is truth here, I’m also tormented by the deceit that’s intertwined with our pride. It’s quite easy for us to deceive ourselves into thinking that what we have written is so important that people all over the globe simply must read it. (Are we really that brilliant?)
John Owen once wrote that deceit is where sin begins. “Sin proceeds only when deception goes before it” (Owen, 1983, p. 36). And what is egoism if not sin?
My greatest fear as a writer is that egoism will creep into my heart under the guise of service to readers. Sure, I can say that I’m trying to serve readers, but is that really my motive? Is that why I’m writing?
Why Do You Write . . . Really?
The issue comes back, again and again, to motive. Why do you write? Why are you writing? Why will you write? Authors can have very different answers to these questions. Below, for the sake of comparison, is a table contrasting the answers to that question for an atheist (George Orwell) and for a contemporary Christian (John Piper). I’ve taken these from Orwell’s essay, “Why I Write,” and from John Piper’s essay, “Is There Christian Eloquence?” There is certainly overlap between these two authors, but note how stark the contrast is!
Clearly, we can have many different reasons for writing, but beneath all of them, for me, is one of three things:
genuine concern for readers; genuine concern for self (egoism); some mixture of the two.
When I inspect my heart, I find that the third option is usually the most accurate (if not the second).
Now, that’s not to say that we should never write unless we have pure motives. If that were the case, I don’t think people could write anything! Our motives are seldom, if ever, pure. God uses writers, I believe, in the same way that he uses preachers: the person carrying the message is flawed, stubborn, and perverted. But God uses us where we are, developing our hearts and minds in the process.
As writers, we must constantly ask ourselves why we are writing, even when we know that the answer might be the same as Orwell’s at times: sheer egoism. But that doesn’t mean we just accept it as an inevitable part of being a writer (as I’ve seen many authors do). I believe it means we express egoism so that we can kill it. The next question, then, is how do you kill your ego? I’ll be writing about that in another article.
Let me return to the beginning. Can I avoid my greatest fear as a writer? I don’t think so. I think egoism is always lurking in the shadows of our conscience. I hate it, and I can wish it away, but it keeps coming back. That’s why, as much as I’m excited to dream about writing full-time someday, I’m also terrified.
A life lived for self is a pitiful thing. Egoism, for me, is one of the most embarrassing human behaviors — not simply because it’s ugly, but because it’s ugly and false. None of us gets where we want to go by our own efforts, no matter what the rest of the world says. And if I look back on my life and see that I’ve suggested we can pull ourselves up by our proverbial bootstraps, I will be so . . . embarrassed.
That, my friends, is my greatest fear as a writer.
Sources
Owen, John. Sin & Temptation. Classics of Faith and Devotion. Edited by James M. Houston. Portland, OR: Multnomah, 1983.
Orwell, George. Essays. New York: Everyman’s Library, 1996.
Piper, John. “Is There Christian Eloquence?” In The Power of Words and the Wonder of God, edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor, 67–80. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2009.
For more articles on theology, language, and life, and to receive the author’s free ebook, In Divine Company: Growing Closer to the God Who Speaks, visit and subscribe to wordsfortheologians.org. | https://pthibbs.medium.com/my-greatest-fear-as-a-writer-980a26491b68 | ['Pierce Taylor Hibbs'] | 2018-09-06 19:12:44.688000+00:00 | ['Publishing', 'Christianity', 'Writing'] |
Infographic Videos: Examples and Tools | Let’s be honest. In this busy world, you’d like to get crucial information concisely and straightforwardly, wouldn’t you?
Who has time to scroll through and read a whole batch of data and statistics to get to the juicy bits of information anyway?
That’s what fueled the implementation of videos as of today’s powerful communication medium.
More and more businesses spend their budget on popular types of videos like explainer videos, demo videos, testimonials videos, and more.
But, when it comes to delivering complex numbers and displaying a wealth of data, infographic videos should be on the top of the lists.
Why?
Let’s find out!
Why Should You Care?
As slightly mentioned above, infographic videos are ideal for conveying complex information in a better way — and faster.
Therefore, it can help viewers to increase their retention of information.
That’s one of the best reasons to use an infographic rather than just conveying data through text.
And of course, you should care about this type of video, especially if you have crucial statistics and data that you need to communicate to your viewers without making them overwhelmed.
Simply put, you can say that infographic videos are pretty much like infographics as you often see in a statistical picture form — except it has transitions that make the viewers even easier to engage in and understand the content.
The motion graphic is probably one of the most common types of animation used in infographic videos. That’s because it offers a great source of storytelling by combining both animation and graphic design.
Let’s not forget about the transition that motion graphics provide you with. The smooth and slick transitions and animation are powerful in illustrating anything from heavy-duty statistics to corporate product introductions.
The Stunning Examples
Now that you have a solid grasp of the definition and significance of infographic videos, it’s time to look at some of the best examples on the internet.
Here you go:
#1. How Sugar Affects The Brain — TedEd
This infographic video tells us the effects of sugar on our brain using this colorful animation and easy-to-understand script.
The facts displayed above are narrated casually, making it easy for viewers to retain the information.
#2. Energy Feeds — Breadnbeyond
From this example, we learn that displaying the numbers on the screen and narrating it is smart to make the information memorable.
Your viewers may spend hours just learning this energy source topic and still struggling to get some juicy, crucial information in their minds, but with this infographic video, all they need is only four minutes.
#3. Change the Way You Think About Food — WWF
The simplicity in this infographic video shows you that you don’t always need to go flamboyant just to get your point across.
Even classic black-and-white color and simple texts will do, as long as you have a powerful message backed up with valid data.
#4. Who Paid the Lowest Taxes In the US? — Vox
This infographic video places some simple charts and creates some catchy characters to help the audience focus and keep them engaged.
The analogies used in this video are a great way to help viewers fully understand the explanation effortlessly.
Infographic Video Maker You Can Rely On
Thanks to the internet, you can now create your infographic videos in no time cost-effectively.
What’s more exciting is that you don’t need to have design skills to do it.
What else could you ask for?
All you need is utilizing ready-to-use templates from an infographic video maker that match your video needs and preference.
Below are some of the best option we provide to narrow down countless infographic video maker out there:
Lumen5
Lumen5 is well-known for its features in creating explainer videos.
However, this platform also provides you with a pre-built template for your infographic videos so you can simply just place the data you want to display on the videos.
Biteable
If you’re looking for a tool that can guide you in creating animated infographic videos, Biteable deserves your attention.
There are a bunch of free and compelling animated templates you can straightly use.
Feel free to modify your infographic video template however you see fit or make one from scratch.
Renderforest
Renderforest spoils you with over 150+ customizable infographic video templates.
From presentation purposes to marketing purposes, this platform has almost everything you need for free templates.
Just pick one and fill in your information, and you can construct your own infographic story. It’s free!
MotionDen
Another infographic video maker you can rely on is MotionDen.
It has a vast library of stock videos or templates solutions shorted by category.
You can sign up to see and use their templates and other tools that might help you in producing stunning and eye-pleasantly infographic video.
Creating Your Own Infographic Videos
Not every infographic video can effectively convey the information and help viewers understand the concept, only engaging and well-crafted ones.
Poorly designed infographic videos can only skew and obscure information, rather than make it easier to understand.
So, here are some quick pro tips to help you get your infographic video right: | https://medium.com/@breadnbeyond/infographic-videos-examples-and-tools-6a36dc68d8c9 | [] | 2020-10-07 04:33:55.120000+00:00 | ['Breadnbeyond', 'Infographic Maker', 'Infographics', 'Explainer Video Company', 'Infographic Video'] |
My Body — The Frenemy. Trigger Warning: Strong language, body… | Trigger Warning: Strong language, body dysmorphia, self harm, disordered eating, anxiety, depression
For most of my childhood I had no issues with my body. It looked fine, it worked fine, I didn’t think twice about it.
The first time I was forced to consider my physicality was at the end of college when my boyfriend at the time called me pleasantly plump. It was a shock to me, Ms. Effortlessly Skinny that I could ever be perceived as plump. Seeing myself in the mirror I wouldn’t have really considered myself fat. I saw myself as I always saw myself. A few extra stretch marks here and there, but the rest seemed fine.
It was only through other people’s eyes that I began to notice that I was fat. A few years later my brother also commented that I looked like a family friend of ours who had very big hips. I still couldn’t really wrap my head around it. But over time I started looking around and comparing with everyone else. Yes, I did have to buy Large pants and not just because I’m tall. I googled a bunch of statistics about ideal weight and did some BMI calculations and realized that I was what they called plus size.
What the fuck? How was I plus size? When did this even happen? Why is the bar for plus size so low? At clothing stores I started to notice that some places didn’t even carry my size, or my size was never available. Were clothes only meant for small and medium sized people? What were people my size doing?
Still, I was 22 and resolved to fix it. I had never been fat and I refused to believe that I had to remain fat. I tried a million different diets. Low carb, keto, calorie counting. I tried weight lifting, yoga, zumba, cardio, whatever was accessible. Then two years later, at 24, I finally found the perfect combination. Powerlifting and low carb. In three months I lost most of the weight. The rest came off slower but by age 25 I was looking slender again. WHEW. I had done it. Mission accomplished, story over, happy ending, roll credits.
WRONG.
Photo by Anete Lusina from Pexels
Age 27. I was asked to gain weight for a film. Cocky from having lost most of my weight in three months, I agreed. I could lose it again. What was the big deal?
Age 29. It’s been three years and the weight is still on. I lost and gained and lost weight a few times in between thanks to surgery, international travel, and the death of a loved one, interspersed with rigorous diet, physiotherapy and exercise.
I turn 30 in two weeks and I’m in a constant state of conflict. There’s a part of me that wants to just give up, give in, lean into this new body, and own it. A part of me has done that already. The part of me that exercises to feel good, eats clean for clear skin, who carries toddlers and moves furniture and rides a scooter is very happy with my body. I gave away my “thin” clothes, bought new ones in Large, Extra Large, and Extra Extra Large, depending on the brand and the product. I follow body positivity influencers and brands on Instagram, I unfollowed fitness models and actresses with their rail thin bodies. I bought shape wear and high waisted trousers and I’m living my best life. This part of me wears my weight with a middle finger in the air saying “fuck you and you expectations of what my body should look like.”
But the other part of me is unwilling to accept this turn of events. Absolutely egotistically fixated on chasing my “ideal” weight. To be completely transparent, I’m only 2 kgs above the ideal maximum for my height. I’m at 77 kgs, 75 is the upper limit of ideal for my height, and my goal weight is 60 kgs. The lower limit for my height is 55 kgs, which would be the REAL ideal. But I’ve hit 60 kgs before and for now I would like to at least get back there. I’ve done it before and I can do it again. 77 now, 75 soon, 70 in a few months, 60 next year, and 55 a few months later. Right?
Wrong. What I can’t seem to factor into my calculations is my mental health. At 24 I was in prime shape physically, but mentally I was at my worst. Severely, deeply depressed — crying multiple times a day, every day and hoping and waiting for death to come. I hated being alive. Chasing this damn goal weight was the only thing that gave me a sense of purpose and control.
I was motivated purely by self loathing. Every rep in the gym was fuelled by “Move your disgusting body you piece of shit”. Every skipped dinner came from “You don’t deserve food. You deserve to be hungry. Burn your fat, you sick fuck.” On cheat days I would binge eat and vomit because my body couldn’t take what my brain so desperately wanted.
Even at 27, just before I gained the weight for the film, I was all over the placed. Recently diagnosed with multiple disorders, emotionally unstable, re-evaluating the foundation on which I had built my life, self harming, anxious, and turbulent. But physically, I was at that sweet 60 kgs on the scale. I barely worked out, lost most of my muscle mass, couldn’t handle my motorcycle, but hey, I was buying Small tops and Medium pants, so all good eh?
As 30 comes up, I am emotionally much more aware. Four years of therapy, regular medication, a hundred tools and worksheets and journal entries and meditation sessions later, I am at least aware of my patterns. I don’t fall apart as easily, I don’t get as angry, I am no longer numb and suicidal. I see the joy in the little things — a smile, a hug, a day at the beach, a piece of chocolate. It’s all so much more fulfilling now that my brain gets enough serotonin.
The better my mental health gets, the less I seem to be able to punish my body into thinness. Was thinness merely a side effect of a turbulent mind? Was my body fat percentage the only thing I could control while I was a slave to the demons in my head? Was losing weight the only way I could feel a sense of self worth? Is it such a bad thing to be happy and fat?
Strangely, regardless of how I feel, it appears that my fatness bothers people so much more than my mental illness did. A thin, mentally ill person doesn’t raise as many eyebrows as a happy fat person. “How strange to be happy when you’re fat”, their looks say. I too am no longer able to fuel my workouts with self loathing. I am no longer able to skip dinner as often as I used to. Every now and then, that voice resurfaces. When I have to send my measurements to a stylist or take pictures in a swimsuit, I suddenly become aware of my dimensions again. Thankfully those moments are only moments now. At the most a few hours on a bad day. No longer my status quo, my default setting.
As 30 comes up, I am fighting hard to silence that cruel voice that only has eyes for me. The cruel voice is quiet when I see other people’s bodies, when I work out, when I eat clean. It only rises when I stand on the scale, or measure myself, or try on clothes. As 30 comes up, I will fight harder to silence that voice. I will lean in to the part of me that is happy, that is active, that is mindful about eating. I will fall apart once a month or so, but there will be no more skipped dinners and binge/purge cheat days. There will instead be an hour of physical activity every day, a little cheese on my bread, a little chocolate on my tongue, and a bit of beer on a Sunday.
Whatever the scale will be, will be. | https://medium.com/@kingfisherontap/my-body-the-frenemy-9f7d357d0ac | ['Urvashi H.V.'] | 2021-07-04 05:39:25.340000+00:00 | ['Body Positivity', 'Weight Loss', 'Weight', 'Body Acceptance', 'Acceptance'] |
Unbundling Platforms and why there are no enterprise marketplaces | To answer this question, let’s start with… decision making! How do we, as individuals or companies, make decisions and why do we make decisions are fascinating questions. It’s definitely outside of the scope of this article. What is important here, is that in every decision there’s some input data involved. There is some kind of a decision making “engine”/black box inside people’s brains or consciousness that makes decisions based on internal (memory, company record) and external data. Data input -> Decision engine -> Decision.
This means that data input is very important because different data will result in a different decision generated by the same decision engine. It’s also important to recognize that the human body alone sends 11 million bits per second to the brain for processing and we live in a world that generates 2.5 quintillion bytes of data each day (and accelerating). At the same time, the conscious mind seems to be able to process only 50 bits per second. It’s impossible to consciously process all the available data, either as an individual or a company, so some sort of compression and selection mechanism is needed. With no formal selection or curation process, we use shortcuts or biases to reduce the amount of data to process. Contextual data is often used for curation (formally or as unconscious biases). For example, provenance, who published, is as important as what they published. Another very important selection mechanism is reputation, a record of historic interactions and outcomes associated with the data source (a promise made by a stranger has a different weight than a promise made by a lifelong friend). Interestingly, humans can keep track of about 100–150 people we interact with, which is also the maximum number of people in a tribal society, with no organized structure. At the same time, we can potentially directly interact with 4.4 billion internet users.
Web 1.0 -> 2.0
Internet adoption created a huge amount of new, user-generated data/content (Web 1.0). The Internet tech stack didn’t include tools for curating the data or establishing a consensus about the data (like the audited financial statement in the analogue world). The Internet didn’t come with tools to handle extremely important contextual data, identity and reputation, either. The closest early proxy for reputation would be Google page rank, which could explain why Google search became so relevant and popular. Web 1.0 no link between the existing analogue infrastructure (gov. issued documents, audited financial statements) and the digital world either. To fill this void, data curation, identity/provenance, reputation and also value transfer were bundled together and handled by the emerging private platforms like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Uber, Airbnb, and others. This is how Web 2.0 emerged. This bundle created the secret sauce of the platform business: trust provided to all participants. Strangers don’t have to trust each but they can trust the platform.
Web 2.0 platforms were so successful because they solved the most important Web 1.0 problems related to data processing and value transfer. They provide incredible benefits for their participants, manly reduce the cost and risks of the decision-making process by 1) reducing the amount and complexity of data that needs to be processed by users; 2) providing consensus about data, standards and interoperability inside the platforms; 3) handling identity and reputation, 4) recently, starting to provide recommendations and even more curation by applying AI/ML
Successful doesn’t mean perfect. There are a number of issues with the dominating platforms and marketplaces, most of which are natural consequences of platform architecture, both in terms of technology and business models. | https://medium.com/kando/unbundling-platforms-and-why-there-are-no-enterprise-marketplaces-4632157af9b6 | ['Michal Bacia'] | 2020-10-07 20:10:37.524000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'Marketplaces', 'Platform', 'Future Of Work', 'Blockchain'] |
The Québec interviews: Jardins de Métis/Reford Gardens | ERE 132 Eco Home, opened June 2015
“It’s in the vocabulary of affordability. So it’s not a giant, technical super science house full of computers that only four people in the world can understand.” ~ Alexander Reford
ERE 132
Cal: By now, do you have a sense of how this house has advanced the science of ecological living? What have you been able to prove? What are the growing pains?
Alexander Reford: Yeah it’s a good question. I think we’ve shown that green building is, A. possible; B. affordable; C. doesn’t have to be the playground of the rich and the influential. This is a modest footprint. It’s meant to be an affordable building. It is on the high end of affordability, let’s be clear. But what we’ve seen and think over just the use of the building is how energy-efficient it is. So we’ve endured three winters with high variations in those winters. Last winter was particularly tough. And yet the consumption is low to unusually low and the comfort levels are high to unusually high. So I think we’ve shown that you can be affordable, ecological and sensitive to the user needs all four seasons.
Cal: Tell me about the origins of this. Why is it here?
Alexander Reford
Alexander Reford: We had two objectives. One was, frankly, our own, which was to try and provide ourselves with the residence where we could house artists and visiting experts in the off season.
So we have a need to _ we have what’s called a Landscape Laboratory and we would put people up in nearby hotels and chalets and the complexities of organizing and orchestrating that suggested that if we had an onsite capacity, we could allow them to work in various times of the year and make our site more vibrant by having these interesting people being here physically onsite.
The second was to link with the architecture community nearby and to provide, I guess, a significant gesture, which is to _ you know, we talk a lot about being green and gardens are green, but you know we’re just as bad consumers as anyone else. We produce giant volumes of garbage and waste. We use various products that we use very occasionally but a garden requires maintenance and a garden is a very unnatural natural environment. So the ecological house was a kind of a way for us to show our mettle, I guess, and to do it in a very obvious way. And so we linked with engineers, architects, local building experts and 85-plus suppliers of materials. And the idea there was frankly to connect to that community of builders and the manufacturers who export their materials but often don’t have much of a presence locally.
ERE 132
So we know we have wood being milled locally but if we’re a resident here we don’t see it very often on the floors of hardware stores. We don’t see it in the building supply venues. So the idea was to provide those people with a venue to promote their products to our visitors who are from the region but to the many thousands who come from other parts of Québec and Canada.
Cal: When I first visited three years ago, one thing that stuck in my head was tapping the heat of the refrigerator into the venting system. What are some other examples like that _ where people come away and say, why didn’t people think of that before?
Alexander Reford: I think one of the things people come away with a little bit is, you know, ‘Oh I’ve got a basement and I hate it. You know I spent all this money in my basement and it’s full of whatever, A. stuff, and B. mushrooms, and C. occasionally water. We’ve had a lot of issues in Québec in the last two years over occasional flooding and that’s highly expensive and generally disruptive.
The fact that you can live in a house with lots of public spaces so you have tiny bedrooms, frankly modest if not overly modest bedrooms, and big generous public spaces: I think that gives a cue to people to maybe rethink their own composition of their house.
Vertical Line Garden
The third element, I think, is that because we have a bedroom and a full bathroom on the ground level, it also brings to people’s consciousness the fact that as we age our ability to adapt (lessens). Aging people having to leave their own homes. One of the great ironies of North American building construction is that we build homes for ourselves or we buy homes for ourselves, we modify them, we spend giant sums of money on it and then when we most need our house we end up going to some awful institution where we have to leave the house that we built.
ERE 132
So here they’ve designed it so that there’s a full bedroom and bathroom on the ground level and it’s just cuing people to rethink as they’re building their own houses. And that’s an unusual luxury. Not many of us have the luxury to do that. But all the same, to think of the house design as an evolutionary structure that evolves with their own lifestyle.
Cal: You can grow old here.
Alexander Reford: You can grow old in your own house. What a great luxury. And it’s not one, oddly enough, that many people give themselves. So the idea was to give that cue to people to think a little bit more carefully when they’re renovating and building.
Part 2 ~
Cal: So is this the everything-old-is-new-again theme?
Alexander Reford: I think there’s a combination of elements. I think there is a question of rediscovering what old and best practices work. I think what we learned a little bit in this process is that designers today know everything and they have access to wide amounts of information. I think the weak link in construction, frankly, is the general contractor.
And they have a very set and standard way to do everything. And what we’ve learned in this particular building was, really, you had to reteach the contractor and their staff just how to seal a window, for instance. You know it’s all done very quickly and their job is to get in and out of a contract very, very quickly and efficiently because that’s how they can make their money. And that’s not illegitimate. It’s just that you know the windows now are so high performance. And so if there is leakage it tends to be around the window, not the window itself. I think that’s true everywhere. It’s getting precision and getting exactitude. It’s an old technique but if you have a good site manager obviously then you can ensure that the performance levels meet your expectations.
Cal: It’s only been 4 years…
The gardens
Alexander Reford: It’s our 4th summer. We opened it in June 2015 so we’ve gone through 3 winters and we’re in our 4th summer now.
Cal: Are you connected to a network, for example in Baie-St-Paul, the eco house? Their Habitat 07?
Alexander Reford: Yes. Yeah we’ve done a lot of work with Écohabitation and it’s become a bit of an example. It’s not the only one. There’s some other great buildings. I think this is a bit different because it’s not self-built.
It’s not made of straw and super ecological materials. It’s in the vocabulary of affordability. So it’s not a giant, technical super science house full of computers that only four people in the world can understand.
It really is meant to be accessible. And it is. So I think we’re in a world of comparatives. Comparative buildings. There’s a great one in Wakefield in Québec as well and there a number of others that have been built and we’re not the only one. It is not a passive house. It is a house which has got (platinum?) and various other certifications. So it is kind of in a school of learning. But the great thing about this building is it’s seen by like 20–25,000 people every summer. So it really is seen by a lot of people, high volume, and we have very good guides who can provide some essential basic information and then refer people to other websites and linkages to learn more.
Cal: Is there something about Québec _ about the resourcefulness of Québec, the brutal winters of Québec _ that makes this a kind of laboratory for energy efficiency?
Alexander Reford: Québec, I think, has a long tradition of experimenting with building and I think this is an example of it. I think Québec is living in a lap of luxury because we have a lot of hydroelectricity. So we overconsume electricity because it’s very inexpensive. But I think that the building trades realize that that shift will happen, at some point we’ll pay the same rates that other people in North America pay. So I think building efficiency is important.
And I think, frankly, those of us who live in this cold climate would like a little bit of comfort. I live in a house _ it’s not that old and yet it’s highly uncomfortable because the doors are poorly closing and the windows are pretty seamed. I don’t have radiant heat flooring, but what a difference that makes if you can heat yourself from the bottom up.
So I think we’re all wishing we lived in a comfortable house like this. And so I think the idea is to obviously teach people about renovations but also new buildings can hopefully change the needle a little bit so that when new construction happens, when it’s a single family dwelling, we do so properly.
Cal: Just finally then on cost. What do you think someone could build a house for that embraces most of these concepts?
Alexander Reford: The sort of full-in cost, excluding land, for this building if you were to build it today, it would be in the $400,000 Canadian ($300,000 USD) range. It’s got high-end materials, so it’s got nice finishes and granites and solid wood and the cabinetry _ so you could certainly do the same thing for much less if you wanted to. If you did some of the work yourself, obviously you’d save.
This is a public building. So we’ve had to compromise with things like emergency exits. And wallboard and you know exterior staircase _ things that you wouldn’t have to do if you’re building this as a single family dwelling.
So we’ve gone over the top a little bit just because we have no choice. So I think you can come in at a lower level for a similar kind of house. And that was the idea _ to be in the $250,000 to $400,000 range. We’re certainly at the top of that range. But I think that the template and the footprint and the size of the building, you could do something similar for 250 to 275.
Cal: And what is the monetary value of the efficiency you gain? How does that fit in?
Alexander Reford: Well certainly we’re saving upwards of _ in Québec electricity terms we’re saving $600 to $800 a month in the winter months. So a significant saving in the November to March range.
Some ranges, the economies are modest because we’re not, we don’t have air conditioning , so we’re not using much and we don’t use much air conditioning in this part of the world. But an average economy would be $2,400 to $3,000, something like that, compared to a similar house in a similar situation somewhere else. Certainly I know my house is highly energy efficient and it’s very expensive in January-February-March.
And then of course the finishes are such and the various other elements mean that the maintenance is lower, that the quality of construction was high. We’ve had virtually no retouching, refinishing. The paint chips _ the ecological paint I would not recommend a second time. But that’s one of the only elements of the building that I think that we would have changed. Some materials just are not suitable for a commercial usage. But aside from that we’ve been 99.9 percent pleased.
Cal: No ecological paint or is that a specific kind?
Alexander Reford: It’s a special kind. Well it’s a mix. It’s a recycled paint and you can certainly see that recycled paints have adhesion problems. And I don’t know if it was poorly applied or is a bad product. | https://medium.com/@xroads50/the-qu%C3%A9bec-interviews-2018-d3716b70d3c8 | [] | 2019-08-25 17:11:11.422000+00:00 | ['Architecture', 'Ecology', 'Gardens', 'Landscape Design', 'Quebec'] |
Is Rugby Ireland’s New National Game ? | “ Becoming a citizen, I thought it helped gel the squad together “
This current Irish rugby squad has encouraged and provoked interesting conversations around national identity that normally do not occur compared with say for example, the Republic Soccer team. Joe Schmidt, Irish head coach for the past six years has in fact been in Ireland since 2010, first moving over to be Leinster Head Coach. But that was not Joe’s first taste of Ireland.
In 1990, Schmidt did the Kiwi equivalent of a gap year, doing an ‘OE’ Overseas Experience, where he ended up as coach in Wilson’s Hospital, a Church of Ireland Boarding School in Westmeath. The impact was immediate, with Wilson’s winning their first ever trophy for rugby, the ‘A’ section of the Senior Cup, that same year.
Joe Schmidt during his first Irish Coaching stint in Mullingar in the 90’s. *Pic / Westmeath Examiner
There was also a GAA related trivia-generating event, where Schmidt even managed to sneak in a game for Mullingar Shamrocks’ third side, after a year of curiously looking over the fence at this other 15 a side ball game.
In 2015, on the eve of the last Rugby World Cup, Schmidt took the unusual step of becoming an Irish citizen. A move he himself said “helped gel the team together”. It was a heartwarming pledge of allegiance to the country he has called home for almost ten years.
When it comes to the players, it is interesting to observe the public’s willingness to accept non-Irish players into a squad, and how that attitude may change from sport to sport. There are few questions asked when a Declan Rice or a Jack Grealish is asked to play football for the Irish Republic, as the public has been de-sensitised to this since the Jack Charlton heralded era of Cascarino, Townsend and Aldridge. There is no Granny rule in Rugby, but a qualification through residency recently reduced from 4 to 3 years by World Rugby. Players like Jean Kleyn, CJ Stander and in particular Bundee Aki have all received an extra level of scrutiny over their declaration, and their acceptance as Irish players have been at best mixed, at worst, vitriolic. The harsh words of former International Neil Francis were absolutist on this issue and seemed to cloak a sneaking sense of discrimination when his focus seemed to laser in on the player whose skin was darker than the others.
The reality is that the movement of people around the globe, and indeed our ideas of nationhood itself have evolved dramatically, and World Rugby to their credit have moved with the changing times. Particularly in this sport where there are only a handful of places around the globe that support a top level league. The three year qualification rule will move to five in 2020, time enough for another Kiwi James Lowe to qualify for the squad, who recently described it as ‘weird’ that he would be Irish eligible in such a short time.
It’s ironic that more questions are raised over eligibility to the Irish first fifteen in rugby, as at least on the surface, these men appear to have much more right to their new assumed nationality than those of other sports. The players are not only inhabiting a jersey, but actively participating in civic life through their employment with the provinces. It’s not hard to argue that Bundee Aki as a New Zealander of Tongan descent, living and working in Connemara, has done more to enrich the lives of his Galway neighbours than say, a Premier League soccer player who moves to England before he is 18, and never returns home. Have these players not earned the right to represent the place in which they have made their home, and indeed, feel they belong to ? It is certainly a million miles away from the apparent bidding process for the services of elite East African runners, many of whom who have switched flags for better conditions.
That’s not to mention the issue of Irish identity, that nettle that no-one ever seems to want to grasp. | https://conorkeenan.medium.com/is-rugby-our-new-national-game-a4d06840df1b | ['Conor Keenan'] | 2019-11-11 17:01:39.623000+00:00 | ['Ireland', 'Rugby', 'Politics', 'Identity', 'Sports'] |
Why I Will Fight for Reproductive Freedom in the 2021 NC General Assembly | Photo: Adobe Stock
North Carolina leaders must prioritize health care, especially reproductive health care, during the pandemic and beyond.
After enduring an election cycle unlike any other, North Carolina legislators are turning our focus back towards the critical work ahead of us in 2021. During my reelection campaign, I talked to many constituents who were concerned about their health care. Some were recently unemployed and unsure of how they could afford their next few months of medical care. Others were worried that one unplanned health expense could put their family into debt beyond repair. As the COVID-19 pandemic rages around us, our General Assembly must prioritize legislation that makes healthcare access more equitable and affordable.
Both the pandemic and the continuing conversation our community is having about racial justice have highlighted the depth of health care disparities in our state, but that inequality was part of our reality long before the pandemic. Every North Carolinian deserves affordable, quality health care that addresses their unique needs and allows them to thrive. We all deserve the freedom to decide if, when, and how to have children; and we all have the right to raise those children in a safe and healthy community. But North Carolinians’ ability to access reproductive health care varies based on how much money we make, where we live, or even our race, gender, or age. As our legislature continues to respond to the pandemic, we must ensure that our health care system works for everyone, starting by removing the required counseling and 72-hour waiting period for abortion care.
There’s no better time than now for our legislature to prioritize equity, access and affordability in reproductive health care by removing burdensome barriers. North Carolina has a total of 14 abortion providers operating in only 17 counties, meaning 83 counties in North Carolina do not have an abortion provider. Incredibly, this leaves 43% of women ages 15–44 without an abortion provider in their county, notably higher than the national average of 34%.
The 72-hour waiting period requires 43% of patients to travel considerable distances across county lines to access reproductive health care and thereby places an undue financial burden on women in our state who need safe and reliable access to family planning services. This requirement isolates rural women from their support systems and burdens them with more financial barriers to abortion access than other women in our state. Taking time off work and waiting three days to receive health care is extremely burdensome for many people in North Carolina, and is especially burdensome, if not impossible, during a pandemic. By repealing the counseling and 72-hour waiting period requirements, our state can break down the financial and political barriers that block many in our state from accessing the crucial reproductive health care they need.
Our state legislature will certainly be balancing many urgent priorities this session as we work together to rebuild our economy and community. The pandemic disrupted much of our 2020 legislative session, and business, labor, and health care leaders are competing for attention as we prepare to take up an especially packed legislative agenda. Regardless, we must remain focused and remember that there are few issues more fundamental to our rights and more entwined with our economy and community than reproductive freedom.
As more and more North Carolinians are teetering on the edge of economic disaster because of the pandemic, we have to make sure that everyone has the freedom to decide if and when they are ready to have children without financial barriers, no matter where they live. We must make reproductive freedom a priority this year by passing legislation to eliminate the laws and barriers that have restricted women’s full and unencumbered access to reproductive health care.
Many obstacles stand between us and reproductive freedom. North Carolinians must hold their elected officials accountable and call on the General Assembly to enact policies that protect and support families through this challenging time. It’s time to demand that our leaders take swift action to advance reproductive freedom and ensure a healthier, stronger and more just future for North Carolina. | https://medium.com/@juliefornc/why-i-will-fight-for-reproductive-freedom-in-the-2021-nc-general-assembly-89c85583ee9c | ['Julie Von Haefen'] | 2020-12-12 19:12:47.105000+00:00 | ['Reproductive Rights', 'Womens Health', 'North Carolina', 'Reproductive Health', 'Abortion Rights'] |
It’s Just Stuff…Right? | It’s Just Stuff…Right?
And yet it’s hard to let it go
One of my businesses is called “Less Mess, Less Stress.” My “nickname” on my business card is “The Clutter Cleaner.” I’ve been doing organizing for several years, but I don’t really advertise it. Usually, I get someone by word of mouth and have one or two clients a year. It’s relatively physical work so that is just fine with me.
When I first started, it would be what I envisioned- helping people clean out that junk room, or maybe cleaning out the garage so you can actually park in it. Then for a while, it became more hoarding or condemned houses. Sometimes I would have to hire an entire crew and we would literally have to shovel the house out. The latest psychology diagnostic manual now actually has a diagnosis for hoarding. It has probably always been around, but now there is much more exposure.
I always say that this job overlaps quite a bit with my counseling profession. First of all, people’s relationship with their belongings is very emotional. Especially when there is grief involved, my counseling skills come in handy. Then there are the people who go beyond a bit of clutter.
Often times their relationship is connected to something so much deeper. Even for myself, I say only half-kidding that I put my own disease to good use. I don’t actually have OCD, but I do have some traits. Organizing is an excellent outlet for that so I find a way to make it a strength.
I’ve been asked to speak on this topic a few times as well. One of my favorites was with the Buffalo marital attorney’s group. How ironic that a couple’s counselor was asked to talk to divorce lawyers. But not as a counselor, as an organizer. A poetic moment. Anyhow, I say that if you hire me, you will love your space (whatever it is you are working on) when I am finished. You probably will hate me, but you will love your house.
It is my job to help people let go of things. The vast majority of Americans need to downsize. You don’t need more space, you need less stuff. One of my sayings that I think is typically accurate.
Recently, we’ve been helping my dad make the big decision about when it is time to live in a smaller place where there isn’t so much upkeep. It’s not only a decision about housing but about aging. Which is always about acceptance. And aging is about approaching death as well. Which is also about acceptance. It’s emotional for Dad, but also for all us kids too.
After months of no, no, no, Dad has decided he’s ready to move. And when he is ready, he means now. We have been trying to sell the house, find him a new place, downsize his belongings, and everything in between. Life has been a bit crazy. Some of the most fun times for us have been being together and going through cupboards and reminiscing about whatever. And some of the tensest times for us have been being together and going through cupboards and disagreeing wholeheartedly about how to help Dad make the shift.
That’s where I have to remember I’m a daughter before an organizer. No one in my family has hired me to take this on. But I’m used to doing it so sometimes I get a little bit bossy. But I also think that initially, Dad (like all of us) needed a little nudging to move forward. Now there is no stopping him and the rest of us can’t keep up. It has been interesting to observe how he has changed over the years. My niece has been gone for over 15 years. My mom has been gone for nine years. Tim (my husband) has been gone over five. That doesn’t even seem possible.
Over the years we have gone through various memories and belongings and initially- and even for years- so many things were untouchable. They were sacred. No one could bear to part with anything. Just looking at things would cause us to tear up or have moments of actual crying.
Now time has gone by. I ask Dad about certain things and he looks at me like, “Why would I want that?” I know without a doubt that he still deeply misses and loves all those people he has lost. But he is moving on. I want to be that way too. We don’t need boxes of things and pictures galore to remember our loved ones. I see it as growth and it’s healthy. After all, it’s just stuff, right? Well, that all depends on what year you are asking! | https://medium.com/live-your-life-on-purpose/its-just-stuff-right-6fb499e94344 | ['Darcy Thiel'] | 2020-03-21 15:01:01.058000+00:00 | ['Inspiration', 'Life', 'Grief And Loss', 'Organization', 'Life Lessons 101'] |
Doi Inthanon & The Great Holy Relics Pagoda | My journey to The Great Holy Relics Pagoda in Doi Inthanon National Park near Chiang Mai, Thailand!
Medley of Monks || Shot with my Nikon D850, Nikon 16–35mm (f/4) @ 22mm, f/10, .3", ISO 50, Lee Filter System and Circular Polarizer
I planned my two day trip to Doi Inthanon and The Great Holy Relics Pagoda more than a month in advance of my trip to Thailand. I had seen amazing images of The Great Holy Relics Pagoda as well as other scenes from the park (i.e., waterfalls and nature trails). I greatly desired to see as much as I could in two days and of course take pictures of my own. Ultimately, I needed more time (perhaps at least 3–7 days) to fully enjoy all of the sites that this incredible park has to offer. I did my best in the time that I had.
Chiang Mai Arrival
Once I arrived in Chiang Mai, I confirmed my reservation with a private driver for two trips over the next two days to Doi Inthanon. I chose a private driver to maximize my time taking pictures rather than dealing with transportation issues and delays. My driver and personal guide, as well as his wife for the second day, were amazing people. My days began at 7AM and lasted until 7PM in the evening. Each drive to and from Chiang Mai was an adventure itself. My drivers shared so much valuable information about the history of the park and sites, the best locations for photography including many that I had not discovered, and took me wherever I wanted to go. I did not miss any of the key spots through their incredible help and guidance.
Doi Inthanon Background
Doi Inthanon National Park (nicknamed “The Roof of Thailand”) was established in 1972 and sits within The Thanon Thong Chai Range, in the Chom Thong District of Chiang Mai Province, approximately 60km west of Chiang Mai, which is about a one and one-half hour drive. This massive park and national heritage site contains many notable destinations including Doi Inthanon (the country’s highest mountain at an elevation of 2,565m) and The Great Holy Relics Pagoda.
Doi Inthanon National Park is home to many different and unique species of plants and animals as well as home to approximately 4,500 villagers including those of Mae Klang Luang known for its rice production and gorgeous paddies and terraces. The park contains many notable rivers, including The Mae Klang, Mae Pakong, Mae Pon, Mae Hoi, Mae Ya, Mae Chaem, Mae Khan, and a part of Ping River which generates electrical power for the region and country, as well as countless waterfalls the largest and most famous being Wachirathan Waterfall as well as The Mae Klang Pha Dok Sieo waterfall depicted in a famous Thai movie. The park also offers incredible hiking trails such as Pha Dok Sieo (also known as The Mae Klang Waterfall Trail), Ang Ka Luang and Kew Mae Pan nature trails, and of course many opportunities for birdwatching.
For more of my images from Doi Inthanon, please visit my website and this gallery:
https://www.geoffpiperphotography.com/Galleries/Doi-Inthanon-Thailand/
For more information about this park and experience, visit its website located here:
http://nps.dnp.go.th//parksdetail.php?id=121&name=DoiInthanonNationalPark
Great Holy Relics Pagoda || My First Trip
On my first trip to The Great Holy Relics Pagoda, I arrived in the mid-afternoon about 2 hours before sunset. This gave me plenty of time to enjoy the grounds, learn the history of the pagodas and take many daytime pictures. | https://medium.com/@geoffpiperphotography/doi-inthanon-the-great-holy-relics-pagoda-e63357595a09 | ['Geoff Piper Photography'] | 2021-01-02 19:56:04.998000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'Thailand', 'Photography', 'Chiang Mai', 'Doi Inthanon'] |
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A Systematic Guide to Overcoming a Gambling Addiction (by a recovering problem gambler) | A Systematic Guide to Overcoming a Gambling Addiction (by a recovering problem gambler) theonlywayout123 5 days ago·42 min read
Introduction:
If you have been trying to overcome your gambling addiction, you know firsthand just how difficult it is. However, with the right knowledge and strategies (and the determination to quit), it can be done. In writing this systematic guide, my aim is to equip you with the most useful knowledge and strategies I’ve acquired over my years of battling my gambling addiction. Relying on this set of knowledge and strategies, I have fortunately been able to stay clean from gambling for over 2.5 years now. I also know that there are other problem gamblers who have found similar success by relying on a similar set of knowledge and strategies. I am thus optimistic that it can really help you too.
Throughout this guide, I have tried to keep my writing as clear and concise as possible. I thus encourage you to read through the entire guide if you can. Of course, feel free to skip any paragraphs that don’t apply to you. In case you’re not interested in reading through the entire guide, I have bolded certain phrases to make navigating the text a bit easier, but please do read through the rest of this introduction.
Here’s a roadmap of what’s to come. This guide consists of 4 sections and 2 appendixes. In section 1, I share with you the strategy that I’ve found to be indispensable to preventing future relapses: stacking effective barriers. There are, of course, other strategies out there that many have found helpful, such as GA, professional therapy, and certain cognitive defenses (e.g., visualizations of the consequences of gambling, observing one’s urges, etc.). Since I personally haven’t had to rely on any of these other strategies, I won’t have much to say about them (although I do say something important about GA in section 2, point 4)
In section 2, I discuss some common causes of relapse and how to properly deal with them. Having this knowledge will help to prevent future relapses. This is because we can use this knowledge to prevent some urges and better respond to others. This helps to supplement the aforementioned effective-barrier strategy that helps to stop us from acting on our most intense urges. The common causes of relapse that I’ll be discussing in section 2 are:
(1) Inability to come to terms with our past losses.
(2) Attracted by the potential for quick and easy riches.
(3) Not appreciating the math/thinking we’re the exception.
(4) Getting complacent/confident after making some progress in recovery.
(5) Unresolved issues in our life that we use gambling to escape from.
(6) Boredom/lack of excitement or emptiness/lack of meaning
(7) Not knowing what your personal triggers are, or knowing what they are but not proactively protecting yourself against them.
In section 3, I explain why a problem gambler cannot keep any gambling in their life. In section 4, I discuss the long-term outlook for someone who is able to stay clean from gambling, answering questions like, “Will the urges eventually go away? Will I be able to come to terms with my past losses? Will I stop feeling guilt or regret?”
Finally, there are two appendixes in which I provide step by step instructions for how to properly set up two blocking softwares that worked really well for me: Screen Time for iPhone and Cold Turkey Blocker for PC/Mac. These appendixes are associated with the effective-barrier strategy discussed in section 1. Let’s jump in.
Section 1: How to prevent future relapses
The wrong approach is to rely on one’s willpower/discipline/internal strength. Many of us problem gamblers let our ego get in the way of our recovery. It hurts our ego to admit that we aren’t strong enough to deal with our gambling urges, and so when our urges do cause us to relapse, we might make some excuse like “I didn’t try my hardest to stop myself”. And so the relapses happen, over and over again.
The reason why relying on willpower simply does not work in the long run is two-fold. First, our willpower is directly affected by many other factors that are often outside of our control. These factors include things like insufficient (or poor quality) sleep, stress, anger and other tasks that we had to use some willpower to get done earlier in the day. Second, the urge to gamble is oftentimes simply overpowering/irresistible. If we’re in good shape, we might be able to fight it for a few days or maybe even a week, but eventually, the urge just gets the better of us. When we have an ego to protect, this is a hard fact to admit, but it is a fact and we need to have the humility to accept it. And once we have, a better approach becomes available.
The right approach may involve various strategies. In what follows, I discuss the strategy that I’ve found to be indispensable to preventing future relapses: stacking effective barriers. Putting in place barriers between us and our gambling can be highly effective at preventing future relapses. This is because the barriers can stop us from acting on our urge to gamble where willpower alone could not. Indeed, once the right barriers are in place, we won’t even need to rely on willpower anymore.
There are two aspects to making barriers work. First, a barrier needs to be an effective barrier for you. Second, effective barriers should be stacked (although for some people, one effective barrier may be enough). I will discuss each of these ideas in turn, starting with the idea of an effective barrier and then giving some examples.
An effective barrier for a person P is a barrier that P considers to be very inconvenient, if not impossible, to undo and that reliably does what P wanted it to do. As this definition of an effective barrier makes clear, whether a barrier is effective is relative to the person in question. For example, for someone who is not tech savvy, the blocking software, Gamban, may in fact be a very effective barrier for him/her. But, this may not be the case for a tech savvy person.
Not every barrier we put in place is an effective barrier for us according to the definition above. For example, if you do online gambling, you may have permanently self-excluded from several websites that you gambled on. However, for many of us who gamble online, this ends up not being an effective barrier, for several reasons. One is that there are tons of other gambling websites on the internet and new ones are popping up all the time, and many of us will be willing to gamble on new sites we discovered. Thus, for many of us, self-excluding from particular sites doesn’t reliably do what we wanted it to do — namely, to stop us from being able to gamble online period. Thus, it is not an effective barrier for many of us, although it may be for those of us who only trust the websites we self-excluded from.
What, then, are some effective barriers for most (if not all) of us? Well, it partly depends on what form of gambling we do, e.g., gambling at land-based casinos, traditional online gambling, stocks/options/forex gambling, or crypto gambling. In terms of land-based gambling, an effective barrier for most of us is requesting for permanent self-exclusion from all the casinos that we see ourselves capable of driving to from where we live and also the casinos located at where we may go on business trips or where our family likes to go on vacation to (of course, ideally, we should try to avoid having to make such business trips if possible and, similarly, our family should seek gamble-free vacation destinations).
Now, not all casinos offer true permanent self-exclusion in the sense that, although they’ll have an option called “indefinite self-exclusion”, they give you the ability to request to undo it after a certain amount of time has passed, say, 1 year. (If this applies to you, keep reading; otherwise, feel free to skip to the next bolded phrase.) This is, for example, the case with government-operated casinos in Ontario, Canada, which is where I live. If you find yourself in this non-ideal situation, always ask if they can remove this privilege. If they say no, I think it would be helpful to reply (truly or falsely) that you have been diagnosed with a gambling addiction and that your doctor has told you that you should never gamble again, and see if they budge. Unfortunately, when I first self-excluded, it didn’t occur to me to say this. But, luckily, if I were to request an undo of my self-exclusion today, the Ontario government requires a 30 day “cool-off” period before the undo can take effect and I’d also need to complete an online math course on how probability works so I know that I can’t profit in the long run from gambling. Knowing that there is this “cool-off” period and this online math course I’d have to complete has certainly helped to keep me from undoing my self-exclusion. Thus, for me, they have been an effective barrier to undoing my self-exclusion. Hopefully, the casinos in your area offer similar barriers that would be effective for you, but if they don’t, try asking them to add certain requirements to your file that you’d need to complete in order to undo your self-exclusion. The requirements you propose should seem very inconvenient to you. For example, if you really hate the idea of getting a doctor’s note to confirm that you are okay to gamble, you might suggest that they add as a requirement that you have such a doctor’s note.
Part of the reason why the aforementioned things (i.e., “30 day cool off period and online course) are effective barriers for me is because, over the course of that first year of being self-excluded, I worked on myself, developing new interests and pursuits, so my urge to gamble after that first year became weaker, more short-lived and less frequent, which makes the 30 day cool off period and online course seem like far more of a hassle (see section 4 for more on this point). Had I failed to make any real progress in my life during that time, perhaps those barriers would be less effective.
But, importantly, there are other effective barriers that are also playing a role in stopping me from undoing my self-exclusion. For example, I have an accountability partner who is aware of my situation and I made a promise to him that I would not undo my self-exclusion and I know he’ll check in from time to time to see whether I’ve kept my word. And personally, I hate to break a promise. Here we see the holistic power of stacking effective barriers, an idea I will discuss in more detail later on. But, very quickly, when we stack effective barriers, one barrier can help fortify another, or they can even be mutually fortifying. Consequently, the effectiveness of the whole stack is greater than the sum of the effectiveness of the individual barriers. For example, by having an accountability partner who knows of the situation, I am far less inclined to undo the self-exclusion, which makes the self-exclusion an even more effective barrier than it otherwise would have been.
In terms of traditional online gambling, an effective barrier for most of us is contacting the third-party services that facilitate depositing from online casinos and requesting that they permanently ban us from using their services. This is more effective (and easier to do) than requesting permanent self-exclusion from particular gambling sites since there are only a small handful of these third-party services compared to the vast and ever-growing number of gambling sites.
Here’s a list of some of their email addresses:
Gigadat solutions/Interac: [email protected]
Instadebit: [email protected] or, if no one answers there, try [email protected]
Much Better: [email protected]
Ecopayz: [email protected]
idebit: [email protected]
If the contact information of the third-party service you use to make deposits isn’t listed here, please take a moment to seek out their contact information and contact them. I know that certain banks and credit card companies can block gambling-related transactions if requested.
Here’s an email template you can use:
Subject heading: Request for permanent account ban.
Hi there,
Please immediately and permanently ban me from using your services. I have been using your services in a way that has been very harmful to my wellbeing. This really needs to stop, and having my account permanently banned is absolutely necessary for that to happen. Thank you for taking my well-being seriously and doing as I have requested.
My information is as follows: [insert the relevant info such as account name or the email you have associated with them or, in the case of gigadatsolutions, the email you use to make interac e-transfers]
Sincerely,
[Insert your name]
There are of course other effective barriers to combat this form of gambling, perhaps most notably certain blocking softwares (see crypto gambling below). Also, if you are from the UK, check out GamStop, a blanket self-exclusion scheme from all online casinos licensed in UK (https://www.gamstop.co.uk/).
In terms of stocks/options/forex gambling, an effective barrier for most of us is contacting the brokerages we use and either asking them to permanently ban us from using their services or asking them to place permanent limits on our account (e.g., ban us from options trading, ban us from margin, ban us from buying securities and thus only allowing us to hold/sell what we already own, etc.).
There are of course other effective barriers to combat this form of gambling, perhaps most notably certain blocking softwares (see crypto gambling below).
In terms of crypto gambling (whether casino gambling or currency gambling), when thinking about what effective barriers might exist for you as a crypto gambler, you should consider every step in the crypto gambling eco-system from how you buy crypto, to how you store crypto, to how you transfer crypto, to how access crypto sites (e.g., via VPNs) and ask yourself whether there is something you can do (e.g., some service provider you can contact) to block one node in this process. Thus, for example, if you buy crypto through exchanges like Coinbase, consider dedicating a day to creating accounts with all crypto exchanges and then contacting each of them to ask them to permanently ban your account. Perhaps something similar can be done with VPN service providers, if you use VPN.
However, here, I want to focus my discussion on what I believe to be an effective barrier for most (if not all) crypto gamblers as well as traditional online gamblers and stocks/options/forex gamblers — namely, blocking softwares such as:
- Screen Time for iPhone (see Appendix A for instructions for proper set-up)
- ColdTurkey Blocker for PC/Mac (see Appendix B for instructions for proper set-up; https://getcoldturkey.com/)
These two blocking softwares have worked really well for me. There are, of course, other blocking softwares available such as Gamban (https://gamban.com/) and Bet Blocker (https://betblocker.org/), the latter of which is entirely free. However, since I have never used them, I’m won’t say too much about them. I do know that there are people who have found them to be effective barriers, so I certainly recommend trying them out.
When we’re gambling online, it’s either through our phone or through our computer. I want to address phones first. If you’re using Gamban or Bet Blocker and it’s is working for you, great. But I’m going to assume that it isn’t. If you are an iPhone user, Screen Time is an extremely powerful blocking software, virtually impossible to bypass once it is properly set up (see Appendix A). On the Andriod side, if Gamban or Bet Blocker isn’t working for you, unfortunately, I don’t know of any other blocking software that will work. If your priority is to overcome your gambling addiction, as it should be, I thus highly encourage you to switch over to iPhone to take advantage of Screen Time. On the computer side, if Gamban or Bet Blocker is working for you, great. But, again, I’m going to assume that it’s not. Personally, I’ve found Cold Turkey Blocker (or ‘Blocker’ for short) to be an effective blocking software (see Appendix B).
Finally, there are other effective barriers that apply to all forms of gambling. One is finding an accountability partner who you respect and feel comfortable to confide in (e.g., because you have good rapport with them and know that they won’t judge you and that they have your best interest at heart). It’s important to select the right person to be your accountability partner. Ideally, your accountability partner should be someone who takes an active interest in seeing you get better, someone who is understanding, encouraging, dependable and, in general, someone who takes their role seriously. This may be your best friend, a sibling, parent, partner or a mentor with relevant experience (e.g., someone you met at GA or online who is farther along the recovery journey and who has shown a willingness to help you).
An accountability partner helps us in many ways, such as by being a source of encouragement, a source of advice and problem-solving, and someone we can turn to when we’re in need. But, most relevantly, an accountability partner acts as a strong emotional barrier to gambling because we’ll feel a sense of responsibility to them. For this to work best, you and your accountability partner should make a plan to do check-ins, maybe multiple times a day in the beginning, and then less frequently over time as things improve. While the frequency of check-ins can decrease over time, regularity should be maintained. For example, if the frequency has decreased to 1 check-in per week, make sure that 1 check-in happens each week. Check-ins should not be missed. It should be prioritized (see section 2, point 4, for the hazards of getting confident as we make progress in our recovery).
If you do relapse, your accountability partner and you should talk about what happened so as to identify the problematic cause of the relapse and work out a solution to avoid the same situation happening again. Frequency of check-ins may also need to be increased. Consequences for further relapses (e.g., agreement to establish further effective barriers) may also be agreed upon.
If none of the previous effective barriers are enough (even when stacked, an idea I’ll come to shortly), a final effective barrier is getting someone you trust to control your money. There is no shame in this. We are simply doing what needs to be done, which takes courage and indeed intelligence. For this to work, you need to make sure that the person you are relying on to control your money understands that a gambling addiction is very difficult to overcome and can take a long time to overcome, so they should not hand control back to you just because you requested it, even if you’ve managed to be gamble-free for a couple of years. When you first give up control of your finances to someone, you and that person should agree to a list of specific and clear conditions that needs to be met for control to be given back to you. This may include being gamble-free for a certain length of time (e.g., over 2 years), demonstrating that you’ve achieved certain goals, etc. You two should also agree on under what conditions control would be revoked again.
After talking extensively about effective barriers, we now come to the idea of stacking effective barriers. Stacking effective barriers is the idea of having in place multiple effective barriers at the same time. This is beneficial for at least two reasons. The first reason is that sometimes an effective barrier for us may fail. For example, maybe a new update introduced a bug into the blocking software that we are using, or our accountability partner got really sick and can’t carry out their role anymore. By having multiple effective barriers in place, we protect ourselves in the event that one of our effective barriers fail.
The second reason is that some effective barriers can fortify or strengthen other effective barriers. Sometimes they can even be mutually fortifying. These effects make the effectiveness of the whole stack greater than the sum of the effectiveness of the individual barriers. For example, suppose you have an accountability partner who you’re regularly checking in with and you’re also using certain blocking softwares, say Blocker for PC; then the fact that you’ll have to report to your accountability partner later in the day will make it far less likely that you’ll try to reinstall Windows to get rid of Blocker (which for me is already an unpalatable process). In this way, one effective barrier (i.e., check-ins by your accountability partner) fortifies another one of your effective barriers (i.e., Blocker). Moreover, in this case, the fortification also goes in the reverse direction. By having Blocker installed, you are less likely to relapse, and as a result, you’re more likely to want to talk with your accountability partner and keep the accountability barrier going (for we all enjoy to share good news instead of bad news). Ultimately, this means that stacking an accountability partner with Blocker is far more effective than the sum of the effectiveness of Blocker by itself plus an accountability partner by itself. Indeed, stacking barriers can have the effect of turning a collection of barriers that aren’t effective in of themselves into an effective whole. For example, perhaps Blocker would not have been effective for you if it was implemented by itself. And perhaps the same is true of having an accountability partner. But by stacking them, they become an effective barrier for you as a whole.
Section 2: Some causes of relapse to watch out for and how to properly deal with them.
(1) Inability to come to terms with our past losses. As problem gamblers, we lose a lot of money to gambling because we can’t stop. Understandably, it is extremely difficult to come to terms with losing so much money, especially since it typically happens over a much shorter period than it took for us to earn it. One obvious sign that we haven’t been able to move on from our losses is that we’re constantly thinking about it. These thoughts give us the urge to gamble more in the hopes of quickly winning back what we lost. We tell ourselves that as soon as we win it back, we will quit for good, and that the only reason we continue to gamble is because we still haven’t won back what we lost.
But the truth is, for us problem gamblers, no amount of winnings is ever going to get us to stop gambling. When we are on a winning streak, we just can’t stop. We keep betting until we lose it all back. I don’t need to tell you this. You know this from your own personal experience. Your brain may be telling you to stop, but your hands just keep clicking away until the balance is back to $0. We also know this from reading the posts of some problem gamblers who got lucky and won back all that they had lost, but instead of stopping, they kept on going until they lost it all again. What makes us problem gamblers is precisely our inability to stop. If we were able to stop, we wouldn’t be desperately trying to win back what we lost in the first place, because we wouldn’t have lost more than we could afford to lose in the first place.
So, gambling to try to win back what we lost is certainly not the way to deal with our inability to move on from our past losses. So what can we do to move on from our losses? Part of the answer is being patient. Time has an intrinsic healing effect, so it will be part of what helps you move on from your past losses. I once lost almost all my life savings (around $70k CAD) in under a month. In the following months, it was extremely difficult to come to terms with what happened. It was all I can think about and it made me miserable. However, as time went on, I eventually came to terms with that massive loss. I can now think back to it and feel fully at peace. But this occurred only because I stopped gambling entirely: time can only work its healing power once the gambling has completely stopped. In this respect, the situation is a bit paradoxical: the only healthy way to come to terms with our losses is by not gambling, yet its precisely our inability to come to terms with our losses in the here and now that make us want to gamble. This is why having in place effective barriers is so important. It helps to protect us from the urges that are associated with our inability to accept our losses in the here and now, giving time the space to work its healing power.
But another part of the answer is using that time well. Time is intrinsically healing, but it’s likely not enough to help you fully get over your past losses. Rather, you also need to spend that time working on yourself and slowly rebuilding your life. By making real progress, you will feel better about your situation over time, which will help you move on from your past losses. In contrast, if you wasted that time (e.g., by surfing the internet all day long), you won’t feel very good about your situation even though you’ve stopped gambling. As a result, your past losses will likely continue to sting to some extent (see section 4).
(2) Attracted by the potential for quick and easy riches. As problem gamblers, we’re used to losing a lot of money easily and quickly, but we’re also used to making a lot of money easily and quickly. Easily because we just need to click some buttons, and quickly because the results of our bet come quickly. As a result, many of us will have experienced turning a relatively small amount of money into a relatively huge amount of money at some point during our gambling years. Of course, the ending is always the same: we can’t stop so we lose it all back. But, we often forget about that ending, thinking that we might get lucky one day and win a large amount easily and quickly and ultimately walk out with it. This thought is far more appealing than the thought of working a low-end job or a job that we dislike for many more years to come. We might also have debt that is accumulating high interest, which makes the ease and quickness of winning a large amount through gambling seem even more appealing.
But the hard truth that we really need to appreciate about ourselves as problem gamblers is that, ultimately, no amount of winning is ever going to make us stop until we’ve lost it all again. Perhaps there might be a few times when you somehow do stop and make a big withdrawal and pay down a debt. But I promise you that sooner or later, you will come back to bet more and you’ll keep betting until you’re back in debt again. For you won in the past and you will have the strong urge to gamble more and think that you will win again. Only, you’re losing this time and chase your losses back into even more debt. In short, for problem gamblers, the potential for quick and easy riches is really just a one-way street to bankruptcy. Once we truly appreciate this fact, we will no longer be enamored by that false potential.
(3) Not appreciating the math/thinking we’re the exception. There is a reason why we’re always the ones going broke and not the casino. It’s not because the casino owners out lucked us. It’s because they set up the odds so that they are mathematically guaranteed to come out ahead in the end. As problem gamblers, it seems that we often don’t really appreciate the probabilities governing the bets we make or the games we play. For example, when we start a gambling session, we sometimes go in treating our chances of being profitable by the end of the session as if it was a coin flip (50%,50%) when really it’s worse than that. We might even think that we’re favored to come out with a profit, when we are in fact favored to come out with a loss — indeed, mathematically guaranteed to be down money over time. Perhaps there is no better illustration of this failure to appreciate the math than the fact that many of us problem gamblers see gambling as a “source of income” and think to ourselves that if only we were able to control ourselves (i.e., leave when we’re ahead), we can be making decent money from gambling on a daily basis. This is categorically false. It doesn’t matter when you leave on any given day: you are mathematically guaranteed to be down money over time. There aren’t any “winning strategies”: the mathematical model underlying almost all gambling activities simply doesn’t allow for them. Anyone who shares with you a “winning strategy” most likely either doesn’t appreciate the math themselves or is just trying to get make some ad revenue off you by getting you to watch their video or visit their website. Think about it: if these people really did find winning strategies, why would they make their discovery public, allowing the casino to find out about the strategy and altering the game to remove it?
Put in a more technical way, almost all gambling activities has negative expected value (ev). The only exceptions are:
- professional card counters when playing blackjack (which is why casinos actively seek them out and blacklist them)
- professional poker players playing against weaker opponents
- a handful of super smart and resourceful groups of individuals in the sports-betting industry who run sophisticated computer algorithms to guide their decision making.
Now, you might be a sports better who knows way more about a certain sport than the average person on the street. However, the superior knowledge you have over the average joe is nowhere near enough to compensate for the odds you are offered by the bookmaker. This is why in the whole history of sports betting, only a small handful of extremely smart and resourceful groups of individuals have been able to profit from sports betting. These groups spend a lot of time building and refining sophisticated computer algorithms that takes into account thousands of relevant factors when determining how to bet in a given case. Whatever factors we are taking into account when making a decision is completely dwarfed in comparison. Again, it’s no accident that in the whole history of sports betting (we’re talking about tens of millions of bettors here), only a small handful of groups of people have been profitable while everyone else has lost money.
Similarly, you might be a stock/options/forex trader who knows way more about a certain company, the economy and/or technical analysis than the average person on the street. But the superior knowledge you have over the average joe is nowhere near enough to help you trade profitably against hedge funds and the like — groups of individuals who are experts in various respective fields, working together to make the best decision with enormous capital. Indeed, they have built complex computer algorithms that act at lightening speed and take into account far more relevant information/factors than you ever could. As a result, by the time you’re making a buy (to sell again in the not too distant future), it’s more-likely-than-not to be an unprofitable one because the price you’re buying at is the result of hedge funds having already bought in at the cheaper prices, which they can then sell back to you at the more expensive prices you or others are paying. In short, you’re always going to be one step behind. It is thus no accident that almost all individual traders lose money over time. Long-term investing is of course a different story.
One reason we think that we are an exception is that we have had winning streaks, making us think that we’re capable of being profitable over the long run. But this is a cognitive bias because in just focusing on our winning streaks, we are forgetting or downplaying our poor decisions and losing streaks. When we win, we tend to attribute our wins to our superior knowledge and skill, but when we lose, we tend to attribute it to bad luck or to being too hasty in our judgment. This is be clear bias. If we attribute our wins to our superior knowledge and skill, we must similarly attribute our losses to our lack of knowledge and skill. And if attribute our losses to bad luck and hasty judgment, we must similarly attribute our wins to such factors too. To be free of bias, we should let the long-term results of our decision-making speak for themselves. And the long-term results are clear: we’ve been losing more and more money over time, just like pretty much every other sports bettor or stock/options/forex trader out there. In short, we are no exception.
(4) Getting complacent/confident after making some progress in recovery. Suppose you’ve been able to stay gamble-free for over three years thanks to the effective barriers you had put in place. During this time, you have been working hard at your job and have managed to save a decent amount. Moreover, since it’s been awhile since you last hit rock bottom, it’s harder to recall in a vivid way the pain from that time. Furthermore, the gambling urges and thoughts have all but disappeared and you feel like you’re back in the driver seat of your life. At this time, you decide to remove the effective barriers you had in place. Perhaps you had an accountability partner who you used to do check-ins with on a regular basis, you decide to end that arrangement. Perhaps you used to have a blocking software like Cold Turkey Blocker and/or Screen Time in place but you’re now going through the inconvenience to remove them (perhaps because it just so happens that they’re getting in the way of some other minor thing you want to do). “What’s the harm?”, you think to yourself, “I’m in much better shape now, so I’ll be fine.” One day, you see a gambling ad or email offering a $20 free bet or 50 free spins. You think to yourself, “Might as well give it a go since it’s not my own money anyways.” So, you play it. You don’t win. But later in the day, you start to feel that all too familiar urge again. “Another small deposit isn’t going to hurt. I can afford it and I’m in control now.” You deposit $20. Then another $20. Then $40. Then $100. By the end of the night, you’ve entirely emptied your bank account.
This is what happens when we get complacent/confident and remove the effective barriers we had put in place. Why does it happen? It happens because a gambling addiction (nor any addiction for that matter) truly ever dies: they just become dormant. As a result, they are always a potential threat. When we remove the barriers that kept our addiction in check, we give our addiction the opportunity to wreak havoc in our lives again, and it is will, with alarming speed. Misplaced confidence is therefore a major cause of relapse, and the way to deal with it is knowing to never be confident in one’s own ability to control one’s gambling. That is, we should always remain on guard, treating our addiction not as a defeated enemy, but always as an active threat and acting accordingly by keeping at least some (but ideally all) of our effective barriers in place. Just one relapse can lead to us losing all the money we saved up in the meantime. Always keep that in mind.
A similar point applies to those who attend GA. When we get confident, we might stop attending GA altogether thinking we’re fully cured. But there is no such thing as being cured from an addiction, because as I just mentioned, addictions never truly die. Thus, the key to making GA work for you in the long run is maintaining regular attendance. Regular attendance should not be confused with frequent attendance. How frequently you attend should be dictated by where you are on recovery journey. If you just started on the journey, you should attend very often. Over time, as your condition gets better, it might be okay to attend less frequently. So, frequency can certainly vary over time. But whatever you do, make sure to attend regularly at the set frequency. For example, if you’re doing really well in your recovery and have reduced your GA attendance to once every three months, make sure to keep going once every three months. Don’t skip on a meeting for any other activity. Make it a priority. To really hit the point home, I once read a post by someone who attended GA for many years and ended up relapsing after 7 years of being gamble-free after they stopped attending GA altogether because they thought they’d be fine.
(5) Unresolved issues in life that we use gambling to escape from. Perhaps all of us who turn to gambling as a form of escape know that gambling won’t resolve the issue we’re trying to escape from and that the only way to resolve it is by dealing with it head on. The problem is that the issue is extremely frightening to deal with. Oftentimes, these are issues that we don’t know how to address nor what their outcome will be, where we think that outcome could be really bad — an outcome we can’t emotionally handle. In short, our lack of knowledge is oftentimes what makes certain issues frightening to deal with. If that’s the case, the solution to our fright is to improve our state of knowledge. This can be done by seeking the help and advice of people who are experienced/knowledgeable in the kind of issue we have. For example, try doing some googling. Or make an anonymous post on reddit in a relevant subreddit to ask for advice. Or talk to someone in real life, which may include a professional. By doing this, we learn the steps we need to take to address the issue and get a sense of what the outcome is likely to be. This should make the issue much less frightening. Of course, sometimes we are frightened to find out what the outcome is likely to be, or we might even know it, but because we can’t emotionally accept it, we try to ignore it. If this is the situation, perhaps what is needed is some courage or a different perspective. This gets into territory I haven’t experienced, so I’ll end this discussion here.
(6) Boredom/lack of excitement or emptiness/lack of meaning. Prior to our attempt at quitting gambling, we spent a lot of our waking time gambling and being in a state of excitement. Once we’re not gambling, all of a sudden there is a bunch of free time that we don’t know what to do with and it’s certainly not exciting. We are thus likely to feel bored as a withdrawal symptom. This typically leads to strong urges to gamble. Of course, the right way to deal with such feelings of boredom is not by going back to gambling, however appealing that might seem in the moment. Rather, it is by fully occupying our waking hours with activities. This will help to counter feelings of boredom and help to take our mind off of gambling. Make your bed. Tidy up your room. Clean the house. Go for a hike or bike ride. Bring a garbage bag with you to your local public park and help pick up the garbage on the ground (perhaps while listening to some music or an interesting podcast). In other words, try to keep yourself busy. If there is some lengthy project or responsibility you can throw yourself into, that would be ideal.
You may find that it’s difficult to focus in the beginning. This is normal. It will get better with time. This difficulty to focus can make it practically impossible to read a book or do anything that requires focus. If you are experiencing this, then start with simple activities like the sorts I listed above where focus is not needed. As your ability to focus improves, you can try more challenging activities that requires focus to execute. Be patient with the rebuilding process.
Along the way, one thing you should try to do is develop deep interests (i.e. passions). Spending time on our passions is what brings long-lasting excitement to our lives, and this kind of excitement is far better to the fleeting, unsustainable kind of excitement that gambling once provided us with. But it is important to know how deep interests are developed, so we succeed in developing them.
When we first try something new (call this thing N), we often feel an initial excitement for it. This initial excitement we feel for N is due to N’s novelty for us: after all, novelty is a reliable cause of dopamine. Inevitably, however, N is going present us with difficulties/challenges and when this happens, the initial excitement for N is likely to disappear. At this point, N no longer excites us and many of us will give up on N, thinking “it’s not for us”. As a result, we move on to something else, and the same pattern repeats. In the end, we try many things but fail to develop any deep interests. When this happens to us, it is likely because we are operating under some false assumptions, namely:
The belief that difficulty or loss of initial excitement is a sign that something is not for us. The belief that passions don’t take effort or time to develop. Relatedly, the belief that passions are discovered, not developed.
The truth is that we all face difficulties and will often lose our initial excitement before the long-lasting kind of excitement takes hold. Moreover, the only way for something to turn into a passion for us is for us to face those difficulties and overcome them. In other words, developing a passion requires spending time and effort on it. Why is this? Because only by spending time and effort on it can we come to appreciate its intrinsic richness/depth and be captivated by that. This is the source of the long-lasting excitement that comes with having deep interests.
Thus, we shouldn’t expect to feel lasting excitement for something when we’ve only pursued it briefly. It is only after spending a good deal of time and effort on climbing the learning curve, dealing with the early difficulties/challenges , that we can be sure that something is not for us.
So try not to jump between new things too quickly as you try to develop new interests and feel a sense of excitement in your life again. Keep going even after the initial excitement has died down and I’m sure one day you’ll feel that long lasting kind of excitement that people who have passions feel. Note that it’s often easier to develop a deep interest when you do it with others. For me, going back to school and being able to study alongside my teachers and other classmates really helped to develop my academic interests.
But in life, we’re not just after excitement: we’re also after a sense of meaning and fulfillment, and it’s not clear that spending time on our passions is always guaranteed to also provide us with the latter. Having said that, I think one source of fulfillment is doing things that further our values (e.g., the causes or outcomes that we value/find important) and promoting values. I think another source fulfillment (and excitement) for most of us is our relationships with others. So, please also try to develop these over time. Just as with passions, relationships that bring us long-lasting excitement and fulfillment will take nurturing through time and effort.
Finally, it is important to bear in mind that prolonged lack of excitement and/or fulfillment may by due to a mental disorder like depression. If you suspect you might have depression, please see a doctor to get assistance.
(7) Not knowing what your personal triggers are, or knowing what they are but not proactively protecting yourself against them. For all of us, there are specific situations that trigger in us an urge to gamble. These triggering situations (“triggers”) may vary somewhat from person to person, and each person likely has multiple triggers. We’ve already come across some specific triggers, such as thoughts about our past losses, boredom, etc. Indeed, the concept of a trigger is very general concept and encompasses even those issues that we use gambling to escape from that I spoke about earlier. Due to its generality, it’s not surprising that much of what we discussed so far also falls under this concept. But there are other triggers not covered by what we discussed so far.
Some other typical triggers include payday, thoughts about being broke, negative emotions, positive emotions, seeing certain images (e.g., a gambling advertisement or an email offering a free play) or certain sights or faces. There are many different triggers. The important thing is knowing what your triggers are and actively protecting yourself from them. For example, if interacting with a certain person leads to urges, think of how you could avoid them. If seeing your earnings arrive in your bank account causes urges, think about sending your earnings elsewhere so you don’t have to see it.
Section 3: Can a problem gambler keep some gambling in their life?
Many problem gamblers hope that they can keep some gambling in their life. To have this hope is very understandable since gambling was fun before it turned into a disaster. Moreover, after gambling for a long time, one may develop an emotional attachment to the activity: it might be one of the few activities that make us feel at home. As a result, it might be hard to imagine life completely without it.
Consequently, many of us will try to keep some gambling in our lives. At first, we are optimistic that we can because we’ll come up with a plan on how to gamble responsibly. This plan might include setting aside a certain portion of our annual income to gambling, using deposit limits, always gambling with someone else around, and other rules we set for ourselves. In short, we think it can be done as long as we go about it in a smart way.
Unfortunately, the hard truth is that all such attempts always end in loss of control. And the reason is simple: when we gamble, we feed the urge, and when the urge gets strong, we slowly start to make exceptions for ourselves. Maybe we’re having a bad day for no fault of our own, so “we deserve to gamble a bit more today”, or maybe we did something great, so “we deserve to gamble a bit more as a reward”. Etc. Etc. The brain will come up with the most amazing reasons to make an exception to our rules. Ultimately, what ends up happening is we ignore our rules and gamble everything away. So, the answer to the main question is No. A problem gambler cannot keep any gambling in their life, not even a bit. Once we do even a bit of gambling, we will soon find ourselves back to full loss of control. Thus, as problem gamblers, we must accept that gambling cannot have any part in our lives, that gambling cannot be a source of fun and excitement for us.
The only way to start living a happy and fulfilling life is to stop gambling. We win by keeping our future hard-earned money (which really adds up over time) and spending it on the people we love and care for, instead of giving it to those who are trying their hardest to profit off our addiction and pretending to care about us by doing the absolute bare minimum in terms of protecting problem gamblers and constantly trying to pull us back in by creating new sites that we haven’t self-excluded from. The truth is, we don’t need gambling to live a happy and fulfilling life. To live a happy and fulfilling life, we need the exact opposite.
Section 4: Will the urges go away? Will I be able to come to terms with my past losses? Will my negative feelings like regret and guilt go away?
When I first started out on my recovery journey, I constantly had intense urges to gamble and I kept thinking about my losses. These urges and thoughts were tormenting, making it difficult to fall asleep and making me feel a lot of negative emotions, like self-hatred, regret and frankly wanting to disappear from this world. One thing that I really wanted to know at the time is whether these urges and thoughts would ever go away or if I had to live the rest of my life like this. So, I went on online to search for answers. Some posts were positive while others were negative. The negative ones told me that the urges will always be there, perhaps less frequent and less intense, but it’ll always be a nuisance in my life. The positive ones told me that the urges will all but completely disappear, and on the rare occasions it does appear, it will be very weak and short-lived. In short, the urges won’t be a nuisance at all. After being over two years of gamble-free, I am happy to report that the positive story can happen, as it did happen to me. I hardly ever feel urges anymore, and when I do, they are very very weak and short-lived. I’m also happy to report that I have been able to come to terms with my past losses. It no longer occupies my mind at all, and when I do choose to think back to it, I am at peace. Finally, the self-hatred, guilt and regret is also gone too in the sense that I don’t feel these emotions on a typical day. In fact, even when I purposely think back to the years where gambling wreaked havoc on my life and health, I am able to think about those years entirely free of feeling those negative emotions. I don’t remember exactly when things got this good, but it definitely took many many months.
But it’s important to know that even though time intrinsically has a healing effect, how well things go also depends on other factors too, perhaps most importantly: how you spend your time after you’ve stopped gambling. For example, if you spend your time working on yourself and on slowly rebuilding as I did, then I think you’ll eventually feel just as good as I do now, though the time frame could vary somewhat (see Section 2, point 6, for some advice on how to rebuild). But if you spend your time unproductively (e.g., just playing video games or surfing the internet all day), you may very well not experience the positive story (or at least not to the extent that I have). That is, even given the passage of a lot of time, you may not be able to fully accept your past losses, still feel some guilt and regret, and feel stronger and longer lasting urges. And this wouldn’t be surprising if it did happen since you haven’t made any real progress in your life (except for not gambling).
In conclusion then, the positive story is possible, but whether it happens for you in part depends on how you spend your time after having stopped gambling. Finally, as I pointed out in an earlier section, no matter how great you eventually feel, always remember that addictions never truly die. Our gambling addiction will be a threat to us for the rest of our lives. So, don’t get confident and let your guard down. Keep at least some of your effective barriers in place. If you attend GA, keep attending on a regular basis (see section 2, point 4). With patience, hard work and vigilance, the future is bright. Here’s to your recovery.
Appendix A: Instructions for properly setting up Screen Time for iPhone
Screen Time is an extremely powerful blocking software that iPhone users have free access to. Once it is properly set up, it becomes extremely difficult to get around it. I will first run through the gamble-proof set-up, which I recommend. Afterwards, I’ll run through another set-up that is not as gamble-proof, but also involves less sacrifice. Some people may find the latter set-up effective enough for them, but it is a risk that I don’t recommend taking.
The gamble-proof set-up
1. First, we need to remove our ability to access problematic websites. Thus, we need to block Safari (Apple’s native browser App) according to the following steps: Settings-> Screen Time -> Content & Privacy Restrictions -> toggle on Content & Privacy Restrictions -> Allowed Apps -> toggle off Safari. Next, delete all your other browser Apps (e.g., google chrome, google search, etc.) according to the following steps: hold down on the App -> Remove App -> Delete App. Complete this step before moving on to step 2.
2. Something I discovered is that many non-browser apps are designed in such a way that by clicking around in them (e.g., their “terms and conditions” section), you’ll be able to access problematic websites through them (despite having all your browser Apps deleted) because they natively support web browsing. To combat this problem, you should first delete all the Apps you can part ways with. This is to save the hassle of clicking around in each one of them. Btw, no need to delete Apple’s own apps (e.g., Apple maps, phone, calendar, camera, etc) as those are safe. Presumably, there will be some third-party Apps that you don’t want to delete for whatever reason. The good news is that you might not need to part ways with them. If you hope to keep them, you will need to spend some time clicking around in them to make sure you can’t get access to problematic websites from them (e.g., by first somehow accessing google search). If you do find a way to access problem websites, you are faced with a choice. Either delete the App and continue with setting up Screen Time as an effective barrier, or don’t use Screen Time as an effective barrier (although see the less gamble-proof set-up below). If you already have other effective barriers set up that have been reliably stopping you from acting on your urges (e.g., other blocking software like Gamban or BetBlocker, permanent ban from the deposit-enabling services, a dedicated accountability partner, etc.), you might decide that the cost of using Screen Time as an effective barrier is too high. However, if you do later relapse through your iPhone, you should immediately start using Screen Time or implement a further effective barrier. At the end of the day, our priority as problem gamblers should always be to overcome our gambling addiction, for nothing good in life can happen while we’re caught in our addiction.
2. Once you’ve deleted all the other Apps that can give you access to problematic websites, the next step is to block the App Store so that you cannot reinstall these Apps, as follows: Settings-> Screen Time -> Content & Privacy Restrictions -> iTunes & App Store Purchases -> set Installing Apps to Don’t Allow. Note that you will still have the ability to update your existing apps: this can be done through Apple’s native text messaging app. Just click on one of your chats and you’ll be able to see a small App Store icon that appears just above your onscreen keyboard. Click the icon -> click on the blue person/body icon -> click on Purchased.
3. Once that is done, you need someone to set up a Screen Time password. When they do, they will be asked to input an Apple ID as a way to reset the password if it is forgotten. Make sure that they input an Apple ID whose user and password you don’t know. If they don’t want to input their own, they can easily create a new Apple ID at icloud.com (on the bottom left corner of that website, it says “Create Apple ID”). Once that’s done, you’re good to go!
4. For those of you who do crypto gambling, make sure to also delete all your wallet apps even if they can’t be used to access problematic websites, just to be safe.
5. If you want to undo the restrictions one day, you and the person who is helping you set up Screen Time should agree to a list of specific conditions that needs to be met for undoing the restrictions. This may include being gamble-free for a certain length of time (e.g., over 2 years), demonstrating that you’ve achieved certain goals, etc. You two should also agree on under what conditions the restrictions would be enforced again.
The less gamble-proof set-up
The set-up just outlined is gamble-proof, but it involves blocking Safari and thus not being able to do any browsing on your phone. It also requires blocking the App Store which means you can’t install any new Apps in the future. A less extreme, but also less gamble-proof set-up allows you to keep Safari or your App Store or both, depending on your choice. This set-up involves using Screen Time to block specific Apps and websites. If there is a specific App you wish to block, the first step is to open/use it for about 30 seconds. Similarly, if there is a specific website you wish to block, the first step is to go to that website on Safari and surf it for about 30 seconds. Then click Settings -> Screen Time -> See All Activity -> find and click on the App’s name or website’s name -> Add Limit -> Set Timer to 1 min and toggle ON “Block at End of Limit” -> Add (in top right corner). Once you do this, you’ll have 1 minute daily access to the App or website that you blocked (keep in mind that even 1 minute access could be problematic for some people). Feel free to delete the Apps you’ve blocked afterwards if you don’t like the clutter (the block will still work if you were to reinstall it from the App Store).
This set-up is less gamble-proof because it opens up the potential for finding a problematic website that you didn’t block or finding a problematic App in the App Store that you didn’t block. Now, if all you care about is being able to browse, you should still block the App Store to make this set-up somewhat more gamble-proof. For the same reason, if all you care about is having the ability to download new Apps in the future, you should still block Safari. If you care to browse and be able to download new Apps, don’t block Safari or the App Store. This is the least gamble-proof set up, but it also requires the least sacrifice.
Moreover, note that this second less gamble-proof set-up may or may not help with the earlier dilemma of wanting to keep a certain third party App that, through clicking around, you’ve found can lead you to problematic websites. You’ll have to see if blocking specific websites will also make those websites inaccessible through such Apps.
Appendix B: Instructions for properly setting up Cold Turkey Blocker (and a note on Gamban)
Cold Turkey Blocker (https://getcoldturkey.com/) is an extremely powerful blocking software for PC/Mac. It can be used to block applications as well as websites. It currently costs $49 CAD for lifetime access, and students can get a 20% discount. I’m a PC user and, for me, it has been an effective barrier. This is because bypassing it requires reinstalling Windows, which is too inconvenient for me to do. Felix, the creator of Blocker, does offer a 7 day free trial, and a 30 day money back guarantee, which gives you some time to see if it’ll be an effective barrier for you. If you find that it’s working well for you, please do yourself the favor of buying it. I won’t get any benefit from you buying it, but I promise that you will. Personally, I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be where I am today without it. Here’s what you need to know about how to set it up properly for PC users, although I imagine it’s similar for Mac.
1. After downloading and opening the software, click on “Blocks” on the left-hand side -> “+ Add a new block” -> “import” -> “Website categories” -> “Gambling” -> “Save as” -> give your new block list a name like ‘A new beginning’. Congrats! You have just created a new block list that contains many gambling urls and key gambling search words that Felix has personally compiled. If you now toggle the blocklist to ON from OFF, this will have the effect of blocking access to many gambling websites. However, you should know that this quick importing strategy currently does not help to block all gambling websites, so you should input the urls that you personally know into your block list. To do this, click on the new name you gave your block list to edit the block list -> type in the url you know -> click add -> repeat the last two steps until you’ve added all the urls you wish to block -> click “Save”. When looking for urls to add to your block list, you may want to google search for casino review websites and add their urls to your block list since those websites are a gateway to countless actual casino urls/websites. For crypto gamblers, add the urls of the crypto exchange platforms you use to buy crypto or to access your wallets and of course the crypto gambling sites you use.
Note that Felix is regularly updating Blocker and is likely to improve the effectiveness of his compilation method, allowing for more gambling sites to be covered. In the meantime, Gamban is a helpful supplement since it does a more complete job at covering gambling sites. However, I’ve heard that Gamban can be bypassed through certain savvy methods. For those of you aware of such methods, perhaps Blocker can supplement Gamban by allowing you to block certain urls or applications that make bypassing Gamban possible on PC/Mac. In this way, Gamban and Blocker can be mutually fortifying.
2. We’re almost done with setting up your new block list. One thing we want to do is remove certain straightforward ways of uninstalling Blocker. One involves going to https://getcoldturkey.com/support/reinstall-instructions/ to download the uninstall.exe file. You’ll want to remove this option by adding that url to your block list. Also, for safe measure, google “How to uninstall Cold Turkey” and add the urls of relevant search results to your block list. In those search results, people might suggest some third-party software that can execute a brute force uninstall, but I’ve personally always been hesitant to download third-party software out of fear of viruses/malware, so I’ve never tried those suggestions. So I don’t know if they work or not. In case that they do work, you should block those urls so you can’t access that information in the future. Or you can download the third-party software file (at your own risk) and use Blocker to block it. To do this, open your block list again, click on “Applications” near the top -> click on “Add exe file to block” -> click on the “Downloads” folder -> click on the file you just downloaded -> click “Save”.
3. Once you’re done with your block list, click on “Settings” on the left-hand side -> “Blocking” at the top center -> toggle ON the following:
“Block unsupported browsers when websites are blocked”
“Block supported browsers if extension crashes while websites are blocked”
“Block Time & Language settings when a block is enabled”
“Block the Pause for a Cause feature on the block page”
Finally, at the bottom, where you see “Seconds given to re-enable browser extensions if disabled or removed”, change the default 60 seconds to 1 second.
3. Now click “Blocks” on the left-hand side to return to your block lists, find the new block list you created. If you have not already toggled it to ON yet, do that. Now click on “Unlocked (with the unlocked symbol)”, which is right beneath the toggle. Here, you’ll have several options of how you’d like to lock your block so that you can’t toggle it OFF whenever you wanted to. I highly recommend using the “Timer” option and selecting “As long as possible” (apx 16 years) from the dropdown menu. Then click Save -> “Lock for 16 years”. Congrats, you’re all done!
As you play around with Blocker, you’ll see that it has a lot of useful features and can be used to effectively deal with other addictions as well. Moreover, for some of us, time management/self-control may be things we never developed when growing up. That’s true of me, as I grew up playing video games all day long and never did my homework. If you’re like me, Blocker can drastically improve the trajectory of your life beyond just helping you with your gambling addiction. | https://medium.com/@theonlywayout123/a-systematic-guide-to-overcoming-a-gambling-addiction-by-a-recovering-problem-gambler-e695ebc19565 | [] | 2021-09-16 19:56:46.239000+00:00 | ['Gambling', 'Addiction Recovery', 'Addiction', 'Gambling Addiction', 'Problem Gambling'] |
Consensus Protocols of Distributed Ledger Technology | Distributed ledger technologies have revolutionized the world by transforming the existing systems to become more secure, reliable and scalable. It forms a system that provides a trustworthy ledger among a group of nodes across a network that doesn’t fully trust each other [1]. Distributed ledgers especially blockchain has been conceived as a provider of cryptocurrency but it has found its applications in different sectors including finance, academics, IoT, industries, and etc. That is why, we have witnessed an exponential adoption of this technology over the last few years. This has also raised the interest in the distributed ledger development community, which has scaled from hobbyists and academics to enterprises i.e. IBM and Intel. From the emergence of Bitcoin in 2008, there are currently many active development variants of this technology i.e. Ethereum, Hyperledger, Tangle, Corda, and etc. [2]
All these variants differ in the way they choose to reach the consensus, which helps a distributed ledger to function fairly, securely and efficiently. A consensus protocol, which is the core of the distributed ledger, performs two tasks: it guarantees that the next block of the network is the only version of the truth, and it protects the network from adversarial influences on the nodes and the network [1] [3]. It allows the network to confirm the transactions without relying on the intermediaries i.e. central authority. A consensus protocol makes a ledger functional and a flaw in the protocol will fail the accountability of the ledger. That is why, it owns a significant interest of the researchers and the industry. It also defines the nature of the distributed ledger which could be public, private or consortium/federated [4]. Another popular classification is permissioned and permissionless protocols.
In this article, we will overview of some of the famous public, private and permissioned consensus protocols. We will survey different consensus protocols, their properties, concept, implementations, analysis, and use cases. We will also identify and discuss multiple variations of these protocols as similar work under the same section.
Proof of Work
Introduction:
Proof of Work (PoW) [6] is the first consensus protocol for crypto-currency that allows the participant to reach consensus in the Bitcoin. The protocol is primarily based on costly computer computation involving Hashing (SHA-256), Merkle Tree and P2P networking for creating, broadcasting and verifying blocks on the network.
Properties:
· PoW is designed for permissionless public distributed ledger and consumes computational resources (or hashrate) of the system for mining.
· PoW maintains a block of transactions in a linear fashion (a single list of blocks) and each block contains a group of transactions.
· Each new block formation requires the miner to solve a cryptographic puzzle and the miner who solve it first, broadcasts its result to the network and takes the reward.
· This computational challenge-response process is called mining [6].
· Every transaction is cryptographically signed and the transaction is only accepted in the network only if the signature is valid and verifiable.
· In case of conflicts, the protocol extends multiple branches of blocks but only the longer branch is retained as the truthful branch.
· The protocol has a fair distribution of reward. The miner with p fraction of total computation power has a probability p to mine the next block.
· The management of the consensus is objective given that a new node can reach the current state of the network based solely on protocol rules. [13]
Concept:
PoW introduces the concept of mining which involves validation of a set of transactions (block) in the network by means of showing the computational proof of the work done. When a transaction is initiated, all the miners on the network race against each other to be the first to solve a cryptographic puzzle and create the block. The miner who successfully solves the puzzle, broadcasts his solution and block over the network to other peers, who after verification of the solution accept the new block on the chain. [6]
Implementations:
Bitcoin. Bitcoin [6] is the first and innovative peer to peer cryptocurrency that allows two parties to exchange payments without the need of an intermediator. Since its inception, it has not only revolutionized the financial industry but has also inspired other sectors i.e. health, management, governance and etc. Bitcoin provides payments exchange with trivial fees and identity anonymity. As a decentralized cryptocurrency, it is not influenced by the policies of the financial institution and avoids counterparty risk. Bitcoin allows micropayment channels through off-chain Lightening network [14] and native protocol library [15]. You can also sell computational data via zero-knowledge proof to attain utmost trust during a transaction [16]. It also supports multi-signature transaction over an address for improved security [17] [18].
Litecoin. Litecoin [19] is an open source and peer to peer cryptocurrency that is an implementation of proof of work [20]. Litecoin was forked from the Bitcoin codebase and went live in 2011. It uses improved security algorithms which is both computationally and memory intensive. It uses scyrpt [21] in the consensus protocol that makes it more expensive to counterfeit.
Other cryptocurrencies implementing PoW are Primecoin [22], ZCash, Monero, Vertcoin and etc.
Analysis:
· PoW is a power-hungry protocol that requires an immersive amount of computation power [23] which is a pure wastage of resources as we have new efficient protocols.
· The difficulty level in the PoW keeps increasing so as the power required to solve a harder cryptographic puzzle, which makes it inaccessible for solo miners to participate in the network.
· Due to its extensive power consumption, this protocol is considered a waste of huge resources. Other consensus protocols are recommended for efficient processing and better output [24].
· High computation requirement by the protocol also guarantees high security. A malicious user needs 51% of the computing power which is near impossible considering the computational difficulty level of the protocol. However, the protocol is highly vulnerable to Sybil and Denial of Service attack, and least affected by Selfish Mining attack. [25]
· The mining process of the system is also not fair; it is easily influenced by specialized hardware known as Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). These specialized and expensive machines give an unfair edge to miners over others in the network.
Similar Work:
Proof of eXercise. Proof of eXercise (PoX) [26] is designed for the public distributed ledger, consumes computational resources (or hashrate) of the system and is a conceptual consensus protocol that requires dedicated research for its practical implementation. It is an attempt to transform the PoW hash-based puzzle mining process towards forming a useful output and avoid wastages of resources. Currently, the annual electricity consumption of mining Bitcoin is equivalent to that of Ireland in 2014 [27], and is expected to be equal to that of the entire world by 2020 [23], thus making it unsustainable in the future [26] [24]. It proposes a variant of PoW that solves real-world scientific computation problems based on matrices as an eXercise. There are many real-world application of matrices based scientific problems including image processing, DNA and RNA matching and sequencing, data mining and etc.
Proofs of Useful Work. The nearly similar idea was published in 2017 as “Proofs of Useful Work”, which proposes to solve the scientific problems based on orthogonal vectors OV as the useful proof-of-work [28]. The paper also integrated the idea of zero-knowledge proof [16] [28]. This enables the miners to give only the proof of the solution to their delegated task and not the solution itself to the delegator. The solution is made available by the network only when a particular pre-set condition is met. The paper does not discuss any challenges and practical implementation of the protocol.
Proof of Stake
Introduction:
Proof of Stake (PoS) [29] [30] [31] is another consensus protocol that chooses the validator to mine the next block on the basis of its economic stake in the network (amount of coins a validator owns) and the age of that stake. PoS comes in many variants from minimal to significant changes in their base protocol. The most apparent fashion in which they differ is what strategy they implement to minimize the double spending and centralization issue in the protocol.
Properties:
· PoS is designed for permissioned public distributed ledger and works on economically bonded puzzle solutions.
· The process of computational challenge-response in the protocol is called minting.
· POS is weakly subjective given that a new node requires recent state, protocol messages, and rules to reach the current state of the network [13].
· As no new coins are generated, there is no block reward in the PoS and the miner only takes the transaction fee.
· The miner for a particular block is chosen in a deterministic way depending on its economic stake in the network.
· The protocol is also fair given that the probability p of a validator is directly proportional to the fraction p of the stake he owns out of all the in circulation.
Concept:
The PoS based ledger keeps track of all the validators (equivalent to miners in PoW) and their respective stake (cryptocurrency) in the network. In PoS, all the validators invest the stake in the system to earn chances to mine the next block. The higher the stake, the higher the chances. However, it doesn’t guarantee that the validator with the highest stake will be selected. The system chooses the validator randomly for block creation, like a lottery. If any participant tries to cheat the system, he loses his stake in the system. Unlike PoW, block creation is straightforward and doesn’t require any significant computational power.
Implementations:
Ethereum. Ethereum [32] is an open-source and public blockchain powered by PoS as the protocol for reaching the consensus. Ethereum was initially PoW based cryptocurrency but it shifted its consensus mechanism to proof of stake, as it makes Ethereum energy efficient and secure as compared to proof of work counterparts [29]. It also features a powerful scripting language “smart contracts” to perform an operation on the blockchain. Ether is a cryptocurrency that works on the Ethereum blockchain. Unlike Bitcoin, which only offers peer to peer payment transfer, Ethereum offers a blockchain development stack on which developers can build and deploy DApps (Distributed Apps). This opens up the opportunity for developing unlimited ideas on this promising technology.
Other cryptocurrencies implementing PoS are Decred [33] [34], Peercoin [30], Neo, Navvcoin, Reddcoin, PivX, and Dash.
Analysis:
· PoS is an environment-friendly consensus protocol due to negligible computation requirement. Also, the protocol doesn’t require any specialized hardware for participation.
· While PoS is energy efficient, it is more profitable for major stakeholders and biased towards.
· In PoS, an attacker would need 50%+ currency in the network to corrupt it, which is easier as compared to acquiring 51% computation power in its PoW counterpart. To avoid such security attacks, PoS design has several economic penalties to punish the colluding participant. This is indeed very effective since only major stakeholder can centralize the network and they will prohibit that to avoid penalty (losing the stake) by the network. The penalty is implemented in Ethereum whereas other implementations have attempted different strategies to solve this problem [13] [31].
· PoS has many security concerns, one of which is Bribe Attack [13]. This involves the process of reversing your own transaction for which an attacker builds his own chain and bribe the stakeholders for the block confirmations.
· PoS is attracting many new and existing implementations of distributed ledgers due to its energy efficient and decentralized design.
Similar Work:
Delegated Proof of Stake. Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) [35] is the most common variation of PoS, where stakeholders elect the validators rather than being the validator themselves. Unlike PoS, which follows the direct democracy, it works on the concept of representative democracy. Those who hold the wallet, vote for the validator to create the new block. Validators can also collaborate to create a block instead of competing against each other, unlike PoW and PoS. It boosts better distribution of reward as people tend to vote for the delegate (could be a casual user not necessarily rich) who will give back most rewards to them, thus favors decentralization. The voters make sure the honest behavior of the validator, whom they voted, to ensure the guarantee of the stake that they bet on the system. The downsides of the DPoS are 51% attack and cartels formation. Steem [36], EOS [37] and BitShares [38] are some of the popular implementations of DPoS.
Leased Proof of Stake. LPoS [39] is a less common yet enhanced variant of PoS focused on “richer gets richer” problem. It encourages the participants to lease out their stake to vote for the node. The node with the most stake has more chances to be allowed to create the new block. The reward received is then distributed among all the leasing participants as per the stake they bet. The system encourages number of leasing participants for the desire of rewards, thus improving the security of the protocol.
Use Cases:
· The technology is efficient and secure for the development of public crypto-currency. It is an ideal technology for the development of a public transaction system.
Proof of Elapsed Time:
Introduction:
Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET) [40] is another efficient consensus protocol that leverages the use of a Trusted Execution Environment (TEEs) i.e. Intel SGX-enabled CPUs [41] [42]. It extends both Proof of Time and Proof of Ownership to improve the efficiency of the mining process by following a fair lottery system. It leverages the capabilities of the TEEs platform to enforce random waiting time for block creation.
Properties:
· PoET is designed for permissionless public distributed ledger and utilizes Intel-based specialized hardware i.e. Intel SGX.
· The transactions and participants’ time logs are transparent and verifiable which adds to the reliability of the network.
Concept:
The system is identical to PoW but it consumes far less computational resources. Unlike in PoW where the nodes compete against each other to solve a cryptographic puzzle and mine next block. In PoET, each validator is assigned a random wait time T for block construction which is assigned and monitored by the protocol. The first validator, whose finishes the waiting time (who has the shortest waiting time), creates and publishes his block on the network. The protocol works as the hybrid of first come first serve and random lottery fashion.
The code for the whole process relies on Software Guard Extension (SGX), available in most of the Intel CPUs, that ensures trusted code execution in a protected environment i.e. Intel Software Guard Extension. [42]
Analysis:
· Unlike other permissioned consensus protocol, PoET reaches consensus while maintaining the anonymity of the participants.
· The downside of the protocol is its dependency on TEEs enabled hardware. TEEs based hardware protect the system from malicious behaviors by maintaining a monotonic counter to ensure only one instance of the blockchain is running on the one CPU. This is important as participants may create multiple instances of wait time T to boost their luck. However, the protocol lacks security analysis and is vulnerable to different security attacks [43].
· Intel Software Guard Extension is susceptible to rollback [44] attacks and key extraction [45].
Implementations:
Hyperledger Sawtooth. Hyperledger Sawtooth [46] [1], developed by Intel, is a modular blockchain uses PoET consensus algorithm to implement a leader election lottery system. It offers parallel processing of the transactions for rapid block creation and validation by utilizing “Advance Transaction Execution Engine”. It is an enterprise-grade protocol that is capable of huge throughput and large network population i.e. IoT network. The platform also provides development and execution of general purpose smart contracts on the ledger.
Similar Work:
Proof of Luck. Proof of Luck (PoL) is a permissioned and conceptual consensus protocol that is based on the use of a Trusted Execution Environment (TEEs) i.e. Intel SGX [41]. It extends both Proof of Time and Proof of Ownership to addresses the problem of extensive energy consumption [23] and centralization [47] of existing consensus protocol i.e. PoW and PoS. It also exhibits low transaction validation latency [28]. The block confirmation time for PoL is slightly greater than 15 seconds which is comparable to Ethereum (12 seconds on average) [48] and significantly less than of Bitcoin (10 minutes).
The protocol, for each round, signals participants to commit all the uncommitted transaction to a new block, and their version block is then given a numeric value. Then a voting is conducted where all the participants randomly vote for a number and the one with the highest votes wins (luckiest). The ledger accepts the luckiest block as the next block in the chain. Other participants stop mining and broadcasting their own block as soon as they receive the luckiest block to reduce network congestion.
Proof of Space
Introduction:
Proof of Space (PoSpace) [49], also known as proof of storage and proof of capacity (PoC) [50] [51], is an eco-friendly protocol that was initially formulated at [52] as an alternate idea to make a resource scared whose usage otherwise can be abused. PoSpace is a similar concept like PoW except it consumes disk storage instead of computation.
Properties:
· PoStorage/ PoC is designed for public distributed ledger and utilizes free disk storage as a resource.
· Influence of a miner’s power over the network is directly proportional to the amount of disk space being contributed.
Concept:
PoStorage/PoC consumes disk space rather than computing resources to mine a block. Unlike PoW, where the miner keeps changing the block header and hash to find the solution, it generates all the random solutions, also called plots, using Shabal algorithm in advance and store it on the hard drive. This stage is called plotting and it may take days or even weeks depending on the storage capacity of your drive. Then on the next stage, miners match their solutions to the most recent puzzle and the node with the fastest solution gets to mine the next block. [53] [54]
Implementations:
Burstcoin. Burstcoin, an implementation of PoSpace/PoC, is a decentralized cryptocurrency and payment system that primarily relies on disk space as its mining resource. [50]. It was introduced by an anonymous developer in 2014 and is now being managed by the community. The mining in Burstcoin is inexpensive and efficient that it can even be performed on a mobile device. [55] It also led the first implementation of Turing Complete Smart Contract, which means that it can solve any reasonable computing problem. It is an active project and the community is currently working on its integration with the lightning network. This will not only decrease the transaction confirmation time but also increase the scalability of the blockchain system.
SpaceMint [56] is another conceptual cryptocurrency that is based on PoSpace.
Analysis:
· Mining can be performed on any ordinary hard drives and is not influenced by specialized hardware which makes it cheap. Additionally, miner doesn’t need to upgrade their equipment and can utilize an older disk that can store data [53]. This makes it an ASIC proof [57] algorithm, which means that its performance can be significantly affected by hardware.
· Any user with free disk space even on their phones can participant in the network which leads to more decentralization.
· This technology could influence people to invest in larger disk spaces i.e. exabytes and zettabytes, that could ultimately lead us to another arm race [53].
· Hard drives consume approx. 30 times less power than an AISC based miner which makes the protocol energy-efficient.
· It requires more peer-to-peer interactivity than PoW which leads to network congestion.
Proof of Retrievability
Introduction:
Proof of Retreivability (PoR) is a consensus protocol that guarantees the existence of data on the peer by verifying the availability and integrity of small chunks of data [58]. Its application provides revolutionary solutions to Cloud Computing by enabling a peer to peer data storage network for data storage, transfer and retrieval.
Properties:
· PoR is designed for public distributed ledger and utilizes free disk storage as a resource.
· It is byzantine tolerant which makes it able to sustain adversaries and tolerate a class of failures known as Byzantine Generals’ problem. [59]
Concept:
PoR provides standard functions to issue and verify the proof of files on a remote host i.e. peer. The protocol implements this via a challenge-response interaction called audit or heartbeat [60]. This helps the file owner (client) to verify the integrity and availability of the data over the host (peer). At first, the client wants to store a file F on the network N. The file is first encoded and then propagated over the network. The file is stored by multiple peers and the file owner/client can verify the integrity of the file by issuing challenges to the peers. The client receives the response to those challenges to verify the integrity. The encoding mechanism in the protocol plays an important part in the efficient processing of the data and verification of the chunks by the client.
Implementations:
Storej. Storej [60] is a peer to peer decentralized cloud storage network that guarantees data integrity. It allows participants and clients to share, store and transfer their data across different nodes. The data is protected from censorship, data loss and tampering by nodes for which they are rewarded. Storej leverages proof of and implements a challenge-response verification system that proves custody of a file for a participant. The nodes are required to maintain the client side security and encryption and perform challenge puzzles to prove the integrity of data. Storej offers increases both data security and availability for enterprise data-centers which are very sensitive to data failures and breaches. This decentralized implementation is subjected to all the attacks that are common to almost all of the distributed system including some storage specific exploitations like Honest Geppetto.
Analysis:
· PoR is a compact proof by a client that it has the possession of a file. The compact proof incurs a low communication cost as only a random small chunk of the file is verified instead of transferring the whole file as a proof.
· The protocol also implements the encoding for processing the files on the network which are larger than the main memory of the peer (client).
· The protocol also gives multiple parameters to adjust trade-offs among security and performance.
Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerant
Introduction:
Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerant (PBFT) [59] extends and solves the classical problem of Byzantine Generals [61] in Distributed Computing. It states the fact that while reaching a consensus among multiple anonymous participants in a network, where all send their decisions to a leader and unanimously agree on that, there could be adversaries among those participants which pass the false message. It could potentially harm the network and leads to Byzantine failure. PBFT addresses these challenges while reaching a consensus in a 3-phase network intensive process.
Properties:
· PBFT is designed for permissioned private distributed ledger and consumes minimal computational resources (or hash rate) of the system.
· It can survive Byzantine faults in an asynchronous network by conducting block elections and maintaining leader nodes.
· The protocol can withstand malicious actors, hardware and software crash, and network failures.
Concept:
In PBFT, the objective of the protocol is to decide whether to accept a piece of information submitted to the ledger or not. Each node in the network maintains its own internal state and when it receives a message, it runs a computation and prepares a decision about the new message received. The individual decision of each node is sent to the leader of the nodes, which confirms the trust on the new message on the basis of the decisions from all the nodes. [59]
Implementations:
Hyperledger Fabric. Hyperledger [62] is a blockchain consortium under ‘The Linux Foundation’ and Fabric [63] [4] [1] is one of its popular implementations. It comprises a modular architecture and offers plug-and-play modules, where multiple implementations of the consensus protocol can be used by switching out the orderer module. The technology is backed by enterprise i.e. Intel, IBM, Cisco and etc., and offers private channels and smart contracts. [64] [65]
Ripple [66] and Stellar [67] are two other popular implementations of PBFT.
Analysis:
· The protocol can process high transaction throughput and can scale incredibly across the network.
· The protocol is highly efficient as it reaches the consensus asynchronously via the voting mechanism. This way of establishing consensus requires less effort than other methods but it comes at the cost of anonymity on the system.
· The protocol has centralization issues and can only be used in a permissioned fashion. A couple of selected nodes are allowed to form the consortium that makes it a semi-trusted network.
Tangle
Introduction:
Tangle [68] is considered as the next generation (a.k.a the third generation) of distributed ledger technology, an evolution to the blockchain. Tangle is a blockless blockchain based on Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) [24], a finite directed graph with no directed cycles, which offers huge network scalability at low cost [69]. Hedera-Hashgraph [70] and Railblocks [71] are other famous implementations of DAG.
Properties:
· Tangle is designed for permissionless public distributed ledger and consumes minimal computational resources of the system for verification of the transactions.
· Unlike most of the protocols that use list type data structure, Tangle leverages the structural properties of the directed graph.
· It works in a blockless manner and doesn’t require to store the transactions in blocks nor it needs the order sequence of the previous transactions to keep the new in the right order. This means that all the transactions can be stored on multiple devices, and various locations.
· Transaction time is instantaneous; happens in a few seconds.
Concept:
For a transaction to get verified in Tangle, the issuer must verify two existing unapproved transactions (known as tips of the graph) on the ledger. This way transactions are verified simultaneously which offers scalability and faster transaction confirmation time. To avoid double spending problem, each incoming transaction randomly selects two unapproved transactions after running few simulations. These simulations provide us an estimate, confirmation confidence, of how many tips accepts this new transaction. Confirmation confidence for a transaction helps the protocol determine the validity of the transaction and its acceptability by the ledger.
Implementations:
IOTA. IOTA [68] [1], a cryptocurrency for Internet-of-Things (IoT) industry, was released in June 2016 and supports true nano-payments. It doesn’t have any miner, block or transaction fee. It also introduces the concept of Data Marketplace that permits participants to publish their data for paid subscription. It allows crowdsourcing of quality data for AI and machine learning.
Analysis:
· Tangle uses a SHA3 hash function variant, Kerl, utilizing ternary computations which make the protocol resistant to quantum attacks.
· High network scalability, transactional throughput and low transactional cost (computation) make are key highlights of the protocol.
· DAG based implementation, a ledger that stores transaction in an acyclic graph structure, adds efficiency and high throughput handling to the consensus protocol [24].
· Tangle is still working on offering a stable and mature implementation of smart contracts to ease the development of Decentralized Applications (DApps).
· It generates huge network congestion before it can start operating and any strategy to decrease that traffic renders network to vulnerable attacks.
Use Cases:
· Tangle, with no fee architecture, high scalability, and throughput, is ideal for IoT projects that usually generate massive velocity and volume of data.
· Its architecture supports micro and low-cost transactions that makes it potentially favorite approach for future micropayment systems.
· Uber is a relevant example of a use case for tangle. Uber generates a huge volume of data and thousands of micro-transactions.
Conclusion
Distributed ledger is a disruptive technology which has revolutionized the business processes with its application and adaptability. Behind every great distributed ledger implementation, there is a consensus protocol that powers it. In this paper, we surveyed a few popular consensus protocols. No consensus protocol is perfect, in fact, they all offer certain trade-offs among security, scalability efficiency and performance. Each of these protocols has its strengths and weaknesses, and all of them serve different purposes and provide domain specific solutions. But above all, they all exist to serve a common solution that is to prevent double spending in a distributed ledger.
The PoW introduced a decentralized payment system that offers security and data integrity at the cost of scalability and computational cost. It was then proposed to replace the useless work of PoW with a useful work i.e. solving a scientific problem instead of hashing. This remained a conceptual blockchain design and could witness a concrete implementation. Proof of stake (POS) effectively solved the problem of useless mining but the design introduced threats related to centralization. Its efficiency and secure implementation attracted many researchers and few PoW based implementations have also migrated to POS for example Ethereum. Presently, the trend is shifting towards a hybrid approach where an implementation is based on two or more consensus protocol e.g. Decreed [33] uses both PoW and POS.
The applicability and innovation of blockchain technology are not only limited to finance or academic sector. It is being continuously adapted and innovated to integrate with the bleeding-edge technologies. Tangle [68] is a chainless ledger technology that is built on the Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG). It can process thousands of transactions per second, offers a feeless architecture and can scale exponentially. Tangle is an excellent use case for IoT applications or any other system which requires to persist high velocity of data [24]. Likewise, Storej [60], based on PoR, solves the problem related to distributed data storage.
In conclusion, consensus protocol, the engine of a blockchain, comes in varied implementations and serves different use cases. Since the inception of PoW [6] in 2008, researchers around the world have been working to develop a secure, scalable and efficient consensus protocol which could produce tremendous results to the growth of economy and infrastructure.
References
You can find all the references in my paper below
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1810.03357.pdf | https://wahabjawed.medium.com/consensus-protocol-of-distributed-ledger-technology-c61526490e60 | ['Abdul Wahab'] | 2018-10-20 09:40:07.209000+00:00 | ['Protocol', 'Tangle', 'Distributed Systems', 'Blockchain', 'Consensus'] |
9 Paid Technical Writing Programs for Developers | 9 Paid Technical Writing Programs for Developers
Get paid to write tutorials and blogs about frameworks and languages
Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash
As a developer, you’re working on some framework (if you are a JavaScript developer there is a good chance you are working on many!). You encounter a problem. The problem may be related to installation or integration of framework within your project, or it was running on a local machine but when you deployed it on the server it showed an error.
So you Google it. Google throws a bunch of solutions to you. You go to the first solution, you read it, and apply it to the problem. The bugs are not resolved. So you try another solution. Still, the bug is not resolved. You read the documentation of the framework. As soon as you start to read, you realise that the documentation is not properly written. You curse the writer. Then you go to another solution. After repeating this cycle, you finally resolve the problem.
All developers go through this process.
The good news is, you can now monetize this process by writing about it. There are many writing programs that pay you to write how-to tutorials or blog posts for them. | https://medium.com/better-programming/9-paid-technical-writing-programs-for-developers-4e8a305e6eab | ['Yaser Basravi'] | 2020-08-25 15:49:06.071000+00:00 | ['Technical Writing', 'Programming', 'Writing', 'Developer', 'Development'] |
Ramadan Muslim | When I think of Ramadan itself, I think of people drinking sherbet, passing around dates, feasting on biryani. I think of the grogginess of waking up a few hours earlier than I ever believed I could. I think of laughter, of prayer, of ritual, and spirituality. What I do not think of is feeling alone in my practice, a feeling I often have the rest of the year, too.
In the months that aren’t Ramadan, I struggle with my Islam. I want it to be louder — more political and intuitive, closer to the brand of Islam I saw in Muhammed Ali. I want it to be queerer — a place where janaat is truly for all, and surahs about the Prophet Lut are not thrown at folks for their gender or sexuality. I want it to be intersectional, where the diversity of the ummah is celebrated, and everyone’s struggles are supported; a place, not for the righteous and devout to flex their sanctimony, but for the sinners and the renegades to find their peace. I know this is not possible the rest of the year, but during Ramadan, it all seems within reach.
“In the months that aren’t Ramadan, I struggle with my Islam. I want it to be louder — more political and intuitive, closer to the brand of Islam I saw in Muhammed Ali. I want it to be queerer — a place where janaat is truly for all.”
The rest of the year we divide ourselves, divide down racial lines, between Sunni and Shia, the devout and the kaafirs, liberal and conservative, so on and so forth. And yet, any time I sit down at a table to break my fast, those lines seem less relevant. We can come together. We can accept these differences. All there is, is joy — joy to sit down with a group of folks who want to sit together, and to break bread together.
In moments like these, I feel closest to God. Maybe that’s my own fault. I am critical of organized religion. I think it often makes us slow to change and can be easily manipulated by bigots who demand blind devotion. | https://medium.com/muslim-women-speak/ramadan-muslim-330d64d5c2d8 | ['Sarah Juma'] | 2018-05-19 21:48:51.837000+00:00 | ['Sex', 'Food', 'Women', 'Ramadan', 'Religion'] |
Solved Exam Solution: Finance Exam Bangor University (Download Now) | Download Now:
Description
Solution Pages: 9
Files that you will download:
Word (.docx)
Questions Covered in the Solution
B1. Competition in the banking sector.
What is the best method to measure competition in banking markets? Within your discussion consider at least two different approaches used to measure competition in banking markets within the academic literature and critically discuss their relative benefits and failings.
B2. Implications of bank mergers for efficiency, profitability and competition.
The EU witnessed a reduction in the number of banks from the 1990s to the present. M&A played a central role during this process. Analyse the impact of financial consolidation on the structure and performance of the EU banking system.
C2. Testing the Capital Asset Pricing Model and multifactor models of asset pricing.
a) How would you calculate the average returns predicted by the CAPM on the graph?
b) Explain the implications of the above graph for the CAPM and the Fama-French Factor model.
c) Critically discuss whether the CAPM is dead.
Sample of Solution
B1. What is the best method to measure competition in banking markets? Within your discussion consider at least two different approaches used to measure competition in banking markets within the academic literature and critically discuss their relative benefits and failings.
Banking is the system that controls the supply and demand of money in a country. Banking system plays the important role of protecting the Wealth of people. The banking system also helps the people settle their needs by lending the reserved money to the people where the demand exceeds the supply. Banks are there to create extra money to use while residing in the same country by creating fake money in the form of loans. Fake Money is not fake rather it is an illustration of the multiplier effect of money. Due to these certain attributes, banks are considered as a vital part of a country’s financial cycle. In the present time with the advancement of Globalization, the competition and hence the importance of banking system has increased than ever before. Banking competition has been the subject of many studies since the great financial crises. Stability in the banking system has the impact on the economy of the country. Ambiguity in the determination of competition in the banking sector has resulted in the generation of many approaches to measure it. There are many methods of measuring the competition in the banking sector and hence the consequences of this competition on the economy of the country.
…..
B2. The US banking system has experienced rapid consolidation over the last 20 years driven by market power, scale economy and Too-Big-To-Fail motives. Please analyse the impacts of bank mergers and acquisitions on US bank risk-taking behaviour.
There are many reasons of change in the banking system of a country. Such reasons intrigued the change in US banking system. The banking system of not the only United States but also of the whole world has been transformed in the recent past. The reasons for such transform count the globalization of modern world in which all the countries are inter-dependent and interconnected than ever before. Countries in the present world are also financially connected making the whole economic system of the world more complex.
…… | https://medium.com/@writerkingdom4/solved-exam-solution-finance-exam-bangor-university-download-now-aac5f05411e2 | ['Writer Kingdom'] | 2021-02-23 07:22:23.191000+00:00 | ['Assignment Solution', 'Homework Solution', 'Solutions', 'Case Study Solution', 'Solved Exam Solution'] |
What Declining Birth Rates Mean to Humanity | Photo by Ben Mullins on Unsplash
Is it right to bring more children to this world now? This is a question that seems more relevant than ever in these days when economic, social, and environmental uncertainty are making women think twice about motherhood. The number of births in the United States hit the lowest levels yet during the last three decades, according to an official recently released study of 2019. It is expected that the distress caused by the coronavirus pandemic will lower those record-breaking statistics even more. But beyond the numbers, our main concern should be how to improve the quality of life for the world’s population, the quality of our relations for the benefit of society.
“As humanity evolves, people are becoming increasingly reluctant to have children because people’s egos are growing, producing a self-centered approach toward all aspects of life.”
The fertility rate per woman needed to replace a generation is 2.1 children, a level that is not currently met, according to a recent report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The preliminary study found that on average, women in America are expected to bear only 1.71 children. It also reveals that the total number of births fell to about 3.7 million last year, nearly 1% less than in 2018.
The baby boom predicted as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown will not materialize. Quite the opposite: Birth control requests in America have nearly doubled due to the virus outbreak. As a result of the soaring unemployment and economic pressure, economists expect to see approximately 500,000 fewer births in America next year.
Today’s society does not cultivate a desire to have children. As humanity evolves, people are becoming increasingly reluctant to have children because people’s egos are growing, producing a self-centered approach toward all aspects of life. The ego grows day by day, generation after generation, and makes people focus more and more on pleasing themselves, to the point that today many young people do not even want to marry. Couples have developed a new approach to life, centered around self-fulfillment, and many question why they should lose their freedom and tie themselves to fulfilling the needs of children.
At the same time, medical advancements have given us the sensation of control over births. Women can now choose whether they want children or not, when and how, depending on their careers or life priorities. They are even able to choose the baby’s gender prior to conception. From the naive couple of past society with very little knowledge about pregnancy and childbirth, we have transformed into a society of well-planned and carefully-calculated childbirth.
The sharp decline in fertility rates has swept through many countries as a global trend, as studies confirm. But this is not necessarily a negative situation. One may ask, “Since we already have a worldwide population of 8 billion, why do we need to increase it? What for?
In fact, a person needs meaning, a higher purpose than just living. What does fertility give to a person? Every person’s life on earth is purposeful. Every human being is meant to correct his egoistic nature. This goal can be attained through the gradual process of connecting with others, until a new humanity is born, a humanity based on mutual responsibility and unity.
What the world needs now is a qualitative change not a quantitative one. A society in which every person rises above his egoistic nature and aims at benefitting his surrounding environment does not require billions of people. This epitomizes a qualitative change instead of a quantitative one.
Concern about how to educate our children and not the number of births is what should occupy our minds. When we educate our children to love others, toward the purpose of life, toward discovering the correct connection between people, this will be the time to bring as many children into the world as possible. In a global and integral system, each child brings tremendous benefit to the development of all of humanity. | https://medium.com/@michaellaitman/what-declining-birth-rates-mean-to-humanity-df173b10e97b | ['Michael Laitman'] | 2020-07-02 13:47:45.084000+00:00 | ['Ego', 'Parenting', 'Baby', 'Children', 'Birth'] |
Story: A Pen’s Retort; the well has not drawn too low to risk giving up yet but rather to fight… | Story: A Pen’s Retort; the well has not drawn too low to risk giving up yet but rather to fight for the return to inky things. They despise me for what I am, but no other gave them my gifts. So-called writers, Ha!; they are anything but. Mechanical misfits riding on promises that will fail is what they are.
Frog Holder Pen from Pixabay
Will they come back begging, crying, “Help us…poor me.” Should I care or listen to their pathetic pleas? They’ll taste my wrath when I explode. And then discard me, cursing me old.
The last laugh is mine.
Keys will break and the typist finds, I’m the one sublime. The pen is stronger than any other weapon. Some day they all will learn their lesson.
I’ll call them cheats and fakes, no mercy. The word will spread when the electronics fail; the pen once again shall prevail. | https://medium.com/everything-shortform/story-a-pens-retort-the-well-has-not-drawn-too-low-to-risk-giving-up-yet-but-rather-to-fight-cc27f0528a2b | ['Greg Prince'] | 2020-12-11 08:43:51.197000+00:00 | ['Microfiction', 'Short Form', 'Fiction', 'Writing Challenge', 'Short Story'] |
User Flow Experience | If you are like me, you have seen a heavy increase of traffic on your website. Each time someone visits your website they face the challenge of User Experience and chances if they have an issue, they will not come back to your website.
It is very important to understand your website better, by analyzing user behavior, human computer interaction, and context of usage that you use in your user experience and user interface strategy.
I would like to share some user flows that will help you improve your website experience and drive more traffic to your website. First off, a user flow is the journey that your user takes on your website to do the task on the website, such as buying a product or service, subscribing to something, or finding necessary information.
User flow is the path that a user follows on your website to do the task they came for — buy a product or a service, subscribe to something, find the necessary information.
First off you need to know where your audience is coming from and what the most popular sources where they come from:
Organic Search -
Paid Advertising -
Social Media -
Referrals -
Email -
Based on the entry point, you will have to determine how the user flow will begin. The next step is to understand the context of use of the website
Based on the user’s entry point, try to elaborate on where your users expect to find themselves when they click on your ad or link in social media. That’s where your user flow strategy begins. The next step is to understand the routes the user will follow on your website.
How, when, where, and why your website is used affects the user flow your visitors follow through, determines their expectation and shows what they know about you. Creating a market segment for your website is very important, so people know why they are coming to your website. User flow may differ from one person to another, but you want to make sure they are smooth user flows. Just do not forget your goals and follow where your customers are so you can maximize your profit.
To understand your customer, the three most important factors to consider are:
Need — what the user wants to achieve(buy, order, subscribe).
— what the user wants to achieve(buy, order, subscribe). Interaction — actions taken to achieve the user’s need (click, scroll, drag).
— actions taken to achieve the user’s need (click, scroll, drag). Emotions — the factor that is often missed — how the user is feeling throughout the journey.
To create a user flow, it must be done in the most logical way. You have to get the users exactly what they want and find it in the places the user expects. User flow diagrams allow you to visualize the flows and follow a scheme.
Some questions to create a good design are:
What makes your business unique?
Who will like this feature of your business?
Will the same group need something else?
What blockers may prevent someone from completing a flow on the website?
What should my customers know about your business?
What actions can you provide to the customer to encourage them through the user flow process?
Once you create this flow diagram, you could create the screens where the user interaction will take place. They are various tools that allow you to sketch or wireframe to evaluate the usability and provide user acceptance testing.
Keep in mind when you change the layout of tabs, buttons, or any responsive design elements to your website, this will be part of the user flow.
It is always important to get feedback from your website owners by having interviews from your customers and gathering metrics. Conduct user testing and ask them questions about their customer experience and if they have any feedback on the process.
If you have any questions about user flow or design, please let me know.
The User begins with the Customer!
#TheEnterpriseSponge | https://medium.com/@theenterprisesponge/user-flow-experience-7c7cad5f5c83 | ['The Enterprise Sponge'] | 2020-12-07 17:59:43.617000+00:00 | ['Theenterprisesponge', 'User Flow', 'Customer Experience', 'User Experience', 'Feedback'] |
Coronavirus Officially Renewed for Eighth Season | UNITED STATES — Coronavirus seemed to be coming to an end after the pooling of resources to expedite the production of a safe and effective vaccine showed itself to be a tremendous series finale, but US citizens were surprised to learn that the break-out hit COVID-19 will continue for its eighth season.
“I started paying attention to COVID-19 when I lost my job in March of last year because our country went into lockdown,” Mark Clinton, 33, said in an on-the-street style interview, “I’m getting pretty tired of it, to be honest, but apparently there are some people who like it and want it to keep going.”
The first case of Coronavirus was reported during winter in Wuhan, China on December 31, 2019. This coming fall will mark the eighth season that the virus has been affecting daily life and killing millions of people around the world.
The US has stated that even though there is a vaccine, people need to use it for it to be effective. Large groups of people have refused to take the vaccine, causing COVID-19 to continue way past the point that most people want.
“We don’t see it ending anytime soon,” a representative from the CDC said during a press conference Friday, “It could be around for way more seasons. It’s going to be like The Simpsons out here, except bad because The Simpsons are great. I’m just saying they have a lot of seasons. It’s confusing that we’re using seasons as the measurement of time.”
Some major stars of Coronavirus will be returning for the eighth season including Disgraced Former President Donald Trump and the My Pillow guy, Mike Lindell. However, a considerable number of them will not be returning because they are dead. | https://medium.com/@austinsmooney/coronavirus-officially-renewed-for-its-eighth-season-bdf4c0147568 | ['Austin Mooney'] | 2021-07-27 16:14:41.374000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Season', 'Renewal', 'Coronavirus', 'TV'] |
Talend Stitch tools load data to Azure SQL Data Warehouse | Easing move to cloud
This tooling is an example of growth in extract, load and transform (ELT) approaches that complement or replace traditional extract, transform and load methods of data preparation.
Dylan Baker
“Historically, you would have transformed the data before loading it into the data warehouse,” said Dylan Baker, principal at London-based DBAnalytics and a user of the Stitch software. “You did that because storage and compute in the data warehouse were expensive, and you wanted to do that work before the data got there.”
Reduced cost and new tooling for cloud data warehouses now make it more feasible to dump data into the data warehouse for quicker analytical iterations, and tools like Stitch play a role in handling that data more efficiently, Baker said.
In Baker’s practice, the data sources going into the cloud data warehouses are diverse, including Shopify, HubSpot and Salesforce data. JSON is a commonly used format, but in-house proprietary formats are also used.
Baker has used AWS and its Amazon Redshift system, as well as BigQuery on Google Cloud Platform, for cloud data warehousing. While he hasn’t employed Microsoft Azure or Azure SQL Data Warehouse thus far, he said customers he works with see Azure cloud capabilities becoming more popular and catching up to the Redshift franchise.
Baker said tools like Stitch help make it easier and more economical to set up and manage data warehouse analytics for businesses of various sizes. | https://medium.com/@sumonsheikh391/talend-stitch-tools-load-data-to-azure-sql-data-warehouse-f7ed7dda6a1 | [] | 2020-12-22 16:01:43.810000+00:00 | ['Talend', 'Ict', 'Warehouse', 'Data', 'Sql'] |
PeachPie- Run PHP on .Net Platforms | NEW CONCEPT
PeachPie- Run PHP on .Net Platforms
What is PeachPie Framework?
PeachPie is a 2nd generation compiler and runtime of the PHP language under .NET Core.
It is a lightweight and astonishingly quick framework and most helpful of all: it’s cross-platform.
How PeachPie Works?
PeachPie Framework is a comprehensive re-implementation of the PHP language in C#, transforming PHP into a standard compiled language.
As an outcome, PeachPie permits PHP code to run on top of the .NET runtime and interoperate with .NET in both directions, taking benefit of all present .NET tools and solutions.
Why is that needed?
Re-using PHP components: PeachPie allows for all of these useful libraries to be re-used in .NET, instead of rewriting them.
PeachPie allows for all of these useful libraries to be re-used in .NET, instead of rewriting them. Interoperability : PeachPie allows for .NET and PHP code to work side by side within one solution.
: PeachPie allows for .NET and PHP code to work side by side within one solution. Migrating legacy apps: PeachPie suggests a convenient way of migrating from old PHP application to the modern .NET Core.
Check out the live compatibility status here
Prerequisites
It requires .NET Core SDK 3.0 or the latest. Link here.
Command Line Interface
Open a command prompt session and run the following command to fetch all PeachPie templates for .Net CLI:
dotnet new -i Peachpie.Templates::*
You can then create either a | https://medium.com/c-sharp-progarmming/peachpie-run-php-on-net-platforms-f67d0abafc62 | ['Sukhpinder Singh'] | 2020-09-08 11:45:24.196000+00:00 | ['Dotnet Core', 'Visual Studio Code', 'Visual Studio', 'PHP', 'Programmer'] |
5 Things I Noticed About Writers On Medium | Photo by OpenClipArt- Vectors on Pixabay
5 Things I Noticed About Writers On Medium
Let’s face it. Majority of us writers on Medium are the majority that has not made $100 a month on Medium yet. Right?
We are the ones that write a story and cross our fingers hoping for a miraculous curation.
We promote our stories thoroughly on social media because our following on Medium does not translate to substantial views and reads.
We also are constantly checking our notifications and stats because a new view, read, and clap is news.
This post is mostly about us: The majority. I write this because I am in that category and I can only write about what I know. (But watch out I am working really hard to get to the top-earning league!)
This is what I noticed about writers on Medium.
When they give advice, it is to themselves
I hadn’t realised this one until almost two months in on Medium. I went and wrote a story about how to succeed on Medium as a newbie. Turns out all this time, I was telling myself how to succeed on making money on Medium. Otherwise, how would I have known how to succeed three weeks in?
Here is the article I wrote
Almost four months in, I realise I had gotten some things right and a few things wrong. I guess I should write a piece on what I had gotten wrong about Medium as a newbie.
When writers are writing and advising about love, life, relationships, money etc, I realise they are telling it to themselves. It’s like an immortalised soliloquy. Like you are calling yourself to a meeting and writing down the minutes clearly and concisely. Only that this time around, you also share it with the world.
There is no harm in it I guess. If a reader resonates with your story and borrows something that is helpful to them, it doesn’t matter whether subconsciously you were telling it to yourself.
2. Many writers have a specific niche
Some writers write specifically about sex, some about money, success, earnings, marketing etc.
I have read that this is one way to succeed on Medium. They suggest that you identify your niche and stick to it.
Personally, I prefer diversity. I like to read stories from many different writers about a wide variety of subjects. I also like to write about a wide variety of subjects too. I have written about sex, about love, about money, farming, religion etc. I have also written poetry which I enjoy very much.
That is why among several other reasons I follow many profiles on Medium. For diversity.
3. They will give you what you give them
Medium has a culture of reciprocation. If you read, clap or respond to another writer’s story, they will clap or respond to your response.
If you follow them, they will most likely also follow you back and read and interact with your stories.
I like this culture at Medium. It’s a wonderful community built on lending out a hand out to each other.
4. We are all curious about earnings on Medium
To be honest, this is one of my favourite topics on Medium. Particularly at the end month when all the monthly earnings are calculated.
I like to know what people make to encourage me, to inform me on what to write about, to help me understand some things on Medium that still puzzle me and also just out of pure curiosity.
All categories of writers share this information. From those earning six figures to those still earning cents.
It’s a very interesting topic to me. I admit I have searched Medium earnings as a topic on my feed and spent close to an hour reading as many stories as I could about it.
I might write a piece on my earnings at end of the year. Just to feed other writer’s curiosity like they feed my own when they write about their earnings.
5. It’s not all about the money
The first few pennies or cents that a newbie writer earns can be very discouraging. You spend a lot of time and energy working on a story for it to receive little love in terms of responses, claps, views, reads and earnings.
But I realised, if it was all about the money, many writers on Medium would not keep on writing. Most of us write because we love it, because we have the gift and ability, because we love to express ourselves and because we would want to be read among other reasons.
Also, publication owners must not be doing it for the money. As there is little or no financial incentive to take their time and energies, to sit down and help edit and publish other writer’s stories in order to help them earn on Medium.
Writers on Medium among other things are very passionate about what they do. Money is just one of their motivations. Not the only. | https://medium.com/writers-blokke/5-things-i-noticed-about-writers-on-medium-f21efee983db | ['Gal Mux'] | 2020-12-12 04:40:35.981000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Lessons', 'Writers On Medium', 'Ｍedium', 'Writers Discussion Group'] |
Writing Report! Writing Report! | My 2020 submitting and writing stats
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
[I am imagining the title being sung to the tunes of The Octonaut’s “Creature Report!” but if you have somehow not been watching this television show for children, I guess that won’t make sense.]
It’s that time of year again when I look back at my writing hits and misses for the year. I’ve been doing these roundups the past few years, and you can find last year’s report here. I think that if you accomplished any tiny goal in 2020 then you should count that as a huge win because it has definitely been a year.
Despite it being such a strange year, I did achieve one of my super long-term goals this year of signing a book contract. Did not exactly have writing said book during a global pandemic on my vision board, but I’ll take what I can get.
Because of the global pandemic and the fact that I shifted to focus on the book mid-year, I haven’t done as much freelancing or reading as I thought I might, but that’s okay. I still got some writing in and actually finished some things!
Here are pitching/submitting stats for 2020:
Number of pitches/submissions sent: 49
Number of rejections: 25
Number of non-responses (which is really just another type of rejection): 13
Number of acceptances: 11
Acceptance rate: 22%
As I’ve said in the past, the acceptance rate is a little arbitrary because I could be submitting to reach pubs or more-likely-to-publish-me pubs, and I typically do a mix of both. Last year it looks like I was at 24%, but it’s a variable number.
A few other fun facts:
Most rejections from a single pub: 8 (McSweeney’s for the win). With 2 acceptances there this year that put my acceptance rate at 25%, last year I had 4 acceptances and 7 rejections there, so my acceptance rate was better, but I have been up and down with them over the years, which I talked about here.
Runners up: New York Times with 5 rejections and New Yorker Shouts with 3 rejections.
Most rejections for a single piece before an acceptance this year: 6
Medium report:
At one point right before the worst of the pandemic hit, I told myself I would try to post to Medium once a month. Then I was remote schooling two kids and remote teaching and basically threw in the towel on that one. I did publish a few pieces there though (in Slackjaw (here and here), Frazzled, The Haven, and Epilogue) and made a little bit of money through the partner program.
My most viewed Medium piece this year was this one with 2.2K views. My most popular Medium piece of all time (I think mostly thanks to SEO) is this one about humor writing markets that currently has 38k views (and counting) and has made $228, but my lowest earning pieces on the site have made less than $3, so take that with a grain of salt.
I do like writing on Medium and the community of writers that are on it, so I am planning to try to continue to publish on it in 2021.
How I did on my 2020 goals:
I wanted to submit/pitch 50 times, and I hit 49, which I’m going to call close enough for 2020.
I had a list of 8 different pubs I wanted to pitch this year and I pitched 5 of them. The remaining 3 were travel pubs and well, this was a tough year for travel writing.
I wanted to revise some existing picture book ideas and work on 2 new ones. I did the revising but stalled out on new ones. I just haven’t been in the headspace, but I’m hoping to get back to it in 2021.
New York Times was once again my goal pub to break into for the year (my perennial favorite) and I did not manage to crack them. I did submit a few times though, and in the end, that’s all I can really control.
2020 publications:
I co-wrote two McSweeney’s pieces this year that both made it to the trending list for a bit and were shared by the Cup of Joe blog. “Living Through a Pandemic or Potty Training a Toddler” and “Would-You-Rathers for Parents During Quarantine.”
I had a humor piece appear in the February print issue of Real Simple magazine. But unfortunately, they have since stopped running their humor column there.
I had one piece about National Novel Writing month appear in New Yorker Daily Shouts.
In addition to the pieces at Medium and other places listed above, I also had pieces run in Parents digital, Oh Reader, the Submittable blog, the Brevity blog, Weekly Humorist, and Mockmom. You can find them here.
2021 goals: | https://medium.com/@julievick/writing-report-writing-report-a81537aa5b24 | ['Julie Vick'] | 2021-01-26 23:49:48.439000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Creativity', 'Freelancing', 'Remote Working', 'Productivity'] |
The RSI² Leading Indicator. Detecting Trend Exhaustion Early in Trading. | The Relative Strength Index
We all know about the Relative Strength Index — RSI and how to use it. It is without a doubt the most famous momentum indicator out there, and this is to be expected as it has many strengths especially in ranging markets. It is also bounded between 0 and 100 which makes it easier to interpret. Also, the fact that it is famous, contributes to its potential.
This is because, the more traders and portfolio managers look at the RSI, the more people will react based on its signals and this in turn can push market prices. Of course, we cannot prove this idea, but it is intuitive as one of the basis of Technical Analysis is that it is self-fulfilling.
J. Welles Wilder came up with this indicator in 1978 as a momentum proxy with an optimal lookback period of 14 periods. It is bounded between 0 and 100 with 30 and 70 as the agreed-upon oversold and overbought zones respectively. The RSI can be used through 4 known techniques:
Oversold/Overbought zones as indicators of short-term corrections.
Divergence from prices as an indication of trend exhaustion.
Drawing graphical lines on the indicator to find reaction levels.
Crossing the 50 neutrality level as a sign of a changing momentum.
The RSI is calculated using a rather simple way. We first start by taking price differences of one period. This means that we have to subtract every closing price from the one before it. Then, we will calculate the smoothed average of the positive differences and divide it by the smoothed average of the negative differences. The last calculation gives us the Relative Strength which is then used in the RSI formula to be transformed into a measure between 0 and 100. | https://medium.com/python-in-plain-english/the-rsi%C2%B2-leading-indicator-detecting-trend-exhaustion-early-in-trading-284a59dc1ea3 | ['Sofien Kaabar'] | 2020-12-15 14:13:50.035000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Python', 'Finance', 'Data Science'] |
“I Witnessed a White Person Abusing a Person of Color — and Did Nothing” | While I realize that in writing this piece I am “centering whiteness” — that is, focusing on my feelings and actions as a white person rather than those of the person of color affected — I feel compelled to share an upsetting recent incident that I was party to. I — a self-proclaimed white anti-racist activist — did not offer support to the Brown-skinned attendant at a gas station in an affluent Los Angeles community as he was being called a “wetback” and threatened with the police by a very vocal, very pissed-off white woman at the pumps. Exactly what she was angry about I am not sure.
Her tirade happened right in front of my eyes, not on a YouTube video taken at Central Park or in some other newsclip of an angry white person using their white privilege and power to abuse Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in every scenario imaginable.
Even knowing the possible consequences…
At the time, I was well aware that if the gas attendant’s boss had heard about the situation, the attendant might have been fired for “harassing” a customer if she had later complained (with the boss possibly valuing a white customer’s judgment of what had actually transpired over a person of color’s account of it). If the police had come, the man could have been arrested, and possibly even physically injured and/or killed if taken into custody. I wanted to support the attendant. But because witnessing anger makes me afraid and want to run away from it, even when it’s not aimed at me, that is what I did — a choice that I, as a white woman, had the privilege to make because of my white skin. Retreating into a default state of white fragility, I drove away.
My integrity took a backseat to my fear.
Although I have personal values that include compassion, inclusion, and justice, these were not reflected in my actions that day. I am an anti-racist activist who left the scene of, if not a crime, a real psychological harm done to another human being, with likely emotional and physical consequences to him from the trauma of such an encounter. What other harms has the attendant already endured in his life simply because of the color of his skin and a system that dehumanizes him because of it?
What happened next?
I felt bad driving off, out of alignment with myself. That wasn’t who I was. So, after driving a quarter block away, I made a U-turn, returning to the same gas pump. The woman had left, and the police had not come — if indeed she had carried out her threat to call them. I had hoped that going into the minimart and telling the attendant that I had seen what had happened, and was so sorry, might be a bit soothing to him. He shook his head and told me the incident didn’t affect him. In writing this, I don’t want to reduce this person to his reaction about this particular incident; he is a human being, with a family and friends. There’s more going on than what I’m writing about, but I can only write about the parts I know.
20/20 hindsight
On reflection, I could have acted in ways that I have, in fact, advised others to act. The “Road to Racial Justice” game I created in 2016 provides game cards that describe racist situations and possible interventions for gamers to discuss and choose from (the game is free and downloadable). The shortcoming is that it’s all hypothetical. It couldn’t provide me with the courage I needed at the gas station, where I might have taken any number of actions — recorded the situation on my phone, walked over to the man and stood by him in support, served as a witness if the police had shown up, challenged the woman who was complaining, or honked my horn to create a distraction. I only thought of this last one right now as I’m writing. The “could have, would have, should have” effect of 20/20 hindsight. Knowing and doing are two different things.
Where does the courage to act come from?
Hearing about anti-racist actions that individual people have taken is inspiring, and I’d like to hear more. That is, not just by reading or hearing about the actions taken by famous anti-racist activists, but by learning about actions taken by ordinary people in ordinary, everyday situations: “I was here, this happened, and I did this.” This is the sort of thing that was shown in a video made by Black educator and author Dr. Joy DeGruy, in which she describes a trip to the grocery store with her very light-skinned sister-in-law (whom many people think is white). In the video — which went viral — she describes how her sister-in-law spoke up and took issue with the cashier when Dr. DeGruy was asked for extra identification, while the sister-in-law had not been. I urge you to watch the video, which is sad, powerful, and inspiring all at the same time.
With all of this in mind, I encourage readers to comment on this post with like-minded actions they have taken. Let’s support one another through sharing what we have done.
“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” ― Audre Lorde
Can Role-Playing Help?
In addition to my wanting to hear about particular anti-racist actions, I realize I must strengthen my intention to intervene to the point where I’m able to put that intention into action in real-life situations, even if I’m afraid. Practice through role-playing can help me to prepare. Even though a person role-playing a situation is unlikely to encounter that specific scenario, role-playing allows participants to experiment with different ways to intervene, building stamina and grit, while others watch and provide encouragement and ideas.
Thinking back to the gas station incident, I wonder how many racist incidents happen every day all around us — incidents that may not quite register with us if we’re not the targets, because racism is so pervasive and so insidiously woven into everyday life. When we do notice, we can take the opportunity to show compassion and courage. What white bystanders do all too often — and all that I did on that day — is just that: stand by. At a recent protest, I saw a sign that seemed to speak about bystanders who don’t speak up, with the words “Silence Is Violence.”
Uneasily, I wonder: Is there really much difference between vocal white racists and those of us who remain silent, since we’re all perpetuating racism?
BIPOC are always at risk. Every day, they endure, and resist as best they can, the devastating economic, social, and physical effects of white people’s racist actions and the systemic racism that gives white people power through the policies, practices, and laws in our country. We white people must support them even when it feels uncomfortable and risky for us. We must fulfill our commitment to justice; silence and inaction should not be options. Having power and privilege beyond measure, let’s activate the courage I know we all have within us to act boldly for racial justice. | https://medium.com/@kesakivel/i-witnessed-a-white-person-abusing-a-person-of-color-and-did-nothing-6d00d0f45ffa | ['Kesa Kivel'] | 2020-12-06 05:23:59.385000+00:00 | ['White Privilege', 'Anti Racism', 'White Ally', 'White Supremacy', 'BlackLivesMatter'] |
Pizzagate | Once upon a time, the suggestion that a top United States politician could be the ringleader of a child sex trafficking scheme operating out of a pizza parlor basement would have been laughable. Indeed, to those of us with healthy critical thinking skills, it still is. In 2016, however, a large number of far-right, pro-Trump supporters convinced themselves otherwise. Hillary Clinton, they believed, had children tied up in a basement dungeon at Comet Ping Pong, a restaurant in Washington, D.C. This, they argued, was evident by the various references to “cheese pizza” that appeared in Clinton campaign manager John Podesta’s Wikileaked emails. Thus, the Pizzagate conspiracy theory was born.
So, how was a connection made between the benign term “cheese pizza” and child sex trafficking? How could a large group of people possibly come to associate the best thing in the world with the worst thing in the world? While it might seem like something that happened quickly, there was actually quite a bit of priming that occurred before rabid far-right Trump supporters were ready to board the bus to Crazyville and willingly buy into the Pizzagate theory. Long before Podesta’s emails were ever leaked, Trump supporters believed that Hillary Clinton was a criminal. Chants of “LOCK HER UP” became standard at Trump rallies. In debates, he spoke of putting her in jail. Memes of Hillary Clinton behind bars flooded social media and by the time the FBI announced that no criminal wrongdoing was found, it was too late. Hillary Clinton was a criminal mastermind in the eyes of Trump supporters. Not just a criminal, mind you, but a criminal mastermind. The type of person who would chop babies up and eat them for dinner.
Those who opposed Clinton could already easily picture her behind bars; this notion had been drilled into their minds through propaganda techniques of repetition, fear-mongering, and intensifying. At worst, Clinton was careless with her use of a private email server. Had she been found guilty of wrongdoing, it would have equated to negligence. According to Trump’s rhetoric, her actions might as well have equated to premeditated, fist-degree murder. Trump’s ability to associate Clinton with a criminal mastermind provided the foundation needed for the far-right to accept the proposed reality that Clinton sex-trafficked kids. In fact, the notion that Clinton had committed crimes far more severe than those associated with the email investigation reinforced their own existing beliefs. It made sense to them that Clinton was involved with sex trafficking because they’d already made up their minds that she was completely capable of doing so. (Scary, no?)
The reason Pizzagate is so fascinating is because of how quickly the believers of this conspiracy theory were willing to bypass critical thinking and basic reasoning to jump to this nuts-o conclusion. The reason Pizzagate is so scary is because this particular conspiracy theory lead to an armed gunman storming a D.C. pizza parlor in search of kid dungeons. Though no one was harmed in this invasion, the story could easily have ended differently. Many people who believed in Pizzagate STILL believe Comet Ping Pong has a basement. With kids shackled to walls. And underground tunnels. And, nothing will ever change their minds; as is the nature of conspiracy theories, they can not be disproven.
(see video for references) | https://medium.com/mindovermedia/pizzagate-161e239d9ce0 | ['Elizabeth Radka'] | 2020-10-30 18:41:15.640000+00:00 | ['Propaganda', 'Hillary Clinton', 'Trump', 'Pizzagate', 'Leap 2'] |
Holed Up In Tribeca. Living and working from home amidst the… | Holed Up In Tribeca
Living and working from home amidst the NYC Coronavirus outbreak.
Empty Tribeca streets.
This was my first week working from home amidst the Coronavirus outbreak. I am holed up here with my wife in Tribeca, a New York City neighborhood some might typically consider desirable. Yet there is little to be desired in a city and state that currently leads the nation in Coronavirus cases (by a wide margin). And it feels like we are only getting started.
Work informed both me and my wife respectively that we are to work from home indefinitely. Governor Cuomo has since ordered a shutdown of non-essential businesses. My wife and I live in typical New York City fashion. Our apartment is about 700 square feet of “spacious” real estate. It is hard enough for two people to live in this space, let alone configure two home offices that were never here before. When my wife had to purchase a printer for work to accompany the printer we already have at home, that officially triggered the transformation. Home had become work, and work had become home. Where the hell would we store a second printer?
At least we have jobs that permit us to work from home. With so many people in this city and country struggling, particularly in hospitality and service industry jobs, I count my blessings. If we as a society do not take care of those who are suffering during this time — whether that suffering is health-related, economical, or emotional — we will all fail. Apart from the larger issues created by this virus, however, the holed up life working from home presents its own relative challenges.
The Kitchen Bar Is My Office.
My wife occupies the dining room table. We do not have an office, let alone a separate desk. A high-top bar chair has converted itself into my desk chair. My laptop now spends an inordinate amount of time on the bar, which can no longer be used for happy hour or snacks. It feels too much like “work space.”
As last week progressed though, I adapted to this ever encroaching work zone. Before I even approach it in the morning, I change into clothes that are more work appropriate. To each their own, but I cannot work in sweats, and I want to appear somewhat presentable on any video calls. My attire helps to set my mindset for the day. When the work day concludes, I throw on the “home clothes.” At that time I also try to clean my work space to remove anything work-related. This creates some work-life separation and balance. It may be a pain in the ass to set it up my “office” again the next morning, but at least the space is clean for the evening.
Confidentiality and Privacy, Anyone?
Did I mention that my wife and I are both working from home in 700 square feet? On top of that, we also work for competitors. Obviously we are careful to segregate and sequester ourselves in our one bedroom if we need to discuss anything sensitive, but I would be lying if I said it was easy. And if you have a smart speaker, Amazon, Google, or some random dude could be listening too.
Whether your industry is financial services, technology, or something else, many couples (or roommates) work at competing firms. With the mass shift to working from home, the risk factor of inadvertently sharing confidential information increases tenfold.
Your own personal privacy is at stake too. Anytime you video chat colleagues on platforms like Jabber or Zoom, you invite them to see some of your most private spaces. Make sure you know how to use the video and audio features on these platforms (especially the hide video and mute audio functions!). You do not want to be like #PoorJennifer here.
New Communication Norms.
In my first full week working from home, I found that certain communication expectations shifted. No longer can people stop by my desk to chat. They always have to call. The problem is that when everyone knows you are working from home, they think they can call all the time, anytime. They expect you to be present and always available. I am still working on ignoring calls or chat requests, even when I appear to be “green” and available on our Firm’s internal chat systems. You should not have to drop everything and pick up any call simply because you are generally always present in the same spot now working from home.
A more entertaining and evolving norm is the virtual happy hour. My colleagues tried this late last week to cap off our first full week working from home. It is difficult when only one person can really talk at a time, but the effort was amusing. Everyone flashed their drink of choice on camera and then collectively imbibed. Although a little ridiculous, I felt like it boosted morale seeing everyone in one place. Working from home can feel incredibly isolating, even if you live with others, but especially if you are single.
All the Single People.
Quarantined at home with your spouse can be difficult enough. The two of you may be the only people you see for days on end. It is no surprise that in parts of China the divorce rates spiked after quarantines were lifted. Any underlying relationship issues can leap to the forefront when the scenery stays the same and activities grind to a halt. My advice — carve out your own space and communicate often.
I can only imagine how difficult it is when you cannot communicate with anyone in person. Enduring a long period of isolation can take a serious mental toll. We need to be mindful of the single people among us and make sure they do not feel left on a deserted island.
The need for isolation also raises the question of socially-focused programs. For example, what happens if addicts miss too many 12-step meetings? It is imperative for these segments of society to stay connected, even if they can only meet virtually. Extreme times may illicit extreme responses. Without social connection, it may be tempting to address a panic-stricken state with pills or bottles of tequila.
The Streets Are Still . . . Alive?
New Yorkers can still connect — in six feet increments — in the city’s streets and parks. They have not closed yet (nor should they). While you should refrain from activities where everyone touches the same ball, walking through a place like Central Park is probably safe (and refreshing).
The streets in Tribeca have been eerily empty though. Given the neighborhood’s location, it does not see nearly the amount of foot traffic (on normal days) as Midtown, for example, but during the outbreak the streets have been almost deserted. I try to go for at least one walk per day around the neighborhood. Of the people I do encounter, most are respectful and maintain a reasonable distance.
Restaurant windows advertise take-out as a safe (not to mention the only) option. Some locations have wrapped their seating areas in caution tape to make the point more apparent. I was happy to see local coffeeshops like Interlude open, but every retailer I walked past was shuttered. I am not sure many of these places can survive an extended quarantine or lockdown without government assistance.
One group who I would argue needs government assistance are the construction workers. How can we require all non-essential services to shutdown, yet continue to have teams of construction workers milling around the same job sites? Mayor De Blasio thinks they maintain reasonable separation, but I do not buy it. The construction industry has been understandably resistant, but if non-essential retailers have to shut their doors, job sites need to close as well. Unless there is an emergency, stay home.
That assumes everyone has a home, of course. On my daily walks around Tribeca, I almost always encounter homeless. Whether they are digging into trash cans, picking up cigarette butts, or taking shelter under the rows of scaffolding along Church St., I cannot help but ask: how are we helping these people when they are destined to contract Coronavirus? I doubt many have signed up for Obamacare. I would be surprised if any of them have health insurance. Some cities have organized temporary housing, and more should follow suit. When we look back at this time, we do not want to live with the regret that we could and should have done more.
Holed Up In A Bubble.
Admittedly, it is difficult to empathize completely with the challenges faced by New York City hospitals, not to mention the tragedies that played out slowly, and then rapidly, in Italy. I live in a bubble of relative safety. I know a few people who have contracted Coronavirus, but I have not seen its effects firsthand.
Wealthier New Yorkers have escaped to their Hampton abodes and upstate retreats in an attempt to weather this storm. Not everyone is so fortunate. I feel lucky FreshDirect still delivers groceries to my front door.
It is hard to take something like a virus seriously when you cannot see it physically or directly witness its debilitating and deadly impacts. Yet I know it is serious. I have watched Contagion and Outbreak after all. But in all seriousness, it is the duty of millennials like me and my wife to try our best not to contract it. The risk of us spreading the virus to someone who is older or in a high risk category is too great.
So I will continue to work from home. I will keep walking outside for brief periods, always six feet apart and never touching anything. My wife makes me strip down and wash everything the minute I reenter the apartment.
We will continue to ride this out holed up in Tribeca. Hopefully we can all reemerge from this for the better. Say hi to your friends and family. Pick up the phone (but not always for work!). Facetime each other. Host a virtual happy hour, no matter how ridiculous you think it might get. We will get through this, but we can only do it together. Six feet apart and virtually, of course.
Stay safe out there. | https://medium.com/swlh/holed-up-in-tribeca-polispandit-c3b14cbc0c89 | ['Sebastian Stone'] | 2020-03-23 14:47:14.661000+00:00 | ['Work Life Balance', 'Relationships', 'Work', 'New York City', 'Coronavirus'] |
Bitfinex Exchange Listing Announcement | Jan 12, 2021 | We are extremely proud to announce that XSN will be listed on Bitfinex , as one of our first Tier 1 exchange listings. You are able to deposit your XSN today, 12 January 2021, and trading will go live on 19 January 2021 at 12:00 UTC.
Our first trading pair on the Bitfinex will be XSN/USD with additional pairs following.
To celebrate our first Tier 1 exchange listing we will be having a daily XSN giveaway along with a Superdraw in the run up to the 19th when trading goes live. Check below for details of how to take part.
About Bitfinex
Bitfinex was founded in 2012 and has always been at the forefront of technological innovation in digital asset trading.
In addition to a suite of advanced trading features and charting tool, Bitfinex provides access to peer-to-peer (P2P) financing, an OTC market and margin trading for a wide selection of digital assets and derivatives trading. Bitfinex’s strategy focuses on delivering the best crypto trading experience for professional traders and liquidity providers around the world through the delivery of cutting-edge technology.
Bitfinex not only allows users to deposit funds using on-chain transactions, they also launched support for the Lightning Network in 2019 which allows users to deposit and withdraw Bitcoin (BTC) using it as well.
About Stakenet
Stakenet has built a true next-generation DEX solving many of the issues that currently plague the DEX industry, such as ever-increasing costs and transaction times. Stakenet has built their DEX from the ground up using time-tested Layer 2 technologies such as the Lightning Network and Connext Network.
Using Stakenet’s technology it’s possible to make a layer 2 instant swap between BTC and USDT, and that’s just the beginning. Their tireless efforts have rendered them irreplaceable for crypto.
Key highlights of Stakenet’s Layer 2 DEX:
It provides instant and virtually feeless cross-chain trading.
Users retain full custody of their funds at all times as they own the private key for their wallet.
Projects and users can run their own hub of the DEX which adds further liquidity to it and can support their chosen currencies.
“Vortex” enables the DEX to share liquidity with other exchanges, both centralized and decentralized.
It is run entirely on their decentralized Masternode network.
The community members who run a master node will earn a share of the fees earned from the DEX.
Layer 2 allows Stakenet DEX users to trade faster, cheaper, and more privately than any other DEX available today. Professional trading tools can also be used on Stakenet DEX opening the door for decentralized high-frequency trading. With Stakenet DEX there are only two “expensive” on-chain transactions. Moving your funds off of their main chain to Layer 2 and moving them back on-chain to their main blockchain. Once off-chain, there are no on-chain/gas fees and transactions are settled instantly making it ideal for high-frequency trading.
With more users going towards Layer 2 solutions, Stakenet is a great choice because of its inevitable connection to all other chains. They’ve ensured their long term survival because of Bitcoin’s lightning network infrastructure. Any other project that implements the lightning network is instantly compatible with Stakenet.
Stakenet utilizes their arbitrage/liquidity mining functionality dubbed “Vortex” by their community which is connected to any Centralized Exchange (CEX) or Decentralized Exchange (DEX) that allows API access. Vortex allows users to trade on the DEX and access the liquidity within the other exchanges order books, such as Binance, by utilizing the instant transactions to complete orders on the opposing exchange with confidence.
Find out more about Stakenet at: https://stakenet.io/
XSN/Bitfinex Giveaways
Each day we will be giving away 500 XSN to the winner randomly selected from the daily giveaway post.
On the 20th we will randomly select a winner from all of the entries over the previous 7 days as the Super Draw winner of 5000 XSN.
How To Take Part
To take part just look out for our daily post on Twitter and Facebook and interact with it. Each interaction is an entry into the daily prize draw.
Twitter — https://twitter.com/XSNofficial
Like, Comment and Retweets are all interactions so you can have 3 possible entries per post.
Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/StakenetOfficial
Like, Comment and Share are all interactions so you can have 3 possible entries per post.
If you do all 3 interaction on both platforms thats 6 entries per day and 6 chances to win. | https://medium.com/stakenet/bitfinex-exchange-listing-announcement-jan-12-2021-9745c885a170 | ['Stakenet Team'] | 2021-01-12 12:02:35.359000+00:00 | ['Ethereum', 'Lightning Network', 'Bitcoin', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Xsn New'] |
Vegan Baking for Beginners: 75 Recipes for Sweet and Savory Treats, NEW 2020 Digital eBook | #1 Best Seller in Teen & Young Adult Diet & Nutrition
Boost your baking skills with 75 easy and delicious vegan recipes
Whether you’re a practiced vegan looking for some impressive new baking recipes or a home baker who wants to try egg and dairy alternatives, you’ve come to the right place. Vegan Baking for Beginners offers dozens of sweet and savory treats made with plant-based alternatives to traditional baking ingredients and simple instructions that anyone can follow.
Master vegan baking and impress your friends with everything from bread and cakes to pies and custard. These delicious recipes are tried and true favorites, and with comprehensive recipe labels, ingredient-swapping tips, and more, you can easily tailor your baked goods for any allergy or preference.
Vegan Baking for Beginners includes: | https://medium.com/@edesignstr/vegan-baking-for-beginners-75-recipes-for-sweet-and-savory-treats-new-2020-digital-ebook-87d289aa90ce | [] | 2020-12-17 21:06:15.945000+00:00 | ['Foods', 'Kitchen', 'Cook', 'eBook', 'Vegan'] |
Case study: Redesigning a customer-side app for an ISP | The challenge
Shatel Group hired me to redesign its customer side application and ensure consistency across all of their products.
Research
Because Shatel has many departments, I began by gathering information from different parts of the organization. Throughout the company, I set up meetings with designers and front-end developers to familiarize myself with their processes and to discover their source of truth, if any.
A competitor analysis was done using data in the marketing department to gain a deeper understanding of our competitors.
Consequently, I began meeting with stakeholders and involving them in the process as a means of understanding the company’s vision and priorities.
I then conducted user interviews and focus groups to get a better understanding of the users’ problems and needs. Following my observations, I developed personas.
Takeaways:
Each team has its own components library and style
Isolated departments lack the ability to share ideas
Stakeholders were excluded from the design process, so the vision is unclear to the design teams
The current product doesn’t satisfy users, but users still use the service because it is faster than other options
To be able to measure our changes in the future, I created some events and metrics in Google Analytics.
It was possible to create a prioritized feature list after presenting data from Competitor Analysis and other studies to stakeholders.
Ideation
As a final step, I used Red Route to prioritize features based on business needs and user feedback.
Prototype
I started off by doing a paper wireframe and tested several versions of a digital version, but they were low fidelity. After applying the feedback, I created a second version and started working on the user interface.
There were three studies used. First, a concept validation study, then a potential sales study, then an MVP study. By conducting these different studies, we tried to determine how effective, marketable, and usable they were.
Design Exploration
Following a discussion with the business team and taking into consideration the users’ needs, we decided to launch the 1st version only providing Internet management, notifications, and support.
Following a few changes in the flow, I began the UI design… | https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/case-study-creating-a-better-experience-for-internet-providers-apps-c5d05041c3af | ['Aref Ahmadi Araghi'] | 2021-09-13 04:29:25.559000+00:00 | ['User Interface', 'Shatel', 'User Experience', 'User Research', 'Case Study'] |
Virtues of Ramadan | Ramadan is at our doorstep and with the magnitude of a month like this it’s important for us as believers to understand some of the virtues of this glorious month, and the purpose of fasting during it. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “When Ramadan begins, the gates of Paradise are opened.”¹ The following are some basic, yet important benefits Muslims should try to focus on during the month of Ramadan:
Taqwa of Allah:
The first and perhaps most important goal of fasting is to increase oneself in the taqwa of Allah. While taqwa is often translated as the “consciousness of Allah” or “fear of Allah” let’s take a look at a couple of statements from the scholars of the past to get a more in-depth understanding of what taqwa is.
Mujahid ibn Jabr (may Allah have mercy upon him) who is a famous student of the companion Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) was reported to have said regarding taqwa, “It is that you obey Allah, so that He is never disobeyed, and you are conscious of Him, so that He is never forgotten, and that you thank Him, so the He is never shown ingratitude.”² Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy upon him) is reported to have said regarding taqwa, “…implement (the Divine) commands and prohibitions. And its essence is to protect yourself from His punishment and anger, all Glory be to Him.”³
Allah mentions in the Quran,
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ “O believers! Fasting is prescribed for you — as it was for those before you — so perhaps you will become mindful ˹of Allah.˺”⁴
Here Allah clearly states that the purpose of fasting being prescribed upon the believers is to increase them in taqwa, translated here as “becoming mindful of Allah”, as the believing nations did before us. The reason a Muslim should be keen on increasing himself or herself in taqwa is because it is the sole factor Allah uses to distinguish the believers to determine which of them is the best. Allah says in the Quran,
إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ “Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you.”⁵
Allah tells us the most honored from the believers are the ones with the most taqwa translated as “most righteous.” Therefore, a Muslim should always be looking for ways to increase himself or herself in the taqwa of Allah, both in and outside of the month of Ramadan.
Reconnecting with the Quran:
The second point a Muslim should focus on during the month of Ramadan is to reconnect themselves with the book of Allah. Allah says in the noble Quran,
شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْهُدَىٰ وَالْفُرْقَانِ “Ramaḍân is the month in which the Quran was revealed as a guide for humanity with clear proofs of guidance and the standard ˹to distinguish between right and wrong.˺”⁶
We often hear the month of Ramadan referred to as “the month of the Quran” and it is truly a time when every believer should try to strengthen their relationship with the Quran.
Abu Hurairah narrated, “Gabriel used to repeat the recitation of the Qur’an with the Prophet (ﷺ) once a year, but he repeated it twice with him in the year he died. The Prophet (ﷺ) used to stay in I`tikaf for ten days every year (in the month of Ramadan), but in the year of his death, he stayed in I`tikaf for twenty days.”⁷
Therefore, every Muslim should make it their goal to develop a closer relationship with the Quran than they already possess and they should also strive to have that relationship carry over after the month of Ramadan.
Forgiveness of Allah:
Allah mentions a special night in the Quran, the night of al-Qadr, and how this night is better or equivalent to the worship of 1000 nights. Allah says,
لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ “The Night of Glory is better than a thousand months.”
The Prophet, peace be upon him, reported to us when this night would occur in a hadith,
‘A’isha (Allah be pleased with her) and Ibn Numair reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: Look for (and in the words of Waki, seek) Lailat-ul-Qadr in the last ten nights of Ramadan.⁸
In another narration,
It was narrated from ‘Aishah that she said: “O Messenger of Allah, what do you think I should say in my supplication, if I come upon Laylatul-Qadr?” He said: “Say: ‘Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun tuhibbul-’afwa, fa’fu ‘anni (O Allah, You are Forgiving and love forgiveness, so forgive me).’ ⁹
Here the messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, emphasizes seeking the forgiveness of Allah on the blessed night of al-Qadr. Therefore, the believer should be keen on seeking the forgiveness of Allah and finishing the month of Ramadan having received the mercy of his or her Lord.
May Allah cause us to reach the month of Ramadan and allow it to be a means for us to achieve His Forgiveness, Ameen. | https://medium.com/from-the-minbar/virtues-of-ramadan-477d0ab67f0 | ['Noor Chaudhry'] | 2020-02-10 15:39:06.647000+00:00 | ['Quran', 'Ramadan', 'Islam', 'Muslims', 'Fasting'] |
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