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Your Ex Is Not a Narcissist | The content regarding narcissism is getting popular in recent years. People enjoy consuming narcissist-related information, even though most of the time, they’re quite academic and full of technical words.
Why? Why can the specific type of professional knowledge stand out from complicated issues? Because the warm winter may not remind you of the seriousness of climate change, but every single minute, you desperately want to know why you’ve been frustrated even after a relationship ends.
Why do I know that? Sure, I know, because I’ve been there, obsessed with all videos and articles on narcissism. I still remember when I came across and watched a YouTube video talking about narcissists and gaslighting. It blew my mind.
Suddenly, all my frustration from my prior relationship got validated. All I want to do is yell out loud — no wonder the relationship was miserable and suck, my ex is a narcissist! | https://medium.com/better-advice/your-ex-is-not-a-narcissist-9e173fff2ebd | ['Weylie Li'] | 2020-12-23 11:47:50.289000+00:00 | ['Narcissism', 'Breakups', 'Life', 'Self', 'Life Lessons'] |
Designing the future of music curation — a product design case study | Have you ever struggled to find new music to add to a playlist — or struggled to create a new playlist at all?
Enter Otterr… a playlist generator designed to make finding new music, creating new playlists, and keeping up with your friends — all a breeze.
Project Overview
Otterr was originally a student project. Given to me with a few simple, but challenging tasks:
Find a problem prevalent within your social circle
Create an app that is the solution
Create a Business model to ensure your products profitability and long term financial success
With the tasks in place, the constraints were given:
Complete within a 3-month timeframe (March 01 — June 01)
No budget
No outside tactical design help (Solo project)
The Problem
The problem I chose was this; the processes of creating a playlist and finding new music are both broken, drawn-out, and outdated. It shouldn’t take hours to find curate your music.
Otterr is that solution.
Discovery
The discovery phase of the project was simple but effective. I wanted to find answers to a few questions:
What competitors are in the space?
What are they doing well? Not so well?
How can I innovate?
What is Otterr’s value proposition?
With those in mind, I did a thorough competitive analysis and honestly found surprising news. There are no direct competitors (playlist generators) in the Apple App Store. There was, however, a web-based version that was simple in its offerings.
This led to the decision to classify competitors as products offering a curated playlist of sorts. Meaning, Spotify and Apple Music are the main competitors because of their generated playlists around specific moods, genres, or time-frame.
Deciding on these as the main competitors is daunting, but their size allows them to overlook the specificity needed in this area to provide a top notch experience around playlists.
Both of these products have a vast number of positives, but also a vast number of downfalls — this led to a specific subset of findings that could be translated into actionable insights.
Apple and Spotify playlists are the main reason why users aren’t looking for other playlist sources
Apple and Spotify playlists are not fully customizable, specific, or accurate.
Their playlists are too generic, prompting users to rely on creating their own.
This leads to a relatively easy path to innovation in the generated playlists space, be specific.
If playlists are specific enough, then users have no need to create their own and can save both the time & trouble of the process.
Otterr provides this solution and provides value by giving users a new way to curate music while removing a major pain-point in the process.
Research
The research portion of this project was very user-focused and comprised of user interviews, affinity mapping, personas + scenarios, and later on extensive usability tests.
User interviews
The initial user interviews were a huge step in the design process. Before starting the interviews, I recruited 8 participants that fit into the target demographic. Users were asked 15+ questions and directed to use the web-based competitor to get an idea of what a playlist generator could do.
The goal of the user interviews was to test idea feasibility, find out user perceptions, and lastly, find out user’s music listening habits when it pertains to playlists.
Picture of cards with interview questions and answers
To analyze findings I grouped the responses into an affinity map to better organize and categorize the research findings. | https://uxdesign.cc/designing-the-future-of-curating-music-a-product-design-case-study-582c1facee06 | ['Josh Nelson'] | 2020-07-08 17:20:49.980000+00:00 | ['Product Design', 'Case Study', 'Design', 'UX Design', 'Tech'] |
The No. 1 reason Americans feel guilty after shopping | That magic number? 23 percent off, according to the poll.
The new study, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Slickdeals, found that the top reason we feel guilty about buying something is because we later stumble upon the same thing at a better price (57 percent) — the second biggest was that there was probably something else that would’ve been a better use of our money.
So what do we feel guilty spending on exactly? The biggest purchase we distress over is treating ourselves to a nice meal out (47 percent), with clothes following next (46 percent), and shoes rounding out the top three (35 percent.)
One in three Americans reported feeling a pang of guilt when buying alcoholic drinks, while one in four said they felt guilty about spending money on their passions.
Another one in five Americans said they feel guilty when taking a trip to the grocery store, with 16 percent saying they feel the same about health products.
“The survey shows that guilt is pervasive among shoppers today,” said Josh Meyers, CEO of Slickdeals. “However, it also highlights the importance of getting a discount when it comes to guilt-free shopping. When consumers are informed and confident that they have found the best deal, they are far less likely to experience guilt.”
While spending money can certainly be a guilt-inducing experience, the results of the study showed that there are a few exceptions.
According to the survey, 56 percent of those who normally experience guilt over spending feel less guilty when they are buying an “experience” rather than an object.
Not only that, the guilt seems to affect us only when we’re indulging in ourselves. The results showed that 70 percent of guilty buyers feel less guilty about spending money if it’s on somebody else other than themselves.
Americans feel so guilty about spending money on themselves that four in ten (39 percent) have put off replacing a broken essential home appliance out of guilt, with the average American saying they have put it off for 14 weeks.
“Spending money — whether on life’s essentials or a fun indulgence — should not make people fraught with guilt,” added Meyers. “As the leading crowdsourced shopping platform, Slickdeals transforms age-old buyer’s remorse into happiness, excitement and pride in knowing you got the best deal.”
TOP 10 THING AMERICANS FEEL GUILTY SPENDING ON
Going out to eat 47% Clothes 46% Electronics (TV, phone, etc.) 38% Shoes 35% Take out 35% Alcoholic drinks 34% Cosmetics/beauty items 31% Snacks 30% Vacation and travel 24% My passions 24%
10 PURCHASES THAT AMERICANS SAY MAKE THEM HAPPY
Bowling balls
Coconut oil
Beer
Books
Yoga classes
Coffee
Food at my favorite restaurant
Flowers
Guitar
Jewelry
Travel
>> Download the video & infographic for this research story <<
NOTE: All news copy and multimedia on this SWNS account is free to use as you see fit. Where research has been conducted, we ask that you credit the company which commissioned it. | https://medium.com/@swns-research/the-no-1-reason-americans-feel-guilty-after-shopping-f865ff90b7ff | [] | 2019-05-14 15:02:13.697000+00:00 | ['Surveys', 'Deal', 'Discount', 'Online Shopping', 'Shopping'] |
How did Labour end up on the wrong side in the Brexit culture war? | The main purpose of Brexit has always been to roll back employment law and environmental standards: to create an ultra-capitalist state along lines that Ayn Rand would recognise and applaud, but dressed up in nationalistic and nostalgic language. Brexit is, and always has been, a culture war. That is why there is not going to be a deal.
And where is the UK Labour movement in all this? Not just the Labour Party but the Trade Union movement, whose members will be hurt so badly by this?
Keir Starmer talks of “moving on” and Len McCluskey argues that Labour must back even the denuded deal that appeared to be on the table up until a few days ago. Of course it is true that the people who will be hit hardest are those who are not unionised but didn’t the Labour and Trade Union movement once believe in solidarity, rather than just using warm and fuzzy words about it?
Labour has forgotten how to oppose. Its leadership appears to lurch between allowing Tories to set the agenda (Miliband, Starmer) and the privilege-laden intellectual Onanism of the Corbyn years. It has not understood the sociological and political changes that underpin Brexit and led to a resurgence of the nationalist Right, and more importantly does not seem to want to. It does not understand that chasing the Red Wall vote by acts of moral appeasement of the Right is doomed to failure — not least because it is a declining demographic, while the educated, liberal- and diversity-minded demographic is younger and growing.
It has failed to understand that the future of progressive politics in the UK lies with harnessing the energy and idealism of the anti-Brexit tribe; of re-embracing and reasserting the liberal and social democratic values that the movement to stop Brexit expressed. Over Europe, Labour has repeatedly let down the people who could and should have been at its heart.
But the fact that Trade Union leaders have been prepared to back this assault on everything they ought to stand for will be seen by historians as perhaps the most astonishing outcome of the Brexit era. How the Labour movement ended up on the wrong side of a culture war will be the thing that will amaze future generations. | https://medium.com/@neilschofieldhughes/how-did-labour-end-up-on-the-wrong-side-in-the-brexit-culture-war-317b973f1983 | ['Neil Schofield-Hughes'] | 2020-12-10 19:49:20.792000+00:00 | ['Brexit', 'Culture War', 'Trade Unions', 'Labour Party'] |
Trump’s UN Pick Softens on Climate Change, but Not on Paris Accord | by Irwin Arieff. This article originally appeared on PassBlue.
Kelly Knight Craft, Donald Trump’s pick to be the next United States ambassador to the United Nations, raised eyebrows in her June 19 Senate confirmation hearing by putting some space between her views on global climate change and those of the president.
Kelly Knight Craft, shown here as the American ambassador to Canada, is Trump’s nominee for the top envoy role at the United Nations. Her Senate confirmation hearing, held June 19, 2019, for the UN ambassadorship elicited many questions from senators regarding her posture on climate change. She and her husband, Joseph Craft III, have extensive coal investments.
But Trump needn’t worry that she might end up threatening her boss’s ostrichlike approach to the climate crisis. She told the panel weighing her nomination, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, that Washington was reducing its human-generated greenhouse gas emissions and didn’t need a worldwide deal like the Paris Agreement to demonstrate its global leadership.
Knight Craft, who is married to the coal billionaire and Republican Party megadonor Joseph Craft III, became an overnight Internet sensation when she was asked, upon arriving in Ottawa in October 2017 to begin a stint as Washington’s ambassador to Canada, whether she believed in climate change. “I believe there are scientists on both sides that are accurate,” she answered in an awesome display of diplomatic finesse.
This time around, she was better prepared for the question.
“Climate change needs to be addressed, as it poses real risk to our climate. Human behavior has contributed to the changing in climate, let there be no doubt,” she told the Senate panel. Out went the headlines!
She went on, however, to make clear that in her opinion, the burden was not on the US government to do anything about it but on all those other countries.
“We withdrew from the Paris Agreement because we feel like we don’t have to be part of an agreement to be leaders,” Craft said. In that assertion, she appeared to be relying on an April 2019 report from the Trump Environmental Protection Agency showing a 14 percent drop in human-generated greenhouse gas emissions between 2005 and 2017.
What she did not mention was that experts believe that trend has since reversed itself, and US emissions resumed rising in 2018.
In line with Trump’s re-election aspirations, Knight Craft said that UN reform — that is, saving taxpayers money — would be her top priority as ambassador. She also pledged, if confirmed, to step up US humanitarian efforts, including those aimed at women. That meant, she said, improving health care for women and girls, doing a better job of protecting women’s rights and reinforcing their role in UN programs for community stability and peace and security.
She choked up as she told the committee of meeting for the first time in a senator’s office a Rohingya woman, who embraced her and told her she was counting on Knight Craft to help her.
“I commit that I will be an advocate for women’s issues and making certain that we really highlight women and children and young girls so that they too can be strong women and be leaders in their communities and their countries,” Knight Craft said, noting that she, like committee member Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, was a mother and a grandmother.
Knight Craft also promised, if confirmed, to meet with the head of the UN Population Fund after Shaheen insisted there was no evidence the agency supported forced abortions in China; Trump withdrew $32 million from the UN fund in 2017 over the abortion issue. But Knight Craft made no response to Shaheen’s plea to end US attacks on breast-feeding, as the Trump administration did at the World Health Assembly in Geneva this spring.
Some committee Democrats questioned Knight Craft’s qualifications for the job; she has served as ambassador to Canada for less than two years and won that job primarily because she and her husband have donated millions of dollars to Republican candidates over the years, including $2 million to Trump in 2016.
“Let me be frank: I have deep reservations about your lack of qualifications for such a complex and challenging role,” Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the committee’s top Democrat, told her. “The American people need someone with tenacity, experience and a deep understanding of the complexities of global affairs and international institutions, who is committed to multilateralism and reforming and strengthening the United Nations, not irreparably damaging it” — like Trump, he added.
Menendez, citing State Department figures, said that Knight Craft had been away from her post in Ottawa more than 300 days during her 21 months as ambassador. A day before the hearing, Politico reported, based on Federal Aviation Administration data, that she made 128 flights between the US and Canada on her husband’s private jet during 15 months of her time in Ottawa, the equivalent of a round trip once a week. Many trips were to her home state of Kentucky.
“I find this staggering time away from post very troubling and an abdication of leadership,” Menendez said.
Knight Craft said she had a talented team of fellow US diplomats backing her up in Ottawa, fully carrying on their work in her absence. She added that she had spent considerable time away from Ottawa working on delicate trade negotiations with the Canadian government. But the State Department told Menendez she had attended just one of the five rounds of talks on the US-Canada-Mexico trade deal that took place during her watch. (Knight Craft also complained to the panel several times about “living out of a suitcase” as ambassador to Canada.)
Nonetheless, committee members were generally supportive of her nomination and no one said they would vote against it. “We put the travel issue well behind us here,” Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, said.
Trump administration critics predict that Knight Craft, if confirmed, will have little power and influence in the administration because Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton, both pushy and outspoken, will eclipse her. Unlike her predecessor, Nikki Haley, who left the administration at the end of 2018 for life in the private sector after less than two years as UN ambassador, Knight Craft will not enjoy Cabinet status.
But she stated loudly and clearly that she did not wish to second-guess the president. Her job was to reflect his policies and nothing more, even when she was asked to comment on Trump’s practice of insulting other world leaders.
“I am going to be advocating the policies of this administration,” she said, responding to a question from South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham.
“I have sharp elbows, it will be easy,” she answered when Graham asked her whether she would be an able advocate.
She showed some spunk, however, when talking about Russia and China. While Trump has played both hot and cold on Moscow and Beijing, at times appearing to actively woo Russian President Vladimir Putin, Knight Craft portrayed them as nefarious rivals.
Washington must work hard to balance China’s growing influence at the UN, she warned, trying to sound ominous.
As for Moscow, “I am not going there [to the UN] to be Russia’s friend,” she said. “They are not our friend. They undermine us at every opportunity that they have, and you better believe I will keep a clear eye on them in understanding where we can work together . . . or other areas that we need to call them out on.”
Critics say that her extensive involvement in the fossil fuel business will weaken her effectiveness in climate change talks at the UN. Her financial disclosure forms showed she personally owns more than $63 million in oil, gas and coal assets, according to Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey. Her husband, moreover, is president and chief executive of Alliance Resource Partners, the second-largest coal producer in the eastern US. He is also a member of the executive committee of the National Mining Association.
She filed an agreement with the Office of Government Ethics in May, acknowledging her husband’s lofty status in the coal business and pledging to recuse herself from personally participating “in any particular matter that to my knowledge has a direct and predictable effect” on her financial interests.
Under the agreement, she would need a written waiver from the State Department to work on such matters. But under questioning from Markey, she said that so far this agreement would apply only to her coal holdings and not necessarily to other “fossil fuel” holdings. The State Department was still working on this question, she said. (PassBlue first reported in March 2019 on her financial investments and possible conflict of interest as US envoy regarding climate change debates in the UN.)
Her commitment to working on climate change through the UN remains iffy. “If confirmed, I will be an advocate for all countries to do their part in addressing climate change,” she told the hearing. “This does not mean in my view that the United States should imperil American jobs or our economy as a whole by assuming an outsized burden on behalf of the rest of the world. However, it does mean that we should promote the creativity and innovation that have made the United States a leader in tackling the challenges of our environment,” she said.
On at least one issue, she showed genuine zeal, vowing, like Nikki Haley, to vigorously protect the interests of Israel, which she said was “the subject of unrelenting bias and hostility in UN venues.”
Asked by Senator Christopher Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, whether the Trump administration had ended US support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — envisioning two states living side by side in peace — Knight Craft responded with more praise for Israel and no mention whatever of the word “Palestinian.” She added that she had not seen the peace deal proposed by the Trump administration.
“I have not been part of the Middle East peace process, but if confirmed I will tell you there will be no stronger friend than Kelly Craft and the United States for Israel and no stronger person to promote Israel in normalizing themselves in the system,” she said. | https://passblue-un.medium.com/trumps-un-pick-softens-on-climate-change-but-not-on-paris-accord-715c3c309b6b | [] | 2019-06-20 17:27:20.059000+00:00 | ['United Nations', 'Trump Administration', 'Foreign Policy', 'Climate Change', 'Trump'] |
My New Secret Weapon for Fresh Writing Ideas | My New Secret Weapon for Fresh Writing Ideas
It’s called a Harper’s Index, but with a few twists
Photo created in Canva using image by peshkov from Getty Images Pro
Inspiration can come from the strangest places. Surprisingly, I found that sometimes the best writing inspiration comes through a list of numbers.
For me, that’s saying a lot. I’m not a numbers person. In school, I thought math was the most boring subject. And then I learned how a few statistics could give me the writing inspiration I was looking for, and I had to change my opinion about numbers.
Starting in 1984, Harper’s Magazine began publishing lists of random statistics. Named after the magazine, each list is called a Harper’s Index.
These statistics are not what you would normally type into a Google search. They are pretty obscure, and sometimes comical too. But a Harper’s Index can provide a lot more than a laugh. It is my secret weapon for discovering new writing ideas, because I don’t just read the indexes. I create my own.
Random facts are fun, but a personalized Harper’s Index is even more useful. You can choose any topic and start compiling a list of statistics about that topic. You might be surprised at all the numbers you think of. I was!
Creating a Harper’s Index is easy. Each entry follows this format:
Description: number
As long as you follow that format, you can’t go wrong. Each entry in your index is a possible future topic you can write about.
1. Start with yourself
You know yourself better than anything or anyone else, so it makes perfect sense to begin with a Harper’s Index of your own life.
For example, here is an excerpt from my Harper’s Index:
Violins I own: 3 Mileage on my car: 141,724 Cats my family owns: 6 Words in the book I am working on: 61,230
You can use any statistics related to your life. Don’t think too hard! Just start scribbling numbers down.
After twenty entries or so, put down your pen and stop. Congratulate yourself. You just wrote down twenty new writing ideas!
Every entry in your Harper’s Index can be used for a blog post, a story, a poem, a memoir, a social media post, or some other piece of writing. For example, I can take the entry “Violins I own: 3” and write a story about how I got my first violin. I can take the number of cats we own and write a blog post about what it’s like to live with six cats. I can write a social media post about the progress on my book and say “61,230 words and counting!”
You get the idea. You can use your Harper’s Index many different ways.
2. Branch out into different topics
After creating your first Harper’s Index, you may want to branch out into different topics. This is a great way to start collecting ideas for a blog post or story in a specific niche. This is also useful if you have a general idea but you need to narrow down your topic.
For example, let’s say I want to write a blog post about horses but I needed to narrow down my topic. To begin, I could write a Harper’s Index about horses. It would look something like this:
Muscles in each ear: 10 Age at which the permanent central incisors come in: 2.5 Inches in a hand: 4 Length of the Kentucky Derby in miles: 1.25
Let’s say I continue the list until it is a hundred entries long. That gives me one hundred different specific blog ideas. I could write about how the ten muscles in a horse’s ear allow the ear to rotate in the direction of the sound. I could write a post discussing horse teeth. I could write about why the hand is the standard unit for measuring a horse’s height.
If you write in a specific niche, a Harper’s Index could become your secret weapon for never running out of ideas.
3. Ask your friends to contribute
Whether you are creating a Harper’s Index about yourself or another topic, you can ask other people to contribute. Reach out to your family, friends, or even social media followers and ask them to add to your index.
You don’t have to come up with every idea yourself. Sometimes it is helpful to get ideas from other people.
You can also turn your Harper’s Index into polling ideas. For example, let’s say you make an entry in your personal Harper’s Index that says “Pairs of shoes in my closet: 13.” You can then post the entry on social media and ask your followers how many shoes they have in their closets. This is a great way to engage with your followers and collect data that you might be able to use for a future writing piece.
4. Organize your indexes
To help organize your indexes, I suggest breaking them down into categories. This will help you keep writing ideas organized, and will help keep your lists to a reasonable length.
Example categories for your indexes.
Your Harper’s Index can be as long or short as you want it to be, but I recommend making each list somewhere between 20 and 100 entries. You can add a few entries every day to keep up a steady flow of ideas. I warn you: it’s addictive. Grab a piece of paper and give it a try! | https://medium.com/inspired-writer/my-new-secret-weapon-for-fresh-writing-ideas-21c0e0eabec1 | ['Cassandra Sigmon'] | 2020-12-09 19:17:26.852000+00:00 | ['Blogging', 'Writing Advice', 'Ideas', 'Writing Life', 'Writing Tips'] |
How The DStv App Is Providing The Perfect Solution To Changing Video Consumption Lifestyle | How The DStv App Is Providing The Perfect Solution To Changing Video Consumption Lifestyle Digital Times Africa Feb 22·3 min read
The video entertainment landscape is witnessing a fast-paced innovation. With the influx of streaming platforms, now more than ever, we have been feeling there should be viable and trusted entertainment platforms that give us the kind of content that we can easily relate to.
In an age where people are increasingly becoming more attached to their mobile gadgets and uninterested in lugging around their 52 inch TV, mobile video entertainment apps like the DStv App have become a perfect solution to a fast-changing lifestyle.
Ericsson ConsumerLab’s TV and Media report released in 2017 had projected that half of all video viewing would be done on a mobile screen in 2020, and half of this will be done on the smartphone alone.
The DStv App is more than just TV on the go. It gives you a unique and personalized experience whilst helping you get the most out of your DStv subscription.
After taking some time to use the app, we found there is a lot more that it offers than just keeping viewers close to their favorite shows. Let’s review some of the features and benefits we found from using the app.
The first thing worthy of note is that you can use the DStv app on up to four devices with just one subscription. That takes care of the question of the value you get from the monthly subscription fee.
Access to the DStv App comes standard with a subscription to your DStv cable. Meaning, as long as you have an active DStv subscription, you can use the app. Notwithstanding how much you subscribe to your decoder, it gives you multiple access on other devices, allowing family members to have a piece of the unlimited entertainment on DStv from anywhere — the university campus or even during a family holiday.
With the DStv app, you get to enjoy live TV such as football, reality shows, Nigerian Idol, and a host of other top-tiered events. Imagine you’re stuck in traffic while the Champions League finals or your favorite show is about to go live. The days of fretting are over; all you need to do is to whip out your mobile phone, open your DStv App and stream all the live-action so you never miss a moment.
And if you didn’t watch it live, you can watch it on-demand on Catch Up. DStv Catch Up service boasts of a great library of content from across different genres.
We understand your fear about data costs We also found another unique feature on the app that allows you to control data usage by setting it to low data. It’s basically helping you regulate your data consumption.
Another cost we all need to save on is power. With the increase in electricity tariffs, the DStv App is the streamer you need to own if you want to join the league of Nigerians cutting down power usage. And power outages also can’t stop the fun.
And for those who prefer to keep things separated and stay in their own corner of the room, this is the perfect companion to give you the lifestyle you’ve always wanted.
The app is an excellent alternative for DStv home decoders. Its shelves are constantly stocked with new and quality shows you can download and watch later. It’s got a pretty great user-friendly interface, too. With one subscription, an entire family can simultaneously watch different things on multiple devices. It’s just so good! — but, don’t take our word for it; try it yourself
Download here on the Play Store or here on the App Store or now.dstv.com
Press Release | https://medium.com/@digitaltimes-2020/how-the-dstv-app-is-providing-the-perfect-solution-to-changing-video-consumption-lifestyle-5cce878aea2c | ['Digital Times Africa'] | 2021-02-22 13:54:05.263000+00:00 | ['Dstv', 'Technology News', 'Technology'] |
Reality In The Age Of Hierarchy | Reality In The Age Of Hierarchy
Disclaimer — -The following isn’t a news report. It is opinion developed from many sources, some of which are included for clarity, transparency, and rebuttal, and is the Free Speech of ideas.
Reality In The Age Of Hierarchy….
Reality In the Age Of hierarchy is nothing more nor less than a return to the venal authoritarianism that violates human, environmental, and civil rights, over millennia, until stopped by People.
The focus today is on race and gender, when the topic should be power, money, privilege, and greed — —
https://publicintegrity.org/business/taxes/trumps-tax-cuts/did-billionaires-pay-off-republicans-for-passing-the-trump-tax-bill/?utm_source=Watchdog&utm_campaign=e5e5ee0f39-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_03_05_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ffd1d0160d-e5e5ee0f39-100262981&mc_cid=e5e5ee0f39&mc_eid=cf47518628
https://www.thenation.com/article/healthcare-medicare-medical-debt-video/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFkSlmPqLS4 — Tulsi Gabbard can beat Donald Trump. For beginners, one eagerly anticipates the debate between Gabbard and, for example, Warren, Booker, Harris, Biden, and other Democratic Presidential candidates.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUGG7e8aPDQ
As always, Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein, and Andrew Yang have expressed ideas that will uplift the principles of the system that should be a democratic (small d) Constitutional republic, devoid of devolving to division in order to capture votes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KePbmxfy28&t=53s — Bernie Sanders is one of the leading candidates, but corporate-owned mainstream media censors this information.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yfnamXfPYA — Jill Stein in 2020, for ideas, honesty, and platform for People
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K78ze6YuAuQ — AI will replace human workers, according to reports. Andrew Yang has seriously assembled a plan in which this looming reality will not be met with further economic devastation of We The People.
Ideas that comport with reality must be the hallmark of political excellence going forward. Rather than the corporate-owned mainstream media Team participation foisted upon the public, by which we can choose between the Blues or the Reds, the electorate will best fulfill their function in our democratic (small d) Constitutional republic by voting intelligently and independently. The Establishment concept of a 2-Party system consisting of Democrats and Republicans is propaganda.
As one who supports gun rights, one also demands reality from lawmakers over Reality Show on the topic — --https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/congress/article225620190.html
Lobbying has been a reason for inordinate support from politicians pertaining to gun rights that extend to absurdly deadly military-quality weapons extant in the general public. If a hunter can’t get her/his deer, squirrel or bear in the forest using a low-grade gun, he/she doesn’t deserve to be wandering around our woods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQaKRLzjuds — Guns are questionable, but what else is inflicted against the public and wildlife? Let’s talk the genuine Queen Bee….not the commercially-promoted style of Queen Bee. The genuine Queen Bee is reality in fact, not fantasy. Please engage…..
As far as protection goes, the public arms race that results from ever-expanding military killing machines in the hands of the public, doesn’t make anyone safer. Local law enforcement, if the public monitored and contained actions of that law enforcement to protecting and serving the public, would also be relieved of concern over the arms race of military-grade weapons in the hands of the public, if that law enforcement adhered to protecting and serving that public, rather than serving Big-Money interests.
As deadly as any gun is the hubris on display from Florida Representative Gaetz as he poked an admonitory finger at Manuel Oliver, the father of Joaquin Oliver. The mantra about “the wall” is as deeply cynical as the mantra of “jobs, jobs, jobs”, to permit any atrocity desired by politicians both D&R, who are in the back pocket of Big-Money interests.
On the topic of bad behavior by so-called leaders, one suggests the higher-education training that includes fraternities and a networking that excludes the average person, leads to a style of personification in public of a style of authority and hubris, that is promoted by corporate-owned mainstream media, also in the back pocket of Big-Money interests, as those for whom the general public must vote. We watch as corporate-owned mainstream media sniff out the prettiest candidates to match the pretty talking heads, in compliance with commercial presentation across the airwaves that belong to the public.
https://wtop.com/virginia/2019/02/virginia-ag-says-he-wore-blackface-at-college-party/
One brings up also, Kavanaugh and Thomas as such characters proud of their hubris, rather than repentant in reflection, The US government that was once, under a democratic (small d) Constitutional republic, of, by and for The People, is now “run like a business”. This is a system of aggression, exploitation, and predatory actions, for which system these characters (talking heads and politicians) are trained into.
Tolerance if not promotion of this corruption, has given us a cast of characters in positions of power with precisely the qualities due to which they can be bribed, coerced, and used by others.
A case in point is the interestingly large number of Republicans who were “never Trumpers”, who now grovel at his feet. This transformation in principle appears to occur after a fun golf game, or excellent dinner engagement.
If flat-out cash payment isn’t the reason for the rejection of principles, perhaps moral weakening happens after being informed with the knowledge of that which would be embarrassing if revealed to the public.
It would be too easy to glibly suggest the following is a topic that may have been overlooked in the rearing of Trump — --https://aeon.co/essays/can-a-philosopher-explain-reality-and-make-believe-to-a-child?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e36a53217b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_02_04_02_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-e36a53217b-70464341
In fact, it is a great topic in general. Several thoughts — —
* Why is the stock market real but Climate Change isn’t, in the propaganda from Establishment?
* Why is the voice of the Religious Right, especially expounding hypocrisy, so loud in our government of, by, and for The People, where separation of religion and state is written into our democratic (small d) Constitutional republic?
* Why is racism and sexism treated differently, in the conversation of many?
* Why has democratic action been abandoned for capitalism, but socialism is denigrated by those most privileged?
* Why are concepts of health care based on economics rather than the health of people, in America?
* In a globe dying due to over-consumption, including the death of over-consuming people due to over-consumption, why is extravagance sold as an enviable trait?
* Why do we wage war while propagandizing the reason is to achieve peace?
* Why was corruption in our elections legalized but not legitimized by the Supreme Court, in their decision called Citizens United?
* https://www.gilderlehrman.org/content/doctrine-discovery-1493 — Why doesn’t our much-vaunted educational system teach that “discover” pertains less to Christopher Columbus than it does to legalized imperialism and genocide, wrapped in religious fervor, and inflicted against anyone standing in the way of capitalistic hierarchical exploitation?
* Why does Establishment insist “we are a 2-Party system”, in defiance of the warnings in President George Washington’s Farewell Address?
Part and parcel of the human rights backlash is the propaganda that “we are a 2-Party system”, in defiance of the Farewell Address message from President George Washington to the contrary — --https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=15
In his farewell Presidential address, George Washington advised American citizens to view themselves as a cohesive unit and avoid political parties and issued a special warning to be wary of attachments and entanglements with other nations.
— — — -end of message from President George Washington to beware of political Parties — — -
In fact, the censorship by corporate-owned mainstream media of any voice other than that of a Republican or Democrat, flies in the face of the fact that a majority of the electorate is not either a R or D — --https://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx
2019 Jan 2–102539342018 Dec 3–122639322018 Nov 1–112839312018 Oct 15–282936352018 Oct 1–102839302018 Sep 4–122644272018 Aug 1–122843272018 Jul 1–11264130
Corporate-owned mainstream media is the mouthpiece of capitalistic hierarchical Establishment, and they warn against accessing alternative sources of information. Should we question this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvcYHxP0bHY — So what is Extinction Rebellion, and why do local law enforcement have such animosity toward these People? Note the corporate-owned mainstream media doing his function of reporting the “safety” when everything goes “back to normal”….nothing to see here, folks, move along.
Received in one’s inbox — — -
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We can do better.
https://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/influence-on-democracy/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pIDtvTydkU&t=638s
In Solidarity With People And Nature —
www.mothersoutfront.org
www.facebook.com/gpnjbc ;; — Green Black Caucus
www.greenpeaceusa.org
www.economichumanrights.org
www.draftbernie.org
www.psr.org
www.blackyouthproject.com
www.riverkeeper.org
www.catskillmountainkeeper.org
www.celdf.org
www.wearesenecalake.com
www.democracynow.org
www.gp.org
https://www.greenparty.org/Platform.php
www.freepress.net
www.codepink.org
www.m4bl.net
www.starhawk.org
www.openthebooks.org
www.nyipl.org
www.pogo.org
www.opensecrets.org
A Resource — www.7song.com | https://medium.com/@jeanhhricik/reality-in-the-age-of-hierarchy-14d6ab0c0fb1 | ['Jean Hhricik'] | 2019-02-07 18:22:11.403000+00:00 | ['Jill Stein', 'Climate Change', 'Health', 'Law', 'Bernie Sanders'] |
Pope Francis declares Year of St. Joseph | Pope Francis Declares “Year of St. Joseph.” As we noted in March “Now is the Time of St. Joseph.’’ as a new consecration to the protector of the Church coincided with the pandemic... Now through December 8, 2021: | https://medium.com/@serwachjoe/breaking-pope-francis-declares-new-year-of-st-8db280e279bc | ['Joseph Serwach'] | 2020-12-10 01:48:23.005000+00:00 | ['Spirituality', 'Christianity', 'Religion', 'Faith', 'Catholic'] |
Pitching Your Game: The Panel Speaks | Pitching Your Game: The Panel Speaks
The do’s and don’ts for indie devs pitching to publishers
As part of their Investment Summit Online this week, Gamesindustry.biz presented a panel with publishers and commercial-side experts on what not to do when pitching your game. Though it was titled ‘Don’t Do This! Worst Practices for Pitching’, it ended up covering a lot of salient points on how to put your best foot forward during the pitching process. This is a perfect follow up to the video from industry expert Jason Della Rocca which I explored earlier this week, and both echoes and expounds upon much of the advice that was given there. Feel free to leave any questions or comments in the responses, as I will be trying to reach out for interviews with a few of the participants in the panel and can include your thoughts. Enjoy!
Photo by Elliot Sloman on Unsplash.
The panel was moderated by Matt Handrahan from Gamesindustry.biz, and included the following experts:
Troy Horton, Head of Product Acquisitions for publisher and developer Team 17, best known for the Worms and Overcooked franchises
Des Gayle, with indie publishing label Fellow Traveller, best known for the game Orwell and its current release Paradise Killer
Ella Romanos, COO of Fundamentally Games, which provides services to developers and publishers of Games as a Service titles
Zac Antonaci, Head of Publishing at Frontier Development, developer and publisher of such games as Elite Dangerous and Planet Coaster, among others
Advice From The Panel
The discussion began with the moderator wanting to break down the discussion by sections including Research, Pitch Deck, the Meeting and Follow Up. The panel ran a bit short of time so they didn’t get to focus on the Follow Up as much, but a few bits involving that topic came up during the conversation so I’ll move those to that section for clarity. The panel agreed on many items so some of this will be without attribution, but when points are made specific to one of the participants, I’ll call out who said them.
Research
The entire panel agreed that research is the most important part of pitching because it is the foundation for everything that comes after. It is vital that you delve into the people who you will be pitching and base your communication with them on your understanding of who they are and what they and their companies need. Equally important is having a full understanding of your game. This may seem ridiculous as you are the one who built the game, but this doesn’t mean knowing the intimate details of what every button press does, it means understanding where your game fits into the market and what value it brings to the person you are pitching.
Differentiation is the key to the process, which you will express in your Unique Selling Points (USP). Remember that genre isn’t a selling point, but what makes your game stand out from the rest of the games in that genre certainly is. One of the ways to do this, as mentioned in my previous article, is to get social proof for your game. This can include mentions on social media, press coverage for your game, and if your game is on Steam a great way to track the interest is through Wishlist adds and followers for the title.
Remember that genre isn’t a selling point, but what makes your game stand out from the rest of the games in that genre certainly is.
Ella then pointed out that many of the pitches she receives have research that is based on the developer’s opinion of the game, and are not rooted in evidence from market data. She also pointed out that many games pitched to her seem to be made because the developer wanted to make them, without having a target audience in mind. To be sure, many wonderful games have started that way, but Ella’s point is that in a crowded market, a game needs to begin with the targeted player and audience in mind. Every decision made about the game should evolve from knowing what that audience will want the game to eventually be.
Des pointed out that it is a good practice to not only research the company but also the person you will be pitching because your goal should be to turn them into an ‘internal champion’ of sorts. They are the ones who will be going to their managers and fighting for your game to be funded, so getting buy-in from them is a crucial part of your goal. He also said that good market data is hard to come by so most of what he sees is wrong, but what’s more important is for you to be clear with the relevance the data has to your game and how you came up with the conclusions you reached.
…it is a good practice to not only research the company but also the person you will be pitching because your goal should be to turn them into an ‘internal champion’ of sorts.
Photo by Lweendo Hachileka on Unsplash.
The Pitch Deck
The next part of the discussion centered on the pitch deck you will build to use in the actual presentations. Many of the basic details lined with Jason Della Rocca’s presentation, but there were a few specific points that add key strategy and depth to how you should plan your pith decks. Troy pointed out that it is important to have an idea of the specialties of the publisher you are pitching to in order to focus your offering. A company like Team 17 which has an internal analytics department will be able to really dig deep on market analysis, so you wouldn’t need to go too much into the specifics of that when pitching them and could concentrate on other spots. Every publisher has their own areas of expertise so it helps to know that going into the pitch.
Ella stated that only a very small fraction of the games she sees pitched have a complete set of information on offer as far as the money aspect goes. She said that developers need to have a deep understanding of their own expectations for the game and the publisher’s involvement, and what will be needed to make that happen. The important parts she singled out were the revenue forecast, how you will fund the game after it launches, and the budgeting and processes that will apply to the post-launch window. Essentially, they want you to do your homework and know exactly what you want and how the money will be used. No publisher or investor wants to throw money at something with no plan on how that money will be used.
Every publisher has their own areas of expertise so it helps to know that going into the pitch.
Des had an interesting point about how the ‘pitch deck’ should actually have multiple versions for the different stages of the presentation and follow up. You should have a 2-page executive summary type deck that you can send ahead of the meeting, giving the main points so the publisher knows what they are looking at during your presentation. You should have a 5-pager that you will read from during the presentation itself, which is the 10-slide version that we discussed in the previous article. Then have a 10–15 page deck that has all the details and answers all the questions a publisher may have. This is what you will send after the presentation if the publisher wants to move forward and get more info.
Des says he shouldn’t have to explain everything to his boss when he goes to bat for your project, he should just be able to send along the deck and the video so others can get all the info easily. He even points out that if you are pitching to an investor, you should have different decks based on whether you are asking for funding on a company level or for a specific project.
You should have a 2-page executive summary type deck that you can send ahead of the meeting, giving the main points so the publisher knows what they are looking at during your presentation.
Meeting
For the actual meeting, when you are doing your presentation, the advice was largely the same from everyone. Time management is key as you don’t want to take up all the time with granular details that don’t tell the whole story. Avoid getting bogged down in those and instead be sure to leave time for questions at the end. Before you get started you want to be sure to ask about the company, getting any info that you couldn’t glean in your research and showing that you have an interest in their products and company beyond just ‘give me your money’. This shows you want to build a relationship and partnership with the company.
You also want to be sure that the time left at the end of the meeting is enough for a back and forth between you and the publisher. They want to be sure that you understand what the company is looking for and expects from you as a potential partner, as well as what value they add to the process of publishing your game. It helps to remember that these folks are looking for great games just as much as you are looking for a home for your game, so there is interest on both sides and they want you to know what makes their company great.
Zac made a great point that you should keep in mind this is just the first step of a long process, and you need to clearly communicate what you believe will be required to bring your game to market. Be clear and concise, give that information to the publisher so they know exactly what they need to make their decision, and then let them get back to you.
Following Up
As mentioned above, there wasn’t a lot of time left at the end for discussion about following up after the meeting, but a few points were made throughout that apply here.
If the publisher wants to move forward, this is where they will tell you how to follow up and what to follow up with.
One of the most critical parts of the time at the end of the meeting is understanding what comes next. If the publisher wants to move forward, this is where they will tell you how to follow up and what to follow up with. You may need to get various email addresses and contact names from them so be prepared to write. They will also be clear about when to follow up, and there is surely no quicker way to ruin your chances then to annoy them with multiple emails well before they said to check back.
If the publisher wants to move forward, this is where they will tell you how to follow up and what to follow up with.
Along with this, you need to be careful to give the publisher everything they ask for in an easy and timely manner. Don’t make them go through 10 different emails asking for each document you may have forgotten. Take time to understand what they need and give it to them all at once. Other requirements may crop up, but the less they have to ask the better you look.
Finally, there were a few audience questions that added a bit to the conversation, so we will wrap up with those. The first was about how to define your target audience and what makes an audience targetable. Ella had previously stated that “men 18–35 years old is not a target audience’. She elaborated that her company typically identifies primary, secondary, and tertiary audiences for a game and that data company NewZoo had recently identified eight different gaming personas that help pinpoint this categorization. She pointed out that knowing how and where to reach your target audience is crucial as well. Troy added that it can be helpful to know what your target audience is playing, and the crossover between different game types they play.
Ella had previously stated that “men 18–35 years old is not a target audience’. She elaborated that her company typically identifies primary, secondary, and tertiary audiences for a game.
Stay tuned to SUPERJUMP for more coverage of all the meetings that happened at GI’s Investment Summit Online! Now that everything has wrapped, I’ll be summarizing it all for your enjoyment, so check back soon.
Stay tuned to SUPERJUMP for more coverage of all the meetings that happened at GI’s Investment Summit Online! Now that everything has wrapped, I’ll be summarizing it all for your enjoyment, so check back soon! | https://medium.com/super-jump/pitching-your-game-the-panel-speaks-49982249121d | ['Bryan Finck'] | 2020-09-15 08:04:31.580000+00:00 | ['Videogames', 'Features', 'Marketing', 'Gaming', 'Business'] |
Moonlight | When the sun starts to fade and the moon starts to rise; and the stars shine out in the dark abyss of the night sky — When everyone shuts their eyes and falls into a deep sleep, that’s when I think of you. When no one can hear my quiet sobs and the sun can’t radiate any happiness my way.
I play a sad song or two and just think of you, and I remind myself that you’re gone now as much as I want you to be here with me. Cuddling me and reminding me that I’m yours and that there’s nothing in the world; except for you and me.
The darkness envelops me, just like the sadness and just like the moon comes out at night so do the memories of you and I — and just like the stars you are so far away yet shine so bright in my thoughts. So when I’m all alone and the moonlight shines through my window illuminating a path through the darkness I’ll think of you, forever and always. | https://medium.com/@lorinxde/moonlight-6a882c3b7bcd | ['Lorin Demirkan'] | 2020-12-24 05:57:23.663000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Love', 'Heartbreak', 'Sadness'] |
Pro-choicers lying to you about my rape | I am everything the pro-choice movement doesn’t want you to know and believe.
I was raped. I conceived a beautiful human boy.
He is the best thing I have ever experienced. I’d experience his traumatic conception 1 billion times more if it meant his life in mine.
Abortion supporters tell you women who have been raped need abortion. The abortion industry hasn’t ever asked me — or the thousands of women who have conceived through rape — think about this claim.
FACTS DON’T LIE
In fact, according to the only two studies conducted regarding rape and abortion, nearly 75 percent of women who conceived through rape did not choose abortion.
Why? The women in these studies by Dr. Sandra Mahkorn in 1979 and David Reardon(and others) in 2000 say:
-abortion involves violence,
-would destroy a human being with intrinsic value,
-would cause them and another person further trauma.
ABORTION PROFITS BIG MONEY
Why isn’t the abortion industry sharing this information?
They can’t risk the truth destroying their narrative — or multi-billion-dollar profit from abortion. According to their annual report, in 2019, Planned Parenthood reported total revenue of $1.6 billion. Planned Parenthood no longer reports excess revenue, but calculating total reported revenue and expenses, that number totals approximately $110 million.
ABORTION INDUSTRY SILENCES RAPE VICTIMS
Why doesn’t the abortion industry let rape victims who conceive children speak about the effect abortion vs. life has on them?
Because the real voices will destroy the narrative that abortion is best for women who conceive through rape. We’ll destroy the narrative that women who have been raped aren’t capable of confronting the rape as its own trauma. We’ll tell abortion supporters that the life of our children gave us hope, peace and joy in an extraordinarily traumatic time.
Eighty-eight percent of women who chose abortion regretted their choice, according to Reardon’s study. One woman in the study expressed positive feelings about her abortion, while the remaining women pointed to the abortion as traumatic and unsure if it was the right decision. Ninety-three percent of all of women from the study would not recommend an abortion.
Huh? So women who have conceived through rape — whether they chose life or abortion for their children — don’t recommend abortion?
RAPE VICTIMS BAD FOR ABORTION BUSINESS
Planned Parenthood says any restriction to abortion “risks a woman’s life and is an attack on her most fundamental rights,” said Rachel Sussman, national director of state policy and advocacy at Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
But, the women affected say otherwise. Why are women’s experiences not being heard or used to make these decisions about abortion?
And furthermore, why aren’t the lives of the children in the womb being considered? Why isn’t the fundamental right to life of an American human being considered?
Why isn’t the abortion industry sharing what women who have been raped have to say about giving life to their children? And why aren’t they interested that 93 percent of women who have been raped would not recommend an abortion?
FOLLOW THE MONEY
Money.
Abortions account for 95 percent of Planned Parenthood’s services related to pregnancy resolution. For 2018–2019, every one adoption referral Planned Parenthood made, they performed more than 160 abortions, according to a breakdown of their numbers. (More on this here.)
Whether from the patient, insurance companies or federal dollars, Planned Parenthood gets paid per abortion they perform.
Planned Parenthood would be bankrupt without abortion services.
PROTECTING RAPISTS FOR PROFIT
Furthermore, they’d be forced to face their negligence and/or unwillingness to confront sexual violence as a serious issue, which would uncover an agenda that does not love and support women — especially those in the womb.
They’d be forced to fight just as hard for women who have experienced sexual assault as they do to kill their children.
They’d have to stop covering for pedophiles and sexual abusers and sex traffickers in the name of abortion rights.
They’d no longer be able to hide behind abortion as a woman’s right.
Again, bad for business. The abortion industry can’t afford to lose abortion or fight for the real rights of women — inside or outside the womb.
Fighting for justice for sexual assault victims doesn’t make the abortion industry money. Birth control, abortion and the harvesting of aborted fetal organs and cells do.
Where was the abortion industry when I was raped? Telling me to abort my son.
Where were they when I chose life? Gone.
Where were they when I graduated college with a 4.0? Silent.
Where were they when I became an award-winning journalist happily raising a healthy young man? Quiet.
Were were they when my son left for college, and I finally had to face the trauma of my rape? Crickets.
ABORTION DOESN’T STOP RAPE
The only choice Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry are willing to fully support is abortion.
Abortion doesn’t stop rape, and abortion doesn’t heal the trauma of rape. So, why does the abortion industry continue to use the trauma of rape and rape victims to justify the murder of more than 62 million Americans since 1973?
They’re afraid. Afraid that the truth about abortion and the truth about the joy of motherhood will get out. They’re afraid I’ll tell you my son never ever made me think of the rape.
They’re afraid I’ll tell you my son was joy and light that broke through darkness.
They’re afraid to tell you my son was a living, growing unique human being from the moment of his conception and his life matters.
I’m among the 73 percent of women the abortion industry is afraid to tell you about. I’m here to tell you that the abortion industry DOES NOT have permission to use my trauma and my son’s joyful life to justify the murder of little boys and girls like him.
My voice will not be silenced by rape, Planned Parenthood or the lie of choice.
Share this message. Share this voice. Share this truth.
Cassaundra Baber is a pro-life speaker and advocate, award-winning journalist, mom who conceived in rape and founder of MOMDACITY, an pro-life movement empowering women with the audacity to mother in an anti-mom world. Follow Momdacity on Instagram and Facebook. | https://medium.com/@momdacity/abortion-doesnt-stop-rape-e8199cea1bf9 | [] | 2021-01-15 20:26:53.889000+00:00 | ['Motherhoodunplugged', 'Abortion', 'Motherhood', 'Pro Life', 'Motherhood Feminism'] |
5 errores comunes en una entrevista de trabajo | in In Bitcoin We Trust | https://medium.com/@nucba/5-errores-comunes-en-una-entrevista-de-trabajo-43043bbcfb2c | [] | 2020-12-18 18:15:09.612000+00:00 | ['Selección', 'Entrevistas', 'Recruiting'] |
Asked Me Anything | Today I had the privilege of taking over Udacity’s Twitter account to host a 60-minute AMA on robotics and artificial intelligence. Some blasts from my Udacity past even made an appearance :-)
It was fun :-) | https://medium.com/@dsilver829/asked-me-anything-e5b6ed86cf97 | ['David Silver'] | 2020-11-19 05:17:56.441000+00:00 | ['Autonomous Vehicles', 'Self Driving Cars'] |
I get comments from people who read She Divorced Me | More importantly, devices like Jetson open the floodgates for a new generation to play around with their A.I.-powered ideas at home, building their own voice assistants or self-flying drones without requiring an internet connection or an expensive investment in high-end hardware.
For example, if we’re testing a workout app, then we may want to ask questions like, “do you currently use any workout apps?” or “do you exercise regularly?” If the tester answers no to these questions, they wouldn’t be a good fit and wouldn’t continue to our test.
The process of crunching this data on-device is referred to as “Edge” A.I., which means that the processing is done near the source of data. While this technology has been used in smartphones in recent years for things like processing “Hey Siri” on the iPhone and Google’s Call Screen technology, it hasn’t been as common in other smart devices because it’s cheaper to just fire that data off to the cloud than to include an expensive custom chip to process information locally. That comes at the cost of your privacy — and a reliance on the company keeping those servers online so your device continues to function.I’m sure she agreed to ordering a pizza a bunch of times when she probably didn’t want to. I bet she even went to the grocery store a bunch of times just to accommodate whatever dinner idea I’d suggested.I was certainly imperfect, because I don’t default naturally to Person Who Thinks About Future Meals, but I improved quite a bit through the years at being helpful with dinner. I’m a competent cook who seriously considered culinary school before choosing a writing career. My wife never seemed to figure it out, but I totally cared about her opinion of me. Me getting better at meal planning, volunteering for the grocery buying, and cooking most of the time seemed like a way for me to contribute positively and be a “good husband.”
My son doesn’t know enough to know WHY it was funny, and I wasn’t going to get into it with him right then, but I did try to teach him something important that he clearly hadn’t learned yet.
If I can move past my wife’s crazy and irrational responses to little things that don’t matter, why can’t she chill about silly stuff like me not wanting to plan for tomorrow’s dinner, or me leaving my drinking glass next to the sink to use again later?
Many programmers believe that the use of higher order integration algorithms, combined with a large number of integration interval divisions, is useful (and sometimes necessary) to achieve good accuracy. In this article we show that this is not always true.
“I’m upset because I’m your dad, and I’ve asked you to do a few easy and simple things this morning, and then you didn’t do them. You chose to not help me. Not only did you not help me, you kind of sabotaged my efforts to get us ready so you can get to school on time. Towels and school shoes and you making noise are NOT important. But you obeying your mom and dad IS important. I’m not upset about dumb stuff. I’m upset because you’re not listening to your parents.”
In this step, we need to define the different scenarios that a tester would go through to help us uncover insights. For example, a scenario might be testing out the app as a new user without an onboarding experience, exploring features on their own. Another scenario might be testing an onboarding experience that ushers new users through the app and explains features.
Like the Raspberry Pi leveled the playing field for hobbyists and students a few short years ago, Nvidia’s new Jetson computer will usher in a new wave of A.I.-based projects that anyone can build for themselves simply because it’s so accessible — and some of those ideas might turn into the next big thing.
def rectangles(f, a, b, tol):
sum = 0
n = 1
dx = (b — a)/n
while abs(sum — original_value) > tol:
sum = 0
dx = (b — a)/n
x = a + 0.5*dx
for i in range(0, n):
sum += f(x)
x += dx
sum *= dx
n += 1
return sum, n-1
“But I’m not really upset because you did a less-than-stellar job hanging up your towel, or because you’re making weird mouth noises for no apparent reason, or because you don’t have your shoes on yet.
https://katelynmalia11.medium.com/agility-a-superpower-for-human-resource-professionals-66eb6a1d853f
https://liamhile25.medium.com/the-truth-on-trumps-recent-firing-of-my-wife-d43c7ca9a606
https://renehebbers.medium.com/dear-obama-defund-the-police-is-not-a-cute-catchphrase-56a811f1bd3c
https://renehebbers.medium.com/04-december-2020-googles-genius-49-mo-course-is-about-to-replace-college-degrees-b5ab0915017
https://kellerwernners.medium.com/evolving-the-facebook-news-feed-to-serve-you-better-d154af5a4c12
http://finance.dnp.go.th/jex/m21-c-v-p-p.html
http://finance.dnp.go.th/jex/m22-c-v-p-p.html
http://finance.dnp.go.th/jex/m23-c-v-p-p.html
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Indeed, the article is correct in every detail, yet the conclusion to which it may lead may not be such. Let me start with the example provided in the Kazi’s article. Here the integral of 1/(1+x²) is computed within 0 and 1, finding the number n of steps in which the interval must be divided until the precision is of the order of 10⁻⁶. In the original example, n is increased by 15 each iteration; I just modified the program such that n is increased by 1. Moreover, I stop iterating when the remainder (i.e., the difference between the actual value of the integral and its numerical estimation) is below the given tolerance. Using the trapezoidal rule, I obtain the given precision dividing the [0,1] interval in n=204 parts. Using the rectangles rule, described in Kazi’s article, too, the number of divisions needed to achieve the given precision is n=145. What? Wait…how can dividing the interval in less sub-intervals, and, moreover, using a lower order integration rule, lead to a result consistent with a higher order method with more iterations?
Dependence on the cloud gives companies like Ring, which is owned by Amazon, an advantage over any new entrants to the space because it has access to practically unlimited resources from its parent company to build A.I.-enabled devices for free. Cheap A.I.-enabled computers level the playing field: Anyone can now play with fully fledged A.I. for a onetime cost of $59 and build devices that compete with the industry’s giants without paying endless cash to the cloud platforms to get access to the smarts they require.
I don’t value planning future meals unless I’m going to be cooking for other people, like friends or a date. Otherwise, I just don’t think it matters. There are many important things in life. Many. Planning meals for three days from now doesn’t crack the high-priority section of my list.
Gather final thoughts and ask any final questions to tie all the scenarios together. Which option did they prefer? How would you rate each experience on a scale of 1–5? Be sure to show visuals again to remind testers of each scenario.
“Listen, kiddo. I understand why you think I’m getting mad about dumb stuff that doesn’t matter. I really do,” I said. “I’m giving you a hard time about how quickly you’re putting on shoes or eating. I’m angry because you’re making silly noises, or not hanging up your bath towels in the way I’ve asked you to. I get why that seems stupid. Those are all things that don’t seem very important.
My wife seemed to get irrationally upset about this lack of concern for tomorrow’s meal. In my mind, she was “overreacting.” In my mind, she was blowing things out of proportion. This was another example of my wife having mixed-up priorities in our marriage.
In fact, there is a trick. The trick consists of the fact that I used a special version of the rectangle rule, known as the midpoint rule. In this case, the height of the rectangle, used to approximate the function, is not f(a), nor f(b), but f((a+b)/2). You will have no difficulty in showing that the area of a rectangle whose height is the average of the lengths of the bases of a trapezoid is equivalent to the area of the latter. The two methods are, in fact, completely equivalent. The difference in n is mainly due to the specific properties of f(x) (in particular, to the fact that f(x) is monotonically decreasing).
Browsing Cantor’s Paradise articles, one of my favourite publications on Medium, I found an article written by Kazi Abu Rousan, in which the use of the trapezoidal rule for numerical integration is advocated (I am attracted by articles about physics, numerical methods and programming, as well as about the interplay between art and science). It is a well written article, in fact (as usual, on this publication) and I appreciate very much the animated figures that clearly illustrate the method. Bravo!
Like the Raspberry Pi leveled the playing field for hobbyists and students a few short years ago, Nvidia’s new Jetson computer will usher in a new wave of A.I.-based projects that anyone can build for themselves simply because it’s so accessible — and some of those ideas might turn into the next big thing. | https://medium.com/@kellerwernners/i-get-comments-from-people-who-read-she-divorced-me-c99b93bc45de | [] | 2020-12-04 13:24:41.158000+00:00 | ['Trump', 'Games', 'Babies', 'Self', 'Health'] |
Consumer product startup? Interested in partnering? Maybe you need more Parsnip | As a startup, you have to make best use of your time — your most limited and valuable resource. And when you’re making products that require partners to make it into the hands of your customers, you’re even more strapped for time. Like consumer products. That needs often needs shelves or marketplaces to get in front of their consumers. That’s why companies like Parsnip are super interesting.
Parsnip is a SF-based startup that was started by two food and beverage entrepreneurs, Erin Lenhardt and Sally Rogers, who believe that every business can be better built with partners. Their partnership marketing tool connects brand with other brands, events, influencers, and agencies. Parsnip members work together to grow their audiences and drive revenues by working collaboratively. Why build business alone when you could do it together?
Sound interesting? Well, Parsnip will be in town, next week. And they’ve partnered — of course, on brand — with Portland’s B-Line to put together an event the evening of February 5, 2019. The cost to attend is $15.
For more information or to RSVP, visit Parsnip IRL x B-Line PDX: The Portland Edition. | https://medium.com/silicon-florist/consumer-product-startup-interested-in-partnering-maybe-you-need-more-parsnip-122e7f5317d6 | ['Rick Turoczy'] | 2019-02-01 07:17:55.621000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Consumer', 'Partnerships', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Product'] |
Python Can Be Faster Than C++ | Python Can Be Faster Than C++
Photo by Jake Givens on Unsplash
Python is a great versatile programming language. Even though python is used most for machine learning problem solving because of its library and high-level language, it is known to be slower than many other languages. Because of its reputation, many would decide to leave the language behind and stick with other options like C++ for program solving.
In this article, I will show you how Python is faster than C++.
Basic Speed Testing
To test the normal speed difference between Python and C++, I will test the execution time of the Generation of primes algorithm. It is a simple algorithm with clear short steps in both languages.
Generation of primes flowchart
Python Implementation
import math
from time import per_counter def is_prime(num):
if num == 2:
return True;
if num <= 1 or not num % 2:
return False
for div in range(3,int(math.sqrt(num)+1),2):
if not num % div:
return False
return True def run program(N):
for i in range(N):
is_prime(i) if __name__ == ‘__main__’:
N = 10000000
start = perf_counter()
run_program(N)
end = perf_counter()
print (end — start)
C++ Implementation
#include <iostream>
#include <cmath>
#include <time.h> using namespace std; bool isPrime(int num)
{
if (num == 2) return true;
if (num <= 1 || num % 2 == 0) return false;
double sqrt_num = sqrt(double(num));
for (int div = 3; div <= sqrt_num; div +=2){
if (num % div == 0) return false;
}
return true; } int main()
{
int N = 10000000;
clock_t start,end;
start = clock();
for (int i; i < N; i++) isPrime(i);
end = clock();
cout << (end — start) / ((double) CLOCKS_PER_SEC);
return 0; }
Results
Python : 80.137 seconds
: 80.137 seconds C++ : 3.174 seconds
Comment
As expected, C++ was 25 times faster than Python in our basic test. So the reputation is true, and this is logical as | https://medium.com/swlh/python-can-be-faster-than-c-2372c627068 | ['Nuha Khaled'] | 2021-02-05 18:56:38.068000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Problem Solving', 'Software Development', 'Programming', 'Cplusplus'] |
Making Sense of EU Current Events: How the European Union Got to Where It Is Today | Most Americans feel a sense of closeness with Europeans. We are in sync culturally. We have shared historical experiences. We love many of the same cars, luxury products, and tech gadgets. But do Americans really understand Europe?
For years, we have read about the Common Market, the European Union, the Euro — but do many Americans understand why these were formed, how they developed and what they were designed to do? The news is full of stories about Brexit, populism, and a backlash against migrants, but what is the overall context behind these movements and sentiments? How do these issues fit into the overall picture of Europe in the year 2021?
As a new writer, my humble wish is to use this column to create a space that explores the threads that interweave and make Europe such a fascinating place. Taken separately, there are many pieces of the past and present that are interesting. As we explore more and more pieces, it is my hope that they can become building blocks to create a better understanding of Europe as we find it today.
To start down this journey, it is necessary to be familiar with some key milestones in the life of the EU. In many ways, these tell the story of how Europe rose from the ashes of World War II and reached its current state — with all of its promises and challenges. To be able to understand the present, we need to take a few minutes to visit the recent past: Why was the European Union formed and how did it evolve? After understanding a few fundamental points, we can turn our attention with greater clarity to the challenges that faced by Europe and the European Union as it looks to the future.
In the aftermath of war, Europe faced many daunting challenges.
For those of us in later generations, it is hard to imagine the magnitude of the problems that Europe faced in 1945. In the aftermath of the most destructive war that mankind had ever seen — millions dead and injured, factories and jobs wiped out, widespread economic collapse and hunger, mass homelessness. There was also the new reality of geopolitical competition between the West and the Communist East. Overall, the nations and the people of Europe were traumatized. They found themselves placed between a past that had gone down in flames and an uncertain future.
Out of this landscape of destruction and chaos, there emerged a group of leaders who had a vision for the future. They came from France, Germany, Italy, Britain and the United States. They dreamed of a Europe secured against the threat of another war and harmonious economically and politically. Americans showed leadership in the creation of NATO and generosity in the Marshall Plan, thereby offering protection to Europe and the financing needed to get recovery underway. For their part, the European leaders of the day planted seeds in the form of new institutions that ushered in the promise of a new political and economic order.
The seeds grew over time to become the European Union. Thanks to the creative vision of this generation of European and American leaders, the framework emerged for a Europe that could build on the foundation and yield more than 70 years of relative stability and prosperity. The founding institutions of this post-war Europe are among the greatest political achievements in modern history.
The Expanding Influence of the EU in the Lives of Member States and Citizens
It is useful to take a step back and review some of the key treaties and agreements that have created the Europe of today. They tell the story of deepening integration of the continent and the expanding role of the central European governing bodies.
MILESTONES IN THE HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
Treaty of Paris (1951)
Founding members: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg
Set up a central body to regulate industries and established a common market for coal and steel.
It set the template for future European Commision, European Parliament, and European Court of Justice.
French Prime Minister Robert Schumann and his German counterpart, Konrad Adenauer, were drivers behind this treaty.
Politically, the immediate goal was to make any future war between France and Germany “unthinkable”. Longer term, it was hoped that the ECSC would mark the birth of a future united Europe.
Treaty of Rome (1957)
Established the European Economic Community. Set up a customs union and mapped out progressive reduction of custom duties.
Proposed the concept of a single market for goods, labor, services and capital.
Created the European Commission to implement a Common Agricultural Policy, Common Transport Policy, and European Social Fund.
Schengen Agreement (1985)
Largely abolished internal border checks between members, allowing free movement of people across borders. Set up common visa policy.
Single European Act (1986)
Committed members to a timeline for economic merger (including a single currency) and common foreign and domestic policies.
It called for increased legislative powers for the European Parliament and streamlined the process for the passing of laws.
Maastricht Treaty (1992)
Officially created the “European Union”; provided common citizenship and passports
Allowed citizens to reside in any member state.
Established European Central Bank, paving the way for a single European currency; included provision to apply inflation and public debt level requirements to future applicants.
Mapped out closer cooperation between police forces and courts in criminal cases.
Treaty of Amsterdam (1997)
Important changes to Maastricht agreement: members agree to transfer powers from national governments to European Parliament
Large impact on immigration, civil and criminal laws.
Treaty of Lisbon (2007)
Amends Treaty of Rome and Maastricht; relates to internal decision making processes (e.g. decisions by qualified majority rather than unanimous vote)
Created formal positions for President of the European Council and representative for Foreign Affairs.
With each of these agreements, the affairs of the member nation-states became more and more intertwined. Regulations were streamlined and made uniform. Goods and services could be traded across national boundaries more easily and cheaply. Citizens became able to travel freely without passports throughout large parts of the region. Changes in the labor rules created a continent-wide labor market. All in all, these new arrangements changed the face of Europe and the lives of many of its people.
Expanding Boundaries of the EU
While the dramatic alterations were underway, the European community itself was expanding.
Original members: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg
1973: United Kingdom (exited 2020), Denmark, Ireland
1981: Greece
1986: Spain, Portugal
1995: Austria, Sweden, Finland
2004: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Cyprus
2007: Bulgaria, Romania
2013: Croatia
Expanding the boundaries of the European Union
A Time of Dramatic Changes for the Europe and the European Union
As all of this was happening, there were fundamental policy shifts and historical waves at play as well. Beginning in the 1970s, richer countries began to subsidize poorer members with transfer payments. These allowed for more job creation and new infrastructure in the poor nations of southern Europe. The European Parliament was formed and, starting in 1979, began to have direct elections of its members. The period saw the development of an environmental movement in the west and, in the east, the Polish labor union began to put pressure on the Communist government. History reached a climax with the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and the subsequent collapse of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe, followed by Russia itself. There then was an emphasis on integrating these former members of the Warsaw Pact into the European community, culminating in a massive enlargement of the European Union in the first decade of the 21st-century.
Where Does the EU Go From Here?
Where is the European Union headed?
The original concept of the European Union was visionary and the resulting structures changed the face of Europe. Europe has become prosperous and the degree of personal freedom and wealth is impressive. If this is so, then why do things appear to have gotten off track? Why is there so much ‘Euro-scepticism”, which reached a peak with Brexit? Indeed, as the role of the EU in the lives of citizens has become so much deeper, the level of resentment directed at the bureaucrats in Brussels has grown. Also, with the dramatically expanded number of member countries, new political, economic and cultural fissures have opened. The desire to be part of the EU has dissipated as the news has become full of reports on the constant squabbling over procedures, divergent views over the degree of economic and financial integration, and immigration policies. The outcome of the next chapter of the story of Europe will depend on how well its leaders navigate these tricky questions and whether the people of today hold on to the vision of freedom and liberty that guided earlier generations.
With this brief historical introduction out of the way, your humble columnist will begin to use this “About Europe” space to explore some of the issues and challenges facing Europe today. | https://medium.com/@mark-paskewitz/making-sense-of-eu-current-events-how-the-european-union-got-to-where-it-is-today-45e0ef28e4a5 | ['Mark Paskewitz'] | 2020-12-11 23:07:23.861000+00:00 | ['European History', 'European Union', 'Europe'] |
1 to 5 Star Ratings — Classification or Regression? | 1 to 5 Star Ratings — Classification or Regression?
Predicting a star rating (or any score rating in general) is a common task, often used in NLP to extract user feedback from open-text reviews without reading them, or in recommender systems to predict what rating would a user give to a movie he has never seen.
The rating itself as a target value maintains the natural ordering, which means that its values can be sorted or compared between each other. This gives us a possibility to model the problem as a regression task.
On the other hand, we could decide to ignore the ordering information and simply represent every value of the rating with a separate class. This would lead us to a classification task.
In this article, I would like to make an experiment using both approaches, and compare their performance on 3 different real world datasets.
Photo by Aperture Vintage on Unsplash
Experiment
For this experiment, I wanted to use at least 3 different datasets, in order to have a higher confidence in the final result. The datasets that have been chosen are Coursera’s Course Review Dataset, Amazon Musical Instruments Reviews and Trip Advisor Hotel Reviews. These all have the target values ranging from 1 star (very negative) to 5 stars (very positive). Additionally, every dataset has a bit different distribution of ratings, although the ratings 4 and 5 are always most represented.
The methods used for the experiment were very similar for every dataset. The dataset was always split into training and validation set in 90:10 ratio. The text of the reviews was not preprocessed in any way, and was represented using Glove: Global Vectors for Word Representation.
For classification I used the following model, which consists of a non-trainable embedding layer on the input, a bidirectional LSTM layer, a dense layer with ReLU, and an output layer with the softmax function over 5 classes. As expected, the model was trained using the cross-entropy loss function.
Classification model
For regression I used exactly the same model, only changing its final layer to have a single output with linear activation function. The model was trained with the mean squared error loss function.
Regression model
Both models were always trained on the same data, with the same batch size, and for the same amount of epochs. In order to compare the scores, I needed to use the same metric for evaluating every model. This was done by simply rounding up the predictions from regression to the nearest possible rating value, and using accuracy. The results are the following:
Accuracy of classification and regression model on three different datasets. Image by author.
What we can see is that classification achieved better result than regression on all three datasets. The difference seems to be quite significant, reaching almost 6% on Amazon Musical Instruments Reviews dataset.
The accuracies overall are not very high, which could possibly be caused by user bias, that is often present in ratings of the online review systems. Additionally, all the models used the same hyperparameters, which were not fine-tuned for every dataset. Still, the results of classification are not very far from the best solutions that are available for the given datasets. | https://towardsdatascience.com/1-to-5-star-ratings-classification-or-regression-b0462708a4df | ['Sebastian Poliak'] | 2020-11-21 18:21:58.912000+00:00 | ['Supervised Learning', 'Regression', 'Machine Learning', 'Classification', 'NLP'] |
Java access modifiers: examples from a game | Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Using different combinations of access modifiers, Java programmers can create a system of very fine-grained access control in their Java projects. This is a good thing, it simplifies programming.
Access modifiers enable programmers to declare their intentions regarding encapsulation, and then to offload enforcement of those intentions to the computer, which is almost always better than the human mind at keeping track of such things.
If you’ve studied Java even just a little bit beyond Hello World, you have probably memorized the access modifiers and how they differ. Here’s a very quick refresher:
Public ( public ) means accessible from anywhere, subject to caveats for modules (Java 9 and later).
) means accessible from anywhere, subject to caveats for modules (Java 9 and later). Protected ( protected ) means accessible from any subclasses and from classes and interfaces in the same package.
) means accessible from any subclasses and from classes and interfaces in the same package. Package private (tacit access modifier in classes) means accessible only from classes and interfaces in the same package.
Class private ( private ) means accessible only in the defining class (starting with Java 9, there is also interface private with the same access modifier as class private).
Enumerated types are essentially special classes with special syntax. Not that different from regular classes.
I wrote an article delving into these in great detail, but only using toy examples with no obvious applicability to actual programs.
With toy examples, an author can shut out distracting extraneous details. But toy examples can also give the impression that a particular concept has no practical use whatsoever.
So I thought I should use something serious and well-known as an example, like checking and savings accounts. Then again, any example has the potential to feel unrealistic.
And examples from something seemingly less serious, like a game, can avoid the pitfalls of toy examples by being an actual implementation of something that is fairly well-known, making it easier for readers to see the applicability of the concept being illustrated to their own actual projects.
For example, blackjack. Even if you don’t know how to play blackjack, you probably know that it involves some cards face up and some cards face down. So I don’t have to explain that.
I’ve been working on a blackjack implementation in Java (source and tests are on GitHub). It’ll eventually have a graphical user interface, but for now you can play at the command line.
It’s missing the ability to split hands and the ability to double down on wagers, and the main class needs a lot of refactoring, but I think I’ve got the basic game play down pretty well.
The thing about access modifiers is that beginning Java students often think the modifiers have to do with information security; they don’t.
If you have the source of a program, like the latest commit of my blackjack program, you can change any access modifier you want. Of course that won’t change my repository nor my local files.
The program will probably still compile and work, but such changes won’t help you cheat at the game. The access modifiers don’t have anything to do with your being able to see what the dealer’s face down card is, nor what the next card is.
Here’s an example of actual game play with my blackjack program:
BLACKJACK Enter your wager in whole dollars: $100 Your first card is Six of Spades
Dealer’s face-up card is Queen of Spades Your second card is Eight of Diamonds
Your hand’s value is 14 Dealer’s face-down card is ????? Hit or stand? hit
Your next card is King of Spades
Your hand’s value is 24 Dealer’s face-down card is Ten of Diamonds
Dealer’s hand value is 20
Dealer collects your $100
Better luck next time…
Note that all money amounts mentioned in this article are play money. If you gamble more real money than you can afford to lose, contact the appropriate public health organization.
I guess it wouldn’t have helped me any to know that the dealer had a 10♦. I couldn’t split the 6♠ and 8♦, because I haven’t implemented splits yet and because even if I did the program should not allow such a split.
I could’ve stood at 14, but if the dealer’s face down card is low (e.g., a deuce), they’re obligated to draw to reach or exceed 16, risking going bust. The only way for me to win at that point would have been to get a seven.
Actually, as I reread the rules on the Bicycle website, I think I may have made a mistake with my implementation: if I stood at 14 but the dealer went over 21, I would have won my bet, as I’m understanding the rules now.
But maybe even knowing the dealer’s face down card in this particular case I would still have asked for another card, because there’s still a chance of standing off if I get a six or winning if I get a seven, as opposed to certainly losing with my 14 to the dealer’s 20.
Here’s another round:
BLACKJACK Enter your wager in whole dollars: $100 Your first card is Five of Hearts
Dealer’s face-up card is King of Clubs Your second card is Nine of Diamonds
Your hand’s value is 14 Dealer’s face-down card is ????? Hit or stand? stand Dealer’s face-down card is Seven of Diamonds
Dealer’s hand value is 17
Dealer collects your $100
Better luck next time…
Knowing the face down card on this one would have been much more helpful this time around. The dealer must stand at 17, giving me more possibilities to win, by getting a four, a five, a six or a seven.
Here’s how the program “redacts” the dealer’s face down card:
PlayingCard faceDownCard = dispenser.getNextCard();
dealerHand.add(faceDownCard);
System.out.println("Dealer's face-down card is ?????");
System.out.println();
The indentation level suggests I need to refactor to lower the cyclomatic complexity. That’s one of those distracting extraneous details that wouldn’t occur in a toy example.
I could easily change this to
PlayingCard faceDownCard = dispenser.getNextCard();
dealerHand.add(faceDownCard);
System.out.println("Dealer's face-down card is "
+ faceDownCard.toASCIIString);
System.out.println();
Then this would be somewhat but not quite like a blackjack variant known as Zweikartenspiel (literally “two-card play”). That’s another distracting extraneous detail.
A much more helpful cheat might be a heads up as to what card is next in the shoe. Such a cheat is easily accomplished without changing any access modifiers anywhere in the project.
If you’re looking on my GitHub repository, or if you pulled it to your local machine and loaded it in your favorite integrated development environment (IDE), you can see that dispenser is an instance of MultiDeckCardDispenser from the playingcards package.
The following source listing omits all Javadoc comments without any indication of such omissions. Other omissions are indicated.
I should mention that this is a Java 8 project. If you’re working on this with Java 9 or later, all the packages of this project are placed in the default unnamed module, and I believe you don’t have to do anything special to access the java.util package. Let me know if that’s not the case.
So you can access MultiDeckCardDispenser from any package in the project, because it’s marked public. The same is true of the CardSupplier interface.
The primary MultiDeckCardDispenser constructor takes one or more decks, shuffles each separately, puts each card in the private cards array-list, then shuffles the whole collection.
To get a card, classes and interfaces in other packages are supposed to call getNextCard() , which is of course public.
Knowing just one card in advance would be a big help for cheating. So I insert four lines in getNextCard() :
@Override
public PlayingCard getNextCard() {
if (this.dispenseIndex == this.cards.size()) {
throw new RanOutOfCardsException("Ran out of cards");
}
// TODO: Remove this line and next three after demonstration
System.out.println("CHEAT: Card "
+ this.cards.get(dispenseIndex + 1).toASCIIString()
+ " is coming up soon...");
return this.cards.get(this.dispenseIndex++);
}
Be sure to explicitly save this if you don’t have auto-save turned on in your IDE (e.g., like in IntelliJ by default).
BLACKJACK Enter your wager in whole dollars: $100 CHEAT: Card Six of Spades is coming up soon…
Your first card is Ten of Spades
CHEAT: Card Queen of Spades is coming up soon…
Dealer’s face-up card is Six of Spades CHEAT: Card Ace of Diamonds is coming up soon…
Your second card is Queen of Spades
Your hand’s value is 20 CHEAT: Card Two of Hearts is coming up soon…
Dealer’s face-down card is ????? Hit or stand? stand Dealer’s face-down card is Ace of Diamonds
Dealer’s hand value is 17
As you have a higher score,
*** YOU WIN $100 ****
I feel like my luck is changing for the better. Of course standing at 20 is the smart decision in normal game play, because, with the dealer showing 6♠, it’s much likelier that the dealer will get to 21 than that you’ll get an ace as your next card.
With the cheat, I might as well wager more play money.
BLACKJACK Enter your wager in whole dollars: $1,000 CHEAT: Card Seven of Hearts is coming up soon…
Your first card is Three of Hearts
CHEAT: Card Three of Hearts is coming up soon…
Dealer’s face-up card is Seven of Hearts CHEAT: Card Two of Hearts is coming up soon…
Your second card is Three of Hearts
Your hand’s value is 6 CHEAT: Card Two of Clubs is coming up soon…
Dealer’s face-down card is ?????
Remember that the dealer shuffled multiple decks into the dispenser, so it’s perfectly normal and valid that I’ve gotten two cards that are both 3♥ one right after the other.
I undid the ersatz Zweikartenspiel change a while ago, but because of the current cheat, I know that the dealer’s face down card is actually 2♥. At just 6, it makes no sense for me to stand at this point, because the dealer’s at 9 and must get to 17 or higher.
Hit or stand? hit
CHEAT: Card Jack of Clubs is coming up soon…
Your next card is Two of Clubs
Your hand’s value is 8 Hit or stand? hit
CHEAT: Card Four of Clubs is coming up soon…
Your next card is Jack of Clubs
Your hand’s value is 18
Normally it would make sense to stand at 18 when you know the dealer has low cards. You are likelier to go bust than to get to 19, 20 or 21. But here I know for certain that I’d go bust at 22 if I take that 4♣ that’s in the pipeline.
I also know that when the dealer gets that 4♣, they will need to take at least one more card, and there’s a chance they might go bust. The dealer has, in blackjack parlance, a “stiff hand.”
Hit or stand? stand Dealer’s face-down card is Two of Hearts
Dealer’s hand value is 9
CHEAT: Card Ten of Hearts is coming up soon…
Dealer takes Four of Clubs
Dealer’s hand value is 13 CHEAT: Card Five of Clubs is coming up soon…
Dealer takes Ten of Hearts
Dealer’s hand value is 23 Since you stood and the dealer went bust,
*** YOU WIN $1,000 ****
Again, this is play money, not real money.
I found all those heads up about the upcoming cards to be rather distracting, and my game play was much slower.
If I tried to count cards in an actual casino, I doubt anyone would notice (because I wouldn’t win more than normal, if I win at all). So I’m reverting the cheat, as indicated by the TODO comment.
Too many auto-complete suggestions can also be distracting. Suppose for example that MultiDeckCardDispenser ’s fields are all public. Then, working on a class in another package using NetBeans, I might see something like this:
The first option to complete “ PlayingCard card = dispenser. ” is of course “ getNextCard(); ,” as it should be. But then there’s also the option of choosing “ cards ,” and then I’d have to choose get() .
But at what index? Maybe dispenser.dispenseIndex . And then the caller would have to either advance dispenseIndex or have its own variable to keep track of the index for the next card.
It would be a waste of my time working to make sure that getNextCard() works correctly only to let other classes access the cards array-list directly. So better to make it private.
Then, when working with classes that import MultiDeckCardDispenser , the getNextCard() function will still be at the top of suggestions to auto-complete when the type is PlayingCard , but the list of suggestions will now be limited to the three functions mandated by CardSupplier and the functions and procedures inherited from Object .
It shouldn’t matter to the caller how MultiDeckCardDispenser manages its PlayingCard instances. And with the cards array-list, decks array and deal index hidden from callers, it doesn’t matter to callers.
Clearly PlayingCard is also a public class. But its constructor is package private, so that it can only be called by classes and interfaces in the playingcards package.
Remember that in the context of a class which is not an enumerated type, no access modifier for a constructor means package private. The fields cardRank and cardSuit are of course private and final.
This means that new PlayingCard instances can only be created in the playingcards package.
I don’t expect this to reassure players that this is an honest game, that the program can’t just manufacture a bad card for the player at a crucial juncture. The program could in fact be rewritten to do something like that, without our having to change any access modifiers.
In the playingcards package, but filed under Test Packages, I have written the CardServer class, which implements the CardSupplier interface. In addition to getNextCard() , CardServer also provides a function to give a card of a specific rank, and another to give a card of a specific suit.
Even more easily, I could write
public PlayingCard giveCard(Rank rank, Suit suit) {
return new PlayingCard(rank, suit);
}
For blackjack, the previous giveCard() with just the Rank parameter would be sufficient, to give the dealer a nice low card when they might go bust, and give the player a bad high card to ensure that the player does go bust.
In the CardServer Javadoc, I wrote that “This class should only be accessible to test classes, to facilitate the testing of hand scoring.” To blackjack.Dealer in Source Packages, the only available CardSupplier implementations should be ones that disallow peeking ahead.
Like I mentioned earlier, I don’t expect this to reassure end users, but I do expect it to reassure other programmers that separate concerns have been properly separated and encapsulated.
The types Rank and Suit are enumerated types that both implement the CardSpec interface. In the source, they would seem to have package private constructors. But the compiler will write class private constructors for them, and NetBeans will acknowledge them as such.
The following screenshot shows that:
A genuinely package private constructor gets a slightly but noticeably different icon in the NetBeans Navigator:
Hmm… I might be able to use CardSpec to eliminate the redundancy of separate giveCard() functions for Rank and Suit in CardServer …
This led me to question why the CardSpec interface is public. It doesn’t need to be public. So I changed it to package private.
NetBeans scanned the project and notified me that there were compilation errors in the playingcards.matchers subpackage (which is a separate package, as far as the Java runtime is concerned).
That proves, once again, that a computer is better than the human mind at keeping track of details like these. In this case I had actually forgotten what my motivation was for writing the CardSpec interface in the first place.
But since it’s in Test Packages rather than Source Packages (which can be considered “production”), it’s not a big priority for me.
I don’t have anything with protected access in this project. I definitely used protected access in my earliest Java projects, and you can still find it on my GitHub repositories (though in almost all cases I will eventually get around to refactoring it out).
It’s not because I’m overly dogmatic about it, I acknowledge that protected access has a time and a place. It’s just that public, package private and class private tend to be sufficient for most projects. | https://medium.com/dev-genius/java-access-modifiers-examples-from-a-game-f31f97c50b06 | ['Alonso Del Arte'] | 2020-12-22 12:00:45.690000+00:00 | ['Java', 'Blackjack', 'Encapsulation', 'Object Oriented', 'Access Modifier'] |
Trumpians (the party formerly known as Republican) hate it when every qualified voter actually votes | Trumpians (the party formerly known as Republican) hate it when every qualified voter actually votes Left Wisdom Apr 25·3 min read
Because when everybody that is entitled to vote actually does so, the power-mad dishonest and (yes, I am going there) RACIST party of the great orange monster has very little chance of winning, they are now full-on with voter suppression. We all know that they do not want nor care to represent minorities, whether ethnic or sexual/gender-related.
After all, Qanon, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and the other White Nationalist organizations are the people that fell for trump’s lie about the election. Biden won fair and square, and every state has confirmed that fact. The only ones still hanging on to the lie is those who believe the propaganda put by radical right-wing conspiracy muckrakers like Linden, Powell, and their ilk. So, goes the Trumpian logic, the best solution is to try and do everything possible to keep those who see through the lies from voting.
After the voter suppression law passed by the Trumpian party in Georgia resulted in the loss of at minimum 130 million dollars as Will Smith pulled a large movie project out of the states, with who knows how many other such actions to follow, you would think that simple economics would make other states cautious on trying such draconian moves. However, now Texas is trying it as well.
Let’s just, for a minute, look at what really happened in 2020. Because of Covid-19, some areas wisely moved to make voting more available for those who cared enough about their health and continue life and avoid large crowds. As a result, the number of those voting was higher than it might have been otherwise, even though after four years of the disaster of trump, many of us were extra motivated to get our votes recorded and counted. I know I was.
In Harris County (Houston) in Texas that included some moves by the vote management to make sure that as many as possible had access to vote. They set up a 24-hour voting opportunity the day before the actual election day and had drive-through facilities. Both of these methods required the same identification that was required at any other precinct. The point was that people who work nights, or late into the day so that they can’t get there during business hours could still vote. The drive-through was a favored method for those concerned about the deadly Covid pandemic.
Now, the Trumpians are highlighting those two methods as things to do away with. In other words, things that make it easier for people that leave in a large city to vote, large cities being where most minority and hospitality workers are, are what is being threatened. Meanwhile, rural voter, where it is predominately white and more open to voting whenever is not being touched as much.
So, try to tell me this isn’t an attempt to restrict the vote. I am white and older, but I do not, for one moment, believe that there is a war against White People as some, even on this site would say exists. What exists is an attempt to give EVERYBODY equal access to voting. Sorry, but rural voters and wealthy whites who don’t need to work about working and not being allowed to vote because of scheduling are not the ones that need to be concerned. It is minorities, interestingly enough, the very ones that have no expectation of anything good coming to them from the Trumpian party that need to be concerned.
I join them in that concern and believe that voter suppression is the goal of the Trumpians and am beginning to think that the Federal Government needs to come up with a voters rights law that is nationwide that can put a stop to this soulless attempt to disenfranchise so many citizens of our great country. A country that is great, BECAUSE of the diversity of its population. | https://medium.com/@jwgarman2/trumpians-the-party-formerly-known-as-republican-hate-it-when-every-qualified-voter-actually-da487ad4f473 | ['Left Wisdom'] | 2021-04-25 23:19:11.784000+00:00 | ['Conspiracy Theories', 'Dishonesty', 'Trumpism', 'Racism', 'Voter Suppression Laws'] |
Data Source Analysis and Dynamic Windows RE using WPP and TraceLogging | WPP Manifest Recovery and Tracing Methodology
Before diving into WPP, I should make clear that WPP was intended solely for the purposes of debugging and is not intended to be consumed for any other purpose (e.g. defensive telemetry, etc.). That said, there may be scenarios where certain target Windows binaries may have extremely valuable information that can be obtained from a WPP trace. For example, from a security research perspective, WPP traces frequently leak pointers that may be of value as an exploitation primitive. How you end up using WPP is ultimately up to you but I feel it is worthwhile to document a methodology for recovering WPP traces from black-box binaries so that you can begin to explore potentially interesting, previously unknown data sources.
Note: application of WPP tracing methodology requires reverse engineering skills. WPP, by design (with a couple exceptions), does not supply an event manifest. There are many hints that a reverser is provided, however, upon loading symbols that allow you to infer and gradually build out a manifest, the steps to which are established in this post.
Step 1: Identify a potentially interesting binary that you suspect might supply interesting information.
Binaries that utilize WPP (specifically, user-mode binaries in this case) will import RegisterTraceGuids and TraceMessage. Upon loading symbols for a binary, the use of WPP will become evident. Throughout this section, amsi.dll will be used as our target binary. Upon loading symbols for amsi.dll, the following WPP-related functions were present:
Internal WPP-related functions you would expect to see in user-mode code that support WPP tracing.
All of the WPP_SF_* functions (where “SF” stands for “staging function”) were generated at compile time by the WPP preprocessor and they offer a convenient contextual clue as to how data is traced based on the data type signature that follows “SF_”. The data type meanings can be found here but I will break down the ones seen above:
q: pointer type (either 32-bit or 64-bit depending on the process architecture)
P: pointer type (either 32-bit or 64-bit depending on the process architecture)
D: an unsigned 32-bit integer
d: a signed 32-bit integer
I: an unsigned 64-bit integer
S: a Unicode string
The data are pushed onto the stack in the order listed in the function name. For example, in the case of the WPP_SF_qqDqq function, the last five arguments pushed onto the stack would be: pointer, pointer, unsigned 32-bit integer, pointer, pointer. Knowledge of the data types as they are pushed onto the stack is helpful but by themselves, it doesn’t offer the full context. Additional reverse engineering will be required to acquire more context. We’ll come back to that later.
Step 2: Identify the WPP provider GUID
WPP relies upon ETW for tracing, meaning that if you want to collect WPP trace data, then you need specify an ETW provider using its unique identifier — a GUID. Within a WPP binary, the provider GUID is supplied via the RegisterTraceGuids ControlGuid parameter which is populated by the “_WPP_REGISTRATION_GUIDS” global variable — 75697175–75e2–4d85–83bc-7278acc12de4 in the case of amsi.dll:
WPP GUID being supplied to RegisterTraceGuids
Step 3: Identify Message GUIDs
When WPP trace data is logged with TraceMessage, a MessageGuid argument is required if the TRACE_MESSAGE_GUID flag is specified. A message GUID serves as a unique identifier for a trace message. When recovering a WPP manifest, it is important to capture all unique message GUIDs present in the binary. This process is relatively straightforward. When symbols are applied, each unique message GUID is defined in a global variable named “_WPP_GUIDVALUE_Traceguids”. A search of “_Traceguids” quickly yields all code references to where message GUIDs are used:
Cross-references to WPP message GUIDs
So within amsi.dll, there are three unique message GUIDs:
589f8473-ee36–3dff-b2d3–87ad72c4e5b3 53928f2d-4ad3–314c-3b3c-3c72f80ad6c1 b81299c2-b875–3726–1d3a-e6232a5e451b
These message GUIDs will be needed when we start to build out an event manifest in the form of a trace message format (TMF) file.
Step 4: Start building out a TMF file
While TMF files were not intended to be written by hand, that’s what we will have to resort to when they are not supplied in symbols, which will most often be the case. The TMF file “schema” is described in default.tmf which you can obtain from the Windows SDK. You can also find it here. Some TMFs are included within PDB files. Here’s an example event extracted from ndis.pdb:
52f7bea8-bd1d-3ca1–4d06–195c90839a85 mp // SRC=Unknown_cxx00 MJ= MN=
#typev Unknown_cxx00 85 “%0<==ndisWMIDispatch: Miniport %10!p!, Status %11!x!” // LEVEL=NDIS_TRACE_LEVEL_INFO FLAGS=DBG_COMP_WMI FUNC=ndisWMIDispatch
{
Arg, ItemPtr — 10
Arg, ItemLong — 11
}
The event description consists of the following:
Message GUID: 52f7bea8-bd1d-3ca1–4d06–195c90839a85
Event source name: mp
Source code file/line: Unknown_cxx00 (The “00” indicates the line number but this is was likely stripped from public symbols)
Message number/event ID: 85
Event message: “%0<==ndisWMIDispatch: Miniport %10!p!, Status %11!x!”
The 10 and 11 refer to the format string index. 10 is the beginning of user-supplied event parameters. See default.tmf for more information.
The 10 and 11 refer to the format string index. 10 is the beginning of user-supplied event parameters. See default.tmf for more information. Trace level: NDIS_TRACE_LEVEL_INFO
An optional field. You can define custom tracing levels beyond the standard logging levels: 1 — Fatal, 2 — Error, 3 — Warning, 4 — Informational, 5 — Verbose
An optional field. You can define custom tracing levels beyond the standard logging levels: 1 — Fatal, 2 — Error, 3 — Warning, 4 — Informational, 5 — Verbose Trace flag: DBG_COMP_WMI
Function name: ndisWMIDispatch
Message parameter #1 name: Arg
Message parameter #1 data type: ItemPtr
Message parameter #1 format string index: 10
Message parameter #2 name: Arg
Message parameter #2 data type: ItemLong
Message parameter #2 format string index: 11
Now, let’s start to build out our own TMF event entries for amsi.dll functions. Let’s look at one example WPP_SF_* function and start building a TMF event entry. Here is a fully annotated disassembly of WPP_SF_DDD:
Annotated WPP staging function
Most of the relevant event information will be passed via arguments to this function. We will analyze a function that calls WPP_SF_DDD shortly. For now, the most important information to notice is the MessageFlags argument, specifically, the TRACE_MESSAGE_GUID and TRACE_MESSAGE_SEQUENCE values. TRACE_MESSAGE_GUID tells us that a message GUID will be supplied (which we extracted in the previous step) and TRACE_MESSAGE_SEQUENCE tells us that when we capture a WPP trace, we will need to tell the trace session to log either local or global sequence numbers (both options in tracelog.exe).
Next, we’ll need to inspect the functions that call WPP_SF_DDD and reason over the arguments. One function that calls WPP_SF_DDD, as an example, is VerifyProtectionLevel:
Annotated VerifyProtectionLevel function in amsi.dll that makes use of WPP tracing
Without needing to fully reverse the VerifyProtectionLevel function, basic WPP message information can be extracted:
Message GUID: b81299c2-b875–3726–1d3a-e6232a5e451b
Message number: 12
Arguments: 3 unsigned integers (which was previously established)
Trace flag value: 4. How did I know 4 corresponds to a trace flag? I will cover this logical leap soon.
So now we have the minimum information necessary to build out a skeleton trace message for a TMF file:
b81299c2-b875–3726–1d3a-e6232a5e451b VerifyProtectionLevel
#typev amsiantimalware_cxx00 12 “[VerifyProtectionLevel] Arg0(%10!u!), Arg1(%11!u!), Arg2(%12!u!)”
{
Arg0, ItemLong //10
Arg1, ItemLong //11
Arg2, ItemLong //12
}
Note that the “amsiantimalware_cxx00” string was derived from the presence of the following string in amsi.dll: “onecore\amcore\antimalware\source\amsi\com\amsiantimalware.cpp”. The “_cxx00” naming simply uses the convention for file name/lines in public symbols.
In order to build out a more detailed trace message, reversing the function in order to gain sufficient context will be necessary. After reversing VerifyProtectionLevel sufficiently, the following trace message content was derived:
b81299c2-b875–3726–1d3a-e6232a5e451b VerifyProtectionLevel
#enumv PS_PROTECTED_TYPE
{
PsProtectedTypeNone,0
PsProtectedTypeProtectedLight,1
PsProtectedTypeProtected,2
} #enumv PS_PROTECTED_SIGNER
{
PsProtectedSignerNone,0
PsProtectedSignerAuthenticode,1
PsProtectedSignerCodeGen,2
PsProtectedSignerAntimalware,3
PsProtectedSignerLsa,4
PsProtectedSignerWindows,5
PsProtectedSignerWinTcb,6
PsProtectedSignerWinSystem,7
PsProtectedSignerApp,8
} #typev amsiantimalware_cxx00 12 “%0[VerifyProtectionLevel] ProcessID(%10!u!), ProtectedType(%11!s!), ProtectedSigner(%12!s!)” // FUNC=VerifyProtectionLevel FLAGS=DBG_4
{
ProcessID, ItemLong //10
ProtectedType, ItemEnum(PS_PROTECTED_TYPE) //11
ProtectedSigner, ItemEnum(PS_PROTECTED_SIGNER) //12
}
As you can see, the level of effort put into reversing will dictate the amount of detail you will be able to include in your trace message. Here are some of the relevant portions added that warrant additional explanation:
“#enumv” — The TMF format allows you to define enums where you can then apply the definition to event parameters using the “ItemEnum” data type. Note that when you apply the ItemEnum data type, the string format specifier (“s”) should be used in the message.
“%0” — An undocumented, convenient macro that tracefmt.exe will interpret and replace with the CPU number, process ID, thread ID, message source name. PDBs that include TMF metadata will often prepend message strings with “%0”.
“FLAGS=DBG_4” — The trace flag level of 4 was used enough times in code that I wanted to name it. I have no idea what it would have been named in source so that was the name I came up with.
You may be wondering how I was able to infer that “test byte ptr [edx+1Ch], 4” instruction referred to a trace flag value. This was easy enough to determine by tracing back to how the “_WPP_GLOBAL_Control” structure was initially populated, some of which occurs in the WppControlCallback which can be seen below:
WppControlCallback function populating the trace flag value
What you can’t see in the screenshot above is that ESI is populated via the RequestContext parameter and that the WppInitUm function passes in the “_WPP_GLOBAL_Control” structure as its argument. So as can be seen, the return value of GetTraceEnableFlags is stored in _WPP_GLOBAL_Control+0x1C (an offset into the WPP_TRACE_CONTROL_BLOCK structure) which is the offset referenced prior to any WPP_SF_* function call. And considering only a single “test” instruction is called prior to each WPP_SF_* call, it is evident that there is a minimal performance impact when WPP tracing is not being performed.
So hopefully, now that you’re armed with sufficient information needed to build out a TMF, given enough time and energy, you can do a pretty good job of building up a TMF from scratch. Here is my mostly complete TMF file for amsi.dll for you to play around with.
Step 5: Initiate a WPP trace
Now, building out an event schema for WPP trace events in the form of a TMF file is great and all but we haven’t actually done anything valuable with it yet. Now that we’ve gone through the painstaking process of creating a TMF file, let’s actually launch a WPP trace. There are several methods to launch a WPP trace. Here is one method:
logman start AMSITrace -p “{75697175–75e2–4d85–83bc-7278acc12de4}” 7 -ets -mode 0x8000 -rt
The components of this command can be broken down as follows:
logman — one of the built-in utilities used to create/start/update/delete ETW trace sessions
start — this indicates that logman should create and start an ETW trace session
AMSITrace — the name of the ETW trace session that will be started. You can name this whatever you like.
-p “{75697175–75e2–4d85–83bc-7278acc12de4}” 7 — this specifies the ETW provider that we want to capture. In this case, this is the AMSI WPP provider we extracted earlier. 7 indicates the desired trace flags. 7 was selected based on reversing amsi.dll where all the possible trace flags supported were 1, 2, and 4. 7 is the result of ORing those values together. If you wanted to always capture everything though, you could just supply 255 as the value.
-ets — starts the trace session immediately.
-mode 0x8000 — indicates that local sequence numbers should be captured in the trace. 0x8000 refers to EVENT_TRACE_USE_LOCAL_SEQUENCE, one of the logging mode constants. This value was specified due to the fact that TRACE_MESSAGE_SEQUENCE was specified as one of the MessageFlags when TraceMessage is called. EVENT_TRACE_USE_GLOBAL_SEQUENCE (0x4000) would be an acceptable value as well.
-rt — captures a real-time trace — i.e. one that is not backed by an ETL file. Instead of saving to an ETL file in this example, tracerpt.exe will be used to dump trace data directly to properly formatted EVTX file.
Here is the equivalent PowerShell code to launch an identical trace:
New-EtwTraceSession -Name AMSITrace -LogFileMode 0x8100
Add-EtwTraceProvider -SessionName AMSITrace -Guid ‘{75697175–75e2–4d85–83bc-7278acc12de4}’ -MatchAnyKeyword 0x7
Note the LogFileMode of 0x8100. 0x8000 refers to the same EVENT_TRACE_USE_LOCAL_SEQUENCE as described above. 0x100 refers to EVENT_TRACE_REAL_TIME_MODE. New-EtwTraceSession doesn’t have the equivalent of a “-rt” swtich so you just have to specify the value in this fashion.
So now that the trace is running, we need something to capture trace data. For this, we will use tracerpt.exe.
tracerpt -rt AMSITrace -tmf AMSI.tmf -of EVTX -o ParsedAMSITrace.evtx
So as ETW flushes its event buffers for the AMSITrace tracing session, tracerpt.exe will interpret each event, parse it using the TMF file we crafted (AMSI.tmf), and then write the events to an EVTX file. At this point, this is when you would perform your AMSI-related activities. When you want to terminate the trace, run the following:
logman stop AMSITrace -ets
Upon stopping the trace, any AMSI-related trace data will be parsed nicely in the EVTX file.
A parsed WPP trace EVTX file
When I’m doing quick and dirty traces, I like to use tracefmt.exe from the Windows SDK to dump events to the console in real time. When I do this, I prefer to not wait around for buffers to eventually flush so I will specify a flush timer of 1 second. The following commands will dump our AMSI trace directly to the console:
New-EtwTraceSession -Name AMSITrace -LogFileMode 0x8100 -FlushTimer 1
Add-EtwTraceProvider -SessionName AMSITrace -Guid ‘{75697175–75e2–4d85–83bc-7278acc12de4}’ -MatchAnyKeyword 0x7
tracefmt -rt AMSITrace -tmf tmf\AMSI_filled.tmf -displayonly
Of course when you’re done with your trace, remember to stop it:
logman stop AMSITrace -ets or Remove-EtwTraceSession -Name ‘AMSITrace’
The following is the result of a sample trace:
As can be seen, these traces can be revealing. For example, we get some insight into UAC scanning being performed upon being prompted with a UAC dialog. Also, as in-memory content is scanned, you can see the internal functions called in addition to some pointers being revealed. The leaking of the amsiContext pointer (a global variable in PowerShell) is sufficient information alone to subvert AMSI since an attacker can corrupt the structure, placing AMSI into a fail open state.
WPP Tracing Conclusion
This only demonstrated a methodology for performing black-box WPP tracing of user mode code. The methodology for kernel drivers is very similar but different APIs and offsets will be present. For some background on kernel WPP methodology, I encourage you to read this post about an information disclosure issue in an HP keyboard driver.
Despite the technical depth of the WPP tracing methodology covered here, we have only scratched the surface. How you choose to wield these skills is now up to you. You may be surprised to find discover how many Windows binaries support WPP. As will be the case with most binaries though, unfortunately, TMF metadata is not included in the majority of PDBs so you will need to become comfortable applying this methodology. Once you become more comfortable applying this methodology though, depending on you goal, you may be able to answer the following questions:
As a defender, for a given binary I’m interested in, could there be relevant defensive telemetry that I might be able to capture as a means of supplementing/enriching other data sources? Please bear in mind though that any reliance upon WPP for defensive telemetry purposes is subject to change at any point. At some point, perhaps a module will cease to support WPP or events could be added or removed (also altering event IDs as a result). In other words, use this in production at your own risk. As a vulnerability researcher, are there any binaries that support WPP tracing that might leak valuable pointers or some other form of sensitive information? For example, there will almost always be a WPP_SF_* function that logs pointers. Are any of those leaking pointers that might serve as a primitive for further exploitation? WPP tracing can also offer insight into protected processes. As a malware analyst, is there an opportunity to trace API calls without needing to attach a debugger, thus subverting malware attempts to break analysis/sandbox environments? As an attacker, are there any WPP sources that might leak valuable information (e.g. credential material)? For example, a natural research target would be kerberos.dll and msv1_0.dll (used for performing NTLM auth), both of which support WPP tracing.
WPP Tracing References
The following resources were invaluable to me while researching this topic: | https://posts.specterops.io/data-source-analysis-and-dynamic-windows-re-using-wpp-and-tracelogging-e465f8b653f7 | ['Matt Graeber'] | 2019-02-22 13:59:44.775000+00:00 | ['Windows', 'Security', 'Etw', 'Debugging', 'Software Tracing'] |
Configuring Apache Virtual Hosts on OSX Yosemite | Having recently made the switch to OSX, I had some difficulties accessing my projects (which I created using my Windows PC). My dev workspace is on my Dropbox, so having them on the Mac was no problem. I’d tried to setup Apache (which came installed with OSX Yosemite) but came unstuck so I ditched the process.
Then I stumbled on this post that showed me how to configure Virtual Hosts using XAMPP on OSX. Long story short, it saved my life! Literally. And so I don’t forget how to do this, and also for others out there, making the transition (however temporal) from Windows to OSX, I’ve reblogged about 95% of the post
Enable VirtualHosts
The first thing you’ll need to do is open the file `/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/etc/httpd.conf` in your favourite text editor. Look for the following lines:
# Virtual hosts
#Include /Applications/XAMPP/etc/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf
Un-comment the second line by removing the hash ( # ), so that Apache loads your custom VirtualHosts configuration file:
# Virtual hosts
Include /Applications/XAMPP/etc/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf
Create your VirtualHosts
Open the file /Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/etc/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf . Towards the bottom of the file you will see some example VirtualHosts, which you should comment out or delete.
At the bottom of the file, add ‘localhost’ as the default named VirtualHost:
# localhost ServerName localhost
DocumentRoot "/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs"
<Directory "/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs">
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes execCGI
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
This step is necessary to ensure that http://localhost still points at XAMPP’s htdocs directory once we’ve created our custom VirtualHosts. Personally I don’t use the htdocs directory a lot, but occasionally it’s useful to have somewhere to perform quick tests.
Now you are ready to create your own VirtualHosts. After the default localhost that you just created, add:
# My custom host
ServerName mysite.local
DocumentRoot "/Users/yourusername/path/to/your/site"
<Directory "/Users/yourusername/path/to/your/site">
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes ExecCGI
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
ErrorLog "logs/mysite.local-error_log"
In the above example you should replace “mysite.local” with your own hostname. This can be anything you wish, but make sure you choose a hostname that won’t conflict with a real domain name. Using a .local extension makes it obvious that the site is hosted locally rather than on a public web server.
The path to your website can point at any folder in your OS X user directory. I store most of my sites inside of Dropbox so that I can access them on both my home and work machines. If your path includes spaces, make sure you enclose it in quotes, like in my example.
Edit your hosts file
Once you’ve saved your `httpd.conf` and `httpd-vhosts.conf` files, the next step is to edit your OS X hosts file so it knows how to handle your new ServerName. The hosts file is used by OS X to map hostnames to IP addresses. In this case we want to map your new ServerName to the IP address 127.0.0.1, which is your localhost.
Fire up a Terminal instance, and at the prompt type the following command:
`sudo nano /etc/hosts`
Enter your OS X password when prompted, and the hosts file will be opened in the nano text editor. You’ll see that the hosts file already contains some default hostname mappings (e.g. “127.0.0.1 localhost”). Use your keyboard’s arrow keys to navigate to the bottom of the file and add your own mapping:
# XAMPP VirtualHost mappings
127.0.0.1 mysite.local
Save the host file using the key combo control+o, and pressing return when prompted to choose the filename. Close the file using control+x.
Restart Apache
So that your changes take effect, restart Apache. This can be done using XAMPP Control, which is found at `/Applications/XAMPP/XAMPP Control.app` .
Point your browser at http://mysite.local (or whatever ServerName you chose) and you should see your website. However, there’s a chance that instead you’ll be faced with a…
403 error
Because Apache runs as the ‘nobody’ user by default, it may not have adequate permission to browse your OS X user directory or some of its subdirectories, in which case you’ll see a 403 ‘access forbidden’ error when you try and view your development site. Similarly, you may find that although you can view your dev site, PHP throws errors when you attempt to write files or make directories on the filesystem.
To fix this you can configure Apache to run as your OS X user. Open `/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/etc/httpd.conf` and look for the following lines:
# User/Group: The name (or #number) of the user/group to run httpd as.
# It is usually good practice to create a dedicated user and group for
# running httpd, as with most system services.
#
User daemon
Group daemon
Change User to your OS X username, and save the file:
User yourusername
Restart Apache and you should now be able to navigate your site without any issues, including manipulating files and folders using PHP.
If you have problems viewing the XAMPP splash pages at http://localhost now that Apache is running as your user (e.g. nothing happens when you try to set the language), then you’ll need to give your user read/write privileges on the file `/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs/xampp/lang.tmp`.
Making the change I’ve described above carries certain security risks, and if you choose to run Apache as your OS X user then you’ll need to be quite certain that XAMPP is not accessible from outside your local network. From what I understand, XAMPP’s built in security features ensure that this is the case out-of-the-box, and it is straightforward to beef up security for additional piece of mind.
If you’re not convinced that it’s safe to let Apache run as your OS X user, another option is to change the permissions of your dev directories so that the ‘nobody’ or ‘_www’ user can read/write to them. I suspect that I would quickly tire of setting folder permissions, which is why I have opted to take the path of least resistance! | https://medium.com/dapo-s-diary/configuring-apache-virtual-hosts-on-osx-yosemite-c7a2bb5c2168 | ['Voice Of Reason'] | 2017-04-12 01:54:05.257000+00:00 | ['OSX', 'Virtual Hosts', 'How To', 'Apache', 'Blog'] |
The Ex-Guest | Jenny Jedeikin’s work has appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, Rolling Stone, The Advocate, The UK's Oh Comely; read more at jennyjedeikin.com.
Follow | https://medium.com/spiralbound/the-ex-guest-a3189266fe11 | ['Jenny Jedeikin'] | 2018-09-17 13:01:02.413000+00:00 | ['Jenny Jedeikin', 'Comics', 'Divorce', 'Family', 'Relationships'] |
How to Outsmart a Plague | The Skeptics — “You’re not going to get sick and nobody you know is going to get sick.”
Trump is one of many downplaying the size of the outbreak based on current infection number.
People are pointing to the still-quite-low total numbers of cases of infection as a reason to write off the virus as non-newsworthy.
However, what they’re failing to account for is COVID-19’s high level of contagion, difficulty to detect, inability to test effectively, and lack of a vaccine. All of these factors increase the overall danger of this pandemic, especially now that it is being reported in most of the world’s countries.
And, counterintuitively, the fact that it doesn’t have the nightmare-inducing mortality rate of other diseases of recent memory actually means it is more effective at spreading to massive numbers of people. If it doesn’t kill you or confine you to your bed, you’re out in the world and much more able to share the bug with your fellow citizens.
Notice that coronavirus has already jumped to the second most lethal on this list overall, and the outbreak is only just beginning. (source)
What’s more, in comparing coronavirus to the common seasonal flu, which itself kills tens of thousands of Americans each year, coronavirus is estimated to be 1.5–2.3 times more infectious and 10–50 times more lethal. Please take a moment to let that sink in.
As of March 11. 2020, these are the countries reporting cases of coronavirus. (source — CDC website)
This thing is just getting started, and the window to stop the spread is narrowing very rapidly, if it is even still open at all.
Harvard epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch thinks there’s no way to stop this thing from spreading far more significantly, and he predicts that, without strong countermeasures, “between [20–60%] of the world’s adult population could end up infected with coronavirus.” That’s a number in the billions. Even with a lower-end mortality rate estimate of 1%, that means tens of millions of deaths, at minimum. If this thing isn’t slowed down, and if just about everyone gets this bug, you will almost certainly know people who will die.
Essentially, left unchecked, we could see the number of cases multiply by a factor of 10 every two weeks. That adds up to a very large number very quickly.
Maybe that seems far-fetched. You might point, as Trump did in the tweet above, to the fact that we’re still at only about .001% infection rate for the global population, and even less in the United States. But one must understand, here, how exponential growth works. This video provides an incredibly helpful visualization of this phenomenon.
One bit of hope comes from the possibility that the coming warmer weather might help slow or delay the outbreak, but even that is highly uncertain. It all comes down to the growth rate, as in how quickly and unrestrictedly the virus is allowed to spread.
We’re in a situation of when, not if, this deadly disease spreads, and to what extent. At this point, many more people will die regardless of what we do, but the video above should hopefully make it crystal clear just how incredibly important efforts to contain and slow the virus are. | https://medium.com/basic-income/how-to-outsmart-a-plague-8c55c442eae4 | ['Conrad Shaw'] | 2020-03-21 15:25:42.289000+00:00 | ['Economics', 'Disease', 'Health', 'Basic Income', 'Coronavirus'] |
Google Hash Code — When failure teaches you much more than winning does | To be quite honest with you, this losing experience has taught me much more than last year’s winning experience could’ve ever taught me. This isn’t to say that last year’s winning wasn’t fruitful, in fact it was quite the contrary. However, when things go great, and the end result is a win, we often tend to overlook the mistakes committed, and overestimate our performance. For instance, last year we were super efficient in terms of time and resource management, but given our win, we kind of took it for granted and never questioned if it happened because we enforced it, or just by chance or instinctively?
In contrast, this year has been a disastrous attempt, and all the weak points suddenly shined brighter than ever in front of me! I even questioned the correct stuff we did and made sure I understood why they happened and how to reproduce them. So, without further ado, here are the most valuable lessons I’ve learned from this failure:
As the Competition is only limited to 4 hours, teamwork is vital.
This is one area where we nailed it. Teamwork, as you might have guessed, is absolutely vital in such a competition. In fact, I’d go to say that, in my opinion, one of the most important indicators in either winning or losing this competition is the team members’ level of agreeableness and degree of accepting others’ point of views.
As mentioned above, our team was luckily formed of people with such constructive attitudes. That being said, this kind of paradoxically back-fired and I’ll explain why in the next points.
The phenomenal importance of leadership in a team.
Leadership. Leadership is what we were missing in this land of agreeableness overflow. I can’t stress enough the importance of having a team leader. A clear, decisive, authoritarian and respectful voice is what it takes to actually benefit from this agreeableness and openness in the team. Otherwise, you’ll just end up with a fragmented team, with each member throwing his/her idea, having everyone consider everyone’s approach and no one actually making the call on which approach to double down and focus on.
This feat was easier to achieve, rather instinctively, in last year’s competition as we were working together physically. We all knew what everyone was doing and it was easy to notice time pass by with us just staring at each other and not taking action. So, we would directly call for a mini-meeting on our beloved whiteboard, share ideas and augment them quickly, take decisions and take consequent actions. Thus, it was rather easy to share this leadership responsibility.
My team and I (on the left) making sure that we all have the same understanding of the problem at the start of the competition. Also, we had a TON of candies on the other side of the table, and that’s a secret tip to maintain your energy for 4 hours!
Accomplishing this feat this year, without previous preparation, was very challenging. Our team was physically-fragmented and audio communication is all we had. We would discuss idea, after idea, after idea, and never notice time passing by. Being physically distant, and each having a different approach in mind, it was exceptionally hard for someone to take the lead and responsibility of forcing shorter discussions and generating faster actions.
Looking back at it, taking the responsibility of leading the team to a suboptimal solution, beats the hell out of not taking any action at all.
Do not waste resources on solutions that are taking too much time with poor prospects.
There are sometimes where an idea just hits you, an idea that would definitely boost your score if it works, and it just “feels” rapid and easy to implement. But in some of these cases, especially in competitions such as Google Hash Code, such ideas tend to just reveal their complexity over time. So, you get stuck in this rabbit hole, where you’ve already invested so much time into this idea, you feel that it just needs a bit more, and eventually it just devours a ton of precious time from you and your team. Don’t let that happen! Set a hard limit to the implementation of an idea, if in 10–15 minutes the thing is still not figured out just scrape it and move on.
I know it can be hard to let go of ideas, especially when you’ve only had a handful of minutes to try and implement them, but keep in mind that the whole competition is 4 hours, and there’s absolutely no time to waste!
When applicable, solve conflicting ideas by relying on actual data.
Accepting others’ point of views, especially when they might contradict ours, is an essential skill to have both in this competition and in life. In most cases, a team leader should step in and decide which approach trumps the other and move forward with it. In some cases however, especially in the later stages in the competition, ideas will further and further diverge and it’ll be hard to make a call on the better one. If you’ve had a great start, you might have a small leeway to try both ideas, so why not do it! Let each member having a different idea implement his own idea (of course with a time limit) and later on let actual resulting data decide on which approach was indeed better in this scenario.
In fact, we applied this technique in last year’s competition and we ended up merging the 2 tested ideas together to come up with our best solution that won us the 1st place in Lebanon! | https://medium.com/@josephassaker/google-hash-code-when-failure-teaches-you-much-more-than-winning-does-441963150652 | ['Joseph Assaker'] | 2021-05-10 15:51:40.588000+00:00 | ['Lessons Learned', 'Hashcode', 'Learning', 'Failure', 'Competition'] |
Blockstream Markets Weekly — Sep 3, 2021 | Blockstream Markets Weekly — Sep 3, 2021
Miners record $1.4B in monthly revenue, BMN breaks 1 BTC, Twitter working on BTC support, El Salvador approves $150M BTC fund, Skybridge capital expects $100K by year-end, Paul Tudor Jones rumored to be preparing new BTC fund, and volatility drops as BTC tests $50K Blockstream Follow Sep 3 · 7 min read
By Jesse Knutson
What’s happening in the markets?
Meme mania
Bitcoin recovered off of last week’s monthly options expiry lows to end the week just shy of $50,000 and up for the seventh time in the past ten weeks.
The dollar dropped to a one-month low, supporting gains in gold and Bitcoin. Global equities continued to grind higher with US tech stonks refreshing all-time highs as jobless claims dropped to a pandemic era low.
Retail remained active in both traditional and crypto markets with meme stonks continuing to churn and Non-BTC digital assets gaining to within 5% of the May high.
Hash crash
Newsflow was a bit slower this week but remained positive.
Bitcoin mining was again in focus with miners continuing to post strong results in the wake of June’s China-driven hashrate crash. As a whole, the BTC mining industry saw $1.4B in August revenue. August was the second-best month on record for miners with strong results from the Blockstream Mining Note, as well as listed miners Hut 8 and Marathon. HUT gained +30% this week while MARA was up +15%.
The Lightning Network was another big focus this week following reports that Twitter is planning to roll out Bitcoin tips and El Salvador’s approval of a $150M Bitcoin fund part of which will be used to distribute $30 in Bitcoin to wallet users.
Monkey jpegs
Non-BTC digital assets enjoyed another big leg up this week, expanding outperformance vs Bitcoin to a four-month high. I think this is probably reflective of a big change in market participants.
Over the past 12 months, there’s been an incredible amount of institutional and even sovereign interest in the space. The bulk of that interest has been focused on Bitcoin.
Given the massive change in market participants this year, I think it makes sense to see some price divergence between Bitcoin and more speculative digital assets from time to time.
The macro backdrop is still extremely supportive of the Bitcoin investment thesis, though, and I think you can see some pent-up demand in how Bitcoin-themed stonks like Hut 8, Marathon, and MicroStrategy have outperformed Bitcoin year-to-date. I think this probably implies a strong appetite for Bitcoin exposure by mainstream institutional investors restricted by mandate and regulatory limitations.
Mean reversion
After recovering from the end of week selling around August’s month-end options expiry, price continues to look constructive.
$50,000 is a major line of resistance given the volume that accumulated there in the first half of the year. Once convincingly above $50,000, though, I think new all-time highs are probably just a matter of time.
Looking at the outperformance in non-BTC digital assets, I think we’re getting close to a point where we should start to see some mean reversion kick in. Non-BTC digital assets are outperforming Bitcoin by about three standard deviations vs the 50-day moving average. This might mean a rotation back into Bitcoin.
At the same time, fund flows continue to move tentatively in the right direction, and price action in listed Bitcoin proxies like Hut 8 and Marathon points to growing institutional interest.
Volatility has also really thinned out over the previous two weeks. Volatility (as measured by Bollinger Band Width) has fallen to the extreme bottom end of the year-to-date range. Typically a sharp decrease in volatility foreshadows an incoming price move. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a bit more oscillation around $50,000, but think odds are probably in favor of break higher later in the coming week.
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Bitcoin markets news
It took only 56 days of mining for each Blockstream Mining Note to produce 1 BTC
Each BMN was originally sold for €200,000 (~ US$240,000) and is backed by 2,000 TH of mining power
As a whole, the BTC mining industry saw $1.4B in revenue in August. The second-best month on record
It’s about time!
Will be an expansion of Twitter’s Tip Jar, which allows creators on Twitter to easily receive money from their followers
Tip Jar currently supports a number of payment services including Bandcamp, Patreon, PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App
The new lightning service will reportedly be Strike enabled and also support Square’s upcoming hardware wallet
No detail on this at all, just a tweet
Jones has done a lot to drive institutional interest in Bitcoin over the past 12 months after an investor letter in May 2020 that highlighted Bitcoin as a fast-moving inflation hedge
Jones personally has been an active investor in crypto infrastructure, participating in FTX’s $900 million round that valued the exchange at $18 billion
El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly has passed legislation creating a $150-million Bitcoin Trust and supporting the development of crypto infrastructure and services across the country
The bill passed on Tuesday with strong support, 64 voted in favor and 14 opposed
~ $23.3M has been allocated toward rolling out crypto ATMs and $30 million to incentivize the use of the state-backed “Chivo” wallet
Hut 8, Marathon Digital report strong mining results
Hut 8 reported mining 326 BTC in August
Marathon reported producing 469.6 BTC in August
I’ve included a chart below that shows recent outperformance by listed Bitcoin proxies. I think this probably implies a strong appetite for Bitcoin exposure by mainstream institutional investors restricted by mandate and regulatory limitations
Anthony Scaramucci, CEO and founder of SkyBridge Capital, thinks Bitcoin (BTC) can reach $100,000 before the end of the year
“The bottom line is you have the limited and fixed supply of Bitcoin and you have every month exponentially more demand…As long as I see that, I see those prices rising. So, we’re going to stick with the $100,000 price target”
Scaramucci said that SkyBridge now has between $650 to $700M in Bitcoin across the firm’s product portfolio
Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, said that its US arm could have an initial public offering in the next three years
Binance.US is also set to close on a large private fundraising round in the next two months that should reduce his control of the board
Binance generated $800 million to $1 billion in profit last year, according to Zhao, the report added (Coinbase made ~ $300M last year)
Draper famously acquired 29,656 coins at $632 from a US Marshalls auction in 2014
Draper first made his $250,000 price target in 2018
While hardly an official target price, Fidelity did show a stock-to-flow chart in a recent Bitcoin webinar that plotted Bitcoin on a trajectory that could take it as high as $100M
Charts
Fidelity hints at $100,000,000 Bitcoin price
The chart below is reportedly from a Fidelity Bitcoin webinar
Jurrien Timmer, Director of Global Macro Fidelity, hosted the event
It’s just a standard stock-to-flow chart, but interesting to see Fidelity marketing presenting a chart that would have got you laughed out of the room a few years ago
Chart credit: Investing.com
Volatility is signaling an incoming price move | https://medium.com/blockstream-markets-weekly/blockstream-markets-weekly-sep-3-2021-ac0d2f41c665 | [] | 2021-09-03 12:07:11.656000+00:00 | ['Trading', 'Bitcoin', 'Bitcoin News', 'Cryptocurrency Investment', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
The Moral Imaginations Journey | The Moral Imaginations Journey
Perception determines our map of the world
If you’ve read the story Flatland, you’ll know about the idea that we are limited to perceiving the world with the senses we have available to us. The 1884 novel tells the story of a square existing in a two-dimensional world, alongside other two-dimensional objects. When the square encounters a three-dimensional sphere in its world of two dimensions, all it can see is an expanding and retracting circle as the sphere moves, up and down through Flatland.
We know other organisms can perceive things we cannot; bees perceive UV light, platypuses perceive magnetic fields. The world exists in far more complexity than what we can ourselves observe. The brain and our sensory organs have evolved to perceive a slice of reality which allows us to navigate the world without getting completely overwhelmed.
Photographs taken by Craig Burrows under UV light
“The Great Flattening” and what is lost
Economics and science have brought us so much; our telescopes see distant parts of the Universe, our microscopes bring us close to vistas of the inner workings of our own cells. Economic systems have allowed cooperation on a global scale, and boosted much creativity, increased the quality of life for many, and enabled construction of new realities.
However these systems have also led to what we could call The Great Flattening. We see ourselves as separate from the complex, thriving, thrumming system of the world. Our systems of measuring value, while so useful, have changed the way we perceive the world irrevocably.
Furthermore, we have stopped perceiving the full spectrum of who we are, what a good human life is made up of, and the magic and possibility of a human life and the world that surrounds us. Most people are living a life that is a shadow, or a small segment of the life they could be. By that we don’t mean they could be living more in terms of material wealth. We are talking about the kind of life many of us imagined when we were younger — one that is rich with meaning and builds itself around what is important, or even sacred.
To grow up and thrive within the world, we numb ourselves to the perception to what is wrong. We tell ourselves that the world — as it is — is normal and that we need to grow up and that the world and lives we yearn for are impossible and implausible — that we are just naive.
“The Great Unflattening” to re-embody a full sense of being
If we have been living through The Great Flattening, then what we need is A Great Unflattening. We can keep the things that have proven so useful, and necessary for this next stage of our civilisation — there is no need to throw what is useful away. But the important task for the 21st Century is to re-inhabit a full body of feeling, the capacities of intuition, imagination, warmth, creativity and a sense of what is important to us — perhaps even sacred.
The core values of being a human
What is at the core of the human experience? Societies built on religion have known this intimately: values, morals, meaning and virtue. They have been left out of the great project of our modern civilisation, along with spaces for cultivating imagination, uninterrupted play and enchantment. The entertainment industry provides us with non-stop 24 hour digitally administered entertainment — but not enchantment.
The thing that many of us start our lives as cherishing most deeply — the natural world — we pollute and destroy. Instead of building a civilisation around these things that are sacred to us, they are left as an add-on.
Yet the people that make it to be wealthy end up seeking to live their lives in in the most beautiful and pristine natural parts of the planet, living lives that are full of play and imagination, and seek meaning through philanthropy — giving back, and doing what is moral and virtuous.
Re-inhabiting moral imagination
In the Western tradition, morality is seen simply as a system of universal laws dictated by reason. We make ethical decisions by applying universal laws to concrete situations. But as with a lot of areas, cognitive science is beginning to undermine the view that our sense making and meaning making happens by rational thought and deduction alone.
We have intractable problems and as a species we have driven ourselves and the majority of the other species on this planet into dead ends. What if the new way of making sense of our world and deciding what is right requires more than rational reasoning and thought, but imagination?
The moral imagination as a concept has been alive since the time of Plato, Virgil and Dante. Over the centuries it has been periodically re-expressed, for example by Edmund Burke in 1790, and then others in more recent years. We became interested in how to develop a practice and community to bring it alive in a way that is relevant for this current moment and generation.
A new rigour of feeling
Spaces for radical creativity are few and far between. Imagination is largely reserved for those who are paid to imagine for us — film-makers, entrepreneurs and fiction writers. The school system largely squeezes out the creativity of children by the age of 18.
We have intractable problems and as a species we have driven ourselves and the majority of the other species on this planet into dead ends. But the kind of thinking required on a massive scale to get out of them isn’t accessible to the majority of people. We’re asking for boldness, collaboration, courage, creativity and imagination, but we don’t acknowledge that those are not things that can suddenly occur — they take space, cultivation and practice — and communities that can tend to those things.
They are also not cognitive capacities only — we need a new rigour, and that is a rigour of feeling, to change systems and culture we must feel differently, and not just change the map of where we want to go. I am convinced that to shift the future we need to feel into it differently — if the ways of thinking we are familiar with are leading us to dead ends, perhaps the only way to circumvent them is to go via a different route.
If we wanted a space to play with these new modalities of feeling and imagining, what would that look like?
Launching in a pandemic
Last year in April 2020, a month into the COVID-19 pandemic, we invited people into an imaginal play space, which purposefully blurred the boundaries between the real and the surreal and invited them to practice the art of a liminal form of imagination, which involved exiting the matrix of linear, reductionist and categorised thinking and inhabiting a deeply playful and perception shifting space.
Over 6 weeks, we hosted over 160 people through a collective imagining process that shared a unique methodology we had been developing over the course of the year before. It takes a rigorous approach to imagining and shifts perceptions of time, space and self to allow creative explorations of a better world for people, all life-forms and planet. It’s informed by complexity theory, systems thinking, deep ecology and mythology, and can be experienced as a group or accessed alone.
Since then there have been more labs exploring the imagination and taking a total of just over 400 people through the collective imagination practices. The Moral Imaginations Labs use multi-media experiential journeys, sound, live artwork, group work and embodied imagination practices to create a shared, immersive experience.
The Impossible Train Story
The invitation was through a story and metaphor — of an Impossible Train — a train that has never stopped, and cannot stop. One day a fire breaks out in one of the carriages, and the unthinkable happens — the train that nobody thought could stop, pulls the breaks and stops.
People get off the train and can hear birdsong and smell trees for the first time — and discover a world outside of the train. When they look ahead of the train tracks, they see a canyon and the tracks lead to a cliff edge. The train was hurtling towards its own destruction, but the people can only see that now.
Still image from The Impossible Train Story — by resident artist Reilly Dow
RIGOROUS IMAGINING FOR MORAL FUTURES
Moral Imaginations is a humble community, a kernel of something bigger, a core set of practices, and a commitment to living in and enacting a world from a place of moral imagination. It is about de-numbing our perceptions and senses to perceive what was always already there, but we do not usually include in our understanding of value, perspective or virtue.
Moral Imaginations is about using the power of the imagination towards what is moral. It involves embodying and exploring the unseen, the unfelt, and the adjacent possible and bringing an embodied imagination to new possibilities. It is about using imagination in a completely different way.
Imagining new possibilities comes from first throwing off the solely rational, linear and reductionist categorisation and conceptions of what we are used to recognising as ‘valuable’. The space beyond default perception, beyond our understanding of time, beyond the rational rules of who can speak on behalf of what — we call this the “liminal space”, and the muscle we grow in Moral Imaginations is the muscle to inhabit, navigate, and create from, that liminal space.
The core of the work of Moral Imaginations is about coming together to develop the embodied practice, deepened empathy and playful creativity to foster a human sensibility of who we are and what we are here to do. The work centres on ‘three pillars’ — which serve as portals to accessing our moral imaginations. These are:
The perspective of future, unborn generations
The perspective of the more-than-human world
The perspective of deep, evolutionary time, and ancestors
It is a practice and set of living methodologies that can be used to cultivate a renewed moral imagination. It is a community of people who are committed to working with moral imagination to develop a new human sensibility, access new vistas, new ways of being, new ways of seeing, and who create new portals to adjacent possibilities.
Embodied imagination and expanded empathy lead to new internal territories and perception, which open doors to different decision making, direction and action towards more moral futures.
Moral Imaginations is a practice.
Moral Imaginations is a lucid dreaming practice into a better future. The world we are working to manifest into reality doesn’t exist yet. We must inhabit that space with our imagination, feel it, dream it, and then bring it down to ground it in reality.
The practice is to be able to find our way into these other-worlds, and practice perception through new eyes that we wouldn’t normally have access to. Just like in a lucid dream, there are methodologies that allow you to trigger your entry into a lucid dreaming state. Just like in a lucid dream, maintaining that state takes rigour, focus and practice, and doesn’t always work. Unlike a lucid dream, we go into that space together.
Moral Imaginations is a portal.
It is an emergent space, a space where the end goal is possibility. We entertain that if our current perception and ways of thinking about the world are fundamentally dead-end, and create realities we do not want, we need to find ways to throw off the psychic machinery that keeps us in a dead reality. The portal is into new vistas within ourselves, and into a community that supports further development.
Moral Imaginations is vital.
Moral Imaginations is an invitation to speak up on behalf of all Life. It’s a moral responsibility that we do so in a time when the future of our planet and species is endangered. It is a vital practice that allows us to connect with the more than human world, our own ecologies, lineages, identity, and expanded ecological identity, to shift perception, and from that action, on behalf of all Life.
Moral Imaginations is felt.
We have to feel the future into being, it is not something that can only be thought. Moral Imaginations invites full-body intelligence, embodied perception and heart and gut-based knowing to join the powers of the intellect to imagine better futures. We believe that your microbiomes must be welcome too, and all of the other organisms, nerves and neurons in your body must be invited into full-scale Moral Imaginations.
Moral Imaginations is a growing community and practice of rigorous imagining for moral futures.
We invite in the weird, wyrd, strange and liminal. What comes out of these sessions is beyond what we can rationally understand and capture and quantify. We create shared portals into new dimensions of being. These portals belong to everyone. Join us.
Visit our website: www.moralimaginations.com
Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/moralimaginations
Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/moral_imagining
Tweet us with the hashtag #MoralImaginations
If you think this article is important, please make an effort to share it with your networks or invite people to join our newsletter. | https://medium.com/moral-imaginations/a-manifesto-for-moral-imagination-dbf62f0cb7aa | ['Phoebe Tickell'] | 2021-05-23 18:42:01.917000+00:00 | ['Culture', 'Social Change', 'Narratives', 'Imagination', 'Long Term Thinking'] |
“Snapshot Token” Airdrop Guideline per BCDC Token Holders | Greetings to the BASIC community! With “Accelerate the world’s transition to digital money” as our mission statement, Basic.Finance has been busy this quarter to bring more value to our clients and BASIC holders.
BASIC is aiming and making all the needed efforts in order to guarantee a successful launch of its DeFi platform BCDC.Finance, and therefore we have previously announced an airdrop of the “secret token” bag to the holders of Harvested BCDC Tokens in accordance with their holding amount.
BCDC Snapshot Guideline
Snapshot Date: At 9:00 AM (KST) on 23rd of December, 2020 (Wed)
At 9:00 AM (KST) on 23rd of December, 2020 (Wed) Pre-Snapshot Requirements: Every participant should fully finalize the harvest before 9 AM on Wednesday, the 23rd (Wednesday) before the start of the Snapshot event. Harvest-related numbers will be transparently disclosed in the Etherscan, and the Prize holders will be tracked through the snapshot by the BASIC Foundation.
Every participant should fully finalize the harvest before 9 AM on Wednesday, the 23rd (Wednesday) before the start of the Snapshot event. Harvest-related numbers will be transparently disclosed in the Etherscan, and the Prize holders will be tracked through the snapshot by the BASIC Foundation. Harvest Method: Watch the Video Reference (https://youtu.be/6rD95JKqbMM)
Secret Token Airdrop Details
The Secret Token(s) may include but not limited to BASIC partner companies’ tokens and the tokens from its investment portfolios. In fact, the partner project tokens will be selected exclusively from the ones, that consistently contribute to the expansion of the digital asset financial ecosystem. The secret token to be AirDroped will be Zodiac Token (ZODI), which was already introduced in the previous announcement. However, there was a wide range of partners, that were not publicly announced, which couldn’t participate in this AirDrop (we are planning to conduct other airdrops in a bit different manner together with those partners, that couldn’t participate this time).
Airdrop Token: Zodiac Token (ZODI)
Smart Contract: 0xa0965fb78d355b8695149af688466f55c40e684d
Decimals: 18
Price: 8 KRW / 1 ZODI
Payment Ratio: 1 BCDC: 100 ZODI
Snapshot Target: Snapshot Points, 1 BCDC (BCDC)* and all the people, who hold more than that amount.
Payment date: All the payments will be settled On Christmas Eve, December 24, 2020 (Wed) by 9:00 AM KST.
BASIC Single Pool Bonus Round Finished
The BASIC Single Pool (profitability per block x2 mining), which was conducted for those who held BASIC Tokens, has been completed!
• Bonus Round Closure: 11,498,000 Blocks Closed
• Bonus Round Closure Time: Dec-21–2020, 04:58:13 PM +UTC | https://medium.com/thebasic/snapshot-token-airdrop-guideline-per-bcdc-token-holders-adbda86676c8 | [] | 2020-12-22 08:10:43.833000+00:00 | ['Partnerships', 'News', 'About Basic', 'Projects', 'Basic Finance'] |
Four Old Guys Go To The Center Of The Earth | Wally: Have you ever invented anything?
Jack: I invented the Jackburger.
Vern: Putting vanilla ice cream and strawberries on a hamburger bun is not an invention.
Floyd: Vern is right. It is a culinary creation. Like my Floydritto.
Wally: SPAM and ketchup wrapped in a tortilla is nasty, Floyd.
Jack: My Dad made me eat SPAM when I was a kid.
Vern: My Dad made me mow the lawn. All 5 acres. With a push mower.
Floyd: My Dad made me mow our lawn, plus our five neighbor’s yards, while eating a Floydritto.
Wally: Well, I actually invented something when I was a kid. The Reverse Pogo Stick.
Jack: Right. And I invented electric-powered solar panels.
Vern: I invented air.
Floyd: No, you invented gas. Super stinky gas.
Wally: Seriously. The Reverse Pogo Stick bounced down instead of up. And it dug a hole as it bounced.
Jack: Your story is digging a hole.
Vern: I fell in a huge hole once on the way to school. It was covered with leaves. And there was dog poop at the bottom.
Floyd: I know. Who do you think dug it? I was watching from up in the big oak tree. I still smile whenever I think about it.
Wally: Anyway, the first time I used my reverse pogo stick, I started digging deep down into the Earth. As I reached the lower levels of the Earth’s interior, I discovered glowing mushrooms. I knew then that my device would appeal to both scientist and explorers.
Jack: I think I saw this movie. The one with Pat Boone.
Vern: Did you ever hear that Pat Boone heavy metal album?
Floyd: Yeah. I play it whenever I need my cats to throw up.
Wally: Where do you think they got the idea for the movie from? Me. Although most scientists believe the Earth’s core is solid iron mixed with nickel.
Jack: Did you find any nickels? Or dimes?
Vern: I found a silver dollar in a hole once.
Floyd: Under the dog poop? It’s mine! Did you reach the center of the Earth, Wal?
Wally: Nope. I heard my Mom call out, “Dinner time.” So I flipped the switch on the pogo stick and bounced back out. After dinner, I went outside, and the pogo stick was gone.
Jack: I’ll bet it was that Billy Quickfingers. He was always stealing stuff.
Vern: Yeah, and then he just disappeared that summer.
Floyd: I wonder if he made it to the center of the Earth?
Wally: I don’t care what scientist think. They are always changing what the scientific facts are. Anyone who has watched movies knows that the center of the Earth is really a subterranean ocean. And there is a good possibility that there may be either dinosaurs or incredibly large chickens roaming around.
Jack: And giant lava-proof clamshells that people can use to ride up the vent of an erupting volcano and return to the surface.
Vern: We should go.
Floyd: I’ll call Pat Boone. | https://medium.com/mark-starlin-writes/four-old-guys-go-to-the-center-of-the-earth-7f59a6c80038 | ['Mark Starlin'] | 2019-08-26 02:16:41.921000+00:00 | ['Movies', 'Science', 'Humor', 'Four Old Guys', 'Adventure'] |
Inspire Writing in Children | Inspire Writing in Children
Tools to make writing fun
Photo by Les Anderson on Unsplash
Notebooks, Diaries, Journals, Colored Pens, Pencils, and Fancy Cardstock were all the things I enjoyed as a tween (an individual that wishes they were a teenager already so they can do all the FUN things). I’m not sure what sparked my initial love for writing, but perhaps it was all the imaginative places that reading many chapter books a day would take me.
Being a child seemed a little simpler back then. There were no fancy smartphones, no waiting for your friends to join the Roblox game, no Minecraft, No Playstation 5, no SnapChat and shall I go on? So we had to make our own fun. From going outside and playing in the dirt, playing dress up, playing school or reading books, we had to know how to entertain ourselves without technology.
However, now that everything is at their fingertips it's difficult to get children to do something of some substance. Writing is a creative outlet for many and if you teach a child all the ways writing can be fun, you may instill something in them that will flourish later.
Create Alternate Book Endings- Once they have finished their favorite or latest book, have them jot down a different ending that would change the story. You can also add different variations like create a funny ending, a sad ending, a cliffhanger or a cool sequel.
Create a Comic Strip- This is always a hit, there are free templates all over the web so I print them and have them create a comic strip of their day or their favorite holiday or any prompt.
Create a Magazine- My favorite, there are also a lot of websites that will help with templates but just using your imagination and Microsoft word or Loose Leaf paper also does the trick.
Bullet Journals- This is a good way to spark creativity and see how their brain works. Are they really organized? Do they tend to use a lot of different colors? Often, creating your own product will get you more excited about writing.
I have used these ideas both at home and in the classroom as an Educator, and these things will turn what children view as a daunting task into something they can be excited about.
Danita Hall is a human by day and a Humor, Parenting, Lifestyle, Ranting, Poem Writing Blogger by night. Click here to read past blog posts and stay connected on Facebook and Twitter | https://medium.com/illumination/inspire-writing-in-children-fe9417250cc9 | ['Danita Hall'] | 2020-12-24 14:33:23.132000+00:00 | ['Children', 'Self Improvement', 'Children Writing', 'Education', 'Writing Tips'] |
Meet Neeraj Sharma Bhardwaj: A Youth Sensation and A Rising Star | File Photo: Neeraj Sharma Bhardwaj
Social Media is one of the few things that change the lives of many, but it is not as easy as you think it is, it takes a lot of efforts, knowledge, expertise and hard work, when you are determined about doing all of this you can achieve anything or everything, today we will find out the story of a young entrepreneur who was determined to achieve something which none of his age guys can, A self-made man who is just 23-year-old have now become an inspiration for many young people in India who want to make a mark for themselves.
The 23-year-old influencer Neeraj Sharma Bhardwaj also known as NSB Pictures from Uttar Kashi, Uttarakhand is an accomplished Social media influencer or digital creator from past several years. He is a very famous youtuber. At a very young age he has already crossed 1 million subscriber on YouTube. He has proved to the world that with interest and the zeal to learn you can achieve great heights. Neeraj Sharma is a well-known name in social media today.
He was born on 31 August 1997 in a small village Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand. His father’s name is Mr. Ravi Shankar Bhardwaj. He completed his 10th standard from Govt. High school Manimajra, Chandigarh and completed his 12th standard from Govt. Senior secondary school sector-8, Chandigarh.
Neeraj has set new benchmarks in the digital creator industry with his mind-blowing work. The champ not only builds his own large successful YouTube channel Name NSB Pictures but also helped many newcomers to have a head start in their life by influencing them to focus on their goals and achieve it. He is so efficient at his job and he considers himself as “ the pro of digital creation”. He has the ability to make amazing and cool content for the new generation, Neeraj can produce productive and high level contents. His contents attract more and more people on regular basis of every generation.
He owns a YouTube channel with 950 thousand subscribers. Whereas his Instagram crossed 600 thousand followers. As he is one of the gen Z so he is highly active on creating the content which focuses on the new generation to attract and inspire them. This YouTube sensation has worked with many celebrities and collaborated with many other influencers.
As this generation is a huge fan of social media. Youngsters are too serious about maintaining their Instagram feed. Just to ease this out a bit Neeraj helps his audience and followers by sharing his tricks on his YouTube channel.
His YouTube videos are all about tutorials. In some of his videos he tells his audience about editing’s and photoshops that how a normal person can edit their photos and videos on android or smart phone on their own. On the other hand in some of his videos he shares all the tips and tricks for posing for your Instagram pictures. His videos are really helpful for all kind of people. Through his videos, editing’s and photoshops can be done in a very low budget without paying any big amount.
File Photo: Neeraj Sharma Bhardwaj
He started all this from a very young age when there were not a much craze of internet on his own without any help and support.
All this is just a teaser from his side, he is coming with some extraordinary projects very soon. | https://medium.com/@brajeshofficial/meet-neeraj-sharma-bhardwaj-a-youth-sensation-and-a-rising-star-e56aa0098001 | ['Brajesh Kumar Singh'] | 2020-12-04 08:13:20.318000+00:00 | ['Social Media', 'Influencers'] |
Plotting maps using R | This article is the first in a series focused on building our own datasets to plot maps in R. Soon, you will find here the links to all the articles.
In this article, we will…
Excerpt from the dataset included in R
Review the structure of the geographical data included in ggplot2.
Plot a map using this data.
R is one of the most popular programming languages in data science and statistics, thanks in part to the huge amount of packages that make our work more convenient.
A very efficient way to represent information about a country or region is by using a map. In this article, we will explore how we can use maps in R, and, in the following articles, how to generate our own for a certain region of interest.
Using ggplot2
ggplot2 is one of the most popular packages in R, used to plot our data easily. This package accepts the different data structures we have in R, such as vectors, data frames, and tibbles as our source of information, and provides us with several primitives that help us create graphs.
# install the package in case we don't have it yet
install.package('ggplot2') # load the package
library('ggplot2') # create a data set
fruits <- c("Apple", "Orange", "Pear")
quantity <- c(10, 20, 15)
data <- data.frame(fruits, quantity) # print the dataset in the console
data # a quite simple graph, bars
# 'aes' is used to select which information goes in each axis
# geom_bar is the primitive to show the information as bars
gg <- ggplot(data, aes(fruit, quantity)) + geom_bar(stat="identity", fill="light green") # show the plot
gg
After running this code we can see in the console the information we stored in data and the plot we just made.
> data
fruits quantity
1 Apple 10
2 Orange 20
3 Pear 15
Our first plot thanks to ggplot2
For more detailed information on using ggplot2, you can check the following links.
Now let’s work with some maps.
Plotting maps
The ggplot2 package includes the function map_data, this allows us to create data frames with the required points to draw a map. Using this function we can get a map of the whole world, or maps of a few selected countries such as the United States, New Zealand, Italy, and France. If we want maps from other countries, we will generate them using the QGIS software as we will see in the next article. By now, let’s work with the Italy map.
library(ggplot2) italy_map <- map_data("italy")
str(italy_map)
head(italy_map)
When we run this piece of code, head will print the first five entries in the data frame.
> head(italy_map)
long lat group order region subregion
1 11.83295 46.50011 1 1 Bolzano-Bozen <NA>
2 11.81089 46.52784 1 2 Bolzano-Bozen <NA>
3 11.73068 46.51890 1 3 Bolzano-Bozen <NA>
4 11.69115 46.52257 1 4 Bolzano-Bozen <NA>
5 11.65041 46.50721 1 5 Bolzano-Bozen <NA>
6 11.63282 46.48045 1 6 Bolzano-Bozen <NA>
The structure of the data frame is the following.
long: Number representing the longitude.
Number representing the longitude. lat: Number representing the latitude.
Number representing the latitude. group: Number used to differentiate each polygon. Each region in our map requires a unique id in this column, for example, each province or state, each island, or each enclave.
Number used to differentiate each polygon. Each region in our map requires a unique id in this column, for example, each province or state, each island, or each enclave. order: Each point that belongs to a polygon has an order number associated with it, this is used to tell R in which order the points must be drawn.
Each point that belongs to a polygon has an order number associated with it, this is used to tell R in which order the points must be drawn. region and subregion: These columns have the name of each territory. Each country has different administrative regions (states, provinces, department, and so on), because of this, we need to know a little bit about the political division of the country we are working with.
Now that we have our data in italy_map and explored its structure, let’s plot our first map.
# we will need an additional dataset for this example, tibble will help us with this
install.package(tibble)
library(tibble) # generating some random data to color the regions of our map, we can ommit this step if we already have a dataset with information we want to plot
# if we use our own dataset, we need to double check that we have columns named 'region' and 'value'
reg_data <- tibble(region=unique(italy_map$region),
value=sample(100, length(region))) # initializing a new plot
gg <- ggplot() # base layer
# 'data=italy_map' and 'map=italy_map' are used to indicate the coordinates (i.e., points) that we want to plot
# 'map_id' allows us to identificate each region later to add more information to the map
gg <- gg + geom_map(data=italy_map, map=italy_map,
aes(long, lat, map_id=region),
color="#b2b2b2", size=0.1, fill=NA) # we will show the random data we prepared beforehand in the map we just created
# 'data=reg_data' is the information we want to add
# 'fill=value' tells ggplot2 which column from 'reg_data' should be used to determine the color
gg <- gg + geom_map(data=reg_data, map=italy_map,
aes(fill=value, map_id=region),
color="#b2b2b2", size=0.1) # our map is almost ready, but right now it is a little bit stretched
# give the map a nice square appearance using 'coords_fixed'
gg <- gg + coord_fixed(ratio = 1) # finally it's time to show our map
# optional: between each of the previous intructions, we can show the map to view our progress
gg
Our first map is ready
In conclusion
As we could see in the previous example, ggplot2 is an excellent tool to create graphs. Unfortunately, it only includes the coordinates from a few countries (the regions from United States, France, Italy and New Zealand, and the countries from the world), because of this we want to generate our own datasets with coordinates to graph any country or any region.
In the following articles, we will learn a little bit about administrative regions and how to use the QGIS software to explore the maps that Natural Earth and GADM provides us, with which we will generate some datasets to graph any map in R. | https://medium.com/@innovationlab/plotting-maps-using-r-a2b6435219f4 | ['Innovation Lab Galileo'] | 2021-06-30 00:49:16.853000+00:00 | ['R', 'GIS', 'Maps'] |
digital clutter -#LetItGo. Apart from dresses and shoes, I don’t… | Apart from dresses and shoes, I don’t like to own much stuff; I prefer to have only things that relate to who I am as a person, and I can easily detach emotionally and get rid of things.
Reading and watching Fight Club was one of my eye-openers here, and I can never forget the very famous quote:
The things you own end up owning you
By no means am I a minimalist; I don’t count my things, nor do I raise the question, if a pair of socks is 1 or 2 items or if a complete drumset is 1 or 21 items. I do not find value in those discussions. But I think it’s worth investigating the impact of things in my life. And when I do so, I realize that apart from the things I have and heavily use, there is also clutter, AKA stuff.
What is stuff?
Stuff is every item that you keep for the sake of having it. Perhaps it served a purpose when you bought it, found it, or when someone gave it to you, but now you don’t have any use for it any more than just owning it. Some examples?
• the ugly mug that was a present from a college friend — you keep it because it reminds you of that friend. Last contact? 14 years ago.
• the nice mug that doesn’t fit all your other mugs, and you stopped drinking coffee — last use of that mug? Well, you first needed to dust it off…
• the books you bought that only serve as a credibility bookcase for your Zoom calls
This list could be a lot longer, but I will leave it by that as I think you got the idea of what I am talking about.
negative impact of hoarding
Technically, we know that clutter isn’t good for us. Clutter, both analog and digital, keeps our space, money, energy, and focus. It draws our attention from the things we want to DO to the things we HAVE. While a bit more space makes up room for new experiences and where we want to grow, a full space makes change and growth impossible as all areas are already occupied. Clutter shifts our drive from acting and growing to having and hoarding. And this represents living in the past or unrealistic mental images of yourself:
• You own a lot of sports gear but don’t exercise with them regularly? Then you just fell in love with the idea of being a sporty person, but you aren’t sporty.
• You have a whole collection of musical instruments but never play them? Then it is more your idea of being a musician that you like to become a reality than it represents who you are.
• Is your bookshelf full of books you never read? Well, still a great scene for your virtual meetings, but other than that: You fill up space in your surroundings to fill the void inside of you.
As clutter takes much space, there is less space for the things you love, which truly represents who you are. Why do we give things that don’t relate to our lives so much room?
Why do we keep everything?
Just in case. In case of what? In case we need it.
Although most of us grew up in the great luck of not having to experience any deficiency or lack of things they desperately needed; still we were raised with some beliefs, like ‘keeping stuff even for unlikely events is a good thing.’ We even have dedicated rooms in our houses for ‘stuff that we don’t regularly use’ like attics and basements. Storage room seems to be a significant advantage, even bigger than having room for yourself. All this represents your past, which you still want to hold in your hands. I am not talking about precious memories like family photos or practical things you need and use a few times a year (like a waffle maker or a drill). I am talking about the stuff we keep because something in us isn’t ready to let it go:
We keep stuff:
• for ourselves (in case I ever fit again into that jeans from 1992) → represents an unrealistic mental image of yourself and shows that you didn’t let go of what’s already past
• for others (these baby clothes will someday be for a kid in my extended family) → projection
• when we can’t admit that we failed in doing something (in case I restart to play chess which I lastly did in 1992 (you know, when that jeans fit))
• to remind ourselves that we didn’t always suck but also achieved some cool things (keeping that trophy of the 3rd place at the Junior District Championships)
• because we fear deficiency
• to impress others (bookshelf/zoom calls)
• to impress ourselves (mostly related to things we would like to do but don’t execute)
And yet again, a Fight Club quote comes to my mind:
We buy things we don’t need with money. We don’t have to impress people we don’t like.
You will probably say: But I don’t care about the stuff in the basement, about the things I keep for others, or about the 691 little things in drawers (your cable box? your lonely socks? your old phones?). Then I need to tell you that
1. you just learned to ignore stuff, but it still impacts you whether you like to admit this or not
2. whatever you ignore will somewhen return and miscue you, so it’s better if you care.
the perverted approach
Our idea is no longer ‘having something to do something with it,’ but ‘having something until it bothers me so much that I need to get rid of it.’ And we do a lot not to get bothered. We buy new shelves, new drawers. And then we buy decorations because the new stand looks so empty. And then we buy another rack, because all the decoration doesn’t fit anymore. And then we move into a bigger house. And we need a bigger basement, because of the stuff we need to outsource, and then we rent a storage room outside of the city… Or we build a carport, so that more stuff fits into the garage after the car moved out of it. Even if you didn’t need to buy new stuff to give other stuff a place to be, you would see that stuff seeks your time and attention. Every item needs a place to belong to (or you will be busy putting it from left to right and from right to left again), and it needs to be cleaned and maintained. Having a thing is always a commitment. Before I buy something, I do not only think if I can afford this, but how much time it will take me to act according to its purpose. Buying a book is easy, but how likely will I spend 10–20 hours in the next three months on reading it?
digital stuff
This brings me to some thoughts about stuff that doesn’t take much physical space but still increases our mental load. Enrolling a new course to learn something? Wow, it’s free. CLICK HERE. Yes, subscribe to the newsletter. How likely is it that I will not only not read this newsletter but also defer unsubscribing from it? How often will this draw my attention while it’s already hard for me to stay focused? How likely will I not just watch the intro of the new course? And how probably will this book, course, podcast end up in that pile of guilt? There are more examples:
• the app you never use
• the accounts that announce their blog posts on Twitter, I do not remember you finding time to read
• your 42 open tabs (but!)
• 16 variations of the same photo
• your email trashbin
• chats with your ex
• abandoned side projects
How do we declutter
This shouldn’t be a full list of where you can find clutter on your phone or computer. But once you are aware of WHY you unhealthily keep stuff, you will more easily recognize where you waste space and focus. Apart from the examples that I already gave you, it could be that
- you still have a lot of Bluetooth devices in the list that you don’t use anymore,
- you follow too many accounts on social media to follow what they post,
- you have contacts in your contact list you don’t even know who that is
You will find many how-to blog posts once you start to google ‘digital clutter’, but the key is to understand what triggers you to collect more and why it is hard to let things go: I am on my phone a lot. Some would say that I have a deep relationship with it. If you are a little like me, you will merely not use it as a phone, but as a remote control for your whole life (and with a remote control for the remote control aka Apple Watch. We quickly have 100+ apps installed, and because we need to record 4k video, have thousands of songs on our phones, and hoard all kinds of other data, we need phones with an insane storage capacity. And now that we have that capacity, we hoard even more. And then we pay cloud services to outsource apps and files…
Do you recognize a pattern? We repeat the behavior we show in our analog lives in our digital lives. So would it help if we asked ourselves why we keep the digital stuff? Why do we not delete chats of people we are not in contact with anymore? Why do we still maintain that domain we once registered but then never worked on it again? Same reasons as you keep physical stuff: JUST. IN. CASE.
Not that this case will EVER occur, though.
What happens once we dig a little bit deeper into what triggers us to keep and hoard? We will gain clarity about what drives us- and what holds us (back). Because, if we own everything, our hands aren’t free, we can’t hand-le anything anymore, literally. The perfidy of digital clutter is, though, that we can more easily hide it. But once we know if we want to impress ourselves, still live in the past, or want to produce a specific image of ourselves, it’s easier to get rid of that, be honest, and truthful with ourselves. It’s relieving to toss stuff that weighed a lot. And once you did, you feel alleviated and calmed.
Where do I start?
Well, I am a consultant, so the answer needs to be It depends. Here are some tips:
• Don’t just organize apps on your phone in groups.
• Ask yourself, which value an app, a contact, a chat, a connection still offers you. And if this is about lost hopes or reality.
• What’s the worst-case scenario if you delete something?
• this blog post is the first of a small series of posts around digital clutter. Read next week, how I tame my alerts and notifications
Feedback & What’s next
If you liked this post, leave a comment and tell me what resonated the most to you. How do you deal with digital clutter? Does it bother you? Do you have the feeling that stuff consumes too much of your attention? T I would love to hear your feedback. | https://regarding365.com/let-it-go-digital-clutter-9b6281591dbf | ['Luise Freese', 'Mvp'] | 2021-01-06 23:03:01.248000+00:00 | ['Clutter', 'Detox', 'Digital', 'Minimalism'] |
AC大合并之终极猜想丨新DeFi浪潮正在涌来 | in In Bitcoin We Trust | https://medium.com/@tansuomao/ac%E5%A4%A7%E5%90%88%E5%B9%B6%E4%B9%8B%E7%BB%88%E6%9E%81%E7%8C%9C%E6%83%B3%E4%B8%A8%E6%96%B0defi%E6%B5%AA%E6%BD%AE%E6%AD%A3%E5%9C%A8%E6%B6%8C%E6%9D%A5-988a72881bca | [] | 2020-12-07 21:22:35.403000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Defi', 'Eth', 'Bitcoin', 'Btc'] |
Focus On Your Gifts | Focus On Your Gifts
When I was a little girl, Disney villains, princes and princesses didn’t look like me. Heck, that was the case until I was in my twenties and maybe thirties. But, honestly I was glad. Most we reprehensible or superficial individuals who I wanted to be nothing like. Most earned nothing and aspired to very little. Yet, the characters in my sweater for day 21 of my Christmas countdown did impart some powerful lessons I carry with me to to this day.
Ursula from “The Little Mermaid” had a relentless quest for power that made her want to harm another woman and led to her demise. Queen Grimhilde from “Snow White” had a desire to be beautiful on the outside that drove her to try to kill another woman multiple times. It taught me how toxic jealousy and envy could be in ones life. And, Maleficient from “Sleeping Beauty” showed me how being held bent on revenge due to someone else’s callous, thoughtless or even malicious actions can only cause you further pain.
Thankfully,Disney has begun creating characters, including people of color that reflect. the world I lived in and share positive values. This gives me hope that the next generation of kids can be proud of the skin their in and their gender. And, these kids will understand tearing someone else down isn’t the way to build yourself up. Perhaps, they’ll also discover it’s better to focus on your gifts and what you have to share with the world than what others offer.
#spoonie. #autoimmunedisease. #happyholidays. #Christmas. #imvisibleillness #christmascountdown #disney #self-worth #holidays #villains | https://medium.com/@NikaBeamon/focus-on-your-gifts-3c0a61c7e27b | ['Nika C. Beamon'] | 2020-12-21 15:26:42.136000+00:00 | ['Disney', 'Christmas', 'Villains', 'Self Worth', 'Gifts'] |
How I shifted from art marketing to UX | Discover your competitive advantages, and use them!
After intensive studies on different aspects of UX, it is easy to nod and say “Yup, now I have diversified skillsets that make me qualified for most of the entry-to-mid-level UX roles”. And that is great! But how can you distinguish yourself from all the well-trained candidates in UX interviews? In other words, what is your uniqueness of being a marketer-turned-designer versus designers with other backgrounds?
I mainly used 2 ways to continuously discover and grow my competitive advantages:
First, apply transferable skills in design practices and job hunting
The experience from the previous career will almost always be an asset if it is well utilized. My backgrounds in fine art and digital marketing provided me with plenty of transferable skills, including soft skills such as empathy to customers, time management, stakeholder relationship management, and teamwork; hard skills such as extensive knowledge of visual design guidelines, ability to communicate ideas and tell stories in an articulate and lucid manner, and ability to drill down insights in data through analytics tools.
I strived to utilize these existing skills as much as possible when working on design projects and setting up my portfolio. For instance, I created a set of illustrations and inserted them into my portfolio case studies to showcase my visual abilities. I also demonstrated my quantitative analysis skills by explicitly listing the UX success metrics and corresponding outcomes.
Figuring out and utilizing your strengths in a new job field is not easy, but if you can get to a place where yours has true meaning and power, it gives you a valuable advantage in everything you do.
Second, conduct UX skill self-assessment periodically
Every other month, I used the provided sheet in this article to do UX skill self-assessment by giving myself a score in each of the 18 UX sub-disciplines. In this way, I tracked my UX learning progress, and gained a clearer idea of how to proactively “sell” myself to different types of companies.
credit to undraw.co
When interviewing with companies that seek candidates with solid research backgrounds, I presented case studies that can best showcase my thorough understanding of UX research methodologies, and my ability to use synthesized findings to inform design decisions. When interviewing with companies that look for candidates who can also handle visual design initiatives, I emphasized my visual background and aesthetic sense by giving concrete examples.
However, there were times that I inevitably exposed my shortcomings — some companies prefer candidates who understand front-end coding, and I had zero experience in that. It was frustrating that some good opportunities slipped away because of this weakness, but after following up with some hiring recruiters, I realized that the companies didn’t really expect all UX Designers to ace programming languages, yet they preferred well-rounded candidates that can work seamlessly with the development teams.
Therefore, I booked an hour on my calendar every day to learn online courses that could broaden my technical knowledge. Right now, I am still not a designer that you would ask to code, but I can confidently say that I can collaborate with the engineering team to ensure feasibility during all the design phases, and I always keep technological constraints in mind. | https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/connecting-the-dots-how-i-shifted-from-art-marketing-to-ux-abba4964342 | ['Mandy Ding'] | 2020-12-31 07:52:40.737000+00:00 | ['Design', 'UX', 'Career Development', 'Careers', 'User Experience'] |
10 questions for finding the right clients | Minorstep @ Instagram
Running a creative practice isn’t about managing to find enough clients — it’s about managing to find the right ones.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how we can get there and I’ve compiled ten questions to ask yourself to guide your thinking about what kind of clients will enable you to do the work you want:
1. If you could ONLY work with a few brands/clients, which would you choose?
2. Why are these clients ideal for you?
3. What do these ideal clients want from a creative service provider?
4. What do you want from your clients?
5. What story will you tell clients about why you are the best for them?
6. What story will you tell clients about why they are the best fit for you?
7. How will you price your services to attract only those ideal clients?
8. How many of these right customers do you need to build a viable practice?
9. Where will you find these ideal clients?
10. How will these clients find you?
Client-Creative fit is so extremely underrated.
George Kroustallis // Minorstep
www.minorstep.com
instagram.com/minorstep | https://medium.com/@minorstep/10-questions-for-finding-the-right-clients-cafc038d6e2e | [] | 2019-12-01 15:22:43.976000+00:00 | ['Freelancing', 'Photography Business', 'Freelancers', 'Creative Business'] |
What Makes Flutter Ideal For Mobile App Development In 2020 | Nowadays, Flutter has become the first choice for startups as well as developers. Flutter is a cross-platform mobile app development framework created by Google in the year 2017. According to GitHubs’s 2019 report, Flutter is the fastest-growing mobile app development platform.
Mobile app development in Flutter is very easy than any other programming language. It fastest functionality and easy to build app creating a lot of buzz in the tech world. It allows businesses to develop cross-platform mobile applications in less time within budget. That’s what makes flutter premier for mobile app development.
If you’re a startup business or established and planning to develop a cross-platform mobile app, then the Flutter is an ideal choice for you.
Here is what makes Flutter ideal for mobile app development in 2020.
Save your time
While using flutter’s hot reload feature, there is no need to time waste on deployment like regular programming. You can implement all the changes directly without leaving the current application state. With flutter you no need to compromise on speed and development while fixing bugs, building UI, or adding new features.
Ideal for startup MVPs
If you want to develop your product as soon as possible, Flutter is a good option for you. It’s cheaper to develop a mobile application with Flutter because you don’t need to build and maintain two mobile apps, one for iOS and one for Android. To create your MVP in Flutter all you need one developer only.
Cross-Platform development
Cross-Platform App Development with Flutter is very easy as this technology is compatible with various IDEs such as Android Studio, VS Code, IntelliJ, etc. Developers can use these IDEs of their choice to build mobile apps.
Low Development Cost
Low development cost is also the reason for its popularity among developers or startups. And, it is a great benefit that everyone can take. Using a single codebase, you can build an application for two platforms- iOS and Android respectively.
Faster code Writing
Flutter programming language Dart is easy to learn and get started with. For developers, coding is very easy and fast using this framework. With its widgets and code libraries, developers require less-effort to design and develop an application. It uses JavaScript libraries that also play an important role in building cross-platform applications for Android and iOS.
Wrapping Up
If you haven’t tried Google’s Flutter app yet, this is the right time to give it a shot. You can hire the best Mobile App Development Company that provides Flutter App development services. | https://medium.com/@monikasen/what-makes-flutter-supreme-for-mobile-app-development-in-2020-zimble-code-90f634922208 | [] | 2020-04-02 08:16:20.259000+00:00 | ['Cross Platform Mobile App', 'Flutter App Development', 'Flutter Widget', 'Cross Platform', 'Flutter'] |
How to stick to a workout routine for beginners | “Oh god, I need to work out!” That was pretty much how, the workout routine I was so enthusiastic about, ended up feeling like, in 3–4 days.
I’ve heard tons of people say working out should be fun. Honestly, I don’t know how it is for a fitness freak, but to most of us working out can’t be fun. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t work out. I am a straight-A student but does that mean I found studying fun? No, I had fun all week and pulled all-nighters the day before the exam because I had a fear of facing exam papers and feeling blank. Likewise, for my workouts, after several trials and errors, I made a few conclusions.
The motivation: I tried to use the tactic I used for my studies, a fear of what would happen if I don’t work out. But it only made it worse. Firstly, working out didn’t guarantee I’d lose weight. It is hard to put faith in an outcome that is uncertain. Rather, focus on something like, If I finish this workout routine, I’d be more confident the next time I start a routine, or I will become better at doing certain workouts. Treat working out as an art form that needs practice, to master. Picking the right routine: Remember, you can’t get it right on the first time. All workout routines are equally effective. But the key, is to pick the one that is best suited for you. If you find cardio difficult, choose routines that have fewer cardio exercises a day, if you find strength training more difficult, choose routines with fewer strength exercises. Now don’t worry that you’re leaving out on the ones you find difficult. That’s not true, you are working on them at a slower pace and once you get better at it, you can switch routines. Try out multiple routines for a month, remember no workout is flawless, so pick the one you find to be better. Doing the routine right:
Engaging the core: This is one big mistake, most of us make. Engaging your core makes certain workouts so much easier. I have weak arms and all this while I’ve never been able to do the plank right. I could feel my core burn, so I assumed I was doing it right, but at one point my arms would hurt so badly I couldn’t continue. Engaging your core, is to pull your tummy in, when I did that I felt lighter and it became easier for my arms to hold up my body. Most of the exercises require engaging your core and if you do that, trust me, they get slightly easier. It doesnt work the other way around though, releasing your core only tires out the other body muscle that is involved.
Breathing: Remembering to breathe can be very hard when you’ve just started out. It takes practice to make it happen naturally. So for starters everytime, the thought of how painful the workout is , or how you’re running out of breath and can’t continue crosses your mind, imagine a clear blue sky and suck in a deep breath and continue to focus on your breath rather than the pain. It is ok to slow down a bit, but try your best not to stop.
Distractions: Sometimes my thoughts wander off to the tons of incomplete work I’ve to do for the day and without knowing my workout is slacking off. If you notice yourself getting distracted very often, stop working out, clear your mind and come back when you’re ready. Sometimes, the music helps you focus too. Go in sync with the beats or observe how its pumping you up instead of thinking about unrelated topics.
Diet: Your end goal, shouldn’t be weight loss if you’re not planning to diet. Calory deficit is necessary for weight loss. If this is your first time dieting, it can be very hard to focus on both working out and dieting. So make sure you get slightly comfortable with at least one of them before doing them both together and planning weight loss. If you’re starting off dieting, try out 15 minute workouts everyday for a while and then start your routine.If you start with workouts, make mini goals , like avoiding sugar or soda and then start a proper diet.
4. Scheduling: I know most of us aren’t determined enough. If there’s one thing we need, to workout, its a lot of determination and motivation. When I first started out, my planning was messed up. I’d say ok the workout is 40 minutes long, so lets start at 12:30 pm, finish whenever and then have lunch. This turned out so wrong, I realized I didn’t feel hungry after working out, and if my workouts ended too late, the rest of my schedule would mess up. Sometimes the work I was doing before, didnt end at 12:30 exactly, it would go till 1 and then I’d say ok, there’s no time to workout.
Fix a time span of 1 hour everyday, for working out, no matter how long your routine is. Make sure the activity you’re doing before it is something simple, like drinking a cup of coffee or listening to music and not something that requires a lot of focus. Then when the clock strikes get to working.
5. Avoid Overthinking:This is the most important and I don’t know why I’ve put it in the end. Working out it is simple, all you’ve to do is get your ass off the chair and workout. Do not think about the muscles you’re stretching, if you’re doing it right, etc unless it’s been some time and it still doesn’t feel right. Do all the thinking before you pick your routine and once you’ve picked one, blindly stick to it.
These are only a few suggestions, there are several other ways to customize and manipulate your mind into making working out exciting. Wearing workout gears, keeping the gym mat in sight, etc are a few of them. You can try them out too along with this and ta-da you’ve miraculously completed your first workout routine. | https://medium.com/@purpleandpurpose/how-to-stick-to-a-workout-routine-for-beginners-2a5ae515e6fe | ['Netra Krishnan'] | 2021-12-19 08:00:08.632000+00:00 | ['Workout', 'Health', 'Fitness', 'Lifestyle', 'Fitness Tips'] |
How I Make $3,500 a Month From My Instagram Account | Last month, I made over $3,500 from my Instagram.
Before starting @pinlord — the repost account where I curate and sell enamel pins — I had no experience building a social media or online business. I’m also not an “influencer”, I’m not particularly “social”, and I definitely don’t have a fun and exciting life to show off on Instagram.
I learned how to monetize my Instagram account by making an effort to understand how the platform works and putting in the work required to execute the right activities at a high level, for a long period of time.
Trust me when I say, if I can do it, anyone can!
Thing is…there is no “easy money” to be made as a social media content creator or business. Yes, you can earn an income from your Instagram (or Youtube or any other social media platform), but like any other business, success requires consistent and thoughtful work.
Although there is no one formula to build a profitable business on Instagram, there are definitely a few principles that will increase the likelihood of making money from your account. From my experience, these are the ones have been the most important for my business:
1. I solved a problem.
Before starting @pinlord, I was first an avid enamel pin-aficionado, spending over $100 a month on pins. It was during this time that I first noticed a problem that I kept coming across when searching for enamel pins on the app — I knew there was the perfect pin for me on Instagram, but because the app doesn’t allow you to search for posts directly, it took a lot of time and energy to sift through dozens of Instagram hashtags and profiles to find the pin I would want to buy.
How did I solve this problem?
Btw, have you every asked yourself if your Instagram is actually even worth growing? If not, you should. It might help save you a whole bunch of time and energy. It’s not worth it for everyone…
I created an account (@pinlord) that featured the best enamel pins on Instagram.
By taking the time to comb through dozens of hashtags and accounts to find the most unique/interesting/well-designed pins each day and then centralizing all of them on my account, I made it fun and simple (and aesthetically pleasing) for anyone to go to one place and find the best pins to buy on the platform.
Problem solved!
2. When I started, @pinlord was highly differentiated within a content category that had a relatively small number of similar accounts.
At the time I launched my account (in the summer of 2015), there were less than 5 enamel pin reposters, and none of them took the time and effort to curate an eye-catching, clean grid as I did.
Looking back, I now realize that that was the main reason why I was able to build a large and engaged following fast — because I was highly differentiated within a content category with a relatively small number of similar accounts. Not because I held any special Instagram skills or knowledge.
Unless you’re a world-class content creator, how fast you’re able to build a large and engaged following not only depends on how you use Instagram but more importantly, on the number of similar accounts within your content category and how differentiated you are from them.
The smaller the number of accounts and the more differentiated you are, the higher the likelihood that you’ll be able to grow an Instagram following fast simply because you’re competing with fewer accounts for people’s attention (if you want to learn more about this, read my article on why your Instagram account isn’t growing).
If I were to start @pinlord today, my chances of building the same business from it would be slim and none because it would be very difficult for me to be differentiated within a content category (the enamel pin community) which now has hundreds of accounts competing for the same audience and creating similar content. When I began, we were only a handful.
If you’re looking to start an Instagram account with the purpose of making money, first make sure you’re creating a highly differentiated account within a content niche that has a small number of accounts doing something similar to you.
Like any other business, the less competition you have, the more likely you are to build a long term viable income.
3. I made an effort to understand how the Instagram platform worked and I used third-party tools to “growth hack” my account.
Around a year after starting @pinlord, the Instagram algorithm changed and for the first time, my growth rates and income began to plateau. That’s when I realized that creating a highly differentiated account within a content niche with a small number of similar competitors wasn’t enough to succeed long-term.
With the constant instability and audience fluctuations that came from Instagram’s frequent algorithm changes, how much money I could make from my account began to depend more on having a deeper understanding of how the platform worked and how well I was able to execute the activities that grew my audience and engagement faster than the average account (here’s a simple explanation of the essential activities to grow your Instagram fast).
In other words, I had to learn how to “growth hack” my account in order to reach more people than other accounts similar to mine.
To do that, I started testing new content and activities as frequently as I could — always measuring the results to understand what impact they had on my growth. The activities that helped me grow faster, I kept doing. The ones that didn’t, I stopped. I also made an effort to find third-party Instagram tools that could help me be more effective and efficient with the activities that helped me grow faster (because managing an Instagram can be A LOT of work if you’re not efficient).
The activities and tools that helped me “growth hack” my account were:
The better I became at executing these activities, the faster I grew, the more engagement my posts got, and the more income I made.
Also, here’s an article about the best Instagram content scheduling and post automation tools. Using them will help your posting process a lot more efficient 👍🏽
4. Because I know how to grow a large and engaged audience, I was able to make money from sponsored posts.
Also around the 1 year mark, I hit 35K followers and began advertising that people could request a feature on my page by placing a “DM me for a feature” prompt in my bio.
I started receiving requests from smaller pin-makers asking me to repost their pin designs so they could be discovered by a larger audience than they could reach by themselves. As my followers and engagement grew, so did the number of requests I got.
Whenever I featured a pin maker, they usually received value by getting new followers and sales, and most of them returned to ask for another feature. There was a demand for my service and this allowed me to start charging money for a feature.
At 35K followers I charged $5, at 50K followers I charged $10, at 75K I charged $15 and at over 100K I now charge $20.
At an average of 2.5 sponsored posts a day at $20 each for 30 days, I end up making around $1500 per month, with zero costs.
5. To give as much value possible, I price my sponsored posts based on what other accounts similar to mine charge for a comparable service.
When it came to pricing, I’ve had to determine the amount I charge based on what comparable accounts were charging for a repost (because that’s who my potential customers would compare my prices with).
For example, if @patchgame (an account comparable to mine) has 200K followers, 1% engagement, and was charging $40 for a repost, I would charge $20 for a repost since I have 100K followers and 1.5% engagement. People compare our follower and engagement numbers, and gauge which price has more value based those metrics.
The more value my customers (people I featured) receive, the more likely they are to return for my services and the more likely I am to build a sustainable, long term business.
It’s important to know who your customers compare you with when it comes to obtaining a similar service because then you’ll be able to get set your pricing to maximize value (and repeat customers).
This limitation to pricing is another reason why it’s so important to be highly differentiated within a content category. Unless you are the account within your category that has the largest and most engaged following (which is very difficult with millions of people on Instagram), you’ll always have to price your posts based on what other comparable accounts are charging for a similar service.
Better yet, if you’re a content category of one, you’ll be able to set your own prices…
6. I made paying for sponsored posts as transparent, reliable, simple and quick as possible.
For payments, it has always been very important for me to use the most reliable and widely accepted payment provider. For now, that’s paypal (because who the hell wants to give their credit card info to a random person from an Instagram account?!). To make the process quick and simple, I also created a paypal.me link so people could just enter the amount and pay directly from their browser.
In case you’re interested, here’s how you make a paypal.me account. A helpful tip is to think about the URL handle you create, because you won’t be able to change it in the future. In my opinion, it’s best if you make it something broad in case you want to use it to receive payments for other businesses in the future. I made the mistake of naming it paypal.me/pinlord and later couldn’t use it for other unrelated businesses because it had such a enamel pin-specific name.
To provide a good experience, I also gave a transparent and clear explanation of what people could expect from a post. These are the messages I send whenever I receive a feature request:
Using text replacement to streamline the process helps me to be able to respond to dozens of messages quickly, without having to spend all day on my phone writing out the same thing.
7. Conversely, I’ve also made the mistake of promoting products and services that don’t give my audience value, because they paid well.
Earning money from sponsored posts isn’t always the best option for a long-term business.
People follow my page because I provide value by featuring the best enamel pins from around the world, but at one point in mid 2017, I was featuring at least 2 pins per day that weren’t great. I was posting them because they were a way to get paid a little extra (and I had rent to pay…). Over the 3 month period that I was frequently posting low-value paid content, my engagement dropped from around 3% to 1.5%.
As this paid content was not providing as much value to my audience, they engaged with my posts much less. And over time, the more low-quality paid content I featured, the more my audience lost interest because I wasn’t actually featuring the best pins (the reason why they’d originally followed me). My engagement rates went down, lowering the long term value of my account because a much lower percentage of my audience took action whenever I recommended a product or service, or sold something = less customers for myself and for the people I featured.
It’s a pitfall a lot of paid content creators fall in, and I did too.
Ever since I noticed the decline in engagement during that time, I’ve made an effort to keep the number of low-quality paid posts to a minimum. Although that means a slightly lower monthly income right now, I am creating overall higher value for my business in the future because my audience believes that the content I post is sincere.
So, if you’re thinking about monetizing your Instagram through paid posts, I’d highly recommend that you avoid posting low-quality content, just because the pay is great. Believe me, your business will suffer in the long term because your audience will stop trusting (and caring) about what you say.
8. I used Instagram engagement data to understand what my audience likes, so I can create better products that sell more:
Also around the 1 year mark, I was getting over 8000 weekly profile visits from people interested in enamel pins, so I decided to begin selling my own pin designs directly through my link in bio.
In case you’re interested, I use Shopify. Although it takes a bit of time to get familiar with the platform, once you’re set up it’s super simple to manage and it has the most robust group of 3rd party applications that help you ship simply and cheaply.
At first, I made and released the pins that I wanted to see in the world and they sold great. But as the #pingame grew more popular and pin makers started making more money, more people began selling pins on Instagram and it became a highly competitive market. Thousands of new enamel pin options were available to the public and it became much harder for your average enamel pin to sell the quantities it had when there were only a few enamel pin sellers on Instagram.
This is a common theme with most product categories sold through Instagram.
Through trial and error, I learned that the two main keys to successful pin sales in this environment were: 1) coming up with designs people truly loved (because mediocre products don’t sell well in a competitive market) and 2) releasing new designs as often as possible (so people had a reason to come back and check my site frequently).
Knowing that I had to release a great new design at least once a week to increase my sales, but not having the creative juice to do that consistently (I stopped kidding myself that I was that creative), I began using the engagement data from my Instagram Insights to understand what types of pins people had responded to the most positively.
To get engagement data go to Instagram Insights, then hit the Content tab, then enter the Feed Posts section and sort by Engagement over the last year. The posts that show up at the top of this grid are the ones that people engaged with the most.
Although not perfect, this information helped me create successful designs more often because I had a data-based approach to understanding what type of designs, themes, colors, shapes etc, people already loved.
Data made up for my limitations as a designer (because I’m not one) and, by streamlining the production process with my factory, I was able to consistently release relatively-successful new designs once a week. Being able to do this had a positive effect and I saw my sales almost double from an average of around $900 per month to $1800 per month.
With production and sales costs at around 33%, that turns out to be close to $1188 of profit per month.
9. I listed my products on marketplace platforms with an in-built audience to make extra money.
Once I was releasing 1 new pin per week through my website, I also listed all of my products on Etsy and Depop. These platforms have built-in audiences that are actively looking to buy products similar to mine and, since they don’t require much work to maintain, I was able to sell a few dozen extra products per month, for almost no effort or money.
On Etsy I sell an average of around $500 and on Depop around $200 per month. With production costs removed, sales from these platforms amount to an additional profit close to $475 per month.
Btw, an effective and simple way to make extra money on your Etsy is to do paid ads. This is the video that showed me how to do it.
10. To find new revenue streams, I constantly test different projects and measure the results.
In addition to my sponsored posts and direct sales, I continually test new projects and measure the results to see if they can turn into revenue streams. So far, these are some that have worked for me:
11. It all adds up!
Adding up all of the activities: $1500 from sponsored posts + $1188 from direct sales + $475 from Etsy & Depop + $400 from referrals from my articles = I make around $3500 per month from my Instagram.
Although the number seems small in comparison to what Instagram influencers make, earning it isn’t a full-time job and that allows me to spend my time doing other things I enjoy (and I also don’t have to get a Job).
It’s a lifestyle that’s accessible to anyone who’s willing to make an effort to understand how the platform works and put in the work required to execute the right activities at a high level for a long period of time.
If it’s something that interests you, I hope this article provides some insight on how you can do it for yourself, in whatever topic you’re passionate about!
Btw, if you want to read more about how Instagram works, please read my articles about what Instagram really is and how works, Is Instagram dying?, how the Instagram algorithm works, Instagram niches and why they are the key to growth, why you’re losing Instagram followers, Instagram hashtags, how to pick the right Instagram username, and Instagram bots 2021.
Btw, if you want to learn more info about growth tactic on other social platforms, here’s my first TikTok article about everything you need to know regarding TikTok Bots.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my article! If you enjoyed it, you can support me by signing up to my Instagram Small Business class, sharing this article and giving it a bunch of claps. You can also follow me on Instagram to get updates whenever I publish a new piece ❤ | https://medium.com/the-mission/how-to-make-money-on-instagram-7b13ce4b300d | ['Eduardo Morales'] | 2021-12-03 23:23:33.650000+00:00 | ['Monetization', 'Influencer Marketing', 'Social Media', 'Instagram Marketing', 'Instagram'] |
5 Questionable Beliefs about Money | 5 Questionable Beliefs about Money
Beliefs determine our behavior — here’s what you should rethink
Photo by Jp Valery on Unsplash
Money isn’t an easy topic.
In many societies, we don’t talk about it openly — but what does stick are certain beliefs.
Here are 5 believes I hear over and over — yet they are dangerous to our financial decisions.
1. “Money does not make you happy.”
Money alone does not make you happy — so the saying goes.
That’s partly true — a study¹ by psychologist Daniel Kahneman shows it.
Roughly speaking, the study shows that the more income we have, the happier we are. But this increase in happiness stops at an annual income of $75,000 on average. When we earn more, it doesn’t make us happier.
The statement that money doesn’t make you happy is only partially true.
But how does it happen that money only makes you happy up to a certain point? It’s probably because money can offer us self-realization and security. But we get used to every prosperity one day.
So, even more, income doesn’t necessarily make us happier if our essential needs are already covered. It is important to note that we are not all the same, of course. The study examined many people to arrive at its results — so there are always deviations.
Naturally, more anxious people can certainly strengthen their sense of security with even more income.
In summary, it can be said that, to a certain extent, money can make people happier — and for good reasons, not because of materialistic consumption.
Money does not always lead to more happiness, but the absence of money leads to unhappiness. Not being happy is better than being unhappy.
Getting your finances in order first is not a bad idea. After all, almost everything in life is based on money.
2. “Today, there is no more interest on bank deposits.”
Anyone who has ever looked at how much interest they get on their bank balance will be disappointed. He will find that the interest is usually less than one percent.
That’s not just a low return — in real terms, we’re actually losing money due to inflation. So parking large sums of money in a bank account for a long time is not a good idea — almost everyone knows that today.
People are always raving about the past. There would have been interest rates of 3–6% in the past, which were really worth it. These figures, however, are to be enjoyed with caution.
While it used to be much higher interest rates on paper, not much of it remained in real terms. The reason for this is simple: income from interest on bank balances is reduced primarily by inflation.
An investigation² that takes into account the factors of inflation, interest, costs, and taxes clearly proves this.
Within the last 118 years, it was not possible to increase one’s wealth with bank deposits. The interest, even if it was relatively large, was eaten up by inflation.
Interest turns our money into more money.
Inflation, however, devalues our money.
Both balance each other out.
Even though interest on bank deposits has never been attractive, considering inflation, costs, and other factors, we consider bank deposits to be a solid investment.
Many people park large sums of money in an account, hoping that interest rates will rise again. In reality, at best, their money doesn’t lose value — there are no gains.
It is better to invest in other asset classes. Your bank account should be more for consumption and reserves. The rest of the money you should invest — the stock market, real estate & loans are a good option.
3. “Debt is dangerous.”
With debt, we usually associate having made bad financial decisions. After all, we have spent more money than we actually have.
What have we spent this money on? Often on consumption.
This is called consumer debt — we need to distinguish it from other forms of debt clearly.
When we have consumer debt, we owe someone else money. Usually, we have to pay that money plus interest back. On the other hand, we have bought something which is usually immediately consumed or loses value.
Financially for us a very unpleasant situation.
But we can also take debts for investments. Although we have to pay back the money plus interest, on the other hand, we have an investment, i.e., assets. These assets ideally increase in value over time so that we can make a profit despite the interest.
This is exactly how some people invest in the real estate and stock markets. Borrowed capital can be used to increase the absolute return on an investment strategy massively or to make it possible in the first place.
So if you have to take out a loan because you want to buy a property, for example, remember: Your debts are matched by assets in such cases.
4. “If I already spend so much money…”
This way of thinking has made many large companies very rich.
Imagine you go to Apple’s website — you’re looking for a new iPhone. After browsing a bit, you find the new iPhone 12 — it’s priced from $699³.
That’s a lot of money, but you can use it for the next few years. Then you realize that you’ve chosen the iPhone 12 mini — the “normal” iPhone 12 is $100 more expensive.
Here we go — “If I’m already spending so much money,” that’s the attitude that many of us have — and that makes companies like Apple rich.
So you opt for the regular iPhone 12, and now you can still choose the storage size. 64 GB of storage might sound a bit much, but another 64 GB only costs $50 more.
Here, too, we fall back into the “if I’m already spending so much money” pattern of thinking.
We end up paying a few hundred dollars more than expected, including storage that we may never use. But it just feels better.
What just happened is that our brain only looked at the prices in contrast. Because the basic model already costs so much, the rest seems like peanuts. We don’t only have this problem when buying technology.
What Apple and others do is called upselling. It works thanks to our weakness in estimating numbers within a context.
People buy a house for $300,000 and get the floor heating for another $10,000 when offered, even though they usually walk around in warm slippers.
If we don’t learn to break our buying decisions down into their parts, we often pay 20–30% more. Over the course of a lifetime, that’s a small fortune we spend foolishly.
Consider the offers separately from each other. Would you pay $50 for 64 GB of storage? If the answer is no, look for cheaper alternatives like cloud storage.
5. “Money corrupts the personality.”
When we think of capitalism, CEOs, and big corporations, we often have rather negative images in mind—endless greed, oppression, and rich men who destroy the world while smoking cigars.
This is the stereotype — at least in many countries of this world. But the truth is different. Of course, some people will walk over corpses for money — but it’s not the money that leads to this.
What rational reason is there that money makes you a worse person?
Usually considered as bad behavior by rich people in the public eye is decadent consumption. Expensive cars, watches, and clothes, although the money could have been spent “better.”
The truth is that for many people, such consumption is also the motivation to become rich. Even though it is sad, it must be made clear that money is not the origin of behavior.
Rather, money potentiates the character of a person.
If you are a “good” person before you have money, you will probably use your money for many good. Understanding a person’s motivations is most helpful in understanding his values.
Sources
[1]: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2019628,00.
html
[2]: https://www.gerd-kommer-invest.de/nullzinsen-und-anlagenotstand/
[3]: https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-12 | https://medium.com/makingofamillionaire/money-beliefs-f9870157459a | ['Louis Petrik'] | 2020-12-17 20:09:56.779000+00:00 | ['Money', 'Self Improvement', 'Investing', 'Finance', 'Wealth'] |
A NATURAL CELLULITE TREATMENT | It’s late spring and your friends are already planning that perfect summer vacation. You can’t wait! The Airbnb listing is epic. The house is located next to the ocean and the pool looks breathtaking. But wait a minute! You’ve been feeling bad lately about breaking your New Year’s Resolutions of exercising and dieting. At the same time, you’ve been spending too much time on Instagram looking at models and influencers with stunning bods in their bikinis.
You noticed a tad bit of cellulite on your thighs and buttocks and ask “why can’t I look like those models?”
Truth be told, cellulite happens to the best of us; yes, even the Instagram models and celebs you look at aren’t immune. Cellulite is one of those problems that plague many women and some men these days.
What is cellulite anyways?
Cellulite itself refers to the dimples in the skin that affect most women and some men. The dimples develop when fatty tissues under your skin press against tissues closer to the skin’s surface. Cellulite can occur anywhere but tends to be most prevalent in areas where fatty tissues are present, such as the buttocks and thighs. Most sources agree that the dimpled appearance of cellulite occurs due to problems in the connective tissue and fat in a person’s body. Once a person has it, cellulite can be difficult to get rid of and treatment usually focuses on decreasing the appearance of the dimples.
What leads a person to develop cellulite on their body?
Hormones, diet, lifestyle and genetics all play a role but are not absolutes. While those who are overweight tend to have a higher chance of getting cellulite, many thin women complain of it as well. Genetics can play an important role in developing cellulite, but usually contributing factors for cellulite include eating too much sodium, fat or carbohydrates. Additionally, smoking, lack of exercise, and wearing tight garments that restrict blood flow can also contribute to cellulite. Fortunately, cellulite does not cause any medical problems. It is purely an aesthetic annoyance.
Is there a remedy to combat cellulite?
Yes, starting with leading a healthy lifestyle; frequently exercising and eating properly is the best start! However, there are a few available alternatives including painful injections, surgeries, or laser treatments. However, cellulite is one such skin problem which woman want to get rid of the natural way. Homemade remedies are in vogue again because they have no side effects. The leading natural combatant of cellulite is caffeine. Yes, you read that right. The coffee you drank this morning has lump-combating ingredients that do a darn good job at reducing the visibility of cellulite the natural way.
Cellulite #1 enemy: Caffeine!
Coffee contains protective antioxidant benefits that fight premature aging and increase collagen production of the skin. Coffee grounds naturally exfoliate dead skin cells, leaving the skin texture smooth and tight. One study published in the “Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology” in 2008 found that caffeine, applied topically to mice, reduced the diameter of fatty cells by 17 percent, lessening the appearance of cellulite. Caffeine acts as a diuretic, drawing fluid away from fat cells and temporarily minimizing the visibility of cellulite. The coffee scrubs increase circulation and stimulate blood flow, resulting in smoother, firmer skin. That’s why coffee and caffeine are active ingredients in topical cellulite treatments.
How long does this natural solution last?
The effects of caffeine on cellulite are immediate but temporary and can last about a week. For the most benefits, you want to use the coffee exfoliation a few times a week. Researchers suggest that when applied in a circular motion and routinely, caffeine can reduce the extra fat on the thighs and buttocks for longer time periods.
How should you apply the topical treatment?
We recommend using a homemade coffee scrub mixed with coconut oil or Urbanized’s exfoliating soap to scrub those dimples away! When taking a bath or using the shower, massage the scrub or soap onto the skin using firm pressure in a circular motion before rinsing on any problem areas, or all over your body for full benefits. The massage and exfoliation stimulate the blood flow and the caffeine in the coffee tightens the skin and eliminates excess water. Repeat every time you shower for best results.
To conclude, when you are headed for your beach vacation or wear a thigh-exposing mini soon, try massaging Urbanized’s Exfoliating Soap onto your skin. Not only will you be beach ready, but you’ll also be giving yourself a relaxing and delightful-smelling spa treatment at home. | https://medium.com/@urbanizedbeauty/a-natural-cellulite-treatment-cdf32a90df4b | ['Urbanized Beauty'] | 2019-05-06 02:06:00.924000+00:00 | ['Body Image', 'Skincare', 'Health', 'Wellness', 'Body'] |
A Brief History of Us | † umm… Olympia?
‡ Not long ago I’d be quick to point out that I didn’t invent trolling, Jesus did (maybe throw that proverbial stone at him, when you have a chance). But it was before I read the Job. I don’t know who wrote that book, but I want to apologize for what I said about Jesus. I’m sorry.
¹ Not a perfect analogy, but imagine a laptop with no software preinstalled -- only BIOS and physical keyboard / display as its only I/O devices. It boots into >_ command prompt as the only means to type in its programming. If you have, say Linux source codes, for example, you can type them in — it would take years, but you will have a functional laptop eventually… IF you have sources — but what if you haven’t? You’d have a zombie of a laptop, neither dead, nor really alive.
² Being “fully rational” by no means makes us cold and emotionless. Rather, “rational” means “explainable”. We act rationally when we know -- when we know what we are doing.
³ The same point can be explained in purely scientific terms, of course. Our animal ancestors already had some of that amazing capacity to understand some aspect of reality by creating and running, in their minds, a 3-d simulation of it. Coupled with symbolic language, however, it allowed for something no other species on Earth are capable of -- it lets us share our individual experiences with every other person on the planet.
Like, no, I cannot directly experience what it means to be a black person in North America. But, yes, through my imagination, I can relive their experience as my own, in every minute detail they are willing to share… I wish I hadn’t, I really do -- but if there is something I would want even less, it is to have a choice in that matter, to make compassion a choice. To stop being human.
⁴ Which is easier said than done, but, at least, not impossible… maybe because this wouldn’t be her first traumatic experience. That honor goes to the time very early in her childhood. Soon after after she opened her eyes and realized that Mommy and Daddy managed to get themselves banished by their tribe. Which not only meant she’d be raised by two certified psychos, but soon to be starving at that.
She cannot be explained that she was born into the world very different from the world her brain had evolved to face. So different that even the most basic truths are N/A, truths like “you cannot survive outside the family that is your tribe”. She’ll figure it out eventually, but till then, “alone in the room” = “left for dead”, a.k.a. the Early Childhood Development trauma.
⁵ I can re-tell every single word in this story in purely scientific terms. My using archaic-turned-religious terms is a way to remind you, the reader, that I didn’t came up with this stuff after spending 2020 in and out lockdowns, watching my world going mad, with the empty rooms, drugs and marbles on the floor keeping me company. Rather, I spent 2020 at home etc. re-discovering the truth we knew literally since forever. The truth from before we forgot it, from before the Apocalypse.
⁶ OK -- and only to stay impartial, as promised -- it should be noted that a null-avenue had been brought up earlier, and by Job’s wife no less. “Just curse God and die!”, she said. No less. Clearly a regretful choice of words even in the best of times, and Job’s reply, predictably, didn’t disappoint. Not just the part aimed at the poor woman, that goes w/o saying.
It’s the following part that stood out by mentioning God explicitly, in the same context, suggesting the same implications. Perhaps God wasn’t above regrets after all. Perhaps He wouldn’t be above a simple apology either — His choice, of course, but would be nice. And that’s just how Job was — honest to God, his Self righteousness pulling no punches.
Perhaps it was that side of Job’s personality was the reason for what happened next. One can think happy thoughts, even tho in reality, God doesn’t play favorites. It must have been Job’s lucky day -- except God doesn’t play dice either. Who knows really? What I do know, is that for someone not famous for their texting etiquette, God’s reply that day was so swift, so unambiguously on point, it was nothing short of a miracle. Job too must have thought of it as a miracle. Maybe not right away or in the following days, but he did eventually, upon regaining consciousness. He was alive, tho he knew it won’t be long now. | https://medium.com/@yuri-z7/a-brief-history-of-us-4a48f0d02428 | ['Yuri Zavorotny'] | 2021-02-16 07:26:45.878000+00:00 | ['Knowledge', 'Humanity', 'Philosophy', 'Psyhology', 'Hope'] |
Finding Leverage: Systems Thinking and Change Management | Change Management is an enormous field. Both academically and in terms of industry, the study and practice of transformation within organisations is vast. Many schools of thought exist as to why transformations succeed or fail. Academics unpack the data and devise theories, practitioners spot patterns over the course of their career and provide consulting advice on how to bring about change successfully. However, despite fields of academic study devoted to change management, and millions of dollars spent annually on business transformation, there is no definitive theory or set of principles to guide a company undergoing change.
A brief search reveals suggestions for: The 4 Pillars of Successful Change Implementation; The Three Components of Organisational Change; The 5 Key Elements for Successful Change Management; Changing Change Management; and more.
Suggestions as to the critical components that lead to a successful organisational change abound: Clear Vision, Accountability, Accessibility, Alignment; or maybe it’s Planning, Leadership, and Maintenance of Change; but could it be Communication, Engagement, and Enrollment?
All of these concepts no doubt contribute to making organisational change a success. It seems unlikely that any project could succeed without a clear vision or communication, planning or leadership. What appears to be lacking though, is a cohesive way of thinking about organisational transformation and change management holistically. Transformation doesn’t happen person by person, or department by department. It succeeds when all of the interconnected and interdependent relationships between individuals, teams, departments, and business units all work as a synergistic whole. In other words, it succeeds when all of the elements within the system work as a collective unit.
One useful way to think about the interconnected relationships between elements is with system thinking. Applying a system thinking lens to organisational transformation enables a change leader to think through not just the key pillars of change, or the human components of an organisation, but to encapsulate all of the different ways that the elements within the system interrelate to form the whole company.
What is System Thinking?
System thinking and systems theory seeks to understand the relationships between structure and behaviour. Understanding how systems work allows us to identify the causes of substandard performance and to make interventions that lead to better behaviour patterns. In other words, system thinking doesn’t just tell you is happening, but also helps explain .
A system is a set of things — people, cells, molecules… — interconnected in such a way that they produce their own pattern of behaviour over time.
- Donella Meadows, Thinking in Systems
When applied to organisational change, system thinking focuses on the connectivity between people. One of the key insights of system theory is that systems involve interconnected relationships and feedback loops. Feedback and feedback loops can quickly produce exponential effects on the system, causing unintended or unforeseen outcomes. Feedback loops are easily missed in a traditional analytical approach to problem solving since analytical thinking focuses on breaking the whole down into the constituent element and looking at each element individually. Thus, system thinking provides a way of approaching problems that enables one to account for non-linearity, and importantly in our context, to take into consideration a dynamic collection of relationships that change over time.
How Can System Thinking Be Applied to Change Management?
When undergoing organisational transformation, many managers struggle to find ways to think holistically about the change. Fires spring up across many different teams, departments, or business units — all seemingly urgent — resulting in a disorganised and unprioritised list of independent action items to resolve the problems that are occurring. This leaves change managers feeling like they are playing a game of whack-a-mole where solving one problem causes two more to spring up elsewhere.
One of the most significant benefits of applying a system lens to organisational change projects is that it allows a change agent to identify points of leverage in a system — a small number of crucial relationships that produce outsize impacts on the system as a whole. By communicating this information to the appropriate managers, change leaders can direct resources to these points of leverage and make informed, meaningful interventions. During times of transformation, budgets, resources, and time may be in short supply. Thus, concentrated effort on a small number of points of leverage at a single point in time provides both a logical approach to transformation and an effective use of constrained resources.
Not all leverage is created equal…
Donella Meadows and the Academy for Systems Change suggest that there are four layers of leverage. Meadows suggests thinking about it in terms of an iceberg. Using the iceberg model, we can recognise that there may be more to a system than meets the eye. The tip of the iceberg — events — are what we experience in the world. The rest of the iceberg reveals three levels of “hidden” parts in a system that influence the way the system works. These are: patterns of behaviour, systems structure, and mental models. As we go deeper toward the bottom of the iceberg, leverage increases. However, there is a balance here: since it may require significantly more effort and creativity to change people’s mental models than to change behaviours, managers must think carefully about where to direct their time and energy.
The Iceberg Model from the Academy for Systems Change
Create a Causal Loop Diagram
Causal loop diagrams are frameworks for exploring and understanding systems. It allows a manager to identify the elements that make up a system and map the relationships that link them together. This is important because it provides a way to visualise potential causes for confusing behaviours or unintended system outcomes.
A causal loop diagram is made up of:
Elements Relationships or links Signs on the links indicating how the elements are related Signs on the loops indicating the behaviour produced by the loop
The illustration below shows a very simple causal loop diagram of how money in a savings account is increased by interest earned. Interest earned is also increased by the amount of money that is in the savings account. Since the two relationships between the elements are positive (indicated by an ‘s’ next to the arrow), and there are no negative relationships in the loop — it is known as a reinforcing loop. Reinforcing loops produce exponential growth or decay in a system which can often lead to unexpected outcomes.
A very basic reinforcing loop example
The next illustration below represents a vey simple balancing loop. Balancing loops have an odd number of negative relationships (indicated by an ‘o’ next to the arrow) and tend to produce outcomes that oscillate and eventually trend toward equilibrium.
A very basic balancing loop example
With all of the key elements in place and the interconnections between them mapped, change managers can apply a system view to organisational transformation. Furthermore, complex patterns of behaviour may be more easily understood once the reinforcing loops between elements are identified. This allows resources to be targeted toward solving problems at the source without getting carried away dealing merely with symptoms.
Change Structure to Change Behaviour
The key insight of causal loop diagrams is that there is often a structural reason, or cause, for the emergent behaviour within a system. Moreover, the important thing to recognise is that the behaviour of a system is an outcome of the way a system is structured. In other words, the behaviour we see is a result of the interplay between the way the elements in a system are organised and connected — not always due to a pre-specified purpose. The reason why this is useful is because it frees a change leader to focus on creating better structures in an organisation rather than making futile attempts to control people’s behaviour.
A Complex example: A causal loop diagram summarising the dynamics of a social-ecological system.
Get the Whole System in the Room
In order to make meaningful organisational change, it requires buy-in. It is not enough for a leader to make decisions in isolation and then disseminate that information in a trickle-down fashion. To be truly effective and to make real progress in transforming an organisation (and thereby a system), it is crucial to get the whole system in the room.
Getting the whole system in the room means identifying all of the stakeholders that have a say in the change and bringing them together to co-create systemic (rather than single problem) solutions. It may take the form of a town hall meeting, or a three day retreat. Although administratively challenging, a system-wide meeting enables every stakeholder in a system to have a voice and take part in the change. When people participate in change and feel a sense of ownership, they are far more likely to enact and sustain it.
Another benefit of ensuring that the whole system is present when planning for organisational transformation is that it helps to uncover blind spots. Groups composed of one person from each stakeholder group quickly come to realise that their department/function/workstream is part of a much larger system and that challenges faced by one group have knock-on (or reinforcing) effects that impact the rest. Equipped with a mutual understanding, it becomes possible for stakeholders to begin co-creating systemic solutions to previously intractable problems. Furthermore, a critical point here is that when solutions are proposed and plans are created — having the whole system in the room means that those with the authority to make decisions and direct resources are already there, and already bought in. This is absolutely critical in organisational transformations that often have tight timelines and constrained budgets to work within. Suddenly, problems are turned into solutions and then into actionable plans that have buy in, very quickly — and all of the admin to get the whole system in the room was worth the effort.
A useful moniker to guide thinking around who needs to be in the room has been proposed by Weisbord and Janoff (2007): ARE IN
Authority to act — decision-making responsibility
Resources to enact change (time, capital, contacts, energy)
Expertise on the topic or issues under consideration
Information that everyone needs or that no others have
Need — they are going to be impacted by the outcome and can articulate the consequences
System Thinking Can Change How You Do Change Management
System thinking is an incredibly valuable mindset that can be applied broadly. The system thinking approach focuses on the interconnected relationships between elements and the emergent behaviour of the system as a whole. Understanding the connections in a system enables change agents to concentrate their efforts on points of leverage and create a meaningful impact with their limited resources. Causal loops diagrams enable leaders to take a system view to organisational change and visualise the reinforcing and balancing loops within a system. This helps in identifying and understanding the causes behind the unexplained behaviours in a system and illuminates potential adjustments that can be made to the structure of a system to get the desired results. To enact systemic change that lasts, leaders need to ensure the whole system is in the room and understand that if the right mix of people ARE IN it together, meaningful change can happen. | https://medium.com/@jasmithy/finding-leverage-systems-thinking-and-change-management-4b2204af0f20 | ['Joseph A. Smith'] | 2020-12-11 16:49:43.294000+00:00 | ['Systems Thinking', 'Integrative Thinking', 'Strategy', 'Change Management', 'Business Strategy'] |
Improve Your Web Scraper With Limited Retry-Loops — Python | Mastering exception-handling is of pivotal importance for producing clean and stable Python code. Chances are high you’re already aware of that, as most Python books geared towards newcomers to the language — and often to coding in general — make sure to spend a few paragraphs on the subject.
In essence, exception-handling means you’re providing an alternative action when a specific piece of code (usually a single line) throws an error for whatever reason. The attentive coder incorporates exceptions in their script for the same reason they use regex patterns for string matching: your code should harbor as few assumptions as possible. An operation on one type of dataset might not work for a slightly different kind of dataset, and what works today might not work tomorrow. Exception statements are therefore the last safeguard against breaking your code.
The try-except-else-finally clause is a classic and stamped into every aspirant-Python aficionado from day one:
Try:
#Whatever you wish to execute
Except:
#If this throws an error, do the following. Usually the user implements either one of these three steps:
(a) throw an exception (which breaks the code) or
(b) perform an alternative action (e.g. record that the try-statement produced an error, but continue with the code anyway)
(c) pass (simply execute the rest of the script)
Else:
#If this doesn't throw an error, do the following
Finally:
#The finally-statement is optional. Whether the try-statement produced an error or not, do the following.
Exception-handling is especially important for web scraping. After all, there are plenty of reasons why your scraper might break unexpectedly, such as:
A particular page does not exist.
Many scrapers have built-in assumptions revolved around URL-structure. For example, for a scraper I wrote on collecting info on Android apps, the code assumes that filling in the app-name in the following URL-structure will result in a 201 response code (i.e. connection succeeded): ‘https://play.google.com/
store/apps/details?id= appname ’. Although this is true in most cases (go ahead and fill in ‘com.nianticlabs.pokemongo’), some apps might get deleted from the app store or are downloaded from different repositories in the first place. If that’s the case, I instructed the script to try out an alternative platform (e.g. APKMonk).
Many scrapers have built-in assumptions revolved around URL-structure. For example, for a scraper I wrote on collecting info on Android apps, the code assumes that filling in the app-name in the following URL-structure will result in a 201 response code (i.e. connection succeeded): ‘https://play.google.com/ store/apps/details?id= ’. Although this is true in most cases (go ahead and fill in ‘com.nianticlabs.pokemongo’), some apps might get deleted from the app store or are downloaded from different repositories in the first place. If that’s the case, I instructed the script to try out an alternative platform (e.g. APKMonk). A particular web element does not (always) exist.
For example, while scraping some news websites; it’s possible that only some articles will include a subheading, hidden in a particular tag-attribute combination. One could simply check whether a subheading is present or not (try), skip the scraping of the headline or add an error message if it’s not available(except) and scrape the headline if possible (else).
For example, while scraping some news websites; it’s possible that only some articles will include a subheading, hidden in a particular tag-attribute combination. One could simply check whether a subheading is present or not (try), skip the scraping of the headline or add an error message if it’s not available(except) and scrape the headline if possible (else). Lost internet connection or website outages.
Although this can be due to a lousy internet connection, it’s also a factor to consider when you’re performing IP rotation in one way or another, by using proxies or rotating between different VPN servers for example. In these cases, it sometimes takes a little while for the connection to be established. However, sometimes the problem lies not with the client byt with the server itself. For instance, some websites are notorious for their frequent outages due to heavy server loads (e.g. Reddit).
Although this can be due to a lousy internet connection, it’s also a factor to consider when you’re performing IP rotation in one way or another, by using proxies or rotating between different VPN servers for example. In these cases, it sometimes takes a little while for the connection to be established. However, sometimes the problem lies not with the client byt with the server itself. For instance, some websites are notorious for their frequent outages due to heavy server loads (e.g. Reddit). IP-block.
Many websites want to ward off scrapers since they can increase server load (if used aggressively). Other platforms consider scraping as theft and are therefore outright against automated data collection no matter how slow the scraping process. For this reason, many platforms have some kind of bot-detection in place, giving them the ability to block your IP — at least for a little while.
The first two instances call for a classic try-except clause. For instance, while scraping the Metacritic-platform using the well-known Beautifulsoup package, I noticed that most outlets on their review page are represented by logos (usually the more prestigious ones like The New York Times), while others are represented by a simple text attribute.
The following piece of code tries to catch the alternate title of the image (e.g. “The New York Times”) for each available review of a specific product (try). If this results in an error, the script reasons that the outlet must be represented as simple text and subsequently tries to catch the first ‘a’ tag within the review (except). In the end, the outlet is added to our outlet-list, no matter whether the outlet is represented by an image or text (finally).
The latter two causes are a different story. They do not throw an error because you wrongfully assumed a particular page or element exist, but simply because there is some kind of external factor influencing your ability to connect to the web. Most importantly, they represent (possibly) temporary outages: it might be a matter of seconds before your internet connection or the website itself is back up and running and a platform usually lifts the IP-block after you patiently wait for fifteen minutes or so. This asks for a different approach, since throwing an except right away might be too drastic; it’s worth trying again for a couple of times before discarding the whole process. In other words: you need a finite or limited retry-loop.
In this kind of loop, the except will trigger a short pause before executing the try-part again. It will do this until it has exhausted its number of retries. After that, the coder can still choose to either pass to the following chunk of code, throw an error or append some kind of error message and continue with executing the remainder of the script. This last part is crucial, as it differs from a (possibly) infinite while-loop as in the following piece of code:
output = None
while output is None:
try:
#Do the following
except:
pass
This will let your script run in an infinite loop if it’s unable to execute the try-part, which — in a sense — is just as script-breaking as not incorporating the try-part at all.
The most elegant and efficient way of constructing a limited retry-loop is by combining a for-loop, a try-except and the continue statement all in one go. The template looks something like this:
for attempt in range(n):
try:
#Do the following
except:
time.sleep(n2)
continue
else:
break
else:
#Do the following if after n tries the try-part throws an error
The continue-statement combined with the else-clause outside the loop are key here. The continue-statement sends the code back to the beginning of the loop (i.e. the try-part). Before it does that, though, it pauses the script for n2 seconds, giving your internet connection and/or the website a chance to go back online. Let’s call this template the for-catch loop, since the for-try-except-else-else clause doesn’t sound all that catchy.
Using the for-catch loop was a real game-changer for me, especially for avoiding temporary IP-blocks. Let’s go back to the Metacritic (MC)-scraper I mentioned earlier. I collected the review overview pages of around 1000 movies (as an example, here’s the review page of Son of Saul). The aim was to scrape all the reviews (score+outlet) from the 1000 URLs. However, MC isn’t exactly keen on tolerating my scraper on its platform, even though I made sure to include plenty of pauses into my script to avoid sending a thousand requests in a minute or so. But alas, MC ruthlessly blocks your ip from time to time, and it’s impossible to predict when and why a block will be triggered. I tried to use some proxies, but to no avail. So I came up with the following for-catch loop to avoid breaking my script:
So this is what the for-catch loop does in this instance:
Start the first try from range 0–3 (for). Sleep for 10–15 seconds and try to access the Metacritic URL (try) If this doesn’t work (except), display a warning message and let the script sleep somewhere between 4 and 6 minutes. After that, execute the try-part again. Do this until the loop is finished (from range 0–3; so a maximum of four tries or three retries, whatever you want to call it) or until the try-part works. If the connection is successful (else), break the loop. This means the code will execute the last line (i.e. Creating a Beautifulsoup object, the end goal of this loop) If the script was able to complete the entire loop — which is bad news in this case — execute the else clause outside the loop and throw an exception (“Something really went wrong here…I’m sorry.)
Since I scraped the reviews of around thousand movies in total from an equal amount of pages, I really needed a script that I could just execute and go about my day without worrying about the ip blocks it would surely bump into. And this is what the for-catch loop afforded me: a peace of mind. It worked its magic for my MC scraper: the ip-blocks were always lifted after a couple of minutes. For some other platforms I had to experiment and come up with more extreme sleep ranges (e.g. between 10 and 15 minutes), but the for-catch always pulled the trick.
When I showed this to a friend of mine, he was bewildered by the outer else-clause, which actually functions as an except here. The confusion is understandable, since we’re used to interpret else clauses as part of a try-except or if-clause. However, the else-clause behaves similarly as in the aforementioned classic try-except-else-finally structure: the else-clause in that case is also executed when the try-part ‘has runs its course’ (and did not throw an error). Thus, the else-clause is always executed when a for-loop has exhausted its iterations, that’s it. In this case, we obviously hope we can break out of the loop before it ever finishes (i.e. before we used up all our retries).
The for-catch loop has helped me in unexpected ways as well and has often served me as a less time-wasting and script-breaking alternative to the while clause.
Take the following example from a script I wrote for switching between NordVPN servers on Linux or Windows (available on Github right here). Somewhere within the script, I wanted to:
Fetch and display the current ip
Connect to a new server
Fetch and display the new ip
Although this seems simple, the third part can be somewhat tricky for two reasons:
Even after connecting to a new server, it can take a little while (especially on Windows) before you can successfully request your new ip. So if the NordVPN app is still busy switching servers, you’ll get a connection error. At the same time though, you don’t want to perform the new ip-request too early as well, since the odds are relatively high that you’re actually still browsing the web through your old NordVPN server. In that case, you’re you’re just requesting the old ip.
This means we’ll need a for-catch loop with an additional check whether the ip requested is different from the previous ip. Sometimes (again, only on Windows) the NordVPN app gets stuck and you need to reconnect to a different server.
This means we’ll need another for-catch loop.
So essentially we end up with a for-catch loop within another for-catch loop (catch-ception!). The simplified version of the code I actually used looks something like this:
This code snippet avoids an infinite loop, incorporating multiple retries, and at the same time avoids wasting time. The script does a total of 12 retries (see line 17) to fetch a new ip. The first one or two tries will inevitably be too early, resulting in the same ip (new_ip == current_ip) and the script will pause for 5 seconds before retrying. However, as soon as a new ip is successfully requested, the for-catch breaks. If there’s still no new ip after a minute (5 seconds *12), the else clause will let it be (pass, line 30), but than the script gets caught up in another for-catch clause (although I opted for an if-clause instead of an except-catch (see line 31)). If the ip hasn’t changed, the script sleeps for 10 seconds and tries to connect to a new server again (for a maximum of 5 times, see line 14).
I hope I demonstrated the usefulness of the for-catch loop and why it is especially helpful for many web scraper applications. As a more flexible alternative to the while statement, it allows the script a finite number of retries, allowing you to pause the scraping process if necessary and do whatever you want when the script has exhausted its number of retries.
Happy scraping! | https://medium.com/swlh/improve-your-web-scraper-with-limited-retry-loops-python-35e21730cbf5 | ['Kristof Boghe'] | 2020-08-12 15:12:39.685000+00:00 | ['Scraping', 'Beautifulsoup', 'Python', 'Digital Methods', 'Web Scraping'] |
Trading Places: When Did My Kids Start Worrying About Me? | “How are you feeling? Are you sleeping? Do you still have your sense of taste and smell?” Our children try sounding casual. They know their dad and I are social distancing. Nevertheless, I feel their worry.
I am 62 years old, healthy, and fit. I walk, bike, and swim. My doctor says I have the heart of a 20-year old. Still, I’m 62, which inches up my risk of dying-from-Covid-19. Our kids know I’m vital. They also know that people my age and older are succumbing to this illness, which must be forcing them if only subconsciously, to grapple with my mortality.
It’s not unthinkable. My appearance, not to mention my regular, sometimes crippling, bouts of arthritis, could easily suggest that I’m older and more susceptible to illness than I am. My curly hair is snowy white, and my face is prematurely lined from years of sun worship. Despite my athleticism, or maybe because of it, I have two titanium hips and a fused lower spine. Most days — at least before working out — I ache and creak like a rusty machine.
Perhaps I was naïve to think that our kids would take my aging in stride. They always knew that I was older than their friends’ moms. They even applauded my rejection of the cultural pressure to look younger by camouflaging my age: yet, the powerful feminist example I thought I was setting by not coloring my hair, wearing makeup, or squeezing into clothes designed for younger, skinnier bodies may have instead emphasized the age gap between other moms and me, implanting in our kids the tiniest, most subliminal fear of losing me sooner than later.
When our son was eight, his teacher asked if I was his mother or his grandmother. And, our daughter, at age 12, said a friend who’d spotted me at her softball game asked, “Is that your mom? Isn’t she too old to be your mother?” These stories made me cry, but they didn’t attune me to the anxiety about my longevity that our kids may have had.
Only recently have I begun wondering if they see me as elderly. My last orthopedic surgery scared them, and they seem more than a little alarmed whenever I mention needing a routine medical procedure. Although they good-naturedly tease me for speaking too loudly or forgetting things that they’ve said minutes earlier, I sense them digesting the deficits that they’re beginning to notice, like my hearing and memory loss. When I took a spill during a family stroll, our son dove to help me stand as if I were drowning, while our daughter tenderly brushed dirt from my sleeves. Both looked frightened and sad. During a family conversation about the pandemic, I thought it timely to mention the location of my husband’s and my living wills. Our son changed the subject.
Twenty-five years ago, right after my husband and I learned I was pregnant, a friend of ours, a father of two, remarked: “From this moment on, you will never not worry.” He was right. His comment, although foreboding, prepared me for the worrying that I would do from then on. What it didn’t prepare me for was the day our kids would start worrying about me.
Andrea Kott, MPH, a freelance public health writer, is the author of the memoir “Salt on a Robin’s Tail: An Unlikely Jewish Journey Through Childhood, Forgiveness and Hope,” due this month from Blydyn Square Books. | https://medium.com/modern-parent/trading-places-when-did-my-kids-start-worrying-about-me-68ef24778932 | ['Andrea Kott'] | 2020-11-25 04:13:07.529000+00:00 | ['Aging Parents', 'Coronavirus', 'Parenthood', 'Children', 'Motherhood'] |
The Grand Tour | http://thelandy.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/dsc_0221.jpg?w=636 Used with Permission
“To answer your question,” the tour guide said, “it will be necessary to give some background detail.”
Pulling the microphone close to his face and clutching it with both hands as if holding something precious, and leaning toward the passengers, he started, “But because I am just a guide on this bus-tour who you probably believe is in this job because I have few employment options or little specialized knowledge that would qualify me for a high status job in the information economy, you would likely not accept what I have to say.”
Pulling himself upright as if to stand at attention and taking the microphone in his left hand, he shifted his right hand to hold it — open-palmed — over his heart. “So, before I start let me disclose that I am actually the Prime Minister of this exotic country, and I have merely posed as a tour guide to discover what visitors to our homeland want most from their stay in this place.” As he finished this statement he closed his eyes and bowed from the chin toward the tourists — who by now had stopped fiddling with their cellphones and cameras and were fixed on this suddenly-more-interesting guide for what they may have thought would be a lazy afternoon tour.
After a few seconds pause, “Now that you know I am actually a credible source of information I can answer your question, confident that you will take me seriously.”
As the tour-guide-turned-Prime-Minister paused to inhale and relaxed to a contrapposto stance before answering the visitor’s question, another tourist in the dim space near the back of this tour bus cleared her throat and said in a high-pitched voice with an accent native to this place,
“We are members of the opposition in this country. Mister Prime Minister, you have long made us feel like strangers in our own cities, and since you asked for questions and desires for our stay in this beautiful place, we will take the opportunity to present our demands.”
Hearing this, the Prime Minister stiffened, tilting his head slightly and squinting warily as he peered toward the voice. Catching his balance after the bus hit a pothole, he reached up to grab the luggage rail above the seats.
The newly-announced opposition leader slowly stood, still mostly hidden in the shadows, as several other people who were also — only moments ago — merely tourists, produced a 3-ring binder and passed it over to their spokeswoman.
Receiving the binder the spokeswoman for the opposition slowly opened it to the first page and adjusted her glasses. Clearing her throat again with an audible squeak in her voice as the bus hit a pothole in what was otherwise a very smooth road, she started in quick and distinctly enunciated speech.
“We want to be recognized as a legitimate party in perpetual opposition. We want to be able to enter the cameral chambers with messages from those we represent. We don’t actually expect to be influential because we believe that appearances matter and we believe that all developed nations must have an opposition, while this nation has never had one.”
The spokeswoman continued with the list of demands — one statement on each page of the notebook — slowly turning each page and never looking up as she went. Other members of the opposition sat silently, watching the still motionless Prime Minister as she read — transfixed — from the binder.
Finally, the speaker for this newly-announced opposition slowly closed the back cover of the binder, passed it to another individual, then pulled off her glasses and folded them deliberately before looking up at the Prime Minister — hands at her sides as if waiting in a queue with others for bread at a local bakery the bus had just passed.
After a few very long minutes of silence while the bus decelerated to navigate a series of hairpin turns on bluffs overlooking a calm bay leading to the open ocean, the Prime Minister pulled the microphone back to his face, and spoke in a voice becoming of a Prime Minister, “I have been eagerly awaiting this day and have taken this job as a tour guide just so strangers and newcomers to our country who were so far without a voice could bring to me their questions and expectations. I agree with you that all important countries must have an opposition and I welcome you to our system of government. I hereby accept all of your demands expect the one granting access to the cameral chambers.”
As the bus swerved sharply to the right to pull into the parking lot from which it had started, members of the suddenly-official but yet unnamed opposition murmured animatedly among themselves. The bus lurched to a stop at the curb at the end of the planned tour — a small compound that doubled as a souvenir stand and picnic barbecue restaurant.
While passengers on the tour rose to exit the bus, still murmuring excitedly to their compatriots, the Prime Minister returned to his role as tour guide, cautioning the exiting passengers to collect their belongings and to use care as they stepped down the narrow stairway off the bus.
Departing passengers who were now also aspiring-political-actors collected in groups just outside the bus, posing for photos with the new opposition leader, all smiling broadly in a warm and welcoming manner particular to residents of this place, giving enthusiastic thumbs-up and Churchillian V-for-victory gestures.
Last to exit were the only two authentic tourists — previously seated on the last bench of the tour bus — squinting as they emerged from the darkened interior, slowly descending to the parking lot into blindingly clear sunshine at this dawning of a new day for politics in this exotic place.
After landing with a jolt on the last and longest step to the pavement, the first tourist turned to help his companion as she followed down. They adjusted their shoulder bags and pulled their cellphones from their pockets to take a few snapshots as they limped across the lot toward the well- marked public facilities.
Turning to her companion, she mused “Quite a lovely place, don’t you think?”
“Indeed,” nodding in her direction as he scrolled through the cellphone photos he had taken on the bus ride. “We were fortunate to get seats on this bus. We should find out what tour company everyone else was with. They seemed to have things very well organized.” Holding his camera to his companion, he pointed to a photo of the Prime-Minister at the front of the bus, “And they planned for entertainment as well!”
They parted to visit their respective destinations as the smell of barbecue began filling the parking lot, still unaware that they had just received what was perhaps the best introduction imaginable to the inner workings of this aspiring and newly-modern paradise, on what turned out to be the most curious example of a party-bus, ever encountered. | https://medium.com/microcosm/https-images-duckduckgo-com-iu-u-http-3a-2f-2ftoysoftimespast-com-2fwp-content-2fuploads-2f2013-4506bc1c8dc8 | ['Don Winiecki'] | 2015-11-12 16:19:55.895000+00:00 | ['Flash Fiction', 'Politics', 'Tour Bus'] |
How the Soviets Used Child Labour to Produce Weapons | How the Soviets Used Child Labour to Produce Weapons
PPD-40 submachine guns being assembled by young girls 1944
In 1944 the tide of the Second World War(WWII) had changed in the Eastern Front, the Soviet Union had to dedicate all of its assets and delegate all of its human resources in order to commit to the biggest offensive attack of WWII. It was time to push back the Axis and bring the fight to their doorstep, but for this to happen the Soviet Union would require an enormous armament for all of its ten million soldiers. All of the men capable to fight were sent on the front. It is imperative to mention that the Soviet Union was the only nation that allowed women to fight in the Second World War (direct combat).
This meant that the only human resources which could contribute to the war production of the Soviet Union were children. How old you may asl? Old enough for them to screw a bolt, from the research done by some Soviet historians from the Cold War era the average age for a child working in a weapon factory during the Second World War was around ten years of age. You may also ask if these children were forced into child labor and to that, I say that it is the predicament that was forcing them rather than any specific person. If they worked, they got food, if they didn’t then they would have starved to death.
The Red Army in 1944
After the battle of Stalingrad where the tide of the war had changed, many had volunteered to join the Red Army in order to stop the fascists once and for all. In fact, so many people volunteered that the Soviet Union simply did not have enough weapons to supply to all the soldiers. Until late 1944, many battles led to a soldier being offered a rifle and a second soldier being offered bullets for the rifle. The orders were simple, follow the soldier with the rifle until he dies, upon his death take his rifle and continue fighting.
Red Army marching out of Stalingrad in 1944 (Source: Rare Historical Photos)
Some historians refer to the Red Army from 1944 as the “unarmed army” for the lack of weapon supplies. With so many volunteers for the Red Army, the weapon production had slowed down and there were not many viable solutions rather than having all the children work to produce and assemble weapons. Most of the weapons of the Soviet Union such as the Mosin Nagant rifle and the PPD-40 submachine gun were easy to assemble, some may say as easy as a child’s play.
Production of weapons and ammunition
A big majority of the child labor in war production was occupied with the assembly of weapons and the production of ammunition (mainly packaging the ammunition). They were treated just like any other factory worker at the time. They would enter their first day, be offered an induction on how to work on a certain point from the production line, and from there it was just intensive labor. War had taken away everything for some of these children, their homes, families, and even parents, therefore, this was the only way that they could fight against the fascists.
Old worker checking the weapons produced by children in Leningrad factory 1944 (Source: Rare Historical Photos)
Child labor in the war industry had begun in 1943, due to the lack of personal it became mainstream in 1944. Surprisingly, these children had become quite efficient at their jobs, so efficient that you can argue that they contributed to the abundance of weapon supplies at the end of the war. The children would not be given a wage but they were offered food and shelter (especially those that had lost their family in the war).
You need to realize that most children in the Soviet Union did not have an easy upbringing because of the poor conditions, therefore, they were in a way built for hard labor. During the famine before the Second World War, these same children were forced to work in the fields for the same reason which is their predicament, it was either work for food or death due to starvation. But for the children doing hard labor in the war industry during the Second World War, it was much more than that.
A soviet child working on mechanic steel drill during WWII (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
It was a way for these children to have their revenge for all that they had lost. Indeed, some of them were too young to understand exactly what was going on, still, they weren’t stupid. It is within our human nature to tell friend from foe.
Children of War
These are what we call children of war, this is the true meaning of an unfair life, having everything taken away from you at a young age and forced (by circumstances) to work hard labor when you should be playing. At the same time, these children were well educated in the sense that they would not refuse work but accept it for what it was, they knew that they were contributing towards the Allied victory of the Second World War.
Homeless Children Sleeping (1920) (Source: Russian State Film & Photo Archive at Krasnogorsk)
This was not the first time that the children of the Soviet Union had to suffer from hard labor or other living predicaments. The Great War (WWI) had left some children in a grim life where they had lost everything and the Soviet communist government had no mercy on them. Just take a look at this image of homeless children sleeping on the colds streets with no possessions nor families. All they had was working for a piece of bread that they would praise more than anything in this world.
Little would these children know that when they were older they would have children of their own who would experience a similar fate. A senseless war that is mostly impactful on children. | https://historyofyesterday.com/how-the-soviets-used-child-labour-to-produce-weapons-47348bc6ee7e | ['Andrei Tapalaga'] | 2020-12-15 21:02:51.957000+00:00 | ['Child Labour', 'History', 'World War II', 'Parenting', 'Children'] |
Fixing stuff around yourself | As I am living bachelor for the last 3 years, there is only a single room, where I eat, read, study, sleep, and do many couples of things there. and there are some laziness, which is increasing day by day, and surprisingly most of us don’t know, where it is come from, because we neglect small things around us, which need to change. But we can’t deny that Every little change you make adds up to a big difference that is easier to stick in the long-run. so that’s the reason we are not focused on our goal.
Messy Room
Unorganised Table
As you can see messed up stuff around, the laptop, charger, bottles, blanket and so many which should be at their place. As soon as I open my eyes in the morning, what I see? these messed up stuff. and what happens? my mind becomes messed up instead of getting calm. and I can’t focus on particular things where I need to be. I don’t feel like getting out of bed. because the environment doesn’t give me a calm reflection. our thoughts are a reflection of what we see, these visuals then make up for perception, which ultimately leads to what we believe.
Organised and Clean Room
Organised Table
After fix up all the stuff at their places, it looks like an organised place, when I see all the stuff at their places, I feel very calm, now I can easily find things around me, which saves my time. When your surrounding becomes a peaceful and ordered place with no clutter around, you will feel less stressed and less distracted. now I can experience a change in my life in just a couple of hours, it seems like I organised my mind by fixing up all the things. I feel very good. now i will practice this activity each day. | https://medium.com/@sagardembla39/fixing-stuff-around-yourself-a8764014f88b | [] | 2020-12-24 20:50:38.335000+00:00 | ['Amal Academy', 'Amal Fellowship', 'Cleaning', 'Calm'] |
Are you creating the life that you want for yourself? | The sun rises over Grouse Mountain
This morning I woke up at 5am, had a shower and a quick breakfast, and drove with two friends to Mt. Seymour, a 20 minute drive from Vancouver.
It was the first window of sunshine in the last two weeks, a glorious day with bright blue skies and 30cm of fresh powder snow.
As we hiked up the mountain, getting higher and higher, I could see the fog that had enveloped the city was still there, in fact it was still there when we came down later in the day.
I was struck by the idea that if I had stayed in bed, I might have woken up, figured it was a crappy day and decided to just stay at home, therefore missing out on the magic of a bluebird day.
I recorded a video about half way up and I remember saying how lucky I felt to live in a place with such easy access to experiences like this.
And then I remembered.
I CREATED THIS.
I made a decision to move myself halfway around the world, for the specific reason that I wanted to live close to the ocean and close to the mountains.
Let’s go back in time for a minute. I knew I wanted to live in Vancouver 15 YEARS AGO. For 15 years a voice in my head has been saying “you know you are going to end up there, when are you going to make the decision and actually go?”
For 15 years I ignored my intuition. My calling. My inner wisdom. And then I answered the call.
It hasn’t been easy. In fact is has been a serious challenge, for many reasons. But it has ALWAYS felt right.
Adventure runs deep in my veins, yet living in London, the adventure was simply getting out of the city. For me to go climbing or hiking or kayaking was at least a 4 hour drive. And I did it most weekends.
Now, in Vancouver, I see mountains every day. I can ski after work on the local hills, of which Seymour is one. I have ample, world class climbing options right on my doorstep.
I created this. AND I created my misery in London by not taking action.
As I walked with my friends through this incredible winter wonderland this morning, I was transported into another world. A world filled with magic, wonder and awe, a world where whiskey jack birds come and land on your hand, of eagles and ravens, of views that pictures and words simply cannot do justice to, I caught myself not acknowledging that I created this.
And I stopped. And I acknowledged. And it took my breath away.
The decision to come to Vancouver.
The decision to change careers into something that felt aligned.
The decision to risk everything for what felt right.
The decision to take on the challenge of digging into my shit and finding, for the first time in my life a way through it.
I created this.
I created opportunity from nothing.
I created fulfilment from depression.
I created magic in my own life and in the lives of the people I worked with this year
I created a schedule that supports the lifestyle I want to live.
I created a business that supports the lifestyle I want to have and the impact I want to have.
I created this.
Where in your life is your life creating you?
Where in your life is your situation dictating your decisions?
Where in your life are your circumstances controlling your reality?
How are YOU creating this?
The truth is YOU have the power. YOU have the control. YOU get to decide. | https://medium.com/@tom-lancaster/are-you-creating-the-life-that-you-want-for-yourself-17ef6d2b672 | ['Tom Lancaster'] | 2020-12-17 20:33:22.442000+00:00 | ['Leadership', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Adventure', 'Consciousness', 'Coaching'] |
TV Review: ‘The Boys’ Are Back In Town For Season Two | In July of last year, before all the horrors of 2020 were unleashed on the world, Amazon released a little show called The Boys. Extreme violence, dark humour, and a subversion of the superhero genre made the show an instant hit and one of the tentpole shows for Amazon Prime. Since its release, The Boys has had everyone clamouring for more, making the second season’s release last month a much-needed bit of good news. But did it live up to the hype? For the most part, yes.
Season two picks up pretty much exactly where season one left off, with Billy Butcher’s (Karl Urban) dramatic discovery that his wife is still alive and raising her and Homelander’s child, as well as the introduction of super-terrorists. From there, things just keep escalating, with the introduction of new characters like Kimiko’s brother Stormfront, and a whole roster of new ‘heroes’, making the Boys’ job of bringing Vought and the Seven down just that bit harder.
One of the best things about the first season of The Boys was how it shook things up in the superhero genre, which up to that point, had quickly become oversaturated with content. The show’s satire of iconic superheroes like Superman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman, as well as mega-corporations like Disney, helped make the show so good in its first season. This only gets better in the second run, with several scenes in the show being borderline self-aware and on the nose. The showrunners know what audiences liked in season one, and are happy to deliver more of the same by the truckload. Perhaps one of the best in-jokes this series was the casting of former X-Men star Shawn Ashmore as the pyrotechnic superhero Lamplighter, showing just how far the writers are willing to go to satirise this genre.
But while superhero satire is still a common theme this season, it actually isn’t the thing the show pokes the most fun at — that would be America. Season one certainly made fun of the nation and its political system more than once, but season two takes it the whole nine yards. This could be something that gets boring quickly, and a lazy way to appear woke, but thanks to talented writing, it is anything but. Things like the influence of corporations and organisations like Vought or The Church of the Collective in political matters, as well as their exemption from taxes, give us a not-so-fun-house mirror look at many corrupt institutions in not just the US, but all over the world.
Antony Starr’s Homelander is perhaps one of the best aspects of the series, with Starr giving one of the most engaging performances seen on television recently in season two, as Homelander’s character becomes less a pinnacle of how bad a superhero can be, but rather someone who exists in shades of grey. As with many of the characters, Homelander is a victim of a greedy corporation, and on several occasions you can’t help but feel sorry for the guy. At times he seems like a decent person, especially scenes with his son Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), and others he’ll be getting frisky with a Nazi, with this back and forth being consistently interesting. In short, Antony Starr is long overdue an Emmy.
“A common issue with many sophomore seasons where they introduce several new characters is that some, old and new, will slip into the background in wasted performances and potential. Thankfully, this is an issue that The Boys doesn’t suffer from… mostly.”
While Homelander is undoubtedly the central villain of the show, he takes a backseat when it comes to being the big bad for season two. That honour goes to Aya Cash’s meme-generating, lightning-throwing fascist, Stormfront. A newcomer to the show, Stormfront is the newest member of The Seven, but soon pushes herself up the hierarchy, creating an interesting dynamic between her and Homelander. Cash gives an amazing performance — it’s easy to hate this character even before her villainous origins are revealed. But considering recent events, the depiction of Stormfront as a Nazi looks like a decision made in poor taste.
Following on from the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests, certain scenes with this new character are uncomfortable, unnecessary, and take away from real events. During the reveal of Stormfront’s origin, we learn she ‘mis-profiled’ a black man for having stolen a car, and subsequently beats the man to death in front of his sister. Yes, it’s an effective way of making us quickly hate this character, but it harms the actual narrative by replacing the actions of racist cops with that of fictional superheroes. This scene could easily have been cut and we still would have known that Stormfront was evil.
A common issue with many sophomore seasons where they introduce several new characters is that some, old and new, will slip into the background in wasted performances and potential. Thankfully, this is an issue that The Boys doesn’t suffer from… mostly. Both characters old and new are given meaningful development, with most getting a chance to hit emotional beats, particularly Tomer Kapon’s Frenchie and Karen Fukuhara’s The Female, as well as Dominique McElligott’s Queen Maeve. Over season two’s eight-episode run, we get to see much more emotional sides of Frenchie and The Female, whose blossoming relationship is one of few sweet moments in the show. As for Queen Maeve, it was great to see her redemption arc from season one continuing here, making her one of few superheroes you actually want to root for, and definitely the MVP of this season. Even characters like the mute Black Noir are given more time to shine, something I’m sure many fans are happy to see.
One of the most controversial things about The Boys season two was the decision to have a week-by-week episode release, rather than the usual season dump. Many were frustrated by this, resulting in a review-bombing campaign when the first episode dropped. A great many people think this was a ploy by Amazon to get more money, but when asked by Collider, The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke said “For the record, it didn’t come from Amazon. It came from the producers…we’re the ones who pitched them” and after finishing season two, the decision is understandable. While season one had a clear overarching main plot, there wasn’t one to be found here. Each episode is, for the most part, its own self-contained story, meaning that waiting for a week for a new episode isn’t particularly torturous. This lack of direction clearly has its drawbacks early in the season, but thankfully, the latter half really picks up with some of the best episodes of the show.
With Marvel and DC content a distant memory at this point, The Boys is a great fix of all that superhero content we have been missing, whilst also being a darkly funny subversion of what we’re used to.
Both seasons of The Boys are available on Amazon Prime.
Words by George Bell | https://medium.com/the-indiependent/tv-review-the-boys-are-back-in-town-for-season-two-bf479e5a0675 | ['George Bell'] | 2020-10-17 16:22:07.043000+00:00 | ['Culture', 'Television', 'Entertainment', 'Superhero', 'TV'] |
Not All Transitions Have the Same End Goal | Not All Transitions Have the Same End Goal
Cis people, please learn that not all transitions mean having “the surgery,” and stop calling it that!
Most of the time, for both of our faults, I and my father don’t really talk. Ever since I’ve come out as trans, we have periods of silence, superficial peace, and then the dreaded “trans talk” which starts the whole cycle over again. Unfortunately for me, we skipped from silence to the talk, and as I lied on my squishy comforter, I wasn’t feeling very… comforted. I’d been on HRT for about a month at that point, and since I’m lucky enough to be on his insurance, he saw it on the bill and asked me about it and my gender identity. Or, should I say, he tried to confirm his suspicions that I wanted to be a woman and was lying to him about being nonbinary so I wouldn’t confirm what I think is his worst fear.
Photo by Arteum.ro on Unsplash
“I call it like I see it,” says my dad, the phone tinnily spitting out the words I’m grateful I didn’t have to confront in person. “It just seems like, even though you say you’re not, that you want to become a woman. It appears that you’re doing everything in your power to not be masculine, and trying to be perceived as feminine.” I honestly was in shock. I know I sound like a dramatic, entitled trans person (which I suppose I am to a certain extent) that expects everyone to understand every nuance about the trans community and will shame them publicly if they don’t. However, let me just add that I’ve come out to him over 5 times and have explained the difference between gender and sex in relation to myself and other people 3 times. It’s this cis-conception (ba dum tss) of what transitioning is and what being trans means that makes me frustrated and honestly, pitying if anything.
Just because someone is presenting more femininely and doing feminine things, it has no bearing on their gender identity. I explained to him in the simplest and somewhat problematic terms a hypothetical about someone who is a woman, but dresses masculinely, looks masculine, and has all masculine hobbies. I asked him “if this person was a butch lesbian,” (I didn’t throw cis in because it may have made it more confusing) “wouldn’t you agree that they’re still a woman?” He did agree, but like a lot of cis people, he just couldn’t apply it to being nonbinary. He assumed that every transition is the same, with the person jumping from one binary letter to another: MtF or FtM.
Photo by Frederick Medina on Unsplash
A transition doesn’t necessarily have an “end goal” of looking cis, changing one’s genitals, or even taking any hormones. I went through this right after, trying not to lose my patience. Basically, I said, “Some people might just change pronouns. Other people might choose to undergo hormone therapy, and some might want surgeries. Transitions don’t necessarily involve all of the components that could go into a transition, since it’s about feeling comfortable. I’d feel comfortable on HRT.” Basically, after this, he just implied that because I wanted to go on feminizing hormones, I wanted to be a woman and that’s that, despite my protestation.
The thing that annoys me about conversations like this with some cis people, besides the standard questions like “well what surgeries do you want?” is the tone of the conversation. So many people say “I’m just trying to understand,” but don’t listen to any of my explanations. I can understand that my first explanations of my gender were vague and confusing, ranging from “I don’t know” to “I’m just somewhere in the middle, I don’t know” (which is honestly perfectly valid). What many people seem to do is just try to get you to admit that you conform to their own preconceived notions. Since my dad, for example, believes that transition and trans people are only binary, he doesn’t take into account my hour-long explanations about the differences between sex and gender and how nonbinary people… literally exist. Instead, it’s like he’s waiting to speak, ready to springboard off my last sentence and ask a thinly veiled question that implies that I’m lying to him about being NB and that I just want to be a woman. It’s this unwillingness to understand that I either don’t think he gets and don’t think he cares about.
Transitions are not linear, and even if I did “want to be a woman,” it’s none of your business unless I say it is. I do give him credit for doing some trans research, but it obviously seems like he hasn’t done enough if he would rather wait to prove me wrong about my own identity than listen to my authentic experiences. It’s an extremely vulnerable topic that I’m basically desensitized to at this point, but regardless that vulnerability should be respected. If you’re going to interrogate me about my transition, you need to actually listen to me and other trans people when we dispel your ill-informed and outdated misconceptions about my community.
I don’t have some nefarious “endgame” of being a woman, and even if I did, why is that an issue? Gender is not something that’s cut and dry or even needs to be understood by someone else. I already specified what pronouns I want to be referred to with, and that should be enough until the next time I change it again (if I decide to do so). It saddens me because I really do want to have a better relationship with him. I don’t think our relationship is unfixable like a lot of other people, but seeing his discomfort at not understanding me and how he tries to force his own misconceptions onto me instead of actually being open to communication is what hurts. I just wish that instead of focusing on what kind of “trans agenda” I have, he’d just focus on not needing to understand and instead put that energy into actually trying to have healthy communication with me. | https://medium.com/an-injustice/not-all-transitions-have-the-same-end-goal-15dcc7bc788f | ['Stella Luna', 'They She'] | 2020-12-06 17:19:45.826000+00:00 | ['Communication', 'Family', 'Relationships', 'LGBTQ', 'Transgender'] |
APEX Supernode Candidate Selections | Supernode Candidates, ongoing efforts & reimbursement continuation
It should be noted that each and every Community Supernode Candidate will be expected to maintain a certain level of activity and ongoing support for the project, as their efforts up to this point forms a large part of the basis for why they have been selected. This is not solely for the benefit of APEX Network, but will be a requirement to maintain support and garner the votes necessary from the community of CPX holders to retain active production status in the future.
Every Supernode Candidate will be receive a special “Supernode Candidate” tag in the main and tech support chat.
Supernode Candidates will receive continued reimbursement for their hardware rental costs until further notice. Reimbursement would naturally halt before or close to the start of the staking on the mainnet. | https://medium.com/apex-network/apex-supernode-candidate-selections-858f6db85dbf | ['Apex Team'] | 2020-01-15 11:01:17.594000+00:00 | ['AI', 'Technology', 'Blockchain', 'Big Data'] |
Instinctive Human action is guided, driven by inherent “self-love” | Question from the Internet:
“What guides human action?”
By default, Human action is guided, driven by instinctive “self-love”.
All our thoughts, desires, intentions, and actions are centered around the self. With our inherently egocentric, subjective perception we feel ourselves in the center of the Universe, consciously, unconsciously expecting the whole system to serve us.
Even religious people when they pray, they lament their own sad, bad, intolerable state and expect an omnipotent, higher force to solve their problems and make their situation better.
And as we gradually evolved into a fully integrated, interdependent world — which is an evolutionary necessity in Nature’s fully integrated, interdependent system — our instinctive “self-love” makes us behave, exist like cancer.
The only way to escape a seemingly inevitable cancerous self-destruction on a global scale is learning how to “love others” according to the ancient, archaic and symbolic principle of “love your neighbor as yourself”. This is actually neither religious, nor mystical but this principle describes how diverse, seemingly incompatible elements of a closed, living natural system — like Humanity — can survive, and optimally develop. | https://medium.com/@samechphoto/instinctive-human-action-is-guided-driven-by-inherent-self-love-aa63bd2ddd3e | ['Zsolt Hermann'] | 2020-12-19 21:26:40.917000+00:00 | ['Survival', 'Crisis', 'Self', 'Connection', 'Love'] |
Strategy, not self-expression: Why giving feedback is a sales conversation | When someone says they are open to feedback, it does not mean you should share all of your frustrations.
Contrary to popular belief, this is not your chance to express how you feel.
A feedback conversation is actually a sales conversation. To empathize with what matters to them. Then craft your message around that.
It’s a chance to understand what is most likely to motivate the specific person you’re speaking with.
In other words, it’s an opportunity for behavior change.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Should I say this? Will it hurt or help?”, the below framework will help you answer that question.
“Is this strategy or self expression?”
This is one of my favorite and most often used frameworks. I use it for casual feedback conversations, formal feedback conversations, and beyond that, any time I want to encourage positive behavior.
Before you speak, ask yourself, “Is this strategy or self-expression?”
Strategy means only saying things that get you closer to changing the person’s behavior. You should only say things that you strongly believe will incentivize the other person to change in the right direction. Strategy is probably 10% of what you initially want to say.
Self-expression is venting, having the last word, or trying to teach someone a lesson. It includes trying to prove you’re right and wanting the person to feel remorse. Anything that isn’t 100% going to encourage the person to improve goes in the self-expression bucket.
Whenever I deviate from strategy-and let myself veer into self-expression territory—I instantly regret it.
How to focus on strategy, not self-expression
First, mentally forgive the person. Do what it takes so when you’re in the actual conversation, you bring a positive (or at least neutral) energy.
Get any pent up emotions out of your system by talking to your spouse, friend, or therapist.
Ultimately, the energy you bring will set the tone for the conversation. Your recipient will be much more likely to hear you when they feel you have good intent. So bathe in your good intent, so it comes through in your body language, facial expressions, content, and tone of voice.
Second, identify what is most likely to motivate an individual to change in the way you want them to change. Think about what you were about to say. Then trim 90% of that because it’s probably self-expression, not strategy.
Third, say only the 10% that will actually change behavior. When you’re in the actual conversation, anytime you’re about to say something, use the litmus test: “Is what I’m about to say strategy or self-expression?”
Self-expression is why most feedback conversations fail
The reason many feedback conversations go awry is because you think this is a chance to express yourself.
After all, you’ve probably been annoyed with this person’s behavior for a while. You secretly want them to know how they’ve made your life harder. And you feel justified in speaking up. You feel like you have a moral high ground.
When you sit across from the person, you unload all your frustration onto them.
The recipient feels hurt, angry, defensive, and resentful.
But they have no idea what to do differently in the future. More importantly, they don’t feel motivated to change.
So the whole conversation—and all the emotional anxiety on both sides—was wasted.
Keep your eyes on the prize
What is the prize? The prize is behavior change. Sweet, sweet behavior change.
Conversations are a mechanism for behavior change.
When you view conversation as a mechanism for behavior chance, you can now be much more strategic about what to say. The “strategy or self-expression” framework helps you stay focused on aiming for behavior change.
As a feedback giver, we sometimes forget to align what we say with our overall goal of changing behavior.
When giving hard feedback, most of us focus on our own feelings. We don’t think about how the other person might receive the news.
The minute your recipient gets defensive, it becomes a lot harder to undo the defensiveness and get them to accept what you’re saying. So the trick is: don’t trigger the defensiveness in the first place.
Focus solely on getting closer to the behavior you want to see
Even when you are someone’s boss, you have to sell them on your idea. Even to your spouse, your family, your friends.
“Selling” someone on an idea is the most generous thing you can do.
“But Wes,” you say, “They are close friends and family. Why do I have to empathize and think about it from their perspective and do all that extra work? Why can’t I just be myself?”
Because we are all a little petty and sensitive deep down inside. You and me included. It’s worth it to empathize with our friends and family. They deserve your best behavior too. And ultimately, helping the people closest to you feel seen and heard will improve almost everything you do. | https://medium.com/@weskao/giving-feedback-is-a-sales-conversation-8bf9346b1ec0 | ['Wes Kao'] | 2020-06-14 18:12:33.201000+00:00 | ['Sales', 'Leadership', 'Communication', 'Marketing', 'Startup'] |
Solidity Fundamentals | Unsigned math operations should be carefully examined. There are some scenarios that need to be watched for as they can cause havoc in production, for instance, multiplication of two unsigned integers can cause overflow, or subtraction of two unsigned integers can result in underflow.
Later in the contract security section, we will handle these type of scenarios using open source libraries like Open Zeppelin’s SafeMath. | https://medium.com/coinmonks/solidity-fundamentals-1fb0e6b3b607 | ['Ferdi Kurt'] | 2020-12-16 17:15:29.811000+00:00 | ['Cryptocurrency', 'Ethereum', 'Smart Contracts', 'Blockchain', 'Programming'] |
Not Woman of the year, Human of the Year 2020 | Credits: The Guardian.
Congrats, Katie Porter. Once again, we realize that language is more effective when we use through mind and sense.
When the years pass, I realize better why I’m not too fond of Mathematics; also, my brain is not working in that part. Actually, the real reason is that which I found, number or figures whatever we say, it seems not adequate to indicate the whole picture to me. When we use the numbers, I feel that we are reducing life to numbers. Because the numbers also were a part of a questionable area for me. That is the reason why I do not associate with the figures and plurality to within my brain. However, this video demonstrates to me how we use mathematics to create meaning of it.
Quotes of the speech
Katie Porter: ‘‘Dr Redfield, I hope that the answer is heavily on you because this going to weigh very heavily.’’
Dr Redfield: ‘‘I think you are excellent questioner. My answer is yes. ’’
Porter’s attitude is crucial every aspect of life; we need to use this attitude on other issues a global and regional scale. I am not willing to race pains but when we consider a lot of problems that have been ignored for a long time as our agenda is open to manipulate in terms of strategy, accounts applied by governments, countries and media. In particular, we remain silent for the pain of some geography. There are children, people, stories are growing under the war for years. What are we going to do them? As we know, some topics become invisible as the agenda changes both nationally and globally; therefore, people are getting stuck in this dilemmas, I hope Porter’s attitude guides us… | https://medium.com/@aslihan-atalar/not-woman-of-the-year-human-of-the-year-2020-18d48fb40578 | ['Aslıhan Atalar'] | 2020-03-16 14:01:28.493000+00:00 | ['Médium', 'Katie Porter', 'Medium Turkish'] |
What is it REALLY like living in New York City?? | Living in NYC
I moved to the city straight out of college. I’v been here for almost 4 years now, and still fall in love with it every day. It was very easy to adapt to the city and feel at home.
Depending on your industry, it can of course be very competitive, but there are so many jobs available here.
It’s really easy to adapt. There are definitely a lot of smells, grime, noise and overall stimulation. If you get overwhelmed by stuff like that, then just use it as a growing experience for patience.
It’s also fairly easy to meet people and get connected, you just have to be proactive about it.
Apartments
Apartments are a big thing. Not knowing your budget or where your office would be, it’s hard to come up with concrete suggestions. You can definitely find a place on the Upper East Side or Upper West Side, etc. for $1300–1700 w/ roommates.
The further out you go the cheaper it is. There are corners of Queens and Brooklyn where you can find $800–1000 accommodations, but you you’re sacrificing a social life and life quality for sure.
This is an amazing city and there is no place on earth like it. I still get that “rush” feeling when I’m walking down a busy street and look up and see an iconic building and think “dang, I get to live here.” | https://medium.com/@emilysm/living-in-nyc-5e5cad50ecaf | ['Emily Smith'] | 2020-03-03 06:24:52.687000+00:00 | ['NYC'] |
What Does Being A Woman Look Like | Thee Quest-Moment in time
What Does Being A Woman Look Like
We often try to fit a specific look-even one we are not
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Thee Quest-Daily Food For Thought
Thee Quest is all about people's stories. I am Trans and being a woman inside a man’s body demands that I look more and more like a woman.
What image do I want to project is often not at all what my feelings of being a woman are in reality.
The following is a story I read this day from a good friend on my mind. Does it remind me of how often we try and project something that only others want to see?
Thank you Bridget Webber for this “Food For Thought Moment”. | https://medium.com/theequest/what-does-being-a-woman-look-like-6b4e5e61e7d2 | ['Pierre Trudel'] | 2020-12-16 15:16:10.341000+00:00 | ['Love Yourself', 'Theequest', 'Womens Health', 'Women In Business', 'Womens Rights'] |
Apple’s first budget-friendly iPhone | Apple’s iPhone SE has been out for almost 10 weeks now and I have been using it and enjoying it, but there seems to be a lot of people that are disappointed with it and don’t really understand why people would buy this phone. So in this article, I’m going to share our thoughts on the iPhone SE after two weeks of use, as well as trying to help us understand why this phone is actually a really great phone for a lot of people.
Now, that is what adds incredible value to the iPhone SE. So with the iPhone SE you’re getting the best chip available. Great camera quality for the price. And don’t forget due to its glass back the SE also gets wireless charging, unlike most budget-friendly android handset makers. And those are the reasons why we think there’s going to be so many people upgrading from older iPhones like the iPhone 6, 6s, 7 and 8 to this iPhone. And not only that, but we expect a lot of people who would usually buy a budget Android phone to choose the iPhone SE instead because of those features that we mentioned. And don’t just take my word for it. It’s already being reported that many Android users are switching over to the iPhone SE which is a really good sign for Apple. Now, the other reason why I think Android users are choosing to go with the iPhone SE is that instead of only getting software support for two years, you actually get five years of updates with the SE. And how do I know this? Well, IOS 13 is Apple’s current software that’s running on their latest iPhones.
Would you guys want to see this concept repeated by Android handset makers? If Samsung was like, hey, Galaxy S7 seven with Snapdragon eight sixty five in it, would you buy that one day?
And if you take a look at the compatibility list, it actually supports the iPhone 6s, which was released in 2015. Yep, that’s five years ago. So if you buy this iPhone S.E right now, you can bet that you’ll be getting the latest security updates and new features through 2025. And that’s what really makes this a great choice for consumers seeking a budget smartphone. And for those people who usually just buy used phones, we believe the iPhone SE just killed the used market as well. Looking at the iPhone 8, which was priced at seven $700 or £700, brand new, after two and a half years of use and being in good condition, it sells for $300. So why would you buy that instead of just paying £400 for the brand new iPhone SE that has a much better camera processor and a new battery that lasts even longer than on a new iPhone 8 because of the efficiency improvements that come with the A13 chip? We’re talking about 20 to 25% more screen on time. So those are the reasons why the iPhone SE really makes sense to buy. And now I want to get into the things that I really enjoyed about the SE.
First off, the small size really feels great in the hand. So it’s really nice and compact. And the UI was incredibly quick and responsive. Because of that chip. We could play basically any game on it with amazing graphics, but it definitely wasn’t as great of an experience since the display is so much smaller than the iPhone 11 Pro Max , which were used to the speakers, sounded surprisingly good for a phone this size and the Touch ID button was really quick and responsive. So it’s great for those who don’t like Face ID. Overall, It gives you a really great and reliable experience, especially thanks to IOS which will make the iPhone SC feel quick and powerful for years, now of course, we don’t think anyone who already has an iPhone with Face ID should downgrade because you’re going back to that small square display. But we recommend anyone with a Touch ID iPhone to upgrade because of the processor, the camera and the incredibly good price. Hopefully, you guys enjoyed racing this article and maybe you might buy the iPhone SE because of this.
Written by Hassan Jamshaid | https://medium.com/macoclock/apples-first-budget-friendly-iphone-c3ab20faf8c7 | ['Hassan Jamshaid'] | 2020-07-08 05:25:11.438000+00:00 | ['Iphone Se', 'iPhone', 'New Iphone', '2020', 'Iphonese2'] |
Top 10 Online Business Ideas | Online business continues to grow at double-digit rates. According to E-Marketer, there was a 24.8% increase in 2017 over the previous year.
As online business continues to take a bigger brick of the traditional retail market, this is a good time to get your online business ideas up and running. And 47.3% of the world population is expected to buy online in 2018. And as more people use E-Commerce, customers will be looking for new and innovative online business ideas to make the experience even better.
While the technology and price point will achieve parity in which there will be little differentiation, customer experience will play a very important role in an online business.
Online businesses where customer experience becomes the priority will see more people clicking on their E-Commerce stores.
Blogger
Blogging is a usable business opportunity that allows you to choose a niche that really suits you. And you can make money through advertising, affiliate links, info products or any number of other avenues.
Online Course Creator
Nowadays, Most of the people are active on social media and people like to know about online courses for time-saving. You can also share your knowledge with people online by creating your courses and selling them on your website.
Social Media Manager
If you’re social media experts, you can offer your services to brands that want help managing their social media accounts on a daily basis.
Business Coach
If you have a fair amount of business expertise, you can offer to consult or coaching services to clients and communicate with them via video chat apps like Skype.
SEO Consultant
You can also offer a more specialized type of service like SEO for businesses that want to improve the chances of their websites showing up in search results.
YouTube Personality
For those entrepreneurs who are comfortable in front of the camera, you can start your own YouTube channel like cooking, Educational, Memes/Tags, etc. and earn revenue through ad shares.
Online Advertising Specialist
If you’ve got some knowledge about online advertising options, you can offer your services to businesses that want to use online ads to promote their offerings.
App Developer
If you have a lot of technical knowledge about mobile apps, you can build a business as an app developer for clients or you can even build your own app to sell.
Travel Consultant
Travel agents aren’t as popular as they once were. But you can still build a business as an online travel consultant to help customers and groups find the best achievable deals on travel options.
Video Ad Creator
You can also specialize in working with clients that need help creating top video ads to appear on YouTube or other online platforms.
These business ideas are very helpful for the people who want to start their own business and confused that which business they should start. You can easily choose one of them.
Now we talk about our business services
Delights Digital offers digital marketing services for all kinds of businesses. We offer the complete suite of digital marketing solutions like SMM, SEO, Content Marketing, Email Marketing, SMS Marketing, Social Media Paid Ads, Graphic design, Logo design, etc. | https://medium.com/@teamdelightsdigital/top-10-online-business-ideas-5ac926b794ac | ['Delights Digital'] | 2020-12-19 12:20:57.209000+00:00 | ['Blogger', 'Social Media Marketing', 'YouTuber', 'Online Business', 'Business'] |
Leadership during challenging times | We live in uncertain times. The world as we know it has changed dramatically because of the rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus. The pandemic, racial tensions, geopolitical issues, financial meltdown, and high unemployment are some of the challenges turning our lives upside down. It feels like we are being hit with a hundred-year flood, and sadly, there are no signs indicating that the waters will recede anytime soon. How can individuals, leaders, and corporations react to such dreadful events? Strong and decisive leadership can make a big difference in how quickly we emerge from this difficult situation.
Recently, I was asked to present my perspective on leadership during challenging times to a panel of business leaders. My experiences and observations have led me to a few fundamental leadership tenets to consider right now. Purpose-driven organizations are resilient, and with the right leadership, they can thrive on chaos and gain an edge over their competition. When purpose-driven leaders motivate their teams to deliver value without compromising on their vision and values, they create reasons for their employees to wake up in the morning and come to work with passion and energy. I see three broad areas of leadership that can have a significant impact on organizations and communities:
1. Empathy, Engagement, and Communication
2. Decisiveness and Focus
3. Innovation and Collaboration
A crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind. — Chinese proverb
Empathy, Engagement, and Communication
An organization is nothing without the people who stand behind it. But people are emotional. Their fears and anxieties get amplified during challenging times. If these negative thoughts aren’t addressed through good communication, they will impact the overall culture of the organization. Leaders make themselves present and available during difficult times and keep their team hopeful and optimistic through transparent and trusted communication. It is important for the team to feel that their leadership is committed to the health and safety of all its members.
Be empathetic; take time out of your busy schedule to see what life is like in someone else’s shoes. To emotionally connect with the team, it is acceptable for leaders to share their own feelings of vulnerability. Actively listening to their team members’ challenges and offering to help where it matters will help boost morale within the organization.
A few years back, during a bad fiscal quarter, one of my direct reports barged into my office, demanded a salary raise, and threatened to quit if he didn’t get one. At first, I was extremely angry and disappointed, but instead of judging his intentions, I asked to continue the conversation after work. During our conversation, it became apparent that money was not the primary issue. This person was dealing with a multitude of challenges, ranging from personal family matters to career growth and a feeling of helplessness. I was happy that he came and talked to me. Spending meaningful time with this person and relating his experiences to my own helped address the situation. As leaders, we have a duty to listen, empathize, and support our team members during difficult times.
The number one practical competency of leaders is empathy. — Peter Drucker
Decisiveness and Focus
Resources, whether financial or human capital, are constrained irrespective of the size of an organization, and these constraints are magnified during challenging times. Leaders have to be thoughtful and decisive to focus the limited resources on things that really matter, in both the short and the long term. That means leaders should be open and willing to make tough calls early in the game and say no to programs that don’t add value.
Leaders paint the big picture of what the goal looks and feels like and how the team is going to get there. Exhibiting a sense of urgency by making decisions fast and emphasizing speed of execution gives your team a sense of progress.
Move away from a command-and-control management style toward creating empowered, dynamic teams — teams dedicated to solving specific problems without any hierarchy or formal reporting lines.
When I was leading an organization in the Middle East, we went through some dramatic changes in a very short time frame. While we were still integrating an acquired company, our parent company merged with another large firm. The core markets crashed because of lower oil prices. We lost a large customer because of a trade embargo enforced by the US government. A perfect storm. Our people were confused, distraught and felt vulnerable.
I engaged my leadership team to explore all possible avenues of growth during difficult times. We discussed and debated the risk of not taking bold, strategic actions. We even went back to the basics and discussed the company’s strategy and purpose. We questioned whether we were using the full strengths of the organization. Once we identified specific growth initiatives, we created small, dynamic teams to work on them. After a painful six months, we stabilized the business, brought back the people we had furloughed, built a strong team, and, more importantly, built a strong culture of execution.
The best way to predict the future is to create it. — Peter Drucker
Innovation and Collaboration
When the world is looking bleak and people are pessimistic, smart leaders look toward a future where there are untapped opportunities. Leaders use disruptions as a catalyst to innovate and differentiate.
Innovation is not restricted to introducing new products; it involves all elements of the business model, including people management. It is also about transforming a company’s core business model to better serve its customers. Think about how the medical practice has changed in the last few months, from patients visiting doctors in person to virtual visits. Similar paradigm shifts are taking place in the industrial sector, where companies are having to offer automation and digital solutions at a faster rate. The current environment is forcing companies to reevaluate supply chain strategies and risks, and to rethink people management processes. There are no sacred cows when it comes to innovation.
Encourage your employees to learn, collaborate, and solve problems. It is all about moving forward and not getting stuck with the status quo. Instead of sending more customer satisfaction surveys, pick one or two industry challenges and partner with your customers to address them. While weak companies retract and become more internally focused, smart companies get ambitious and start playing offensive. Use the full competencies and capabilities of your organization to differentiate in the marketplace.
The enterprise that does not innovate ages and declines. And in a period of rapid changes such as the present, the decline will be fast. — Peter Drucker
Bottom Line
At every step of our lives, challenges and opportunities are lurking around the corner. Strong leaders don’t get bogged down by the hardship of challenges but continue to harvest all their energy to seek opportunities to improve conditions for their team, organization, and community.
Certain core leadership traits, as described above, do not change no matter what calamities society is facing. An energetic and passionate leader, who can engage their team and focus their energy on solving specific problems, will make a big difference during challenging times. | https://medium.com/@rameshnuggihalli/leadership-during-challenging-times-ba520ab7dc29 | ['Ramesh Nuggihalli'] | 2020-12-21 14:25:23.774000+00:00 | ['Innovation Leadership', 'Empathy', 'Focus Leadership', 'Decisive'] |
dear nyc, i love you | my love letter to new york
Dear NYC,
We need to talk.
I know I left, but it’s time you see it from my perspective. Keep your snarky comments to yourself and hear me out this once:
As I finished up the last of the lease paperwork on my Upper West Side apartment and drained my savings account from move-in costs on January 11, 2020, I said to myself, “The only way that I am moving out of this apartment is if one of three things happens: 1. I meet the love of my life and move in with them, 2. I suddenly make enough money to afford to live alone in my dreamy Chelsea studio, or 3. I leave you forever.”
I know that I’ve always had a flare for the dramatics, but these are all reasonable outcomes. Honestly, I was was hoping for number one, I desired number two and knew that in no way in hell number three would actually happen.
Well… it happened.
On October 1, 2020, I packed up as much as I could carry, made my room “sublet-friendly” and stood on the corner of West 95th Street waiting for my Lyft driver, after not having been in a car for six months. I turned to face the building that I was just beginning to befriend and said, “I’ll see you in the New Year when you’re ready for me, again.”
I needed fresh air and space. A few months to detox and breathe. A cleanse if you will.
What I didn’t expect was to be driving over the G.W.B. nearly six months later, in the pouring rain, in my Dad’s Kia to retrieve the rest of my things, just to turnaround and put your concrete oasis in the rearview. No goodbye gathering with friends that I now call family, or having a margarita at Blockheads. Not even a famous bagel on the way out. Just 12 hours to sleep, get a quick pap-smear before I leave my state Medicaid and figure out how to pack five years worth of shit into a Sorento.
Honestly, I don’t even think that you wanted me back. Your view of the Manhattan Skyline always rattles something in me: that tiny jolt in my lower belly equivalent to the feeling of a first kiss or a final bow, letting me know that in that moment, I am exactly where I need to be. But, you were too hazy to see your skyline. Thank you for that. I couldn’t be with you. It was pouring rain and in that moment, all I needed was to get the fuck out of that car and drink a beer.
“NYC will always be there,” they say. Whoever “they” is should probably rethink that phrase, because the you I knew, loved and cursed had been long gone for awhile. You changed and moved on whether I was ready or not. You were that relationship that I could never really shake. I craved your attention and desperately sought out your love for five years. And in the end, I didn’t even get to say goodbye to you. No closure. Could you have been “the one?” The one I spent all of my time proving myself to only to realize it was never meant to be? Let’s not go too far, but you get the point. You will always be my first love. I’ve loved you longer than anyone else. I still keep your empty Metro cards in my wallet so every time I pull out my debit card, I am reminded of you.
When I think of you, it’s easy to think what was “bad” about our relationship. I glamorized your “grind”: sleepless nights, constant stress of the hustle, working for free, toxic relationships to boost my career, you know, the things people elsewhere never consider in a partnership. But at night, when I lie in bed, you are the first thing that pops into my mind, and although I sometimes want to castrate you and cancel your favorite Netflix series, I can’t help but smile. You taught me so much about myself: my worth, what I truly want. You reminded me that nothing comes for free, and while I sometimes hate you for that, I am ultimately grateful.
I can forgive you for the heartbreak, stress, lack of sleep and insecurity because without it, I wouldn’t be where I am today. When you swept me off of my feet you also swept up many monthly Metro Cards in the breeze minutes after purchase, cut me from dream auditions, spilled coffee all over everything while on the subway and watched me get cat-called on the way home from work. You worked me to the bone waiting tables, packaging cupcakes, selling fitness memberships, slinging drinks, singing to babies, bringing Jennifer Hudson and Kristen Chenoweth music stands and hot tea, checking coats and cutting up a CEO’s steak lunches. You constantly rejected me, knocked me on my ass, tormented and seduced me, but you also lifted me up, granted me the friendships of a lifetime and planted a fire under my ass that will never burn out.
I love you. And I always will. Maybe I’ll come back, but right now, I need some space and time for me.
I hope you can understand that.
Always yours,
Kayla | https://medium.com/@kaylactomas/dear-nyc-i-love-you-3f3cd81df5df | ['Kayla Tomas'] | 2021-04-27 20:50:05.853000+00:00 | ['Love Letters', 'Moving', 'Life Lessons', 'NYC', 'Goodbye'] |
Adam & Eve, The Big Bang of Mind. A reflection of a Catholic worker, this… | A reflection of a Catholic worker, this article is written in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
There are no common Catholic resources out there that humbly describes the Genesis of our parents, Adam and Eves, given all the archeological findings throughout the world up to this year, the COVID-19 year. We want to show Catholics and Christians that Christianity still has the answers. Concerning the Catholic faith, we decline to represent the global church community as this writing is not intended for that purpose.
What we know from the Genesis
As a Catholic, we know the Church does not teach the narration of the genesis. She teaches the occurrences in it that are crucial.
What are some ridiculous things about a common picture of Adam & Eve?
They are white , as painted by Europeans.
, as painted by Europeans. They are not of this world. Eden is a different dimension .
. They ate apples .
. God spoke to them in a language that we are familiar with.
What do Catholics believe in the Genesis? Here are some of them:
We are their descendants.
They committed sins.
They are created in His image.
God intended to give them authority over the creation.
God wants to gift them eternal life.
How? No one knows. That’s why we should appreciate archeologists.
Our imagination could be a bit off or a lot.
The Church never knows how tall they are, how big they are, what they did daily, and if they could even talk a proper language, I don’t think so. We also did not know how they sinned. While Saint Paul emphasized so much about the death of sins and the fall of Adam and Eve, Jesus did not seem to talk a lot about Adam.
I am personally leaning toward the possibility of them facing God in His presence and was given a pure and divine consciousness, but their flesh just ignored the call of love and leaving God’s presence in their own choice.
How? Of course, no one knows. Since we don’t know, I hope we do not condemn them as if they are a criminal or a serial killer. Their original sins might be only a very tiny venial sin we do every day. If we compare them to our Lord and Lady, who did not sin at all, they are different, but formal language and writings did not exist anyway at that time.
Attitude
Thanks to all the Church leaders who are now calming the faithful segments, who took the Genesis literally, now we can talk peacefully about evolution that enhances our faith, not undermine it. First and foremost, two components are so crucial for the sake of healthy discovery.
First, humility to learn and to be potentially wrong. Second, rebasing our mind onto a healthy theology.
Without the first, one will only deny everything that did not fit into their own information. Without the second, the information presented here might go to million routes that cause various social issues. I would use Aquinas as a good basic theology to start, not as a stop.
120,000 Years Ago
If you are not familiar with the archeological work, you could first watch this video to familiarize yourself with the matter.
It seems like the world is perplexed by the sudden existence of homo sapien. We know that all of us came at one point from the African continent by DNA sampling and archeological findings. Some Jewish and scientific communities were trying to calculate the year Adam and Eve lived. I would say ~120,000 years ago is a good number to remember.
Now those who took the hierarchy in Matthew and Luke very seriously don’t get shocked. First, this year is simply an approximation, but the point is, there is an overlap year between Adam and Eves in the Mathematical equation. However, we did not know how long the other ancient humans lived. It could be 50 years. It could be 100. It could be more. Realistically, it does not make sense to think about their reproduction activities as our daily routine right now. It might take them 200 years to build a small family, unlike us in 2020, who can expand millions of lives within a year.
52,000–70,000 Years Ago
Homo sapiens, or modern humans, left Africa for Australia. This made me think that Adam and Eve must be before this occasion because otherwise, the Aborigins in Australia are not humans like us.
~60,000 Years Ago
We’ve found a sudden proof of human consciousness, skills, different brain activities. It is important not to mark this year as the start of human consciousness, and it was merely the earliest record found in caves.
What did the heck happen?
It seems like history is quite clear. The Father created this material world through the big bang or whatever came before to create a sustainable creation that led to various evolutions on earth. The evolution came from Hydrogen, microbe, to fish, to dry animals, mammal, and later ape, and became a homo species. There were plenty of homo species in the last millions of years, but they were not human like us. They had no rational intellect. They were similar to chimpanzees.
For example, the modern human who migrated from Africa to Europe found another humanoid that looks like us humans, the Neanderthals, but they were not rational animals. They were not modern humans. After a while, all human species died, but Homo Sapiens. It might be surprising to us to think about another human-like being like us who are not human, but I think thousands of years ago, humans might not even ask this question. As a side note, I am not trying to promote the possibility that God gave a breath of life to another human species (Adam went to sleep, like what JP2 wrote in the theology of the body) before taking them back and giving them to our ancestors. It is beyond the scope of this article.
The Big Bang Of Mind Could be The Moment of God Sending a Living Spirit onto Adam & Eve.
Scientists are trying to figure out why on earth there was a sudden change that created Homo Sapien. Out of a sudden, they started showing pride, jewelry, respect, technology, and critical analysis.
As a Christian, I think we know the answer.
Unlike most paintings, I don’t believe a human was created by a God that took the form of human and collected dirt and molded him and blew a real wind into his nostril. I believe God, the Trinity, who is Spirit, created the world from the beginning to aim for this divine purpose without much interference because His creation works out automatically in its majestic.
It is possible that the Holy Spirit took actions between 60,000–150,000 years ago to pick one of the best version of evolved creatures on earth to be the leader of this earth and gave them Spirit (the wind), so we can become a god (His image, divinized through Christ), so we rule with him so that we can love Him (True participant).
I believe the earth and the stars were just a mere tool the Father created as a land of progress that leads to Homo Sapiens, us humans. * Please read our article about Trinitarian activities.
About Death
Looking at history, it is important to notice death has always been around. So when we look at the fruit of knowledge’s consequence, I don’t think it is fair to conclude the death presented was a bodily effect. Although most Christians believe it is about spiritual death, sometimes we still associate our bodily death to sins because Jesus’ conquering death was by dying. While it is true that He wants us to live forever, such life is only possible through the merit of Eden's 2nd fruit, the fruit of life or Christ Himself. So, therefore, the bodily death of Adam and Eve were directed caused not by sin but because they were not given the fruit of life. Also, Jesus told us, He will resurrect all men on the judgment day, the sheep and the goat, both will be separated and regained their eternal life, one as a condemnation, and one as perpetual merit.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
I am not writing this to act as a teacher, but knowing our Lady of Guadalupe who cared for indigenous people, I felt this morning of my rosary to write something about the true indigenous people, our ancestor, to hope one not get confused by scientific results that did not put our faith into the equation. | https://medium.com/divine-physics/adam-eve-big-bang-of-mind-c620fcc7f011 | [] | 2020-12-25 09:32:21.474000+00:00 | ['Adam And Eve', 'Catholicer', 'Christianity', 'Our Lady Of Guadalupe', 'Catholic'] |
Here Are 5 Answers to Questions Commonly Asked by Medium Writers | Here Are 5 Answers to Questions Commonly Asked by Medium Writers
Questions from Mayank and answers by Smillew — https://www.pexels.com/@pixabay
Reading Mayank Pamnani’s article 5 Common Questions By Medium Writers, I got inspired to write a follow-up. Questions are borrowed from Mayank.
My answers are assuming you’re trying to be read on Medium :)
1. Which publications shall I write for, when I am new on Medium?
Any publication!
Writing for a publication is much better than publishing by yourself at the beginning. You need to grow a follower base for self-publishing to make sense.
Without this base, go for a publication to significantly increase the number of views, reads, and any of the stats.
It will even bring you some followers! Hence building in the long term the base you lack today for self-publishing.
2. How to approach any publication on Medium?
Be cocky! In the sense that you shouldn’t be afraid of the number of followers or the big names writing there. As long as your article is good (and is in line with the guidelines and publication’s interest), there’s a chance it will be published.
If you don’t submit your story to a publication, there’s a 100% chance they won’t publish it.
Ok, maybe 99,99% as some publications might be regularly checking what’s new on medium and find your story by sheer luck. But I wouldn’t count too much on that one.
Also, be respectful. Cockiness is ONLY to trigger you into submitting. The submitting letter or form should be written in a respectful, polite manner. As Tim Denning wrote, “Treat [the editors] well, and publications will show your story love.”
3. What do publications expect in stories from you?
They expect kick-ass content that will entertain their readers and make them come back for more each day.
Stories so good that their readers will be recommending them to their friends and sharing them on social media, enabling the publication to grow their followers.
But publications will settle for good content that their followers enjoy reading. That’s already a good goal to achieve.
4. Can I publish my stories on multiple platforms?
As Mayank explained, yes, it’s possible. It might even be recommended.
First, it’s always good to have a backup plan or a side gig.
You never know what can happen. Maybe Medium will disappear in a year from now as MySpace or Google+ did. Although I hope it will stay around for some time.
This brings us to point number two. Publishing your articles on other platforms and linking to your medium profile increases the views of your profile and Medium in general. Good for both!
You could imagine that your stories are only partially shown on other platforms to drive traffic to your Medium profile. Or maybe they’re shown in several installments. Or they’re summarized to be sent as takeaways through your newsletter on Substack. Many possibilities are out there. Pick yours.
Finally, different platforms have different content, different atmospheres. It can be an interesting writing exercise to take a story you wrote first for Medium and adapt it to WordPress, for example.
5. What strategies are best for you writing on Medium?
Self-publishing gives you freedom. Nobody’s going to reject your submission. Except that, see first answer above, no one’s going to read it either.
As a new voice, try to get curated. What you want and need is feedback.
A rejection from any publication is feedback.
Sure enough, most of them won’t take the time to explain in detail why they rejected your piece. But the simple fact your article was not scheduled is already a sign that your article might need some more editing or rewriting.
Getting as much feedback as possible is the best strategy for new writers. And I think for any level of experienced writers. Experienced writers get feedback from peers, but also from the comments and the statistics. As a beginner, statistics are not so relevant (numbers are too low). A possibility is to join writers’ circles to share stories and ask for constructive critics. The Illumination slack community is a good example of such a community.
Bonus answer!
The most important advice I would give is to remember having fun while writing.
I don’t have any scientific study to back up this one.
But a friend of mine, a very successful salesperson, told me he always smiles when talking on the phone with potential clients. Why? Because people can hear the smile in his voice.
In the same manner, I’m convinced readers are more engaged when you had fun while writing. And if I’m wrong, well, at least you had fun!
Have fun and good luck with the publications! | https://medium.com/illumination/5-answers-to-questions-commonly-asked-by-medium-writers-ae2ef1bf813c | ['Smillew Rahcuef'] | 2021-01-19 09:26:59.872000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Writer', 'Writing Tips', 'Writers On Medium', 'Writers On Writing'] |
Thanks for the article —for years I was in a similar state with multiple remotes and byzantine… | Thanks for the article —for years I was in a similar state with multiple remotes and byzantine operational modes.
The latest generation of the Apple TV (streaming box) comes close so solving all this. Using the remote, one click turns on the device, the TV and and the home theater system (via the HTMI 1.4 connection) and then all the streaming services are available from a straight forward interface, including purchased movies from iTunes and Amazon Prime. The different streaming apps all have their own user interfaces though, so pause and fast-forward is a little different on each. Navigating YouTube is tricky, especially when you want to “like” or subscribe a particular video.
Of course when I want to play a Blu-ray disc I have to use the player’s remote, which has it’s own navigation menu and player controls. But I’m purchasing more movies on iTunes these days, so eventually disc playing will go away.
The tiny Apple remote could be a lot better, although the audio search works surprisingly well. And every once in a while the connected TV and home theater device don’t turn on and I have to dig for the remotes. | https://medium.com/@designgauge/thanks-for-the-article-for-years-i-was-in-a-similar-state-with-multiple-remotes-and-byzantine-53f0cf1c529f | ['Kevin Perera'] | 2020-01-15 19:09:01.853000+00:00 | ['Home Theater', 'Apple TV'] |
Benefits of the Keto Diet | Half-Keto is a popular diet philosophy for improving weight and metabolic health goals. But as with all things, there is a catch: If your goal is to lose weight, go keto, and follow a restrictive diet, you must have a serious focus on your nutrition.“The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, moderate-protein, low-carb diet that’s intended for people with Type 2 diabetes, certain types of epilepsy, and about 4.7 million people worldwide who are trying to manage the condition safely,” says Hillary Allen, a registered dietitian, and certified personal trainer. Secure in your decision to give the keto diet a try, here’s what registered dietitians wish you knew before tackling the ketogenic diet.
IT’S NOT A DIET FOR WEIGHT LOSS
“The keto diet puts tons of emphasis on health versus bodybuilding and is not very satisfying from what I’ve seen recently,” Allen says. “Moreover the rule around food (e.g., no grains, starches, sugar, or other sources of carbs) is so rigid. That’s not what I’d like to see with any diet.”Lawrence Shakespeare, MD, of Metabolic Health Nutrition, agrees, noting that a diet that emphasizes meat as your main food group has long been the “standard of the dietician and dietitian. While I am a huge advocate of the ketogenic diet for Type 2 diabetes, epilepsy, or anyone with prediabetes, it was never intended for weight loss.”Before trying the keto diet, evaluate your diet. “My advice would be to take a good, hard look at the food you are eating on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis,” Allen says. Getting back to balanced eating habits is key to success.
2. IT’S NUTRITIOUS AND PROTEIN-FRIENDLY
By reducing carbohydrates to less than 20%, the keto diet may reduce your appetite level while helping regulate blood sugar levels, says Sharon Palmer, owner and founder of Food Fretters and Nourished by Sharon. The result is reduced energy spikes in response to carbohydrate-containing foods.
3. YOU’LL LIKELY AIM TO REDUCE MEAL PREP TIME
“The ketogenic diet makes the planning and portioning of meals super simple and efficient,” Allen says. “The prep time will likely be minimal. It’s not a question of if or but when you’ll be comparing portions to standard diet and traditional fast-food options.” Keto meal plans are also much easier to follow. We have a present for you, a free keto recipe just for you!
4. IT TAKES APPROPRIATE PRECAUTIONS
“Any well-designed ketogenic diet should include a moderate amount of legumes, grains, vegetables, healthy fats, and protein,” Palmer says. It’s also important to keep sufficient protein and healthy fats such as vegetables and fruit around. Certain grains are restricted due to their glucose content and may cause blood sugar spikes. | https://medium.com/@Alex_keto/benefits-of-the-keto-diet-102aed9b527b | [] | 2021-12-24 18:38:12.227000+00:00 | ['Diet', 'Health', 'Healthy', 'Keto', 'Keto Diet'] |
The Party of Slavery | The Party of Slavery
Images of 7th U.S. President Andrew Jackson and current President-Elect Joe Biden. — Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The Democratic Party of the United States can trace its origin back to its founding days in the late 1790s. Today’s Democratic Party is the oldest existing political party in the United States. However, the party has undergone a significant evolution since its dawning days. Over the past two centuries, the once conservative-minded political party who favored limited government has evolved into the liberal-leaning big government supporting political party that we know today. The origin story and evolution of the oldest existing American political party is an interesting one, indeed.
The Origin of the Democratic Party
The United States Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788. Political parties were never mentioned in this document. However, the founding fathers broke off into various political factions before the constitution was even written. The two main political coalitions that emerged during this time were the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans.
Alexander Hamilton and John Adams were supporters of the Federalist coalition. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison supported the Democratic-Republican faction. — Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The Federalist Party was the mastermind of Alexander Hamilton. This party was in favor of a strong central government and a national banking system. Some of the most well-known supporters of the Federalist faction were the first two presidents of the United States, George Washington, and John Adams.
The opposition to the Federalists were the Democratic-Republicans, who supported a decentralized and limited government. The 3rd U.S. President, Thomas Jefferson, and the 4th U.S. President, James Madison, were strong supporters of the Democratic-Republican platform.
While George Washington aligned more with the ideals of the Federalists, he ran without a political affiliation. Washington was unanimously elected as president in the first two U.S. presidential elections. The struggle between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans parties did not become a true issue until the 1796 U.S. presidential election.
In the nation’s third presidential election, the Federalist John Adams faced off against the Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson. There were 16 states in the Union, with Tennessee being the latest admitted on June 1, 1796. Out of the 16 states, Adams carried nine and Jefferson carried seven. With this outcome, Johns Adams became the second United States President with the majority of his support coming from the Northern states.
Results of the 1796 U.S. Presidential Election. — Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
As the map election map indicates, the Democratic-Republicans found most of their support among the southern states. This trend would continue for several decades. President John Adams would serve only one term, being beaten by Thomas Jefferson during the next election cycle. With Jefferson’s victory in the 1800 U.S. presidential election, the popularity of the Democratic-Republican party exploded. Jefferson would become a two-term president and gained significant support in the northern states.
The Democratic-Republican party would dominate politics throughout the early 1800s. The next three presidents, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams, all came from the Democratic-Republican party. In terms of the Federalist faction, the party took a hit after the War of 1812 and would cease to exist within the U.S. by 1824. While the Democratic-Republican party dominated the era, 7th U.S. President Andrew Jackson ushered in a new form of the Democratic party in 1828.
The Jacksonian Era
In the 1824 U.S. presidential election, four Democratic-Republican candidates ran against one another. The candidates were John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford, and Henry Clay. None of the candidates secured a majority of the electoral votes in 1824. However, Andrew Jackson had won the popular vote handily with 151,271 votes. In comparison, Adams, Crawford, and Clay received 113,122 votes, 40,856 votes, and 47,531 votes, respectively.
Results of the 1824 U.S. Presidential Election. — Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Even though Jackson secured more votes, U.S. presidents are selected through the electoral college. Since no candidate secured a majority of electoral votes, the U.S. House of Representatives held a contingent election under provisions outlined in the Twelfth Amendment. Through this process, John Quincy Adams was named the victor and became the 6th President of the United States. As to be expected, Andrew Jackson was furious with the result.
As a result of the 1824 election, Andrew Jackson and the New York Senator Martin Van Buren created their own runoff political faction from the Democratic-Republicans simply called the Democratic Party. Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren are credited as the founders of the modern Democratic Party that we know today. Following the decisions made in the 1824 election, the main Democratic-Republican party officially dissolved in 1825.
Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, the founders of the Democratic Party. -Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
In the next election cycle, Andrew Jackson ran as a Democrat against the sitting President John Quincy Adams. During his second election bid, Adams ran under the National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party. In the face-off between Jackson and Adams in the 1828 U.S. Presidential Election, Andrew Jackson would prove victorious, winning both the popular vote and electoral college. Jackson would become the 7th U.S. President, beginning the dominance of Democratic leadership in the executive branch. John Quincy’s National Republican Party would completely dissolve by 1834, while Jacksonian Democrats would win six of the next eight presidential elections from 1828 until 1856.
While the National Republican Party had dissolved, another opposition to the Democratic Party emerged during the Jacksonian era. This party, led by Henry Clay of Kentucky, was known as the Whig Party. The Democratic Party and the Whig Party remained the two main national parties in the United States until the late 1850s. The Whig Party officially dissolved in 1856, and the Democratic Party took on new energy during the Civil War and Reconstruction era.
The Civil War and Reconstruction Era
Around seventy years after the founding of the United States, the issue of slavery was finally forced to be dealt with. The Jacksonian Democratic Party had support in both Northern and Southern states. However, Northern and Southern Democrats were split in their support over slavery and its expansion into Western territory. During the Democratic Party’s 1860 national convention, the Southern Democrats nominated John C. Breckinridge for president, and the Northern Democrats nominated Stephan Douglas.
In the 1860 U.S. Presidential Election, Stephan Douglas ran as a Democrat, and John C. Breckinridge ran as a Southern Democrat. The split democratic ticket faced the Republican nominee Abraham Lincoln and third-party Constitutional Union nominee John Bell. Abraham Lincoln would secure a victory in the 1860 election, becoming the first Republican President in U.S. history.
Results of the 1860 U.S. Presidential Election. — Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The Republican Party or Grand Old Party had been founded just six years before Lincoln’s victory. The GOP was founded on the liberal ideology of the era. The GOP emerged as opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, as the act gave the potential to expand slavery into western territory. The liberal Republicans opposed the expansion of slavery and supported economic reform by means of big government. Lincoln’s Republican party brought the United States the first personal income tax, the first national banking system, the Department of Agriculture, the Pacific Railroad Act for a federally-funded intercontinental railroad, and the Morrill Act for federally-funded higher education or land grant universities.
While the original GOP consisted of leftists who supported big government, the party would undergo an ideology shift after former President Theodore Roosevelt left the party in 1912. Roosevelt would form his own political faction called the Progressive Party, bringing the liberal-minded Republicans with him. This left the Republican Party to be dominated by conservative-minded individuals. The GOP has continued to increasingly swing to the right over the last century.
The Bull Moose was the official mascot of Theodore Roosevelt’s new Progressive Party. — Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
While the leftist Republican party continued to thrive in the eras of Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, the Democratic Party would solidify itself as the party of the South and slavery during the remainder of the 19th century. White Democratic Southerners continued to oppose the Republican Party’s big-government agenda and their measures to bring more rights to African Americans. From the end of the Civil War until the late 1890s, the Democratic Party established itself as the party of rural agrarianism and conservative values. However, the Democratic Party would once again undergo an ideological evolution as the 20th century approached.
The New Deal and the Progressive Era
The real catalyst in the ideological shift that occurred in the Democratic Party during the beginning of the Progressive Era in the late 1890s can be attributed to the Nebraskan politician William Jennings Bryan. Bryan had ties to the left-wing agrarian Populist Party of the late 19th-century. However, in the 1896 presidential election, Bryan would run as a Democrat. In his Democratic election bid, Bryan would draw in votes from both the conservative-leaning Democrats and the left-wing Populist Party too. While Bryan would lose his election bid to William McKinley, his campaign fundamentally altered the Democratic Party by moving the party in a more liberal-leaning direction.
Results of the 1896 U.S. presidential election. — Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
During the 1930s and early 1940s, the Democratic Party would move even further to the left during the Great Depression-era and World War II. In the years of Reconstruction, Republicans had established themselves as the party of big business as they had strong support in the industrialized North. During the early 20th century, the Republican party was synonymous with the upper-class elite. The Republicans would thrive from the Reconstruction era until the late 1920s. When the stock market crashed in 1929, the party of big business took a hit. Many Americans blamed the Republican party for the crisis and were angry with Republican leaders who showed resistance toward providing direct government intervention during the crisis. This dissatisfaction led to a surge in the Democratic Party.
In the U.S. presidential election of 1932, the Democratic candidate won with a landslide victory. In the election of 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt secured 472 electoral votes. In comparison, the sitting Republican President Herbert Hoover only collected 59 electoral votes. With his 1932 victory, FDR became the first Democratic President since Woodrow Wilson’s 1916 victory. FDR would usher in multiple federally funded relief programs throughout the 1930s. President Roosevelt’s New Deal was largely supported throughout the nation, allowing FDR to be elected to four presidential terms.
Results of the 1932 U.S. presidential election. — Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The Civil Rights Era
During the Civil Rights era, the Democratic and Republican parties started to emerge as the liberal and conservative factions that we are more familiar with in the Modern era.
Results of the 1960 U.S. presidential election. — Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Following the end of World War II in 1945, into the beginning of the Civil Rights era of the 1960s, white Southerners increasingly migrated toward the Republican party. What drew white Southerns to the Republican party during the Civil Rights era was the party’s opposition to big government, expanding labor unions, and extending civil rights to African Americans. Following the Depression and the New Deal, black voters had also increasingly moved toward the Democratic Party.
Results of the 1964 U.S. presidential election. — Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
During the 1960s, the Democratic Party became associated with social justice under the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Democrats championed civil rights and made substantial efforts toward racial desegregation. Under President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed. Following the Johnson administration, the Republican Party would take a stronghold over the executive branch. The Democrats did not make a strong comeback in executive leadership until the 1990s.
The Modern Era
Over the last thirty years, the executive branch has been shared pretty evenly between the Democratic and Republican coalitions. Since 1992, there have been three Democratic Presidents and two Republican Presidents elected to office. Democrat Bill Clinton served two terms between 1993 and 2001. Republican George W. Bush would earn two terms, serving between 2001 and 2009. The Democrat Barack Obama won two terms, serving the presidency between 2009 and 2017. The Republican Donald Trump was elected to one term, serving between 2017 and 2021. The Democrat Joe Biden was elected to the presidency in the 2020 presidential election. He should take office in January 2021.
Results of the 1992 U.S. presidential election. — Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
In the 1992 U.S. presidential election, Bill Clinton would defeat the sitting U.S. President George H.W. Bush. By the time of Clinton’s second term, the country reached a period of prosperity. To achieve this prosperity, Clinton chose to reduce spending on social programs and supported international trade agreements. However, the economic success Clinton had brought to the nation was quickly overshadowed by his personal scandals. President Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in 1998 because of these scandals. However, he was acquitted by the Senate in 1999 and finished out his second presidential term.
The Republican George W. Bush would win the election of 2000 through the electoral college. The Republicans would maintain authority in the executive branch for eight years. After eight years of a Republican presidency, Democrat Barack Obama would win the 2008 presidential election. With his victory, Obama became the first African-American president in U.S. History. Throughout his presidency, Obama used federal funds to make record investments in education initiatives, environmental research, industrial modernization, and health-care reform.
A photo of Barack Obama and Joe Biden from July 2012. — Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Barack Obama and the Democratic Party held onto the executive branch between 2009 and 2017. Joe Biden served as Obama’s vice-president throughout these years. During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the Republican Donald Trump beat the Democrat Hillary Clinton through the electoral college. In the 2020 U.S. presidential election, President Trump ran for reelection against the Democrat Joe Biden. Biden won both the popular vote and electoral college and is currently the President-Elect of the United States. Joe Biden is expected to take office in January 2021.
From the party of small government and states’ rights to the party of big government and social justice, the Democratic Party has experienced quite an evolution over the past 200 years. | https://medium.com/frame-of-reference/the-party-of-slavery-cdeb49374858 | ['Danielle Gibson'] | 2020-11-24 23:01:12.444000+00:00 | ['Government', 'History', 'Politics', 'Political History', 'American History'] |
Looking for Cofounders for Your Startup? Spend the Next Two Months Sending Emails Every Day | 1. Write down the profile for your Cofounders
This is the most important part. It’s called planning.
Execution is the last step. Before you start a journey, you need a plan, a roadmap.
You are about to climb a mountain you’ve never been to. If you just go there without any plan, map, or gear and expect to reach the top, well, good luck. I say your chance to surviving is pretty slim. Trying to find cofounders without their profile is just like that.
It’s a shot in the dark. You may survive but you’ll never know what you’re going to get.
What I did was writing down as much as what I wanted in my cofounders. Personality, experience, pros and cons. This is your wish list. It will speak to your unconscious mind to start looking for the ones that match the profile.
For my first cofounders, I neglected this part, which was the big mistake.
I found them quickly and we started to work on our MVP. I worked with them for a month. Things were going well, so I thought.
Then, one day, out of the blue, both of them stopped communicating with me.
I had no idea why.
That was the end. We had a casual founders agreement and decided to sign a formal one later, which was another mistake. A formal agreement and forming a company is good (I did this with my current cofounders.)
Once I wrote down the profile, the rest is nonchalant, automatic.
2. Create a spreadsheet
A simple spreadsheet will do
I created a simple spreadsheet to keep track of my progress: Name of the candidate, where I found the candidate, profile link, skills and status and so on.
That’s it. Very simple.
3.Use Online resources as CoFounders Lab, Founders List, Indie Hackers, Airbnb Talent Directory
Cofounders Lab was useful because there are many founders looking for cofounders. Airbnb talent directory is an interesting one because it lists all the people who are recently laid off due to the Coronavirus lockdown.
Indie Hackers is an excellent resource not just to look for Cofounders, but also to learn and get inspired by many people who is launching startups and project. I highly recommend you take a look if you haven’t done so.
4. Commit to sending at least one email a day
Now you wrote down the profile, the execution is simple. You should be able to tell when you find someone that matches your cofounder profile — simply send them an email asking them if they are interested in joining your startup.
Treat your cofounder search as finding your date using online dating site. It helped me to enjoy the process rather than thinking, “Boy, is this really necessary?”
Write down a sample text and use it every time.
Here is mine:
Dear xxx: I found you through the Airbnb Talent Directory site and would like to connect with you. I am looking for a cofounder to join my startup project, a communication app for the restaurant and food industry. Here is our landing page: www.twoplacesjobs.com Does this interest you? If so, please use this Calendly link to schedule a quick chat. Thank you. Kaz
Send them your profile, a simple description of your project. A landing page is helpful. Screenshot of your MVP if you have it. Anything visual is great. A picture is worth a thousand words.
I decided to send at least one email a day. I had no idea how long it would take, but I was confident, I would find one.
To make a long story short, I kept doing this for two months and that is what it for me to find two cofounders. I sent emails to 117 candidates to find 2 cofounders, so my success rate is 1.7%.
Some will respond, most will not, but keep moving forward. You will fail more than you succeed. That is given. Be consistent. You may feel like you are wasting your time. You may feel like you want to quit.
Never give up. Determination is what took me here. If I can do it, so can you.
What I learned through talking to candidates and other Founders
I talked to both candidates and other Founders looking for cofounder.
Talking to another startup founders gave me many insights. All of them shared their ideas, gave me feedback.
One of them told me about Indihackers and turned out to be a great resource. Making a connection with other founders was a great plus.
Keep connecting with other founders and keep the bridge open.
You never know what will happen in the future.
That’s it.
Any questions, feedback, comments?
How did you find your cofounder (s)? | https://medium.com/the-innovation/looking-for-cofounders-for-your-startup-spend-the-next-two-months-sending-emails-every-day-6cc25c1584c9 | ['Kaz Matsune'] | 2020-07-28 14:36:29.050000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Leadership', 'Business', 'Founders'] |
3 Mysterious British Paintings That Will Spark Your Creativity | A Bigger Splash (1967)
David Hockney is one of the most popular artists nowadays. He’s one of my favourite painters, too, as his work is both very joyful and strange. Being a great experimenter and educator of the art world, Hockney has been using iPad to create hundreds of paintings since 2009. Luckily he’s British, too, so Tate owns some of his work.
A Bigger Splash is David Hockney’s best known masterpiece, which he had made after visiting and falling in love with California. The painting stirs the imagination: there’s nobody in sight, and the scene is almost perfectly still — apart from the splash. The palms, the heat, and the sunlit house make the situation look so inviting, and yet something is haunting about it as if there is a secret a viewer has to solve.
A Bigger Splash by David Hockney © Tate
David Hockney used some special techniques to contrast the dynamic splash and the dead still surroundings. First of all, he painted the blocks of colour with a paint-roller, applying two-three layers of acrylic until it was opaque. He then was painting the splash for two weeks, accurately reproducing it from a photograph with small brush strokes. A wide border around the picture is left uncovered by paint, which makes it resemble a polaroid photo.
Though inspired by photos, Hockney only uses them as an additional tool to remember information. Otherwise, he thinks a photograph “isn’t real enough”.
“Everything on a flat surface is stylized, including the photograph. Some people think the photograph is reality; they don’t realize that it’s just another form of depiction.”
Another inspiration for Hockney was his trip to Egypt and the composition of Egyptian tomb paintings, where figures and objects are carefully arranged on the flat surface. Many of his later portraits seemed to be influenced by it, as well as by Renaissance art.
David Hockney’s shares a lot of secrets of visual expression and art techniques in his book A History Of Pictures: From The Cave To The Computer Screen, written together with Martin Gayford, a famous art critic. | https://medium.com/the-innovation/3-mysterious-paintings-of-the-tate-collection-486e48214e9b | ['Katya Korovkina'] | 2020-09-13 11:09:45.211000+00:00 | ['Art History', 'Art', 'Museums', 'Visual Design', 'Culture'] |
I am Woman | I am a howling hurricane:
strong, a whirl of energy.
I am luminous lightning:
bright, shining fiercely.
I am the wild wind:
powerful, chilling to the bone.
I am the mighty mountains:
steady everlasting stone.
You cannot
strike me down, for I
am a force to be reckoned with. | https://medium.com/poets-unlimited/woman-ede33a20aff6 | [] | 2018-10-10 01:14:08.911000+00:00 | ['Feminism', 'Poetry', 'Poetry On Medium', 'Women', 'Strength'] |
US Sanctions Russian Government Center for Creating ‘Triton’ Malware | The US Treasury Department is also linking the creators behind Triton with scanning and probing at least 20 US electric facilities for vulnerabilities.
By Michael Kan
The US is sanctioning a Russian government research center for allegedly developing Triton, a malware attack capable of disrupting IT systems at factories and power plants.
On Friday, the US Treasury Department sanctioned the Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics (also known as CNIIHM or TsNIIKhM) on claims the Russian center had a hand in creating Triton.
The malware grabbed headlines in 2017 for hitting a petrochemical facility in Saudi Arabia in an apparent act of industrial sabotage. According to security researchers, the attack initially arrived via a phishing email. Triton can tamper with a facility’s industrial controls, causing the systems to ignore hazardous conditions or shut down a power plant.
“Researchers who investigated the cyber-attack and the malware reported that Triton was designed to give the attackers complete control of infected systems and had the capability to cause significant physical damage and loss of life,” the Treasury Department added in today’s announcement.
The Russian research institute CNIIHM (Credit: Google Maps)
In 2018, security firm FireEye then released a report connecting Triton to a professor employed at the Russian research institute CNIIHM. An IP address used at the Russian institute was also found monitoring coverage of the Triton malware and scoping out potential targets.
The Treasury Department didn’t elaborate on how US officials are linking the Russian government lab to the malware. But the department also claims the creators behind Triton were scanning and probing at least 20 US electric facilities for vulnerabilities back in 2019.
In response, the Treasury Department is prohibiting all US persons and businesses from engaging in transactions with the Russian research institute. “Moreover, non-US persons who engage in certain transactions with TsNIIKhM may themselves be exposed to sanctions,” the department added.
The US announced the sanctions days after the Justice Department charged six Russian military officers for allegedly unleashing the NotPetya ransomware outbreak in 2017, and for using malware attacks to shut down the power grid in Ukraine. The US is hoping the indictments will cause Russia’s state-sponsored hackers to adopt a different profession. However, the Russian government has denied any involvement with the cyber attacks. | https://medium.com/pcmag-access/us-sanctions-russian-government-center-for-creating-triton-malware-9748e7a94aac | [] | 2020-10-26 19:01:02.236000+00:00 | ['Sanctions', 'Cybersecurity', 'Russia', 'Malware', 'Technology'] |
Free SQL Public Trello Resource Board | Check out the link & follow along, click here | https://medium.com/@lucsolmes/free-sql-public-trello-resource-board-c78ca28067f3 | ['Lucas Solmes'] | 2020-12-10 19:10:36.087000+00:00 | ['MySQL', 'Relational Databases', 'Sql'] |
5 Ways Competitive Gaming Makes You Better at Your Job | Photo by Mario Gogh on Unsplash
Better team player
Gaming: Competitive gaming is all about good and clean team play. Being on the same page with your teammates, understanding them and playing together to achieve the same target is essential at e-sport competitions. In gaming, you can either choose to be good individually or great collectively.
To achieve success with the right team, you have to invest a lot of time in discovering them through communication, fights, challenges, and wins.
Real-Life: The workplace is similar to the gaming field. If you strive for maximum success, the only way you can get there is with the help of your teammates.
Investing time in understanding and exploring my colleagues was a priority for me. Essentially, I gained their trust much faster and became more comfortable sharing ideas and getting involved in complex projects.
You can work under pressure
Gaming: Games are full of emotions. Sometimes these are good emotions (in case of winning a game) and other times they are bad emotions (in case of losing). At competitions, there is no second chance. If you lose the match — you are out of the tournament. These moments are the most stressful. You gotta stay calm and believe you can actually win this one and stay in the game.
Real Life: The same principles apply to our daily and work life. Sometimes there are good days where you prove yourself and they tap on your shoulder with pride. Whereas other times, there are bad days when you screw up and feel very unlucky. Working through the bad days is something that can define many of us. Having the ability to work days under mental pressure is a valuable skill I’ve learned in gaming.
Calm down and stay in the game!
Ability to think quickly and take decisions on the spot
Gaming — Time in gaming is one of the most valuable assets. A round in Counter-Strike lasts less than 2 minutes (1:55), supplied with many…many… many…unpredictable events. The ability to process information and react quickly is crucial in competitive gaming. Surprising your enemies with your quick and analytical thinking is an edge not many players have. Taking a confident decision on the spot is a habit all good players have.
Real-life — Life is full of unpredictable variables, nobody can control. Being prepared to act quickly and come up with an immediate solution to a certain problem/event is a valuable skill you need everywhere you go. Not only at your day job but also in your everyday life.
Creative thinking — thinking as you were your enemy (or customer)
Gaming: In competitive gaming, you are thinking like this: “If I was him (enemy), what would I expect right now?”. You are trying to predict his next move and then surprise him with something he doesn’t expect. Being good at predicting the moves of your enemies is an important skill to have.
Real-Life: Thinking outside of the box is a skill many employers are seeking in their candidates. They value people that are able to come up with creative solutions to difficult problems. Creativity is a human trait, robots cannot replicate. It can help you get from point A to point B in a much more fun, fast and reliable way.
Have a place to disconnect
Gaming, naturally functions best as a place to disconnect from the world. In my opinion, this is a valuable thing each one of us should have as a method to recharge their batteries and not go crazy. I’ve seen too many people already going crazy due to long hours of work, overwhelming tasks, and infinity email loops. Gaming is an easy and healthy way for me to disconnect from the world for an hour and forget about all my problems. | https://medium.com/swlh/5-ways-competitive-gaming-makes-you-better-at-your-job-7fdf0792079b | ['Daniel Hangan'] | 2019-11-28 11:48:32.024000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Gaming', 'Startup', 'Life', 'Work'] |
FlipNpik — Un média social basé sur la Blockchain au service des commerçants locaux | La vision de FlipNpik :
“Become the first Collaborative Social Media for local businesses operating in an Ecosystem based on the Blockchain technology, in which the value generated is distributed in an equitable and decentralized manner among all active collaborators .” | https://medium.com/biomanforcerose/flipnpik-ico-review-un-media-social-base-sur-la-blockchain-au-service-des-commercants-locaux-1319b507ff15 | [] | 2018-10-22 07:36:06.791000+00:00 | ['Social Media', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain', 'ICO', 'Local Economy'] |
Want to avoid subscription-as Service? | Adobe is not the end-all and be-all of graphic design software. I might be dating myself to admit I remember a time when dollars paid-for programs. Software that you owned and used as you pleased. In 2021, subscription-as-service is the business model that allows Adobe and others to release their software for perpetual payment. There is no longer a finite cost to own the software. You never own a copy of the software. You only get to use it. Stop paying for it. That is the only way to create a finite cost. Only then you can’t use it anymore, and that may or may not work for you.
Adobe is still the dominant professional suite in the corporate toolbox. I would not recommend trying to enter the field of graphic design without knowing it thoroughly. For an entrepreneurial life or if you intend to freelance, you do not have to cater to corporate-defined application use. There are plenty of alternative programs that do the same thing as those found in the Adobe suite. In some cases, these programs do more. Gimp instead of Photoshop, Inkscape instead of Illustrator, are just two examples.
Procreate on an iPad has no equal for straight out ideation for me. The form factor of the easily portable iPad, the wealth of paintbrushes, finishes, colors, and other things make Procreate, a software to love. Yes, it is raster instead of vector. It works for me to express ideas and brainstorm. Depending on what I am doing, it can suffice in bringing an idea to completion. I can use other tools for the finished product. The beauty about tools is that you get to use them the way you want to.
Consult with your mentor Google. Ask her to deliver results for alternatives to any Adobe software that you do not want to use. Some are open-source software ready for you to download. These are good programs if you are good at teaching yourself. They are usually similar enough to Adobe products that it is not difficult to figure out if you know Adobe programs.
There is no reason not to do graphic design just because you want to avoid Adobe. There is also no reason to do poor graphic design because you may think that learning Adobe or any substitute program is any exchange for education, design skills, or sheer talent. These programs are tools. You can only exploit the tools with proper knowledge of more than just the tools themselves. | https://medium.com/@atiyaatah/want-to-avoid-subscription-as-service-bb9f593ace20 | ['Atiya Atah'] | 2021-09-07 22:29:20.186000+00:00 | ['Adobe Illustrator', 'Graphics', 'Artist', 'Illustrator Tutorial', 'Software'] |
Trade Your Asset Tokens on a Global Exchange | Imagine a world where fine art paintings — Picassos, Warhols, Monets — each costing millions of dollars (and whose value only increases with each passing year) can be owned by the everyday investor, like you and me.
Masterpieces traded briskly through an open exchange, efficiently pricing the artworks to the market. Portfolio managers will be able to manage their positions more accurately and diversify their risk by investing in a range of different art assets. They will no longer need to have their funds concentrated in a handful of hard-to-sell pieces.
This is no longer just a dream. Maecenas has made it a reality.
For the first time, technology will allow investors, collectors and owners to exchange shares in paintings and sculptures instantly. It will also offer top emerging artists a showcase space for their work, free from the interference of middlemen.
Maecenas takes fine artworks and mints (ERC-20) asset tokens that represent a share of the artwork. Your asset tokens can then be bought and sold and are also be tradable on any global exchange where they are listed.
Asset tokens = a piece of a painting
Asset tokens, which represent a share of an artwork, are minted compliant with the Ethereum ERC-20 standard, so you can enjoy the safety of a public protocol and the convenience of storing your asset tokens on any popular crypto wallet.
Our first tokenised artwork offering, Warhol 14 Small Electric Chairs (Reversal Series), 1970 [WHRL1] is already listed on the ethereum chain.
After many months of hard work and technology integration, we are also very excited to announce a partnership agreement with a new exchange that is launching soon. Our partner exchange focuses on listing and trading asset tokens.
WHRL1 tokens will be included as part of its offerings when it launches. As part of our partnership agreement, both platforms will be integrated and users of Maecenas will be able to sign-up easily with their Maecenas account login info.
We expect to foster multiple partnerships with various exchanges in order to provide maximum liquidity for our investors. We have been given access to the alpha build of the exchange for testing and so far we are very impressed with the design and functionality. Here’s a sneak peek of what one of our partner asset token exchanges looks like, released with their consent. | https://medium.com/maecenas/trade-your-asset-tokens-on-a-global-exchange-d549a5e7a3f1 | [] | 2019-09-17 04:15:56.778000+00:00 | ['Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain', 'Art'] |
職場常見英文NG話語，即便想厭世也要好好表達！【1. 抱怨篇】 | 一、1分鐘單字速速記 Vocabulary
shortcoming (n.) 缺點；弱點
whiny (adj.) 愛發牢騷的；煩躁的
overwhelmed (adj.) 焦頭爛額的
interpret (v.) 理解；解釋；翻譯
figuratively (adv.) 比喻地
caution (n.) 謹慎；告誡
chaotic (adj.) 混亂的；毫無秩序的
epic (adj.) 史詩般的
spectrum (n.) 光譜；範圍；各個層次
temper (n.) 脾氣；情緒
grumpy (adj.) 脾氣壞的；愛抱怨的
irritated (adj.) 被激怒的；惱火的
vent (v.) 發洩；表達（負面情緒）
二、常用句型 Common Phrases
We’ve all gone through one of those days when nothing goes right. Heck, you might even be having one right now. It’s definitely human nature to complain about our shortcomings and problems; however, being too whiny in the workplace may reflect badly on your character. If you need to let it out, do it in a way that won’t have too much of a negative impact on the office vibe.
我們都經歷過不好過的時光和事事不順心的時刻。哎！現在的你可能也正在那個低潮中。抱怨自身的缺點和問題絕對是人類的天性，但是在工作場合中，過分得發牢騷可能會對你的形象和性格造成負面的影響。若你需要好好發洩，記得以不會對辦公室氛圍造成太大負面情緒的方式進行唷！
to have had better days (phrs. v.)
This is a light way of saying the day just isn’t going as well as one had hoped without sounding too frustrated.
這是一個簡短且較委婉的說法，表明當天的進展不如預期的那樣。
to be snowed under (phrs. v.)
When you feel snowed under, it means that everything is weighing down on you and you can’t move. It’s similar to feeling overwhelmed.
這句話的意思是指，許多事情或煩惱正壓著你，就像被困在雪中動彈不得的感覺。「To be snowed under」跟「overwhelmed」有異曲同工之妙的相似感唷。
to have a bad hair day (phrs. v.)
This one can be interpreted in two ways: 1) literally, and 2) figuratively. In the literal form, it means your hair is a hot mess. Figuratively, it just means you’re having a bad day.
這句話有兩種解釋的方式，第一種是字面上直接意思，指的是你的頭髮相當凌亂。而第二種則是比喻性表達，指的是諸事不順的一天。
to wake up on the wrong side of the bed (phrs. v.)
Waking up on the wrong side of the bed means you started off your day on the wrong end of the spectrum. It’s usually used to describe someone who woke up with a temper or grumpy.
這句話指的是你在負面那一端開啟了你的一天。通常是形容一個人從起床那刻就脾氣相當暴躁。
a royal mess (n.)
When something is described as a royal mess, it means the situation is so chaotic that it’s epic.
當事情的情況已經混亂到史詩級的程度時，可以使用「royal mess」來形容。
a day from hell (phrs.)
To say a day has been like a day from hell is like saying the day is going so bad that it’s like hell. This one should be used with caution since it is a very strong statement.07
這句話可以用來形容，這一天已經糟糕到彷彿像是從地獄走一遭的程度。使用這句話的時候，通常語氣強烈並帶有著警告的意味，因此應謹慎使用。 | https://medium.com/wuwow-%E9%83%A8%E8%90%BD%E6%A0%BC/english-work-complain-da71e3d072d7 | ['Wuwow Team'] | 2020-01-15 11:01:01.479000+00:00 | ['Complain', 'English', 'Work'] |
Mourinho: Further Anatomy of a Winner | If the big and financially muscular clubs of the Europe would be likened by Mourinho to Sharks, Real [Madrid] were the Great Whites of the European game.
Deco, slipper as an eel and persistent as a terrier, did the trick for Porto.
Please don’t call me arrogant, because its not true. I think I’m a special one. I’m a champion.
Most fêted coach in the world.
Why so many players who had failed to reach a high level either through injury or for other reasons went on to succeed as coaches?
Mou: More time to study.
While the game’s chosen ones are still playing, the rejects are learning, and increasingly, they are landing the top jobs.
Arrigo Sacchi [AC Milan]: back-to-back UCL
Ottmar Hitzfeld [Bayern & Borrusia] : UCLx2
Rafael Benitez [Liverpool]
Gérard Houllier [Liverpool among others]
By and large, those who employ coaches have come to understand that it’s a specialist job for which the ability to send a crowd into paroxysms of delight with a swivel of your hips is not necessarily the prime qualification.
I didn’t realize you had to have been a horse to be a jockey — Sacchi
To train attacking 10 on 11 to prepare for a time where it’s a must-win game and they need to score with 1 man down [due to red card / injury].
To play silver goal match [15min extra time after 90min; whoever scores wins] by imagining, a game of 2 15min halves where they are losing in the first 15min & now they’ve to score to tie the match. Nowadays, it’s golden goal [30min extra time after 90min]
Thomas Carlyle: Genius is infinite capacity for taking pain
Preparation is fundamental to Mou’s approach. He leaves absolute minimum to chance.
Were the top coaches becoming much of muchness, all preaching the same dogma? No, according to Roxburgh.
Coaches were 3 hats: Selector, Manager, Coach.
When you take over a team, you have to build and maintain 3 teams: the team that is playing, the team that is not playing and the team behind the team.
Crespo was missing, first day at Imperial College training ground. He gave excuses of delayed flights for 2 days. Upon question whether he will settle in with the team, he denied & was loaned to Milan. That’s Mourinho. Crespo out, Didier Drogba from Olympique Marseille in [transfer record 24million euro]
Mourinho’s team
Baltemar Brito joint assistant manager
Steve Clark, joint assistant manager [went on to work with Zola at West Ham and Dalglish at Liverpool] now a manager himself.
Rui Faria, fitness coach [longest serving member in his team]
Silvino Louro, goalkeeping coach
Andre Vilas Boas, assistant coach/scout a.k.a. director of opposition intelligence; a spy.
Just as Robson & van Gaal trust Mourinho, Mourinho trusted Vilas Boas.
If you have a Ferrari and I have a small car to beat you in a race I’ve to break your wheel or put sugar in your tank
At Porto, 4–4–2 without wingers; a tight midfield diamond while playing against UCL teams [Real Madrid/Manchester United].
At Chelsea, he started with 4–4–2 to switch to 4–3–3 once Arjen Robben joined hands with Damien Duff [both very fast wingers; wide players].
What Mourinho’s done is made coaching sexy: David Moyes, Everton, 2005.
Mou: Guided discovery, players must be led gently to lessons rather than told what to do.
Transitions have become crucial to the game. It’s not just the set-plays that can win you games.
No slight, real or imagined, is ever wasted.
Mourinho is the 12th man of the team. In his mind, he’s out there playing with the team. His celebrations are almost never muted; his hugs as tight as a player would give to another player. He’s not a father figure to his players. He’s more like a elder brother or the leader of the group.
Fergie can like you as a person but make a decision that hurts you. Similarly Mou.
Mind-games: the fourth hat
Every conversation Mourinho has is part of his work, and that the ultimate purpose of each of these communications is not to communicate as such but to increase his team’s chances of winning.
Advice to every interviewer of Mourinho then would be same as that to a political interviewer:
Ask yourself: Why is this lying bastard lying to me?
Talking to media is part of the game. When I go to press conference before a game, in my mind the game has already started. When I go to press conference after a game, the game hasn’t finished yet. Or if the game has finished, the next one has already started. — Mou
For Mou: he’d take to mind-games with a keen relish; Rafa Benítez : disdain.
Fortune, like a woman, is friendly to the young, because they show her less respect, they are daring and command her with audacity.
Mourinho & his apparent lack of sense of humor
Porto v Boavisto. Mourinho was banned from the dugout. At half time, someone had managed to smuggle phone in the dressing room and Mou said:
“I’m stuffed. You’re beating Boavisto 1–0 and Brito is twisting the knife. I’m going to be unemployed after the game”
José Mourinho: Zé Mário
Matilde
Tami
Tita
Zuca
Mourinho’s life is typical Portuguese combination of 3 F’s: Family, Football and Fatima (religion)
Brian Clough’s arrived at Nottingham Forest at age 31 from Newcastle United [where he was a player].
Season 2: Promoted to English top flight
Season 3: English Champions
Season 4: European Champions
Something of Brian’s personality in Mourinho: total belief in what he’s doing and the fact that he’s not afraid to voice his opinion
Mourinho can hold your attention. You hang on his words. He says things which are thought-provoking. He avoids clichés. He hasn’t fallen into the slovenly “at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about” mentality.
Ultimate goal: Portuguese national team.
My career as a coach will only make sense, when in few years, I have the opportunity to train the national squad.
Beyond football
Mourninho is interested in human actions; in solving the real problems in Middle East and Africa [not football problems]. While he didn’t like party politics, in that sense, United Nations could be a good fit.
After half a century without championship, Chelsea won two in a row. Mourinho: “Consecutive”.
For Mou, it was 4 in a row. He made you count the pair in Portugal.
Under Mou, there were plenty of cases of substitutes scoring for Chelsea. When a club’s bench regularly contains talent that’s worth more than 50 million euroes, it’s bound to help.
Special one to Specious One
Whether his consistently one-eyed view of events is the result of a genuine taint of paranoia or of calculated use of misinterpretation as a weapon, the effects are bound to be equally tiresome. Hypocrisy is a creature that no amount of meretricious dressing up can make attractive. As Mourinho repeatedly excuses, tacitly or volubly, egregious offences by his players while unleashing a torrent of condemnation on the (often lesser) transgressions of others, as he twists facts mercilessly to suggest that rare unfavourable scorelines for Chelsea aren’t actually defeats, only injustices, his arguments are laughably self-serving. In Barcelona’s UCL victory at Stamford Bridge, he demonstrated yet again that he has become the Specious One. And he is in danger of becoming something worse: a graceless bore.
Television replays are a luxury unavailable to referees.
Times have changed now with VAR in play.
The more successful a man becomes in football, the more lackeys he acquires; the more they fawn the less he has to make sense: Sir Bob Robson alluded to it when he spoke on power.
Wesley Sneijder, at Ballon d’Or ceremony in Zurich: I had pleasure to work with Jose Mourinho, who for me is the best coach in the world.
Zlatan Ibrahimovi: At Inter, with Jose Mourinho, I could go out and kill for him — that was the motivation he gave me.
The only force that is more powerful than steam, electricity or atomic energy is the human will — Albert Einstein
Mou when asked how Madrid overturned the 5–0 loss against Barcelona to win Copa Del Rey that same season.
Spanish game is not Europe’s most impressively led. For years authorities cocked a deaf ear to racial abuse among crowds; also turning blind eye to financial mismanagement [causing unpaid wage issues for many clubs].
Mourinho on his compatriot Ronaldo:
Maybe he thinks he knows everything and the coach can’t improve him anymore
Defeat, as ever, was a bitter pill for the Mourinho regime to swallow. | https://medium.com/read-with-chai/mourinho-further-anatomy-of-a-winner-8914c9e27203 | ['Chaitanya Prakash Bapat'] | 2020-12-24 05:47:25.137000+00:00 | ['Book Review', 'Biography', 'Football', 'Sports', 'Books'] |
Stop Giving Child-Free Women Side-Eye | We’ll take some overdue respect though, thanks.
Credit: Adam Schultz
Like many, I cheered the announcement of Kamala Harris as Vice President. Why wouldn’t I? She’s whip smart, highly accomplished, and conscientious, among other characteristics. But beyond that, I took a quiet, special pride in the joyful celebrations surrounding her appointment. That’s because Kamala is, like me, a woman who did not give birth.
15–20% of American women over 35 haven’t given birth. But you wouldn’t know it, from the degree of recognition and representation we typically get. I had high hopes that having the second most powerful person in America be a woman who hadn’t given birth could bring newfound recognition, understanding and respect, might change some minds, broaden some thinking.
My hopes sank, though, as the narrative focus moved away from the reality of her impressive lived life and shifted to bolstering her credentials as a mother. It was headspinning, starting in 2019, how quickly Kamala became synonymous with ‘Momala.’ This started on the campaign trail when Harris penned an essay for Elle that ran Mother’s Day weekend. Closer to the election, Glamour set up a Zoom call and launched into an hour long chat “about the important stuff — how Cole and Ella got to know the woman they call Momala.”
Perhaps the Biden-Harris team wanted to prevent Harris from experiencing the criticism that followed former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard. Gillard, a progressive who became prime minister in 2010, also did not birth children. The Toronto Star reported how she was vilified for this during the campaign:
“Gillard, 48, has long been attacked by the Liberal opposition (in Australia, Liberals are the main right-wing party) for not starting a family. One Liberal senator said she was unfit for leadership because she is ‘deliberately barren.’ A Liberal frontbencher claimed she couldn’t ‘understand the way parents think’ because she has no children.”
Here in the U.S., we’re no better. There’s a history of slams against powerful or high-achieving women—including former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Supreme Court Justices Sonya Sotamayor and Elena Kagan—for not being mothers.
Top prize for shade-throwing goes to a 2010 Washington Post oped published when Kagan assumed her post on the Supreme Court, that ran with the headline “The Supreme Court needs more mothers,” and includes this gem:
“Motherhood offers a one-word verifier. It signals a woman with an intensity of life experiences, jammed with joys and fears, unpredictability and intimacy, all outside the workplace.
So, those of us who are not mothers lack all of the above?
Grist covered the “controversy” over the fact that Kagan hadn’t given birth, finding that “Obama’s pick signifies continued progress in the fight for women’s equality, the discussion surrounding that pick shows how much prejudice still exists toward another group: the childfree.”
Similarly, in 2016, UK energy minister Andrea Leadsom had to apologize for a dig she made about then-Prime Minister Theresa May, who does not have children. Leadsom, who had aspirations to replace May as prime minister, had said that she would make a better leader than May as she, a mother of three, had a “very, real stake” in the country’s future.
Ouch. | https://medium.com/atta-girl/stop-giving-child-free-women-side-eye-e20e25913ca4 | ['Pamela M Tsigdinos'] | 2020-12-16 21:44:23.244000+00:00 | ['Motherhood', 'Society', 'Culture', 'Women', 'Feminism'] |
5 Alarming Facts about Church History | How many facts about church history do you know about?
We are not talking about common events in bible like Noah’s Ark or the Ten Commandments; we are referring to the growth of the church itself. In other words, we are talking about the things that happened after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Most of us start get cloudy about the events that occurred after Jesus rose from his tomb and ascended into Heaven.
Here are 5 alarming facts about church history that you probably didn’t know:
1) Early believers refused to apologize for their Christian faith.
False doctrine and teaching took place early in Church history. But early believers vehemently rejected these objections shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus. As expected, a lot of opposition rose against Christianity. Those opposing the faith accused Christians of being atheists since they had gods that were visible.
Rather than submitting to great pressure from authorities, these early believers fiercely defended the basic principles of Christian faith. Many of them suffered horrific deaths defending their faith. Sadly, many of them are still dying today.
2) Persecution of early Christians actually helped spread the gospel throughout the world.
The bible gives us many examples of this In the Book of Acts, Romans, and Timothy. During the first 300 years of the Church’s history, Christians suffered through many periods of persecution. It was through these trials that the gospel picked up steam as it spread.
Tertullian of Carthage actually said, “We multiply whenever we are mown down by you; the blood of Christians is seed.”
3) Heresy helped clarify church doctrine.
In 325 AD, church leaders gathered in Nicaea to address religious teachings that Jesus, the Son, was not either divine nor the same substance as God, the Father. The outcome of this meeting actually clarified and solidified what Churches of the future believed Jesus to be.
These types of councils not only rejected heresies and established Church creeds, they also firmed up the canonization of the Bible.
4) The fall of the Roman Empire made the church stronger during the Middle Ages.
When the Roman Empire fell during the Fifth Century, Christianity’s growth accelerated across the world. Christianity had already unified itself as a true religion by this time and was recognized as the religion of the state by the Emperor Constantine. The hierarchy of the church stepped in to fill the holes that this massive empire had left behind.
Suddenly, the church found itself deeply involved in societal issues like politics and education. This immediately gave the institution lots of wealth and power.
5) The Great Awakening established the common American identity.
The Great Awakening was a period of religious revival that occurred in America during the 1730s and 1740s. In the time before these revivals, the Enlightenment era had caused people to refrain from adopting a personal relationship with God. It was through the preaching of people like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, when colonists were urged to break free of the existing authoritarian rule from the religious establishment. | https://medium.com/@hankreedball/5-alarming-facts-about-church-history-3046af86c17 | ['Hank Reedball'] | 2019-05-17 18:04:39.889000+00:00 | ['Church History', 'Church', 'Christianity', 'Christian Living'] |
Jeff Invents a New Necktie Knot | A few days ago I was watching the movie ‘Gabriel’s Inferno’. In one scene Julianne is fixing Gabriel’s tie in a car. It annoyed me that the rich, sophisticated, intellectual was both bad at tying a tie, and that it was a simple and bad looking knot. It just seemed incongruent. So, I paused the show.
I grabbed a tie and looked up knots. I learned the notation system, which is pretty simple. I went through the 13 most common knots from the book ‘The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie’. I determined that the knots that I think are decent are the: Small, Victoria, 11–3, Nicky, Half-Windsor, Hanover, Plattsburgh, Cavendish, and Balthus.
Then I started playing around. I thought I might be able to invent a new tie knot. That’s not an easy task to do. There are mathematical academic articles written by physicists on working out all of the different ways to tie a tie.
The first knot I thought I invented ended up being number 34 in the ‘Encyclopedia of Tie Knots’. I also thought I invented the Cavendish knot for a little while before I realized that they were the same. I came up with a few more, some of them pretty wild, and I’m not wholly sure that I like them. But, there is one that is my own, and that I like.
I like the neckties that are fairly symmetrical, like most people. But, a number of years ago I ordered this dress shirt from Asia that was asymmetrical. Near the top of the buttons a piece was folded over to reveal a different color that swept across the front. The shirt was designed to be worn without a tie and I liked the look. The idea of being intentionally asymmetrical gets me an advantage over the mathematical models. And yet, my knot ended up being fairly symmetrical. It’s funny how things work out sometimes.
Here’s the notation for how to do the ‘Jeffrey Knot’: Li Co Ri Co Ri Co Ri Li Co T
Here’s how to do it in English. You start like normal, with the small end of the tie shorter and the finished side of the tie facing forward. All of the movements will be with the larger end of the tie, which I start with on the right. 1) Put it across the smaller end. 2) Go up through the middle and out to the right with the inside of the tie facing back toward you. 3) Go up through the middle and come back to that same position out to the right. 4) Go up through the middle again. 5) Come across the front of the tie to the left side, with the inside of the tie facing back. 6) Go up through the middle of the tie and tuck it through the loop in the front. Slowly tighten it up, cinch it up, and you’re done.
When you’re looping around the same spot several times in a row you’ll want to keep it somewhat tight because you can’t adjust that tension at the end. Having the three loops on that side ends up balancing out the single on the other side. It seems a little odd before you tighten it up, but it comes together nicely. When cinch it up to you’re neck it’s one of the most balanced feeling knots that I’ve encountered, which I like. Also, you can’t see a hole in the center of the knot, but you can stick your finger through it. I like the empty center even though it can’t be seen, it’s unique, and maybe even symbolic.
I invented this last Friday. On Saturday morning I was getting ready to head to the Messianic Synagogue. I thought about doing my own knot, but I was short on time and decided to go with the 11–3. The 3 stands for a triple tuck. After you tie it you can pull those sections apart and have three layers of overlapping bands across the front of the tie, which is cool. So, initially, I did that one.
On my drive I realized why it isn’t that great of a knot though. The three layers don’t have anything to keep them separate, so they have a tendency to slide back together. Thus, when I got to the synagogue I took that out and did a Nicky knot, which is simple and solid. One of the congregation leaders complimented me on my vest and tie, but not because it was a special knot.
The next day I was going to the Greek Orthodox Church and decided to go with my own knot, the Jeffrey Knot. I wanted to see how it would perform in the field. And… it did well. It held well, and looked and felt good the entire time.
I’ve done a lot of unique things over my life. I’m happy to add inventing a new necktie knot to the list.
________________________________________________
Find more at JeffThinks.com or JeffreyAlexanderMartin.com | https://medium.com/@jeffreyalexandermartin/jeff-invents-a-new-necktie-knot-64df0922a614 | ['Jeffrey Alexander Martin'] | 2020-11-02 20:11:53.760000+00:00 | ['Clothing', 'Style', 'Fashion'] |
Your First Python-to-Salesforce App | If you’re comfortable with working with traditional development platforms such as Heroku, but now you need to integrate into Salesforce data, there are many unexpected differences that you might discover.
Salesforce is not a traditional software platform as many developers might be used to working with; it’s a managed cloud platform. This means:
You don’t have to worry about managing your compute resources, such as the number of CPU cores, or deciding whether to pay for more RAM or hard disk storage.
The majority of the routine coding tasks are done for you. (It’s a low-code platform.)
There are strict rules and constraints you must follow when performing database transactions, running server-side compute instructions, and managing asynchronous work.
In this article, I’ll show how to get started with building a Python-based integration with the Salesforce platform, and how to navigate its differences and intricacies. We’ll create a simple Python app, deploy it to Heroku, explain how to integrate that app with some records in Salesforce using SOQL, and how to insert or update new records.
Prerequisites
Here are the necessary prerequisites you will need:
Python programming language basic syntax and normal CPython runtime. The runtime and language version used at the time of this writing is Python 3.8.6.
Working with version control using git.
Deploying to Heroku using git and the Heroku CLI.
A Salesforce developer org. If you do not have a Salesforce org to work with yet, you can sign up for free here.
As a bonus: some experience having written Structured Query Language (SQL), although we will move through a simple example that does not strictly require prior experience.
In addition, all screenshots and examples will show instructions using Visual Studio Code. The caveat is that we are still using mostly command-line terminal commands. You may use any command-line tool of your choice (as long as Python commands work with your local environment pointing to the correct PATH, or other operating system equivalent).
Considerations For Pip Packages
As one might guess, it is generally best not to worry about writing your own integrations with the Salesforce APIs; rather, we will turn to packages available via pip, the Python Package Index. Among the most popular packages for Salesforce at the time of this article are simple_salesforce and aiosfstream, which are for the REST/Bulk APIs and Streaming API for Salesforce respectively.
The Salesforce REST API is probably the first choice for most integrations because of its simplicity and its versatility. Typically, record updates, inserts, or transactions, in general, occur in small sizes of a single record at a time. In these cases, the REST API is ideal: Simply send a data payload an endpoint (or a web uniform resource identifier [URI]) and receive a response, all over HTTP.
What is REST?
If you haven’t written a REST API integration before, then this section is for you. In addition, I recommend reviewing other references on REST for a deeper understanding here, which is a very surface-level introduction. (If you’re comfortable with REST, feel free to skip this section.)
REST is short for “representational state transfer”. It is a large, complex phrase that simply means sending and receiving messages over HTTP. When you visit a web page in your browser, your browser is performing a GET HTTP request, and it receives back a response.
There are different HTTP status codes, with 200 meaning a success, or 404 meaning not found. In addition, to GET requests, there are:
- PUT, generally for inserting information
- POST, generally for updating information
- DELETE, for deleting things
- HEAD, which returns the header, sort of meta-information, without a response body as is typically received when running a GET
When it comes to these operations, HTTP interacts with “resources”. For this reason, a uniform resource locator (URL), is also referred to as a uniform resource identifier (URI). A URL is a specific kind of URI or a subset of URIs.
The overall message here is: Do not let all of this lingo about resources or “data payloads” distract you from the main idea — all that is really done in REST-integrations is sending messages and receiving responses. Beyond that, we have technical jargon everywhere but that is the underlying concept.
Having said that, the examples in this piece will primarily focus on the versatility of REST integrations.
When Not to Use REST with Salesforce
Let me briefly point out some key concepts for when it may be undesirable to use REST when integrating with Salesforce: bulk operations and near real-time data streams.
For high-volume data processing, usually between thousands to millions of records, the Bulk API makes more sense. The truth is, REST, Bulk, and Streaming APIs all use HTTP principles but they are optimized for different purposes on Salesforce. In the case of the Bulk API, it follows a different set of governor limits, runs batch sizes of up to 2,000 records for database transactions, and has a significantly different response pattern to that of the REST API. With REST, you can receive responses back based on individual records. With Bulk, you can receive responses after the completion of bulk loading jobs.
Finally, the Streaming API is important to a wave in increased popularity for event-driven systems, by which actions are taken in integrations are not done from requests and responses but instead come from change event broadcasts to listening clients. Events are broadcast on individual channels, usually considered to be on an “event bus”, and then received (as opposed to requested) by listeners.
Streaming events are important because they overcome many issues of latency or delay if implemented well. A good example is the notion of change data capture: If a field updates on a given record in a database, it is ideal to know immediately when that happens, having the database tell clients instead of clients requesting that information from the database. Such a strategy avoids checking the last modified date stamps, collecting old and new values somewhere, or other similar issues that then become tied to periodic requests and responses. Therefore, if you have resources for processing a data stream, then it is ideal over a bulk job because it delivers information in near real-time rather than delivering information on some scheduled daily process run (in the case of bulk).
All of this said, simple_salesforce will be the way to start using REST or bulk. It provides wrappers in Python code for forming a secure, authenticated session with Salesforce, performing database operations, and choosing whether to use REST endpoints for individual records or utilizing bulk load jobs.
If it is difficult to understand the difference between APIs, feel free to return to this section. This simply provides a background that should prove useful for designing solutions over the long term. Knowledge of Salesforce APIs will prove relevant in the future because not every solution uses REST or bulk.
Start Simple (or as Simple as Possible, Really!)
Although there are many articles that suggest starting with some kind of a Python web framework like Django or Flask, the suggestion here is to start simple. Begin with a “hello world” style program, which is capable of executing on the Heroku container, and then build upward. The purpose of this approach, especially in the case of approaching this problem, is to reduce bloat or fluff at the start, eliminating unnecessary dependencies and keeping the scope of the example manageable.
Get Something Printing as Quickly as Possible
To start, create a new directory just called ‘_sample_app’. This folder will contain all the relevant program files and can be a source one refers back to when they build for another use case. Using a terminal, navigate to the newly-created directory. If following these instructions completely through the command line, it should look like this:
mkdir _sample_app
cd _sample_app
Inside the folder, initialize a new git repository using git init .
Inside Heroku, create a new app with a name of your choice. Then, with the Heroku CLI, make sure to log in using heroku login .
On the terminal window that is sitting ready on the `_sample_app` directory, set the Heroku remote repository using the Heroku CLI command: heroku git:remote -a [app name] .
These actions accomplish the main setup for deploying to the Heroku app using git, of course, and then the following files should be created:
test_start.py
print("This is working!")
requirements.txt — will fill in shortly, just create an empty text file for later.
runtime.txt
python-3.8.6
Procfile
web: python test_start.py
.gitignore — In this case, mine was auto-generated from using Bitbucket but copying these extensions is usually good for any Python application repository.
# These are some examples of commonly ignored file patterns.
# You should customize this list as applicable to your project.
# Learn more about .gitignore:
# https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/saving-changes/gitignore # Node artifact files
node_modules/
dist/ # Compiled Java class files
*.class # Compiled Python bytecode
*.py[cod] # Log files
*.log # Package files
*.jar # Maven
target/
dist/ # JetBrains IDE
.idea/ # Unit test reports
TEST*.xml # Generated by MacOS
.DS_Store # Generated by Windows
Thumbs.db
If you want to keep this in your own version control system outside Heroku for later, then you can deploy to a separate repository.
Otherwise, deploy!
git push heroku main
Then, scale the web dyno specified in the Procfile, which simply commands python to run test_start.py.
heroku run web=1
After a successful deployment and scaling to a single dyno, use `heroku logs’. There should be a display of the message in the print statement from the test_start.py file: “This is working!”
At this point, this is now a bare-bones Heroku application that does little other than print a statement one time upon deployment.
Log into Salesforce Manually
Now, we’re ready for wiring up to a Salesforce org. A Salesforce org is an instance of the Salesforce platform that encompasses all the data and logic of any company, group, or organization. The Salesforce platform itself is its own product and serves as the main hub by which most other Salesforce products are added on, or customized. Most of the business work done in Salesforce is done within a production org, while most development work is done in a sandbox or scratch org. For this example, you’ll use a Developer Edition org, which is treated as a production org. If you’re curious about the intricacies of Salesforce development environments versus their ‘production’ counterparts, see their documentation.
Make sure a Salesforce org is ready. Go through the signup process at https://developer.salesforce.com/signup. Fill out the form with the relevant information. After some time, you will receive an email from Salesforce with login details, notifying that the org is created as requested. Then, using the username and password credentials for the org, sign in at https://login.salesforce.com.
The username and password for logging in manually is the same information used to connect to the org in Python. Every connection to Salesforce happens under a Salesforce user context. As a connection is established with the API, the user context defines a user’s access to specific objects, fields, and other features. This controls which data is available for reading or editing under the API connection.
In addition to the username and password, the security token is necessary. Find the security token by going to the user settings within Salesforce. This is located from the type right icon, which produces a dropdown. Then, go to ‘Settings’, and use ‘Reset My Security Token’.
Salesforce will send an email with the security token. Keep this in a secure place as you will need it to authenticate using Python later.
Add simple_salesforce Through Pip
Update requirements.txt to install simple_salesforce as a part of this app’s dependencies. Note that this example uses version 1.10.1 of simple_salesforce. Find more information about simple_salesforce and the source code here: https://github.com/simple-salesforce/simple-salesforce.
requirements.txt
simple_salesforce==1.10.1
If you’ve worked with Python a lot, you know the drill: `python -m pip install -r requirements.txt`
Integrating Python with Salesforce: Considering the Connection Object
Now the fun part — let’s integrate Python with our Salesforce data.
Update test_start.py to form a connection object for Salesforce, which is very similar to the example from the simple_salesforce documentation. (You can now remove the print statement as it mainly served as a placeholder.)
test_start.py
from simple_salesforce import Salesforce # A general connection object variable can be initialized,
# which will then be populated with the Salesforce connection
# object as it is returned from simple_salesforce.
production_connection = None
# The content of the string variables below should be replaced
# with your own connection credentials. The API version, 50.0,
# happens to be the latest Salesforce API version from this writing,
# but there might be changes that happen later from future Salesforce API
# versions.
#
# The domain, specifies the login domain known from:
# https://login.salesforce.com
#
# Using 'test' for the login domain would point to:
# https://test.salesforce.com
# That domain is used for sandbox environments. A free
# developer org in this example, though, is considered a
# 'production' Salesforce org and therefore would go to
# the 'login' domain, not 'test' or something else.
#
# While this example has direct statements of these string
# variables, it is ideal in a production grade solution to
# reference these variables via either an environment
# configuration or an encrypted vault. The direct statement
# of the username and password here is done for simplicity.
if production_connection is None:
production_connection = Salesforce(username="<username>",
password="<password>",
security_token="<security_token>",
version=50.0, # the API version of Salesforce, for its metadata
domain='login') # login means: a production org
Working with Salesforce Records
To retrieve Salesforce records, you will need to use the Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL). SOQL looks deceptively a lot like SQL. Beware: SOQL is not SQL! There is a distinctive lack of a number of features, like joins, although it is possible to run aggregate queries. This example uses similar syntax to what SQL would be for simplicity’s sake but SOQL is its own body of knowledge you can learn more about after moving through this article. Trailhead, the official Salesforce learning and tutorial platform, contains modules on SOQL.
In general, a safe bet is to do direct SELECT style queries. Here is an example SOQL query that retrieves a number of standard fields from the Salesforce Account object:
SELECT Id, Name, CreatedDate
FROM Account
Again, this looks very similar to SQL but it is technically running under an engine that is not a traditional SQL engine at all. SOQL, then, is designed to work in the shared, multi-tenant environment of Salesforce, where multiple org instances may exist on a single server. Therefore, it has very tight constraints around the number of rows returned at any time, the amount of time any given query is allowed to run, and other limitations.
Add some code to the test_start.py program that inserts an Account record.
# Records can be defined through Python dictionary objects,
# with field values specified as key-value pairs. The field name
# points to its value. In this case, the Name field on the Account
# can be any string value.
# The CreatedDate and Id are returned from the Salesforce database
# upon record insert, so do not assign those an values.
account = {"Name":"Test Account 1"}
production_connection.Account.create(account)
print("account_insert_result: {}".format(account_insert_result))
When the program runs to insert the Account, the Account can be retrieved with its automatically assigned database ID and created date by running the SOQL query from above.
# With the record insert done, the record can be queried Using
# SOQL, using this query as an example.
account_soql = "SELECT Id, Name, CreatedDate FROM Account"
account_query_results = production_connection.query(account_soql).get('records')
print("account_query_results: {}".format(len(account_query_results)))
The .get(records) is necessary because the payload returned from the query contains more than just the records; it is a data structure that includes some meta-information regarding the query result. The results return in an OrderedDict data structure (https://docs.python.org/3.8/library/collections.html#collections.OrderedDict).
After putting all these code blocks together then executing test_start.py, the print statements included in these blocks will print out the length of the insert and query results. If following along on your own machine, make sure to compare with the full example code.
Conclusion
From here, all the building blocks needed are essentially in the Python syntax. For the different kinds of database operations, refer to the simple_salesforce documentation. The same basic methodology can be used with the REST API for updates, deletes, and upserts (which use a key to update where a record exists or insert when a record key does not exist).
Remember to always consider Salesforce API limits, also available from their governor limits documentation. In addition, a number of database transaction-related limits exist. Fortunately, Salesforce has summarized their limits in the documentation here:
https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.apexcode.meta/apexcode/apex_gov_limits.htm#!
For the full example code, take a look at the git repository here:
https://github.com/elegacorp/your-first-python-to-salesforce-app
This example does not consider a number of other important facets to a scalable application design. The security aspect of storing the credentials within the source code is not a good idea but it is used here for simplicity’s sake. In all likelihood, this program needs to be able to run on a repeated cycle to handle events, criteria, polling for different conditions, or a similar situation. The style of this code is also procedural and not at all object-oriented. Still, the choice remains for how to approach the missing pieces of this solution for real-world situations. There are various ways to restructure the program for real-world use cases with these building blocks.
Thanks to Python’s robust community ecosystem of packages and general support, Salesforce and Python prove easy enough to work with since Python is a viable integration solution. | https://medium.com/@scottlee_elega/your-first-python-to-salesforce-app-46e1d96a25f8 | ['Scott Lee'] | 2020-12-16 03:00:06.564000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Heroku', 'Software Development', 'Salesforce', 'Programming'] |
Tutorial: How to Scale and Rotate Contours in OpenCV using Python | Learning by example
Throughout this short tutorial, I would be using a simple image to demonstrate my points, below is some code for imports and loading the image, and generating the contours. You know, that standard stuff!
import cv2
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
# Reading the image
im = cv2.imread('sample_img.png')
# Converting image to grayscale
imgray = cv2.cvtColor(im, cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY)
# Thresholding and getting contours from the image
ret, thresh = cv2.threshold(imgray, 127, 255, 0)
contours, hierarchy = cv2.findContours(thresh, cv2.RETR_TREE, cv2.CHAIN_APPROX_SIMPLE) im_copy = im.copy() cv2.drawContours(im_copy, contours, 0, (255, 0, 0), 3) plt.imshow(im_copy)
plt.axis("off");
Sample image with detected contour
How to resize contours
Well, the idea is pretty simple, and if you have some understanding of high-school math, below steps would seem very sensible:
Step 1: Translate the contour to the origin
Step 2: Scale each point of the contour
Step 3: Translate back the contour to it’s original place.
Below I explain and show code equivalents of each step.
Translate the contour to the origin
To translate the contour to the origin, we just have to subtract the coordinates of the centroid of the contour with all the points. And the centroid of the contour can be found using the cv2.moments function.
Getting the centroid of the contour
M = cv2.moments(cnt)
cx = int(M['m10']/M['m00'])
cy = int(M['m01']/M['m00'])
Translating the contour by subtracting the center with all the points
cnt_norm = cnt - [cx, cy]
Scale each point of the contour
To scale each point of the contour, we just have to multiply the scale with the contour points.
cnt_scaled = cnt_norm * scale
Translate back the contour to it’s original place.
This step can be achieved by simply adding back the centroid co-ordinates to the contour points and that’s it!
cnt_scaled = cnt_scaled + [cx, cy]
cnt_scaled = cnt_scaled.astype(np.int32)
Combining all the steps into a function for scaling
Hence we can write a simple function based on the above steps as below:
def scale_contour(cnt, scale):
M = cv2.moments(cnt)
cx = int(M['m10']/M['m00'])
cy = int(M['m01']/M['m00'])
cnt_norm = cnt - [cx, cy]
cnt_scaled = cnt_norm * scale
cnt_scaled = cnt_scaled + [cx, cy]
cnt_scaled = cnt_scaled.astype(np.int32)
return cnt_scaled
And we can call this function to test that it works fine!
RED BOUNDRY : Original contour
: Original contour GREEN BOUNDRY: Scaled contour
cnt_scaled = scale_contour(contours[0], 0.3)
im_copy = im.copy()
cv2.drawContours(im_copy, contours, 0, (255, 0, 0), 3)
cv2.drawContours(im_copy, [cnt_scaled], 0, (0, 255, 0), 3)
plt.imshow(im_copy)
plt.axis("off");
Original and scaled contour
How to rotate contours
Rotating contours are also simple, and again would just take some high school math to understand the steps.
Step 1: Translate the contour to the origin
Step 2: Rotate each point of the contour
Step 3: Translate back the contour to it’s original place.
Translate the contour to the origin
Getting the center
M = cv2.moments(cnt)
cx = int(M[‘m10’]/M[‘m00’])
cy = int(M[‘m01’]/M[‘m00’])
Translating the contour by subtracting the center with all the points
cnt_norm = cnt — [cx, cy]
Rotating each point of the contour
Once you have put the contour to the origin, we have to rotate each point. And for me understanding rotation is much easier in polar co-ordinates as compared to Cartesian co-ordinates (I hope for you too 😉). So, that’s what we’ll do! Convert the points to polar co-ordinates, add the rotation, and convert it back to Cartesian co-ordinates.
These are some helper functions which I borrowed from here to convert back and forth between Polar and Cartesian co-ordinates
def cart2pol(x, y):
theta = np.arctan2(y, x)
rho = np.hypot(x, y)
return theta, rho def pol2cart(theta, rho):
x = rho * np.cos(theta)
y = rho * np.sin(theta)
return x, y
Converting the x-y (cartesian) co-ordinates to theta-rho (polar)
coordinates = cnt_norm[:, 0, :]
xs, ys = coordinates[:, 0], coordinates[:, 1]
thetas, rhos = cart2pol(xs, ys)
Adding the angle to the thetas .
thetas_deg = np.rad2deg(thetas)
thetas_new_deg = (thetas_deg + angle) % 360
thetas_new = np.deg2rad(thetas_new_deg)
Note: I converted the radians to degrees because I chose to give angle in degrees form (and it makes modulo operation much cleaner). Then I again convert it back to radians.
Convert the new polar coordinates to cartesian co-ordinates:
xs, ys = pol2cart(thetas, rhos)
cnt_norm[:, 0, 0] = xs
cnt_norm[:, 0, 1] = ys
Translate back the contour to it’s original place.
Add center coordinates to the contours’ coordinates
cnt_rotated = cnt_norm + [cx, cy]
cnt_rotated = cnt_rotated.astype(np.int32)
Combining all the steps into a function for rotation
Hence we can write a simple function based on the above steps as below:
def cart2pol(x, y):
theta = np.arctan2(y, x)
rho = np.hypot(x, y)
return theta, rho
def pol2cart(theta, rho):
x = rho * np.cos(theta)
y = rho * np.sin(theta)
return x, y
def rotate_contour(cnt, angle):
M = cv2.moments(cnt)
cx = int(M['m10']/M['m00'])
cy = int(M['m01']/M['m00'])
cnt_norm = cnt - [cx, cy]
coordinates = cnt_norm[:, 0, :]
xs, ys = coordinates[:, 0], coordinates[:, 1]
thetas, rhos = cart2pol(xs, ys)
thetas = np.rad2deg(thetas)
thetas = (thetas + angle) % 360
thetas = np.deg2rad(thetas)
xs, ys = pol2cart(thetas, rhos)
cnt_norm[:, 0, 0] = xs
cnt_norm[:, 0, 1] = ys
cnt_rotated = cnt_norm + [cx, cy]
cnt_rotated = cnt_rotated.astype(np.int32)
return cnt_rotated
And we can call this function to test that it works fine!
RED BOUNDRY : Original contour
: Original contour GREEN BOUNDRY: Scaled contour
cnt_rotated = rotate_contour(contours[0], 60) im_copy = im.copy()
cv2.drawContours(im_copy, contours, 0, (255, 0, 0), 3)
cv2.drawContours(im_copy, [cnt_rotated], 0, (0, 255, 0), 3) plt.imshow(im_copy)
plt.axis("off");
Original (red) and rotated (green) contour
Having fun with random rotation, scale, and translation
Here is a simple code to generated random rotation, scaling and translation (not covered in the tutorial but it’s just a simple addition of co-ordinates).
im_copy = im.copy()
cv2.drawContours(im_copy, contours, 0, (255, 0, 0), 3)
for i in range(20):
cnt_rotated = rotate_contour(contours[0], np.random.random() * 90)
cnt_scaled = scale_contour(cnt_rotated, np.random.random() * 0.5)
cnt_translated = cnt_scaled + np.random.randint(low=-200, high=200, size=(2,))
r, g, b = [int(np.random.choice(range(255))) for _ in range(3)]
cv2.drawContours(im_copy, [cnt_translated], 0, (r, g, b), -1)
plt.imshow(im_copy)
plt.axis("off");
Random rotation + scaling + translation
In-case someone wants to dissect this code, these are the key things I did: | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/tutorial-how-to-scale-and-rotate-contours-in-opencv-using-python-f48be59c35a2 | ['Nvs Abhilash'] | 2019-08-17 06:18:18.961000+00:00 | ['Opencv', 'Opencv Python', 'Python'] |
5th Emirates Pathology Utilitarian Conference on December 1–3, 2020 | Hello Everyone,
I invite you all to present your research work Digitally at the 5th Emirates Pathology Utilitarian Conference on December 1–3, 2020.
Hurry up submit your abstracts on below sessions;
Pathology
Digital Pathology And E-Pathology
Pediatric Pathology
Histopathology
Cancer Cytopathology
Diagnostics Pathology
Breast Pathology
Surgical Pathology
Ophthalmic Pathology
Renal Pathology And Urinary Tract Pathology
Anatomical Pathology, Forensic Pathology, Autopsy Pathology
Hematopathology
Gynaecological Pathology & Uropathology
Liver Pathology And Gastrointestinal Pathology
Molecular Pathology
Head And Neck Pathology
Neuropathology
Nephropathology
Immunopathology
Microbial Pathology & Infectious Disease Pathology
Dermatopathology
Soft Tissue And Bone Pathology
Speech-Language Pathology
Clinical Pathology & Chemical Pathology
Oral & Maxillofacial Pathology
Experimental Pathology
Coronavirus Pathogenesis
Pathology with Technology
To submit your abstracts visit: https://pathology.universeconferences.com/submit-abstract/
Register Here: https://pathology.universeconferences.com/registration/
UCG’s digital conference videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS1TFe3nzRlREovQIjYMPkg/videos
Access the Conference for $99 only with all the above benefits. Please let me know your opinion as soon as possible as we are finalizing the program.
Thank You
Organizing Secretariat | UCG | https://medium.com/@ucgconferences/5th-emirates-pathology-utilitarian-conference-on-december-1-3-2020-e9afa978d088 | ['Utilitarian Conferences Gathering'] | 2020-08-13 15:23:26.157000+00:00 | ['Pathology', 'Medicine', 'Internal Medicine', 'Microscope', 'Doctors'] |
Building a Pure CSS Animated Gradient Colour Button Is Easier Than You Think | Final Boss — Animated Gradient Button
In CSS, we can’t transition gradients. It would be awesome to see smooth animation with CSS like this:
But it won’t work. It immediately changes to the other one without transition. There are a few hacks to do it, but my favourite is to animate background-position .
Firstly, we need to add two properties to our button:
background-size : 200% auto
: 200% auto background-position : left center
Then on hover:
background-position : right center
In this case, I added a gradient starting with a white colour. It enhances the impression of an animated border.
HTML:
<a href="/" title="Hello button" class="btn">Hello</a>
CSS:
Standard and hover
And that’s it!
You can play with the final button on CodePen. | https://medium.com/better-programming/pure-css-animated-gradient-colour-button-is-easier-than-you-think-f19e86bbbc4f | ['Albert Walicki'] | 2020-12-01 17:20:22.350000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'CSS', 'HTML', 'UX', 'Design'] |
How to get your baby to sleep | 5 Steps how easily you can make your baby to sleep
1: Swaddle: Wrapping the baby with soft towel or a blanket. Some baby fight with swaddling but they feel and do better with this mostly.
2: Side or Stomach Position: This position will not make baby to sleep immediately but the best position for crying baby and overcoming that.
3: Shushing: Baby will never sleep if there is no soft voice like sssshhhhhhh ssssshhhhh… Baby feel good when parents create a voice of sssshhhhhh and they feel good and are ready to sleep
4: Swinging: Baby get sleep easily when swinging in a rhythmic motion.
Pic Credit: Women’s Guide
5: Sucking: Sucking is like icing on the cake ,i.e feeding, sucking on pacifier these are the things which really work well together to help baby sleep
Trying these 5 ultimate steps really work great to make baby sleep. It really helped a lot for parents to get their own good sleep:) Happy to hear from readers what’s their experience. Do share your feedback whether it worked for you or not. | https://medium.com/@megha1hinha/how-to-get-your-baby-to-sleep-d90082163c3d | ['Megha Hinha'] | 2019-11-01 07:45:14.571000+00:00 | ['Swaddles', 'Sleep', 'Parenting', 'Baby Care', 'Baby Sleep'] |
NFT Gaming Platform Development Company | Gaming Industries are extended to grow across all markets and it gives essential benefits for game developers and where players can spend money to resolve their access to their in-game assets and gameplay structures. NFT will authorize the gaming industries with advanced features and a decentralized environment, while blockchain technology will offer a transparent ledger distribution. It consists of various nodes and a virtual database. So that these NFT and Blockchain networks will ensure the gaming industry is more secure and compatibility.
Kick Start Your NFT Gaming Platform With Zodeak
Zodeak is a prominent NFT Gaming Platform Development Company that can offer you the best NFT Gaming Platform Development services to create your own NFT Gaming Platform as per your business needs. It attracts a huge number of gamers to invest in digital collectibles. We provide highly advanced and flexible NFT Gaming Platform Development that adapts to your business needs. Our NFT Gaming Platform services are very affordable and you can get a realistic gaming experience with NFT’s.
Features Of Our NFT Gaming Platform
Transparency
In this platform, users can purchase virtual assets and will permit the assets in a translucent manner. Transferred money and any other details will not be displayed transparently. It may attract an extensive audience to your gaming platform.
Liquidity
NFTs are stored as collateral for liquid cryptocurrencies or any other forms of fiat. This platform will offer prompt liquidity with a large number of audiences in the NFT Marketplace.
Efficiently Verify
WiTs have an exclusive feature that makes them vary from other cryptos. NFTs are deficient so that their availability will be transparently visible in the network.
Why Choose Zodeak For NFT Gaming Platform Development?
Zodeak has prior experience in developing NFT gaming platforms for users and gamers in an innovative and inventive way. Our NFT gaming developers who have skilled in blockchain technology that helps to launch your own NFT Gaming Platform at competitive prices. We provide complete guidelines for developing your own NFT Gaming Platform. the implementation of blockchain technology, all the transactions between developers and gamers are efficiently verifiable. Therefore, both the gamers and developers are getting more profits. Users’ trustability is more important on this platform so that they know complete knowledge about all their transactions. | https://medium.com/@richardparker0196/nft-marketplace-development-company-e2785738c823 | ['Richard Parker'] | 2022-01-12 06:50:42.714000+00:00 | ['Nft Marketplace', 'Nft', 'Nftgamedevelopmentcompany'] |
Leveraging Tech to Create Operational Efficiency | Ombori on Creating Operational Efficiency
All businesses strive for some level of efficiency within their company, whether that means ensuring that owners are not doing everything themselves or using the right technology to streamline processes. The leaner and more efficient your company is, the more likely it is to succeed over the long term.
While efficiency is a good overall goal, defining what that means for your company can be tricky. What is very efficient for one company may not work well at all for another business. Individual companies have to define what operational efficiency means for their unique company, industry, and goals. Once these metrics have been defined, business owners and operators can work toward creating operational efficiency.
The High-Level Overview: What is Operational Efficiency?
At the very basic level, operational efficiency is the relationship between an organization’s input and output. Operational efficiency is the goal to produce a high-quality product with as few resources as possible. Operational efficiency generally leads to increasing revenue by cutting down on unnecessary costs.
Distinguishing Between Productivity and Efficiency
Productivity and efficiency are often used interchangeably in business. However, they are very different concepts. Productivity essentially means that you are doing more with the same resources. Efficiency, on the other hand, means doing more or achieving the same level of production with less or fewer resources.
Productivity really focuses on performance. It might mean increasing costs, such as by improving current equipment or asking employees to go through more training. Although there is some “upfront” investment, the cost is justified because the overall output increases.
Efficiency, on the other hand, generally does not make any upgrades. Instead, it focuses on producing at the same (or increased) level, but with fewer resources. The most common example is in the manufacturing context: producing the same amount of product with fewer machines.
The Importance of Focusing on Efficiency First
It can be tempting to try to focus your efforts on both productivity and efficiency at the same time. After all, they can both lead to increased revenues and a more attractive bottom line. However, if you want to improve the overall performance of your company, focusing on efficiency first will be a better use of your time and resources.
By creating as much as you can with the resources you have, you create an optimally efficient environment that can be improved upon later. Going extremely lean first will help you use resources effectively. Then, you can increase productivity by building upon an already highly efficient operation.
Start by Creating a Baseline of Operations
Your baseline of operations includes all of the functions that must be in place for your company to run. This requires an in-depth understanding of what each department does and how it contributes to the overall goals and functions of the company. In smaller businesses, the roles of each department may overlap quite a bit.
Creating the baseline of operations requires an understanding of:
The purpose of each department (or person)
Responsibilities of each department
Steps that each person or department must carry out to fulfill their role within the company
Once you have this high-level overview of understanding, you can move on to actually calculating efficiencies.
Creating Metrics to Measure Efficiencies
All of the understanding of operations and cost-cutting in the world cannot do any good if companies do not have a meaningful way to measure relative efficiencies. This step is necessary to have the means to evaluate efficiency. Without some type of metric to assess efficiency, you cannot tell whether improvements are actually being made or measure the overall health of an organization.
To start, you must decide which input and output measures are the most relevant for your company. Every industry and individual company are different, and many efficiency measures will not make sense across more than one industry.
Key performance indicators might include things like:
Cost of goods sold
Hours necessary for production
Average transaction values
Overtime or labor hours generally
Transportation costs for products
Gross margins on investments
Conversion rates
Cost of raw materials or producing specific component parts
Foot traffic and digital traffic
Inventory turnover
Reviewing metrics from other comparable companies might be a helpful starting point. Review annual reports or quarterly updates to shareholders of companies in the same industry. Determine what they see as performance indicators and what kind of measurement they think is good or bad. There are also many resources available that provide industry-wide averages for various indicators that might be helpful for your company as well.
As you work through measurements like time and quality indicators, you can begin to spot bottlenecks that make processes slower.
Addressing Operational Bottlenecks
Bottlenecks in operations are critical points where efficiency can be improved. They might be unnecessary tasks or points in the product lifecycle that can be improved by altering current processes.
Consider an example. Imagine that workers have to have two quality approvals from different department managers before a final product can be shipped to a customer. Getting these approvals is time-consuming and delays getting products out the door by at least a day each time a batch is ready.
To address this bottleneck, you might be able to eliminate one of the approvals required. Alternatively, perhaps you could ensure that one approval happens as part of an earlier quality check and not as part of the final check. As a third option, you could incorporate a quality control worker at the end of the line whose job it is to instantly do a quality review, instead of moving the product from one location to another or waiting for specific people to come to the product.
Creativity is often very helpful in addressing bottlenecks that curtail operational efficiencies. You should also keep in mind that removing or reducing bottlenecks will generally require working closely with a particular department or employee to develop a new process or strategy to accomplish the same goal.
Once you have addressed a bottleneck, be sure to continue measuring key performance indicators to check for improvements. Continue communication with your team to make efficiencies even better as you work through implementing the new solution.
Implementing Technology to Increase Operational Efficiency in Employees
Technology can play a huge role in increasing efficiencies. Although implementing new technology may be seen as a move toward productivity rather than efficiency, it can actually increase both concepts. Using the right type of technology can not only help increased output, but it can cut down on costs as well.
Although operational efficiency is often viewed from the perspective of manufacturing or similar industries, the retail industry can benefit significantly from increasing efficiencies even at the tail-end of the product cycle. Increasing employee efficiencies is perhaps the easiest place to start improvements in retail.
Scheduling and Appointment Setting
Implementing technology that allows employees (and customers) to be more organized can have a profound impact on efficiency and productivity. A simple switch to a scheduling software or appointment setting technology allows employees to not only track their schedules better, but they can often communicate with customers better as well.
Curbside Pickup and BOPIS Services
Customers get a lot of value out of services like curbside pickup or BOPIS (Buy Online, Pickup In-Store) options. However, employees can also significantly increase efficiencies in serving customers when clients use this service as well. It allows them to coordinate services in a way that best fits the customer’s needs. It also allows business owners to schedule more effectively to meet client demands.
People Counting Systems
People counting technology allows business owners to know exactly how many people are in their brick-and-mortar store at any given time. Over time, companies can spot trends, including situations where more workers are necessary to meet demand. The workforce can be decreased on slower days as well.
Real-time people counting technology can also help companies spot bottleneck customer service areas and address them immediately. Over time, you can see trends that create bottlenecks and stop them from occurring before they cause any additional waiting time for retail customers.
Queue Management
An effective queue management system will allow your team members to work much more efficiently. Instead of herding clients and dealing with angry customers who have had to wait, a good queue management system will stop bottlenecks before they happen and allow your team to address client needs proactively instead of reactively.
Using Ombori Technology to Increase Operational Efficiency
If you are looking for ways to make your company more efficient and productive, Ombori may have the solution for you. The team at Ombori will work with you to develop the personalized system you need to decrease costs and increase outputs. Learn more by contacting Ombori today. | https://medium.com/@hassellof/leveraging-tech-to-create-operational-efficiency-9d632654b906 | ['Andreas Hassellöf'] | 2021-07-02 14:13:01.242000+00:00 | ['Retail Technology', 'Retail', 'Efficiency', 'Customer Experience', 'Operational Excellence'] |
Kubernetes CKA hands-on challenge #3 Advanced Scheduling | Content
Overview and Tips
Rules!
be fast, avoid creating yaml manually from scratch use only kubernetes.io/docs for help. check my solution after you did yours. You probably have a better one!
Notices
This challenge was tested on k8s 1.18. Please let us know should you encounter any issues in the comments
how to be fast with Kubectl ≥ 1.18
Scenario Setup
You will start a two node cluster on your machine, one master and one worker. For this you need to install VirtualBox and vagrant, then:
cd cka-example-environments/cluster1
./up.sh git clone [email protected] :wuestkamp/cka-example-environments.gitcd cka-example-environments/cluster1./up.sh vagrant ssh cluster1-master1
vagrant@cluster1-master1:~$ sudo -i
root@cluster1-master1:~# kubectl get node
You should be connected as root@cluster1-master1 . You can connect to other worker nodes using root, like ssh root@cluster1-worker1
If you want to destroy the environment again run ./down.sh . You should destroy the environment after usage so no more resources are used!
Todays Task: Advanced Scheduling
How many pods of deployment coredns are running on which nodes. Why are coredns pods running the nodes they are? Show the config of coredns . The actual Corefile not the k8s yaml. Create a deployment of image httpd:2.4.41-alpine with 3 replicas which can run on all nodes. How many are running on each node? Now change the pods to only run on master nodes
Solution
The following commands will be executed as root@cluster1-master1 :
alias k=kubectl
1.
k get pod --all-namespaces | grep coredns # two pods
k get pod --all-namespaces -o wide | grep coredns # both on master
Next we check how these pods are created:
k -n kube-system get all | grep coredns # deployment!
So we have two pods because of the amount of replicas defined in the deployment.
2.
But why are both running on the master node, and only the master?
k -n kube-system get pod coredns-5644d7b6d9-4hp5t -o yaml | grep tolerations -A 20
Here we see the pods have a toleration to run on master, but this only means that they can run on a master node. There is no node selector or something else set to control that they have to run on a master node.
The reason here is simply that during cluster creation the coredns deployment was created before the worker node was ready. You can delete pod:
k -n kube-system delete pod coredns-5644d7b6d9-4hp5t coredns-5644d7b6d9-fswhw
which should result in one on the master and one on the worker node.
3.
It uses a configmap to manage the config:
k -n kube-system get cm coredns -o yaml
4.
k create deploy deploy --image=httpd:2.4.41-alpine -o yaml --dry-run=client > deploy.yaml vim deploy.yaml
Add the master toleration:
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
creationTimestamp: null
labels:
app: deploy
name: deploy
spec:
replicas: 3
selector:
matchLabels:
app: deploy
strategy: {}
template:
metadata:
creationTimestamp: null
labels:
app: deploy
spec:
containers:
- image: httpd:2.4.41-alpine
name: httpd
resources: {}
tolerations:
- effect: NoSchedule
key: node-role.kubernetes.io/master
status: {}
Then run:
k -f deploy.yaml create
k get pod -l app=deploy -o wide
In my case: 2 on master and 1 on worker node. If no pod get’s scheduled on the worker you could set the .spec.template.spec.nodeName to cluster1-worker1 to see that a pod can still run on a worker.
5.
Alter the yaml to:
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
creationTimestamp: null
labels:
app: deploy
name: deploy
spec:
replicas: 3
selector:
matchLabels:
app: deploy
strategy: {}
template:
metadata:
creationTimestamp: null
labels:
app: deploy
spec:
containers:
- image: httpd:2.4.41-alpine
name: httpd
resources: {}
tolerations:
- effect: NoSchedule
key: node-role.kubernetes.io/master
nodeSelector:
node-role.kubernetes.io/master: ""
status: {}
Now all 3 are running on the master node.
Clean up
Run: ./down.sh .
All CKA challenges
More challenges on | https://codeburst.io/kubernetes-cka-hands-on-challenge-3-advanced-scheduling-3fbeb67f2f2 | ['Kim Wuestkamp'] | 2021-01-02 19:12:15.915000+00:00 | ['Continuous Deployment', 'Continuous Integration', 'Continuous Delivery', 'Cka', 'Kubernetes'] |
Future Perfect | Future Perfect
maybe it’s all written in the sky already
Photo by Billy Huynh on Unsplash
A storm was coming, building from afar but for certain on its way. If you told that to anyone other than Ahsa Mirai they would laugh, given the stagnant and balmy conditions at present. But Ahsa wasn’t in her present, well, not in the way most people are. Hard as she tried, she could not remain there for too long as her tendency to slip into her visions of the immediate or distant future would overcome her at any given moment.
It’s an odd affliction, you see.
Ahsa collected her things from the clothesline hanging across her backyard, gathered up her shoes from the porch and anything else she didn’t want to get soaked and brought them inside. She caught sight of her mailman coming up the walk. Skipping out to meet him she waved a cheery hello.
“Hey, Mr. James,” she said.
“Well, hey yourself, Ahsa, how’s your day?” he said, handing her the mail over the low picket fence.
“Oh, fine, just fine. Just getting things into the house before the big weather, ya know. Going to get my storm windows out of the basement and put them on today. How are you?” she answered.
Mr. James was used to peculiar words coming from this unusual young woman’s mouth but still he looked quizzically at her. Standing still, he looked up and around at the cloudless blue sky, the birds chirping merrily in the surrounding trees, the sun shining brightly, then looked back at Ahsa. He simply nodded and smiled, gave her a wave as he took leave of her to finish his deliveries on the block.
Ahsa knew what he was thinking but there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. Other than share her thoughts and visions with others if she deemed it of use to them, she mostly remained silent with the people of her small town community.
Hurrying back to the matters at hand, she let it go, knowing Mr. James would remember her words once the torrential downpour did arrive less than twenty-four hours from now, and scratch his head. She grinned confidently to herself as she ambled back up the steps of her front porch.
Knowing the future ahead of itself was not such a terrible thing.
Mostly.
What was more alarming to Ahsa was that she was told many years ago that she would begin to forget her past, an element of her condition that she was in fact beginning to catch glimpses of in recent months.
Dr. Alain DeMain, whom she had worked with since childhood, had told her in no uncertain terms that this would very likely be on the horizon for her, a kind of forgetting that would occur incrementally and eventually wipe her memory database clean.
“Look, Ahsa. You know your future, so I know you understand who you will become, who you will be with, if you will have children and all that,” he said.
Dr. DeMain never asked her the details of her special insights but merely advised her on how to cope with it.
“Your future is mapped out. Be sure to let your people know you will need them to be your link to the past. Be your memory. When that is gone, they will be your living archive to the past,” he explained.
Dr. DeMain was the one to encourage her to keep a daily journal and to buy a good camera, to start recording all the important events through writings and sketches, take photographs to fill in all the other gaps, which she began doing right away. The camera became the most defining possession she had.
The chronicling of her own life events gave way quickly to the capturing of life’s subtle moments, too: the bloom on a spring flower, a hummingbird at her feeder. The angelic face of her neighbor Anna’s smiling baby boy. Her father playing his clarinet in his later years.
And she was able to tune her own rhythm to the seasonal changes that were nature’s way of recording the passage of real time.
. . .
“You see, Carlos, well, it’s hard to explain. But it’s like memories are upside down and inside out. You can probably conjure up all kinds of events and conversations that you’ve had over the years that evoke a whole range of emotions. That’s becoming a vacant spot for me, in my mind, do you understand? It’s a blessing in some ways, I mean, I don’t hold grudges, or have regrets. Lucky me,” she laughed. “But I also have no barometer for my life or ability to understand its arc, like what did I say or do that determined my present or this future course? I can’t connect any dots.”
“But you’re only twenty-seven. I mean. I don’t really understand. So. You don’t remember anything from the past? I mean, do you remember the first day we met? Or going to the party? Will you even remember our dinner together tonight?” he said, perplexed by it all. And a bit distressed as he really liked Ahsa and wanted to spend more time with her. Build something.
“Oh, yeah, I’ll remember this! It’s not that immediate. It’s mostly older memories I can’t retain and it’s pretty subtle right now, but it will get more difficult as I get older. I keep a journal with me all the time. And keep photo albums to stay grounded. Without them, I’d be really lost! I have over 300,000 photos up in the cloud, isn’t that something!” she said.
“And there will be lots more photos to take!” she added with a laugh, hoping Carlos would share this new information easily.
It was their third date and things were still so new, he didn’t know her very well but she already knew, of course, where their relationship was headed, so she wasn’t too worried. But she felt he should know about her memory issues, the losing sight of the past. As for her ability to know future outcomes and timelines, well, this detail, she would keep to herself.
For now.
“I’m like most people, Ahsa,” he said, putting his fork down and placing his hands one on top of the other across his heart. He was a gentle soul.
“Time is such a mystery. I try to be present to fully experience things as they happen. And I dream and I plan, I construct and envision my future, hope for the best things for myself and everyone I love. But who knows how things will ever turn out. I like that we can’t know, that we can only speculate or imagine the things to come,” he said.
Ahsa just nodded silently.
“As for the past, I cherish my memories, the story of ‘me’. I have done so much in my life, I love to reflect on it all, it makes me feel warm inside and connected to everyone I’ve ever met,” Carlos said, letting his hands slowly return to the table, palms resting face down on its surface.
“I feel sorry for you, Ahsa, in a way. I know this must be hard?” he continued, wrinkling up his forehead in a questioning manner, unsure how she would react to his perception of her most unusual dilemma.
“I’m used to it. It does take the surprise out of life, though,” Ahsa said.
Carlos nodded, looking into her eyes deeply, so eager for more explanation and clarity.
“What surprise?” he asked, not understanding her comment.
“Did I say ‘surprise’? Oh, um, I don’t know what I meant. Can we talk about something else?” she said, as the waiter arrived just in time to provide the perfect distraction, setting down their second course.
What Ahsa didn’t tell Carlos that evening was that she had seen him coming a mile away, she’d just been waiting for him to appear. She had known him well before he arrived, his warm hazel eyes, his thick black hair tied into a loose ponytail. She knew the way he walked and the sound of his deep and gentle voice, the way his laugh gave away his ease with life.
She heard his whistle of an old traditional tune from his native Ecuador. She had felt his touch on her face and his kiss since she was a child, wondering who this mysterious man was infiltrating her thoughts, this person on her horizon.
. . .
Carlos Ayer had walked into her life just the way she had known he would two days before her twenty-seventh birthday. Working at Berryman’s, the local boutique in town on that Saturday afternoon, she looked at the clock on the wall expectantly, awaiting his arrival.
“Excuse me, Miss. Can you help me pick out a dress for my sister Rita? She’s about your size and your age, I bet you have a good eye,” Carlos said with a bright smile. Ahsa turned around to face him, to face her future right then and there in that moment in time. The continuum had caught up with itself for a flash of a moment.
“Of course I’d love to help!” she beamed.
“Fantastic!” Carlos said.
“Well, let’s see, your sister is turning twenty-four so something light and fun. And I bet her favorite color is blue?” Ahsa said.
Carlos blinked twice at her.
“How did you know the dress is for my sister’s birthday?” he asked. “And her age? Her favorite color?”
Ahsa thought quick on her feet, she had always needed to.
“Oh. I must have been thinking about my own birthday coming up, is all. And just guessing her age. Lucky guess, huh?” she said with a nervous smile.
“Oh, OK. Yeah, you’re good at this I guess,” he said, eying Ahsa with curiosity, still a bit stunned by this mysterious and exotic creature before him with such unbridled intuition.
“When is your birthday?” he asked.
“Day after tomorrow. Now, let’s see, these are my two favorite dresses in the boutique right now and we have both of them in her size … er, my size, therefore . . . probably her size,” she said, hoping not to call too much more attention to her gift of foresight.
By the time Ahsa had wrapped up the pretty dress in a gift box for Carlos, they had made plans to meet for coffee after she got off work.
. . .
Stirring a bit of sugar into his espresso, Carlos wondered about this beautiful young woman sitting across from him and the fortuitous nature of their meeting. He could have walked into any boutique in another part of town but his luck and fate had taken him to hers. Setting his spoon down, he lifted the demitasse to his lips and took a sip, never removing his eyes from her luminous face.
“Tell me something about yourself, Ahsa,” he said, placing his cup back onto its saucer.
“What would you like to know? I’m pretty much an open book,” she said.
“Surprise me. Pick a page from your book, then,” Carlos said, with a wink.
Ahsa thought about how she would not be able to answer this question so easily to a stranger one day, she would not have access to that book. It would be gone for good in the coming years, as if to go up in flames in a house fire. She blinked and thought a minute more about what she wanted to share with Carlos, knowing what she knew about them, their future, the things only she could know.
“I play the piano. I love learning the old Scott Joplin rags. They’re so full of life! So energetic and upbeat. But, oh so complicated, too. I used to drive my dad crazy while I was practicing the ‘Maple Leaf Rag’ when I still lived at home with him. That was the first song — ” she stopped abruptly, surprised and grateful that she was able to recall that moment at all.
“Um, that was the first Joplin tune I learned,” she said, recovering herself from the momentary freeze-frame of thought.
“Lately I’ve been working on Joplin’s ‘Stoptime Rag.’ I’ve been at it for a little while now. Maybe I’ll play it for you one of these days . . .” she drifted off, knowing of course he would hear her play that song and so many others often in the years ahead.
“I’d like that. I’d like that very much,” Carlos said, and he smiled so warmly she could feel the heat all the way to her toes.
“Listen,” he said. “Why don’t you come to my sister’s birthday party next Saturday at my parents’ house? It’s only proper, after all, you picked out the perfect dress, and . . . what is it, Ahsa?”
She was overcome with emotion, holding back tears she looked swiftly away to hide it from Carlos. Of course, she would be there. As though it was happening at this moment, she was feeling and knowing all at once how beautiful the day would be, how much she would love his family, how easily she would fit in like a missing piece to their puzzle.
In due time.
Ah, time, she thought. It’s so impossible, why must she experience it so differently than everyone else. She composed herself in order to meet his gaze and answer his question without betraying her thoughts.
“Sorry, I just had a speck of something in my eye.”
She cleared her throat.
“Carlos, I’d love to go to your sister’s party, thank you. That is so sweet of you to invite me,” she said.
. . .
It would be months into their relationship before Ahsa felt Carlos would be ready to absorb the other time-related element of her mind’s inner workings. Carlos had professed his love for her by now and shared his beautiful vision of their lives together. He had been painting the picture for her in exquisite detail: their future home, their children, their summer travels, all perfected for them in his adoring ruminations.
Relaxing on the beach together that afternoon, the timing and setting all felt right even without the internal cue marked on her mind’s calendar from years ago.
Carlos listened carefully as Ahsa explained it all to him, taking the information with a certain degree of consternation. Though, like everyone who met Ahsa, he had almost come to expect it. How ironic, you might say. But such as it was, he wanted to learn everything about it.
He wondered how it would be to live without the element of surprise. To know one’s life ahead as clearly as knowing the words to a favorite song. To know so certainly one’s fate just as one knows the sun will rise in every tomorrow.
“So, what happens with us? No, wait,” he said, holding up his wine glass before she could speak. “No, no. I don’t want to know. It’s strange enough that you know. But Ahsa, how can you . . . live with that? The knowledge of what’s to come . . . I can’t even begin to understand what that is like,” he said. Carlos took a big pull of wine from his glass, rolled it around in his mouth to fully taste it, then swallowed, searching her face for some answer to the question.
“It’s hard sometimes, yes. I can’t block it out, it’s there. So, I’ve learned how to be very accepting. And patient. And I try to help other people and steer them out of harm’s way if I can. But it’s not in my control. It hurts if I know someone’s marriage will dissolve, and when, well before they even feel an inkling of it falling apart. And my dad. I knew how he would pass and when and — ,” she started, feeling saddened as one would with a painful memory, though for Ahsa, she had lived with the knowledge of it her whole life.
“Do people ask you to tell them about that stuff, like how things will turn out for them?” Carlos asked, suddenly intrigued. Wide-eyed.
“It’s blurry. I mean, it’s not my life so there are details missing. My clarity is with my own life, so if a person intersects deeply with mine then I can see more. But that’s how I get out of that fix with inquisitive friends, I just tell them I don’t really know! And, well, not many people really know about my special ‘gift’, if you want to call it that,” she said.
“Well, I just know our story turns out great, my love,” Carlos said, lying back on the sand to take in the expansive view of Ahsa against the flawless backdrop of sea and sky. “It’s all gonna be perfect, I just know it,” he said.
Ahsa nodded to him and gave him a knowing smile, set her glass down and snuggled her face into that special place on his chest, lay there listening to his heart beating, strong and true.
. . .
She peered out the window to look at the clouds parting slowly. Though she didn’t need to. She knew the storm would pass today well before its last crack of thunder. The kids were due to arrive home within the hour and Carlos was on his way back with his sister Rita and his mom, ready to celebrate birthdays once again. To celebrate lives well lived.
The skies would be absolutely clear by then, the sun would warm things up.
She grabbed her camera and went into the garden to take a few snapshots of the clouds moving apart, changing and shapeshifting, becoming something new from one minute to the next in a perfected passage of time. She stood still to feel the sun on her face. Our life together is beautiful, just as Carlos said it would be, she thought.
As perfect as it could ever be, better than one could ever know or even imagine.
. . .
From the Sentences collection, © Mary Corbin 2020
marycorbinwrites.com
marycorbinart.com | https://medium.com/scuzzbucket/future-perfect-b5e32d75c93a | ['Mary Corbin'] | 2020-12-29 05:03:20.263000+00:00 | ['Scuzzbucket', 'Fiction', 'Prose', 'Short Story'] |
AI Lesson for Teachers, Teens, and Everyone In Between | My goal is to outline a lesson that any teacher can use in the classroom or any person interested in a very high level understanding of how AI works can walk through. This is not meant to be an exact representation of how AI truly works, but simply give intuition as to how it works. I have been a Math, SAT, ACT, ISEE tutor for close to a decade and work in machine learning research.
Pre-requisites: know what a probability is.
There are 2 sub-lessons, 1 smaller one and 1 larger one. All lessons will be under the scope of computer vision problems — object detection.
Supervised learning vs Unsupervised learning Training a machine learning model
Machine learning problems are often broken into two categories, supervised and unsupervised problems. Supervised problems are where you give the model examples of something and then expect it to be able to predict that thing later on an unseen image. Unsupervised problems are where you have a bunch of images and you try to figure out which ones are most closely related (not based on anything except what you can see) and then group them without knowing what the final class you are trying to predict actually is.
Supervised Learning
I will now show you a series of shapes and a name for the shape.
“zhags”
These shapes above are called zhags.
“flarks”
These shapes above are called flarks.
Now I will present you with an object and you tell me if it’s a zhag or a flark. There is a hidden rule that categorizes zhags and flarks. Your job is to learn that rule.
?
This is a zhag. If you guessed that, awesome! You learned a successful model.
But maybe now you get an object that doesn’t fit exactly what you thought.
?
This is a flark.
Little did you know, the hidden rule is if the shape has any curve at all it is a flark. This is why sufficient training data is so important to machine learning problems! If this was a missing training data point in an autonomous vehicle this could cost someone their life.
Unsupervised Learning
Say we have a set of images and strictly using the images and no previous knowledge we need to place them on the xy-plane where their distance between each other represents how different they are from one another.
Here are a group of images.
Images from Wikipedia
Now we are meant to place these on the xy-plane. Here’s a possible iteration of this.
So if I now said, group these into two sets you probably would do this one of two ways. | https://towardsdatascience.com/ai-lesson-for-teachers-teens-and-everyone-in-between-7df81bd343f3 | ['Mike Chaykowsky'] | 2020-06-15 21:42:04.250000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Education', 'Students', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Teaching'] |
Using rclone on Linux to Automate Backups to Google Drive | As of now, Google has yet to release an official backup/sync client for Linux, and as a frequent WSL2 user, I was after a solution that would allow automated backups to Google drive from the WSL2 Linux file system/distro.
I’m a big fan of both Windows & Linux, and the evolution of WSL2 (with an actual Linux kernel) is making it easier to work in an almost “real” Linux environment without the need for third-party virtualization software. Using rclone with WSL2 gives me the option of restoring project files from a recent backup should I accidentally trash my WSL2 Linux distro.
The following write-up describes an approach for using an open source package, rclone, to automate backups from Linux to Google drive.
Download/install rclone:
To download/install rclone :
$ curl
...
rclone v1.53.1 has successfully installed. $ cd $HOME$ curl https://rclone.org/install.sh | sudo bash...rclone v1.53.1 has successfully installed.
This installs the binary to location /usr/bin/rclone .
Before being able to configure access for rclone to our target Google Drive account, we need to enable the Google Drive API and create appropriate credentials.
Enable Google Drive API:
Login with your Google account at: https://console.cloud.google.com to begin the process for enabling the API.
Navigate to “ APIs & Services ” → “ Library ”
” → “ ” Search for and enable “ Google Drive API ”
” Choose “Create Credentials” and continue to the next section for configuring Oauth Consent Screen
Create Google Drive API credentials for rclone:
From the left hand pane of the cloud console, choose “Oauth consent screen” and perform the configuration using the following values.
User Type: External -> Create
External -> Create Application name: rclone
rclone Support email: enter your google account email
enter your google account email Add scopes: “Google Drive API” -> “…/auth/drive”
From the left hand pane, choose “Create credentials”
Click on the menu “ +Create credentials ” and select “ Oauth client ID ”
” and select “ ” Application type: Desktop app
Desktop app Name: rclone
rclone Click “Create”
A client id & client secret will be generated. Make a note of these as they are required during the rclone configuration process
Configuring rclone
Begin the rclone configuration by running:
$ rclone config
Throughout the configuration process, choose/enter the following options:
n to add a new remote
to add a new remote name: gdrive
gdrive from the list storage providers choose the number/option corresponding to Google Drive \ “drive”
Google application client id: as noted from Google config
as noted from Google config client secret: as noted from Google config
as noted from Google config scope: 1 / Full access all files, excluding Application Data Folder. \ “drive”
1 / Full access all files, excluding Application Data Folder. \ “drive” root_folder_id: leave blank
leave blank service_account_file: leave blank
leave blank edit advanced config: N
N remote config use auto config: Y
Y Open the generated URL link with your browser and complete the authentication process
After successfully authenticating and granting permissions to rclone, go back to the rclone shell terminal session to continue configuration
team drive: N
N Y to confirm configuration is correct
to confirm configuration is correct Choose q to complete the configuration
To confirm that connectivity to Google Drive works correctly, we can list our remote root directory via:
$ rclone ls gdrive:/
myfile.docx
...
...
Choosing an appropriate rclone command: copy or sync?
Depending on your backup requirements, you can choose from several different command options. Amongst these are copy, sync.
Copy
https://rclone.org/commands/rclone_copy/#synopsis
Copies the source to the destination. Doesn’t delete files from the destination. Doesn’t transfer unchanged files.
rclone copy <flags> source:sourcepath dest:destpath
The following command:
$ rclone copy --transfers 20 --retries 5 "/home/dev/g" "gdrive:/mybackup"
can be used to backup the contents of local subdirectory /home/dev/g to Google drive location gdrive:/mybackup, where gdrive is the reference to our Google drive alias as supplied during the rclone config process, and /mybackup is the target location within our Google drive root directory.
The flags chosen in the above command translate to the following:
--transfers : number of file transfers to perform in parallel (20)
--retries : number of times to retry failed operations (5)
To see a full list of available flags, visit: https://rclone.org/flags/
Sync
https://rclone.org/commands/rclone_sync/#synopsis
Destination is updated to match source, including deleting files if necessary. Doesn’t transfer unchanged files
rclone sync <flags> SOURCE remote:DESTINATION
For the automation example that follows, we’ll use the rclone copy option. Tread with caution if you decide to use the sync option. A misunderstanding of how the sync command works can potentially lead to loss of data.
Automating the rclone command with flock and cron
The rclone copy command in the previous section can be implemented as a cron job, scheduled to run at desired intervals. Before we go into the scheduling, we need to deal with the situation where a backup may still be executing while the next scheduled instance is due to commence. A simple approach to managing this scenario would be via the concept of Advisory file locking with flock.
According to the man page for flock, we can use a one-liner flock command to implement our rclone backup.
$ flock -n /tmp/google_drv_sync.lock /usr/bin/rclone copy --transfers 20 --retries 5 "/home/dev/g" "gdrive:/mybackup"
The above flock command will create the file google_drv_sync.lock (if it does not already exist) and acquire an exclusive (write) lock on the file for the duration of the rclone backup. The -n option tells flock that in the case where the lock cannot be acquired (i.e. previous backup is still running), exit immediately with return code 1 (i.e. do not wait for lock to be released).
Enabling cron daemon
Ensure cron is enabled and running on the host.
sudo service cron start
You will also need to ensure the daemon is enabled during reboot/startup process.
If you are using a WSL2 Linux distro, exiting your WSL2 distro shell does not leave the daemon running in the background, and its state is not saved. The WSL2 Linux distro is considered to be offline if a background shell is not running.
To automatically re-enable the daemon once you log back into the WSL2/distro shell, you can add the following to your $HOME/.bashrc
$HOME/.bashrc
...
...
sudo service cron status > /dev/null || sudo service cron start
Implementing crontab entry
Assuming our backup will run at 10 minute intervals, we can add the following crontab entry via crontab -e .
*/10 * * * * flock -n /tmp/google_drv_sync.lock /usr/bin/rclone copy --transfers 20 --retries 5 "/home/dev/g" "gdrive:/mybackup"
Monitoring locks using lslocks
To monitor the status of locks acquired at any point in time, the lslocks command can be used. Once cron has triggered the rclone copy command, output of lslocks should show that a lock has been placed on /tmp/google_drv_sync.lock . Output from cat /proc/locks should show the lock type as Advisory.
Notes
rclone is open source with source code published at https://github.com/rclone/rclone. Compiling from source is described at https://github.com/rclone/rclone/blob/master/MANUAL.md#install-from-source.
In addition to Google Drive, rclone supports a wide range of additional storage providers, including Amazon and Microsoft OneDrive. | https://medium.com/swlh/using-rclone-on-linux-to-automate-backups-to-google-drive-d599b49c42e8 | ['Tony Tannous'] | 2020-11-02 06:26:31.945000+00:00 | ['Backup', 'Linux', 'Automate', 'Rclone', 'Google Drive'] |
Predicting Formula 1 results with Elo Ratings | Formula 1 races are further complicated by the qualifying, which sets out the grid order for a race. Because a driver’s grid position has significant impact in their expected finishing position, the Elo score for a participant is adjusted up or down based on their grid position. The grid-adjusted Elo score (gaElo) is the score used to predict race results for a driver. Like in the qualifying model, the predictions are generated with a Monte Carlo simulation where during a simulation each driver, constructor, and engine’s gaElo-score is randomly adjusted up or down. A chance of a driver retiring from the race is also simulated here. By running the simulation multiple times, percentual probabilities for each driver’s finishing positions can be calculated.
As mentioned before, the race model’s predictions depend on a given starting grid. Besides the grid decided on Saturday’s qualifying session, we can also use the qualifying model’s simulated qualifying results to generate a race prediction. This is called a “pre-quali prediction”, and it tends to have a larger variance of scores than the “after-quali prediction”. This is understandable, because the pre-quali predictions contain twice the uncertainty. Building pipelines that allow the two models to be run sequentially was not easy, but the result is quite rewarding!
Predictions generated by the race model are presented in the project’s website along with the existing qualifying model. Predictions for the 2020 Eifel GP in Germany are generated by the current model, while the earlier ones were generated by experimental models.
A screenshot of race predictions for Max Verstappen. Image by Ville Kuosmanen
The model’s performance was measured against two benchmarks: a random model, which predicts results randomly, and a model that always predicts results to be the same as the starting grid. Our evaluation shows the model outperforming the benchmarks, though only barely when compared to the grid-based model, showing that the model still has a long way to go in terms of accuracy. The race model especially struggles in predicting results for fast drivers who start at the back of the field due to grid penalties or issues in qualifying, which is something we want to address in the future.
The race model still has a lot to improve upon. Despite this, I do not believe the race model can ever match the performance of the qualifying model: Formula 1 races feel inherently more random than qualifyings (whether this is really true remains to be proven). The next features we would like to work on include giving predictions for the entire championship by simulating races further on to the future. Just like connecting the qualifying model with the race model, this is an engineering problem requiring the construction of new data pipelines. I would also like to improve the explainability of the model (a topic I have written about in recommender systems) by showing some insights into the model’s inner workings on the website. It would also be interesting to investigate data from pre-season testing: both the race and qualifying model tend to perform worst at the beginning of each season as the balance of power between constructors is shaken up.
If you’re interested in learning more about our Formula 1 predicting project, you can check out the project page (complete with open-source code) on GitHub. And while as an engineer I would love to see a model that could perfectly predict the results of each race, as a spectator it’s refreshing to be proven wrong with an unexpected race winner every once in a while! | https://towardsdatascience.com/predicting-formula-1-results-with-elo-ratings-908470694c9c | ['Ville Kuosmanen'] | 2020-09-30 20:57:07.082000+00:00 | ['Sports', 'Formula 1', 'Analytics', 'Data Science', 'Sports Analytics'] |
How to spark creativity when you feel brain dead | “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Maya Angelou
Photo by Ola Dapo on Pexels.com
With so many things pulling for our attention and weighing on our hearts at the moment, it can be hard to allow our minds the space to get our creative juices flowing. A lot of areas where we may have normally gained our inspiration; such as new experiences in travel, meeting people, taking the path less travelled, may not currently be available to us because of increased constraints and limitations of where we can go and what we can do.
The conventional usage of the word creativity usually implies ‘artistic creativity’ such as the visual arts, music, literature, design, film and video, TV and radio or crafts. Often you hear people say, “ I am not a creative person”. But we all create things as creating is simply the act of bringing something into being.
Did you execute a project at work this week, construct a spreadsheet or tweak a recipe for dinner? It might not seem significant but all of these fall under the more general kind of creativity, which we would normally refer to as ‘innovation’ or even ‘problem solving’. We can find this kind of creativity in every area of human endeavour. David Parrish explores the idea of these two themes of creativity “a-Creativity” for artistic creativity of all kinds; and “i-Creativity” for the wider version of creativity i.e. ingenuity in his article based on the TED talk “a-Creativity : i-Creativity”. As Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Eat, Pray Love” says, “If you’re alive, you’re a creative person”.
So, what are some ways we can re-light the creative spark?
Try something new. Attempting to do something outside your comfort zone forces your brain to stretch itself in ways that it had not previously done, making you view things in a different light. It doesn’t have to be a magnum opus that will set the world alight. Maybe you do the same exercise class all the time, but you want to try weights. Or you might always have a cheese sandwich on a Monday but want to try putting some ham on it. Go wild, shake it up a bit and you might surprise yourself with the results a slightly new perspective brings. Talk it out with someone. Sometimes just explaining the challenge to someone else helps to clarify what is needed or whether we need to simply try a different tactic. I often find if you can explain something to someone outside the field in question and they can grasp the principles of what you are talking about, it shows that you have done a good job with clarifying the issue. Put it down for a while. Often a solution or a way forward only becomes apparent when we step back from the issue and then your “Eureka” moment can come like a bolt out of the blue. So, make sure you got a notebook or your Notes app handy to capture the inspiration when it does arrive, so you don’t miss it! Rest and rejuvenation. When I am mentally and physically exhausted, ideas rarely flow for me. My brain fogs over and tasks that would normally be simple suddenly appear Herculean. Many famous innovators and thinkers often tout the importance of sleep and even naps to accelerating their ideation process. You can take it one step further and adopt artist Salvador Dali’s micro nap hack where he sat upright in an armchair holding a metal key in his hand over a metal plate. Once he drifted off to sleep and the metal key fell into the plate with a loud clang, it was time to wake up! He claimed that these micro naps “revivified” his being. Observe the masters and find your tribe. Whether that is finding a formal mentor or just drawing inspiration from people who you may not know who may be further along in the journey than you are. Having a mentor who can simultaneously challenge and encourage you takes you outside of your own self-absorption and helps propel you forward to action and limits procrastination and self-doubt. In addition, finding like-minded communities of people working to a similar purpose does even more to support this. Whether it is joining an online forum or a local chapter of your particular interest, surrounding yourselves with people who are passionate or have expertise in whatever you want to improve will exponentially grow your inspiration and motivation accelerates your learning and process improvement.
The irony is that there is no one size fits all method to spark creativity. It all depends on what works for you and what technique resonates best with you. Once we unburden ourselves from our biases as to how the process should unfurl, we will find it reveals itself. If we look at how very young children learn and create, they don’t hesitate; they just try it and figure it out along the way, stumbling along and dusting off themselves to try again with no self-consciousness. As Steve Jobs pointed out, “Creativity is just connecting things.”
So go connect and see where the dots join. You might be surprised at what the picture reveals at the end. | https://medium.com/@marvacarty/how-to-spark-creativity-when-you-feel-brain-dead-e5df794c0b2f | ['Marva Carty'] | 2020-12-13 08:23:37.274000+00:00 | ['Inspiration', 'Burnout', 'Creativity Tips'] |
Minutiae. As I scrolled in search of… | I was about to do a bit of research before I publish my intentions to put ‘copywork’ to the test. Halfway through my scrolling I get lazy and remember that I am worrying about minutiae and should probably just dive in head first.
‘If I die I die.’
As I scrolled in search of clarification to make sure I had amply grasped what copywork was in the first place. In that moment I came to remember my article on quality leisure time. The honest truth is that there are a lot of half baked ideas out there in the world. As a result I should not succumb to opinions, at least I should try not to. Instead, labours of time and and decades of learning should remain first priority. What good is the validation from another novice or an philosopher to unproven theories? Confirmation bias is unprogressive and a mere fear of judgement hiding behind perfectionism. At the end of the day, the human condition of putting self first before others pricks out in this moment. I am at liberty to share these sentiments and produce these digestible, untested and unproven thoughts, on my way to solidified social laws.
Do not hold off , just put it out into the world and it reroute as you interact and get feedback. The market decides what right or what is wrong
From a YouTube video I watched some time ago by TheFutur, I am setting out to put copywork to the test. Copywork being the a tactic practised by aspiring artists to improve their artistry on the backdrops of their model artists. Basically it can boil down to rewriting your favourite writers work as a rewriter for the sake of appropriating their literary skills in the process and that is exactly what I plan on doing with James Clear’s work.
Planning and attention to detail make a difference nonetheless. Like James says, we worry about the secondary things, sometimes it is merely just important to start.
(Not proofread for grammatical errors)
There just too many mistakes to be made but so little time. | https://medium.com/@cosnut/i-was-about-to-do-a-bit-of-research-before-i-publish-my-intentions-to-put-copywork-to-the-test-cc720ac87fc6 | ['Anesu Ndlovu'] | 2020-12-23 22:23:19.557000+00:00 | ['Minutia', 'Perfectionism', 'Copywriting'] |
Managing Promotions. Without promotion planning, demand… | Managing Promotions
Without promotion planning, demand planning fails
Based on Wikipedia, promotion is defined as:
“In marketing, promotion refers to any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or issue. The aim of promotion is to increase awareness, create interest, generate sales or create brand loyalty. It is one of the basic elements of the market mix, which includes the four P’s, i.e., product, price, place, and promotion.”
The goal of promotion is three-fold:
To present information to consumers and others. To increase demand. To differentiate a product.
Promotions, as definition suggests, are managed by marketing. That might include, but not limited to price reductions, cross product packages, combining multiple of single products with less prices, sweepstakes, discounts on other products and so forth. All these create more consumption on customers’ side. At least this is the expectation of a business.
Promotions deviate the total market depending on the size of your business. In other words, by making promotions, we are buying market share from our competitors (assuming ours is better than their promotion) and hoping the new customers trying our product, will stay with our brand.
The question here is, what is the realistic expectation of the incremental of the demand?
The question plays a key role, because over-sale of a promotion means buying more market share, but diminishing the profit (since promotions need investment), on the other hand nobody wants to have a low-performer promotion since otherwise we didn’t plan it anyway.
Pre — Promo Planning
Before the promotions, we need planning. What parameters are going to change, what is the contribution of those SKU’s in business, category in terms of sales and profit?
We need to analyze the price elasticity and distribution changes of the SKU’s. We need to get the behavior of them. What are the expected changes in threefold: optimistic, pessimistic and most importantly realistic, based on standard demand planning calculations.
The company should make its plans based on most realistic case, but also get prepared for the optimistic and pessimistic cases to be ready for the real-world.
During Promo Planning
Depending on the duration of promotion, we need to take reports on a regular basis to understand the trend. If it is not preforming well, it is better to discuss how to make it more prominent and which of our assumptions are not working. On the contrary, if it over performs, can we expect a big risk on our profit? We should also take care of our inventory status, it might be an excess inventory if we cannot sell, or can be in shortage if we sell a lot.
Sure that for all risks and opportunities, it would be great to have some mitigation plans.
Post Promo Analysis
End of promotions does not mean end of promotion study.
Now we need to check back whether our assumptions were right or not, what could be better, what could we do to make it better.
All the assumptions, decisions and results should be saved into a database, and this might be a simple spreadsheet. The main idea here is to make all reachable and keep away from forgetting.
Conclusion
Promotion planning is an endless journey of today’s business environment. We all try to steal market share and profit from our competitors. However unless we make it in a clear way, we repeat our mistakes and fail repetitively causing money.
Baris Nurlu has an Industrial Engineering grade having executive management experiences in many multinational companies. Currently manages a regional sales and operations of one of the best global FMCG companies. He also builds good apps in Baseduo in Apple Store and Google Play Store. You can reach him via [email protected] | https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/managing-promotions-data-driven-investor-6f5d41e9be23 | ['Baris Nurlu'] | 2020-04-01 08:18:55.019000+00:00 | ['Planning', 'Marketing', 'Demand Planning', 'Promotion'] |
Improving an appliance website experience for builders, architects, and designers. | Improving an appliance website experience for builders, architects, and designers.
We were tasked with improving the Blomberg website user experience to cater to a more specific audience looking for high-quality home appliances.
Blomberg produces home appliances for consumers and distributors in the US market that serve high-quality European designs at competitive prices. They are experienced in European design trends, compact designs, and creating stylish urban appliances. We were approached with a UX Redesign brief that involved improving the website functionality and experience to support an increased focus towards catering to businesses directly (builders, architects, and designers). This included redesigning the information architecture, the features and functionalities matrix, and producing wireframes of our solutions for key pages.
The final goal of this project was to drive more traffic towards business-related pages and content, and increase contact form submission and therefore allow Blomberg to become a key appliance touchpoint for builders, architects, and designers.
Wireframe and high fidelity mockup of our design
Research
Reasons for Redesign
Build relationships with builder, designer, and architect community
Instill confidence and trust in business users as a quality brand
Improve usability so users more easily find relevant content, products, and information
The existing website is quite simple and minimal. Although it contains a lot of documentation and data about Blomberg products, the design and functionality of the site doesn’t really fit this purpose. As a result, users cannot find what they need, ultimately weakening the business strategy.
Research methods
We used HotJar, Google Analytics, and UserTesting.com to observe how users navigate and use the Blomberg website.
Example screen for a usertesting.com session
HotJar was installed on the existing website, which provided us with heatmaps and session recordings so we could observe user behavior.
UserTesting.com was used to observe 5 people from the target group (architect, interior designers, and builders) aged 46–58, from the USA and Canada. We prepared a series of tasks involving finding products, comparing them, finding key information, and downloading resources. The sessions were roughly 20–30 mins long.
Some of our findings from HotJar included:
Most users are ignoring key banner or header content, especially those in carousels
Users are likely to use filters
Copying the product item number is a frequently performed action
Users spend most time on product detail pages searching for a specific parameter or detail
Example of Hotjar heatmap
Overall, most of our findings from HotJar pointed to the fact that although the website is designed aesthetically well and cleanly, users are having difficulty finding relevancy and finding information they need. This was further supported by user sessions recorded on UserTesting.com, where we provided a few scenarios and tasks for architects, designers and builders to perform on the Blomberg website. We also discovered the following issues:
Generic images make it difficult for users to assess the purpose of the website
A lack of useful filters
The compare table was poorly implemented
Navigation headings were ambiguous
Important information is missing from the specifications table
The brochure maker is a very useful feature, but not where users expect it to be
Quotes from UserTesting.com
“The website is well done, clean/modern, and as an architect and designer it appeals to me” “… but once i started searching for appliances, it became a difficult, frustrating, stressful task — and it shouldn’t be — appliances come in standard sizes, features, etc.” “The aesthetics are great, but more attention to functionality is needed”
Designing the solution
Information architecture
The existing navigation structure was a little neglected. There were some redundancies present and some bloated areas of navigation which were diluting the categories and sometimes misleading customers. We wanted to tighten the information architecture so customers are clearly guided to useful tools and of course, products.
Some of the key improvements we made where:
Make top navigation elements unambiguous and clear
Remove “Products” heading — a redundant navigation title
Make it clearer and easier for the target audience to find tools such as “brochure maker”
Remove ambiguous titles regarding marketing content that may be misinterpreted or mistaken for something else
After comparing the IA with some other well-known appliance brands, we decided to create the following solution. We believe it balances well the need to promote and show products, as well as direct users to useful tools for our niche. | https://medium.com/snowdog-labs/improving-an-appliance-website-experience-for-builders-architects-and-designers-10168aa12a78 | ['Clara Shen'] | 2020-11-09 13:37:48.519000+00:00 | ['Ux Case Study', 'Web Design', 'UX Design', 'UX Research'] |
4 Thought-Provoking Arguments Why My Friends and I Adore Catcalling | The internet is filled with all the negative aspects of catcalling. Indeed, the majority of women are frustrated, disturbed, and sometimes even scared by men who comment either nicely or slightly inappropriately on their appearance. Women judge, fight, and deem catcalling to be ‘street harassment’. Many people and even some studies demand catcalling to be criminalized as of its negative effects on women and society as well.
Let us pause for a moment.
Is this really of such a big issue? I mean, I understand. We have to draw a strict line between what is appropriate and what is already harassment. But I think, with catcalling we went a bit too far. Yes. I think our society is becoming radically feminist in this regard, and the other side of the story is widely underrepresented, unpopular, and unheard.
First, I have to admit, my friends and I genuinely enjoy being catcalled. It brightens up our days and gives us a slight confidence boost. We might be the smaller group of women, but we do exist.
Second, we sometimes forget catcalling usually comes from the somewhat less educated members of our society who might not be able to lead a social interaction according to our standards. They might solely want to express their adoration even though it is in a less accepted way aka via whistling, shouting, and commenting.
Third, if we say catcalling has to be penalized, where do we draw a line? Should gazing be already punished by prison? Are the phrases ‘sexy’ or ‘hi beautiful’ already inappropriate enough to make the abuser pay hundreds of bucks?
Lastly, if we claim how horribly catcalling objectifies women, I have to ask a thought-provoking question: Is that truly a wrong thing? Why should a blue-collar worker for example be aware of my intellectual value, when all he can see is my big booty walking by next to him?
Let’s unravel the less-discussed factors of catcalling with its positive aspects. | https://medium.com/sexography/4-thought-provoking-arguments-why-my-friends-and-i-adore-catcalling-8f4f88c375f5 | ['Eszter Brhlik'] | 2020-12-24 00:25:33.802000+00:00 | ['Opinion', 'Self', 'This Happened To Me', 'Harassment', 'Social Justice'] |
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