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Investment gaps in cancer biotech (and why you should bet on Texas) | This year, I will be helping to launch the Accelerator for Cancer Therapeutics here in Houston, Texas. Let’s be clear — Houston is NOT considered a biotech hub and this is a very unique program. So why are we starting this in Houston, and not San Francisco or Boston?
One contrary belief that led me to make this choice was my conviction that Houston (and Texas) had an enormous amount of cancer research that wasn’t being efficiently brought to the clinic.
Some points supporting Texas’ unique expertise in cancer:
But what about the second assertion — that this research is not being brought to the clinic? Given the cost of drug approval most therapeutics get to the clinic via a commercial entity, increasingly in small biopharma.
There have been several very large deals just this year based on Texas technologies
Forty Seven : 4.9B acquisition by Gilead
: 4.9B acquisition by Gilead AlloVir : $276M IPO
: $276M IPO Peloton Therapeutics: $2.2B acquisition by Merck
Notably, 2 of 3 here were primarily commercialized outside of Texas, even though the technology came from Texas research centers. This is potentially creating a knowledge and community gap which makes additional development more, not less, difficult.
Digging into the numbers
Let’s start with an initial premise. Cancer research should convert into therapeutic candidates at some rate, which would subsequently be commercialized. As I said, the majority of drug development is occurring in small biopharma, typically with an end-goal of large pharma acquisition. That requires a lotta moola, typically venture investment. So we should be able to track commercialization rates by comparing the research dollars to venture investments.
NCI Research Dollars
In order to simplify this analysis, we will set aside the substantive research funding from CPRIT as a fair comparison would require tracking down the various local foundation and economic development funds across the country. For the purposes of exploring the basic premise (how does research convert to commercial activity) the absolute numbers are less important than the trend.
That said, CPRIT is the largest local development fund focused on cancer in the United States, so it bears keeping in mind that there will be substantive research potential not counted in this analysis.
For now we’ll sally forth with the biggest funder of biomedical research in the United States: the NIH. In this case, we’ll focus on just the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Nothing terribly surprising here. The top four NCI funded states are California, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas. California and Massachusetts house the two “biotech hubs” (San Francisco and Boston) and are adjacent to satellite hubs (San Diego, La Jolla, New Jersey, and NYC). And Texas has the world’s largest medical center and the world’s largest cancer hospital.
Research Dollars
+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | CA | MA | NY | TX |
+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| 2015 | 316.4 | 216.9 | 206.9 | 125.4 |
| 2016 | 329.9 | 229.2 | 212.1 | 127.8 |
| 2017 | 355.5 | 245.8 | 225.5 | 150.1 |
| 2018 | 355.1 | 260.1 | 250.9 | 167 |
| 2019 | 365.6 | 266.1 | 265 | 179.5 |
+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
Cancer-related Venture Investments
This is a little difficult to track visually, since California and Massachusetts garner the vast majority of venture investment across the country. Biotech is booming across the board, and the multiples of growth here ranges from 3x (California) to 17x (NY). In multiples, New York and Texas are growing faster than California or Massachusetts, but the sheer scale of growth in California ($2B in 5 years) will have some interesting effects as we parse a little further.
Venture Investment
+------+--------+--------+-------+-------+
| | CA | MA | NY | TX |
+------+--------+--------+-------+-------+
| 2015 | 1181.8 | 563.7 | 39.5 | 18.5 |
| 2016 | 1729.9 | 533.8 | 146 | 78.4 |
| 2017 | 2896.6 | 966.4 | 63 | 120.2 |
| 2018 | 2674.6 | 1763 | 279.5 | 163.1 |
| 2019 | 3136.2 | 1889.5 | 682 | 248.9 |
+------+--------+--------+-------+-------+
Cancer-related Venture Dollars per NCI Research Dollar
As a first pass at understanding the relative conversion of research into commercialization activity, I did a simple ratio of venture dollars to research dollars. Again, the rate of investment is picking up across the board, but the geographical differences have resulted in either an overinvestment in the hubs, or an underinvestment elsewhere, depending on where you’re standing.
One huge problem with cutting the data this way is that some areas have so little research and investment that small changes create weird artifacts. Look at how Montana lights up like a Christmas tree in 2019, even though there was no investment previously.
Another thing we can’t tell from ratios is the scale of the disparity. You would expect a location with low levels of research activity to have relatively low investment. Further, there is a fair argument that the apparent overinvestment in the hubs is due to the Flywheel Effect of a mature ecosystem — ie 1 + 1 = 3.
VC Dollars per Research Dollar
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | CA | MA | NY | TX |
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| 2015 | 3.7 | 2.6 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| 2016 | 5.2 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| 2017 | 8.1 | 3.9 | 0.3 | 0.8 |
| 2018 | 7.5 | 6.8 | 1.1 | 1 |
| 2019 | 8.6 | 7.1 | 2.6 | 1.4 |
+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+
Cancer-related Commercialization Gap (vs National average)
In order to determine whether there is a commercialization gap, and therefore quantify how much missed investment opportunity there might be, we need to:
Measure the difference from a baseline (the National value)
Multiply that gap by local research activity
Leading to the following formula:
( (VCNational/ResearchNational) — (VCstate/Researchstate) ) * Researchstate
What we see here, as a single measure, is what we were trying to understand between the previous analyses. All of the states (except California and Massachusetts) started out with relatively similar commercialization activity relative to their research dollars.
Negative values here are overinvested in comparison to the national average
Positive values are underinvested (ie a “positive” gap)
The graphics speak for themselves. In just the last five years, the gaps have become more and more extreme. Whether California is “overinvested” or simply setting the standard is a matter of perspective. The changes are happening so fast we don’t have the exit (or failure) data to say for certainty.
But what we can see is that the other major research hubs are lighting up as large-scale missed opportunities.
By 2019, Texas has the largest gap, about $350 M in missed opportunities assuming you were otherwise investing equally across the country. But you’re probably not. There is a $2.25B gap between California and Texas.
Cancer Commercialization Gap (vs National)
+------+---------+---------+-------+-------+
| | CA | MA | NY | TX |
+------+---------+---------+-------+-------+
| 2015 | -794.9 | -298.5 | 213.6 | 134.8 |
| 2016 | -1240.6 | -193.8 | 168.6 | 111.2 |
| 2017 | -2059.2 | -387.4 | 468.1 | 233.4 |
| 2018 | -1595 | -972.3 | 483.1 | 344.4 |
| 2019 | -1915.9 | -1001.4 | 202.5 | 350.5 |
+------+---------+---------+-------+-------+
So what does this all mean?
Look, I didn’t exactly bury the lead here. You can probably guess where I’m going with this. Year on year, New York and Texas are growing faster than California or Massachusetts, the two major biotech hubs. But, and this is a big but, the sheer scale of investment in those hubs has compounded the differences in the regions.
New York is a bit interesting here. They are a major research hub in their own right, but much of the commercial activity occurs in nearby Boston. The premise of the missed opportunity analysis is that the technologies are either not being commercialized or the rate of development is slowed due to geographical limitations creating a connectivity barrier to investors and other resources. Whether either of these is true for New York, with Boston next door, is unclear.
Texas is equally not close to both coasts. The technologies developed here do find investment — more every year — but there is a lot of value left on the table. Without a thriving ecosystem, only the “obviously” good can get enough attention to be invested in and subsequently developed. But the best ideas are often not obvious, and are even ignored and derided for years.
Remember: Research not commercialized is not helping patients.
That’s what we’re all here for, at the end of the day. But the goal in investing, even if you are impact-driven, is to make money. I’d argue that looking more closely at deals in Texas is both interesting for finding innovative treatments and as an investment arbitrage opportunity. | https://medium.com/bench-to-biotech/investment-gaps-in-cancer-biotech-and-why-you-should-bet-on-texas-107601686678 | ['Sarah Hein'] | 2020-12-14 14:02:34.168000+00:00 | ['Cancer', 'Therapeutics', 'Texas', 'Biotech', 'Venture Capital'] |
Episode 6: Keeping the Borderlands Close | Episode 6: Keeping the Borderlands Close
Listen to the episode at https://anchor.fm/broadcastsfromtheborder/episodes/EP6-Keeping-the-Borderlands-Close-eirfjk
In this episode, former U.S. Border Patrol agent and author Francisco Cantú discusses his 2018 memoir, The Line Becomes A River: Dispatches from the Border. He grapples with his experiences in the force — including the harrowing and the heartbreaking — and, in turn, the important lessons he learned about the U.S.-Mexico border and systemic reform of the immigration system. Reporting by Stories from the Border co-founders Meena Venkataramanan and Vivekae Kim.
Listen to the episode at https://anchor.fm/broadcastsfromtheborder/episodes/EP6-Keeping-the-Borderlands-Close-eirfjk
Or, listen on Spotify here and on Apple Podcasts here. | https://medium.com/stories-from-the-border/episode-6-keeping-the-borderlands-close-20f3e9a3a54 | ['Stories The Border'] | 2020-12-16 01:52:30.312000+00:00 | ['Migration', 'Borders', 'Immigration', 'Podcast', 'Border Patrol'] |
Belajar Fundamental OOP Dengan Javascript. | I am a web developer and also I have a passion for teaching.
Follow | https://medium.com/codeacademia/belajar-fundamental-opp-dengan-javascript-c1b721677ce9 | ['Yudi Krisnandi'] | 2020-10-14 12:00:03.747000+00:00 | ['Polymorphism', 'JavaScript', 'Abstraction', 'Oop Concepts', 'Encapsulation'] |
How to find stuff in Git | When you first started with git, you quickly got up to speed with committing, pushing, pulling, merging, and the like. But then you noticed a gaping hole in your knowledge — how do you find stuff in Git? Can you revert to a version of a file as it stood three weeks ago, or find out when a bug was introduced? Who was the last person to edit this file?
They always tell you that the great thing about Git is that you [almost] never lose any history. So how do you access and utilize that history?
Hey, Git. Who was the last person to change this file?
git log foo.c
What did they change?
git log --patch foo.c
Alternatively, use git show along with the commit hash.
git show <hash>
Hey, Git. Can you show me who changed this file, line by line?
git blame foo.c
Hey, Git. When was this bug introduced?
..when you know the line of code that is bad
Use Git’s “Pickaxe” like a code archaeologist to search through the commits until you find when a given string was introduced.
git log -S”Bad line of code”
..when you’re not sure what’s causing the bug
When you don’t know which commit introduced the bug, use git bisect to find the bad commit quickly via a binary search algorithm.
git bisect start
git bisect bad HEAD
git bisect good <commit>
Now bisect will select a commit in the middle of that range and check it out for you. Exercise the code and check whether or not the bug still exists. If the bug isn’t present in that commit, enter:
git bisect good
If the code is still broken, enter:
git bisect bad
In either case, bisect will continue on in this way until it finds the exact commit which introduced the bug.
Once, you have found the bug, clean up and return to the original HEAD.
git bisect reset
Fully automated Git bisect
If you have a build script that compiles your code and runs your tests, you can use Git bisect to find the bad commit for you, automatically. Plus, it’s a one liner.
git bisect start HEAD <good_hash> run ./build_script.sh
Go have some coffee. When you come back, you’ll know which commit introduced that bug.
Hey, Git. How do I check out the version of this file from two weeks ago?
So all of the changes to foo.c in the last two weeks were pure junk, huh? Or you just want to play with an older version of the code.
First, find which version of the file you want to check out
This will show you all of the commits which changed foo.c in the last two weeks, starting with the oldest commit.
git log --since=two.weeks.ago --reverse -- foo.c
Notice the double dash. That tells Git that it shouldn’t expect any more switches. The next argument will be a filename.
Checkout a version of the file from another commit
Now that you’ve found the commit containing the version of the file you’re interested in, copy its commit hash and check it out.
git checkout <hash> foo.c
You can use this same pattern to checkout any file from any commit. For instance, you have made a change to foo.c in another branch, and you would like the same changes in your current branch.
git checkout SomeOtherBranch foo.c
If you don’t want to check the file out, but just want to view a file in another branch.
git show SomeOtherBranch:foo.c
Hey, Git. Who has committed the most times in the whole repo?
This is pretty pointless, but can be fun nonetheless. It could also help your team to be more conscious about splitting up tasks into smaller, more focused commits. Generally, the smaller the commit, the better its documentation, and the better it is reviewed during code review.
git shortlog -s -n
Hey, Git. Is there a foo.c in this repository?
git ls-files foo.c
git ls-files also understands file globbing:
git ls-files *.c
Hey, Git. Is there a file containing “foo bar”?
git grep “foo bar”
To show line numbers, file headings, and use a case-insensitive search:
git grep -i --heading --line-number “foo bar”
Hey, Git. Show me all of Cueball’s commits
git log --author=cueball
Hey, Git. Show me the commits from a specific date range
git log --after=”April 1, 2016" --before=”April 30, 2016"
Hey, Git. Show me the commits where certain lines in a file were changed
git log -L 1,1:foo.c
Show me when a certain method in a class was changed.
git log -L:bar:foo.c
Hey, Git. How does my branch differ from master?
git diff master..
Or..
git cherry -v
Only show the names of the files that have changed
git diff --name-only master..
Hey Git. How can I visualize my commits and branches?
git log --oneline --graph --all --abbrev-commit
That should help you the next time you need to find stuff in Git. If you have an amazing tip for finding all the Git things, let me know in the comments. I may even update this post to include your comment.
(Originally appeared on tygertec.com) | https://tygertec.medium.com/how-to-find-stuff-in-git-35d4cb8c1845 | ['Ty Walls'] | 2018-08-20 21:07:57.197000+00:00 | ['Software Development', 'Git', 'Command Line', 'Cli'] |
The forbidden secret🤫
What if we sell as if we were always in a pandemic? | The forbidden secret🤫
What if we sell as if we were always in a pandemic?
❌In the world of commerce, a brand that does not know the pain points of its customers, their fears, their needs, but more importantly ... its purpose, its values, with whom is it going to connect? Where is it going? There are 2 concepts that you have to understand to adapt and flow:
1) The power of intuition.
Keywords: motivation.
Anticipating this new normal that is emerging is basic, but not from external sources such as the news, academic experts or the anticipating friend of misfortunes that we all have.
But from within us, from our purpose for something, what fills us from that connection between feeling and thinking.
Why do your customers buy when they buy from you?
2) The power of emotion and thought.
Keyword: feel and wish
The ability to manage our emotional connections. There is an emotional and also rational framework that, like a mist prevents a ship from understanding its course, makes it difficult for us to make decisions.
Learning to manage them effectively allows us to focus our inner beacon. In the world of bits there are also emotions. What emotions does your brand convey?
⚠️ Today science teaches us what millennial cultures taught us, the forbidden connection: Brain-Heart, that energetic relationship between feeling and thinking.
Did you know that our thoughts can act on that electromagnetic force in our heart? I tell you in simpler words.
Act from your purpose.
✨ Let's make brands more human and less automated
#marketing #sell #motivation #secret #digital #heart #entrepreneur #business #branding | https://medium.com/@gmarquez.mkt/the-forbidden-secret-what-if-we-sell-as-if-we-were-always-in-a-pandemic-64c3ca7da483 | ['Gonzalo Márquez'] | 2021-04-25 21:28:18.953000+00:00 | ['Brand', 'Love', 'Marketing', 'Sell', 'Content Marketing'] |
Back Home | Back Home
Captain Desmet’s fears were unfounded, and we encountered no ships during the journey to Kapri. My heart was joyous as we neared land. We waited offshore until nightfall. Then we approached the port. That night, I said my goodbyes to the crew and entered a rowboat with Captain Peanut Butter and Stout. They rowed me up the canal and stopped short of the village. We climbed out of the boat to say our final farewells.
“I am glad to see you safely home but sad to think I may never see you again, my friend,” Captain Peanut Butter said.
“As am I. But I feel it in my bones that we will meet again,” I replied.
“I hope it is true.”
“Stout grabbed me in an embrace and said, “Take care of yourself. And Andelbert and his new bride. I will miss your company.”
“I will miss you also, my friend. Watch out for the crew.”
“Aye, I will.”
With that, they got back in the rowboat and rowed silently back toward The Jellyfish. I watched as they disappeared into the night.
As it was shortly before dawn, I sat down and waited for the sun to rise. My mind flashed back to a dozen things. It had been an adventure of a lifetime, yet I was glad to be home.
Once the sun had risen enough to see where I was walking, I headed toward the village. As I approached the dock, I saw Hugo, the fisherman.
“Bless my soul. Baron Blastfurnace. I ain’t seen you in ages,” Hugo said.
“Greetings, Hugo. Aye, it has been more than a year since I left Kapri.”
“Where have ya been?”
“It is a tale too long for a quick telling. We must share it over an ale at the inn sometime.
“Aye. I look forward to it. Welcome back.”
“Thank you, Hugo. Good fishing.”
I greeted more townsfolk who were beginning their days as I strolled through Kapri. All were surprised and happy to see me. As I was them. The village seemed smaller now, but more beautiful than ever. I suppose you must spend time away from home before you truly appreciate it.
After making my way through town, I began the climb toward my Estate. As I hoped, I encountered Grand Duke Goatbeard on his way to his office. I could not contain my smile as we took each other’s arms in greeting.
“My boy. You have finally returned. I am delighted to see you alive and well.”
“I am pleased to see you also, Grand Duke.”
“I did not expect your adventure to be so long. Nor so perilous. I look forward to hearing more about it.”
“I have much to tell, and fear I will forget half of it. I will put it all in writing and present you with a copy upon completion.”
“Excellent. I look forward to reading it. Now, I must be off. Duty calls.”
“I shall delay you no more and wish you a good day, Grand Duke.”
“Good day to you, Britpop. I am truly pleased to see you.”
At long last, I reached my estate. As I entered my home, Amelia saw me. She dropped the laundry she was carrying, ran to me, and grabbed me in an embrace.
“Oh, my boy! My prayers have been answered,” she said through tears. Then she proceeded to kiss my face what seemed like one hundred times.
“Amelia, I am also happy to see you, but you must release me so I can catch a breath.”
“I feared I would never see you again. That business with Stenfelt was so awful. My heart broke to pieces when they said you was dead.”
“I am so sorry we had to deceive you in that way, but it was the only way to catch Stenfelt.”
“All is forgiven.”
Then Amelia realized that I was alone.
“Where is Andelbert. Please tell me he is safe.”
“He is perfectly fine. In fact, he is bringing someone. His wife.”
“His wife?!”
“That is correct. Andelbert is married. They should arrive in a day or two.”
“I can hardly believe it. You’re really here. Are you hungry? Let me make you something. Then you can tell me more about your adventures and Andelbert’s bride.”
“Alright.”
We headed to the kitchen. It was good to be home. | https://medium.com/mark-starlin-writes/back-home-e03599805102 | ['Mark Starlin'] | 2020-09-25 02:30:29.645000+00:00 | ['Novel', 'Baron Britpop', 'Adventure', 'Friendship', 'Home'] |
Protect your gear with these smart surge protectors at all-time lows | Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory | https://medium.com/@ramiro04485323/protect-your-gear-with-these-smart-surge-protectors-at-all-time-lows-9f6c9e4025d | [] | 2020-12-23 19:52:41.345000+00:00 | ['Services', 'Consumer Electronics', 'Chromecast', 'Home Tech'] |
Willst du Deutsch sprechen? | As I probably mentioned before, I started learning German to test my ability to learn a foreign language from scratch as a self-guided learner, to engage with my heritage language (one of my great-grandmas was German) and to be able to argue my way out when I get into a kerfuffle on a German train which happened to me pretty much every time I was on a German train. (A half of a cup of tea for a full price from a tea-trolley-man? A local train to Duisburg instead of an international one to Amsterdam? No ticket for a dog? Yeah, me too.)
So today I’d like to share with you some resources I’ve been using and tell you what works for me and why. And if you are a similar type of learner as I am, maybe you’ll find them useful.
A note of warning
“A self-guided learner” is not someone who learns completely on their own, choosing textbooks at random and building their own learning plan from scratch, not knowing what is actually useful (for them or in general) which results in chaos and jumping from one book to another, from a podcast to a YouTube video and so on. At least not as I understand it. To me, a self-guided learner is someone who chooses their own guiding resource and a limited number of complementary resources and decides their own routine; someone who doesn’t have a teacher to tell them how and when to study but does find a tutor (or tutors) to assist them in achieving goals.
Testing the waters
When I decided to start learning German I wanted to check whether it was a language for me, so to speak — whether I felt a connection and actually wanted to learn more than a bare minimum. At this stage, I didn’t want to spend money but I also wanted something structured rather than a bunch of YouTube videos titled “German for absolute beginners.”
My local library has a stock of Pimsleur audiobook courses in various languages (albeit nothing beyond level 1) — German being one of them. I probably wouldn’t want to spend money on it as the method doesn’t sit with me too well — I need to see how words are written and I need to understand the grammar behind sentence structures — but as a free library loan, it was a perfect starting point.
Pimsleur courses are divided into half an hour audio lessons during which you learn words and phrases. They are structured in a way that you keep reviewing material you’ve encountered before with a well-designed spaced repetition. If you are familiar with looking for language patterns, you are able to figure out quite a lot of grammar on your own too.
After completing German Level 1 I made my decision: yes, it is a language for me; yes, I want to continue; now I need to find a resource that really resonates with me.
Don’t get me wrong — Pimsleur works. It’s also very enjoyable, easy to fit within a daily routine and strangely satisfying. But it’s not ideal for me for a few reasons: I’m a grammar nerd, I need grammar explanations and that’s it; I’m a visual learner, I remember vocabulary better if I see it written; English is not my mother tongue and although now I use English more than I do Polish, when learning another language I prefer to have Polish as the medium. (But now I’m going through Pimsleur Russian Level 1 so you know… I still recommend it in a way!)
My guiding resource
A guiding resource is a self-guided learner’s best friend: a comprehensive tool that encompasses all skills (reading, listening, reading and writing), explains the grammar and introduces new vocabulary in a coordinated way. It needs to allow you to self-pace while at the same time prompting you to come back regularly. Yeah, I know, a lot to ask for.
But actually, choosing one was a no-brainer for me. German Uncovered by Kerstin Cable and Olly Richards ticks all the boxes. It’s a self-paced story-based course which covers the material from an absolute beginner to B1 level. I’m half-way through at the moment and I’m absorbing a lot of language with every lesson.
Each chapter is structured in the same way: a part of an intriguing story to read, graded for an appropriate level with accompanying audio; a video lesson about English/German cognates and an English translation of the story; a video about new vocabulary with a worksheet with additional explanations and exercises; a video about grammar with a worksheet as well; a short video addressing a specific pronunciation point with exercises; and a speaking worksheet with tasks to practice with your tutor or a German speaker.
It’s really full-on but also fun and structured in a way that makes it easy to organise your studies in well-defined chunks. In the introductory video, Olly recommends doing two chapters a week — to me it’s way too much. It takes me about 4 days to go through one chapter but then everyone is different, has different amounts of time and personal goals. It is definitely doable to complete two chapters a week if you’re a full-time German learner.
There is this interesting aspect of learning German through English here as well but, unlike in the case of Pimsleur, it doesn’t bother me too much. While watching pre-recorded lessons I am able to pause when I need to think how certain things work in Polish (let’s face it, noch and schon translate better into Polish than English!) but actually, being able to think about German in two languages is helpful, especially as far as cognates are concerned.
Complementary resources
What German Uncovered doesn’t offer is a live element which would allow you to practice speaking. There are exercises, however, so what you need to do is to find a tutor or a language partner to practice. At the moment the course is heavily discounted (Black Friday anyone?) and one of the bonuses offered is a little black book of German tutors in which Kerstin recommends teachers who she personally knows and who are familiar with the German Uncovered methodology.
I found my tutor on italki though. I figured I didn’t need a professional teacher for my study goals at the moment and a friendly community tutor would be perfect — and she is. Ideally, I’d like to have a half-our conversation practice every week but I’m lagging behind a bit. Mostly because German is not the only language I’m currently learning! But in general, I do recommend italki wholeheartedly — you can find true teaching gems there.
Another resource I absolutely love is Easy German — YouTube channel and podcast. I’m big on podcasts in general so I’m really pleased the Easy German team entered this scene as well! At the moment I’m not a regular user because studying with German Uncovered takes up the most of my German study time but once I finish the course I’m sure I will be binging on Easy German. Its founder, Janusz, is originally from Poland so he’s a big inspiration for me!
This month I also tried a completely different approach with the Translation Cubed Challenge by David Martin. I must admit I’m very much behind due to the lack of time but luckily, the access to the challenge doesn’t expire and I’m determined to pick up where I left off next month. It’s a very interesting method based on translation and back translation and as a translator myself, I feel very much at home with it. I also love the authentic materials that David chose for this project — I even found my favourite German music through it!
Last but not least, another fabulous companion is 30 Day Speaking Challenge which I talked about previously so won’t go into details this time. I participated in it mostly in Italian but in December I’m aiming to record myself speaking German.
Grammar books & dictionaries
I mentioned being a grammar nerd, right? I also mentioned that I prefer to learn foreign languages through the medium of Polish. So it comes as no surprise that my favourite grammar textbook comes from Poland, from the absolute best publishing house, Edgard. Every language book and resource they publish is simply brilliant so if you happen to be Polish, don’t look any further.
Leo, my indispensable dictionary is multilingual — I use it as a Polish<>German dictionary but you can pick another source language. I actually find the web-based version slightly confusing but the app is unbeatable (I’m an Android user but I’m sure it exists for iOS as well.) Apart from translation, Leo offers recorded pronunciation and conjugation tables which are very useful. | https://medium.com/il-mio-cammino/willst-du-deutsch-sprechen-3f5254c2a4f1 | ['Gosia Rokicka'] | 2020-11-23 17:23:43.353000+00:00 | ['German Language', 'Advice', 'Foreign Language', 'Language Learning', 'German'] |
Building a Team as a Model for Cooperative Work | I’ve known for about a year that I’d taken my business, Ninja Writers, about as far as it could go as a mostly one-person show. Since 2015 it’s just been me and Zach J. Payne, who has always been my right hand behind the scenes.
I was at capacity for how many students I could effectively teach and how many members there could be in the Ninja Writers Club and still provide the kind of experience I wanted the community to have.
I had a decision to make. Did I keep things the way they were — which, to be honest, was a pretty incredible place to be — or did I build a team so that Ninja Writers could continue to grow.
It started with my daughter.
Adrienne was in her last year of graduate school last year. She did the thing that appeals the most to me: She came to me with ideas. That’s the way to my heart and she knows me well enough to know it.
With another person on board, I was able to expand into small group workshops for writers. We kept it small, but over the last six months the workshops have blossomed. We’ve had several students in them who have finished writing their books or found real success in blogging.
We doubled Ninja Writers as a business in the last year. The Ninja Writers Club went from two weekly Zoom co-working calls, where I teach and we all workshop each other, to four. With Adrienne’s help, Ninja Writers Club was able to double in size.
And by the winter, we found ourselves at capacity again.
We could stay here. It’s a good place. The energy in Ninja Writers is so incredible. It’s infectious. But there’s no more of us to go around. We had ideas that we just had to keep, maybe permanently, on the back burner.
Growth kept happening though, super organically.
I didn’t know this was the way it would happen. I thought that if I was going to have a Ninja Writers team, I’d have to hire people I didn’t know and try to teach them how to be Ninja Writers.
That didn’t appeal to me, so I never did it.
But what happened was that I started to notice Ninja Writers who were doing that thing I love — remember? They were bringing ideas to the table. And they were implementing them on their own, just because they were really good ideas that made Ninja Writers better.
First, Meg Stewart started teaching a core group of Ninja Writers how to do very basic tech stuff. No one else was teaching them the things they needed to know, so she just started doing it and it started to become a business. My students were so enthusiastic about what she was doing that I finally contacted her to ask if she’d like to join the team to teach within Ninja Writers officially.
This was where the idea of cooperative work really took hold for me. I didn’t want to absorb Meg’s business. I wanted to help her grow it, while bringing her into Ninja Writers so that her work could benefit our community, too. She filled a gap in my business beautifully.
Then Ashley Shannon started teaching other Ninja Writers how to be better bloggers. They ate it up. More importantly, it worked. Her students were killing it. She came to me with a plan for making the program she’d developed part of Ninja Writers. More than that, she had a plan for making our marketing better and brought an energy that was infectious.
There was another gap and another person filling it. Ashley is building her own empire, and her being part of Ninja Writers means that I get to benefit from her and be a part of her growth, too.
Finally, I started to notice that there was a group of Ninja Writers who all of a sudden were very focused. They were finishing their books. They were getting their work done in a way that was clearly obvious to me, and to other people in the community. I realized that it was Juneta Key who had made the difference. She started hosting write-ins and showing up to encourage Ninja Writers in our Slack channel and on Facebook. Making her our Accountability Guru was an easy decision.
One more gap filled. And being part of Juneta’s growth as an entrepreneur is an absolute joy.
The key to growing my business was to grow it with people who already loved it. And who I already loved.
Meg, Ashley, and Juneta aren’t just employees. They are Ninja Writers. They understand the community and they are invested in making it as awesome as it can be.
The members already know them. The shift to having them onboard has been completely organic and exciting.
More than that, though, they are talented people who have their own fantastic ideas. We’re a model of how cooperative work can be. As they help me grow Ninja Writers, they grow their own businesses as well and I get to be part of that.
They aren’t just employees. They’re family. To me, but also to the whole Ninja Writers community.
One of the new things we’re doing is a podcast.
I kind of halfway started one on my own a few months ago, but it’s one of those things that I knew would be good and I wanted to do, but I was so close to my capacity that I didn’t have the time or energy to do it really well.
But now Meg, Ashley and I are doing it together and — whoa. It’s going to be incredible. We recorded our first weekly episode, which introduces you to the whole team and talks about what it means to all three of us to be working writers.
You can check that out here.
We’re starting up a Ninja Writers publication, to showcase the talented writers in our community. We’re adding new classes. We’re doing things to make the whole experience of being a Ninja Writer better — like adding onboarding calls so that the sheer volume of what we offer isn’t overwhelming to new members.
We’re on a wild ride. I couldn’t be more excited.
Sometimes things just happen right when they’re supposed to.
The right people showed up right when I was in a position to hire them. Talk about serendipity.
I knew that I needed to pivot Ninja Writers toward supporting the community as so many people found themselves needing to earn a living with their writing thanks to Covid. Adrienne, Meg, Ashley, and Juneta are like having a bunch of freaking superheroes show up to give your slow-moving ship a shove in the right direction.
And then other things just happened. Like after five years, Teachable finally implemented a way for me to offer new Ninja Writers a way to try out the Ninja Writers Club for free. Yay for free trials!
And, halfway through the first full year of the Ninja Writers Academy (those small group workshops), a bunch of students started having real success. They finished their first drafts. They were gaining traction as bloggers. People were getting attention from agents and publishers.
Seriously. We’re on the verge of really big things. This is going to be so much fun. | https://medium.com/the-write-brain/building-a-team-as-a-model-for-cooperative-work-1b167b9f638a | ['Shaunta Grimes'] | 2020-06-21 14:52:03.570000+00:00 | ['Creativity', 'Business', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Productivity', 'Work'] |
Liberty on the endangered species list | Are Western nations rejecting the concepts of individual liberty and rule of law in favor of a slow slide into authoritarianism?
As a child growing up in the 1980s, I heard no shortage of stories about the horrors that went on in such distant lands as the Soviet Union, Communist China, as well as violent Latin American military dictatorships such as Guatemala, Argentina, and Chile.
For all intents and purposes — at least from peoples’ perspectives back in that pre-Internet era in the dying days of the Cold War — if you were lucky to have been born into a western nation (Canada here) it was akin to winning the lottery. When I speak of the Western World, I’m referring to North America, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and perhaps South Africa and a few other nations.
For anyone in my age group or older (I’m 42, btw) you’d be hard-pressed to disagree that western societies were still very free in the 1970s, 1980s, and even into the 1990s. Taxes were lower. Public services such as healthcare were topnotch. Parents would let their children play around the neighborhood without the fear of a moral busybody neighbor ratting them out to Child Protective Services.
Over the past few decades or so, I (as no doubt you have) have noticed a disturbing trend whereby many of the inalienable rights our ancestors often fought ferociously for are frequently impeded by elected officials who in many cases no longer feel obligated to serve the very people who put them into office or pay their bloated salaries and benefits, for that matter.
More restrictive gun laws. Attacks on free speech, peaceful assembly, and even religious freedom. Antiterrorism legislation that makes a mockery out of the rule of law. Intrusive nanny state regulations governing the use of seatbelts, helmets, and other safety items for adults.
A million hidden (and not so hidden) taxes in the form of fees, licensing, you name it. Unless you’ve been living underneath a rock lately (or are content or even happy with your country’s descent into statism) you’ve noticed that the very countries that were once bastions of liberty are resembling (at least in some ways) countries in eastern and southern Europe, Latin America, and Asia (many of whom are emerging economies) that were once dictatorships but have since broken through the shackles of oppression and embraced the principles of individual liberty most people in the West once held sacrosanctly.
And there is no greater example of this than the massive human rights and constitutional abuses which took place and continue to happen during the COVID-19 pandemic. As if the state of democracy in the West wasn’t already in a perilous state, our overlords and their petty tyrants in the various levels of the bureaucracy took it upon themselves to have a field day trampling over everything previous generations have fought and bled and died for and would be mortified to see happening today.
As we’ve followed social media and the continuous rolling out of sensationalist stories in the news, we were given a firsthand look at just how far down the rabbit hole western societies have fallen with regards to governments’ cavalier attitudes toward civil liberties which included limits on freedom of expression, the drawing up of emergency legislation without even so much as proper legislative process and debate, and sweeping lockdowns that to date has done very little to stop the spread of this virus, but have left millions out of work and forced (as of Sept. 1, 2020) 163,735 businesses to shutter their door permanently.
This litany of offenses against the citizenry these wannabe dictators are elected to represent included emergency laws designed to give them unlimited power and treat the constitutions of their respective countries as though they were a mere inconvenience. A proposal earlier this year by Norwegian lawmakers drew heavy criticism from lawyers and civil liberties advocates.
It goes without saying that 2020 has been a crazy year and a turning point that will decide whether Western nations turn back the tide of blind submission to authority, or meekly follow the herd toward authoritarian collectivism. While governments violated civil liberties at will, mass protests and riots pushing a communist manifesto erupted throughout major cities such as London, New York, Portland, and Paris.
One can’t help but notice (especially those of us who are old enough to remember those frightening dystopian movies of yesteryear) that western societies right now are an unsettling blend of Bladerunner, some of the craziest Monty Python skits, and, George Orwell’s 1984 complete with near-zero privacy, militarized police, and a breakdown of law and order designed to bring in even more restrictions. Even more disturbing is the fact that so many people are not only complacent about their freedoms being ripped from them, they actually welcome it. It’s for our own good, remember? Just a bit of sarcasm to lighten the mood.
The most twisted irony out of this entire debacle is the sad fact that 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, which didn’t even register on many people’s radars.
The burning question must be asked; how exactly did all this happen?
We didn’t reach this state of affairs overnight, that’s for sure. In my humble opinion, decades of comfortable living coupled with governments that took care of everyone’s needs, add in the fact that most people haven’t experienced truly hard times in recent memory, have — to be rather blunt — softened us.
Yet, those countries we used to cringe at when we were young such as Poland, Czech Republic, Panama, the former Yugoslavia, and even former Soviet states such as Estonia, are freer than we are to varying degrees. Those who have lived through tyranny are vigilant not to return to it. If only we could pick up a history book and learn for ourselves.
The hard truth is, if we don’t fight, the spark of liberty that served as the foundation of the United States and other western nations, will burn out, potentially plunging us back into another Dark Ages.
In closing, to paraphrase author Michael Hopf, who summed up the cycle in which societies live; “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.”
And, as we watch our world deteriorate around us, it’s painfully obvious that western societies have moved into the final stage of this cycle.
So, what do you think? Please leave a comment below:
Chris is a professional freelance writer. He uses his expert knowledge, skills, and personal experience in writing about such topics as real estate, travel, fitness, politics, and digital marketing to create innovative, entertaining, and engaging content for his clients. He writes for Medium, TravelPlus, ThriveGlobal, The Canadian Firearms Journal, and more. His specialty is writing articles and books as well as copywriting and editing and proofreading.
https://www.chrismcgarryauthor.com/
References:
Sundaram, Anjali. “Yelp Data Shows 60% of Business Closures Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic Are Now Permanent.” CNBC, CNBC, 16 Sept. 2020, www.cnbc.com/2020/09/16/yelp-data-shows-60percent-of-business-closures-due-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic-are-now-permanent.html.
Thelocal.no, www.thelocal.no/20200319/norway-lawyers-hit-back-at-undemocratic-coronavirus-law.
Andrew HendersonAndrew Henderson is the world’s most sought-after consultant on international tax planning. “Five Reasons Panama Is One of the Freest Countries in the World.” Nomad Capitalist, 28 Dec. 2019, nomadcapitalist.com/2015/01/19/reasons-panama-is-one-of-the-most-free-countries-in-the-world/. | https://medium.com/@chrismcgarry-79515/liberty-on-the-endangered-species-list-52d7bc6c9e5e | ['Chris Mcgarry'] | 2020-11-17 22:37:18.687000+00:00 | ['Government And Politics', 'Freedom', 'Liberty', 'Constitutional Crisis', 'Civil Rights'] |
How podcasts can help your membership or subscription strategy | Lessons learned: How podcasts drive memberships, subscriptions, help subscriber retention, and help with overall audience loyalty.
Image from page 61 of “Bell telephone magazine” (1922) | Internet Archive Book Images | Flickr
[This is a written version of the presentation I gave during the News Impact Summit. Find the presentation and the video from the Summit at the end of this post.]
Exactly three years ago we had a crazy idea in the newsroom and nobody stopped us. While proposing new project ideas for the leadership, I slipped in a suggestion to try this thing The New York Times is doing, a daily news podcast. At that point, the NYT has been doing it for almost 8 months and it seemed to work for them. Why not in a small country in the middle of Europe without a general knowledge of podcasting…. To be clear, people literally didn't know what a podcast was, how, and why should they listen.
I have written about the journey a few times now. So, I am not going to repeat it here. Let's fast forward three years and let me tell you (based on data I & my colleagues have gathered over the years) what has my newsroom learned regarding podcasting and a reader revenue strategy.
Small country, small reach, but big returns
My newsroom is based in Slovakia (Central Europe, 5 mil. people) and three years ago podcasts have been a term almost nobody understood or came across.
Today, 21% of the internet population listens to a podcast monthly and our daily news podcast is reaching around 30-thousand people on average for each episode (if you would count per capita listeners and have our podcast compared to the USA, this would be an equivalent of 2 million daily listeners, The Daily is listened to by 4 million people per each episode in average).
Our podcasting experiment was in black numbers from the beginning. Today we can employ two full-time staff, pay some contributors, and still can be profitable. And that's just the revenue from ads.
Podcasting & subscriptions (memberships)
At first, our goal in connection with our subscription business was to look around and see what others do and by default try to convert podcast listeners to subscribers.
For weeks we were promoting our digital subscription and were explaining to our listeners that subscriptions are the thing that keeps the podcast operation going (at the time, we did not know how this will turn around).
Thanks to that we got hundreds of new subscribers out of tens of thousands of listeners. We were happy.
To track the digital subs attribution back to the podcast listeners we set up a special URL the hosts read and also included special URLs in the descriptions of the podcast episodes. Pretty basic, but it worked.
At one point we stopped with the subscription promotions, we were getting a lot of exclusive ad deals.
When you don’t have data, ask for it & you shall receive.
What the data told us about our listeners
One of the problems with podcasting is, that there is not as much data as you are used to getting for example from social networks.
From the beginning we had a very good relationship with thousands of our listeners through a Facebook Group we set up right in the beginning.
After few months we wanted to know more about our audience, get more detailed feedback on our current and future shows (at that point we had more podcasts and were thinking of launching others), and also get a sense of who is listening.
We created an online questionnaire using Google Forms and gathered more than a thousand replies.
Since then we did it two more times with more and more listeners joining in. This year more than 3600 answers came in.
Now we have a pretty clear understanding of who is our prototype listener:
He (rather than she) is under 35 years of age, has a university degree, listens to podcasts daily, subscribes & listens to 3 to 5, and earns higher than the average salary.
Here are some more detailed data about our listeners:
young people, especially women under the age of 35
92% listen several times a week (60% daily)
primary listening device: 87% smartphone (smart speakers 5%)
primary listening place: home (even before covid-19)
61% say they don’t mind ads in podcasts
How subscribers feel about our podcasts
Each year we also learned more and more about our subscribers who were also podcast listeners. As I mentioned above, our initial strategy was to convert listeners to subscribers (SME.sk has a subscription business and wants to grow its reader revenue).
When we put together data from various surveys and questionnaires, this is what we got:
more than 50% of subscribers (of SME.sk) listen to podcasts regularly
more than 50% say they listen to our daily news podcast
20% say they listen to any of our podcasts
16% would pay a higher subscription (more content, no ads)
When you look at the data, the message is clear. Among your podcast listeners, there are many of your subscribers, more than half of them. They love the format & content (their words, not mine) and in their understanding paying for the subscription also means supporting the podcast production.
Back in the print time, you also had “content” even though nobody ever called the stories like that. The distribution method was paper. So subscribers understood they were paying for newspapers.
With a shift to digital, it became tricky. Suddenly, you didn't have anything tangible, plus everything put on the internet was free at first. Since then the media is teaching people to again pay for content even though it is digital and they don't get anything physical.
Now a subscription means access to full articles on the website. In our case, it also means to our paying subscribers that paying for a digital subscription keeps podcasts going.
This makes podcasts, as well as newsletters and other tools the newsrooms use to create a lasting relationship with their supporters, a great retention tool.
Our mistake was thinking podcasts are primarily a way to get new subscribers. Podcasts are about retention.
The New York Times agrees
In 2018, the WAN-IFRA — World Association of News Publishers published a report called Engaged Readers Don’t Churn, our version is Engaged listeners don’t churn.
(Churn rate, in its broadest sense, is a measure of the number of individuals or items moving out of a collective group over a specific period. It is one of two primary factors that determine the steady-state level of customers a business will support. Wikipedia)
When I spoke to Dan Oshinsky, the former Newsletters Director of both The New Yorker and BuzzFeed, he told me this in the interview:
A lot of organizations, not just the podcasts and newsletters, would think about this. I have someone as a newsletter subscriber. How can I get them to do one more thing to build the relationship with me? They’re newsletter subscribers, but they also listen to our podcast. They’re newsletter subscribers, but they also came to an event or are coming regularly to our events. How can we get them to do one more thing? Bring them closer to us, so that when we ask them for the next step to support us or donate, they will really care about us and have a good relationship with us on a few different platforms. Those are the readers who are most likely to convert. So that’s where that comes in. It’s just an additional way to deepen engagement.
And he is not the only one. Other publishers see something similar.
This is how Mark Thompson put it in a recent interview (which is on YouTube and I highly recommend watching it, and not because it was conducted by my editor-in-chief):
The idea [that certain] stories made people into subscribers misunderstands the way a subscription works. Subscriptions seldom happen because of one story. It’s about it’s about a relationship. And actually, I tell you now, we discovered the diversity of consumption, by which I mean how many different kinds of content people consume. The New York Times is really important. It’s not going to be one story. It’s actually going to be the person who discovers they love our political coverage. And cooking or and books or and opera coverage or whatever it might be, it’s much more about how you over time demonstrate there are lots of different good things in an organization.
So, that's why I think podcasts are a great way for keeping subscribers subscribed and members staying supporters.
Don't get me wrong, you can have podcasts as part of your acquisition strategy and we have seen it work. But by the time we were doing podcasts we had most of our subscribers subscribed.
Maybe in the future, I will write another blog looking back that we found out that most of our subscribers told us that it was because of our podcasts. Will see. | https://medium.com/@davidtvrdon/how-podcasts-can-help-your-membership-or-subscription-strategy-e745f61be59e | ['Dávid Tvrdoň'] | 2020-12-14 17:24:17.702000+00:00 | ['Podcasting', 'Subscription', 'Journalism', 'Podcast', 'Membership'] |
What Goggles Are You Wearing Right Now? | When I look at the world outside my window, I might notice a child on a bike, or a car speeding by. I might see a tree or the neighbor’s gutter, full of leaves. I might see my yard, in need of mowing, or the nice paint job on the house down the street.
My attention is guided, my interpretation of what I see is created, by the goggles I’m wearing at that moment.
I’m not talking about real goggles, though those would surely create an effect. I’m talking about psychological goggles. The goggles created by expectation, by experience, by my own thinking.
Which Goggles are you wearing?
When out on a hike, and I pass by someone, I might have my envious goggles on, noticing their expensive clothes or wearable technology. Or maybe I notice their youth, and feel some envy, along with some disdain, thinking they don’t know how the world works, what they’re up against, that they have it easy.
Or I might have my admiration goggles on, I might be impressed by how healthy they look, how they take care to go for a walk or run, how they wear appropriate shoes, how they invest in the wearable tech that helps them stick to their goals.
I might have my creative goggles on, making up stories about what might be going in their lives, where they might work, what they might have had for lunch. I might have my curious goggles on, and be intrigued, I might even stop to ask them about the trail, or their dog.
I might have my friendly goggles on, and say hello, wave and smile.
I might have my introspective goggles on, and not even notice them passing by. I might be instead noticing the way my feet feel in my shoes, the air in my nostrils, the sun on my head.
I might have my daydreaming goggles on, barely paying attention to my surroundings, as my mind wanders to beaches far away, and meals at fancy restaurants.
I might have my complaining goggles on, as I notice the pain in my knees, the soreness of my feet, the cold wet air, and the mud staining my pant legs.
There is an infinite number of goggles I could be wearing, things to notice and pay attention to. And most of the time, we don’t consciously put on a specific pair.
Can we choose our goggles?
Occasionally, I’ll think to put on my ‘awe’ goggles, and deliberately bask in the awesomeness of the natural world around me, the awesomeness of humanity’s creative, clever resourcefulness. I might put on the goggles of fraternity, experiencing a feeling of kinship with my fellow humans, that connection and oneness that comes with seeing that everyone is essentially the same, in a fundamental way, before our thinking, before we put on our goggles.
But most of the time, I don’t choose my goggles. Even in this unmindful state, though, I’m still aware that I’m wearing goggles, that I’m experiencing the world through my thinking.
It might be possible to take off the goggles, in some way, I think this is what enlightenment is, but of course, you have to realize you have goggles on before you can take them off.
So what creates our goggles?
They are created, I think, by a combination of our immediate thinking in the moment, and our experiences of the past.
We see things through complex goggles, that fill in meaning, identify things, assert intentions and purposes. If I’ve never seen a horse before, my goggles will present that animal differently than the goggles of someone who has ridden them for years. But we’re both wearing goggles, the reality of the horse isn’t different for one or the other. Only the way it looks, what it means, is different.
Our goggles are unique. No two people have the same goggles, and our goggles change moment by moment.
But there is value in seeing that we are wearing them, and they are difficult if not impossible to take off.
Everyone is wearing goggles, all the time
Empathy starts with realizing that you are wearing goggles, and so is everyone else. And those goggles determine how we see the world, moment by moment. When someone is cruel or inattentive or sees something in a dramatically different way, we have to remember that they're seeing through their own goggles in this moment, doing what they think is right, given their thinking in the moment.
Sometimes you can help them see that they are looking through an unempowering pair of goggles, but often they can’t see it.
Either way, knowing that they aren’t bad people, they just have bad goggles can make everything a bit easier, and help you to feel empathy for them, and for yourself, in those moments when your own goggles aren’t serving you well. | https://medium.com/less-stress-more-success/what-goggles-are-you-wearing-right-now-369810e1ed92 | ['John Mckay'] | 2020-12-20 20:48:39.309000+00:00 | ['Connection', 'Perception', 'Empathy', 'Self-awareness', 'Self Improvement'] |
How To Make 2021 Great | How To Make 2021 Great
Erik Kostov, the person who’s writing this
If you are anything like me, you are tired of “2020”.
It was a year where nothing actually happened, Yet everyone went into fear and panic and conservation instead of expanding.
I’m planning to make my 2021 amazing.
And if you want that for yourself, I want to help you out.
We know that in order to achieve success we have to practice and study, correct?
Well, I think this applies for life, not just for athletes, or for getting good grades in university, or for a skill like drawing (I draw a lot).
I want to share with you what ~I’m~ studying to get INCREDIBLE results (like how I created 1,000+ drawings in 2020, or how I got 12 million views on TikTok, or how I self-published 6 ebooks this year ;p ).
Before I tell you what I am studying to make my 2021 SPECTACULAR — FOLLOW ME on social media. I will bring you motivation and practical tips on how to achieve what you want. (from my own personal experience and what has worked for me) | https://medium.com/@erikkostov02/how-to-make-2021-great-f664bede8cbd | ['Erik Kostov'] | 2020-12-26 17:39:10.015000+00:00 | ['Motivation', 'Success', 'Goals', 'Advice', 'Life'] |
Artificial Love | Your presence makes me feel warm on the coldest nights; on the nights where my soul feels frozen until you walk in through the door
where you’d pin me down and draw me open like a map, lifting each bit of anger out of my heart
where this lust built into us finally conquers the anger that has been engraved into my heart time after time again
and my common sense decides to take a run while every naive piece of me falls back into you, to the hurt and the lies
thinking maybe if I stay long enough, maybe if I love you hard enough
you’ll finally reciprocate the love I’ve laid out on the table each day for you, that maybe every ounce of pain you’ve brought me will be multiplied by devotion
and in the end, the past won’t matter because things will be fixed
because you’ll finally mean it when you apologize, you’ll finally listen to my words; you’ll finally feel more than just this intoxication that fills each room we step into
you’ll learn to crave for my smile rather than the moan you’ve been pining to pull out of me; you’ll finally grip ahold of this infatuation that was built into what is us and exchange it with pure love | https://medium.com/@melissasheppard36/artificial-love-85c07e5b924a | ['Melissa Sheppard'] | 2020-12-14 19:28:23.403000+00:00 | ['Poetry Writing', 'Hurt', 'Poetry', 'Poetry On Medium', 'Love'] |
Uncorrupted Stand | to take an uncorrupted stand is
to not say —
I can do this
I must do this
I must face this
I should do this
I will do this
and more importantly
to not say I can stand
to take an uncorrupted stand is also
to not say —
I can’t do this
I will mess up
I am not capable
this is not for me
I cannot face it
to take an uncorrupted stand
is perhaps to simply see
what is it in reality when you aren’t
continuously corrupting your intelligence
with neither positive nor negative thoughts
to take an uncorrupted stand is also
to not give in to what you believe about yourself
be it strong or weak;
but to simply see
what is it for real when you aren’t
busy corrupting your experience
to take an uncorrupted stand is also
and perhaps for the first time
to take a break from
slipping into habitual reflexes
in a totally unconscious way;
but to begin to see it
what is driving it
what might come up
what you might see
— ugly or beautiful,
calm or panic —
you aren’t concerned
standing unforced and uncorrupted
to take an uncorrupted stand is
perhaps to see with fresh eyes
for the first time.
Consider reading similar poems:
Thank You ❤
Pretheesh Presannan | https://medium.com/spiritual-secrets/uncorrupted-stand-e494e674b532 | ['Pretheesh Presannan'] | 2020-09-20 16:18:30.106000+00:00 | ['Spiritual Secrets', 'Beginning', 'Anxiety', 'Fresh Start', 'Beginners Mind'] |
Busy In The Village | Today, we volunteered at a public hospital in a small agricultural village approximately 10km East of Faridabad. The hospital serves as a hub for the nine surrounding villages and Tuesdays is the day for pregnant women to receive their pre and post-natal checkups. Checkups are simple, including a basic urinalysis for glucose and protein, a simple hemoglobin test, blood typing, vitals, delivery date estimate, etc. Ultrasounds are available in large hospitals or private clinics, but it sounds like many of the women just do without them. Determination of a child’s gender before birth is illegal in India due to male favoritism. The female volunteers here were allowed to help at the ultrasound clinic last week and found the doctor quickly scanning over regions where the patient might be able to guess her child’s sex. Often, the doctor would know the gender but be unable, by law, to tell her patient.
As a result of this law, the pre-natal checkups also include a questionnaire as to the mother’s caste, number of attempted deliveries, number of abortions, number of living children, and the gender of those living children. The government will investigate any suspicious activity regarding abortions. For instance, a mother who has a living female child and who aborts her next fetus will likely be scrutinized.
[The following paragraph has been updated due to a misunderstanding during translation] If you read this post previously, you will recall that I said the cost of pre and post-natal healthcare depended upon one’s caste. I have since learned, however, that it’s the other way around. Mothers are actually paid different amounts depending on her caste. Because education and health care are so limited in rural villages, it has been common for mothers to deliver their children at home (using midwives) without seeking professional medical attention. This has resulted in abnormally high maternal and infant mortality rates. Therefore, the government has instituted the “National Rural Health Program” that actually pays certain mothers to give birth at the hospital. Today, the women were grouped into three caste categories: the General Caste (highest), Schedule Caste (middle), and Backwards Caste (lowest). A woman from the Backwards Caste, for instance, is given Rs 1500 ($30) as an incentive to have three pre-natal checkups, three post-natal checkups, and deliver her child in a hospital. Women from the Schedule Caste receive Rs 500 ($10) and women from the General Caste do not receive any financial benefit because they are believed to be wealthier and more educated.
Furthermore, the hospital staff members and people called “ashas” receive a financial bonus (appx. Rs 500-Rs 1000, or $10-$20) for each child delivered in a hospital. An asha is a person who, from what I understand, serves as a motivator for the proper health care decisions of approximately 1,000 people. He or she keeps records of the people under his or her care and educates people about different health options such as the benefits of going to a hospital to give birth. These are just some of the government’s methods of incentivizing proper health.
I spent the majority of the day determining blood types (AB positive, O negative, etc.), performing hemoglobin tests, conducting simple urinalyses with basic equipment, and preparing samples for tests of malaria.
The most shocking aspects of the day were the frigid temperatures within the unheated hospital, the lack of alcohol swabbing before pricking, and the staff’s handling of blood covered slides and bloody fingers without gloves or even thorough washing. This is not due to any oversight or negligence. It is just common practice here. And for those of you who are curious, yes, I wear gloves that I bring with me. | https://medium.com/squalor-to-scholar/busy-in-the-village-42c537361a4c | ['John Schupbach'] | 2017-06-29 01:00:20.069000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'India', 'Health'] |
My Midlife Crisis – A Successful Gen-X Man’s Voyage of Discovery: PART 2; Fred writes to his… | My Midlife Crisis – A Successful Gen-X Man’s Voyage of Discovery: PART 2; Fred writes to his daughter.
Dear Chiamaka,
Daddy’s Princess. The Apple of my eye.
Writing this letter to you is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do.
Chichi Daddy, I’ve always considered myself a strong man. Writing this letter reminds me that in truth, even the strongest of men have their Achilles heel. Nnem, you are mine.
Tougher than writing this letter is the knowledge that my recent actions may irrevocably alter your perception of me. It also makes me realise how important it is to me that I remain your hero and the standard by which you measure every other man who comes into your life.
When you look at me with your eyes shining with so much confidence in my ability to make things right in your world, I feel 10 feet tall. Yet at other times, I am worried about my ability to adequately discharge the burden of responsibility that goes with that and I am sometimes overwhelmed by it all.
Chichi Daddy. Despite everything, your daddy is only a man; and there comes a time in our lives when we must all admit that we sometimes fall short of the standards we set for ourselves.
By the time you read this letter, your mother may have told you that I am filing for a divorce. Please Chi, forgive me for tearing the fabric of our lives apart. My actions have nothing to do with you, or your brother Afamefuna. It is not because of anything you have done or failed to do. Both of you are my greatest blessings and I would give anything not to disrupt your lives in this way. Yet I fear that on this occasion, I need to be selfish.
Strange as this may sound to you, I don’t know what that looks like. I am so accustomed to putting everyone else’s feelings and needs ahead of mine. I want to discover what I would do if I didn’t have to do that.
I intend to go away for a while and I will miss you terribly. This is a curious observation considering that you haven’t fully lived at home for a few years. Yet I will miss you.
I plan to do a bit of travelling. I am fortunate that I can run my business remotely and leave the day to day nuts and bolts work to my managers.
I hope you will agree to stay in touch with me Chichi’m. I will love to be able to write and tell you what I get up to. To share my experiences with you and to check on you
Nnem, I love you and I will answer any questions you have about what is going on. Remember this. I will always love you.
PS. Look after your mum. She is a good woman and will probably find this difficult to handle for myriad reasons. Please be there for her. I have been her support for so many years and this may be a challenge. Please take care of her for me.
With all my love,
Daddy | https://medium.com/@nwaoma007/my-midlife-crisis-a-successful-gen-x-mans-voyage-of-discovery-part-2-fred-writes-to-his-f9dfff848262 | [] | 2020-12-19 08:40:18.681000+00:00 | ['Self Discovery', 'Nigerian Writing', 'Midlife Crisis', 'Family Life', 'Divorce'] |
How to step away from work | How to step away from work
It was 2018 when I graduated from university, not a long time ago. Since then I’ve been part of the movement of personal growth and 24 hour focus on your career. However, did anyone tell me when is the right time to switch off from this routine? NO.
A year ago, spring time, about 1000m above ground, in a tiny cute village in the North of Italy, I was ‘vacationing’. Nothing did I know that it will be these few days when I will realise I’ve been trapped in my career routine.
Eureka moment
After two weeks holiday I have returned to London but my perspective have changed. I have spent the next 3 months researching and reading dozen of books and articles on daily habits, healthy lifestyle, mental health and sleep. Not only that, but I’ve reached out to friends and colleagues to understand this deeper. It was a problem mostly everyone has or was facing but nobody liked sharing at the time.
In the summer of 2019 I decided it’s time for me to implement what I’ve learned and keep a close eye on any impact. It felt like stepping out of my comfort zone, but there I was making changes.
First, I asked myself everyday whether I’m doing certain things because they help me advance in my career or because I need to do something, so it feels like I’m making progress. This is a hole everyone can be trapped but especially people that love the personal development and have a desire to learn every minute of every day. Additionally, I’ve asked myself if I’m using work to avoid something and why am I doing it?
Mapping what’s really important and what I thought was helping me, I was able to let go of activities that take up to 2 hours of my day, EVERYDAY. I knew I was up to something but it was just the start. Now I had to decide what I am going to do with these 2 hours.
Changes
Instead of taking a sabbatical somewhere without signal, I learned to be mindful and aware when I’m working. I’ve started making changes and that’s important. With A/B testing in mind and trying a variety of routines, activities and times of the day, I’m still studying what’s best for me at this particular stage of my life.
Enough of this. Let me share what worked and what didn’t for me.
Set boundaries
This will not be easy at the start but try to separate work from life. You need clear rules and you have to live by them. This doesn’t mean ‘enough personal development’ but rather for you to create a schedule of when you do this. It doesn’t mean you can’t discuss ideas outside the workspace but it does mean to leave the stress and your long to-do list behind.
Use your free time to be with your loved ones and spend time cherishing your relationships with the people around you, not the tasks ahead of you.
Set clear office hours and stick to them.
Yes, this will change on occasions and you’ll have to stay late at work. But apart from this one time, you have successfully done what’s best for yourself.
Reflect
Perfection. This is what everyone is after and can’t stop striving towards. However, when chasing it we often forget to stop and look back, appreciate how far we’ve come. In a fast-pace world, where you have to be on top of your ‘A’ game, we are busy planning our next move, thinking what’s ahead and how to tackle each problems. However, what we don’t realise is that we don’t have time to observe reality, what we have created, what surrounds us.
Stop. Look how far you’ve come after all the effort you have ever made. Now look ahead and how much more you can do in the future.
Acknowledge your effort. — Kristin Armstrong
Simple day
Flow. We are doing things unconsciously and we need to PAUSE.
Not everything in life has to be done with a higher purpose. If it makes you happy - enjoy it.
I have implemented days of the month, usually Sundays, fortnightly where I pointlessly enjoy a my hobbies. Whether it’s hiking on a rainy day, reading what I love, going to a gig or gallery, I don’t plan it to the end. Rather just get on it, see where it leads me and appreciating it.
Have a simple time in a complicated world.
‘Busy’ as a badge of honour
When did ‘busy’ become a symbol of pride rather than an issue that needs solving. Humans are not machines, we wear off unevenly. I have been part of the movement, a group who thinks they are successful if busier than the rest.
Just stop using the word, it’s addictive. Focus on your free time and the positive energy that can bring you. | https://medium.com/@emanuelhristov16/how-to-step-away-from-work-d6f41def3f6a | ['Emanuel Hristov'] | 2020-12-26 12:48:43.428000+00:00 | ['Lifestyle', 'Planning', 'Personal Development', 'Work Life Balance', 'Mental Health'] |
Money Diary: A 29-Year-Old PA With A Side Hustle Making Candles On 35k | Money Diary: A 29-Year-Old PA With A Side Hustle Making Candles On 35k Refinery29 UK Follow Dec 8 · 26 min read
By Anonymous
Welcome to Money Diaries, where we’re tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We’re asking a cross-section of women how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last penny.
This week: “I’m 29, have lived in London my whole life and have just moved to a small village in Surrey. My boyfriend and I bought our first flat together just before lockdown with the majority of the deposit coming from my dad (I appreciate how fortunate I was to get this). I’ve been in my job as a PA for just over seven years now and although I could do my job in my sleep and don’t feel particularly challenged, I love working with such a fantastic group of people and genuinely love going into work on Monday mornings. Very grateful to still be in full-time employment this year.”
Industry: Property
Age: 29
Location: Surrey
Salary: £35,000 with a bonus of around £10,000 annually.
Paycheque amount: £2,020 after pension, NI and student loan deductions.
Number of housemates: One, my boyfriend, A. All bills/mortgage are split equally between us.
Housing costs: Mortgage £510
Utilities: Circa £200 each
Loan payments: £139
Transport: Used to be free but now have to split fuel costs with A as we commute together, circa £40 for fuel and circa £120 for buses and Tubes.
Phone bill: My mum pays, don’t @ me.
Other: Spotify £4.99, gym £35, Netflix: I sponge off my sister’s account. She always used to steal my clothes so when she drunkenly told me her password one evening, I jumped straight on that.
Savings? Currently back to £3,000 after using savings to go towards the flat deposit.
Laser hair removal: I have £120 left on the balance which will be payable after my fourth session. I’m seriously impressed with the results already and I’m still trying to convince my boyfriend to pay for half as he’s the one who gets to enjoy it.
Online PT: £120. I used to be a keen gym-goer but since gyms reopened I’ve felt uneasy about going in them, even with the reduced numbers. Somehow I can see germs crawling all over the equipment! I’ve kept my membership up though as I currently alternate one week on, one week off. My online PT is fab, we do weekly check-ins and she keeps me on track and accountable for my diet and fitness, and I’m really impressed with the results so far.
Credit card: Currently £500 on my Amex. I started making soy wax candles at home a few weeks ago to sell in an attempt to save more money and my supplies arrived two weeks ago. I’m hoping the initial hit of money will be made back within the next few weeks, I have already made £100 in sales in the last few days so keeping everything crossed.
Day One
8.20am: I’m working from home this week which means a two-hour lie-in compared to when I’m working in the office as we normally have to commute from deep, dark Surrey to London. My alarm goes off just as my boyfriend, A, kisses me on the cheek on his way out to appointments. The cat is snuggled up on my chest and it takes every ounce of willpower to get out of my warm cocoon and into ‘business up top, lounge down below’ attire ready for my morning calls. I feed the cat because he is shouting at me for his breakfast.
9am: First team call over, I carefully make two bergamot and patchouli candles that were ordered last night (it has taken me a week of extensive testing to get the melted wax to behave when setting and I’ve now got it downnnnn and am so happy with them). It’s also a good excuse to get up from my kitchen table that was definitely not designed for the work-from-home setup.
9.35am: I carefully bubble wrap, handwrite a note and pack two candles that were made a few days ago; one for my best friend and one for an influencer who is vegan and loves candles and has agreed to promote my business for free on her Instagram so I am super happy. I take time making sure that the packaging is PERFECT.
10am: Time for my second workout of the week. As I’ve only got a few dumbbells and lightweight kettlebells I have to seriously increase my reps in order to feel the burn as much as I do when I’m in the gym using heavier weights. The 45-minute session passes by in a flurry of shoulder presses, press-ups, lateral raises, tricep dips, burpees (they seriously never get easier) and renegade rows. These make me feel like vomming in a good way. When I’m done I take my weekly progress pictures for my trainer and compare them to last week’s — definitely looking stronger!
10.50am: Hop in the shower. A month ago I Braved The Shave for Macmillan and I’m now rocking a buzzcut which has seriously changed my morning routine. It takes me literally two minutes to shower, shampoo (with HASK coconut shampoo) and shave my legs, then I chuck on some moisturiser (Drunk Elephant Protini), get changed into jeans and a sweatshirt and head out to the post office to post my candles. £6.20 for postage.
12.30pm: After another hour of calls I’m suddenly ravenous so I heat up a bowl of broccoli-stilton soup that A made yesterday and have it with a plain ham wrap because I have to up my protein intake on this fitness plan. Yum.
2pm: Another afternoon of calls and diary management, and I realise I’m running out of vape liquid. I buy this in bulk to save money and only need to get some every two/three months. I know it’s not the healthiest habit but since quitting smoking eight years ago I’ve found it so hard to stop vaping and it’s helped massively with my stress levels because #2020. £43.75
2.30pm: I buy 500ml of mince pie candle oil to make my candle range more seasonally appealing. I’m not one for sweet-smelling candles but the reviews are fantastic and it’s the kind of gift (I’m hoping!) people will buy as stocking fillers and Secret Santa presents. This amount should make 25 candles. £28.99
5pm: A has been obsessively watching Rick Stein and gets inspo for a sea bass dish to make for dinner tonight (which we have so much of in our freezer from his fishing trip a few weeks ago) so he heads out to get the ingredients for it: lentils, cabbage, pancetta, chicken stock, ale and shallots. He pays as I bought the last few top-up shops.
6pm: Finished work! I celebrate by pouring a Clean Gin and slimline Fever Tree tonic. This drink has changed my life over lockdown. When we were first told to stay home, I found adjusting to working from home really difficult and would always end up pouring a G&T to signal the start of my evening. One drink became two, two became three etc… After a few weeks of getting into that habit I found my anxiety and depression were really bad. I came across an ad on Instagram for Clean Gin, which has a very low alcohol percentage and tastes delicious, and now I feel like I’m still having a grown-up drink just without the awful hangover the next day.
7.30pm: Sea bass time and it doesn’t disappoint — god bless you, Rick.
8.30pm: After some snuggles on the sofa with A and the cat, I run myself a bath and light a few of my candles (perks of the job). Having a buzzcut means I don’t have to worry about getting my hair wet in the bath anymore and I slip down into the bubbles with the new Lisa Jewell book (Invisible Girl). I finished The Fall last week which used to be my go-to bath binge but my eyes are very grateful for the blue-light break.
9.30pm: Nicely chilled after my bath, I pop a mirtazapine (I have been taking 30mg before bed for about two years, and have been on and off other antidepressants for 11 years — this particular pill helps me to have an uninterrupted night’s sleep, which I really struggled with before my GP recommended it), tone my face with Simple toner, slather on Drunk Elephant marula oil and crawl into bed. A joins me shortly after, *insert whatever euphemism Money Diary readers can tolerate* and it’s lights out for us all.
Total: £78.94
Day Two
7am: I wake up to the cat sitting on my chest, shouting at me for his breakfast again. His little meows start off really quiet and sweet (which I try to ignore) but after two minutes of not responding to him, he starts walking up and down my body and the meows get harder to ignore. At least I know I won’t need an alarm clock if my phone decides to die on me in the night. I feed the beast and then go back to bed for snuggles with A for another hour and a half before my real alarm goes off. The cat joins us again after he’s eaten and lies in the middle of us in a food-drunk coma. I manage to drift off to sleep again.
8.45am: First call of the day. This one doesn’t require participation from me so I mute myself and make a cappuccino and oats with peanut butter, frozen berries and a scoop of chocolate brownie protein powder. I catch sight of my hair in the microwave and it’s sticking up in so many different directions, I look like Oliver Twist.
9.45am: That was a long call and 70% of the contents could have been shared in an email. Sigh.
10am: A heads out on appointments for the morning and I contemplate putting on my workout gear to go for a run but it’s grey and miserable and definitely not a day for outdoor activities. I have a malted milk biscuit, make a cup of lemon and ginger tea and bring my laptop over to the sofa to crack on with some emails while snuggled up in my favourite blanket.
11.30am: I wrap up and package my two candles I made yesterday and write a little note to go with them to thank the buyers for their support. I get so excited knowing other people will get to enjoy my candles!
12pm: I brave the rain in what can only be described as a fisherman’s cagoule (I look utterly ridiculous), grab my mask and head to the post office to post today’s candle deliveries. The guy in the post office is so excited for me and my new orders — you just don’t get this community spirit living in London and it is without a doubt the best thing about moving to a village. £6.20
12.35pm: My mum is coming to stay with us on Friday (she lives on her own so A and I are her ‘bubble’) so I strip the bedding in the spare room, pop it in to wash so that it dries in time and try to tidy up the candle paraphernalia that has taken over the bedroom. It might look messy but at least it smells like a spa in there.
1pm: Another call. This time I have to contribute so I quickly slap on some Max Factor Masterpiece mascara (the only mascara I will ever, ever use) and plaster a smile on my face for the camera. Must…Look…Professional. The meeting flies by and it’s actually really good to see a lot of my colleagues who I haven’t been able to see in person for seven months. The next happy hour we go to whenever we are allowed out in large groups is going to be savage.
4.30pm: I’ve managed to sort out my inbox, reply to most of the emails I’ve received this afternoon and am feeling very organised and on top of my workload! I’ve also started a presentation that I need to work on over the next few days about marketing strategies. Just as I finish up and in perfectly timed style, my downstairs neighbour, D, knocks on the door to see if I fancy a coffee in the stairwell. We started this tradition in lockdown 1.0 and it was a great way of making friends while being socially distanced. Two of my neighbours are elderly and it was lovely to be able to give them some interaction when we were all cooped up at home, at a safe distance of course. We had spaced-out summer BBQs, drinks and parties when there was a lockdown birthday and we are now all really good friends. Another reason to love living in a village. Plus there are always people around to sign for packages now.
6pm: Finished! I’m a creature of habit so I pour myself another Clean Gin and slimline tonic and settle in to catch up on last week’s Great British Bake Off. It’s chocolate week and I sit on the sofa watching through my eyes, my heart rate at 120 bpm. This show will never not be stressful. I can’t be the only one who’s obsessed with Lottie’s levels of sass?
7pm: It’s dinnertime and A’s obsession with Rick Stein continues. Today’s seafood delight is moules marinière with a cream, garlic, parsley and shallot sauce with a huge French baton on the side. *Kisses chef style* It is très bon and I am feeling very full and French when I’m finished.
8pm: Time to indulge in a little more Lisa Jewell before taking my meds. I cleanse and tone my face, cover myself in DE marula oil and I’m asleep before 9.30pm. Rock ’n’ roll lives here.
Total: £6.20
Day Three
2.30am: I wake up, confused as to why A and the cat aren’t in bed. I stumble into the living room and they are both fast asleep on the sofa. A’s been having trouble sleeping recently because of work stresses and I quite often find him in the living room. I hate falling asleep to the TV — the light and sound drives me insane — but A can’t sleep without it so we take it in turns to fall asleep to Attenborough documentaries (with the brightness turned right down) and just listening to sounds of the sea or rainforest, which I love. Still, at least he’s trying to be considerate and watch TV in the living room. I go back to bed and make the most of starfishing in the bed on my own.
8.30am: Alarm goes off and I’m unsurprised to find myself on A’s side of the bed.
10am: After an hour of morning calls with various teams, I make myself some scrambled eggs on toast with lashings of butter and then get started on tidying the flat and putting away the washing and making my mum’s bed for tomorrow. My dad is coming over today to fit some shelves in our storage cupboard and hang some pictures up. At nearly 30 years old, is it still acceptable to call my dad to help with DIY issues? I probably should know how to do this stuff but now that he’s retired he likes to feel useful, so I’m happy to oblige! (He also lives on his own so we are his support ‘bubble*’ too, in case anyone questions our COVID responsibility.)
10.45am: Back to my desk for more emails, I work some more on my presentation from yesterday and then my dad does his usual ‘three rings’ to let me know he is half an hour away. Does anyone else’s dad do this?!
11.20am: Dad has arrived and it’s so good to see him. He is armed with his DIY kit, some snacks from Aldi for me and A and even has some goodies for the cat. He’s a treasure and I’m so sad that we don’t live near each other anymore. We catch up, he tells me that my grandma (who has been in a home for three years) is doing great and has made some new friends who are the new staff at the old people’s home. I was so worried about her during the first lockdown when there were horror stories of old people’s homes getting infected but her home managed to come away unscathed.
2pm: We now have shelves and pictures on the walls! I offered to help my dad but he insisted I crack on with my work and let him get on with it. It’s so nice having him around and I’m super grateful for having such an incredible, hands-on dad.
2.15pm: We tuck into the snacks that we were given earlier and take my dad to the pub in the village to say thank you. I feel guilty as I’m still on the clock but I haven’t seen my dad since August so I text my boss to let him know I’ll be popping out for a while and he tells me to go and enjoy myself. £12.75 for drinks.
6pm: Back at the flat and it looks so much better now that our pictures are up on the wall. It’s cosier somehow and I’m so pleased that’s the last thing on the list of DIY jobs to do around the flat (for now).
7.10pm: We order pizzas from the outdoor pizza stall in the village square. They are open once a week and are the thinnest, crispiest, most flavourful Neapolitan pizzas I have had outside of Naples. £32 for three pizzas, I’m treating Dad for all of his hard work today.
7.40pm: Pizzas devoured, my dad heads back home. I run myself another bath with Lisa Jewell for company, take my meds and then we are all tucked up in bed watching Frozen Planet by 8.30pm. Bliss.
Total: £44.75
Day Four
6.30am: The usual wake-up call from The Beast. I feed him and then go back to bed to spoon A until my alarm goes off.
8.40am: Managed to snooze through my first two alarms and realise I have five minutes to log into my computer and sign into Microsoft Teams to make the morning call I have to take minutes for. I am two minutes late and in my rush I forget to turn my camera and microphone off — all 20 of my senior colleagues on the call get to see my bed hair and dressing gown combo. Quickly turn the camera off and put myself on mute. Shit. Shit shit shit. At least I was wearing clothes? Try to regain composure and spend the next 40 minutes frantically writing notes which I’m praying I can decipher when the call ends. I’m really flustered and embarrassed and finding it hard to concentrate on all the figures flying around but I manage to regain composure and make some sort of sense with my notes. Hopefully they all found it funny…
9.30am: My boss calls me and laughs down the phone, it’s the first time he’s seen my hair so short since shaving it off and he thought someone had hacked into my computer! Lol. We catch up, run through the list of outstanding points I’ve noted down for this week and make a plan for next week which will be easier as I will be office-based and will have a printer and scanner handy. It’s been so hectic at work recently that it’s been hard to find time to catch up properly, and the longer my list of things to do gets, the more anxious I become. I hate carrying things over to the next day.
11.30am: Minutes typed up and after some more work on my presentation, A and I head out to Aldi to do a food shop. My mum will be staying tonight and I’m going to make steak, garlic rosemary potatoes, béarnaise sauce and I had planned to finish off with a crème brûlée but I check myself, realise I’m definitely no Delia Smith and settle for a homemade tiramisu instead. We write a list before leaving as we are both known for sneaking things into the trolley that we absolutely don’t need and I’m trying to be super economical as I’ve spent a small fortune on candle supplies this month.
12.45pm: Unpack the shopping. Items included in the shop were: various veg for slow cooking this weekend, rump steaks, chicken thighs, mascarpone cheese, ladyfinger biscuits, high-protein yoghurt, salad, tomatoes, figs, couscous, pasta, chickpeas, manchego and red, red wine. £48.92 for my half.
1pm: Check my Lotto account and I’ve won £10 on Thunderball, woohoo!
3pm: I promise I do work when working from home! I’ve managed to make some good progress on my presentation, collate the weekly figures from everyone and make a tiramisu that I hope my mum will be proud of! She’s Italian and is my biggest fan and my worst critic. The cocoa powder has managed to get everywhere but it looks authentic enough and I’m pretty pleased with myself. I also whizz up a quick salsa verde for the steaks later: tarragon, parsley, basil, a lot of garlic, capers, olive oil and salt.
4.30pm: Finish up work for the afternoon and hop in the car to pick my mum up from the local station. It’s absolutely pouring with rain and we manage to pull up at the station just as my mum is walking out of the exit.
5pm: Get home, Mum unpacks her things and gets into her pyjamas (another trait that I have definitely inherited from her! Bra off, tracksuit on and makeup off ASAP). We catch up over a G&T and my heart is so full and happy, it’s so good to see her! Mum mentions that the Royal Albert Hall is putting on socially distanced performances of The Nutcracker so I quickly book two tickets for the afternoon showing on New Year’s Eve. It wouldn’t be Christmas without seeing the show and I haven’t been for at least five years. Very excited for A to see it as he’s never been to the ballet before. £101
7.30pm: The steak and tiramisu are a success! Mum says the tiramisu is every bit as delicious as the one my nonna used to make and I’m over the moon. And so full I feel sick. But I keep eating tiramisu until my sides hurt because it’s what a good Italian would do.
Midnight: We have played a million games of Shithead and Chase the Ace and we’ve laughed until we cried. I always do this when we’re together and I go to bed still very full, quite drunk and the happiest I’ve felt in a very long time.
Total: £149.92
Day Five
6am: The Beast shouts at me for breakfast, and I am very hungover. I poke A and tell him to be a good cat dad and feed him.
9am: I blearily wake up to smell coffee and hear laughter from the kitchen — seems like A and my mum have been awake for a while. I get out of bed, guilty that I’ve slept in when I’m supposed to be entertaining, and get in on the coffee action. The cat is running around chasing a laser pen and I get to work on making bacon sandwiches. My mum is currently doing intermittent fasting and told (read: bored) us all about it yesterday. She normally has a boiled egg for breakfast, almond milk with milled chia for lunch and then basically gorges on cheese, hams and whatever else she fancies eating for dinner and is somehow still losing weight? I prep enough bacon for me and A and start to boil Mum up an egg when she walks in to say how much she would love a bacon sandwich! As we only have enough bacon for me and A, I die a little inside and offer her mine (which she scoffs) and I settle for soggy Weetabix instead. What a sad start to the day. After breakfast we get ready to go for a long walk and show Mum the woods around our village which look particularly beautiful at this time of year.
11.15am: We stop at the local bakery to pick up a poppy seed cobb loaf for us to have with baked camembert when we get home. Apparently, Mum isn’t intermittently fasting today…
2.30pm: Home and wiped out after that walk! We collected lots of autumn leaves and acorns for me to use for my candle photos that I’ll take next week, and I stick the oven on to bake the camembert. I bought some ghost-shaped crumpets from the Co-op which I couldn’t resist. £1
3.15pm: As tempted as we are to snooze after that cheesy carb fest, we have to leave to drop my mum back at the station as she has to get home to feed her cat. I’m sad that she has to go so soon after getting here but we promise that we’ll see each other soon and I give her a big bear hug and try not to cry. I feel so sad whenever I have to say goodbye to her! The dream would be to buy a house in the future with an annex so we could keep her around all the time but A doesn’t know this plan yet and I’m not sure how he’d feel about being stuck with the two of us, despite them getting on so well…
4pm: We are home and flaked out on the sofa. Decide to watch the new Borat movie as it’s been hyped up so much and I’m sad to say I find it very average. I’m hoping it manages to shake up Trump’s campaign a bit but sadly he’ll probably stay president for a good few years to come.
4.40pm: I get a notification from my website to say a close friend, M, has bought one of my candles! I pour her order and handwrite a note to say thank you and that I’m missing her a lot. She had a baby in April and I still haven’t met her yet as we’ve both been so busy with work and she moved to Brighton earlier this year.
6.30pm: Apparently all I want to eat today is cheese and carbs so I rustle up a homemade macaroni cheese, which only takes about 15 minutes. I make a basic cheese sauce with butter, flour, mustard powder, garlic and milk, then chuck in half a block of grated mature cheddar. I mix some of the cheese with breadcrumbs, crumble it on the top and then bake it for 25 minutes until it’s bubbling on top. I drizzle mine with sriracha and finish off my gluttonous meal with leftover tiramisu. I normally eat so well during the week that I let myself indulge a little at the weekends, although I dread to think how many calories I’ve eaten today.
8.30pm: We’ve watched Catchphrase and The Chase and I’m at the point now where if I watch another Saturday night game show I’ll probably throw something at the TV so I go and brush my teeth, take my meds and crawl into bed. I love going to sleep in a dark, silent room so I’m asleep within minutes and don’t even hear A and the cat join me a few hours later.
Total: £1
Day Six
6.30am: The cat does his usual shouting at me thing so I feed him his breakfast, mix some mashed steamed veggies into it (because this cat eats like a little prince) and go back to bed to snuggle with A for a few hours. After finishing his breakfast, the cat comes to lie on my chest and I fall asleep listening to his gracious sweet little purrs.
9am: I wake up feeling like I’ve had another night’s sleep and it feels so much later than it should be. It only hits me that the clocks have gone back when I look at my obligatory ‘the clocks have gone back’ text from Dad. I make porridge with frozen sour cherries, peanut butter and chocolate protein powder, have a cup of tea and then get in the shower to get ready. We’re heading into Guildford so I can get Dolly Alderton’s new book, Ghosts, and A wants to get a few more pairs of chinos for work.
9.45am: I put a full face of makeup on for the first time this week. I use Laura Mercier’s tinted primer as a foundation as I have fairly good skin and never need full coverage, use Max Factor bronzer on my cheekbones and add a swipe of Rimmel liquid eyeliner and finish off with Max Factor Masterpiece mascara. I put a quick wash on as I need my favourite underwear for next week (I swear by Hanky Panky thongs — they’re one size and so comfortable!) and then get changed into Zara jeans, my favourite Tommy Hilfiger Looney Tunes edition hoodie and throw some Converse on for good measure.
11am: I’ve been into Waterstones to pick up my book and A treats me to a coffee from our favourite coffee shop just off the high street down a little cobbled lane. I get a decaf cappuccino because coffee doesn’t agree with me since my anxiety has got worse over the first lockdown. It’s delicious.£14.99
11.10am: I get an Insta notification from my influencer friend I sent a candle to the other day; she’s posted my candle on her stories and five minutes later my first Etsy order comes through! I’m so happy and very grateful for the free exposure.
1.30pm: I pick up a Mexican three-bean wrap from M&S because it’s my favourite ‘treat’ lunch whenever I go there, and resist the urge to buy one of the cute borg coats they have on display. They just look so snuggly but I’m running out of extra space now in the flat as I have candle making supplies EVERYWHERE. £3
2pm: We head back to the car and decide to take a drive around the surrounding countryside near Box Hill. The autumn colours are spectacularly impressive and we are in awe of how beautiful Surrey is and so grateful to live in this incredible county.
3.10pm: Back at the flat and I get started on my candle order from Etsy. I pour the candle and handwrite another note to go with it, thanking them for their business and asking if they wouldn’t mind leaving me a review when it arrives. I’m quickly learning that Etsy isn’t the easiest place to sell products as there are so many candle makers on there, so I’m hoping reviews will make a difference to my shop. I also pack up the candle I made yesterday, ready for the post office tomorrow.
4pm: A is watching Levi Roots on TV and decides we’re going to have jerk chicken for dinner. He heads to the Co-op to get some yoghurt as the jerk paste we have in the cupboard is absolute fire.
6pm: Even smothered in yoghurt the chicken is borderline inedible and I’m not looking forward to the pain tomorrow, if you know what I mean. My heart is racing and I feel like I’ve just run 10k so I dive into the last portion of tiramisu in an attempt to cool my poor tongue down and plop down in front of the TV. Great success. (Borat has clearly rubbed off on me!)
7.30pm: I decide to run a bath and finish off my Lisa Jewell book. It’s definitely not as captivating as The Family Upstairs but still very readable. I’m so excited to start Ghosts in bed shortly.
9.30pm: I’m a good quarter of the way through Ghosts already and I force myself to stop reading so that I can make it last longer. I love Dolly’s writing style, and nearing my 30s it’s a really relatable read. (Not the ‘being single bit’ but the ‘having friends who have started to have babies and the excuses they make on nights out’ bits). So funny.
10pm: I take my tablet and it’s lights out just after 10. It’s my week in the office from tomorrow and I’m already dreading the 6am alarm.
Total: £17.99
Day Seven
5am: Oh how I wish I was able to sleep until my 6am alarm, eating my words now! The cat wakes me up with a fright as he’s trying desperately to cough up a furball on my chest and I’m terrified he’s choking. After getting the furball up and sluicing my chest down in the bathroom, there’s no way I’m getting back to sleep so I feed him half his breakfast super early and will feed him the other half just before we leave to go to work. I also realise it’s payday, woohoo! I pay off £250 on my Amex and will pay off the remainder as and when my orders come in. £250
5.45am: I’m showered and have a full face of makeup on already (the same routine as yesterday). I make a decaf espresso and start packing up my candle order from yesterday. I then get a low-down stomach rumble and without oversharing, have a very bad time in the bathroom. I make a mental note to throw away that jerk paste ASAP. A is also up and doing the exact same in the other bathroom, and I can’t stop laughing at this horrible situation. You know you’re in a long-term relationship when you can graphically describe bathroom activities to each other — does anyone else do this?!
6.45am: I’ve read some more of my book, packed my lunchbox (plain chicken thighs, half a baked sweet potato and sweetcorn), had another trip to the bathroom and also had a cup of lemon and ginger tea to help settle my stomach. I feed the kitten the other half of his breakfast which he gratefully wolfs down and we’re out of the door by 7.10am.
8.30am: I manage to get into the office bang on time, only just remembering that it’s half term this week and there aren’t any schoolchildren to take up space on buses. A drives me halfway and then I get a bus for the remainder of the journey. £1.50 for the bus.
8.45am: I pop to Tesco to get some blueberries and raspberries for my protein porridge and go to the post office to post yesterday’s orders. £10.20
12.45pm: I’ve had a busy morning at work and it’s been really nice to catch up with my colleague who I haven’t seen for a week. I sit down to have my lunch and then take a 20-minute walk around the block to stretch my legs and get some fresh air. I always feel like a new person when I come back into the office after doing this.
3pm: I get changed into my gym stuff and head down to the local gym to do a 40-minute leg session. I make sure to sanitise before entering and do a weights-only workout which includes kettlebell swings, deadlifts, glute bridges, reverse lunges and plank variations. I’m not overly sweaty by the end of it and don’t bother showering when I’m finished as I’ve become a bit of a germophobe and don’t want to use a shower someone else has used. I appreciate I’m very lucky to be able to do this during my workday — my employers take mental health very seriously and encourage us to take regular exercise breaks throughout the working week.
4.10pm: I’ve had two more candle orders from Etsy, woohoo! Looking forward to getting home so I can get started on those and take my time on them to make them absolutely perfect.
6pm: It’s been a busy afternoon as my colleague has been out and about all afternoon and I have been trying to work on my presentation and pick up the phones. I tidy my desk and head out to meet A at a local station so that we can drive back to Surrey together. I check my online banking on the train and see that I’ve been paid £45 from some recent candle sales so I use the money to pay off a bit of my credit card balance. £3.40 for the train.
7.10pm: We’re home and I get started on making my candle order. I have just enough wax to make them so I place another order on Amazon which will hopefully arrive tomorrow. £33.70
7.45pm: The candles are poured and smelling beautiful, so I try and think of what to make into a pasta dish from the veg we have left in the fridge. I decide on a simple mushroom, garlic, white wine and cream sauce and serve it with farfalle pasta and some grated parmesan for good measure.
8.30pm: I handwrite some more cards to go with my candles that I will pack up for delivery in the morning, and brush my teeth when I’m finished to stop myself eating something sweet (this trick works 50% of the time). A and I decide to have an early night and get ready for another early alarm tomorrow, which hopefully won’t be another furball at 5am.
Total: £298.80
The Breakdown
Food/Drink: £101.67
Entertainment: £115.99
Clothes/Beauty: £0
Travel: £4.90
Other: £375.04
Total: £597.60
Conclusion
“I feel like I’ve spent more than normal this week on candle-making supplies but working from home definitely means I spend less during the week as I’m not tempted to pop to the supermarket just to get out of the office. I definitely need to make more of an effort to use up more food in the fridge/cupboards before going out to the supermarket and am really trying to rein in my clothes shopping habit, which I seem to have kicked this week! Hopefully the candle orders keep coming in and I am able to pay off the remaining £250 by the end of this month.” | https://medium.com/refinery29/money-diary-a-29-year-old-pa-with-a-side-hustle-making-candles-on-35k-4efa9eafae77 | [] | 2020-12-08 14:11:02.201000+00:00 | ['Money Diary', 'Salary', 'Saving', 'Money', 'Careers'] |
Spotting Civic Dark Patterns | We’re familiar with dark patterns in UX design. What about in our civic institutions?
In May, a colleague on the Modernist Studio team sent a curious message in Slack: “Is it weird that an economic stimulus payment was sent as a debit card, addressed to a combination of your first name and your wife’s maiden name?” he wrote.
When the stimulus check was announced, the Trump Administration and the IRS framed it as a much-needed boost for struggling families. But for millions of Americans, that value promise failed to deliver. Some, like my colleague, received payments that looked like spam, and threw their stimulus away. Many were promised a direct deposit and instead received a debit card — which was great for spending, but useless for paying rent or saving for medical bills. Others are still waiting, months later, for their money to arrive. Incarcerated people who work and pay taxes were sent stimulus payments and then asked to return them. And more than 1 million Americans who filed taxes jointly with spouses who were not American citizens got no stimulus check at all.
The stimulus was promised as a public service. But it was not designed to be accessible to the people who most needed it, in the ways they needed it.
What are dark patterns?
In UX design, dark patterns are user interfaces that trick users into doing something they don’t intend, want, or need. These mistakes usually cost users money, and always cost them time. Common forms of UX dark patterns include price comparison prevention (making it difficult for users to compare the prices of items), sneak-into-basket (automatically adding products add-ons to a purchase), forced continuity (disguising a recurring subscription under what looks like a one-time payment), and confirmshaming (“Are you sure you don’t need this additional weight loss product?”).
Dark patterns are not necessarily bad design — they are designs that ensure bad outcomes for the user. They are popping up in digital services everywhere, to the point that Congress took note, introducing a bill to prevent companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter from deploying dark patterns against their users.
As the public sector adopts more from tech, it’s worth asking whether it is also adopting tech’s bad habit for dark patterns, in its own way.
The stimulus fiasco reflects perhaps a form of civic dark pattern — designs in the public sector that purport to deliver a service to the public but instead help benefit stakeholders, often at the cost of the humans interacting with them.
Some of those civic dark patterns may include:
A service that is designed to not be accessible, especially by people most in need of access
The stimulus is a recent example — the IRS sent people in need of money to pay rent a stimulus in a form that instead encouraged supporting businesses. But examples of this civic dark pattern also show up in our elections: from opposing funding for the US Postal Service when millions are relying on the USPS for mail-in voting, to structuring ballots so that critical issues are hidden from view.
A service that is designed to get people to pay, when it is supposed to be offered for free
Intuit made headlines in 2019 for hiding TurboTax’s government-mandated free tax-filing program for low-income users on its website in order to get them to use its paid services. Congressional staff later found that companies like H&R Block had done the same.
A service that reroutes critical public information through private gatekeepers
Throughout the pandemic, the CDC has collected, reported, and indexed data about Covid-19 from hospitals and health centers, providing this as a public and internal service for tracking the virus. In July, it was reported that data collection on Covid-19 would now be routed through a single private contractor in partnership with the HHS, with no word on how the data would be shared or whether it would be made available for participating hospitals and the public.
Dark patterns are remarkably profitable in the short term, but they erode customer trust and credibility over time. Unchecked, dark patterns like these affect the health and relationships of millions of Americans. But when it comes to civic dark patterns, the consequences are systemic. Our wellbeing as a society relies on access to resources, but it also relies on trust — in each other, and in the systems that guide us. Civic dark patterns undermine this trust, weakening the structure and resiliency of our public services — and ultimately our ability to live in peace.
How can service design help?
These emerging patterns will require an extra vigilance on the part of service designers. Service design is human-centered & civic-minded — a service designer works to create the systems, policies, artifacts, and experiences required to deliver the best service possible to end users.
Service-design driven companies like NAVA and digital service agencies like 18F are working with federal agencies to make government services simple, transparent, and accessible for Americans. And volunteer networks like U.S. Digital Response and the Emergency Design Collective are matching service designers with public servants and organizations to help human-centered rapid response to crises. As government, tech, and design continue to intersect, more and more designers will have the opportunity — and responsibility — to ensure that public services work for the people.
A key feature of design work in the future will be spotting civic dark patterns like these — and building for peace and trust instead. | https://medium.com/moderniststudio/spotting-civic-dark-patterns-8167281ad9a3 | ['Catherine Woodiwiss'] | 2020-10-19 21:07:43.341000+00:00 | ['Future', 'UX', 'Design', 'Civictech', 'Technology'] |
Botnoi Classroom — Machine Learning 01 | This publication consists of articles related to Data science and AI written from Botnoi’s data scientists and students.
Follow | https://medium.com/botnoi-classroom/botnoi-classroom-machine-learning-01-94d7a99c6848 | ['Kritsaneepon Pratomrit'] | 2019-11-16 04:09:18.482000+00:00 | ['Distance', 'Data Scientist', 'Machine Learning', 'Botnoi', 'Gradient Descent'] |
MJAC — Crypto Compare Blockchain Summit, London. 30th November 2018 | MJAC announces added speakers, ICOs and Power Snooker Exhibition Games at blockchain conference
- Showcasing innovators and thought leaders of the blockchain industry alongside sporting personalities -
Obi Nwosu, CEO of Coinfloor, and Nick Chong of Liquid by Quoine will be delivering the two keynote speeches at the MJAC & CryptoCompare London Blockchain Summit.
The event, which is taking place on November 30th 2018, will see a host of key industry players discussing and debating the hot topics from within the blockchain and cryptocurrency spheres.
Claire Wells and Marieke Flament from global crypto finance company Circle will be having a Fireside Chat where they will discuss Opportunities and Threats for the Tokenisation of Everything. Iqbal V. Gandham of eToro will be asking: Will STOs replace IPOs? during his address and Steve Swain, CEO of Lendingblock, will be on stage discussing how securities lending will lead to the institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies.
David Fauchier, CEO/CIO at Cambrial, will be discussing: The state of crypto funds: challenges, opportunities, what next? and Saar Levi, CEDEX CEO will be looking at the tokenization of new assets classes and what this means for the financial markets.
The schedule includes a number of panel discussions. Edd Carlton of BlockEx will be joined by Marina Titova from NKB Group, Amir Ness of Elevate Group and Joseph-Daniel Millwood of Coinbase to discuss: Crypto and how it has evolved as an asset class over 2018. The Regulatory Panel Discussion, moderated by Teana Baker-Taylor, Advisory Council at Global Digital Finance, comprises of Dan Morgan from Ripple, Bryony Widdup of DLA Piper and Ruth Wandhöfer of Coinfirm. The Institutional Trading in the Crypto Market panel includes moderator Simon Taylor of 11:FS who is joined by Ryan Radloff, CEO of CoinShares; Hansen Wang of Melonport, Lucas Friss from Cumberland and Martin Hoffgen of Elation Capital.
The ICO section of the agenda will see presentations from names including: Gigzi, Creative 3D Web and PowerSnooker; the latter being presented by Dean Christy, PowerSnooker Ambassador and Former Head of Corporate Governance at Prudential. Additionally, MJAC will host a global selection of eminent and emerging companies as exhibitors.
Delegates will have an opportunity to enter a PowerSnooker prize draw with six lucky winners getting to play against snooker legend Tony Knowles and boxing superstar Johnny Nelson on a full-sized professional snooker table at the event. This exhibition game will be played during the drinks reception, which will start at 18.00.
Confirmed speakers:
Claire Wells — Legal & Business Affairs Director for Europe at Circle
Marieke Flament — Global CMO and EMEA Managing Director at Circle
Saar Levi — CEDEX CEO and co-founder
Amir Ness — Founder of Elevate Group
Teana Baker-Taylor — Advisory Council at Global Digital Finance
Obi Nwosu, CEO and co-founder Coinfloor Ltd
Lucas Friss — Head of Business Development, Europe Cumberland
Marina Titova — Head of ICO Advisory at NKB Group
Edd Carlton — Head of OTC Trading at BlockEx
Simon Taylor — Co-founder and Blockchain Practice Lead at 11:FS
Joseph-Daniel Millwood — EU Marketing Lead at Coinbase
Cassius Kiani — Founder of Atlas Neue
Dan Morgan — Head of Regulatory Relations, Europe at Ripple
Steve Swain — Co-founder & CEO of Lendingblock
Iqbal V. Gandham — Managing Director at eToro (UK Region)
Hansen Wang — Head of External Relations at Melonport
Martin Hoffgen — Director at Elation Capital
Ryan Radloff — CEO at CoinShares
Ruth Wandhöfer — Head of Industry and Regulatory Affairs at Coinfirm
Dean Christy — PowerSnooker Ambassador
David Fauchier — CEO/CIO Cambrial
Bryony Widdup, Partner at DLA Piper
Nick Chong — Head of North America for Liquid by Quoine
“This summit, with its abundance of high calibre participants, will help people keep abreast of what is happening in the rapidly evolving crypto and blockchain space,” said Matthew Collom of MJAC. “Delegates can expect to see both a retail and institutional focus and witness the crucial issues being hotly debated.”
The MJAC & CryptoCompare London Blockchain Summit is taking place at Old Billingsgate, 1 Old Billingsgate Walk, London, EC3R 6DX on Friday,
November 30th, 2018.
For the latest details and to book tickets go to http://www.mjac.io. Use code: MJAC30 for a 30% discount. To find out about exhibitor, ICO packages and sponsorship opportunities call: 07980 868 676 or email: [email protected]. To enquire about press passes email: [email protected]
About MJAC Disruptive Investment Conferences
MJAC InvestorsHub Disruptive Investment Conferences are conferences and expos focusing on disruptive technologies including: blockchain, lithium and medical marijuana.
Next event: MJAC & CryptoCompare London Blockchain Summit, London, November 30th, 2018.
About CryptoCompare
At CryptoCompare we pride ourselves in showing the most accurate live prices, charting and market analysis from 65 of the top crypto exchanges globally. Our content editors keep the mining data, be it company, mining equipment or mining contracts up to date with the latest pricing and products available on the market. Our wallets section has a comprehensive list of wallets that will help you find the best wallet for your needs. We have over 217,663 trading pairs and over 4,688 crypto currencies or crypto assets in an easy to understand and intuitive format.
View all posts by btcbros | https://medium.com/btcbros/mjac-crypto-compare-blockchain-summit-london-30th-november-2018-cdc21af6b7a9 | ['Btc Bros'] | 2018-11-19 11:11:08.627000+00:00 | ['Cryptocurrency Investment', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain', 'Blockchain Technology', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
A Noel Adventure | Angry bells are pealing in my ears. Too many voices chirp at once. I can’t move. Why is it so dark?
My eyes open.
Green. On the ground beneath our feet, in the canopy above us where the birds rudely gossip in a language I don’t yet speak.
How did we end up in a forest?
Paa Kwasi groans from my left. When I move to check on him, I notice the ropes binding me to a tree.
And that we’re not alone.
Seven others, like us, are tied to trees; their stricken faces reflect my fear and confusion.
“Where’re we?” Nana Yaw mumbles from my right.
“SILENCE!”
A hush falls over the forest.
I look around for the speaker but my nose finds him before my eyes do. I resist the urge to hold my breath. A stench this bad smells worse when inhaled in bits and pieces.
Our captor steps into view: a bulky man in a red coat and trousers. Just like Ashley describes her Santa Claus.
Except this one has horns. Ashley never mentioned horns.
“My name is Krampus.”
Krampus? I know that name from somewhere.
“I’ve chosen you all as special guests for a special feast this evening.” He grins, a mouthful of yellow teeth. “Now stay put while I finish the preparations. Don’t make a sound. If I so much as hear a twig snap,” he brandishes a whip, “you’ll all have a very dead Christmas.”
His laughter rattles the branches as he stalks off. But his odour doesn’t follow; it lingers like a stern sentry standing guard.
“Christ!” Paa Kwasi sneezes. “He stinks worse than your uncle’s billy-goats, Nana.”
Nana Yaw grunts in response, his eyes closed as if in meditation.
The seven stay silent, too scared to defy Krampus.
But rules never last long in my care. No matter how hard I try to keep them, they slip from my grasp like wet glass. And break.
“Hi,” I whisper. “I’m Noelle.” I gesture to the others with my chin. “They’re Paa Kwasi and Nana Yaw. What are your names?”
The seven glance at each other, waiting for someone to go first.
“My name’s Mwamba,” says the boy with Afro hair. “I’m from Tanzania.”
Tanzania?
The others open up: Amaka from Nigeria, Yan and Salomé from Cote d’Ivoire, Lindiwe from South Africa and a bunch of other beautiful names uttered with delightful accents I’ll try to imitate if we survive.
“Ten of us abducted from different parts of Africa on Christmas Eve?” says Jimiyu, the boy from Kenya. “Is this Krampus trying to assemble the AU?”
My face scrunches up.
Ten children abducted on Christmas Eve. I roll the sentence around in my brain till a buzzer goes off.
Krampus! Santa Claus’ evil twin. The one who flees his prison every December 24th to capture ten children to eat.
My eyes widen.
We weren’t here for a feast. We were the feast!
I interrogate the seven: how they got here, how long they’ve been here, what brand of firecrackers they’d been playing with, if they still had them.
I tear a sheet of paper from my imagination and sketch an escape plan with the answers. Collecting more clues from Ashley’s stories about the myths of Krampus, I rotate and rearrange the pieces till I solve the jigsaw puzzle.
“I have an idea.”
Eighteen eyes probe me from all sides.
I outline my theory on how Krampus rigged ten packs of Firebomb! crackers to open portals into our worlds. And how they’re our way back home.
“I don’t understand,” Amaka says. “If he’s from Western myth, why target us?”
“Perhaps he assumed we’ve never heard of him,” I shrug, “much less know how to outwit him.”
“And you think the crackers are the key?” Imani, the girl from Angola, asks.
“Yes, this is his only window. And if we close it, he won’t be able to capture anyone else till next year. By then, well, perhaps he’d have starved to death.”
Mwamba shakes his head. “This all sounds a little –“
“Far-fetched?” My brows shoot up. “More far-fetched than teleporting from a city to a forest in God-knows-where? More far-fetched than being held captive by a half-man, half-goat, half-demon?”
I nod toward the darkening sky. “It’s almost sundown. And some of you,” I stare straight at Mwamba and Lindiwe, “live in different time zones. So when Krampus’ Christmas dinner starts, you’ll be the appetizer.”
“Okay, okay,” Lindiwe says. “But we’re tied up. So how will we…?”
The ropes restraining Nana Yaw unravel by themselves and drop to the ground.
Salomé’s jaw lands next to them. “How did you –?”
“Magic.” He laughs. “Sorry, I’d have broken free sooner but that horrible smell made it difficult to concentrate.”
As grateful as I am for his talents, he really spooks me sometimes.
After untying us, he retrieves the Firebomb! from his pocket and hands it to me.
“I can’t find mine.” Paa Kwasi pats his pockets and kicks up leaves in search of the knockout.
“No, it’s okay. We only need one from each country.”
The others turn over their crackers and take cover behind the trees. I ignite the bundle and join them, my palms clamped over my ears.
BOOM!
When the smoke clears, a spiral-shaped hole is in the ground.
Yan punches the air. “It worked!”
A deep bellow from the east interrupts our cheering.
Krampus!
“Hurry!” I yell to them.
Lindiwe jumps first. The portal shrinks an inch after she disappears.
As Krampus’ stomping feet shake the earth, I quickly usher the others through the narrowing portal till it’s left with us musketeers and Mwamba.
He touches my shoulder. “Thank you.”
Nana Yaw pushes him in. “You’re welcome.”
A familiar stench permeates the air. Krampus sprints toward us, fury puffing from his ears and nostrils.
I grab my friends’ hands. And together, we leap into the eye of the hurricane right before it seals shut. The echo of Krampus’ “NOOO!” swirls around us as we slide down the pitch-black, tunnel-like portal.
We meander in sharp twists and turns, our screams muffled by howling winds. A glimmer of light in the distance widens like a yawning mouth at its apex.
Till the portal spits us out and vanishes.
When stars stop spinning round our heads, we stagger to our feet and scan our surroundings. It’s nightfall now, but the streetlights spray-paint the alley yellow.
“We’re back!” Paa Kwasi shouts.
Nana Yaw nudges me. “Whiz-girl strikes again.”
I mock-punch him on the arm. He pretends to stumble backwards and steps on something.
A Firebomb! cracker.
Paa Kwasi picks it up. “Ah, here it is! I must’ve dropped it during the first blast.”
I pocket it as a reminder of our little adventure which we agree to keep to ourselves. Who’d believe us anyway?
As we exchange see-you-tomorrows, gunshots ring out overhead. We look up in time to see dazzling lights from a knockout form spider patterns in the sky. Laughing at the irony, we cheer along with the small crowd at each successive bang till the stellar lightshow ends.
Back home, I narrate to Mum how I served the mute old lady who lives in the last house on our lane. How I fetched water to fill her thousand barrels. And how I swept each of the thousand rooms in her one-bedroom house.
Because she’s always telling me to help those less fortunate than myself.
Mum hugs me six ways to Sunday but Gabrielle gives me the side-eye. I stick out my tongue at her and kiss Mum on the cheek when she promises to double my allowance. As I hula hoop in excitement, the firecracker falls and lands at her feet.
Oh crap. | https://medium.com/lit-up/a-noel-adventure-efc1a23e5ea5 | ['Abo. Akoto'] | 2018-01-04 12:00:00.991000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Poetry', 'Fiction', 'Christmas', 'Fantasy'] |
The madness of crowds in economic bubbles and recessions | By Omar Barroso Khodr
Author’s note: By all means, I’m not an expert in economic crisis or recessions. As a 27-year-old economic analyst, I might be a bit too naive to understand the entire system, there’s plenty of maturities required for me to grow professionally. However, to have a fresh curious mind and the ability to look at things in an alternative way, I may be able to come up with a different explanation to help the intuition behind this. As a quick disclaimer, I won’t be able to predict none of the next recessions or when this one will be over, also this article is not to be taken as an investment suggestion. This is to be taken as purely for information purposes, with that said, let’s dig in.
Introduction
Economic recessions and crisis can be a fascinating topic to study and contemplate, despite the real word hardships that come with them. It puzzles many economists that recessions emerge from unexpected or random reasons, however, this is a careless assumption given that there exists interconnectivity of events that lead to distortions in the entire system. Economic recessions are not just a piece of ‘sexy news’, they have been recorded since ancient Rome. Although there are many technical models that are able to understand the dynamics of the economy, in some cases, the crisis is not caused by pre moulded assumptions. For example, we can notice how the recession we are currently going through was caused by an unforeseen pandemic, and how the previous one (the 2008 recession) was influenced by corruption in Wall Street, which created a speculative bubble in risky financial products. The similar correlation between most of the recessions is that they were caused by human errors, this was seen in the U.S. housing bubble that was being warned by economists like Robert Shiller, and the lack of legislation on Chinese wet markets warned by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in the book ‘Black Swan’. In the large scheme of things, our theoretical models have become obsolete, we might need to shift our focus more into the observation of human behaviour and psychology. In this article, we will make a brief analysis of how we can build our intuition behind this.
Technical Recession
Before we enter the fascinating discussion, we need to understand what is a recession, we often see this word in the financial news when things go wrong in the economy. However, there exists a technical meaning behind this term, and the explanation is not hard to understand. A technical recession is when an economy experiences two consecutive quarters of economic decline which is reflected by GDP (Gross Domestic Product) with conjunction with other key macroeconomic indicators like business confidence and unemployment. We can see from the image below the decline in GDP growth in Brazil in every quarter from 2015 until the first quarter of 2018. This period marked the longest period of recession in the Latin American country (to be more precise 10 consecutive quarters of GDP contraction).
At any rate, to justify an economic recession just by the technical terms can be a superficial analysis, in the case of Brazil, there were many qualitative factors that lead to the latest period of economic decline. From corruption schemes to government mismanagement, the causes of recession are more complex than the metrics. Below we can see that many other countries have experienced negative economic growth in the first quarter of 2020, due to the novel Corona Virus (Covid-19) pandemic. It’s just a matter of time for the latest GDP numbers in Q2 2020 to come out so we can establish a global technical recession.
The madness of crowds
When we mention economics, what generally comes to our minds? Money, financial markets, Wall Street, GDP, and wealth. However, we often forget a really important piece of information that dictates the entire course of actions of the system we live in: humans and their unexpected behavioural patterns. Yes, people’s behaviour has the power to change the way society operates, therefore it affects the economy. The intuition is simple, get for example the way electronic gadgets became so popular in our everyday lives couple of decades ago, it was absurd the idea that you needed to take your phone outside your house. Yet, due to advanced technological innovations and years of market research, we were able to create your convenient smartphones, based on your habits of playing games and listening to music in a portable device. A simple thing behavioural pattern became an essential tool in our everyday lives in the 21st century.
As much as we may seem modern, our behavioural patterns continue to be an ancient survival instinct, which is focused on the maximization of pleasure and security. Nevertheless, as individuals, we have different combinations of behavioural patterns based on our life experiences, personalities, culture, historical period, geography, and nationality. Put all that in this in-group and multiply by everyone who lives around you, and we get society. To forecast the habits and actions of this collection of individuals is a complex task, take for example the dancing plague that happened in 1518 in Strasbourg (modern-day France). The dancing epidemic happened after a single woman started dancing in the streets of Strasbourg, and a group of people started to follow her and dance until exhaustion for several days. It was estimated that 400–500 people danced for days for no reason whatsoever, they just followed the herd.
This bizarre set of events can tell us a lot about crowd behaviour in absurd situations, something that often happens when economic bubbles are around. The tulip mania which occurred in 17th century Netherlands proved to us how speculative economic bubbles can happen from random human behaviour. Perhaps the oldest economic bubble recorded in history, prices of tulip bulbs reached skyrocket high prices as ‘flower investors’ believed that tulips had the potential to become a rare and exquisite flower. With so much demand for tulips, prices became inflated until it became unbearable to pay, which lead to prices to collapse.
Many modern economic bubbles arose from ramifications in distorted human behaviour, where a certain group of people gambled in the possibility of one specific thing to create massive wealth until it becomes unstainable in the long-run and things turn haywire.
Behaviour through the Covid-19 Economic Recession
As the time of writing we face a new economic crisis, as much as the roots of this recession may exist due to a new virus, the fault rests in human error. The decrease in economic activity was supplemented by the emotion of fear, people nowadays avoid to casually consume in physical shops due to the apprehension of the disease. Other outside factors like the strict rules in social distance due also nudged us to change our consumer habits during the pandemic. All of these factors, also influenced the way supply chains, industries, businesses and offices have to operate as we face an invisible enemy. One classic example of supply and demand unbalance has been from the negative prices of oil that came out from the excess supply of millions of petroleum kegs being stored in plants. This ripple effect was caused by a decrease in driving habits, less since they don’t have the need to commute or to casually go places, the same factor occurred from the restrictions imposed in air traffic throughout the world which reflected in the demand for oil.
Other methods of behaviour are evident in the awareness of communication by governments and the press, the trade-offs are enormous when it comes to transparency, as we face real-time updates in the number of contagions and deaths this influences people in unforeseen ways. A couple of months ago we saw the bizarre panic from consumers with the excess purchase of toilet paper, not to count the empty shelves that happened across Europe and the United States. As we are biologically programmed in order to perpetuate our species, we do crazy things to stay in one piece, and this type of dynamics are reflected in economics. Take for example an investor who is adverse to risk, his first move when things heat up in the stock markets is to sell his shares, in order to avoid a greater loss. In the end, we all are scared to face the worst-case scenario, by that we choose to shield ourselves and this continues to change how business relations continue to evolve in 2020.
Political Risk & Emotional Baggage
Another challenge that generally appears in recessions is the political risks that exist in a certain country. Take the Brazilian recession we mentioned earlier, this period of stagnation was not exclusive to economic factors, it had deep roots in a long history of corruption schemes that the country faced since the early 2000s and 2010s (see the carwash scandal). These factors can be tricky to forecasters because they tend to make economic models obsolete since they were not made to compute subjective variables like corruption.
We can see this case being exposed in the ‘neo-cold war’ between the U.S. and China has emerged from a political marketing strategy of the Trump administration to promote more nationalist policies in the U.S. The current president Donald Trump used this strategy of manipulation to gain popularity among American voters. By the use of conservative debates like the slogan, “make America great again”, and promises to secure industrial and manufacture jobs, Trump was able to conquer the opinions of the working American class. This strategy put Trump in the white house and is similar to how in Brazil elected an extremely right-wing president like Jair Bolsonaro in 2018.
It’s impossible to forecast with perfect precision how crowds will behave, it’s obvious that if a country has a more developed society, there could be a more linear process to it, but this is still not a guarantee for success. One case comes from Iceland, which is considered one of the most developed countries in the world, in 2008 after a default of three of the major banks in the country, the entire banking sector collapsed. Speculation emerged in Iceland from the privatization of the banking sector in the 1990s and early 2000s, with the rapid growth of this sector, Iceland decided to raise interest rates to levels of 15% in order to attract international investors. This lead to an increase in Icelandic financial markets of 900% between 2003 and 2004. However, this nationalization of Iceland backfired with oligarchic types of policies like the reduction of the corporate tax rate from 48% to 18%. These incentives were perceived by the new banks which held plenty of power, with this ‘ace of trumps’ in their deck, banks did what they do best in these times: extended easy credit. Long story short, whenever economic times are ‘hot’ the population tend to act with more irreverence to finance their goals. This led to a speculative bubble in Iceland, with loans being distributed for exotic products like houses, cars, and foreign currency. From this mix of ‘speculative spices,’ we can just figure it out the path that Iceland took after a while rating agencies like Fitch gave a risky grade to Iceland which drove investors little by little until it became a total meltdown.
Conclusion & Opinions
We reached a maturity period in the economic sciences where it is clear that in order to understand this field better, we need to have a deeper comprehension of human psychology & behaviour. New subcategories, like Behavioral Economics, have shown us the power of understanding human adaptability in decision-making processes, which reflects in many other important things in the economy e.g. public policy, urban organization, and in-stock markets. However, to understand the dynamics of crowds, it can take more art than science, this is where we should mix economics with other fields such as biology, anthropology, sociology, history, communications, arts, and futurism. Some economic models can be effective under controlled variables in environments that can be manipulated with greater ease, for example, factories and firms. Although, when we add society to this spectrum, we are vulnerable to any kind of random fluctuations influenced by culture, politics, and the human condition in general.
The Covid-19 has brought and will continue to bring new behavioural patterns to the present-day society. As people spent time locked away, consumer and work patterns can change for good, and these changes will be established day after day. In this case, we must be attentive to the new trends that appear in digital platforms like in social media, and television. We can witness the new civil rights movement took a huge leap due to videos leaked online, and how this may have the capacity to change the course of the current U.S. elections. We have to be prepared for unexpected events as we live in a more interconnected world. And a piece of small advice for the ‘go’, if economic optimism arises after the pandemic, we should be prepared for a whole new set of bubbles to appear in the 2020s, things will not just become simpler when the Covid dilemma is eliminated. | https://medium.com/@studentsofeconomics/the-madness-of-crowds-in-economic-bubbles-and-recessions-1a24f3858f95 | ['Students Of Economics'] | 2020-12-19 07:15:45.924000+00:00 | ['Macroeconomics', 'International Relations', 'Business Economics', 'Economics'] |
you’re just not hearing us | when we — womxn, neurodivergent people — speak with directness, we’re heard as aggressive.
when we — womxn, neurodivergent people — speak in anger, we’re seen as a threat.
our neurodivergence means we speak directly, therefore we are frequently heard as aggressive.
our anger comes from the frustration of the battles we must fight daily just to survive, therefore we are frequently seen as a threat.
directness may be uncommon, but it isn’t aggression.
anger is an important emotion which signals the need for change, action, but it is not a threat.
imagine just trying to survive, find the support you need to recover and grow, in order to become as well as all of us deserve to be, to thrive.
then imagine waking up every morning and knowing that no matter what you do, the world just sees you as an aggressive threat.
imagine how angry that must make you.
and hurt.
and tired.
and alone.
we’re not an aggressive threat. you’re just not hearing us. | https://medium.com/@feesable/youre-just-not-hearing-us-aade7507ef9a | ['Fee Plumley'] | 2020-12-24 11:48:39.756000+00:00 | ['Neurodivergence', 'Autism', 'Ableism', 'Doubleempathyproblem', 'Sexism'] |
Architectures for Distributed Systems | Hello guys, how are you? Today I will write about architectures for Distributed Systems.
An important distinction who we need to do about concepts is what are system architecture and software architecture.
A system architecture is about how the components of a distributed system are placed across multiple machines. It focuses on the entire system. An example would be a e-commerce system containing a web front-end, a service layer, and a database.
About the software architecture, it tells us about the logical organization of software components, that is, how they interact between them, your structures, how they can be independent of them, and so on. Focuses about components. It is at a lower level than the system architecture. Software architecture is a type of system architecture. Example: A component of a e-commerce system is the web front end.
System architectures
We have two main systems architectures that we use today: client-server and Peer-to-peer (P2P).
The client-server architecture has two main components: the client and the server. The server is where all the necessary processing takes place, while at the client it is where the user can access the services provided by the server. Usually, there is only one server that is on the remote side, but for security we use multiple servers, which will use load balancing techniques (I will write about it in another article). This architecture has advantages such as being easier to build and maintain, in addition to better security. On the other hand, it has disadvantages such as a single point of failure and less scalability. A client-server architecture reflects the traditional way of modularizing software, which is one module invoking functions in another module. Placing different software components on different machines leads to a natural physical distribution of functions over a collection of machines.
In the Peer to Peer (P2P) architecture, a node can request a service or provide it. The main idea of this architecture is that there is no central control in the distributed system. Each node can be a client or server at a certain time, depending on its action. Each node is generally known as a peer.
Architectural styles in Software Architecture
Now let’s talk about the logical organization of distributed systems in software components, that is, software architecture.
A common keyword in literature when we talk about distributed architectures is architectural style. An architectural style is formulated in terms of components, it is the way in which these components are connected together and how data is exchanged between the components. Components are modular units with well-defined interfaces. In addition, they have characteristics of being replaceable and reusable. Connectors are communication links between modules that coordinate between components. Therefore, the idea behind distributed architectures is to have components presented in different ways, where the components can communicate with each other over a network. The use of different configurations of components and connectors leads us to four main architectural styles for distributed systems:
Layered architecture
Objects-centered/SOA architecture
Resource-based architecture
Events-centered architecture
We can have a combination of these architectural styles. I will tell you a brief idea about each of the styles, since we will cover the main topics in more detail in the next posts.
Layered architectures: the idea in this architecture is simple: components are organized in a layered format where a component in a layer can to do a downcall a lower-layer component, and usually waits for an answer. Only in exceptional cases a component can to do a upcall to a higher level component.
Object-based architectures and service-oriented architectures (SOAs): This architectural style is based on an arrangement of loosely coupled objects, it is less structured. Each object corresponds to what we define as a component. The connector is an RPC (remote procedure call) or RMI (Remote method invocation). Some popular examples are Java RMI, Web Services and REST API Calls. In the case of distributed systems, the calling object does not need to be executed on the same machine as the called object. Object-based architectures are attractive because they provide a natural way to encapsulate data (called the “state” of the object) and the operations that can be performed on that data (which are called “methods” or behavior of the object) in a single entity. The interface provided by an object hides implementation details, meaning that at first we can consider an object completely independent of its environment.
Someone could say that object-based architectures form the foundation of encapsulating services in independent units. Encapsulation is the key word here: the service is seen as a separate entity, although it can make use of other services. Separating services so that they can operate independently leads to service-oriented architectures, often abbreviated as SOAs. In a service-oriented architecture, an application or distributed system is essentially built as a composition of different services.
Resource-based architectures: one of the problems with service composition is that connecting multiple components can easily lead to an integration nightmare. Alternatively, someone can view a distributed system as a large set of features that can be individually managed by components. Resources can be added or removed by applications, and can also be retrieved or modified. This approach has been widely adopted on the Web and is known as REST. RESTful architecture has become popular due to its simplicity.
Publish-subscribe architectures: It is an architecture in which there is a strong separation between processing and coordination. The idea is to view the system as a collection of processes operating autonomously. In this model, “coordination” deals with communication and cooperation between processes. The key feature is that the processes have no explicit reference to each other. Communication takes place describing the events that the subscriber is interested in. | https://medium.com/@jraphael/architectures-for-distributed-systems-2ba4d191ffff | ['Jhonatan Ríchard Raphael'] | 2020-12-04 15:49:08.067000+00:00 | ['Distributed Systems', 'Software Architecture', 'System Architecture'] |
Books Review: Socialnomics — How Social Media Transforms Our Lives | “Socialnomics: how social media transforms the way we live and do business “ is a book written by Erik Qualman that provides new insights into techniques that would help us to survive in this internet era. Here in this book he teaches us how social media works, what are its advantages and disadvantages, and how to effectively make use of the social media platform.This book is structured in such a way that in each chapter references are also given to important matters discussed in earlier chapters. The book is also designed in such a way that individual readers can move from chapter to chapter based on their level of understanding of social media.
In this book Erik says that any executive from the fortune 500 company or a small business owner would agree that the most effective way to carry out marketing activities is through word of mouth. He says that either the help of social media some of the disadvantages of social media like less speed of spreading information and changes that occur in the original information as it moves from person to person can be overcomed.At this point, I felt that ,how well the businesses prosper depend on how well people use social media.
Chapter 2: “Social Media = Preventive Behavior” looks at what social media demands from us. A general thumb rule that I came across is that, individuals should live their lives as their mother is watching. In the future, companies would find it difficult to manage the “preventive principle”. Effective companies look into feedback given by given on social media platforms and looks into areas where they can improve. On the other hand, ineffective companies spend time on manipulating negative comments in social media.
Chapter 3 focuses on braggadocian behavior. It is said that, as people continuously update their status in social media it becomes a competition of who’s leading the coolest life. But bragging on social media has also a positive side in the sense that people would do productive or charitable activities so that they could share them in social media. Erik also mentions that social media has helped Barack Obama a lot in his outstanding political campaigns. This was achieved because social media has had a positive effect on voter turnout. Businesses should understand how politicians use social media, so that they would gain valuable insights which would help them come up with new ideas.
Social commerce uses the idea that people do actually look into the recommendations of other people. Companies who make amazing products would be a part of these recommendations. Successful social media would allow people to look cool, by passing information. Here Erik also looks into the social schizophrenic world. The speed with which information exchanged and also the transparency in social media platforms would lessen casual schizophrenic behavior. Chapter 7,” Winners and Losers in a 140-Character World” mentions case studies that would give an understanding on how to succeed in the socialnomic world. Erik mentions that companies should have a clear understanding of the business problem, “Why customers want to switch to other products?”. If a company would accept their faults, the public would respect them.
Chapter 8:” Next Steps for Companies and the Glass House Generation” mentions clearly that its better to rely on existing social media platforms rather than building one of your own. Now employers could find the right employee due to information flow in social media. But social media would have a negative impact on the interpersonal skills of youngsters due to more time spend on non-face-to-face interactions. Erik states that Return on Investment (ROI) in social media can be tracked easily as compared to traditional media like TV and print. He adds that giving more focus to short term ROI will miss 90% of bigger opportunities in long term.
Different ways to achieve success with social, digital and mobile media is also discussed by Erik. Acquiring a new customer is more expensive, rather than retaining an expensive one. He states that a 5% increase in customer retention rates would lead to a 5% to 95% increase in profits. One of the important question that a person should always ask is, “What is the social play?”.
According to Erik the number of blogs increased from 36 million to 181 million during the period 2006–2011, because individuals and organizations use blogs to express themselves and to increase sales. Erik also gives the answer to the most common question people ask him, “How can we make a viral video?”. He says that video that provides value to the viewer is a good strategy but giving more focus on a viral video is not a good strategy(opinion).
The flawed concept some people have, that social media is not applicable for B2B is also examined in this book. Erik states that many of the principles that is applicable to B2C companies are also applicable for B2B companies. This book could be considered as a herald of new society, in which people are considered to be more creative,that is people are indulged more in creative works. The best strategy to succeed in digital world as discussed in this book is to learn from cases where others have failed or succeeded. I strongly believe that marketers, entrepreneurs and sociology students are the ones that would benefit the most by reading this book. | https://medium.com/@ayubputhenpalathu/books-review-socialnomics-how-social-media-transforms-our-lives-633ba805077 | ['Mohammed Ayubsha'] | 2020-11-30 17:34:21.121000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Marketing', 'Economics', 'Students', 'Sociology'] |
Single Biggest Message from Covid to Humanity? | We Human Beings think we are sperate from Nature and the Nature (including the air, soil, rocks, water, plants, birds and animals) is at our disposal for us to exploit and enjoy. Actually, Nature includes us as well; we are very much part of the Nature — in fact a very small part of Nature and the vast Creation. We think we are very intelligent species and there is no intelligence in Nature. Imagine the Intelligence behind this mind-numbing Creation which is also creator of Human Beings — tiny creatures not even visible from thousand feet altitude on this Earth.
It’s indeed sad and alarming that Covid is spreading worldwide, infecting hundreds of thousands of people and killing thousands of them. It’s the number one enemy of Human Beings now and we have declared war against it.
While the Covid has locked down people all over the world in their homes, it’s time to take a step back and reflect the pre-Covid era a couple of months back — pause, introspect and contemplate a bit. In the pre-Covid era who is the number one enemy of Forests? — it’s Human Beings. Who is the number one enemy of Animals, Birds, Insects, …? It’s Human Beings. Who is the most polluting agent of air, water, rivers and ocean? — It’s Human Beings. Who is the number one enemy of Human Beings? — It’s Human Beings. More people are killed by war, violence, terrorism, road accidents, indiscriminate use of chemicals, drugs, man-made diseases, human induced mental ill health, than natural calamities. We Human Beings who are part of the Nature, have become the biggest ravagers of Nature. In Medical terms, if cells in a body turn against the body, we have given them a name called Cancer.
If somebody consumes tons of food, do we call that person a healthy person? No. But we define Hyper-Consumerism as Progress; Consumption-led Economy as Development; GDP as a measure of Growth. Is this Intelligence or Ignorance? Isn’t this because we think we are separate from Nature and Nature is for our consumption?
Is Covid a very intelligent force of Nature trying to turn around this Human Species?
It has literally clipped the wings of high fliers — the 20% population who consume 80% of the world resources. But hasn’t done any harm to plants, animals, birds, insects, …. unlike earthquake, flood etc. It has locked down people all over the world who have been running frantically for more & faster — has hit a paus button on hyper-consumerism. Mahatma Gandhi said there is enough on this planet for everybody’s need, but not for everybody’s greed.
It has united the people on the planet like no other forces –It is borderless, while nations war against each other. While the Organized Religions of the world are the greatest dividing force of humanity, though they are supposed be showing the oneness of everything in the existence, is Covid driving towards one unified Humanity? — Vasudaiva Kutumbakam, in Indian system — one world family.
It has created time and space for people by dispersing them and isolating themselves, to stop running for a while, contemplate and meditate upon who we really are and what the purpose of life is.
Is Covid a short-term pain for the long-term gain for Humanity and the Planet, by preventing Human Beings destroying other Humans and the Planet, in the quest of exploring & exploiting Outward?
Is Covid’s single biggest message to Humanity is ‘Turn Inward’? Is Covid a beginning of a Nature’s mission to raise Human Consciousness?
Hello, Carona speaking! Are we listening?
[ If you want to explore Inward further, you may find this article Unmask your Virtual Reality and expand to Infinity interesting] | https://medium.com/@vishu-hegde/single-biggest-message-from-covid-to-humanity-4a18cf88877f | ['Vishu Hegde'] | 2020-03-22 02:49:06.380000+00:00 | ['Corona', 'Meditation', 'Turn Inward', 'Consciousness', 'Co Vid'] |
How to choose: App Development or Web Development | This topic came from an Instagram message I received asking me “How do I choose between web development and native app development” I want to answer this question right off the bat and then we will dive into it a bit more. So let’s go!
How to Choose Between Native App Development and Web Development
The main questions to ask your self when deciding which one to begin with are:
Where do you want your apps?
Do you want them to be accessible by everyone anywhere without a barrier to entry? Then go web development.
Do you want your app to only exist on specific platforms or take advantage of platform-specific features? Maybe go for native app development.
And that’s really the best way to figure out which one to dive into.
There is also one other thing you want to ask yourself when learning something.
What are your goals?
Your goals will always influence what you want to learn and what you want to do. Here are some goals that people usually have when making the jump into development:
Accepting a full-time position at a company
Freelancing
Just wanting to learn something new
For the first two goals, research what you need to make them happen. What technology stack are companies and potential clients hiring for? Once you research that, then you know which way to go!
If you just want to learn something new, then pick the one you find the most interesting! You don’t want to choose the one that you are going to get burned out on cause you thought it was right. Also, you don’t have to choose only one. You can choose to learn both! You never know when both will come in handy.
“But I’m just starting out and don’t know which one to pick!”
If you’re just starting out, and you don’t know which one to pick, then I really suggest starting with something that gives you a quick return on investment like front end development.
It’s easy and doesn’t require more than a plain text editor. You can even do it on the web at sites like codepen.io or jsfiddle, which means if you only have a Chromebook or iPad to start with, you can start learning and start getting your feet wet.
It’s what I did when I was starting. My progress went from front-end web development to iOS App Development. I used codepen.io to start learning because I could instantly see what was happening. Once I felt confident in the basics of programming in JavaScript, that’s when I started to shift to iOS development.
I answered the “what are my goals?” before deciding to move to iOS though. My goals were to:
Do something I enjoyed — this didn’t help much because I love learning new things and both web and native app development does this Put an app on the Apple App Store As a stretch goal, develop something that created some kind of passive income
Well, goal number 2 meant that I had to learn iOS or macOS development of some kind, which is how I chose to focus on iOS app development Does this mean I only work on iOS projects? No, I still have to do some kind of web development for my blog and for app websites. I also need to start learning server-side development so I can work on goal #3 and introduce subscriptions in the app. I’ll probably lean towards some kind of JavaScript or Python programming. | https://codeburst.io/which-to-learn-native-app-development-or-web-development-dde9d5b055c1 | ['Maegan Wilson'] | 2020-12-17 15:59:29.928000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Native App', 'Web Development', 'App Development', 'Web'] |
Reimagine Policing to Build Belonging | Reimagine Policing to Build Belonging
Demonstrators in Trafalgar Square, London. Credit: Matt Dunham/Associated Press
As people around the world march in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives, there’s a clear message: justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others requires making systemic change. While these murders have sparked global awareness, the activism that underlies the protests have deep history. Today, there are hopeful signs emerging. Cities are taking steps to fundamentally remake their approaches to policing, organizations of all sizes and sectors around the world are thankfully taking a stand that Black Lives Matter, and, across the globe, there’s now genuine willingness to reimagine the work of public safety and prioritize the wellbeing of people who have long been targeted and marginalized.
Calls to remake policing are not about giving up on community safety and security. To the contrary, they’re about finding innovative, effective, and equitable approaches to achieve the ends that policing is also supposed to achieve. They’re about building the ethos of belonging into the work of public safety.
This is grounded in an important principle that’s fundamental to questions of belonging: “Restorative Justice.”
While “Retributive Justice” is the eye-for-an-eye approach of making people pay for a crime, the “Restorative Justice” vision seeks to recognize the root causes of inequality and discrimination, and calls on us to be allied in creating change, dealing with the underlying needs and challenges that undermine wellbeing and public safety. This idea of Restorative Justice means investing in a better future for a person or a community, rather than simply seeking to exercise tight control. It’s an ethos that’s been successful in healing wounds of some of the world’s most serious conflicts, including the Genocide in Rwanda. And it’s an ethos that’s increasingly seen as best practice in community safety.
So, what does it look like to apply the vision of Restorative Justice to policing?
1. Reimagine Investments
In country after country, new spending on policing and the criminal legal processes has dramatically outstripped new expenditures in community-based services and support, like mental healthcare and after school programs, that help people build stable and secure communities. Even in countries with national health systems like the UK, there have been cuts to mental health services. The core basis of public safety is the capacity to heal trauma, achieve good livelihoods, and find meaningful connection. Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic and the economic recession, it’s doubly important to ensure that people have resources for mental health, adequate food and rental assistance, that programming for kids continues, and that local business and community centers survive. When governments make meaningful investments in these priorities, people are more apt to feel belonging in a community and to look out for one another, which, in turn, bolsters public safety.
2. Reimagine Policing Functions
Around the world, communities are innovating by empowering teams of trained professionals, including nurses, psychiatrists, and social workers, to respond to volatile situations — as an alternative to armed police presence. In other cases, communities are employing unarmed, well-trained community members, including former offenders, to patrol their own neighborhoods. In Australia, where Aboriginal people have long been subject to systemic racism and police discrimination, there’s a successful longstanding program known as Aboriginal patrols, which are locally-run, consensual with communities, and help keep people safe while minimizing interaction with state police and the criminal justice system. Indigenous people in Canada have spearheaded similar initiatives. In Whitehorse, the local government piloted a 3-year community policing model — where a group of community safety officers are trained in conflict resolution, intergenerational trauma and bylaw interpretation. They are tasked with watching over community members of Kwanlin Dun First Nation and responding to domestic disturbances and other disputes — except they don’t carry guns or lay charges. In Brooklyn, New York, communities have experimented with feminist models of community mediation and intervention, including patrols of local women who work to deal with incidences of harassment, cat-calling and domestic violence.
3. Reimagine Corrections
Amidst the crisis of mass incarceration, this current moment presents an opportunity to bring principles of Restorative Justice into the system of courts and corrections. In many countries, this can start with conversations about decriminalizing some nonviolent crimes for which people of color are disproportionately imprisoned — in spite of similar rates of offense across racial groups.
Looking deeper, there’s also the opportunity to imagine new visions of the corrections system. In the early 1990s, the Native Women’s Association of Canada worked with Correctional Service Canada to design a new alternative to incarceration for individuals from Indigenous communities. The “healing village” was envisioned as a correctional facility that would reflect a new perspective: That a crime is not a failing of any one individual but rather a structural failure to adequately support the individual and their community. At a British Columbia Healing Village, a federal minimum-security institution on a mountainside east of Vancouver, men learn and engage in traditional gardening practices and have meaningful opportunities to study for future careers as well as to find purpose through their own traditions. The approach has yielded significant reductions in recidivism. It’s an ethos of healing the whole person that can be applied to different kinds of corrections systems.
Finally, Restorative Justice means alternatives to conventional courts, including new spaces where communities can come together and mediate between a person who suffered a crime and the accused perpetrator. The objective isn’t to ascertain guilt or innocence or prescribe a punishment, but rather to help empower everyone to work together to ensure that the transgression does not happen again. It’s a model that’s proven effective again and again in Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in various countries. Today, it’s being tested as a model for adjudicating disputes in cities around the world.
My colleague Gabrielle Hughes, Director of Research at the Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness, has written about the power of solidarity that’s awakening. In her article on Indigenous Solidarity with Black Lives Matter, she writes that: “Our activism has shown, time and again, that we are united in the fight to make our communities safe and our societies equitable and just.”
This is a moment for grieving. It’s a moment for imagining possibilities — for rebuilding relationships with ourselves and our communities. It’s ultimately, I believe, a moment for transforming systems. | https://medium.com/@kimsamuelcanada/reimagine-policing-to-build-belonging-2023913fbaf0 | ['Kim Samuel'] | 2020-06-29 20:48:19.268000+00:00 | ['Restorative Justice', 'George Floyd', 'Police', 'Criminal Justice Reform', 'Belonging'] |
AssetSonar Integrates With Jira To Enable Seamless Issue Tracking | AssetSonar with Jira Service Desk
Integrate AssetSonar with your Jira Service Desk to add support and ticketing capabilities to your IT asset management. Lower equipment downtime by speeding up issue resolution.
Contents
1. Prerequisites
2. Need for the integration
3. Complete issue overview
4. Common workflows
5. Installation process
5.1. Install AssetSonar App
5.2. Enable the Jira Integration
5.3. Choose Asset Attributes
6. How the integration works
6.1. Link Assets to an issue
6.2. Navigate to the Item Details Page from Jira
6.3. View maintenance records in Jira
7. Troubleshooting errors
1. Prerequisites
This integration requires:
2. Need for the integration
Companies using an IT service desk have to track dozens of tickets at a time to fend off delays in company tasks. Most IT service desks aren’t equipped to handle asset details in a comprehensive manner. Thus, cross-referencing items with issues becomes a burden that keeps on stacking.
Imagine being able to extract all relevant IT asset details needed to resolve an issue — without having to switch between browser tabs! By integrating AssetSonar with the Jira Cloud, you can ensure quick resolution of all IT asset-related issues.
With quick issue resolution, you lower IT equipment downtime. This ensures that your company’s productivity never falters.
3. Complete issue overview
Integrating AssetSonar with Jira enables teams to quickly identify tasks at hand. These include issues associated with each item and useful details such as item location and AINs.
With this integration, you can:
View the Assets and reporter linked with an issue in Jira. This helps employees quickly view relevant Asset details to understand the problem areas in depth. They can also associate more items if the issue requires.
Track all Jira issues related to an item directly from the Item Details page in your AssetSonar Account. A Jira Issues tab on the page references all the issues for the item so AssetSonar users can view all relevant issues.
With a complete overview of issues, users can record equipment details and check out replacement items. Extract better insights into an item’s useful life by referring to the issues it has contended with in the past.
Use our integration to iron out operational workflows. You can also cut down on repair time for a more productive office environment.
4. Common workflows
An employee notices a broken printer and reports an issue. AssetSonar tracks Asset details for the printer and Jira tracks the issue workflow.
An on-field technician requires help with operating a router. The current user quickly views the issue on Jira and pulls the Asset details for the User.
A customer requests a RAM upgrade for their laptop. The IT Helpdesk looks up the issue on Jira, pulls up the Asset details for the laptop from AssetSonar, and identifies the upgrade required. All prior issues reported for the laptop are also visible.
An engineer wants to understand the maintenance requirements for your server unit. He quickly pulls all the relevant issues for the unit from your AssetSonar Account.
An IT manager wants to update a software application on all company laptops. She creates the issue on Jira and links all company machines to it. Employees in charge will pull up Asset details for all laptops from the service desk and carry out the updates.
5. Installation process
Follow these steps to install and integrate Jira with AssetSonar.
Note: For the integration to work, ensure that the Account Owner in AssetSonar is present as an Admin in Jira. Ensure this is the case before you try integrating the two applications.
5.1. Install AssetSonar For Jira Service Desk
First, set up the AssetSonar App from your Jira Account.
1. Install AssetSonar For Jira Service Desk from the Atlassian Marketplace.
2. From your Jira Account, head to Settings → Apps → Manage Apps. You’ll find AssetSonar under User-installed Apps.
3. Hit the configure button and fill in the data fields with the following:
Your AssetSonar Subdomain with the host i.e. “businessxyz.assetsonar.com”.
Your ‘Secret key’. Get it from AssetSonar Settings → Add Ons → API Integration. It will look like “ab2fde1ad683426d2f515d0895027994”.
Click ‘Save’. Now, a new Asset Container should be accessible in your Jira Service Desk. This will show that all your Asset and Asset Stock items have synced to Jira.
Note: We don’t sync Inventory. Inventory items don’t require issue logs as they are consumed.
If you don’t see the Asset Container in your issues, learn how to add an asset field manually to Jira.
5.2. Enable the Jira integration
Next, enable Jira from AssetSonar. Note that only Account Owners in AssetSonar have permission to do this.
1. Log in to your AssetSonar Account to enable the Jira Integration. Go to Settings → Add Ons → Integrate Jira and press the ‘Connect to Jira’ button.
2. This action will require integration permissions that need to be provided by Atlassian. You will be redirected to Atlassian.
3. Select your Atlassian Account from the ‘Authorize for’ dropdown.
4. Click ‘Accept’ and allow access to AssetSonar.
That’s it! The integration is complete. You’ll now be taken back to AssetSonar.
5.3. Choose Asset Attributes
When connecting Jira from AssetSonar, you can also choose which Asset Attributes to display in Jira. From Settings → Add Ons → Integrate Jira, click on ‘Choose Attributes’.
A new dialog will prompt you to make your attribute selections. Once done, click on ‘Save this view’ to save the changes.
6. How the Integration Works
If you’ve successfully integrated the two applications, you’ll be able to see an Asset Container against your issues in Jira.
If no Assets are linked with the issue, the Asset Container will only display the ‘Link asset’ button. They’ll be visible under the Asset Container otherwise.
6.1. Link Assets with an issue
To link Assets with an issue, click on ‘Link asset’ and search your concerned Asset by name, number or AIN.
The search will also indicate the Asset type with the letters ‘F’ and ‘S’:
F represents Fixed Assets
represents Fixed Assets S represents Asset Stock items
Additionally, you can link however many Assets with an issue as you like. Once linked, expand the Asset to view its details and verify linkages.
6.2. Navigate to the Item Details Page from Jira
If you’d like to head to an Asset Details page in AssetSonar, expand its view in the concerned issue in your service desk and click on its Asset name.
This will open AssetSonar in your browser. Scroll down the Item Details page to see all the Jira issues linked with the Asset.
6.3. View maintenance records in Jira
Maintenance records created in AssetSonar sync to Jira. Let’s look at one such service in Jira.
This issue is synced with Jira from AssetSonar. The record title displays the Service Type of the records and the serial numbers of Assets to be maintained.
In this case, the Service Type is Maintenance and the serial numbers are Asset #986 and #1069.
The Asset Container will list these items and also enable you to link new ones. This comes in handy when users forget to log Assets maintained during a service session in AssetSonar.
You can also examine updates recorded against a service in AssetSonar from Jira. These appear under the Activity section.
For instance, if the service is marked complete in AssetSonar, a comment will appear under Activity indicating so.
7. Troubleshooting Errors
Error 1: Invalid Setting
Unable to display Asset details as you’ve provided an invalid AssetSonar Subdomain or Token. To update, go to Settings –> Apps –> Manage Apps. From here, find the installed AssetSonar App and hit ‘Configure’.
Solution: This usually happens when the subdomain for Jira is changed in AssetSonar or a custom domain is added. To fix, go to your Jira Account and update the settings in the AssetSonar App.
Note: Existing data will NOT be affected by resetting the connection.
Error 2: User Doesn’t Exist
Unable to display Asset details as this user does not exist in AssetSonar. Add them to your AssetSonar account and assign them the same email address as in Jira.
Solution: This happens when a user in Jira doesn’t exist in AssetSonar. To remedy this, create this user in AssetSonar and assign them the same email address as they have in Jira.
Error 3: Access Control
Unable to display Asset details since you aren’t authorized to view them as per your AssetSonar Settings. Contact the Account Owner for authorization.
Solution: Your user role in AssetSonar does not allow you access to the concerned Asset. Contact the Account Owner for permission to view.
Error 4: Unknown Errors
There was a problem accessing the data. Please try again later. If the problem persists, email us at [email protected].
Solution: This can happen for two reasons:
1. While installing the AssetSonar app from Jira, you’ve provided an invalid Access Token or AssetSonar subdomain. To troubleshoot, define your app configurations again from Jira.
2. When the subdomain for the account is changed in AssetSonar or a custom domain is added. To fix, provide the updated subdomain in your Jira app configurations.
Read more: AssetSonar Integrates With Jira Server To Enable Seamless Issue Tracking
Have any questions?
AssetSonar is the leading IT Asset Management software used by IT-intensive organizations and businesses all over the globe.
Sign up today for a free 15-day trial.
For more assistance, drop us an email at [email protected]. You can also visit our blog for detailed support posts. | https://blog.assetsonar.com/assetsonar-jira-integration-7c606ca51130 | ['Assetsonar Team'] | 2020-06-22 11:17:44.461000+00:00 | ['Support', 'Itsm', 'Jira Service Desk', 'Hardware Asset Management', 'Integrations'] |
Tech Execs Face Congress: 9 Big Takeaways | Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg beamed into a congressional hearing via video chat today to face 4+ hours of questions about whether they abuse their dominant positions in the market. Spoiler: they said everything’s cool.
By Chloe Albanesius & Michael Kan
The CEOs of Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook faced the House Judiciary Committee virtually today, where they fielded questions about whether their respective tech companies take advantage of their dominant positions in the market to enhance their bottom lines.
Spoiler: They all said they don’t.
As you’d expect, Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg offered rosy assessments of their platforms during opening statements. But the limited time each member of Congress got to ask questions didn’t allow for much additional explanation from the CEOs, many of whom are used to answering questions with winding speeches full of Silicon Valley platitudes.
Members on both sides of the aisle had bones to pick with the CEOs. The Democrats largely focused on the antitrust issues at hand: whether Amazon keeps its third-party sellers on a tight leash; if Google favors its own products in search; whether Facebook’s acquisitions served only to thwart competition; and if Apple’s fabled walled-garden approach persists.
Some Republicans did, too, but a few veered off course to quiz the execs on pet projects: Google allegedly discriminating against conservatives; Google pulling out of the Pentagon’s JEDI project; and why a certain member’s campaign emails keep ending up in his father’s spam folder.
The four-hour-plus hearing covered a lot of ground, and some topics were more interesting than others. Here are some of the highlights.
Facebook
Facebook-Instagram: Illegal Merger or a Savvy Dealmaking?
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) accused Facebook of breaking antitrust laws by acquiring Instagram back in 2012 because it knew Instagram posed a potential threat to its hold over the social media market.
“In your own words you bought Instagram to neutralize the competitive threat. This was an illegal merger at the time of the transaction,” Nadler claimed, citing internal documents provided by Facebook. “Why should Instagram not be broken off into a separate company?”
Zuckerberg acknowledged he saw Instagram as a competitor, but only in the mobile-photo sharing space. The FTC also scrutinized and approved the acquisition in 2012. “I think with hindsight, it probably looks obvious that Instagram would’ve reached the scale it has today, but at the time it was far from obvious,” he said, citing other top platforms of the time, like the now-defunct Path.
According to Zuckerberg, Instagram’s success is largely due to Facebook’s investment. “I think this has been an American success story,” he added.
Nadler disagreed. “Rather than compete with [Instagram], Facebook bought it. This is exactly the type of anticompetitive acquisition that the antitrust laws were designed to prevent. This should have never happened in the first place,” he said.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (Photo by Mandel Ngan-Pool/Getty Images)
Are You Threatening Me?
Nadler and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, (D-Washington), both brought up Zuckerberg’s negotiations with Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom ahead of the merger.
“In a chat you told Mr. Systrom that Facebook ‘was developing our own photo strategy, so how we engage now will also determine how much we are partners versus competitors down the line,’” Rep. Jayapal noted. “Instagram’s founder seemed to think that was a threat. He confided in an investor at the time that he feared you would go into ‘destroy mode’ if he didn’t sell Instagram to you.”
Zuckerberg denied it was a threat and characterized his email as a negotiating tactic. “I think it was clear this was a space where we were going to compete in, one way or another,” he said.
Preventing Imminent Risk of Life
Twitter was not present at today’s hearing, but its policies came up nonetheless. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, asked Zuckerberg why it had temporarily banned Donald Trump Jr. this week for sharing a COVID-19 conspiracy theory. Zuckerberg noted that it was Twitter, not Facebook, that took action against the president’s son. But Zuckerberg explained why the move was probably the correct one.
The video shared by Trump, Jr. featured a doctor who said that hydroxychloroquine cures COVID-19, which it does not. So while Facebook allows discussion around trials for drugs or personal experiences with experimental drugs, it does not allow people to definitively state that there is a cure for a disease when there isn’t one, Zuckerberg said.
“In general…we do not want to be the arbiters of truth,” Zuckerberg continued. But if “someone is going to go out and say that hydroxychloroquine is proven to clear COVID and that statement could lead people to take a drug … we think that we should take that down. That could cause imminent risk of life.”
Later in the hearing, Pichai agreed with that line of thinking when Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, asked why the video in question was also removed from YouTube.
“We believe in freedom of expression and there’s a lot of debate on effective ways to deal with COVID. But during a pandemic, we look to local health authorities [and] the CDC for guidelines around medical misinformation and [how it] might cause harm in the real world,” Pichai said. | https://medium.com/pcmag-access/tech-execs-face-congress-9-big-takeaways-5c6a06ecb921 | [] | 2020-07-30 12:05:09.891000+00:00 | ['Apple', 'Business', 'Google', 'Facebook', 'Amazon'] |
Building a Rest API from the ground up — Part I | By Gabriela Alves
This article will be the first from a series of posts about the process of building a new REST API from the ground up. Our focus here will be on the why and a little about the what of the new API. Later, we’ll explain how. The project was developed by the Squad Integrations at Nmbrs, comprised by Adrian Ilie, João Carmo, Manuel Jerónimo, and me.
Importance of our API
The public API is a critical part of Nmbrs strategy. We believe in the best of breed approach and that the customers will be better served by choosing which software they want to work with. By choosing their solutions, they can streamline their processes and better serve their employees. Being a product leadership company, we care about having the best possible solutions to solve our users’ needs, and that’s where this project started.
Currently, we have a SOAP API that is heavily used by multiple users, with more than 7 million calls per day and more than 100 integration partners connected. You can find this on appstore.nmbrs.com. At Nmbrs, we want to make sure that our partner can easily connect and that our customers can easily activate applications. However, we felt that it was not serving our integration partners and Nmbrs customers as well as it should. Based on this perception, our Squad began an analysis to understand where changes would be needed.
Discovery phase
We started with many assumptions and hypotheses of what we believed should be improved. However, creating a project with as much impact as this solely based on our assumptions is not the right approach. We do this for our customers. So we firmly believe that involving them in the research process is critical to deeply understand their problems and what solutions will bring the most value to them.
Our mission was to first, understand the problems users faced with the current API and then, based on the feedback, create a plan of action. Finally, we would then execute this plan. We used a lot of inspiration from the following books: Enterprise API Management, The Design of Web APIs, and APIs: A Strategy Guide. It helped us ensure we were building a solid and scalable strategy for the API. All of the books emphasize the importance of knowing the real business value of an API and focusing the design thinking on the user and the organization’s needs.
To begin, we carried out an online survey with partners to gather quantitative data on the overall feeling and perception of the API. Then, we went for one-on-one interviews with some partners to understand their problems in more depth. We also analysed the support tickets that were coming to us, specifically related to our API. It helped us to understand if there were issues that appeared frequently and what were the customers struggling with. Finally, we did log analysis using Loggly (our logging provider), to understand the current behaviour of partners and how they interact with our current API.
What we found was that the current API has problems for both partners and customers. For the integration partner, there is a lack of consistency throughout calls and unclear error handling which makes it harder for the developers to navigate and use the calls. Also, there is poor documentation with no clarity on default and mandatory fields, confusing instructions and broken links. For the Nmbrs customer, it’s confusing to issue tokens and manage permissions. At the moment, the customer has to log into Nmbrs to manually retrieve a token and copy and paste this token into another application. This requires them to know about APIs and tokens and manually manage the permissions of what the partners can access. The permission management can be time-consuming and confusing for the customer as it has to be done call per call, and if the partner needs to have more access, it has to be changed manually.
All of those problems create a lot of friction when partners and customers have to use the API and its integrations, which is exactly what we wanted to solve — making it easier for them and providing them with a better experience.
Prioritization
Based on all we found on the discovery phase, we started an analysis of what would be the impact vs the difficulty of solving each of the problems and based on that we used the MoSCoW analysis to identify ‘must-haves’, ‘should-haves’, ‘could-haves’ and ‘won’t-haves’. This gave us a clear direction of where we wanted to go.
Furthermore, as we want to be a global company, it doesn’t help that we have a different API for every country we are in as this isn’t scalable — an API is crucial for product expansion. For instance, if you have an international recruitment company, it’s better if they can connect to a global API for data that isn’t payroll related. Otherwise, they have to set everything up in a new country separately, which can be time-consuming, inefficient and costly.
The outcome of the discovery phase was a clear goal on what we wanted to achieve: “Provide a self-service easy-to-use API that is easily activated by users and supports the expansion of Nmbrs to new countries”. Based on all the research done, we realized that we could not solve the problems while using the current API. We concluded that it makes more sense to start a new one in a technology that supports the resolution of those problems, and that will drive the business value needed. We’ll deep dive into the technology in later articles.
Measure
After having a clear goal and an understanding of the problems we are trying to solve, we needed to define how to measure success during and after the development phase. Measures are critical to be able to check if we are achieving the desired outcomes. Only by setting measurable objectives, we can confirm this initiative was successful.
We decided to keep track of the following measures:
reduce support tickets related to the API;
reduce the average time to connect;
increase NPS;
reduce infrastructure costs.
As a whole, this project shows the innovation that is constant at Nmbrs. We had a lot of liberty to explore all of our options, think of the API design ourselves, and talk to customers to see how they would like to see this data. There’s a lot of autonomy and trust that as employees, we’ll make the right decisions, and we’re always in contact with the main stakeholders inside the company to guide us along the way.
In our next article, we will focus on the technical part of building the API. | https://medium.com/nmbrs-tech-blog/building-a-rest-api-from-the-ground-up-part-i-de4a15ce1c73 | ['Visma Nmbrs'] | 2020-12-22 10:15:03.469000+00:00 | ['Loggly', 'Rest Api', 'Development', 'Automation', 'API'] |
12 Of The Best Free Tools Every B2B Brand Can Launch | The right B2B marketing tools can help you run your campaigns and marketing more efficiently.
Tools can provide useful insights about your ideal customers and current customers to help improve your marketing strategy. In a society where marketing is always evolving, B2B marketers need to focus on the tactics that can drive results.
Especially if you want your lead generation efforts to pay off.
Increasing quality leads is the top priority for 68% of B2B professionals, followed by increasing lead volume at 55%.
But, B2B marketers like you are bound to experience some challenges with lead generation along the way. Challenges like poor performing landing pages or having low-quality prospects coming through your sales funnel.
Which is what I’m here to talk about today.
In this post, we’re going to be diving into one of my favorite tactics for improving your lead generation efforts:
Creating free tools.
Launching a tool can get your brand out there and help get leads, which can ultimately turn to customers and sales. And today, I’m going to share with you 12 examples of tools you (and any B2B marketer) can build to fill your pipeline.
1. Mockup Generator
Mockup generators allow anybody to insert an image or screenshot onto a physical device like a laptop screen, iPhone or book cover.
Why should you create a mockup generator?
Creating a tool like this allows you to alleviate some stress for those who need to create product visuals for a launch or landing page but don’t have the photoshop skills to pull it off themselves. It also allows you to incorporate various options in terms of colours, graphics, and choosing an alternative (i.e., smartphone) to display your offering.
From a lead generation standpoint, if your primary product offering is graphic design software like Canva, you could create a free mockup generator to attract the folks who may be intimidated by Photoshop and introduce them to your simplified alternative.
2. Invoice Generator
Invoice generators allow businesses to create an invoice within minutes. They enable you to fill in the required information and either print or email directly to clients.
Why should you create an invoice generator?
Having a tool such as an invoice generator saves you time it takes to create one in a word processor and is more environmentally friendly than traditional billing. And due to the ability to complete the invoice faster, you can cut the time for your client to receive it and get paid.
In terms of lead generation, if your offering is accounting software, you can develop a free tool to attract those who might find subscription-based tools challenging and introduce them to an affordable option that’s both accessible and convenient. You can also think of invoice generators as an alternative to invoice templates in desktop software like Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Office. That might be overwhelming and not necessarily include everything you need to produce an invoice.
3. SEO Checker
An SEO checker is a way to make search engine optimization easier. A tool like this helps identify the areas you need to improve on.
Why should you create an SEO checker?
Creating an SEO checker can help professionals analyze their website and determine how well. Using an SEO checker can also help others look at their competition to see what keywords they’re ranking for that you’re not, where they’re successful, and where you can improve upon
With regards to your lead generation, if your main product is a backlink checker, you can create a free SEO checker tool to help others who might be wanting another option that doesn’t require you to pay to use it to see data of your performance.
Tools like Sitechecker are examples of an SEO checker that does that.
4. Email Subject Analyzer
A successful email starts with a subject line that grabs the attention of others. An email subject analyzer can help determine your overall subject line quality and rate its ability to be successful.
Why should you create an email subject analyzer?
Writing emails can be a time-consuming activity. And when your audience doesn’t open your emails, your effort can go to waste. Thus, launching your email subject analyzer allows users to determine the strength of the subject line before sending your email campaign. If you can determine the strength, you can modify it and receive better click-through rates.
In regards to your lead generation, let’s say you have an email scheduling platform, like SendPulse. You could create a free email subject analyzer to attract B2B professionals who may find writing subject lines intimidating and show them an option that could help leverage their engagement efforts.
A popular example of a tool like CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer.
5. Blog Title Generator
Crafting great content is essential if you want to get the most out of your blog, but your audience will not read your content unless you have a killer title.
A blog title generator tool allows users to enter a word into a text box and click a button to generate options.
Why should you create a blog title generator?
Coming up with the perfect title isn’t always the easiest thing to do. If you do not have a good title for your post, you might not see the results you had hoped. Launching your blog title generator can help others come up with many ideas that can help them write their post.
With your lead generation efforts, if you run a CMS company like Webflow, you can launch a free blog title generator to help copywriters and others who might struggle to brainstorm ideas and introduce them to an easy solution.
6. SaaS Metrics Generator
For those who work in SaaS, it’s essential to keep track of your progress. Choosing from the various SaaS metrics out there can be challenging.
A SaaS metrics generator helps determine what SaaS metrics somebody needs to monitor and track to accomplish sustainable growth for their brand.
Why should you create a SaaS metrics generator?
If you launch a SaaS metrics generator, you can help others overcome their SaaS challenges and set metrics that work for their needs. And if your metrics aren’t performing to where they should be, it could result in poor results.
Though choosing the right SaaS metrics can be stressful. It’s because it’s a continuous process, so it can be hard to get the results you want right away. You have to carefully determine what you want to measure and focus only on those.
Let’s say you’re a SaaS company developing tools to accept transactions online or measure the growth of their company. From a lead generation perspective, you can launch a free SaaS metrics generator to help those struggling to choose and evaluate critical metrics.
7. Email Address Finder
We’ve all had that moment: you know who you want to contact, but now if you could only find their email address. Without the right email address, your deliverability could fail, and it may even result in being marked as spam.
An email finder is an automated tool that helps an individual find emails from various platforms with the help of a domain name or business.
Why should you create an email address finder?
Email is one of the essential forms of communication, especially for B2B professionals in general. By launching an email address finder, you can have a free tool that allows users to find email addresses within seconds, like a key player from a particular brand.
From a lead generation perspective, if your primary offering is an email marketing platform like Drip, you could launch a free email address finder tool to help others quickly locate a prospect’s email address without much effort or research.
8. Terms & Conditions Generator
We’ve all seen a terms & service agreement on a website, but you might realize its importance. Many brands prompt you to agree to it before you can access their website or register.
A terms & conditions generator is a tool that generates an agreement that sets how your product or service may be used in a legally binding fashion.
Why should you create a terms & conditions generator?
If you don’t have terms & conditions, you won’t get the trust of others. It means you may miss out on business and a user going to a competitor for a more professional approach. In the end, by launching a terms & conditions generator, you allow users to establish rules and guidelines about their business and what they offer.
From a lead generation standpoint, if your product is a conversation intelligence platform like Chorus, you could create a free terms & conditions generator to allow users to have a policy based on their needs to safeguard user information — without having to write a full-page themselves (or copy & paste from the competition).
9. Privacy Policy Generator
Anyone who has ever browsed the Internet knows that many websites have a privacy policy. And it’s one of the critical pieces of text on a website, as it emphasizes your brand’s views and procedures on the information collected from others.
A privacy policy generator can help make sure that your brand follows the law.
Why should you create a privacy policy generator?
A privacy policy can explain what happens to the personal information you give a company. By launching a privacy policy generator, you help others easily create a legal document that indicates how a brand collects, uses, discloses, and manages individual data.
In regards to your lead generation, let’s say you have a product that facilitates website building, like Shopify. You could launch a free privacy policy generator so that users can develop their site in full without getting stuck on writing a privacy policy.
10. Payroll Calculator
Managing payroll is not the most glamorous job, but it’s part of having a business. Payroll can be complicated, especially if you’re not an expert.
A payroll calculator can help estimate gross pay, deductions, and net pay for your team or yourself.
Why should you create a payroll calculator?
Processing payroll is a crucial function of any business and requires an understanding of taxes and regulations to ensure proper implementation and filing, to ensure everything is accurate. If you launch a free payroll calculator, you can easily let individuals determine the impact on their take-home pay.
With your lead generation efforts, if your main product is a customer support platform such as Mint, you can create a free payroll calculator that allows business professionals to determine their income after taxes while managing their money.
11. Font Generator
Font is everywhere these days. Look at a magazine, book, your phone, or the styles used in a blog post. It can determine how a message gets across and if your content gets read.
A font generator is a tool that helps convert text to a unique and fun font.
Why should you create a font generator?
The font you select can have a significant impact on the way your brand represents itself. By choosing to launch a free font generator, you’re helping others add some flair to their text. There are lots of fonts out there, but sometimes you may want your own to match your vision.
Tools like FontSpace allow you to do this.
Let’s say you have a graphic design software like LucidPress. You could launch a free font generator to allow users become creative and diversify themselves amongst the competition.
12. Out-of-Office Email Generator
Writing an out-of-office message should be an easy task. But when you’re busy and rushing through your to-do list, it can escape your mind and have you blank on what to say.
“I’m out until X, email this person if this is urgent.” It’s not going to put a smile on somebody’s face, but it gets the task done.
An out-of-office email generator provides personalized out-of-office email that includes the essential facts but in a non-generic way.
Why should you create an out-of-office email generator?
If you’re going away or are out at a conference, and don’t have access to email, then having an out-of-office email message is incredibly useful to your contacts. Creating a free tool like this allows others to craft a unique response associated with their time away into their email and to the recipient.
Let’s say you’re working for a CRM company. From a lead generation perspective, you could consider launching a free out-of-office email generator to help others have a witty and engaging message.
Wrapping Up
There are many tools to choose from, and not all of them will fit your goal.
This list is full of the best ideas. It’ll help you narrow down your selection and choose the ones that might serve you well and your audience.
To succeed in business, you need a steady supply of qualified leads. A handful of leads that turn into customers is worth more than a hundred leads that aren’t interested in doing business with you.
Lead generation can be an easy way to increase your ROI and greatly expand your clientele. And if you find yourself in need of new business, lead generation can be a helpful way to grow.
Do you want to be a place where you can get your content to generate more leads?
Now might be a good time to pause and make sure you have the basics of B2B marketing strategy nailed down. Our team put together a resource that’ll help you do precisely that, and you can download it for free. | https://medium.com/strategic-content-marketing/12-of-the-best-free-tools-every-b2b-brand-can-launch-7a0bdfb0d1a4 | ['Maggie Archibald'] | 2020-06-23 07:19:41.559000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Branding', 'B2B', 'Lead Generation', 'Content Marketing'] |
Best Digital Marketing Training Company in Chandigarh Mohali | Digital Marketing sees use the substance and advertising which might reach lots scattered across the world through digital channels. The approach of the lots is finished through social media, ( Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc) Emails and conjointly web site. Best Digital Marketing Training Company in Chandigarh Mohali.-Jungle Bird
Scope of Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing is the backbone in any profession/ industry/ organization whether an individual or a corporation. Marketing or adverting you are complete among the lots across the world. Digital Marketing is that the quickest, inferential and reliable mode of targeting the audience. The demand for execs in Digital Marketing has shown an incredible increase and multiple career choices square measure the advantage of choosing a career in Digital Marketing. the duty opportunities in digital promoting square measure ever-growing and ne’er ending. not like the opposite sectors providing employment opportunities, digital Marketing is associated with all season in demand.
Importance of Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing is an incredibly useful and effective tool in core promoting after you square measure running a little business and you wish to boost your shoppers across the town, state, country as an entire. the foremost powerful tool in today’s state of affairs of targeting a giant audience is Digital Marketing. In today’s scene of vast competition, Digital Marketing has become the backbone of what a business is to its customers. One will reach an outsized no. of shoppers through social media, emails, and conjointly websites.
Types Of Digital Marketing
1) Search Engine Optimization(SEO)
2) Search Engine Marketing(SEM)
3) Pay per click advertising (PPC)
4) Social Media Marketing(SMM)
5) Content Marketing
6) Email Marketing
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Contact JUNGLE BIRD PVT.LTD. — Best Digital Marketing Training Center / Institute / Company for Six 6 Months / 6 Weeks Training in Chandigarh / Mohali / Punjab.
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Email: [email protected]
Phone Number: +918847288672 | https://medium.com/@jnglbird/best-digital-marketing-training-company-in-chandigarh-mohali-40497fb15368 | [] | 2019-11-14 09:16:10.207000+00:00 | ['SEO', 'Digital Marketing', 'PPC Marketing', 'Smm Services', 'Google Ad Words'] |
Introducing ScribeUp.io | Hi!
Thanks for checking out ScribeUp.io! We’re excited about our mission to create a platform to sign up for subscription free trials from a single address. We hope to be helpful to you.
Our goal is to be the single platform for tracking and managing subscriptions.
Where does ScribeUp come from?
ScribeUp started with a pain point that all members of our co-founding team have felt individually at some point in the past — signing up for a free trial, but not feeling safe giving away our personal credit card information. We did get charged by subscriptions from forgotten free trials before. That feeling is simply not cool.
We realized there are multiple workarounds, such as setting calendar invites, creating virtual credit cards, and keeping a list of free trials on spreadsheets... As we talked more and more about this, we realized the question — How do we sign up for subscription free trials and not feel on the edge?
And so, we started ScribeUp.
Stay tuned, we are launching in a bit. Meanwhile, go, drop your email to the waitlist. We are giving early access to select beta users.
ScribeUp Team | https://medium.com/scribeup/introducing-scribeup-io-df1070f745e9 | ['Scribeup Team'] | 2021-06-17 17:50:20.207000+00:00 | ['Subscription', 'Introduction', 'Startup', 'Free', 'Problem Solving'] |
5 of the Best (and Free) Ways to Give Back This Holiday Season | The holiday season is a time of generosity. We get gifts for our loved ones and plan extravagant meals. We may do a little something extra for our neighbors, mail delivery person, and other people who make our lives better. This year, though, demonstrating our generosity is a bit more challenging, but you can still show the world this valuable and much-needed trait. Here are five of the best and free ways to give back this holiday season.
1. Start at Home
Everything is centered around your home this year, and the holiday season is a great time to go above and beyond. Rather than being generous with your money, be generous with your time. This is what makes memories that are cherished for years to come. Plan special activities for your family, whether they are in your home or far away. Bake and decorate cookies with your children. Play board games with family outside your home with technology. Leave baked goods on your neighbor’s doorstep.
2. Donate Your Flight Miles
You may be traveling less right now, so put your flight miles to good use. Make-A-Wish accepts donations of flight miles that are used for fulfilling the wishes of children. The Wishes in Flight program uses the miles to purchase flights for granting children’s wishes.
3. Get Crafty
Do you knit or sew? Put your talents to work and make something for those in need or as a special gift for people who are working over the holidays, as well as homeless shelters and nursing homes. A lot of people are isolated this holiday season, and they will appreciate your gifts more now than ever.
4. Give to Food Banks
More people are in need of food this holiday season than ever before. This is a great time to go through your cupboards and pantry to find items that you don’t need. Think about how to combine items for food baskets, such as baking ingredients with your favorite recipe. Anything that you can give this holiday season will be put to good use.
5. Donate Holiday Decorations
Many of us have far more holiday decorations than we will ever use. Go through your items and set aside ones that you are willing to donate. Check with local charities to find drop locations or ways to get the items to families who may have little this holiday season. This is one of the best ways to give back this holiday season and for many more to come. | https://medium.com/@adamfincik/5-of-the-best-and-free-ways-to-give-back-this-holiday-season-ffe501f8269 | ['Adam Fincik'] | 2020-12-15 16:07:26.996000+00:00 | ['Giving', 'Philanthropy', 'Holidays', 'Safety'] |
A Boy And His Radio | I grew up in Ypsilanti, Michigan, about 30 miles from Detroit and Ontario, Canada. At that time Canada had a powerful AM station called CKLW. We could pick up it where I lived. They were a “Top 40” station, meaning they played whatever songs were the top 40 songs on the music charts.
This was before radio became as segmented as it is today. There was basically Top 40, Country, Classical, Jazz, and sports on AM radio. FM radio was in its infancy and was beginning to play “album-oriented” rock, “college radio,” and other less-mainstream music. Plus theme-based shows with hosts.
Seeing that my little blue radio was AM only, I listened to Top 40 on CKLW. I can still sing the call sign jingle, C — K — L—W. If you are only familiar with Top 40 Pop music of today your perception of Top 40 radio is miles away from what Top 40 music was in the early 1970s.
At the time Top 40 was a delicious smorgasbord of music. Amazing for the sheer amount of variety. Multiple genres of music appeared one after the other, day after day. You could hear the sappiness of Candy Man by Sammy Davis Jr. followed by Black Dog by Led Zeppelin followed by Burning Love by Elvis followed by Let’s Stay Together by Al Green followed by Superstition by Stevie Wonder. It was great.
I recently found a list of the Top 100 songs on CKLW in 1972. | https://medium.com/mark-starlin-writes/a-boy-and-his-radio-f80877b480da | ['Mark Starlin'] | 2019-01-16 04:43:21.652000+00:00 | ['Memories', 'Culture', 'Music', 'Essay', 'Radio'] |
recorded love | Written by
#Writer — #Haiku #poetry & #love #poems — Big feelings and emotions packed into seventeen tiny syllables of mystery and adventure one Haiku at a time - | https://haikulovebites.medium.com/recorded-love-5f69949ffb57 | ['Haiku Love Bites'] | 2019-09-18 19:30:38.152000+00:00 | ['Haiku', 'Relationships', 'Love', 'Poetry', 'Life'] |
Tracking carbon sinks from space — the application of GIS in the voluntary offset market | Seeing the carbon for the trees
Forests sink around 2.4 billion tonnes of carbon per year from atmosphere¹. However, due to deforestation and degradation, these natural reservoirs of carbon can also switch to sources of carbon². Therefore, the effective and continual management of forests plays a crucial role in climate change mitigation.
Currently, nature-based carbon offset projects dominate credit issuances in the voluntary offset market (Chart 1). Such carbon credits are an integral part of corporate and governmental plans to achieve net zero emissions goals, making the performance of the nature-based carbon offset projects vital to the success of these broader goals. However, poor project performance in terms of true emission reduction is increasingly being highlighted³.
Projects must be objectively and rigorously reviewed to ensure offsets are delivering on their carbon promises. Geographic Information System (GIS) combined with satellite remote sensing is a powerful tool for the accurate estimation of forest cover and forest carbon content, enabling the verification of data presented by the carbon offset projects.
Chart 1. Carbon credits issued (in millions) per sector to date from Berkeley Voluntary Registry Offsets Database⁴.
Reading between the baselines
The number of carbon credits issued to a project depends on the selection of a baseline scenario. Where for some projects, baselines may be set relatively easily, in others, baseline setting can be a source of contention.
For example, in REDD+ projects, baselines are set by identifying historical deforestation rates within the project boundary and the surrounding, or reference, area. However, by selecting reference areas that aren’t reflective of the same drivers of deforestation or with wider forest frontiers which are more prone to logging, baselines can be falsely inflated.
Adopting inflated baselines leads to over-crediting, a key risk identified in the BeZero Carbon Rating. We apply GIS to analyse this risk in nature-based projects. For example, for REDD+ projects we review the size and relevance of the reference area, the broader drivers of deforestation in the area and the pre-project baseline scenarios for land use. All of these can be used to assess the appropriateness of the baseline and subsequent carbon performance reported.
If a tree falls in the forest, it makes a sound in space
Carbon credits for most accredited nature-based projects are issued ex-post — that is following a monitoring and verification process to check the carbon has been avoided or sequestered. Despite these audit processes being in place, projects often exhibit discrepancies — in carbon calculations, in numbers of credits issued between reports, and reporting of unplanned forest loss activities within project and leakage areas. Applying an additional layer of scrutiny through our application of GIS in the BCR is crucial to assessing the effectiveness of those credits issued.
Quantification of the forest cover change in the project area is a straightforward measurement process. It can be easily done through analyses of annual land cover data prepared from satellite images. Following acquisition of annual forest cover data, changes can be detected and quantified by investigating the difference in forest cover between consecutive years.
Carbon stocks however, cannot be directly estimated from satellite data. This is done in two steps. First, a regression model must be built using biomass data on the ground and the satellite data parameters for related locations. Second, the model is extended to predict the biomass for the whole project area using satellite data parameters. Once the information about change in forest cover and biomass per unit area is known, the change in carbon stock can be easily measured.
The main challenge in biomass estimation for offset projects is that proper field biomass data with accurate locations is rarely available for accurate modelling. This creates obstacles in comparing the project reported data with independent biomass estimations.
Monitoring past and present
At BeZero, the GIS team is working on multiple aspects for the monitoring of nature-based offset projects. We have estimated the carbon stocks for various types of nature-based offset projects which can be directly compared with the reported project data. In addition to validating historical data and annual project performance, we are using GIS to alert us to significant changes on the ground in almost real time. These processes are already being established for lands unrelated to the offset market.
Independent ground-truthing of offset projects will enable accountability of risks such as additionality, leakage, over-crediting and permanence. These details are essential to evaluate the BCR’s core question of whether a credit is achieving a tonne of carbon removed or avoided.
Written by Sujit Ghosh, Lead GIS Analyst.
References | https://medium.com/bezero-carbon/tracking-carbon-sinks-from-space-the-application-of-gis-in-the-voluntary-offset-market-d8f315be6ea0 | ['Bezero Carbon'] | 2021-08-02 13:12:29.248000+00:00 | ['Carbon Offset', 'Remote Sensing', 'GIS', 'Forest'] |
$POG Staking Protocol Launch | $POG Staking Pool
The Pogcoin team is delighted to announce the launch of the first $POG staking pool, in collaboration with the $GYSR platform.
The $GYSR/$POG pool is the first pool going live before launching the Polygon ($MATIC) based staking pool. Over the next 90 days (7/23/2021–10/21/2021) the $POG pool contract will be distributing 1 million $POG to those staking based on their total % of the pool the pool staked.
Incentivizing Early Adopters
To incentivize early adoption, the rate of reward distribution will be adjusted in real time based on the amount of individuals staking $POG. When another investor stakes, the rate of rewards from that point forward is adjusted down to split future rewards across the increased pool.
The method of distribution will utilize what is known as a “Fountain Pool” where investors passively earn rewards every second they have funds allocated to the pool.
In a Fountain, $GYSR can be spent during the stake process to provide a multiplier on your staked amount. This increases your effective stake and the rate at which you earn rewards.
As an example, imagine there are 400 tokens staked in the pool. If you stake 100 tokens and apply $GYSR to receive a 2x multiplier, instead of earning 100 / 500 (20%) of future rewards, you will earn 200 / 600 (33%) of future rewards.
In addition, the $POG Fountain will contain a time-based penalty for withdrawing rewards early. With a 90 day vesting period, a user’s vested rewards will scale linearly from 0% to a maximum of 100% over 90 days. | https://medium.com/@pogcoin/pog-staking-protocol-launch-7755b2cf5c63 | [] | 2021-07-22 23:01:50.618000+00:00 | ['Liquidity Mining', 'Defi', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Staking', 'Finance'] |
PUNK ROCK SAVED MY LIFE, NO IT ACTUALLY LITERALLY DID SAVE MY LIFE | I Could attribute this to my stubborn attitude, my iconoclastic counter culture nature, my affinity for ripped up distressed clothing. or my hatred of mainstream music. ok this this is how it happened….
I was staying at my aunts hotel in the balkans, in a small but beautiful country in which i was born called Montenegro. Let me explain that eastern European culture is not the kind you want to stand out in. you don’t want to be an outlier. you don’t want to question the way things are.
It is a very difficult culture to grow up in as a women when your entire being is microscopically scrutinized.
That being said on this particular morning i was supposed to be catching
a 12 hour bus ride to visit my author aunt in Croatia. When i came downstairs from my room i was wearing shorts and ratty torn up Ramones t shit. My aunt looked at me shaking her head.
“you cant wear that it has holes, its all ripped up”
me dumbfounded anyone would care
“so what. i dont care about strangers on a bus”
my aunt said in a more quiet serious tone
“THEY WILL LAUGH AT YOU”
This pissed me off a little to which i replied
“listen you arent going to change me, my core values, my beliefs what i think important enough in my life to take up thoughts or headspace. Why would you think you could? why would the opinions of strangers i wont interact with and never in my life see again even be a thought ME personally would have? you have met me havent you?”
by the time our argument was over i had missed the bus to Croatia.
but it was ok another was coming in 20 minutes or so.
i got on that one and took the bus where i met my author aunt in split she gave me an unusually emotional teary eyed hug. “we have to call your mom “
I didn’t understand what the commotion was about. Well it turns out that first bus? the one i missed while arguing with my other aunt?
It drove off a cliff, and there were no survivors. NONE.
I was left stunned. I felt happy that I didn’t get on the bus but sadness for the people. Almost like survivors guilt.
But never wavering in who you are sometimes in small ways and sometimes just emotionally
that
that will save your life. | https://medium.com/@fakeorange/punk-rock-saved-my-life-no-it-actually-literally-did-save-my-life-6beaf4b88d01 | ['Fakeorange Creative'] | 2021-03-22 14:54:43.952000+00:00 | ['Near Death Experiences', 'Lifestyle', 'Life Hacking'] |
7 Tips to Improve Your Advanced Microsoft Excel Skills | Now a days, many roles need advanced surpass skills. Naturally, square interested to grasp what are these Advanced surpass Skills? supported my expertise of class over 10,000 students in numerous on-line and practical programs, the subsequent nine areas type the core of advanced surpass skills.
Formulas build surpass good. Without them, surpass is simply a knowledge keeping tool. however, by exploitation formulas, you’ll crunch information, analyze it and find answers to most complicated queries. COVID-19 Time to Brush Up on Your Excel Skills
Whereas anyone will use a straightforward add or IF formula, a sophisticated user of it might be able to seamlessly write & mix formulas like SUMIFS, SUMPRODUCT, INDEX, MATCH, operation formulas. aside from knowing the formulas, advanced surpass users acumen to right them, audit them and the way to use that formula that occasion (and they conjointly grasp few alternatives for any given formula problem).
Advanced surpass refers to options and functions of Microsoft surpass tool that helps the user to perform complicated and huge calculations, processing on the large quantity of information, acting information analysis, higher illustration of information, etc.
All corporations got to evolve and hotfoot to remain competitive in today’s world.
A technique to steer the pack and promote profitableness is by implementing development programs in order that workers will still continue high of the newest technologies and work as expeditiously as attainable. Continual coaching and advancement may also modify employers to safeguard one among their most dear assets: their manpower.
IMPROVING YOUR POTENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY
Excel could be an important tool for dashing up productivity and permitting employees to be additional economical once handling massive amounts of information and calculations.
Once you perceive shine at an additional advanced level, you may have the flexibility to use its additional subtle tools, which can enable you to finish your tasks and analyze your information additional quickly. It’ll conjointly enable you to stay team members up-to-date on information, which may contour the progress method.
Even higher, knowing advanced surpass can enable you to raised contour your calculations. Repetitive calculations take time, particularly once you need to see to it your work. With advanced surpass tools, you’ll produce additional complicated calculations.
Once your formula is written and you have got programmed your set command, the program can perform all of the work to finish the calculations, releasing up some time for different tasks and making certain that you simply have correct information the primary time around.
YOU CAN CONJOINTLY USE THE SUBSEQUENT TIPS TO ENHANCE YOUR SURPASS SKILLS:
1. MASTER THE SHORTCUTS:
Using the mouse and keyboard to explore all the menus and completely different choices looks convenient however is commonly time intense. If you recognize the right cutoff for the task at hand, you’ll complete it inside seconds rather than minutes. this may not solely increase your productivity, however will increase your accuracy within the future.
2. IMPORT INFORMATION FROM A WEB SITE:
It typically happens that you simply got to decide information from websites to be used in your project. Doing this task manually are often time intense, particularly if the information is big. surpass provides you the choice of directly changing the information from a web site into a worksheet.
You have got to travel to File à Import External information and click on New net question. Paste the link of the webpage you wish to use within the address bar of the window that reveal, click OK and your information is foreign.
3. RESULT FILTERING:
MS surpass permits you to filter the large information that you simply got to method in line with your necessities. for instance, you’ll filter the information in line with the age of someone. To access the automobile filtering that includes of MS surpass attend information à Filter à Auto filter and click on one among the little boxes to filter the results in line with your necessities.
4. AUTOCORRECT AND AUTOFILL:
To increase your productivity, MS surpass provides your options like AutoCorrect and AutoFill, in order that you’ll kind less and do additional. AutoCorrect corrects your mistakes like misspelled words and different typos mechanically. you’ll modify this feature by choosing AutoCorrect within the Tools tab.
Similarly, AutoFill saves some time by mechanically making a numbered list once you try to make it manually. you’ll activate by Edit à Fill à Series.
5. SURPASS 2016 INTERMEDIATE COACHING:
MS surpass is package that’s utilized in virtually each organization in a technique or the opposite. So, having it in your ability set will increase your probabilities of obtaining the duty you wish.
You can bear surpass 2016 Intermediate coaching through QuickStart to urge a more robust understanding of the package and what all you’ll do with it. This institute has a number of the simplest trainers within the business and provides updated data to the course takers.
6.DISPLAY FORMULAS:
With simply one keystroke, you’ll toggle between Excel’s customary traditional show and also the show mode, that shows you the way the formulas truly seem within the system. The formula is Ctrl + ~. Press this mixture once you are during a programmer and surpass can show formulas rather than the results of those formulas.
7. MANAGE PAGE LAYOUT:
You’ll wish to make certain your printouts look pretty much as good because the show onscreen, therefore you’ll got to acumen to manage page layout. You’ll realize these choices by clicking the Page Layout tab. contemplate being silly with choices like page list, columns, and page borders to visualize however they work, then broaden.
This on-line course can provide you with a deep understanding of the advanced formulas and functions that rework stand out from a basic computer programmed program into a dynamic and powerful analytics tool.
Through active, discourse examples, you may learn why these formulas square measure awing and the way they’ll be applied in an exceedingly variety of how. This on-line coaching institute particularly helpful for as well as in your portfolio or resume, therefore future employers will feel assured in your talent set.
This advance stand out on-line coaching institute is intended to assist you become a triple-crown knowledge Analyst and is extremely counseled for aspirants institutes square measure simply beginning their career in Analytics. This power packed advance stands out course can teach you the way to form perceptive dashboards, VBA macros and SQL through a powerful specialize in case studies to make sure active learning.
Once armed with the much-needed skills with this best advanced excel online training stand out course, you’ll additionally learn the powerful knowledge image tool Tableau to gift your analysis. one in every of the simplest advanced stand out class, with flexibility of attending the live on-line sessions and self-paced video mode likewise
The demand for mean Online MIS professionals is growing speedily. Particularly in Asian country, the for these skills is on the hike and a lot of MNC corporations require professionals Institutes will contribute to the planet of analytics. | https://medium.com/@cetpa/7-tips-to-improve-your-advanced-microsoft-excel-skills-442ff7562403 | [] | 2020-06-10 08:43:59.797000+00:00 | ['Advance Excel Training', 'Excel Training', 'Excel', 'Advance Excel Course', 'Microsoft Office'] |
2020.03.23 COVID-19 China Wuhan Corona Virus Pneumonia in Taiwan 武漢肺炎在臺灣 | 2020.03.23 / 195 (+26) cases / 2 deaths / 28 recovered
158 (+25) imported cases / 37 (+1) local cases
Finally, it was my first time I went to the pharmacy to get face masks that the government allocated for my girls. These masks have different appearances, now I know why people said to open the envelope as if to open a lottery.
終於第一次去藥局領了政府派發的兒童口罩。這些口罩有不同的造型，難怪有些人說開口罩跟開樂透一樣。
Our company has been told that a planed governmental proposal has suspended, the organizer said that the situation of the virus is going dreadfully, the government wanted to re-allocate the funds to help the disaster.
原本有一個標案要上架，臨時被停止了，單位窗口說因為疫情越來越嚴重，經費要拿去救災了。
The CDC’s commander was angry about the numerous misinformation are spreading recently, they had traced the origins, found out and announced the misinformation were from China, not a surprise at all. We are not only dealing with the virus, but also China, how can an authority is so nauseating?
陳時中部長在記者會上為了近日大量的謠言生氣，他們追查來源發現都是來自中國，嗯完全不意外。我們不只是在跟武漢病毒對抗，還要放抗中國。怎麼能有一個政權病態成這樣？
The French minister of public health cried because of the lack of the masks for medical personnel, a mask costs €300 (NTD$9,700) there.
法國的公共衛生部長為了沒有口罩給醫護人員哭了，那邊一個口罩要價歐元 300，約台幣 9700 元。
An unbearable sexual event “the room of N” happened in S.Korea, is becoming the hottest topic in Taiwan.
南韓發生了一件天理不容的性侵案件「N號房」，正在火速成為臺灣的熱議話題。 | https://medium.com/@vsychen/2020-03-23-covid-19-china-wuhan-corona-virus-pneumonia-in-taiwan-%E6%AD%A6%E6%BC%A2%E8%82%BA%E7%82%8E%E5%9C%A8%E8%87%BA%E7%81%A3%E4%B9%8B%E8%A7%80%E5%AF%9F%E6%97%A5%E8%A8%98-%E8%87%AA%E7%A0%94%E8%87%AA%E8%AA%9E-%E5%AD%97%E5%BB%B6%E6%81%A3%E8%AA%9E-c46a90f4f060 | ['Vsy Chen'] | 2020-03-23 00:00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Taiwan', 'Coronavirus'] |
5 Somewhat Daring Ways to Create an Emergency Fund: Are you desperate enough to save? | The best financial advisers and coaches encourage the incorporation of an emergency fund in your financial planning. Why? Life happens. Case in point — I recently had to replace my HVAC system after discovering there was no heat in the house only a few days before I had to embark on international travel amid COVID-19 alerts. Urgh, needless to say, it was a bit frustrating.
But yes, all the stuff we accumulate needs maintenance and sometimes breaks. Rather than viewing these breakdowns as punishment from God or an attack from an evil force (as I used to do), I’ve learned that you need to plan for them and realize they are a fact of life — because no major appliance, car, roof, or HVAC system lasts forever. Each of these items will require maintenance or repair and eventually need complete replacement. So planning for emergencies is an essential part of your financial planning. And plain and simple, it’s part of you being a responsible adult. [the writer sighs]
So how do you build an emergency fund? I’ve concluded that to save money, you have to be a bit desperate because the culture and society do not always encourage the habits necessary for frequent, consistent saving. Here are few suggestions for the bold and daring who are tired of ending each year with no savings to show for their 365 days of work.
Babysit. Yes, even if you’re an adult babysit, but be smart about it. Host a parents’ night out for all your friends who have kids. The kids can come with their masks on. Get it all over with in one night. Heck, you may even find it fun. Pizza, popcorn, and an animated movie will do the trick. Then, have a dance competition with them to work off the food. They can hit their sleeping bags after that. Include as many kids as you can in your house and charge each parent a reasonable fee. Ten kids at $25 or $30 per child is not bad for one night. Some parents would pay even more if you make it a sleepover where they could pick up their child early the next morning. If you do that once a month or once every other month, you may be able to construct a few-thousand-dollar emergency fund in three to four months.
Let go of your penchant for name brand clothes, shop at thrift stores, and save the money you would have spent. For some, this idea made your heart race. You thought of what your friends might say or what others might think of you. My response? Who cares! When you have money in the bank, and your friends ask to borrow money from you, what they think won’t matter. Besides, you can often find the same name brand items for pennies on the dollar at thrift stores.
Sell not only the stuff you don’t use but also the things you use but can live without. No, really. I know people who sold their living room furniture to pay off debt. They put down a rug and happily sat on the floor, enjoying the fact that they didn’t owe anyone anything. Are you daring enough or desperate enough for financial change to do something like that? If so, plan your yard sale or put some stuff on Facebook Marketplace, eBay, or your community virtual yard sale group. The possibilities and platforms are many.
Switch to a prepaid phone until you reach your savings goal. It won’t work for everyone, but if you spend over $100 on your monthly cell phone bill, this might be a good option for you. Granted, you may have to time it with the ending of your existing contract. And I know, I know it’s hard to imagine life without your cell phone, but are you using your phone as a phone or as a computer? Check the amount of time you spend making phone calls versus using social media on your phone. You can use social media on a computer for a few months and save hundreds.
Rent your car as often as you can until you reach your savings goal. If you’re working from home as a result of COVID, are you really using your car as much anyway? And you can always sanitize your car. Here are a few sites to check out to begin making money by renting your car:
Turo.com
Hyrecar.com
Getaround.com
Travelercar.com
Availcarsharing.com
Saving is not for the faint of heart, but with a little daring it’s possible. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the rewards are worth the sacrifice. | https://medium.com/financial-dominion-forward/5-somewhat-daring-ways-to-create-an-emergency-fund-are-you-desperate-enough-to-save-2683b6896a9e | ['Lenita Reeves'] | 2020-12-14 14:35:03.720000+00:00 | ['Financial Planning', 'Personal Finance', 'Saving'] |
Most In-Demand Tech Skills for Data Analysts | Most In-Demand Tech Skills for Data Analysts
Which technology skills are employers looking for in data analysts? How do they compare to the skills desired for data engineers and data scientists? 📊
I analyzed online job listings from January 2020 to find the answers. In this article, I’ll share the answers and provide a suggested learning path for aspiring data analysts.🚀
This is my third article looking at technology skills in data-intensive positions. See the previous articles on data scientists here and data engineers here. 😀
Without further ado, here are the top 10 technologies from data analyst job listings as of January 2020.
Data Analyst Role
Data analysts turn data into information. They play a vital role by making data actionable for decision makers. 👍
Data analysts often take data provided by data engineers, analyze it, and make recommendations. They create visualizations to display their findings in dashboards and presentation. 📈
Unlike data scientists, data analysts don’t usually create predictive models based on machine learning algorithms.
Method
I scraped information from SimplyHired, Indeed, and Monster, to see which keywords appeared with “Data Analyst” in job listings in the United States. I used the Requests and Beautiful Soup Python libraries.
I used the same keywords gleaned from my analysis of data scientist and data engineer job listings. LinkedIn was not searched because it previously locked me out of my account after scraping its site. ☹️
For each job search website, I calculated the percentage of total data analyst job listings for that site that each keyword appeared in. Then I averaged those percentages across the three sites for each keyword.
Results
Here is an expanded chart showing the 30 most common technologies.
Here’s the same data in tabular form.
Many other technology keywords were searched; these were the 30 highest scoring. Let’s look at the most common technologies.
Discussion
SQL is short for Structured Query Language. It shows up in over half of all listings. SQL is used for working with relational databases. SQL comes in many flavors, including MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. Each version shares most of the same core API. There are quality free offerings.
Excel is almost as common as SQL. It’s the dominant spreadsheet program. It’s part of the Microsoft Office 365 suite of software tools. Although it can’t handle huge quantities of data like SQL databases, Excel is great for doing analysis quickly. Google Sheets is a competitor with a free version and similar core functionality.
Tableau shows up in about a quarter of listings. It’s drag-and-drop business intelligence software that makes it easy to create visualizations and dashboards. Tableau’s visualization capabilities are far better than Excel’s. Tableau has a free public version, but if you want to keep data private you need to shell out some money.
Python shows up in about a quarter of listings. It’s a very popular free open source programming language for working with data, websites, and scripting. It’s the primary language for machine learning. 🐍
R is also in over 20% of listings. It’s a popular free open source language for statistics, especially in academia.
Comparison with Data Engineer and Data Scientist
In previous articles I looked at the most in-demand tech skills for data scientists and data engineers. How do the data analyst results compare?
The overall number of listings were 16,325 for Data Analyst, for 12,013 for Data Engineer, and 9,396 for Data Scientist. So data analyst jobs are relatively common. 😀
The chart below shows the 10 most common technologies for data analyst listings. The scores for data scientist and data engineer listings are shown for each keyword, too.
A few highlights:
SQL is very popular for all three job positions.
Excel is over four times more common in data analyst listings than data scientist and data engineer listings.
Python, while found in about a quarter of data analyst listings, is about three times more popular in data scientist and data engineer job listings.
R is much less common in data analyst and data engineer positions than in data scientist job listings.
PowerPoint is much more commonly found in data analyst listings.
In terms of trends, my analysis of data scientist job listings showed that both R and SAS had large drops in popularity from 2018 to 2019.
It’s worth noting that many more technologies were mentioned in data engineer job listings than were mentioned in data analyst job listings.
Advice
If you want to become a data analyst or make yourself more marketable, I suggest you learn the following technologies, in order of priority.
Learn Excel. It’s quicker to pick up than SQL. I knew Excel from school and work, but I learned it better by studying for a Microsoft Excel certification exam. If you are a self-directed learner, the official certification or a MOOC course could be worth your time.
Learn SQL. If you don’t know a programming language, it’s a good first one to learn. My Memorable SQL book is available in pre-release here.
Learn Tableau. Tableau allows you to make great visualizations quickly with a drag and drop interface. Check out my article to learn the basics here.
Show you can make a PowerPoint presentation. There are many MOOCs that teach Microsoft PowerPoint.
If you have demonstrated you can use the above technologies to analyze and communicate you should be a decent candidate for many entry level positions. 👍
If you know the above skills and want to learn new skills or qualify for more positions, I suggest you learn Python. Python is great if you want to move into data engineering and data science. 😀
My Memorable Python book is designed for beginners. It’s available for Kindle and hard copy from Amazon and in .epub and .pdf form here.
Once you know basic Python, learn pandas. Pandas is a Python library for working with data. If you are looking for a data job that requires Python, you will probably be expected to have pandas skills, too.
I’m finishing up an introductory pandas book, so join my Data Awesome newsletter to make sure you don’t miss it. 🚀
That might sound like a long list, but just take it one step at a time. 🦶 Recognize that it will take time and there will be ups and downs. You can do it — just persist! 😀
I suggest you learn and demonstrate your skills by working on projects you can include in a personal portfolio. Then you can learn by doing things you like! You’ll also have a body of work that shows potential employers your skills. For a quick guide to setting up a portfolio site, see this article.
Wrap
I hope you found this guide to the most in-demand technologies for data analysts useful. If you did, please share it on your favorite social media so other folks can find it, too. 👍
I write about Python, data science, and other tech topics. If any of that’s of interest to you, follow me on Medium and read more here. 📊
Happy analyzing! 📈 | https://towardsdatascience.com/most-in-demand-tech-skills-for-data-analysts-26d4ea4450f8 | ['Jeff Hale'] | 2020-07-02 03:29:23.966000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Data Analysis', 'Data Science', 'Data', 'Programming'] |
Tutorial: Build an AR Mobile App for iOS with Screenshot Functionality | The two main technologies we will use are Viro React and React Native
Photo by UNIBOA on Unsplash
I recently worked on a development team to create an Augmented Reality (AR) mobile app called go.bARk. go.bARK uses Viro React and React Native to render a virtual dog in your real space. It is a fun, enjoyable game that allows a user to own a virtual dog, take care of it, and connect with friends. When my team began developing go.bARk, we didn’t really know what was possible with the technology stack we chose, and we did a lot of research to make our vision come to life. One feature we decided we wanted our app to have was screenshot functionality. We wanted users to be able to take pictures of their virtual dog and save those pictures to their phone so they could share them with friends. In order to achieve this vision, I had to carefully analyze code examples we had found on the internet. With the intention of saving another developer some time, I created this tutorial on how to implement screenshot functionality into an AR Viro React App. Enjoy! *Note: The screenshot instructions only work for iOS devices* | https://medium.com/@grotoned/tutorial-build-an-ar-mobile-app-for-ios-with-screenshot-functionality-da8657b6f361 | ['Betsy Groton'] | 2020-11-24 18:35:37.421000+00:00 | ['Screenshots', 'Mobile App Development', 'AR', 'React Native', 'Viroreact'] |
Top Picks- Here’s what you need to know about Child and Adolescent Depression Management | Top Picks- Here’s what you need to know about Child and Adolescent Depression Management Lina Ashar Mar 8·3 min read
I am Lina Ashar and I want to jointly explore the power of parenting with you. Join me on my journey to educate our children in unlocking their extraordinary human potential.
Childhood Bullying Linked Strongly To Adult Depression, Study Finds: [Forbes] In recent years, bullying has come into the spotlight as a major contributor to mental health problems in young people. According to stopbullying.gov, up to 28% of kids aged 6–12 have experienced bullying, and 20% of high school students have, though other studies have reported considerably higher numbers. There are consistent links between bullying and mental health disorders like depression and anxiety, and even more heartbreaking, suicide, as kids age. A new study tells us more about the connection between childhood bullying and early adulthood depression. And the one seems to contribute significantly to the other.
A Journey in Mental Health, Understanding the Needs of Your Child: [TED Talks] Watch Miryam Utset share the story of how her son suffered from a mental health illness. She describes her experience of standing up for her son and going against societal norms. Miryam hopes to one day end the mental health stigma and allow those suffering from any mental health illnesses to feel comfortable enough to share their stories.
A New Behavioral Therapy Helps Kids With Depression — And Their Parents: [Forbes] The reality that little children — as young as three years old — can suffer from depression is pretty startling. What’s more, there seems to be a dearth of behavioral treatments, or at least effective ones may not be used often enough. Medications are sometimes favored, but these can carry serious risks for children and teens. A new study from Washington University School of Medicine finds an 18-week intervention, involving both young children and their parents, can reduce and even reverse the symptoms of depression. How long the treatment lasts is the next question — but the hope is that it can change the trajectory of a child’s mental health over the long-term.
Adolescent Depression: What Parents Can Do To Help: [American Academy of Pediatrics] What is adolescent depression?
Depression may be present when your teenager has:
A sad or irritable mood for most of the day. Your teen may say they feel sad or angry or may look more tearful or cranky.
Not enjoying things that used to make your child happy.
A marked change in weight or eating, either up or down.
Depression in Children: [FirstCry Parenting] Depression can occur in people of all ages. It is defined as a low mood that is marked with apathy, sadness and an aversion to things that ordinarily bring joy to the affected person. Learning to identify the signs and symptoms of depression is the first step towards seeking a diagnosis and eventually treatment aimed at recovery. | https://medium.com/@lina-47001/top-picks-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-child-and-adolescent-depression-management-b73f186857f6 | ['Lina Ashar'] | 2021-03-08 13:06:02.913000+00:00 | ['Parenting Advice', 'Parenting'] |
A Coinbase user could stuck in Account Recovery process | I am a coinbase user for cryptocurrency exchanges since 2017. Recently I lost my correct Coinbase Google Authenticator code after upgrading my phone without any proper backup. Panicking and saddening, I am not able to access my Coinbase account anymore. Then I started research on how to get my access back for a week. I’ve tried to call official Coinbase support number 1–888–908–7930 many times and got no progress. There is no way to talk to anybody alive. There is only one option on the main menu for compromised accounts only. I dare to press the option that blocks all of the account logged in and asks you to login with your username and password, then Authenticator code.
I tried to follow what is described on the Coinbase website to get Coinbase Account Recovery. Unfortunately I couldn’t get in the right Coinbase Account Recovery page but still asking for second factor code. Upon clicking Start->, I got “Enter the 2-step verification code for you Coinbase account” that is something I don’t have. Do you know why it is like that? Or please kindly reset my 2FA or to my cell phone number that is associated with the account. I completed the form on help.coinbase.com many times and never heard anybody from the Coinbase support.
Now I’ve realized that I stuck in a dead loop of the Coinbase Account Recovery process.
If you think you can help or you are a Coinbase support team member. Please contact me in the comment area. I really appreciated! | https://medium.com/@heshengbao/a-coinbase-user-could-stuck-in-account-recovery-process-2884d5406b56 | [] | 2020-12-15 00:29:15.785000+00:00 | ['Coinbase', 'Xrp', 'Recovery', 'Account', 'Btc'] |
Thinking Citizen Blog — Milton Friedman on Taxation, Anatole France on the Law, Anonymous Sage on Bailouts | Thinking Citizen Blog — Tuesday is Economics, Finance, and Business Day
Today’s topic: Milton Friedman on Taxation, Anatole France on the Law, Anonymous Sage on Bailouts
Important stuff bears repeating. The most important stuff bears memorizing. What are your candidates for memorization related to economics, business, and finance? Today, my three all time favorites related to taxation, poverty, and justice. Think of them as three stocking stuffers. Experts — please chime in.
Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
MILTON FRIEDMAN — the math of justice, taxation, and liberty
1. “There is all the difference in the world, however, between two kinds of assistance through government that seem superficially similar: first, 90 percent of us agreeing to impose taxes on ourselves in order to help the bottom 10 percent, and second, 80 percent voting to impose taxes on the top 10 percent to help the bottom 10 percent”
2. “The first may be wise or unwise, an effective or ineffective way to help the disadvantaged — but it is consistent with belief in both equality of opportunity and liberty.”
3. “The second seeks equality of outcome and is entirely antithetical to liberty.”
NB: Milton Friedman won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1976. He is one of the most quotable and quoted economists of all time. See third link below.
ANATOLE FRANCE — poverty and equality before the law
1. “The law in its majestic equality forbids the rich and the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg for food, and to steel bread.”
2. Anatole France won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1921.
3. Another gem: “It is human nature to think wisely and act in absurd fashion.”
NB: See the fourth link for quotes in both french and english.
ANONYMOUS SAGE: “Privatized profits, socialized losses” — why didn’t Wall Street Bonuses decline more during the financial crisis of 2007–2009?
1. “Privatizing profits and socializing losses refers to the practice of treating company earnings as the rightful property of shareholders, while losses are treated as a responsibility that society must shoulder. In other words, the profitability of corporations are strictly for the benefit of their shareholders. But when the companies fail, the fallout — the losses and recovery — are the responsibility of the general public. Popular examples of this include taxpayer-funded subsidies or bailouts.”
2. Who first articulated this is unclear. But the chart above of Wall Street profits during the financial crisis of 2007–2009 speaks volumes.
3. The closest thing I could dig up was this quote from Noam Chomsky: “As in the past, the costs and risks of the coming phases of the industrial economy were to be socialized, with eventual profits privatized…” (from his book, Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy (2006).
NB: But I suspect that this concept goes way, way back. I think ultimately of the Athenian slave Aesop: “The little thieves we put in jail. The big thieves we appoint to public office.”
Anatole France
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman — Wikiquote
Anatole France — Wikiquote
Privatizing Profits And Socializing Losses
Click here for the last three years of posts arranged by theme:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
YOUR TURN — Please share:
a.) the coolest thing you learned this week related to business, economics, finance.
b.) the coolest thing you learned in your life related to business, economics, finance.
c.) anything at all related to business, economics, finance.
d.) anything at all | https://medium.com/@john-muresianu/thinking-citizen-blog-milton-friedman-on-taxation-anatole-france-on-the-law-anonymous-sage-on-7242806e9297 | ['John Muresianu'] | 2020-12-22 19:50:08.258000+00:00 | ['Quotes', 'Wisdom', 'Thinking Citizen Blog', 'Economics', 'History'] |
The instruction manual for children; look for opportunities to facilitate | Lesson 1 rather than trying to avoid it, look for opportunities to facilitate.
What this statement means is rather than avoiding chaos put scenarios in play to facilitate it rather than trying to avoid destruction Create opportunities for your children to break stuff, rather than trying to make them stationary in an effort to not be distracted designate time specific to them exclusively giving all of your attention to them.
Human beings are constantly growing and developing this is especially true during your early years this is something that never leaves you so rather than looking at a broken tool or a very loud child or a child who enjoys taking things apart as destructive or an obstacle it might be a better perspective to view them and their true form which is a pursuit of knowledge and understanding of their environment. The reality is our children are going to do things that are inconvenient costly an objectively destructive to both themselves and others and things one method of being a great parent is to facilitate opportunities for them where they can explore safely in an environment designed around their development. A great example of this from my own life is the time I had to replace a toilet. Yes, you read correctly I had to replace an entire toilet. Our five-year-old enjoy exploring how things worked. See that summer we had been gardening and I had been doing odd jobs around the house you know very hands-on break it down figure out what’s wrong with it put it back together kind of projects. That was also the summer of COVID-19 which meant we as a family were in the house even more and sometimes unoccupied, but it allowed us to give attention where it was required most. On a Friday evening, I believe, it was discovered that the toilet was clogged. A few days before this was discovered. I found the glass part of the door handle on the floor behind the door. Usually, the protocol was to round our children up and question everyone, however, this evening I was working on getting our toilet unclogged, so my wife questioned the little people. After about 40 minutes of trying everything I could think of to get the toilet unclogged, my wife delivered the news. The clog in the toilet was caused by a piece of glass from the door handle. Yes, the same piece of glass that I had placed on the vanity a few days ago. In traditional guy style, I continued trying to get the piece of glass out of the toilet even though I knew it was the perfect size and material to render my efforts useless. I will admit I was angry, with our five-year-old because he was getting into more and more stuff lately. I was also angry with myself because leaving the piece of glass on the vanity was literally the worse place, I could have left it. My wife and I are the types of parents that believe in processing every situation, and she could tell from my face and actions that I was in no place to process so she did it. I continued tinkering with the toilet late into the night which did nothing but make the clog worse. At close to midnight after the kids had gone to bed, I finally threw in the towel. Now it was time for me to process what had happened with my wife, and she was ready for me. I started by admitting my contribution to this debacle and followed that with my diagnoses of the issue, and potential solutions. Once I was finished talking the tactics of fixing the toilet, she asked one question, how are you. As soon as I heard this, I went into this spiraling rant about how our children get away with everything, and how they don’t take care of anything. She asked the next question as if she was reading from a queued list of questions. She said, “Would I feel the same way about our children if we had the money to replace the toilet”. In our home, I am the money guy, so I know what our finances are always doing, and I knew we had the money to repair and replace everything that had been damaged or broken. The issue for me was that I had to spend money on something that I didn’t want to, and I felt I should not have to. Now I don’t know if my wife didn’t have anything else to say, or she was waiting for me to consider what I had just said, but after saying that she didn’t respond at all. Sitting there staring off, the thought that came to me was, I wish I had put the handle in another location. My brain replied he still may have found it and did the same thing. Then I thought well I could have put some of the PVC piping together in the basement for him to experiment on. Then it occurred to me this had been something he had been experimenting with all month. As it so happens cause and effect were also something that had been covered in his homeschooling lessons as well. That was followed by all the mishaps that he had been involved in over the past week, and it all started to make sense, he was exploring the concept. This is what had driven him to stick a pencil in the air conditioner and smash some old light bulbs, and yes you guessed it flushed the door handle down the toilet. This realization leads me to another thought if I had bought some things for him to experience cause and effect, perhaps he would have been able to rational the outcome of flushing the door handle in the toilet without doing it.
If I had done more to facilitate opportunities for him to explore cause and effect it would have been costly, but not as costly as replacing an entire toilet. | https://medium.com/@justkerryjr314/the-instruction-manual-for-children-look-for-opportunities-to-facilitate-7b7573d6a9fd | ['Kerry L Moss Jr'] | 2020-10-09 02:02:44.801000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Personal Development', 'Parenting Advice', 'Parenting', 'Family'] |
Latest 2021 Google Ads Updates | It has been a busy year for Google with all the updates and improvements, which means it has been a busier year for digital marketers. It is important for both Google Ads and digital marketers to keep up with new trends and updates. Digital marketers have to wrap their heads around the adjustments in order to get the best results possible, whereas Google Ads has to update its algorithm to ensure that it is providing the most accurate, reliable, and secure pages for its users.
Let’s get into some of the newest updates Google Ads has given us.
1- Updated Features to Keep Up with Demands on The Go.
When you run a business, and campaigns are included, you know how important it is to keep an eye on them 24/7. Whether to stay on top of the customer demands, or to see how your campaigns are performing, Google Ads has made it easier for you to understand what is going on. Now with a mobile app, keeping connected with your campaigns is only a click away.
What can you do with these new features?
Monitor not only your campaigns, but also get insights about how they are performing. Now, with the newest update, you can get performance insights, real time notifications, explanations and even recommendations for solving issues. Now with the new modifications, you will be able to see what worked positively in your performance. This way, you will be able to know what to replicate and what to ignore!
Using search trends to understand real time customer demands.
To understand this better, let’s imagine a scenario. You have a clothing business and need to know how and what to do in order to reach more customers. With search trends you can learn what the rising trends are, let’s say hoodies. This way, you will be able to provide your customers exactly what they want without them knowing. On top of that, you can tap into the search trend and get more detailed searches associated with that trend; for example, “Pastel-colored hoodies”.
Google Ads didn’t stop there! You can also create alerts when new searches start trending and are relevant to your business.
2- From “YouTube Video Discovery Ads” To “In-feed Video Ads”
What does YouTube Video discovery ads do? Well, they place your brand alongside your YouTube content or people who seem interested. This is a very smart move since the people viewing your content are already potential customers, which improves the chance of sales.
How does the In-feed video ads work? These ads consist of a thumbnail image from the video you created with some relevant text next to it. Depending where the ad is appearing, the size of the ad changes, however no matter how small, it has a great chance of inviting people to click on the video. After the click, the viewer will be directed to a YouTube watch page or a channel homepage where your video will start playing.
Where do these ads appear in the first place? To start with, these videos are programmed to appear places of discovery; that is, to your target audience. Some of the places you can find these ads are:
Next to a related YouTube video.
As a result of a YouTube search.
Simply, on your YouTube mobile homepage.
What’s great about this feature is that the only time you will be charged is when a viewer clicks on your thumbnail and chooses to watch the video!
It’s your time to bring your videos to life.
3- Take Advantage of the Customer Match
If you value reaching your customers, then you will thank Google Ads for this. Just as the name suggests, customer match helps you reach your customers by using both online and offline data. Whether on the search console, their shopping tab, the videos they watch on YouTube or their Gmail list, customer match helps you target ads to customers who are guaranteed to be interested.
Let’s talk about some of the benefits you can enjoy while using customer match:
Increasing brand awareness.
Build deep connections with your customers
Optimize your campaigns.
Discover and reach potential customers.
Increase the conversion rate of your website.
Getting interested and want to know more details about the process? You’re in the right place because we will talk about how exactly customer match works.
– First, you start by creating and uploading a customer list with information, which you got from your own customers.
– Second, you create a campaign that is targeted to those customers.
–Thirdly and finally, whenever they use the search network, YouTube or Gmail, your ads will be right there waiting for the clicks.
As simple as that!
4- Your Products Hand In Hand With Video Campaigns
YouTube has changed our lives ever since 2005 Valentine’s Day; the day it was launched and is continuing to change it for the better. Whether you use YouTube for business or pleasure, there’s no denying that it is extremely beneficial.
YouTube isn’t just a place where people rush to be entertained and connect with their favorite creators, they also come to shop. Which is why Google Ads has come up with a new feature where you can display product feeds links to your awareness and consideration Video campaigns, making your videos shoppable too!
Did you know that 70% YouTube viewers buy a product because of seeing it on YouTube? 70%!
What does this mean? Now, with Google Ads’s newest update, you can display browsable images of your products right below your video ads. This will not only inspire the viewers to make a purchase, but also will increase the conversion rate and drive more clicks.
On average, the advertisers that choose to add product feeds below their video ads campaign achieve 60% more conversions, wait for it, at a lower cost!
To end our blog in an interesting way, let us look at some of the mind-blowing, jaw-dropping, super interesting statistics, and facts about google. | https://medium.com/@brainspace-sa/latest-2021-google-ads-updates-dbebaf343e4e | ['Brainspace Digital Solutions Agency'] | 2021-12-25 14:31:27.401000+00:00 | ['SEM', 'Ppc Agency', 'Search Engine Marketing', 'Adwords Management', 'PPC Marketing'] |
Nigeria celebrates its Expo 2020 Dubai National Day with a visit by President Muhammadu Buhari | President Muhammadu Buhari
DUBAI, 3 December 2021 — Nigeria celebrated its National Day at Expo 2020 with a visit by President Muhammadu Buhari, and spectacular performances by the National Troupe of Nigeria and award-winning Afropop singer-songwriter Teni at Al Wasl Plaza.
President Muhammadu Buhari, accompanied by Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama, was welcomed by His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence and Commissioner General of Expo 2020 Dubai.
President Buhari said: “Expo 2020 Dubai is, by all measures, the single most important global event of its kind to take place in the Middle East, Africa and the South East Asian regions in recent years. We are proud to be part of this dynamic evolution of pragmatic partnerships that are both creative and innovative for the progress of the country.
“The Nigerian delegation is participating in this Expo with great prospects for positive outcomes, while assuring the world of our determination and readiness to partner with relevant investors in our bid to tackle a number of challenges to make Nigeria a better country.”
President Buhari said Nigeria was striving to be “a strategic partner of choice for the global community” and was eager to explore opportunities to unlock the huge potential of the country, particularly in the fields of defence and security, healthcare, agriculture agribusiness, climate change, youth and women’s empowerment, infrastructure and technology.
His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan said: “Nigeria’s participation showcases the tremendous growth potential, in a country that it is considered one of the largest economies and one of the most industrialised nations in Africa.
“Under its theme ‘Rising in Value’, the pavilion highlights to us Nigeria’s significant contributions to the world, and sheds light on the creative and technology sectors driving the youth and future of the country. The pavilion also highlights the numerous opportunities for investments that exist in key sectors such as agriculture, solid minerals, manufacturing, and creative industries, while also giving us a glimpse of its pristine nature, and its vibrant cultural and heritage sites.”
The a dance, musical and theatrical performance of the National Troupe of Nigeria, which was founded in 1991 to promote, preserve and present the country’s rich heritage, was an abridged version of their touring production, ‘Ajoyo’, which celebrates the beauty of Nigeria’s diverse culture, while award-winning Nigerian singer-songwriter Teni wowed the audience with her inspired Afropop.
Nigerian singer-songwriter Teni wowed the audience with her inspired Afropop.
Situated in the Opportunity District, the Nigeria Pavilion showcases a vast and populous land filled with energy, potential and opportunities, illustrated through a series of ‘avenues’. Visitors can take a walk down Resilience Avenue to discover more about the country’s burgeoning agricultural sector; Respectful Avenue teaches visitors about Nigeria’s cultural heritage, comprising 250 ethnic groups with unique traditions; Hardworking Avenue explores the country’s vibrant manufacturing sector; and Enterprising Avenue shows visitors the creativity of the Nigerian people, and the technological innovations propelling the country into the 21st century.
National and Honour Days at Expo 2020 Dubai are moments to celebrate each of our 200-plus International Participants, shining a light on their culture and achievements, and showcasing their pavilions and programming. Each features a flag-raising ceremony at the Stage of Nations in Al Wasl Plaza, followed by speeches and cultural performances.
Running until 31 March 2022, Expo 2020 has invited visitors from across the planet to join the making of a new world in a six-month celebration of human creativity, innovation, progress and culture.
Pic By Exp 2020 | https://medium.com/@thinkdoctor1962/nigeria-celebrates-its-expo-2020-dubai-national-day-with-a-visit-by-president-muhammadu-buhari-7bbe8bb9c757 | ['Delroy Constantine Simms'] | 2021-12-13 13:31:27.279000+00:00 | ['Exp2020', 'Nigeria', 'Dubai', 'Nigerian Politics'] |
simple implementation of unsupervised machine learning algorithm | A Simple Implementation of Unsupervised Machine Learning
Canadian University Clusters
Photo by Agence Olloweb on Unsplash
Unlike supervised machine learning which fits a model to a dataset with reference to a target label, unsupervised machine learning algorithms are allowed to determine patterns in the dataset without recourse to a target label. A label may refer to whether a customer defaults on a bank loan, or which drug is effective against a particular ailment amongst a number of patients. Clustering and Anomaly Detection are common applications of unsupervised machine learning. My aim is to delineate the exciting capabilities of Clustering by presenting a simple implementation with a relatable use case.
Introduction
Thousands of foreign nationals troop into Canada every year in search of University education. This is due largely to Canada’s pro-immigration policy, quality education, comparative lower tuition, and consistently high ranking for overall quality of life. Prospective students are presented with a deluge of options from which to make a choice, as Canada has a plethora of reputable Universities across its provinces and territories.
In order to optimize the search experience of prospective students, Canadian Universities are organized into clusters predicated upon pre-selected features (or attributes). The clusters are derived from the implementation of the k-means Clustering Machine Learning algorithm from Python’s scikit-learn library, on the defined feature set. Each cluster comprises Universities having a unique combination of features, which in turn describe the clusters. Prospective students can then identify the cluster into which to focus their search based on the accompanying cluster description. Thus, the search experience is refined, effective, and less time-consuming.
Data
The dataset used for this study was assembled from scratch. The sources of the components of the final dataset are given below:
Canadian University List : Scrapped from the List of Universities in Canada[1] using the BeautifulSoup Python library.
: Scrapped from the List of Universities in Canada[1] using the BeautifulSoup Python library. Canadian University Ranking : Scrapped from the Canadian University Ranking[2] using the BeautifulSoup Python library.
: Scrapped from the Canadian University Ranking[2] using the BeautifulSoup Python library. Provincial Rent Rates : Sourced from rentals.ca Provincial Median Rent Rates[3].
: Sourced from rentals.ca Provincial Median Rent Rates[3]. Geographical Coordinates of Universities : The geopy Python library was engaged. The University names were passed as arguments and the respective coordinates were returned.
: The geopy Python library was engaged. The University names were passed as arguments and the respective coordinates were returned. Location Data (Recreational Index): Data for venues within 500 meters of each University was obtained as location data with the Foursquare API. The Recreational Index for each University was then derived from the unique venue categories.
Methodology
Data Gathering
As detailed in the preceding section, the dataset used in this project was put together from different sources to fulfill the objective. The BeautifulSoup Python library was used to scrape the Canadian University List and Rankings[1][2]. The data for the Provincial Rent Rates was sourced from the Rentals.ca May 2020 Rent Report[3]. University coordinates were generated with the geopy library. Lastly, the Recreational Index, which is a measure of the availability of ‘fun’ spots within 500 meters of the institution, was obtained as location data using the Foursquare API. A series of cleaning, merge and join operations were involved in building the final dataset.
The code used to scrape the Canadian University list is given below:
Resulting Dataframe was cleaned with the following code:
The series of code below describes the formulation of the Recreational Index, beginning with location data from Foursquare API. First, the top 20 venues within 500 meters of the University were obtained in a Dataframe:
Next, the unique venue categories were obtained and ‘counted’ to give the Recreational Index.
Feature Set Categorization
The selection of the feature set preceded the implementation of the machine learning algorithm. The feature set included the following columns: ‘Rankings’, ‘Rental Rates’, and ‘Recreational Index’. These features were then converted to categorical variables upon which one-hot encoding was subsequently performed to facilitate the analysis of machine learning algorithm output.
Categorization was effected with the following code:
Feature Categories
The above categorization was informed by exploratory data analysis performed on the feature set:
Histogram of Feature Set
Deriving University Clusters
After the dataset had been assembled, one hot encoding was implemented on the feature set. This ensured the data was transformed into a structure better suited for the implementation of the machine learning algorithm. Next, the k-means clustering machine learning algorithm was implemented on the encoded dataset.
k-means clustering was implemented with the following code:
Assumptions/Limitations
Only publicly run Universities were considered in the study. An arbitrary ranking of 50 was assigned to Universities without an official ranking to facilitate numeric data handling. The Provincial rent rates[3] employed are representative of the median monthly rates within the specified Province. Thus, actual rent rates across cities within the Province may differ from those stated.
Result and Discussion
The output from the clustering algorithm was examined. Unique descriptions were then assigned to each cluster. These descriptions were predicated upon the combination of features prevalent within each cluster and served as markers to prospective students as to which cluster to ‘smartly select’ for further exploration.
The table below shows the clusters and their respective descriptions:
Unique Clusters and Descriptions
Further examination of the clusters revealed the following:
Universities in Provinces with ‘cheap’ median rent do not have an accompanying ‘exciting’ recreation (i.e. the recreational index is either ‘fun’ or ‘sparse’).
Universities in Provinces with ‘expensive’ and ‘luxury’ median rent have the full spectrum for rankings and recreation as options.
None of the low ranking or unranked Universities has accompanying ‘exciting’ recreation.
Every high ranking University is situated in a Province with either an ‘expensive’ or ‘luxury’ median rent.
The following charts provide more insight into the clusters. First, the function defined to generate each chart is presented:
University Distribution in Clusters Based on Ranking Feature
Gleaning insight from the above chart, students looking to study in high ranking Universities would directly explore the options in Cluster 8.
University Distribution in Clusters Based on Rental Rates Feature
Prospective students whose primary consideration is ‘cheap’ rent would readily explore Universities in Cluster 0, based on the above chart.
Furthermore, the figure below shows that for prospective students who consider recreation as an absolute imperative, Clusters 2 and 7 offer exclusively ‘exciting’ Universities. Clusters 4, 5, and 8 also present further options.
University Distribution in Clusters Based on Recreational Index Feature
It should however be noted that no single chart would be effective in isolation, as prospective students would usually have at least two features they consider imperative to their University education experience. Consequently, the charts should be used in combination for the best results. Review the clusters and their respective composition here. Click here to view the code on GitHub.
Conclusion
Canadian Universities have been clustered based on defined features: University ranking, Provincial rent rates, and Recreational Index. The clusters were obtained using the popular k-means machine learning clustering algorithm, while the location data upon which the novel Recreational Index was derived, was generated engaging the Foursquare API. The clusters have been uniquely characterized, each distinctly comprising Universities having a combination of the defined features. Prospective students can now confidently rely on the clusters to streamline their search for their dream Canadian University.
References
[1] List of Universities in Canada (12 May 2020). Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18 May 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_Canada#mw-head
[2] Best Global Universities in Canada (21 Oct 2019). U.S. News and World Report LP
[3] May 2020 Rent Report (n.p.). Rentals.ca. Retrieved 18, May 2020, from https://rentals.ca/national-rent-report#provincial-rental-rates | https://towardsdatascience.com/smart-search-canadian-university-clusters-ebe3d6462acf | ['Adedamola Adejokun'] | 2020-07-30 20:40:12.627000+00:00 | ['Unsupervised Learning', 'Clustering Algorithm', 'Data Analytics', 'Data Science', 'Machine Learning'] |
The ADHD Medical Student Chronicles: The Pandemic and Me | In some ways, it’s actually been easier than I had initially anticipated. During undergrad, I was forced to memorise every enzyme involved in the Kreb’s Cycle and each step in purine and pyrimidine synthesis. You can imagine my shock and elation then when I found out that I wouldn’t have to remember the intricate details of any of this. Sure, a solid understanding of key steps would still be crucial, but if it meant not using as much brainpower thinking about the dephosphorylation of phosphoprotein phosphatase (yes that is a thing, unfortunately) then I was all for it. Of course in saying that, the occasional leniencies in the depth of biochemistry knowledge required did not really amount to much in the scheme of the overall volume of content and expectations medical students deal with.
In other words, you win some you lose some.
I’m saying all of this to elucidate how you can go into medical school fully aware that it’s ‘like drinking water from a fire hydrant’, and still feel like a husk of your former self only a few months in. You might recognize how time-consuming and demanding the course will be, and still feel like you’re drowning without a life jacket after a few weeks.
I truly believe nothing prepares you for medical school like starting medical school. No matter what sort of academic rigor you’re accustomed to, it is a completely foreign feeling for most — the realization that the knowledge you’re learning will directly contribute to saving someone’s life one day. It’s not something you experience (at least to the same extent) in virtually any other field of study. Of course, this hasn’t been the experience of all my peers though. Perhaps some of them simply aren’t letting on how tiresome the course truly is (these are who we call the gunners — we don’t like them here), but I also know my own set of personal circumstances contributed to the specific fatigue I was experiencing. Because while medical school is exceptionally difficult for anyone, I also happen to be diagnosed with ADHD.
Nothing prepares you for medical school like starting medical school.
I sometimes think there must be more doctors and medical students with ADHD, based purely on how much we tend to crave highly stimulating environments (what could be more adrenaline-inducing than a patient coding on an operating table in front of you?!) but I often imagine (partly in jest) the reason they’re not writing blog posts or vlogging their experiences on YouTube about it is because of how woeful we all are with time-management. For additional context, I once got ready for a 6 pm appointment at 11 am that was ten minutes away and was still late for said appointment. The biting reality, however, is that it’s more likely to be a result of the heavy stigma associated with the label of ADHD in the medical community. It doesn’t just feel like a diagnosis — when you’re pursuing a career as a physician, it can feel like a scandalous act of impropriety that you want to quash all evidence of, or risk being brandished with a scarlet “A” for as long as your peers know you. Even publishing this piece is incredibly daunting — up until now, I’ve been relatively selective with who knows about my diagnosis. This may come as a surprise to people who know me well enough that I won’t shut up about it, but I imagine most people reading this would not know I’ve lived with ADHD my entire life.
That might all sound very dramatic, even for people with ADHD, but in a profession where things are often quite literally life or death, whether someone’s judgment of you is ‘real’ or not is immaterial because every mistake you make still feels more scrutinized than it would if it were anyone else. But perhaps that’s the rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) of it all.
Unlike many other neurodivergent conditions, a diagnosis of ADHD comes along with specific labels like “lazy, impulsive, uncaring” — all of which actively undermine a doctor’s judgments, skills and capabilities. They certainly aren’t words that inspire confidence in your physician.
In spite of this, there’s stigma pertaining to all neurodivergent people when it comes to medicine; it’s a systemic issue that is evident in AHPRA’s mandatory reporting laws and the high rates of suicide in the profession. However, unlike many other neurodivergent conditions such as depression and anxiety (don’t you worry, I’m not entirely immune to these bad boys either), a diagnosis of ADHD comes along with specific labels like “lazy, impulsive, uncaring” — all of which actively undermine a doctor’s judgments, skills and capabilities. They certainly aren’t words that inspire confidence in your physician, or ones you’d want to be inscribed on your tombstone. To be a physician with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) doesn’t tend to fare very well in the medical community either.
So after one breakdown too many, you really begin to wonder whether medicine (or insert any career here if you otherwise relate) should even be your true calling in the first place. Not could, but should. I know I can do it — just like I think anyone can get through medical school if they have the will, drive, and passion (and a dash of stubbornness)… but was this the life I really wanted for myself? One where I will likely always be struggling? Always playing catch-up with others? I began to feel as if I loved medicine, but medicine didn’t love me back. What’s worse is that there’s no easily applicable “fix” to my issue either — amongst the worst aspects of my ADHD is the paradoxical way in which stress both overwhelms and fuels me. I require stress to perform at high levels, but it’s an emotionally and physically draining process that feels like an impossible cycle to break out of.
It’s also like I’m fighting a battle from two sides — on one hand, I recognize medical school is difficult for everyone and it can be an active process just trying to keep your head above water. On the other hand, my imposter syndrome has me so afraid that people inherently perceive me as less than capable because of my ADHD that I purposely sabotage myself with an inhuman number (even sans medical school or ADHD diagnosis) of jobs, research positions, and committee roles. This all makes sense to me in my head because if I fail, people can at least empathize that it must have been because of how much I was taking on. And if I don’t fail? Suddenly I’m aspirational. Suddenly I’m the blueprint for “success”. Or so I’ve told myself.
Insane. Unhinged. I’m very well aware.
A visual depiction of me after overwhelming myself with too many responsibilities. Yet again.
The global pandemic has felt like the tipping point for all of this, though. COVID-19 has undoubtedly affected everyone in unique, disparate ways but for myself, it’s internalized this idea that productivity and self-worth are one and the same. In other words, ‘grind culture’ got to me. I became obsessed with the idea of not being seen as mediocre, but the issue was that I was the only one able to define what ‘mediocrity’ was in the first place. Even still, my idea of mediocrity was continually shifting so that I was never in a position to feel comfortable for too long anyway.
I’m sure this sounds foreign to people who aren’t anxious overachievers, but you can blame the lack of dopamine transporters in my brain as well as the expectations I’ve been carrying on my shoulders my whole life from being a first-generation kid of immigrant parents. It was only a few months ago that I overworked myself so much that it physically manifested itself into Bell’s palsy. At least that’s one thing me and Angelina Jolie have in common.
So where does this all leave me? In light of a pandemic that is currently unchanging in predicament and a diagnosis that is lifelong, it seems as if I’ll be stuck living like this for the foreseeable future. While the process of writing this has been clarifying, my fear of failure and Type A personality is unlikely to let up entirely anytime soon. In fact, about a year ago I tried writing and publishing something very similar, which makes me fear this might all be a never-ending cycle even after I graduate. But, if you take anything away from this otherwise digressive (and admittedly whiny) piece, it’s to be kind to yourself. Always.
Ultimately, it does not matter whether you have ADHD (or not), or if you’re a medical student (or not). Becoming kinder to yourself and realizing that often there are limits to your capabilities (I’m sorry, but it’s true!), as well as being able to reflect on your accomplishments while acknowledging them for what they are is something we should all be working towards.
Of course, it’s not always so easy. I often have to actively remind myself to do it, but I’ve come to realise nothing is more important in a time of social isolation, where frequently all we have is ourselves and our thoughts. Maybe all I can do is try, but isn’t that pretty to think so? | https://medium.com/@yousefhakimi/the-adhd-medical-student-chronicles-fad7c8f8e42b | ['Yousef Hakimi'] | 2020-08-06 22:15:45.905000+00:00 | ['Pandemic Diaries', 'Medicine', 'Covid 19', 'Adhd', 'Medical School'] |
The Freshman Year Internship Search | The Freshman Year Internship Search
I’ve recently had quite a few freshmen come to me for advice about finding a summer internship. Though I’m by no means a professional at this, I do have some experience garnered through personal trials and articles and posts read over the years; note that it’s very tech- and consulting-centered, as those are the fields I have most commonly come into contact with, but many items in the list below could be applied generally. Without further delay, here are some tips:
First and foremost, recognize that it’s perfectly fine to not have an internship the summer before your sophomore year. Trust me (and an enormous chunk of people currently in amazing roles), you’ll be just fine. Now that we’ve gotten that established, let’s move on to some more actionable items. Start early! Many companies — particularly in tech and consulting — start recruiting as early as August. So, if you can, before apps even open, make a list of places you’d like to apply to and when apps open (and set reminders to yourself to apply when they do open). Before you apply anywhere, (get other people to) review your resume. For form, you can find some great templates on sites like Overleaf. For content, you can Google phrases that are a combination of keywords like “resume”, “tips”, “how”, “examples”, “tech”, etc. to find dozens of great articles with fantastic advice, read through resume-related posts and critiques on professional groups (for example, Product Buds), or — I highly recommend this one — ask your peers (particularly those who have been through the job search before) to review your resume. Whatever your resume ends up looking like, always be mindful of ATS-friendliness — essentially, companies are now using software to parse your resume for certain keywords during the application process, and if your resume is unparseable, then they likely won’t reach out to you with an interview for a position even if you are qualified. There are ATS checkers online that you can use to ensure compliance. LinkedIn is your best friend. So make sure that your LinkedIn is up-to-date and -shape; popular job application services like Workday and Greenhouse allow applicants to fill information directly from their LinkedIn (no worries about odd commas/extra spaces/other quirks from resume parsing, though again — be mindful of ATS!). Most of the jobs that I’ve applied to have been through LinkedIn, since I’ve found it to be the most comprehensive database of available positions, listing out qualifications and job descriptions in a (usually) very clear manner. A quirk that I’ve found, however, is that using the filtering (i.e. for “Internship”) may actually get rid of some great intern roles — I’ve been better off searching for “[Ideal Position] Intern” and ignoring the filtering options, though you should definitely play around and see what works for you. An added bonus of using LinkedIn is that recruiters may also reach out to you through the platform! Another great usage of LinkedIn is to see what people in internship/job positions that you are interested in did in freshman year of university (probably easier to find on the profiles of current sophomores/juniors in university); this can help whittle down your own list of places to apply to or cue you into opportunities you might (God forbid) not be able to find through Google searching. “I’ve applied to everything that I can find on LinkedIn. What next?” This bleeds a bit into the next item, but platforms like Angellist are great for finding jobs at startups that may not cross-post to LinkedIn. You can also check out sites workatastartup (YCombinator) for great job opportunities at rising companies. A quick Google search (do you see a trend here?) involving the keywords “startup” and “internship” will provide additional insights. There are also large compilations/lists/repos of job opportunities on sites like GitHub; you can also find Google Sheets with postings floating around on Facebook and LinkedIn. Whether or not you find an internship hinges on your openness to industries, companies, and pay (and, of course, your willingness to apply). There are many famous tech internships programs specifically for freshmen and sophomores (discoverable through a quick Google search) — if software, design, and other tech-adjacent fields appeal to you, give them a shot! For those interested in tech and finance, there are a variety of discovery programs (again, Google search) available that can serve as great networking opportunities and, to some extent, a stepping stone to future roles at those companies or similar ones. While it’s true that freshmen traditionally have a much better shot at the aformentioned programs compared to other roles at those companies, don’t forget that the “compared to other roles at such companies’’ part of it. For example, when it comes to things like Facebook University, you’re still competing with thousands of other freshmen and sophomores, but if you apply to a position at a startup that only has 10 other applicants — freshmen or not — you’re only competing with, well, 10 total people. So, if you’re adamant about landing an internship, be open to applying positions at smaller companies (particularly start-ups)! Additionally, startups are a great starting point to positions at larger companies, and you’ll have a lot more end-to-end responsibilities that will provide great experiences for use in answering future interview questions. As for the number of jobs applied to — the sky’s the limit! Frankly speaking, most of the people that I’ve talked to in tech — myself included — apply for upwards of 50 jobs a recruiting season. “I’ve applied on every platform I’ve been able to find. Now what?” An option now is to transition to cold emailing, which is a subject so saturated that it would take me another Medium article to even brush the surface of. There are plenty of great templates out there (again with the Google searching, yes) that you can customize for your own needs. Make sure, above all, to stay mindful and respectful of others’ time and inboxes — you don’t want to burn any potential bridges. “I’ve done everything you’ve listed out here and more, and still haven’t heard back!” Don’t panic — many jobs/opportunities can take weeks to go through applications! Also, don’t forget item 1 on this list; you’ll be just fine.
There are many more articles out there regarding the freshman year job search, but the eight items above are the things I myself found most helpful when looking for internships freshman year. Best of luck! | https://medium.com/diversatech/the-freshman-year-internship-search-2d770915367c | [] | 2020-11-23 15:06:22.930000+00:00 | ['College Advice', 'Diversatech', 'Recruiting', 'Diversity In Tech', 'Internships'] |
Day 59 | There’s a moment, just before Stormy wakes up, when all I see is the precious little girl who needs my love, care and protection. Then she wakes up.
This morning is particularly bad. Not at first. At first she eats her breakfast and puts on her clothes like always. We’re about 5 minutes away from walking to the bus stop when she decides she doesn’t want to go to school. “It’s boring!” I am really sick of hearing those words right now. All my tactics of bribery, cajoling, negotiating and simple logic completely fail. She is immovable. Metaphorically that is. Physically she is quite movable. And in the end that’s the only thing that works. I pick her up, screaming and crying and carry her down to the bus stop.
We, of course, have missed the bus.
By the time the taxi arrives to go to school, she’s completely calm like nothing has happened. I explain that she has lost all TV and tablet privileges until her Mother arrives on Friday. She seems to accept this.
I can’t say I was at my most productive at work today.
Coming home Stormy is an absolute delight. She accepts her “no TV” punishment calmly, eats her chicken soup and is generally well-behaved. If messy. And creative. Stormy complains that dinner is too hot and, instead of refusing to eat, she tips her glass of water into it to cool it down. Genius.
Bath time comes around and “it’s boring” re-emerges. Another sacrifice of soft toys and she’s in the bath. The bed time battle escalates. “It’s boring” once again. After the second hour of this there’s a part of me that just wants to scream. Not at Stormy, but just generally at the world. I take that part of me and compress it as far as it goes. I sure Stormy senses my general detachment, but it’s all I can do to get through the evening.
* For those who missed the context, I’m not actually single. My wife has started a 5-month contract in Australia (yay). This is a Very Good Thing™. Stormy will be staying with me here in Singapore and I have great help both remotely (from my wife) and locally. I’m writing this purely for fun and to practice writing. :-) | https://medium.com/diary-of-a-single-dad/day-59-66941b82773f | ['Evan Leybourn'] | 2017-09-02 16:12:36.808000+00:00 | ['Father And Daughter', 'Emotions', 'Creativity', 'Parenting', 'Short Story'] |
Curated Custom Callbacks | Curated Custom Callbacks
Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash
The following callbacks are mainly input-type agnostic, meaning that they can be used for time-series, images, and text as well.
Notes
The __slots__ attribute reduces memory usage. If you modify any callback, just add any new parameter to this list.
A TensorFlow callback has access to the model it is applied to, via the self.model attribute. I use this convenient access extensively throughout my code.
Some callbacks are designed to work with TensorBoard. If you do not need this functionality, then modify — only small changes are required, mostly you will need to delete code.
ClassificationReportCallback
This short callback comes in handy when you want to regulary check on summary statistics for your training. It requires the sklearn package to generate the actual report. The arguments are a FileWriter (to write data to a TensorBoard directory), the batch size to take during prediction, and most importantly two numpy arrays, x and y.
These arrays contain sample data (x) and corresponding labels (y), based on which the classification report is created by sklearn. The class_names and labels we pass are used to filter down which classes we want to consider (e.g. maybe only the first three or last six) and to name them. The text is written to our TensorBoard directory by the file_writer we passed, every k epochs:
LayerOutputCallback
This callback lets you take the output of any intermediate network layer, write the activations to .tsv files, and the visualize them using TensorBoard or projector.tensorflow.org. The following procedure describes using it with a dense layer.
You pass sample data (x) and labels (y), the name of the layer you want to extract from (set a layer’s name when creating the model) and a (TensorBoard-)directory to write the data to.
The frequency argument states how often we write to file; the batch size is used during output extraction. We need the name argument when we write our output to file: when we e.g. extract the output of multiple layers or multiple data samples, we want to differentiate between the generated files.
The last flag controls if you want to sync your data to W&B, which is not mandatory and out of the scope for this article.
Every frequency epochs, we create a temporary model, consisting of the normal network input and our selected layer as an output. (You can think of this as cutting the network after a chosen layer). We then let this modified network predict on our sample data.
For each single sample x, we get a prediction vector x_hat. We iterate over its content, each entry is cast to string, and written to a .tsv file (vectors.tsv). In a separate file (metadata.tsv), we store any metadata, which is usually only the class label of a particular vector. This comes in handy during visualization, when we color the data points based on their labels.
If you use or modifiy this callback, I recommend checking how it works on different layers, e.g. 2D, 3D, 4D convolution, RNN, and the like. I mainly use it for dense layers deep within my networks — other types are supported, but might require slight adaption.
ConfusionMatrixCallback
This callback is built from code available at TensorFlow and writes the data to TensorBoard.
If you only need the confusion matrix as a .png, then work directly on the figure returned by plot_confusion_matrix(). Otherwise, follow along
As before, we need some sample data x and labels y. We need a FileWriter to write our data for visualization to TensorBoard, and the class names. The last parameter is used when the matrix is generated later on, it determines the labels on the plot.
The next parameters are the image name we want to save our plots as, the batch size to use during prediction, and a frequency, specifying the number of epochs to pass until we create the next plot.
The underlying matrix is generated and visualized with sklearn. These figure object could be used to store the data directly onto file (e.g. cm_epoch_10.png, with savefig()). Modify accordingly if this is your case.
If you are interested in writing this data to TensorBoard, we have to add another step: creating a TF image object. This is done in plot_to_image(), where we temporarily save our matplotlib figure to a bytes buffer, and then use the same buffer to decode it into a tensor.
The returned tensor is then written to TensorBoard with a FileWriter. Lastly, we do some clean-up:
CustomValidationMetricCallback
This callback is useful when we have a non-standard metric that we want to run on your validation data. Consider the case where we want a metric over the whole dataset, and not calculated on a per-batch basis.
In this case, we pass the validation data to the callback. At the end of an epoch the callback will be called, and our custom metric calculation code executed. In the example, we calculate the f1 score using the sklearn library.
We then log the values to the logs dict that gets passed to on_epoch_end(). This is mandatory if we have further callbacks that depend on these values (e.g. EarlyStopping). We ensure that the values are logged first by simply placing the CustomValidationMetricCallback before any dependent ones.
The second, short callback is a quick sanity check to ensure that the desired metrics are actually logged to the logs dict: | https://medium.com/swlh/curated-custom-callbacks-e74a49c08100 | ['Pascal Janetzky'] | 2021-03-06 11:46:11.186000+00:00 | ['TensorFlow', 'Keras', 'Python', 'Callback', 'Deep Learning'] |
Easy to use: why NFT Bunny breaks down barriers | When we started developing NFT Bunny we wanted to distinguish ourselves by creating a platform that was for everyone. It had to have one characteristic: it had to be easy to use.
Barriers to the growth of the NFT industry
2021 will surely be remembered as the year of the NFT boom, but those who live the industry know that there is still a lot of untapped potential. We asked ourselves:
What is stopping so many artists from going digital?
What’s stopping fans or communities from buying NFTs?
The first answer we came up with is that the technological barrier must seem like an insurmountable obstacle to many. That’s why we wanted NFT Bunny to be designed to be used even by those without crypto and blockchain skills.
Easy to use: NFT minting on NFT Bunny
Minting (creating) NFTs on NFT Bunny does not require any specific blockchain knowledge. All you need to do is be registered on the platform and select the create button.
If you have already connected your wallet you will see a dashboard where you can upload an image ready to be transformed into NFT. At first, only images and gifs can be uploaded, but later the possibility of uploading videos and text content will be added.
It is at this point that you can decide to create obscured content, simply by clicking on add overlay. In this way, the NFT is only partially obscured, and with the appropriate commands we can enlarge or reduce the part to be hidden. If, on the other hand, you want to obscure the work completely, just click on full overlay.
How NFT Bunny’s dashboard to create NFTs will look like
At the same time, you can give your artwork a title and a short description. All that’s left to do is to add a price or determine whether you want an auction mechanism.
All this is done with a simple user interface, while the technology behind NFT Bunny records all information on the blockchain.
Trade NFT on NFT Bunny
Most NFT marketplaces allow you to buy in ETH. On NFT Bunny you can choose to buy with different forms of payment: from BUN token to Ethereum. Or even, by credit card.
An example of a wallet on NFT Bunny
With this choice NFT Bunny has decided to open the NFT market to those who do not own cryptocurrencies. In this case the user can open a cold wallet directly on NFT Bunny to store his NFTs. At any time, should the user become more practical, he can move his NFTs to ERC20 wallets such as Metamask.
Breaking down barriers
Our mission is to break down the barriers to the mass adoption of NFTs. These are just the first steps. But we have many more features in store that will be implemented soon to make NFTs truly affordable for everyone. | https://medium.com/nftbunny/easy-to-use-why-nft-bunny-breaks-down-barriers-8d9ac0d1950f | ['Nft Bunny'] | 2021-12-30 06:55:55.649000+00:00 | ['Nft Platform', 'Nft Marketplace', 'Nft', 'Nftsocial'] |
Access platform-specific APIs within your Xamarin.Forms app | Access platform-specific APIs within your Xamarin.Forms app
How you can get access to platform-specific APIs while still keeping a clean architecture by using Dependency Injection Sebastian Jensen Follow Oct 7, 2020 · 5 min read
Introduction
The approach of Xamarin.Forms is that you can write nearly the whole application once and then this app gets compiled to the different mobile operating systems, like Android and iOS. Which means that you most of the time don’t need to write platform-specific code.
But this wasn’t always the case, because at the beginning of Xamarin.Forms development you have to write a lot of platform-specific code if you want to access the sensors of the device to get the current location of the user, for example. For this reason, there were Xamarin Plugins which can be installed in the application to get a wrapper around the platform-specific APIs and the corresponding implementation on each platform. Back in 2018 Microsoft released Xamarin.Essentials a NuGet package which is now part of the Xamarin.Forms templates to provide access to lots of platform-specific APIs, so that you can just access them from your platform independent code.
But this library doesn’t cover everything which means that from time to time you have to access platform-specific APIs. In this blog post I will show you how we can implement a custom service to show toast notifications on Android and iOS and how we can call this service from our platform independent code by using Dependency Injection.
Introducing IToastService
Let’s start by thinking about an interface for our ToastService which we place in the platform independent project of our Xamarin.Forms solution. In this case our service will provide only one method called ShowToast with two parameters. The first parameter contains the message and the second one can change the duration of the displayed time of the toast.
Implementing ToastService on Android and iOS
Now that we have the interface in place, we can start writing the platform-specific implementation by starting with Android. Let’s create a new folder Services in our Android project and create a file called ToastService in this folder. This service will use the Toast class from Android to show the corresponding message on the screen.
For iOS we have to use a different approach, because the concept of a toast isn’t available. We will use the UIAlertController instead and dismiss the alert after a defined period of time, which is in this case fully customizable.
Dependency Injection using DependencyService
Dependency Injection is a technique in which an object receives other objects that it depends on. Xamarin.Forms provides a class called DependencyService which enables Xamarin.Forms apps to use the concept of Dependency Injection to call native platform functionally from the shared code. To use this functionality, you have to mark your platform specific implementations with the Dependency attribute. Then you are able to call the Get method from the DependencyService class to get the corresponding service.
Dependency Injection using Unity Container
For sure it is possible to use the DependencyService from Xamarin.Forms to achieve the goal, but in my opinion, it is not the best architectual idea to use it. You have to mark your services with the Dependency attribute which will cost a little bit of performance, because the app needs to scan for all these attributes and register them properly.
I would prefer to use a different service locator without the dependency to Xamarin.Forms. There a different packages available, but I like to use Unity Container for that, which is a lightweight, extensible dependency injection container. To get Unity Container initialized you have to add two NuGet packages to your platform independent project: Unity.Container and Unity.ServiceLocation.
After the installation we will create a new file called Bootstrapper in our shared code. This class will wire up everything for use, because we will register all our services and all our view models within that class.
You can see that we pass a parameter to the RegisterType method to specify the lifetime of our services or viewmodels. In this case we will use a singleton approach by using ContainerControlledLifetimeManager to have only one instance of the service/view model if we ask the service locator or we are using Dependency Injection to get the instance. There are different LifetimeManagers available, but especially for service I think it is a good approach to work with singletons.
There are two methods in the Bootstrapper available. The method RegisterDependencies registers all platform independent services and view models and sets the ServiceLocator , so that we can access these services and view models via Dependency Injection. The other method is called RegisterPlatformDependency and needs to be called from the platform-specific projects, because here you can add the service like our ToastService to the Unity Container.
Normally you would call the RegisterDependencies method in the file App.xaml.cs before setting the MainPage property. The RegisterPlatformDependency method will be called for Android in the MainActivity class within the OnCreate method.
On the iOS platform we will call the method in the file AppDelegate in the method FinishedLaunching .
Now that we have our service registered in our UnityContainer by using the Bootstrapper we can start creating a view model to use our ToastService by using Dependency Injection.
To be able to manipulate the message in our toast I provide a property ToastMessage which the user can fill with the corresponding message. The view model also provides two commands to show either a short or a long toast. To use Dependency Injection we simply use the constructor and pass in our interface IToastService which we will save in a private field. Now we are able to call the methods of the service which we are doing in the ShowToast method.
We have now everything in place to try a first run of our application. For the UI I’m using an Entry control where the user can enter the message which should be displayed on the toast and two buttons to either show a short or a long toast.
The following animation shows the implementation on Android.
Our Toast implementation on Android
And here you can see the app running on iOS.
Our Toast implementation on iOS
You will find the source code in this GitHub repository.
Conclusion
In this post I showed you how you can easily access the native APIs while using Xamarin.Forms. Just follow these simple steps:
Create an interface in your shared code. Create the platform specific implementations in the platform projects Register your service using the Bootstrapper
By using the Unity Container we have a clean architecture and while using Dependency Injection it easy for us to access the methods in our shared code. | https://medium.com/medialesson/access-platform-specific-apis-within-your-xamarin-forms-app-b308b93be9aa | ['Sebastian Jensen'] | 2020-10-07 12:55:59.912000+00:00 | ['Mobile App Development', 'Platform', 'Xamarin Forms', 'iOS App Development', 'Android App Development'] |
Kotlin sealed class with generic covariance | Covariance as a contract with strict rules make class type predictable and safe.
Covariance approach let us to narrow the type of certain method, by example: Int type is a part of super type Any.
Kotlin provides ‘In’, ‘out’ reserved keywords — to enhance our tools of using covariance/contravariance.
For ‘in’ generic, we could assign a class of super-type to class of sub-type. But for ‘out’ generic, we could assign a class of sub-type to class of super-type.
If our class used generic type as the output of the function, we use ‘ out ’ in covariance logic. We pass type as a parameter to the Interface to be strict and concise in terms of functionality we use. ‘ Out ’ indicates that T is intended to be produced by the methods of this class.
In fact,
1. Use in when super type could be assigned sub type.
2. Use out when sub type could be assigned to super type.
With courtesy of Kt.Academy by Marcin Moskala
By example, in real world we need to show a set of possibilities: class with a methods about Success, Failure or Proceeding state.
Sure, first thing we can use enum . But enum have their limitations: each sub type can be only a constant and it has no state.
Interface
Let’s start to investigate from the beginning. In most simple case we can use regular approach —interface as a contract of available methods. We override predefined methods in custom class:
Also we can use classic try {} catch {} finally {}. It often makes an unreadable mess like this:
But such code is hard to read. We overfilled with a bundle of code and sometimes not so obvious to get certain exception of particular method.
Kotlin provides its own approach.
It is a sealed class.
We have different types of nested classes and remain the state. Sealed class allows us to represent hierarchies. And it prevents inheritance, this class is sealed, so use nested child classes.
Sealed class over abstract class:
Sealed class is abstract by default, so we can define nested child classes of the parent sealed class.
Sure, we can use simple plain sealed class, but it is so boring. More interesting is to play with Generics and pass type as parameter.
Generics hierarchy allows us to be more flexible, because most of these result class hierarchies look pretty similar: the same names and properties.
Covariance provides keyword out when sub type could be assigned to super type. It motivates us to work with that type and be type-safe.
My full example looks like this:
Additional bonus for when keyword.
When expression must be exhaustive, add necessary ‘Loading’ branch or else branch instead. It can be applied to enforce that a when statement is exhaustive.
val <T> T.exhaustive: T
get() = this
This extension property helps us not to get a error from the editor and compiler: “‘when’ expression must be exhaustive, add necessary ‘is Error’ branch or ‘else’ branch instead”
when(val result = getResult()) {
is Result.Success -> println(“succeeded”)
is Result.Error -> println(result.cause?.message)
}.exhaustive
Deep into the sea of code by stairs…
Conclusion
Use sealed class to avoid type errors and follow the predefined methods. | https://medium.com/dev-genius/kotlin-sealed-class-with-generic-covariance-7e33875e7002 | ['Aleksei Jegorov'] | 2020-10-16 08:07:23.993000+00:00 | ['Generics', 'Sealed Classes', 'Covariance', 'Kotlin', 'When'] |
Post 8: Why spirituality needs to be individual | Any adult anywhere in the world who has ever heard of social events knows that war is an unforgiving and eternal aspect of society. Most of these people also know that religion is a major contributor and cause of strife. Whether it is the war between Sunnis and Shiites, two factions of the religion of Islam, in the Middle East, or the persecution of Jews by, well, everyone, religious wars and persecutions exist and have existed for thousands of years. I do not know why differences in religion make people want to kill each other. Many of these religions, such as Judaism and Islam, come from the same family of ancient men who were chosen by god to lead. Islam’s holy prophet Muhammed was a descendant of Judaism’s Abraham, yet Jews and Muslims have been warring for thousands of years. Even today in America, I have many Jewish friends whose parents would disown them if they ever married or dated a Muslim.
Considering this, as well as other Inquisitions, persecutions, and holocausts, it is safe to say that religion can be very dangerous. Apparently, the threat of someone else disagreeing with your beliefs in god warrants violence and the need to get rid of those opposing individuals. I don’t understand this. I understand thinking that someone’s views on god are outright crazy, but if those people aren’t causing harm to anyone, why do others feel they need to be punished?
This, I think, is where the corruption of true messages of prophets and “chosen ones” comes into play. If there is one message that Jesus and the Bible stressed, it is to love one another and to love god. The same can be said of the Quran, and I’m sure Jews would not disagree with this message either. Faiths such as Buddhism and Hinduism stress reaching enlightenment or becoming the best version of yourself, and while these ideals are more Eastern and abstract, such concepts can be found in the Torah, Bible, and Quran as well.
Let me criticize the corruption of Christian messages first.
CATHOLICISM: hard to even be considered “Christian” at this point. Yes, they love Jesus and do all this stuff for him, but they have loooong missed the point. They make other Catholics pray to Mary as well, and believe in confessional booths as a way to be forgiven of their sins. The main issue with all of this is that they have appointed priests, bishops, and a Pope to exist as figureheads in a hierarchical structure of religion. Why and how are priests given the ability to forgive people of their sins? According to true Christianity and biblical teachings, only god has that power. Priests and popes were not mentioned by Jesus and not mentioned in the Bible, so how do they have the authority and the claim that they have a direct line with god? Does saying 40 “Hail Mary’s” absolve you of your wrong doings? Really?
These concepts infuriate me because they manipulate people into feeling guilty all the time and tricking them into thinking that “holy men” like priests have more power than them. Maybe priests are generally more devoted to serving god, but maybe they also molest altar boys. Priests are humans, and if the thinking is that Jesus died for our sins, then what the hell is the point of priests. Priests, if anything, should be regarded as interpreters and teachers of the faith. They are given man-made, not god-given, power over individuals, and this is insane. | https://medium.com/writing-the-ship/post-8-why-spirituality-needs-to-be-individual-ad77fe6338c1 | ['Katarina M'] | 2016-12-08 01:38:37.475000+00:00 | ['Religion', 'Islam'] |
‘Each morning we are born again. What we do today, is what matters most.’ Buddha | ‘Each morning we are born again. What we do today, is what matters most.’ Buddha
Intellectually we all know it. One day we will die. It’s not a reality we allow ourselves to get too caught up in, though. It’s more important to make time for living. But sometimes that reality lands on the doorstep, an untimely thud, and ready or not, you are left with one choice, how to deal with it.
I’d like share with you, the inspirational story of Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He died of pancreatic cancer, some years ago at the ripe old age of forty-seven. With a wife and three children, and in the midst of pursuing a successful career in science, he would have been forgiven for thinking he had many years ahead of him.
But he didn’t!
He could have been forgiven for being angry.
But he wasn’t. | https://medium.com/@mariarattray/each-morning-we-are-born-again-what-we-do-today-is-what-matters-most-buddha-5346e8cee236 | ['Maria Rattray'] | 2020-12-27 05:18:49.821000+00:00 | ['Quotes About Life', 'Living With Purpose', 'Death And Dying', 'Acceptance', 'Gratitude'] |
11 Down, One to Go | 11 Down, One to Go
Nooooo! I found myself back on the canvas, reeling and trying to catch my breath.
Unsplash by Pablo Rebolledo
Enduring eleven rounds with a professional fighter is what 2020 meant to me. No rules. A hostile and, at best, indifferent referee. No bells. Just intimate contacts with fists, feet, knees, and the mat. Job loss, a prostate scare, and family declining health issues have made the year quite the challenge.
Through it all, I would not have been able to get back up without music. It is the language of the cosmos and holds great power. I have been singing (or croaking in some circles) for my entire life. only in the last several years, I’ve learned to use singing, specifically karaoke, to manage social anxiety improve my presentation skills and boost my confidence.
I sing at home. I sing in my car. I sing whenever I have an opportunity and people aren’t looking at me strangely (family included.) I had been hosting karaoke events for family and business. I visited different locations and was mission-driven to go to a karaoke spot in each locale I visited across the United States. I discovered Smule™, an online karaoke platform allowing me the opportunity to sing with others across the globe. And I found the ultimate joy, frequenting live band karaoke venues, the closest thing to being a real performer that I could ever hope to achieve.
Then the pandemic hit, my head bleeding so profusely I could barely see. No more public singing.
Fortunately, as a cheap and tawdry substitute, I leaned into Smule™ heavily. morning, noon, night time, I’d find a spot to croon away my troubles, boosting my endorphins and improving my vocal skills. I’d learn tunes in Portuguese, Tagalog, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, and Indian, not necessarily well but learned. Practice makes better, never perfect. And I learned how to upload songs that I wanted to sing and share with others.
I felt confident about staying off the canvas and holding my own until the music publishing referee got involved. Bruce Springsteen had just released his single of Hello Sunshine © to YouTube and, in my excitement, uploaded a karaoke version to Smule™. Others were joining and performing their interpretations of the new hit. Then one day, I clicked on the link to see “This song has been disabled for licensing reasons.” Oh well.
As I got faster and more efficient and uploading obscure, esoteric, or forgotten tunes to Smule™, the referee got more involved in the match. No more Bruce Springsteen songs. No more Elvis Costello songs. No more Paul Simon, Led Zeppelin, or Cream.
The spinning back kicks to my gut was the news that Bob Dylan sold his rights to Universal Music Publishing Group.
America’s Bard? Nooooo! I found myself back on the canvas, reeling and trying to catch my breath.
I fully understand and respect the need to recognize artists’ creative output and products. But I also believe that creativity is not man-made, we are merely channels by which the universe expresses itself and makes itself known to us in a language we can receive.
We should have dialogue and discuss compromise around creative expression, especially as others choose to honor artists by interpreting their works. It must start with proper attributions for the creators.
I write this as I mourn the loss of classic Dylan interpretations I’ve heard, song, and uploaded.
Things will never return as they were. Any opportunities to share the language of music should be enhanced as a public good, not put on the shelf as an additional revenue stream.
And, for Christ’s sake, ring the damn bell!
NeuroBadger | https://medium.com/the-venting-machine/eleven-down-one-to-go-b81876cc92eb | [] | 2020-12-20 21:37:42.795000+00:00 | ['Music Publishing', 'Musical Expression', 'Artist Rights', 'Karaoke', 'Creative Rights'] |
On Empathy | Wandering Mind #009
The paramedics came to my neighbor’s house again today. I could see the firetruck lights flashing outside my living room window, but the siren was thankfully off. They had come last week as well, and a couple weeks before that. I heard a woman come out of my neighbor’s house and speak to the paramedics. He’s fallen, she said calmly. He’s not hurt. I just can’t get him up. The paramedics looked at each other.
My first thought was, why hadn’t he called me? I didn’t know the woman, she was the new live-in helper I suppose. But Frank had my phone number. I guess Frank is stubborn, and might feel like he’s already been a burden to me. Or maybe he forgets.
I see Frank many times each week while I’m out walking my dog. He also walks his dog, a little old chihuahua named Hot Shot. Frank has to ride on his electric scooter while taking Hot Shot around the neighborhood. I stop to chat with him, and he tells me stories of his life, of when he used to buy and sell real estate, of his vague connections with the Italian mob, and of when he was a competitive swimmer. I enjoy the stories, and I think he really needs someone to listen.
Some days Frank tells me he’s 89 years old, and other days it’s 92 years old. I’m not sure whether he increases the number when he’s looking for more sympathy, or whether he just forgets.
One time, he told me about how he saw a fire truck coming through our neighborhood, and paramedics coming out. He rolled his scooter up to chat with them, and asked them where they were going. They told him an apartment number. That’s my apartment! he exclaimed. Apparently he had accidentally pressed his life alert button, unknowingly calling in the cavalry. He gave a big, glowing laugh as he told me this. Another time, I helped him set up a What’s App account so he could talk to his family in Italy. It took about three minutes of my time, and he was so grateful, joy beaming from his face.
Frank has several teeth missing, a bald head, a round belly, and a bad back. He brings up his back pain a lot. He has an opioid prescription for it. At first, I thought, why not? He’s in his nineties (or so) after all.
But Frank takes his pills too fast, and he runs out before he can fill his next prescription. One day he asked me to drive him to a doctor’s appointment. He was in a lot of pain, and had run out of pills. This doctor would give him something to tide him over before his next refill, but he couldn’t drive himself. He was a little shaky, and spoke in short, sharp sentences.
I drove Frank to the doctor, but it turns out he actually didn’t have an appointment. The receptionist said it would be a couple of hours. Frank started moaning about how he couldn’t wait that long, tone alternating between irritated and desperate. There was another guy in the lobby with a lot of tattoos wearing a jersey and backwards hat. He told Frank he could cut ahead of him. They went out to share a cigarette while I sat in the lobby, reading a book.
Finally, Frank was called to the back. The nurse handed him a urine sample cup. He told her he didn’t have to go. She told him he could come back anther day then. He got an angry look on his face, and went back to the bathroom to try. After several minutes he came out, saying he couldn’t go. He whispered to me, maybe you can take this back there and do this for me? gesturing at the cup. I told him I couldn’t do that. We waited until closing time at the clinic, and when he still couldn’t go, we left and went home. He was quiet in the car.
Later that evening I got a voicemail from Frank. He asked if I was going out and, if I was, could I maybe buy him a pack of cigarettes on the way. The cigarettes take the edge off the pain, and he was in a lot of pain. I didn’t say much to him, but I went out and bought the cigarettes. I left them on his porch, knocked, and went back to my apartment before he opened the door.
A week later, Frank caught me walking my dog again. He apologized profusely, telling me he didn’t know what had come over him. Can you imagine, me dragging you to the doc and having you buy me cigarettes? he said. I told him not to worry about it, it was fine. He sat slumped on his scooter, looking at his feet, as Hot Shot tugged at his leash. The pain, you know. When I run out of pills, I just become a different person. I know, Frank.
Since then, he doesn’t stop to chat with me as much. He waves and says hello, but quickly scooters on his way. I mentioned earlier that he has a new live-in helper. The last one was Frank’s cousin. I didn’t see her much, but I remember her describing Frank as difficult. Then one day she left. We haven’t heard from her since.
I’m going to try to be there for Frank as best I can. But I also know Frank is an addict. I don’t always know what to do for someone like that, but at least if he calls, I’ll answer. And after that, I’ll do the best I can.
Links this week
Now for something a little more light hearted. I recently stumbled across the beauty of short animated films on the internet. Here are two of my favorites recently. The first, Less Than Human, imagines the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse where some of the zombies are “rehabilitated” back to their human personalities (warning: some gore, but no violence). The second is called REBOOTED, which stars an animated skeleton as a has-been action movie actor facing a world where he is being replaced by technology. Enjoy!
— -
That’s all for this week. If you found any of this enjoyable, I’d be grateful if you shared it with a friend. Until next time, stay curious and take care of those around you.
Taylor
Originally published at www.taylorscheinblum.com
Sign up for this newsletter here. Thank you! | https://medium.com/@taylorscheinblum/on-empathy-1a7450699be8 | ['Taylor Scheinblum'] | 2021-01-06 22:56:14.490000+00:00 | ['Addiction', 'Empathy', 'Neighbors', 'Hot Shot'] |
Dear Harper | Welcome to the world little mockingbird
Dear Harper,
What a world you have woken up into. A world consumed by chaos, forest fires and famine, one step down from a religious plague and maybe one and a half down from a dystopian zombie apocalypse. You’ll find that ‘adults’ will complain that every year is worse than the year before but for the most part, that isn’t true. Most of the time, we lose perspective when bad things happen to us and we forget about all the good things that are simultaneously going on alongside them. However, let me be the first to tell you that in the case of 2020, they aren’t lying. We haven’t had the best starts honestly and I’m sure you will grow up hearing about it endlessly so that you will feel like you were there, well I suppose you were.
Adults will tell you that the news is this depressing machine that churns out all of the horrendous acts going on all over the world while we watch mindlessly, day after day, as nothing changes. I’m sorry to say that there will be times in your life that you feel that way and sometimes the bad parts will be all you will be able to see. Truth be told, I feel that way all the time, especially now. We can’t stop ourselves from feeling this way, life and the world we live in can be this unpredictable force that doesn’t always feel kind. However, just because you don’t see it, doesn’t always mean that it isn’t there. What did I say about perspective? The bad things in the world do not negate all of the good. This virus you were born into is terrible, it has claimed so many lives, indiscriminately and mercilessly. Nonetheless, there are times that it has brought the very best out of humanity. By pausing the world, creativity and kindness have slipped through that depressing machine. The streets have been filled with music and clapping, gratitude for people like your dad who have been there, helping us through the dark times. It has shown the depth of human kindness and that no matter how difficult a situation gets, people will ultimately band together even if that means right now that they have to stay apart. Finally, it has let us regain perspective. We have taken a step back and re-evaluated what is important to us; family, friends, protecting our planet and standing up for the people and creatures that live here. It has refocused and reminded us not to take the beautiful and wonderful things that happen on a daily basis for granted. In other words, not to take moments like this without acknowledging how miraculous they are. Since you are that beautiful and wonderful thing that has come into our lives when things could not have felt more bleak.
I have caught myself thinking about the kind of woman you are going to grow up to be and the kind of things you are going to grow up to do. I think about all of the amazing things that you are going to learn and the incredible experiences that you will have. You have a whole lifetime ahead of you to enjoy it all and I cannot wait to witness you doing so.
Your name sake said it best really, Harper Lee, the author of one of the most thought-provoking and moving novels of the 20th century wrote that:
“People generally get what they look for, and hear what they listen for”.
Let me wish that you only see joy and kindness and that you only hear love and mockingbirds.
Waiting impatiently with love,
Becca x | https://medium.com/blame-becca/dear-harper-71f3cfd5d7be | ['Becca Carey'] | 2020-06-30 09:48:29.852000+00:00 | ['Baby', 'Family', 'Opinion', 'Love', 'Harper Lee'] |
My Story :) | Hello and thanks for reading! I started this journey as a way to get feelings out in a judgement free zone. It seems that no matter who you talk to, someone always has something negative to respond with. So are they really supporting you or judging you? I can never tell anymore. Anyway, enough of my ranting. My name is Michaela. I am 23 years old from a small town in Pennsylvania. I have been with my husband, Francis for 7 years- 2 of which we have been married. When we are both not working , we love spending time with our 2 American Bully dogs Scarlett and Yogi.
Around 3 years ago, I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. This is something I am still struggling to accept but each day gets better and better. Fast forward to December of 2019, Francis and I decided we wanted to expand our family. We were so excited for a tiny baby to be around. I cannot tell you the amount of dreams I had where I could see a baby near one of us. Here I am tearing up just reliving those feelings. Here we are April of 2021, and we still have no baby. Dealing with mental illness is hard enough but add in infertility and things seem so impossible. Hence the blog, I need something that is not going to biased, that is raw and real. I know this journey won’t be easy but I hope by doing this I will also help someone is struggling as well.
Michaela | https://medium.com/@mldavitt/my-story-95acb8856e17 | ['Michaela Davitt'] | 2021-04-13 19:28:07.641000+00:00 | ['Support', 'Infertility', 'Anxiety', 'Depression', 'Awareness'] |
IND vs SA: Cheteshwar Pujara’s troubles are not ending, now this shameful record is attached to his name | IND vs SA: Cheteshwar Pujara’s troubles are not ending, now this shameful record is attached to his name Speed news Dec 27, 2021·3 min read
India vs South Africa: Cheteshwar Pujara could not show any miracle in the first innings of the first test match between India and South Africa. He got out without scoring any run. With this, a shameful record has been added to his name.
Shameful record attached to Pujara’s name KL Rahul scored a brilliant century Ajinkya Rahane did wonders
Centurion: The first test match of the three-Test series between India and South Africa is being played in Centurion. Openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal have played brilliant innings in this match. At the same time, the flop show of the team’s star batsman Cheteshwar Pujara continues. Pujara could not score any runs in this match and returned to the pavilion without opening the account. With this, a shameful record has been added to his name. Let us know about this record.
Cheteshwar Pujara, once called the wall of Team India, is struggling with very poor form. Runs are not coming out of his bat. Cheteshwar Pujara got out without scoring any run against South Africa. With this, a shameful record has been added to the name of this dashing batsman. He has become the batsman to be dismissed for zero most times while batting at number three. In this case, he has broken the record of former cricketer Dilip Vengsakar. Pujara could not open the account for the ninth time while playing at number three. Team India’s current coach and former batsman Rahul Dravid is at number three in this matter. He has been out seven times without opening an account at number three.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s bat has been silent for a long time. Scoring runs for him has become like chewing iron gram. In the first match against New Zealand, Pujara could not perform according to his name. He scored 26 runs in the first innings and only 22 runs in the second innings. Cheteshwar Pujara has not been able to score any century in Test cricket since the year 2019. Indian selectors have given him many opportunities. Many youngsters who have done well in domestic cricket are ready to take his place. If his bat does not work even in the second innings against South Africa, then he is sure to go out of the team. Young Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari are ready to take his place. There has also been criticism for Pujara’s slow pace. He has scored 6542 runs in 91 test matches for India.
The Indian team’s openers played a bang in the first innings against South Africa. KL Rahul has remained frozen at the crease even after scoring a scintillating century. He scored 122 runs. At the same time, Mayank Agarwal contributed 60 runs. Cheteshwar Pujara and captain Virat Kohli have not been able to show any special feat. Ajinkya Rahane is present at the crease after scoring 40 runs. After the end of the first day’s play, the Indian team made 272 runs at the loss of three wickets. | https://medium.com/@bhalalamulan/ind-vs-sa-cheteshwar-pujaras-troubles-are-not-ending-now-this-shameful-record-is-attached-to-his-852f89d2c207 | ['Speed News'] | 2021-12-27 03:08:35.995000+00:00 | ['Sports', 'India', 'Cricket'] |
For Chemistry Lab, Raid the Pantry for Raw Materials | By Charlie Cox
Editor’s Note: This is part of an occasional series of essays by Duke faculty members whose normal fall 2020 class routines were disrupted by the pandemic. These essays will examine how faculty adapted.
I teach Chem 101, and to give students a realistic laboratory experience this fall, I used a combination of simulations and at-home experiments using ingredients they might find in their pantry or the baking section of the grocery store.
Students completed simulations during the first half of the semester for the more abstract content, which included experiments and content normally not covered in the laboratory. For the second half of the semester, we gave students reagents such as vinegar, crème of tartar, food coloring, and other household items to complete experiments associated with kinetics and acid-base chemistry while at home. We designed assessments for both the simulation and at-home experiments that emphasized data analysis and interpretation because of the importance of this objective in the chemistry curriculum.
My lecture component was likewise changed to provide additional materials for students. We prepared videos for each of the learning objectives for Chem 101. We decided to make these “ShowMe” videos ourselves to provide students in-house Duke materials to ensure quality and depth. I recalibrated my lectures to include a review of the content and included problem-solving activities, since students had some familiarity with the content prior to lecture by watching the “ShowMe” videos.
In lecture, I encouraged students to participate in discussions by posting responses to the chat in Zoom and by asking questions of everyone or sending them privately to me. I tend to move slower as a result of monitoring the chat and trying to gauge student understanding during lecture. I changed my office hours to include an emphasis upon problem solving and discussion. I used a synchronous approach in lecture because of the importance of building a classroom community. The laboratory component also used a synchronous approach; we recorded all Zoom sessions, including office hours to provide flexibility for students in different time zones. We modified the grading structure to incorporate more lower stakes activities such as homework assignments, discussion problems, and weekly quizzes to lower the weight associated with each of the mid-term exams.
The result: Teaching on Zoom did have many challenges. I’ve always been a chalkboard professor, so I had to learn new technology quickly. I had students in Durham but also in Thailand and Australia; therefore, I am sure taking lectures and laboratories were quite challenging for these students given the time differences. Despite my personal struggles and struggles students may have faced, my students did very well. I had an amazing group of students who helped motivate me to go above and beyond during my first semester at Duke. Office hours using a problem-solving approach proved to be quite effective and will be something I continue to do once face-to-face instruction resumes.
In addition, we now have a set of videos that will help us create a more interactive classroom in the future that will focus teaching content and provide a greater focus upon problem solving. Finally, I’ve learned the pros and cons of using simulations in lieu of and for supplementing laboratory experiences. My research group plans to focus upon educational benefits of simulations and aid in developing evidence-based practices for incorporating simulations in lectures and laboratories.
Charlie Cox is an associate professor of the practice of chemistry at Duke University | https://medium.com/dukeuniversity/for-chemistry-lab-raid-the-pantry-for-raw-materials-a6005374fb2c | ['Duke University'] | 2020-12-17 13:06:45.577000+00:00 | ['Duke University', 'Science Education', 'Covid Diaries', 'Higher Education', 'Chemistry'] |
Leopard mp3 Free Audio Clips Pack 3 | Hi Maker! This playlist contains leopard Sound Effects Pack 3. You can use these mp3 files for Youtube video making, Adobe Premier, Adobe After Effects, Powerpoint, Twitch and more! We hope that it will help you in your creation! Sub: wild_animals
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Dear friend, if you are looking for audio effects for your videos, podcasts, or anything else, our website happy to help you with this task! We work hard to find the best sound effects in the internet, also we self-record some sounds in our small studio, free to share with you for a small marketing survey or a small donation to the development of our resource. All the leopard mp3 free audio clips you can use in any project, as they do not have copyrights and distributed freely. Thank you for your interest in us! | https://medium.com/@wwwfreesoundlive/leopard-mp3-free-audio-clips-pack-3-e9e94656eb8b | [] | 2020-04-23 16:55:28.753000+00:00 | ['Angry', 'Anger', 'Aggressive'] |
My Grandmother likes to wear skirts | Picture designed by meeee, lol
“My Grandmother likes to wear skirts. She don’t know what she can do.
Her time says it’s Six o’clock. We are ready to comb our hair; we are ready to brush our teeth. St… jk, jk” — Nigerian Rhyme (well, most of it)
-
My Grandmother likes to wear skirts.
She had a pair of shoes that went with each skirt she wore, no matter the color.
The entire village nicknamed her “madam koinkoin”
But my grandmother paid no attention to them.
On Mondays, On Fridays.
In the mornings, in the evenings.
To church, to the market.
It didn’t matter.
Wherever my grandmother went, her skirts danced along.
Nobody knew why but for me.
Grandmother had told me one day, as she pointed at the pictures of my grandfather in the family album.
She said he worked with the whites.
His boss was a kind woman who feared the Lord.
From time to time, his boss would send gifts to her through my grandfather, skirts.
But she would refuse to touch them because she hated the fact that her husband served a woman.
It was not as if she hated it, exactly.
It was just that people taunted her.
They said she was married to a fellow woman because a real man would never serve a woman.
That it was a white woman that he served made it an even greater abomination.
And so, not only would she refuse to touch the gifts, she would nag, and nag, and nag.
One day, my grandfather had enough.
He resigned from his job, even though it paid him well and provided more than enough for the family.
My grandmother was pregnant with my mother, and he didn’t want to see her nag in her current position.
So he gave up one thing for another.
After quitting his job, Grandpa went back to his old job, palm wine tapping.
On the second day, after he started tapping wine again, he fell from a palm tree and died.
Suddenly, it didn’t matter again what job he did or who bossed him.
The moment she pulled off her mourning dress, my grandmother wore skirts.
It has been 37 years, but my grandmother has worn a skirt every day of her life since then.
My grandmother likes to wear skirts.
It’s a reminder of what really matters and how people’s opinions can end a man if you let it. | https://medium.com/@ugothekipepeo/my-grandmother-likes-to-wear-skirts-e75e235411 | ['Nnebuugo Paul.'] | 2021-06-03 07:25:48.676000+00:00 | ['Patriarchy', 'Grandmother', 'People', 'Family', 'Rhymes'] |
Intimate Hygiene Products: Feminine Wipes | Feminine wipes are moist, sometimes scented cleansing cloths designed to clean the vaginal area as well as the anal area. It is used to wipe the vulva during menstruation or to prevent infections. However, one should not use it inside the vagina.
They are used for a quick wipe down after exercising when no shower is available, to clean up the blood leakage during menstruation, after sexual intercourse, or as a quick shower alternative when we are strapped for time.
However, if we are prone to yeast infections or having a problem with unfamiliar odor then it is not best to use such wipes rather than be advised to consult a gynecologist.
The best feminine wipes are made of natural ingredients and free of harmful chemicals such as Parabens, alcohols, dyes, and fragrances. Following are some of the ingredients used in a cloth-like material:
Water, which makes the wipes wet by providing moisture.
The mild surfactant removes oil and dirt from the skin
Moisturizer to offset the oil-stripping effect of the surfactant.
Preservatives to prevent the growth of bacteria and mold on the wipes inside of the container.
A pH regulator, especially for wipes that claim to be “pH- balanced.”
Fragrance
As the wipes are moist, they simply wipe down the mucus, sweat, white discharge, and blood without the use of water.
Direction for use:
Tear open sachet, Open and unfold wipes, Thoroughly wipe down the external private area in a front to back direction, After cleansing properly dispose of it.
Feminine wipes are available in online stores, medical stores, and pharmacy shops but they are quite unreachable to rural areas of Nepal. People of rural areas are often unaware of such wipes.
During pregnancy, it is not advised to use scented wipes as they might cause irritation and may upset the delicate acid/alkali balance of the vagina.
Try to avoid wipes containing harmful chemicals such as:
2-Bromo-2-nitro-1,3-propanediol
DMDM hydantoin
Undisclosed fragrance
Parabens
PEGs
Phenoxyethanol
Methylisothiazolinone
Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate (SLS)
It will be great if a pregnant woman uses natural intimate wipes containing lavender oil and lactic acid. Lavender oil soothes and helps eliminate odor as well as maintains freshness. Lactic acid naturally helps preserve the integrity of our vaginal flora, preventing infection and irritation.
Right after giving birth, it is better to use hemorrhoidal wipes with witch hazel than regular feminine wipes. Feminine wipes and baby wipes are similar. In some cases, baby wipes are thicker and larger than feminine wipes.
Precautions:
While using feminine wipes, we should not wipe from anus to vagina as it may transmit bacteria towards the urethra or vagina which might cause infection such as UTI later. The bacterias in the rectum and anus are normal for the bowel to have but when these bacterias are exposed to other organs then, it may cause harm, for example, E. coli which exists harmlessly in our gastrointestinal tracts but when exposed to the urethra or vagina it may cause potential health problems.
Similarly, bacterial vaginosis is a common infection caused due to the overgrowth of bacteria in the vagina.
2. We should not wipe or rub our vagina too vigorously as it may cause microabrasions and infections. wipe it off gently.
3. We should not use a single wipe more than once. Wipes are not reusable. Used wipes are not advised to use for next time. It should be disposed of right away.
Conclusion
In conclusion, feminine wipes can be a great helpful product to clean intimate areas while traveling where we have to use public toilets. It has great advantages in an emergency case where water is not available for cleaning the private parts, especially during menstruation. It can be used in day to day life if it is free from harmful chemicals. However, there are many feminine wipes on the market that are made up of harmful chemicals such as methylchloroisothiazolinone, iodopropynyl butylcarbamate, formaldehyde releasers, etc, which not only imbalance the pH level of the vagina but also causes infections. Such wipes do more harm than good. Therefore, we should be careful while buying intimate wipes. It is better to use wipes once a day instead of using them many times in a day.
Similarly, Wipes are non-biodegradable which when flushed usually clog the septic tank and sewer system. It is also expensive. Not everyone can afford it daily. It is not a cost-friendly product.
In my opinion, wipes should only be used in case of an emergency as the vagina is a self-cleaning organ that does not require frequent cleaning. Although it has wonderful benefits, the harmful chemicals inside it are a serious threat to our health. If our vagina has an unusually strong odor, we should consult a medical person instead of wiping it with chemicals. We should not expect our vagina to smell like flowers as a certain amount of vaginal odor is normal. Pregnant women should be careful while choosing feminine wipes brands.
References:
https://www.womensvoices.org/feminine-wipes-health-environment-concerns/ | https://medium.com/swastha-naari/intimate-hygiene-products-feminine-wipes-e82c7096da98 | ['Ani Sha'] | 2020-12-24 13:09:07.046000+00:00 | ['Women Hygiene', 'Womens Health', 'Intimate Hygiene Products', 'Feminine Wipes', 'Covid 19'] |
Top 10 React Hook Libraries | Top 10 React Hook Libraries
React Hooks are a function type that allows you to hook into React state and lifecycle features. This feature was first introduced on React 16.8 update, and since then, it has become an essential part of any React application.
So, as web developers, we should know the best method for implementing React Hooks, and this article will discuss the top 10 React Hook libraries that can be easily used in your next React project.
One thing to keep in mind when using React hooks is that they are composable. That means you should think of them as reusable stateful-logic building blocks that can be used to compose new larger and more complex hooks — just as you would with UI components.
For example, the following hook, use-jokes is a composition of two other hooks, use-local-jokes and use-remote-jokes . It fetches tech jokes from a remote API and manages these jokes in the local storage.
As you can see, these hooks are all exported as independent components. Making them available for reuse/collaboration in other Bit workspaces. Having the two functionalities separated as two independent React hooks, making them far more reusable and composable. | https://blog.bitsrc.io/top-10-react-hook-libraries-ca284ab3ae1d | ['Piumi Liyana Gunawardhana'] | 2021-05-11 02:52:48.409000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Hooks', 'Front End Development', 'React', 'React Hook'] |
If Democrats Take the Senate, Thank Bernie Sanders. | If Democrats Take the Senate, Thank Bernie Sanders.
No one in Government is fighting harder for the people than the Senator from Vermont, and it could benefit the party politically.
Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images
Over the past few weeks in particular, as the situation for millions of Americans grows increasingly dire in the midst of an only worsening pandemic and economic crisis, watching our lawmakers attempt to nickel and dime their constituents has left me admittedly even more cynical than I was before. That said, one of the few silver linings I have still managed to find with electoral politics has been and continues to be Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and his fight with ever-increasing intensity to get the American people the $2000 checks they deserve. Putting aside how fundamentally necessary these checks are, the piece of me who enjoys analysis of political strategy can’t help admiring Bernie’s current efforts. All things considered, there’s no denying that if Democrats do manage to take the Senate after the Georgia runoff election on January 5th, they’ll have Bernie Sanders to thank.
Madison Hall with Business Insider writes:
“Recent polling from Insider and SurveyMonkey showed that 72% of respondents who voted for Trump believe that the stimulus checks should be greater than $600. Conversely, one-in-ten Trump-voting respondents said the stimulus checks should be $0, or effectively no second stimulus check at all. …According to the same survey from Insider and SurveyMonkey, 86% of Biden voters said the stimulus checks should be greater than $600, 49% of Biden voters said the checks should be $2,000 or more, and 76% of all respondents said the stimulus checks should be $1,000 or larger.”
While Bernie might not be a favorite among those in the inner circles of the Democratic party and their donor class, I’m not sure even the most conservative Democrat could deny that Bernie fighting so visibly and aggressively for these desperately needed and politically popular relief checks is certainly helping the party during this electorally consequential time. During a period where it seems as though more right wing politicians are understanding the benefits of adopting populist ideas in their platforms — Donald Trump and Senator Josh Hawley among them — Bernie’s outspoken, principled, and passionate efforts have made him the face of the fight for these checks. Not only has Bernie become the face of the fight for these checks, he’s done so in a manner that will not merely make the Democrats look good, but most importantly his strategy has ensured there’s an excellent chance that the American people will get more much-needed relief.
Just before the election that will determine control of the Senate, Bernie’s stance has ensured that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is backed up into a corner, pressuring him to the fullest extent to get the American people relief. After McConnell made the already-anticipated move of blocking the stand alone bill that would provide the $2000 checks, Bernie took to Twitter to write:
“Two-thirds of the House voted to provide $2,000 in direct payments to the working class. Now it’s the Senate’s turn to do that — no excuses. Unless McConnell agrees to a vote on $2,000 relief checks, Congress will be spending New Year’s Eve in the Capitol.”
Linked to the tweet was an article published in the Washington Post, describing how Bernie has vowed to block the Senate’s vote on the Defense Spending Bill before the holidays if they do not bring the House’s bill for the $2000 checks to a vote. Using the fact that the President himself supports the $2000 checks as leverage just before the Georgia elections, Bernie is making it explicitly clear to McConnell that he either holds a vote on these desperately needed checks, or he gets no defense bill and jeopardizes Republican chances in an incredibly close Senate race that will determine the fate of his power.
Not only is Bernie doing everything he possibly can to ensure that the American people get this relief, he’s showing people what is actually possible when Democrats use the leverage they often act as though they do not have. Once again, Bernie is showing countless demoralized and apolitical people that they can and should expect better. While I still remain admittedly jaded and skeptical about what a Democratic Senate controlled by the likes of Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin will get done, if nothing else it is none other than Bernie Sanders who would be in charge of the Budget Committee. I’d like to think that there’s at least a few voters in Georgia watching this unfold, and being inspired to vote by Bernie’s fight.
As I said before, if Democrats take the Senate, there’s no denying they have Bernie to thank. | https://medium.com/discourse/if-democrats-take-the-senate-thank-bernie-sanders-cf4e3f7e5cb4 | ['Lauren Elizabeth'] | 2020-12-29 23:42:23.720000+00:00 | ['Government', 'Elections', 'Bernie Sanders', 'Democrats', 'Politics'] |
What does it take to raise capital, in SaaS, in 2020? | What does it take to raise capital, in SaaS, in 2020?
How does the SaaS Funding Napkin look like in this crazy year?
If you were hoping that this post would contain the definitive answers to these questions, I’ll have to disappoint you and ask you for some patience. Sorry. It’s not like we have no idea at all — we’ve obviously seen a lot of financing rounds, inside and outside of our portfolio, and we’ve made a number of new SaaS investments ourselves. But we’re hoping that some of the nice people reading this post will help us improve the quality of our answers.
But let’s take a quick step back. About four years ago, we tried to come up with a back-of-a-napkin answer to the question of what it takes to raise capital in SaaS. The rest is SaaS history. OK, that’s a little pretentious, let’s say it’s napkin history. 😜 In any case, it’s become a tradition for us to ask that question and publish an updated version of the napkin once a year. ¹⁾
In the first two years, the napkin data was based on what we had seen in the market and anecdotal feedback from a few other investors. In 2018 and 2019 we sent out a Typeform to a much larger number of SaaS investors, so the dataset became much more solid over time.
In this (weird) year, we thought that it would be great to go beyond our network and try to get an even more comprehensive view of the market. So if you’ve raised financing for your SaaS startup in the last ~ 11 months, invested in a SaaS company, or have reliable data about your neighbor’s Series A, it would be awesome if you could answer a couple of questions: | https://medium.com/point-nine-news/what-does-it-take-to-raise-capital-in-saas-in-2020-8fc96d4ed18a | ['Christoph Janz'] | 2020-12-01 13:35:04.100000+00:00 | ['Venture Capital', 'SaaS', 'Startup'] |
The adventures of Keplar-425b | Hey guys! Back again to share my vast thoughts of the week! Today I want to talk about the long founded discovered planet called Keplar-425b! That’s right the well known planet labeled as Earths Cousin. Do you not have any idea of what that is? Let me Explain!
Keplar-425b is a exoplanet which was discovered by NASA on the 23rd of July, 2015. This was a major discovery because, believe it or not Keplar host many similar attributes to are home planet called mother Earth. It was proven that Keplar has a diameter 60% bigger than earth! That’s considered a Super-Earth!
Now, the main reason i have brought Keplar-425b to the thinker table is to discuss something with you guys.
When do you believe we will be able to reach Keplar-425b? Let it be known that Keplar is almost 1,400 Light Years away from earth! Meaning that traveling to Keplar will most definitely be a very long ride, but do you believe it would be worth it? Would you be willing to travel that far to explore a new Super-Earth?
I believe I would, Let me know what you guys think! | https://medium.com/@brandenp119/the-adventures-of-keplar-425b-b2be1f7d04ab | ['Branden Murphy'] | 2020-12-13 22:22:15.474000+00:00 | ['Astronomy', 'Interesting', 'Thoughts', 'Space'] |
Medium writers alert, alarms are sounding, but don’t fear; today I made history and updated the… | Medium writers alert, alarms are sounding, but don’t fear; today I made history and updated the format of Everything Shortform, and now all editors, except me, have become Writers, but you can still crush it like Dwayne Johnson knocks out hit movies! I didn’t want to do it but it was necessary. Some of you have expressed your willingness to aid in editing, and that sounds great to me. My head is swimming with making these changes and dealing with the holidays right now, but I think Everything Shortform needs three editors to begin with.
Gift Box from Pixabay
Please reply to this story and let me know you wish to be an editor. Remember, we will stick to the format for all future published stories in Everything Shortform.
This story is an example of an acceptable format. Top sentence bolded, maybe a link, and no more than 150 words. | https://medium.com/everything-shortform/medium-writers-alert-alarms-are-sounding-but-dont-fear-today-i-made-history-and-updated-the-6443434d0b68 | ['Greg Prince'] | 2020-12-24 22:23:50.273000+00:00 | ['Publishing', 'Everything Short Form', 'Writing Tips', 'Social Media Marketing', 'Short Form'] |
JWT claims for PSD2 HTTP message signature | Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
Ernesto Arroyo, David Calleja, Bimal Melwani.
Abstract
To comply with PSD2 Technical Requirements, both Berlin Group and STET have proposed non-standard mechanisms when there are already solid and more useful standard alternatives available.
Here at Eurobits we propose the use of a set of claims signed with JWS (JSON Web Signature) as a more reliable standard to sign PSD2 messages. It allows for a more developer-friendly and useful mechanism that is also PSD2 compliant.
In the rest of this article, we will mention this signature as JWT or JWS.
Fallback mechanism exemption using JWT
This is a mechanism that is easy to implement and to use for both Dedicated Interface access (API’s) as well as for Direct Access (fallback mechanism). It allows for the continuation of HTTPs APIs — incorrectly known as web scrapping(*)- in a safe, secure and PSD2 compliant way using JSON Web Signatures to authenticate the TPP.
When accessing via Berlin Group framework we cannot use JWT at this moment, as this specification relies on the expired and non-standard [cavage-10] draft, but we hope our proposal will be well received by interested parties and can be widely adopted for any PSD2 message (Berlin Group, STET or any other).
(*) Modern web banking interfaces use REST APIs providing structured data to Single Page Applications, for which the parsing of HTML (Web Scrapping) served by old HTTP servers is a deprecated technology.
The Berlin Group mechanism is not the best way!
Berlin Group proposes the use of draft-cavage-http-signatures-10 that has several conceptual and implementation problems. It is not a standard, so we can only rely on the draft text for the actual version:
WARNING: DO NOT IMPLEMENT THIS SPECIFICATION AND PUSH THE CODE INTO PRODUCTION. THIS VERSION OF THE SPECIFICATION IS ONLY FOR EXPERIMENTAL IMPLEMENTATIONS. (from the cavage-11-draft)
The actual draft expires on October 26, 2019. However, Berlin Group specifies using Cavage-10 which is already expired! And cavage11 has non-compatible changes over cavage10…
Cavage adds unneeded headers and the signature calculation and the signature calculation and verification is an odd mechanism when followed by the “include a newline for calculating the signature” requirement.
JWS as the RIGHT alternative
JSON Web Tokens are an open, industry-standard RFC 7519 method for representing claims securely between two parties. For PSD2 implementation we only need to be sure we add the required headers as claims.
It facilitates an easy to implement and standardized approach to using JWT for signing PSD2 requests.
The PSD2 JWT will use RSA-256 or RSA-512 as the signature mechanism, using the PSD2 QSeal issued-certificate, and can add the next claims:
Registered claims
iss (Issuer) The CN for the QSeal Certificate issued for the requesting TPP
iat (Issued At) Date/time when the token was issued, that is, the HTTP request.
exp (expiration) the same Date/time as iat. The JWS is not an access token but a set of signed claims to identify the TPP: the request was made at the same time it was created.
sub (subject) for the PSU-ID in the ASPSP web.
aud (Audience) for the request target.
Private claims
digest We will also add, when needed, (POST/PUT/PATCH) a digest claim with the SHA-256 base64 value for the payload in this HTTP verbs.
Using the hash to ensure we do not expose any critical data.
uuid a random UUID that is both a nonce cryptographic mechanism and an index to search logs if required.
The advantage for using JWT as the signature mechanism is that the signature calculation is already a standard (as JWT is, RFC 7519) and there are a lot of implementation libraries for JWT in every language.
There are debugging web and tools to ensure the proper implementation and usage as JWT is an open standard. Open standard means anybody can use it. We can use any public/private key pair by using RSA or ECDSA(Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm) encryption. It is highly compact and provides a fast data transmission rate.
Comparing cavage11 and JWT PSD2 claims
Let’s think about sending the next HTTP request:
This request is about the ING Genoma REST API; so, to be PSD2 compliance we should add a signature, let’s compare cavage-10 (expired, but the one mandated by Berlin Group) with a JWT.
To build a BG compliant signature we should:
Calculate the keyId that must be formatted as SN={serial},CA={issuer} Calculate a digest (SHA-256) for the message payload
echo -n “{”birthday”:”12/12/1984",”device”:”desktop”,”loginDocument”:{“document”:”12345678W”,”documentType”:0}” | openssl dgst -binary -sha256 | openssl base64
FBaMNP31AnqAwLuzF6O78cEWw8n0xwZDCnpUu0PkXHc=
2. Calculate the date
date -u “+%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S GMT”
Tue, 06 Aug 2019 12:22:30 GMT
3. Create a string to be signed built using a set of request headers: date, digest, x-request-id, psu-id, psu-corporate-id and tpp-redirect-uri,… in this example, we will just use the mandatory ones: digest and x-request-id
Here the order of these fields in the signing string matters and they need to be on separate lines, which is a problem — if the meaning of the message is not related to the order of the headers, why is the order critical for the signature?
You should generate a signature value that must be base-64 encoded
printf “$signingString” | openssl dgst -sha256 -sign eurobits_qsealc.pem | openssl base64 -A qz0Ae1Wh39yaX8tgHv2up8JRSAjPqI6EGJtd5vf4R88FEE4T2C+fEOyb6Nct0c2e54eqpOIToZYBBWlT4PdQVjU7vVoxTf3ISk604v24fyAi5KtSVF+r46ogiKTZwuKU8iNJHdLziXOSr891ikYZwAfZlfHG+8mVexgqfUEDKW1p1Jez4KaCz+KI6TikKy77lD4fdVepSvk+P1kFkg5EmnFylujMDZYl0abes9MRI3nHhkEOrmZVcxxzGqrl0JQlsWqtVpCWJKmpqrd770BbefQmjhoMHIRFX6bdOqwvlZMZveU3CnrmXamrFaauAtsXCm+61tkZFaJC0a1Y3==
Then you should calculate a signature header with several values to be able to validate it.
The signed request should be as:
Accept”: “*/*”
Content-Type”: “application/json; charset=utf-8”
Digest: FBaMNP31AnqAwLuzF6O78cEWw8n0xwZDCnpUu0PkXHc=
X-Request-Id: 83a47cee-f23b-4766-aabb-930e6d969ec6
Signature: keyId=“SN=B83852160,CA=FIRMA PROFESIONAL”,algorithm=“rsa-sha-256”,headers=“digest x-request-id”,signature=“qz0Ae1Wh39yaX8tgHv2up8JRSAjPqI6EGJtd5vf4R88FEE4T2C+fEOyb6Nct0c2e54eqpOIToZYBBWlT4PdQVjU7vVokTf3ISk604v24fyAi5KtSVF+r46ogiKTZwuKU8iNJHdLziXOLSr891ikYZwAfZl+8mVexgqfUEDKW1p1Jez4KaCz+KI6TikKy77lD4fdVeP1kFkg5EmnFylujMDZYl0xxes9MRI3nHhkEOrmZVcDpzGqrl0JQlsWqtVpCWJKmpqrd770BbefQmjhoMHIRFX6bdOqwvlZMZveU3CnrmXamrFaauAtsXCm+61tkZFaJC0a1Y3w==” POST https://ing.ingdirect.es/genoma_login/rest/session ”: “*/*””: “application/json; charset=utf-8”: FBaMNP31AnqAwLuzF6O78cEWw8n0xwZDCnpUu0PkXHc=: 83a47cee-f23b-4766-aabb-930e6d969ec6: keyId=“SN=B83852160,CA=FIRMA PROFESIONAL”,algorithm=“rsa-sha-256”,headers=“digest x-request-id”,signature=“qz0Ae1Wh39yaX8tgHv2up8JRSAjPqI6EGJtd5vf4R88FEE4T2C+fEOyb6Nct0c2e54eqpOIToZYBBWlT4PdQVjU7vVokTf3ISk604v24fyAi5KtSVF+r46ogiKTZwuKU8iNJHdLziXOLSr891ikYZwAfZl+8mVexgqfUEDKW1p1Jez4KaCz+KI6TikKy77lD4fdVeP1kFkg5EmnFylujMDZYl0xxes9MRI3nHhkEOrmZVcDpzGqrl0JQlsWqtVpCWJKmpqrd770BbefQmjhoMHIRFX6bdOqwvlZMZveU3CnrmXamrFaauAtsXCm+61tkZFaJC0a1Y3w==” TPP-Signature-Certificate: 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 {”birthday”:”12/12/1984",”device”:”desktop”,”loginDocument”:{“document”:”12345678W”,”documentType”:0}
(Don’t try to verify this message we have removed random chars from the data when copying here)
This strange mechanism also generates a long message because Berlin Group specifies that the certificate value is included in each request!
JWS is fun
JWT is much simpler, compact and easy as we just need to build the claims; JWT/JWS for HTTP Messages will use the claims:
And use a library among the myriad of available options to get a JWT
Algorithm algorithm = Algorithm.RS256(“secret”);
String token = JWT.create()
.withIssuer(“auth0”)
.sign(algorithm);
} catch (JWTCreationException exception){
//Invalid Signing configuration / Couldn’t convert Claims.
}
// (source: try {Algorithm algorithm = Algorithm.RS256(“secret”);String token = JWT.create().withIssuer(“auth0”).sign(algorithm);} catch (JWTCreationException exception){//Invalid Signing configuration / Couldn’t convert Claims.// (source: https://github.com/auth0/java-jwt
The only needed header is (well, plus the annoying TPP-Signature-Certificate):
Authorization: Signature eyJhbGciOiJSUxxxNiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxMjM0NTY3ODkwIiwibmFtZSI6IkpvaG4gRG9lIiwiYWRtaW4iOnRydWUsImlhdCI6MTUxNjIzOTAyMn0.POstGetfAytaZS82wHcjoTyoqhMyxXiWdR7Nn7A29DNSl0EiXLdwJ6xC6AfgZWF1bOsS_TuYI3OG85AmiExREkrS6tDfTQ2B3WXlrr-p5Aokixxz3_oB4OxG-9KcEEbDRcZc0nH3L7LzYptiy1PtAylQGxHTWZXtGz4ht0bAecBgmpdgXMguEIcoqPJ1n3pIWk_dUZegpqx0Lka21H6XxUTxiy8OcaarA8zdnPUnV6AmNP3ecFawIFYdvJB_cm-GvpCSbr8G8y_Mllj8f4x9nBH8pQux89_6gUY618iYv7tuPWBFfxxLxtF2pZS6YC1aSfLQxeNe8djT9YjpvRZA
(again, the data is an example string)
The TPP-Signature-Certificate in Berlin Group API
TPP-Signature-Certificate header is something we cannot avoid in PSD2 APIs with JWT because it is specified by Berlin Group even if it not really necessary. The iss claim should be enough, and when invoking not-Berlin-Group APIs we recommend to not include this long string.
ASPSP using JST claims for PSD2
With the claims structure of a JWT we are also adding a clear meaning to our message:
“The PSD2 licensed claims that is making this request to the indicated resource is with the consent, and on behalf, of the user (PSU).”
Of course, this is not soo different from the cavage signature but this subtle difference clearly expresses the intention and allows the ASPSP to take advantage of the JWT format and check these claims with modern and robust existing libraries:
To check the PSU has granted consent to the TPP, checking subject against issued claims.
To filter and allow the PSD2 calls of their REST APIs while providing the full API only to their own front-ends.
This filtering can be easily implemented by just asking tokens claims.
Finally, is easy to add additional claims if needed without any impact on the signing mechanism.
References
Cavage Http Signatures Draft https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-cavage-http-signatures
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-cavage-http-signatures Berlin Group NextGenPSD2 XS2A Framework Implementation Guidelines https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/c2914b_4a9b0db8c35841adb91531ef0faba4c2.pdf
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/c2914b_4a9b0db8c35841adb91531ef0faba4c2.pdf JSON Web Token https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7519
About Eurobits
In 2004 we set out to transform the way in which people and organisations relate to financial services by helping our customers — Banks, Fintech and Central Governments, create products and services that promote the digital economy.
We share this accumulated experience with our clients and partners, because their success is also our success. Therefore, the products and services we develop aim to be the best in each of the markets that we operate, while remaining true to our values: perform with quality, honesty and respect. | https://medium.com/eurobits-techblog/this-is-an-easy-to-implement-and-use-mechanism-for-fallback-the-psd2-exemption-allowing-to-2784139bff04 | ['Ernesto Arroyo Ron'] | 2019-08-07 11:33:38.152000+00:00 | ['Fintech', 'API', 'Psd2', 'Jwt Token'] |
The 2020 freelance writing rates in India for all experience levels | Deciding on what to charge your clients is a question that many freelance writers in India have. Since there is no “official” source of freelance writing rates in India, it is quite difficult to arrive at a just price.
Many freelancers are afraid of charging more because they are not familiar with the prices that their skill sets deserve. They just take the rates offered on sites like Freelancer, UpWork, etc. as the benchmark and decide accordingly.
Additionally, there are content writers, especially newbies, who charge less deliberately to get projects. This is a mistake since once you start working for lesser amounts, asking for more becomes a pain.
We have seen writers stuck with the same price per word over years because they did not want to lose their steady income.
Such experiences often cause frustration over time and eventually many of the writers just give up on freelancing.
How freelance writing rates in India are defined?
As already stated above, there is no official source of freelance writing rates. People charge as per their experience levels and the type of content they are writing. Hence, writing rates can vary a lot.
In order to clear this confusion and help writers make more informed choices, we have created a comprehensive price per word chart for Indian freelance writers that will give them an idea about what to charge.
Our data is backed by more than 6 years of experience in this field, pricing research from various sources, and talking to clients and fellow writers.
Freelance Writing Rates in India 2020
Do note that the prices above are for guidance only and are not fixed. We believe that no content writer should charge less than 25p/word for their content no matter what it is.
Also, there are writers who charge as high as INR 10 / word. Such writers are in-demand experts and have years of experience under their belt.
We have not included such pricing in the above table since we want to give you a much more realistic picture. The above prices are what a typical Indian content writer at Freelancer, UpWork or WorknHire will make.
Additionally, there are times when the complexity of the topic is high and it requires in depth research. In such cases, the price per word can be as much as 50% higher than the highest rates mentioned above.
Content in highly specialized niche like science, technology, medicine, and academia also demand higher prices. However, such specialized niche are not for every writer.
If you are a specialized writer in any such niche, your prices might be 100% higher than what the usual content writers in UpWork, Freelancer etc. charge.
Furthermore, added services like creating original graphics using Canva, social media posting, etc. demand higher rates as well.
You must always keep that in mind and add to the base prices given above if you’re doing any value added services for your clients.
So, now you know how much a “typical” content writer in India should charge in 2020.
I would like to know if your experience tells you otherwise. Be sure to comment or connect with me over Medium for sharing your experience with freelance writing and the rates you’re able to charge from clients. | https://medium.com/@ashish2593/the-2020-freelance-writing-rates-in-india-for-all-experience-levels-4c6bf31fd6de | ['Ashish Ganguly'] | 2020-09-22 17:07:40.871000+00:00 | ['Content Writing', 'Writer', 'Writing Tips', 'Freelancers', 'Earn Money Online'] |
Dismantling the mind-fuck | Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
- Howard Thurman
Today I want to talk about one of the best and also worst things about being human .. our minds. For most of my life I’ve fed my mind like it was an insatiable creature, even neglecting other parts of my existence in the process. This is clearly not a whole-self loving thing to do. I have loved my mind, and it has, in return, kept me entertained, occupied and driven to move forward. I have also attempted to ‘free myself’ using my mind, except that my mind had me imprisoned with a clever prison guard who offered scraps of hope and glimpses of freedom while keeping me fully trapped.
I recently tried out a process which provides a key to the jail cell and a way to reinvent your reality. It was so powerful that I am sharing it here.
Jail Bars of Belief
Tool #6 from Teal Swan’s ‘tool kit to self love’* is titled Jail Bars of Belief. It offers a process for identifying and then dismantling any belief. I will attempt to summarise the process and will share my own process as an example.
Your beliefs determine your life
Your reality is a physical reflection of your thoughts and beliefs and is unique to you. If you want to live a happy and fulfilled life, it is imperative that you don’t stay stuck with beliefs that cause you to be unhappy. This is part of loving yourself. It is not your circumstances that make you unhappy, but your thoughts about your circumstances that make you unhappy.
Living in the moment
The ‘Jail Bars of Belief’ chapter describes two different approaches to dismantling thoughts and beliefs, the first of which is very similar to Byron Katie’s The Work. I will discuss The Work in a separate email except to say that it is a profound way of challenging thoughts and beliefs by turning them around and inside out to offer a radical new way of looking at any situation in your life in a totally new light and releasing the suffering those thoughts are causing.
Identifying a hidden belief
The second process is what I want to share. Using this process I had a profound shift that helped me to identify an unconscious hidden belief that was controlling me and holding me back in profound ways. When negative beliefs become embedded in the subconscious they sabotage us without our conscious awareness. When we make them conscious we can replace them with more helpful beliefs.
The ideal opportunity to identify a negative core belief is when you are in a situation where you are experiencing strong negative emotions. You do this by chasing every statement you have with two questions:
Why would that be a bad thing?
What would it mean if that were true?
Sharing my process to show how it works
I want to preface what I’m sharing below with an explanation. When I look at it as it is written it looks strange, so I imagine it will look strange to an outside observer. It was essentially around a struggle I’ve been having around finding work I can do that doesn’t feel like it destroys me in the process of doing it. And when I tried to think of making my focus the sculpture project I was sabotaging and stopping myself with a fear that I was being ‘selfish and indulgent’ .. which is something I seem to have spent my life avoiding by being ‘selfless and denying’ .. but of course the things we resist we also give power to. Anyway, here is what I wrote:
I feel as though I’m selfish and indulgent and I don’t feel like I have anything to offer to the world.
Why would that be a bad thing?
Because I am taking from the world but not giving enough back so I’m a drain on the earth.
What would it mean if that were true?
It would mean that I’m a parasite .. that I’m a taker and not a giver .. that I don’t really belong in the world because I’m not giving anything.
Why would that be a bad thing?
Because I have so much to offer but I am being stingy and holding back on what I have to give.
What would it mean if that were true?
It would mean that I am mean and stingy and that I’m a bad person.
Why would that be a bad thing?
Because it would mean that people will judge me and think I should be doing something to offer the world or to contribute to the world and they would not like me and they would reject me.
What would it mean if that were true?
I would be despised by others and rejected and I would feel lonely and sad and hopeless.
Why would that be a bad thing?
Because I like people and I want people to like me.
Because if I am alone and rejected and hopeless I would rather be dead.
What this process uncovered
This might not be the best example of this process but it gives you an example which hopefully helps you to understand it. In this case, the negative core belief, according to my understanding of the book, would most likely be ‘if I am alone and rejected and hopeless I would rather be dead’ .. which goes to show what a strong hold these beliefs have on our life. Doing the process something shifted for me. I started to see how my resistance to feeling selfish had me trapped in a state of denying myself whatever I desired. I saw how I had actually been living my life only doing things that didn’t feel good to me because if I did what I wanted I would feel selfish. My fear of being ‘selfish’ meant I had tended to reject my own desires to cater for others needs, leaving me feeling drained and resentful. This is what drove me to choosing, a long time ago, to prefer being alone to being with other people, in an ironic twist, since this was the only time I felt I could sense or attend to my own needs or preferences.
Experiencing the emotional hold this belief had on me by identifying the core belief that was holding it in place has helped to free me of this belief. When I got to the core belief, which had me in tears as it touched on the deep rooted fear, I was able to shift how I saw that belief, like a cord had been cut. And the freedom I felt from releasing this belief had me feel like I was floating .. like an anchor that had been holding me down had been released.
An example of this shift in my experience happened the following day during a trip into Bellingen. I passed by a person who I had tended to get stuck talking to because cutting off the conversation felt ‘selfish’. It was like I suddenly had permission to do what I wanted and I walked past the person (who didn’t notice me) guilt free. That’s probably not the best example, but you get my drift.
There are so many beliefs that hold us trapped in our life and challenging and dismantling these beliefs, and creating new and beneficial ones, is how you can transform your reality into one that allows you to thrive.
But wait, there’s more
The process of identifying the hidden belief is only the first part. What follows is a process of dismantling the belief and replacing it with a new one. The book uses the analogy of a table, with the tabletop representing the belief and the legs of the table representing the evidence supporting that belief. Superglue securing the table legs to the floor represents the emotional payoff for keeping the belief.
5 steps to dissolving and replacing a negative core belief:
(using my example to elucidate)
Step 1: What is the emotional payoff of keeping the belief and is it worth the pain it causes?
If I believe I can’t be selfish then I get to rely on everybody else’s needs to determine what I should do and this takes the pressure of making my own decisions off me. I then can’t be judged for what I do since it isn’t ‘my choice’. I ‘take myself off the hook’ for being responsible for what other people experience since it is what they want. I’m also not responsible for what happens to me. I get to feel like I am a victim. I get to feel good about myself for being ‘selfless’. I can feel like I’m ‘being a good person’. I have an excuse for going off and doing things on my own.
Step 2: Seek out alternative evidence / explanations that undermine the validity of your detrimental belief.
A. As a toddler I needed to ‘be selfish’ as that is a healthy part of childhood development and differentiation. If I was judged at this stage in my development I might have turned the judgement back on myself and tried to stop ‘being selfish’
B. I like to do things ‘my way’. This is part of my uniqueness and doesn’t need to be seen as a fault. It could even be seen as a gift.
Step 3. Work out a belief you would rather believe.
I have an unconventional way of doing things.
Step 4: Find evidence to back up your new, more beneficial belief.
I don’t like doing things the way that other people say they should be done without question. I like to work out my own way. I like to be a free thinker. This way better solutions can be found than those that currently exist. Doing things in different ways is fun and a creative process. Often the way things are done are just routine patterns that are done without thought and I like to think about things and not just ‘follow the leader’. Doing things differently makes life exciting and interesting. Quite often people and societies get stuck in unhealthy ways of doing things and I don’t want to be party to that. I want to be part of the change, not part of maintaining the status quo. Life is about change not stagnancy. It’s my life so I want to do it my way.
Step 5. Look for the emotional payoff of the new belief.
I can inspire people to look at things differently and live their life according to their own choices. I can be an agent for change. I can help to deconstruct stale and unhelpful patterns within society. I can help to liberate people. I can help people to see things in a different way. I can feel a sense of agency and control over my life rather than feel trapped by what others think or expect. I can help shed light on what no longer works. I can be like a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale environment. I can feel a sense of purpose and meaning in my life and not feel like I’m a pre-programmed robot. I get to feel more alive. I get to feel more me.
We have the power
As you can see, this process involves consciously dismantling and then reconstructing your beliefs. And how amazing is it that we have the power to do this?! You can recreate your life in a more beneficial way using this process. And as Teal says in the book, “You Are Worth the Effort”.
Through writing this email I’ve taken myself more deeply through this process than I had gone before. And having done it once I’m ready for the next strong negative emotion to come up to help shed light on, and shift, another limiting belief.
“The old payoff just isn’t worth it any longer.”
Your turn
This is life-changing work. Next time you feel a strong negative emotion, rather than feel stuck in the pain, try this process. If you feel like sharing I’d love to hear how you go with it. And if you’d like support in the process, please get in contact.
By creating new beliefs and thinking thoughts that feel good, you will be creating neural pathways in your brain that reinforce these new positive thoughts. As you starve the old beliefs and feed the new ones your reality will improve.
Yes it takes effort, but this is your life — and you’re worth it!
With love,
Orly
PS
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* from the book Shadows Before Dawn by Teal Swan | https://medium.com/@wordscircleslife/dismantling-the-mind-fuck-a4facba59d72 | ['Orly Grace'] | 2020-12-13 03:44:23.136000+00:00 | ['Freedom', 'Belief', 'Life', 'Joy', 'Enmeshment'] |
What are data brokers and why should you care? | When it comes to data usage and processing, some of the most visible companies are giants like Facebook or Google. These companies have created a huge market full of targetable customers, and hence marketers today will do almost anything to gain access to it. This trend is apparent when you take a look at the growth of internet advertising revenues, which last year exceeded the revenues of TV commercials for the first time in history. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Next to the well known tech giants, there is a whole plethora of companies which have created a lucrative business out of collecting, structuring, and selling personal data. We are talking about firms that are much less visible than Facebook and Google, but are even much more “Big Brother” in nature. It is time to get to know them.
Acxiom, Equifax, or CoreLogic — to most people these names don’t sound familiar at all. However, these companies know a lot about consumers. Without exaggeration, compared to friends and family, these companies at times know more about the person they have data for. They are so called “data brokers”, companies that collect personal data, structure it, and subsequently sell it to companies for targeted advertising. Although some of these companies were established already in the 19th century, data brokers have been experiencing a boom in the last couple of years thanks to innovations in computational performance and artificial intelligence. With revenues in the billions of USD one can only imagine how much the data they are collecting is worth, and according to predictions, this growth will continue for at least 10 more years.
The modus operandi of these companies is simple. Data brokers gather as much personal data as possible from hundreds of millions or even billions of users. They either buy data from retailers or they gather it themselves (do you remember all those entertaining quizzes on social networks you have recently taken?). They can also exchange this data among one another. According to a specialist from the business who wished to remain anonymous: “It is common that each company manages a different kind of data so it makes perfect sense to barter it.” No matter what method they choose for data collection, it always leads to the accumulation of huge databases. A few years ago, when the American Federal Trade Committee (FTC) mapped this sector, it came out that data brokers were storing up to three thousand different attributes on individual consumers.
What happens with the collected data varies from company to company. For example, Experian uses the data to calculate credit risks for customer loans. Such results are highly interesting for financial companies because they enable them to set up more suitable loan conditions for their clients. Equifax also sells the results directly to consumers themselves who are consequently able to review whether an interest rate offered to them has been fairly calculated. Similarly, the company Corelogic specializes in analytics and risk assessment in the real estate market.
The situation in Europe is slightly different from the US thanks to the implementation of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Owing to this regulation, the levels of personal data protection are higher, making data brokers interested mainly in complex trends rather than individual consumer data. Analysis of collective behaviour enables them to estimate future development of customer trends, which is highly valuable to certain companies.
Data brokers in areas that are not so strictly regulated use the collected data mostly for marketing purposes. Such is the case for the company DataLogic, which sells to its clients databases of users containing predefined characteristics based on shopping history and other identifiers such as age, sex, education, income, or one of the 3000 other data points.
Gaining access to so much data doesn’t always deliver desired results. Issues arise when companies operate with distorted or low-quality personal data. It is not uncommon for companies to possess a distorted digital footprint of a consumer. To create a false record in their databases, it can be enough to run a few searches on an illness that your colleague or relative suffers from. Via such a search, the data broker might come to the conclusion that the person behind the computer is ill. This does not apply to illnesses only. The algorithms of data brokers are very advanced, yet many times the digital footprint of your life does not reflect the reality.
How could such distortions be prevented? Easy, consumers could sell their data to brokers themselves. This would be a win win situation. They would get paid for sharing access to anonymized personal data, have a higher control over what data is being shared, and receive offers for products and services more suited to their preferences. For data brokers this would be a beneficial way of data gathering. They would receive exactly the type of data they need in much higher quality. At the end of the day, this may be the only way for data brokers to acquire personal data as more companies decide to cut their ties to them due to public scrutiny. Such would be a favorable solution, especially after Facebook announced that following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it will no longer proceed with selling information about their own users to data brokers.
Find out more about the value of your personal data: | https://medium.com/vetri/what-are-data-brokers-and-why-should-you-care-50c7f4edd0af | [] | 2018-12-17 08:40:52.438000+00:00 | ['Privacy'] |
The Other Love | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/catharsis-pub/the-other-love-fa230a68a13f | ['Priyanka Srivastava'] | 2020-12-14 08:13:14.663000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Empathy', 'Writing Life', 'Poetry', 'Sadness'] |
CRUD Operations with MongoDB in Android Development | Find Documents 🔍
We’ll begin with finding documents since this operation come’s first before updating or deleting any specific data. We can find all documents from a database collection using the ‘collection.find()’ action. Specific documents can be found by defining a filter.
Document filter = new Document()
.append("_id", new Document().append("$exists", true));
RemoteFindIterable findResults = itemsCollection
.find(filter)
Create & Upload Documents 📤
Let’s assume you’re creating a social media app. To upload a post, we’d have to upload a data object containing information such as the picture URL, the caption, and maybe the date it was posted. We’d then define the Document item as shown below:
new Document()
.append("_id": qwizy001)
.append("imageURL", "
.append("caption", "It's Crazy Cold Here")
.append("date", "1-1-2020")); Document post =Document().append("_id": qwizy001).append("imageURL", " https://unsplash.com/photos/4P0E3zcs_Nc ").append("caption", "It's Crazy Cold Here").append("date", "1-1-2020"));
Once we’ve gathered all the information for the post, we can upload it to a collection in the database using the ‘collection.insertOne()’ action. | https://medium.com/thecodr/crud-operations-with-mongodb-in-android-development-b486abd21f87 | ['Daniel Kioko'] | 2020-06-25 03:48:42.385000+00:00 | ['Android App Development', 'Software Development', 'Android', 'Mongodb', 'Java'] |
Rest | If you were my baby I would let your soul crawl up inside me and rest — and by baby I mean the one who fucks me.
I go to meetings and I go on Tinder and I try and make some sense of this life and meanwhile little girls see dead people and wonder — is that person real? I take the girl out to lunch and I talk to her about seeing dead people — I try and give some good advice — maybe stop telling your teachers and talk to me about it instead — and remember — they can’t hurt you. Be afraid of humans. I warn her to be careful with the seductive part of playing in these realms. This is not a movie.
She tells me they are hanging in the trees and follow her everywhere — they are grotesque and scary. I teach her some tools — how to properly cleanse and salt and put the algiz sigil on your doors and windows — more to empower her then anything else. I tell her she is in control and if she doesn’t want to talk to them she can stand up for herself and not give them any energy. I tell her she is powerful and this could be a gift if she stopped dealing with these lower energies and raised her vibration — don’t fuck with these creeps go higher — work with Goddesses and Deity and Angels.
I wonder if she really is crazy or if it’s true — that these things follow her around and how traumatic that must be. She is only 12. At first she doesn’t want to talk about it that much, she is scared. I notice that by the time we are driving out to West Marin to go to Spirit Matters and get supplies her face has changed — she is no longer freaking out— the windows are down and her hair blows back and she tells me about boys and other things going on in her life. She looks completely different — her eyes are shining and she is laughing.
I remember the time my car bounced into a ditch on the side of a mountain filled with bones. I had to walk out in the dark — the cemetery claiming my car and call AAA. I don’t see dead people — I do not want to…
I walked down the hill to meet the tow truck and hopped in — the driver looked at me and very seriously said — “you are real? Right?” I looked at him and said — I think so. He couldn’t get the car — he is super jittery and freaked out to be in the old cemetery that I love so so much — so I told him I could just walk home and call again in the morning — no problem — I walked out the back fence and then I heard a big crash — he backed the big flat bed tow truck into the fence flattening it…he couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Now when I walk to the cemetery I can go through the flattened fence and enter the back way. No one ever fixed it. | https://medium.com/@christieangelo/rest-7f549a145b35 | ['Christie Angelo'] | 2021-03-20 20:27:59.102000+00:00 | ['Spirit', 'Sex', 'Magic', 'Cemetery'] |
9 Easy and Cheaper Home Improvement Projects in Winter | 9 Easy and Cheaper Home Improvement Projects in Winter
Yard work, roofing and entire home renovations may have to wait until the warmer months. Winter, however, can be prime time for completing certain projects that otherwise would not get done.
For starters, contractors have increased availability since it’s their slowest time of the year. They’re also generally more willing to negotiate on labor costs. Materials — everything from paint to appliances — are also deeply discounted to make room on the shelves for new spring inventory.
So, whether you’re selling your house in the spring — which is thought to be the best time to list — or you’ve just moved in, here are a few home improvement projects experts recommend doing in the winter: Before doing Winter home improvement, read article What DIY builders need to know?
1. Paint the interiors
“Painters are likely to offer far more discounts and deals than they do during the overbooked summer, says one expert.
“Due to the decrease in demand for exterior painting December through March, painters are likely to offer far more discounts and deals than they do during the overbooked summer,” says Matt Kunz, president of Five Star Painting, a Neighborly company. Kunz estimates the average lead time for a good painter in August is 3–4 weeks. But in December and January, it’s 1 week or less.
If you’re doing the painting yourself, you can still save. Sherwin Williams is currently offering a coupon for 30 percent off its paints and stains through Dec. 29, 2019. (Keep in mind that you will need to keep windows open to let the fumes out.)
2. Paint the exteriors
Depending on the paint you’re using — and most manufacturers include a paint’s minimum and maximum temperature for application on cans — winter can also be the ideal time for exterior painting. This is especially true if you live in the south since paint doesn’t dry well in extremely hot and humid conditions. Similarly, it doesn’t dry well in cold temperatures. Rico de Paz, who oversees Consumer Reports’ paint tests, says it should be at least 50 degrees F during application and shouldn’t drop below freezing for several days after painting.
3. Install outdoor lighting
It’s only on the shortest days of the year that you fully realize how dark it gets outside. It’s only on the shortest days of the year that you fully realize how dark it gets outside.
It’s only on the shortest days of the year that you fully realize how dark it gets outside and can see where you need light. Not only will installing outdoor lighting help your family stay safe, it may even allow you to entertain outdoors during the winter. In the latter case, consider investing in a heat lamp that will provide light in addition to heat. And if you add more outdoor lighting, the men and women who deliver your packages will thank you. It makes their job a lot easier.
4. Convert that spare room into a home gym
You don’t need to have a New Year’s resolution to lose weight in order to benefit from winter’s low prices on gym equipment. In fact, half of the eight items on Consumer Reports’ list of the best things to buy in January can be used in a home gym. Based on the organization’s research, expect to find “deep discounts” on ellipticals, treadmills, scales and perhaps the most important item for sticking with your routine: a TV.
5. Refinish hardwood floors
Curing new floors in humid weather isn’t a good idea. For a predictable finish, you’ll want drier, heated winter air.
Curing new floors in humid weather isn’t a good idea. For a predictable finish, you’ll want drier, heated winter air. (N-Hance Wood Refinishing)
Refinishing hardwood floors in the winter is tough when you are spending more time indoors and need to be on your floors. Plus, you have to find room indoors to store your furniture. However, the inconvenience may be better in the long run. According to N-Hance Wood Refinishing, The Home Depot’s national partner, more humid temperatures can make the finish cure too fast. This results in a too-glossy, uneven finish. For a predictable finish cure, they prefer drier, heated winter air.
6. Professionally deep clean your carpets
Spring is peak season for professional carpet cleaners. However, that means that if you’re hiring someone to give your carpets a deep clean, you’ll likely get a cheaper quote in the winter when business is slower. And that’s not the only reason. According to the professional carpet and upholstery cleaning service, Chem-Dry, carpets dry quicker in the winter. Clean carpets are also thought to help keep families healthier during flu season.
7. Update your HVAC system
Dylan Murray, owner of Murray Builders NYC, knows from many years of experience that spring and summer are the worst time to need an HVAC contractor. That’s when their schedules are packed, and it’s not uncommon to have to wait weeks to get an appointment. Instead, Murray recommends hiring one in the winter when they’re more available and often when installation costs are lower. Plus, you won’t run the risk of making a decision based on the sheer desperation summer’s high temperatures incite. In winter you have plenty of time to do research and talk to technicians who aren’t being pulled in 20 different directions.
8. Start pre-spring-cleaning
Why wait until spring to start your spring cleaning?
Why spend the first beautiful days of the year spring-cleaning when you could have done it on more dreary days? That’s why winter is the perfect time to declutter, or as the queen of decluttering, Marie Kondo, says, “tidy up.” According to Kondo’s tips, you should start with clothes, books, documents, miscellaneous and finally, mementos. She also doesn’t subscribe to the theory of starting in one room and finishing it first. Her method involves starting with one category and finishing that before moving on to the next.
9. Remodel your kitchen
“It’s better to tackle kitchen remodeling in the winter before lumber and cabinets see a large price hike in the spring,”says Doug Coyle, owner of House Doctors of Andover and Merrimack Valley. Coyle also explains that it can be easier to obtain the required permits this time of year. The government agencies that issue them, and ultimately give the green light for anything having to do with changing plumbing or electric, tend not to be as backlogged in the winter months. (Furthermore, January is also the cheapest month to buy a new wall oven, according to Consumer Reports.)
If you don’t want to completely remodel your kitchen, but you’d like a fresh look, consider replacing the hardware. It’s amazing how far a few shiny new knobs and handles can go.
Resource:
foxnews: home improvement projects that are easier — and often cheaper — in the winter
Related Articles:
Easy way to make your own space
DIY Smart Home Tips Before We Get Started
Join our newsletter here and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest to get yourself updated with the latest industry news, home decor idea. | https://medium.com/@divachilly/9-easy-and-cheaper-home-improvement-projects-in-winter-d8c6121850d7 | [] | 2019-12-27 02:15:24.868000+00:00 | ['Home', 'Home Improvement', 'Renovations', 'Cleaning', 'Home Decor'] |
Calvados: The Autumn Brandy | Calvados: The Autumn Brandy
When people think of brandy, they generally think of liquor made from grapes, but apples make for some really great brandy!
Photo by LuAnn Hunt on Unsplash
It’s difficult to explain Calvados, other than as a regional brandy made by distilling fermented apple juice. In some ways, I suppose one could say that Calvados is to apples as Cognac is to grapes, but Calvados is really its own product.
However, just as Cognac must come from the Cognac region of France, and must meet a certain standard, Calvados must come from the Calvados region of Normandy. I’ve never been to the region, but it is on my list. What I do know about it mostly comes from a wonderful book, Calvados: The Spirit of Normandy, by Charles Neal. Aside from being from a specific area, Calvados must also meet a certain standard. Interestingly, the standard does not require apples. Pears are also allowed. Basically, Calvados is distilled cider, which itself often uses pears or a mixture of pears and apples.
I’ve been working on a number of cocktails that use the brandy, and I’ve made some progress. Here are a few calvados based drinks that I’ve considered. Some require more testing, and some require ingredients that I haven’t made yet, which is one reason why I don’t have pictures for each one. If you happen to make any of these drinks, let me know how they turn out.
Calvados Old Fashioned
The Old Fashioned is classic. It’s a great drink, if done right. Sadly, in a lot of bars, it isn’t. They muddle orange and disgusting bright red maraschino cherries together, to create a terrible concoction. It’s a travesty. A proper old fashioned is just whiskey, a sugar cube, and a few dashes of bitters, usually Angastora bitters. Simple syrup works just as well as a sugar cube though, and it doesn’t risk leaving any grainy texture. Substituting Calvados works perfectly on its own, but of course you can go all out and select a different bitter that has a more autumnal feel to it. I also make a syrup from long pepper that works well in this recipe.
1.5 fl oz Calvados
2 dashes of Angastora bitters
1 tsp simple syrup
Don’t shape this cocktail. Stir it. Shaking the cocktail introduces bubbles and ruins the clarity of the drink. Stir until just chilled and double strain into a rocks glass with a large ice cube, if you have one available. It’s pretty easy to find molds for them. I’d definitely recommend it. Smaller ice cubes will melt too quickly and water down the drink.
The truly authentic cocktail uses a sugar cube, muddled with some of the bitters and a splash of water, right in the glass, after which slightly chilled whiskey is added. But there’s really no need. Simple syrup dissolves into the cocktail perfectly.
Autumn Toddy
A lot of people are familiar with the hot toddy, which is itself a great drink when you’re feeling under the weather. It’s a simple cocktail made from whisky, lemon juice, honey, and hot water, usually garnished with a lemon slice studded with cloves. However, one of my favourite fall cocktails is my “autumn toddy,” which is my take on the drink.
Obviously the base spirit for this cocktail is Calvados. There’s no need for a vintage bottle here, or in any of my other cocktail recipes. Leave vintage selections for sipping. The recipe also substitutes maple syrup in place of the honey. Finally, instead of hot water, I use hot cider, which really boosts the apple flavor of the cocktail. The drink can be made in individual servings, but what I really love about this drink is that if you’re making it for a group, you can also just pour the ingredients together and throw it into a crock pot to keep warm.
3 cups Calvados
3 cup cider
2 fl oz maple syrup
8 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
Combine all ingredients in a 2 qt crock pot and keep on low. It’ll last a while, but you don’t want it sitting in the crock pot forever. Alternatively you can reduce the proportions and make a single batch in the microwave.
Caramel Apple Flip
Ah the flip. This is an odd sounding drink, but it’s really good. Originally the drink was served hot, and made by putting a hot poker into the mix. The name comes from the sound that the poker would make as it boiled the drink. Modern versions are cold drinks, and consist of a whole egg, about two fluid ounces of strong brown liquor, such as rum or brandy, and a little bit of simple syrup. The whole thing is shaken until frothy. It’s basically a quick make eggnog.
2 fl oz Calvados
1.5 tsp salted caramel syrup
4 dashes apple spice bitters
1 whole egg
I know that a whole egg sounds weird, but honestly if you have a good quality egg, I wouldn’t worry about it. Salmonella comes from poor animal husbandry, and the rate of salmonella presence in eggs is down considerably.
But if you really are concerned, stick with one of the other drinks. To make this cocktail, you’ll want to double shake it, first without ice, and then again with ice. That helps get it frothier. I have mixed feelings about double straining flips. On one hand, I don’t want any pieces of ice remaining in my drink. On the other, it has to be done slowly to prevent the froth from disappearing.
Feedback Appreciated
As I said earlier, some of these cocktails are more a work in progress. If you have any questions about them, let me know, and if you try any of them and want to give feedback, comments would be appreciated. I’m not a professional bartender. I’m just someone who likes to craft interesting cocktails.
Further Reading
I have a number of other food and drink related articles. I love writing about food, almost as much as I love trying new food and drinks. If I had the money, I would definitely start a restaurant, but for now that’s just a dream. | https://medium.com/the-spiritual-anthropologist/calvados-the-autumn-brandy-b3096d3bc27f | ['Daniel Goldman'] | 2019-11-10 15:48:26.355000+00:00 | ['Food', 'Cocktails', 'Lifestyle', 'Autumn', 'Alcohol'] |
Palestinian Leader Dies in Israeli Hospital Due to Covid-19 | Palestinian Leader Dies in Israeli Hospital Due to Covid-19
Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian leader, and decades long peace-negotiator with Israel died from complications of Covid-19 at the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem.
Erekat passed away Tuesday after he was admitted in critical condition three weeks ago. He received intensive treatments that included a heart-lung machine and drug treatments. He died due to multiple organ failure.
Erekat, seemed to be a powerful negotiator for his people and had respect from both sides.
What stuck out, however, was Erekat, a member of the Fatah Party, and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was in fact, apparently admitted into Israeli controlled territory to seek treatment at a Jewish run hospital.
According to Jewish Virtual Library, Fatah, in itself means “conquest by means of Jihad.” The Fatah flag features a grenade with crossed rifles superimposed on the map of Israel. The Fatah Party is diametrically opposed to the existence of Israel.
Erekat was also Secretary General of the PLO,an organization formed for the liberation of Palestine through armed struggle while seeking to destroy the existence of Zionism in the Middle East.
The platform of these organizations for which Erekat belonged is by no means breaking news. What is interesting, is despite these facts, this man was still admitted into Israel for treatment.
Israel, a nation under constant threat, admits a senior member of two organizations that seek to do it harm. Would the PLO or the Fatah Party do the same for ANY Israeli? | https://medium.com/@americanexperience/palestinian-leader-dies-in-israeli-hospital-due-to-covid-19-695fcfd873c1 | ['American Experience'] | 2020-11-11 18:27:17.527000+00:00 | ['Conservatives', 'Fatah', 'Palestine And Israel', 'Palestine', 'Israel'] |
The Void: Building trust for Artificial Intelligence in the humanitarian context | By Sofia Kyriazi, Artificial Intelligence Engineer
Diagram by Hans Park.
Do first impressions matter?
When I first arrived at UNHCR, snuggled in a small office in the basement, situated at the heart of a new team focused on the European refugee situation, I didn’t necessarily believe that there was space for programmers to innovate within the organisation. While the team was rushing to collect the number of arrivals for the day through dozens of emails, amongst printed Excel sheets of data and coloured highlighters strewed across tables, I was perhaps naive in face of the challenges at UNHCR.
My impression was that even if this team was ready to integrate new ways of thinking about technology — how possibly could we change the mindsets of the dozens of colleagues on the frontline of an emergency collecting this data? We had colleagues in another team sending unstructured data through emails, partially because they were so overwhelmed, and partially because they didn’t have time to rethink data processing. In those first few moments, I felt like a fish (okay maybe a whale) out of water.
Luckily, one of the immediate lessons I learned is that first impressions don’t really matter. Through a small nudge, we were quickly able to move this data from heavy emails to a new automated approach for data collection and processing. When you’re trying to change behaviours and ignite trust in something new, even the smallest win can be the start of something big.
As an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineer, I’ve realised one of the primary needs in creating change, specifically, as it relates to technical challenges, is making these challenges and the technology behind the possible solutions accessible and trusted. So what exactly is the difference between automation and AI? When you’re creating a computer-oriented solution, the initial action is to automate collecting and transforming data — but that is just the beginning. You can have your solution executing a series of actions, to perform tasks that people used to perform and that is automation as well. Now when the actions are not trivial, and the tasks require more thinking (i.e. the detection of patterns), machine learning can assist in processing large amounts of data and complex thinking, weighing and combining of models. In turn, you are modelling a real-world environment for the machine to resemble and teaching it how to make decisions. And that is Artificial Intelligence.
The first step to begin experimenting with data and testing an Artificial Intelligence theory (hypothesis) is the need to have data. At UNHCR, everyone is using data in their day-to-day work — even if they don’t recognise it as “data” per se. The number of arrivals I mentioned previously? Data. Free text within surveys conducted with refugee communities? Data. Traditional humanitarian focus group recordings? Data. But to have interpretability of this data, it needs to be structured in a way that can allow for basic visualisation. We need to be able to play with the data, but in many instances, data isn’t accessible to allow for this type of experimentation. More importantly for AI, you need the data to be structured so that it can be processed and analysed.
In the end, it’s not about just having the data (because there is a lot of it), but truly understanding how people treat their “data”, what they do with their everyday tasks, what absorbs the most time in their processes, and what it is that they wished they knew, but don’t. Any kind of activity that follows certain steps to achieve a goal — whether we recognise it or not — is a cognitive process. We process information, combine it with our knowledge, identify a pattern and make a decision, based on our reasoning.
There are different sides to this. There is potential in automating such processes, which is commonly associated with losing control over the process, or just semi-automating and still keeping ourselves part of the process to supervise the flow of the work, and adjust our role to the process or even the process can change to adapt to our needs. A fully automated process, is, for example, the redirection of some of the emails we receive to the “SPAM” folder on our email client. A semi-automated process would be the “writing assistants” that detect possible improvement on anything we type, but it is up to the human to approve of the suggestions or not. You could potentially change the process, add to it, evaluate historic decisions, and detect additional information needs that would advance and optimise your workflow.
All this requires a need more powerful for success than the data itself: trust. And people usually associate trust in AI with trust in the results, but what we are really talking about is trust in developing the AI solution with the engineers, trust in sharing the cognitive process and participating in the design of the solution.
The alarm bell of negative positives
Science fiction has spent years preparing the world for the unofficial takeover of Earth by robots. From movies to graphic novels to radio productions nearly a hundred years ago — there has been an association of the near-apocalypse with future technology. In general, people do not fear the true positives of artificial intelligence. For example, a true positive in the case of cancer identification is, when a patient has cancer and the AI algorithm detects that this is a case of a patient that has cancer, therefore you have a true fact matching with the machine’s classification.
Whether it’s the humanitarian or private sector, people will readily welcome the accuracy and the predictions that will enable them to do their work better and more efficiently. And despite the endless true positives that artificial intelligence can bring, the one false positive will overwhelm any pragmatic feelings one initially had to the technology. As Peter Haas, a robotics researcher who is afraid of robots, explains, “The machine never fails gracefully, and that is what is scary.”
Recently, we held the first Artificial Intelligence Workshop at UNHCR, where the team was presenting an AI solution to better screen applicants for our Human Resources Department. It did not take long for the false positive to manifest itself within the room. Almost instantly a colleague raised their hand eagerly, as if they engineered this thought for this first time, and stated that we “needed to be careful.” Our colleague’s reaction quickly skipped to two main points, with their hand still waved in the air: artificial intelligence will cost people their jobs and if there was ever to be a mistake in the screening process — UNHCR could end up paying large amounts of money to account for the machine’s mistake. Despite the overwhelming evidence that the machine would not cost anyone their job, the trust that it wouldn’t still needed to be built strategically. Additionally, the possibility of the false negative (the machine inaccurately screening out one candidate) outweighed the thousands upon thousands of successfully screened candidates that would save UNHCR staff time and money.
One missing piece of the puzzle in building trust around artificial intelligence is that behind every machine there are humans. If we look at a typical classification exercise where a machine is classifying dogs and wolves, and the machine accidentally classifies a husky dog as a wolf, people will argue, “Well a human could make that mistake — they look so similar!” But in reality, our cognitive processes would place much more blame on the machine for this misclassification than it would a human. The machine is not human and it is playing the role of an expert. And we trust experts to simply not make mistakes. The wolf is fine enough and maybe misclassification won’t affect anyone’s life, but what if a human gets misclassified by a machine?
So, how does this translate to real life? The most severe case we wield in artificial intelligence theory is the case of cancer that was previously mentioned. The example being now that a machine miss-classifies the type of cancer a patient has, and because of this false negative, their life is lost. This would be an absolute worst-case scenario.
What people miss in this process though is that the human expert — i.e. the doctor — is still included in this process and has the final say in classification, and AI can assist, not just to classify the patient, but to unravel the way the decision has been made, but the decision, in the end, is up to the doctor to make. That’s their role, and the machine is there to just make their job a bit easier. This also is the same case for our solution that we’re developing with our Human Resources Department. The machine is merely acting as an assistant to the expert, and there is a marriage between the human and technical approach.
Everyone is afraid of mistakes
We don’t want machines to make mistakes. And we also don’t want humans to make mistakes. Even when your solution creates a false positive, we should not completely disregard a project because of trust. You expect and trust your car to get you from place A to place B. But if your car breaks down on the side of the road, you would repair it — and this approach should be utilised for AI solutions as well. We have to fine-tune our solutions and that requires humans in the process to detect mistakes, working hand-in-hand with AI Engineers and System Developers to “unravel the black box” of new technology and rebuild the trust.
What we have discovered at the Innovation Service is also the important distinction between recognising the potential of artificial intelligence and trust. Ultimately, we cannot be speaking to people in the organisation if the AI solutions don’t have an interest for the users they were created for, and are not strategically positioned — and communicated — for their needs. How can people identify the need for an innovative solution if they don’t know what artificial intelligence can do for them and if they cannot recognise the need for a change in their processes? If we can frame our investment in the future of AI by recognising its potential, rather than full confidence in the machine itself, there is more opportunity to change mindsets and create value for users. This framing is the bridge that builds opportunities from potential to trust.
Investing in the potential of AI
Most people are fearful of change. Now combat that with new technology and we have a recipe for doubt. In reality, the majority of change as it relates to artificial intelligence has already been experimented on in other sectors and in the humanitarian context. And what’s great about the work that is currently being done, is that collaboration lies at the heart of the innovative work being undertaken.
If we turn our heads to academia, there is an immense amount of work being down across labs and research groups amongst universities. Academia has already started to create diverse cohorts of professors, associates, and students from fields that have not previously worked together. In my Masters of Human Media Interaction, there were students from Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Psychology, Aeronautic Engineering, Designers and many more fields, that came together to define challenges and work with interdisciplinary concepts. These solutions included projects such as: emotion detection for storytelling where conversational agents adapt to the user’s perception of the story that would then change the flow of information given to the user. An additional example could be creating a simulation for fire training during a flight, where augmented reality tools (Engineers) go hand-in-hand with image recognition (Computer Science) features. For artificial intelligence to be successful, we need to work across disciplines to tackle the difficult questions surrounding ethics, moral philosophy, and prejudice in how we build our machines.
An example of how academia and the humanitarian sector are currently collaborating is a project from the Airbel Center at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Stanford University’s Immigration Policy Lab. This project is a combined effort to optimise the resettlement of people in a new country, according to the market needs of the country of destination. The algorithm uses historical data on refugee demographics, local market conditions, individual preferences and outcomes to generate predictions that suggest an ideal location for resettled refugees. This actionable information can then be harnessed to better inform decisions about where refugees are settled in the United States.
It is an extremely complicated project technically, but the concept itself is really simple. It derives from a need, the need to have resettlement conducted in the most productive way for society to benefit from arrivals to be integrated into the job market and to improve the quality of life and the dignity of people that are resettled. The IRC describes the algorithm as “part of a larger enterprise to revolutionise refugee resettlement, by harnessing private capital, data and volunteers to change the calculus for host countries in determining whether they resettle — and enable many more refugees to start a new life in a welcoming country.”
Another example, housed within the Innovation Service, is the project I spoke about before for screening external candidates. We call this collaboration: Project Nero. Nero has an AI solution running in the back but in simple terms, it is a screening tool for UNHCR’s recruiters to be able to reduce the time they spend on screening an applicant for a specific talent pool. Once the machine performs analysis on the characteristics of an applicant it labels the applicant and gives some indicators as to why they were selected as good or bad. The concept again is very simple, and the need was there due to time and capacity limitations for UNHCR staff. But the real innovation here comes from people identifying the need (UNHCR’s Human Resources Department) for such a solution, to break the circle of the repetitiveness of the processes that recruiters are accustomed.
Create a pathway for harnessing the potential of AI in humanitarian innovation
We believe that resistance often is a lack of clarity. When it comes to the adoption of new technology, change lends itself to uncertainty. So what are the first steps to embracing the potential of AI in humanitarian innovation? These are a few actions you can already start taking to put out the flames of fear around artificial intelligence:
Collaborate with academia: There are already groups of people that need a higher motivation and purpose for what they are researching. Most of the projects in academia combined with market challenges find applications. There is a massive opportunity to not only collaborate but to drive and influence research in humanitarian contexts. Allowing academia to enter the humanitarian field more strategically, would be a union of forces.
Build an understanding that data is an asset: Often people don’t even know they are dealing with data — because in our case, the data represents people, and within UNHCR there is often the belief that the processes being followed are so unique that out of the box solutions would not work properly. In the humanitarian context, we must not only attempt to bring these technologies into our organisation but to make these concepts accessible and jargon-free for people working across other departments. Once people understand the story that the data is telling, they can translate that into knowledge and furthermore detect opportunities rather than problems in their challenges.
Hire more data-driven people: I often get asked if the humanitarian sector is even ready for AI Engineers. Maybe it is a big step to jump straight to AI Engineers in your team, but there is an obvious need to bring in people that combine knowledge from other fields and introduce a new expertise in a team. We need people who have an ease with experimentation and testing of theories using the data. This expertise can then be combined with people in-house who have the knowledge to interpret what the data means. By combining both strengths new ways of making decisions and measuring impact can be tested.
Bring in more data-driven processes: When it comes to decision making processes, data is essential. The more informed a decision is, the better the impact it can have. Since hundreds of decisions are made every day, wouldn’t it be better to have at least data to justify why a decision was made, and measurements for the decision’s impact so that in the future, we can also know what to expect? Experts know what to expect because they have experimented with decisions in the past, and that is knowledge that should be documented, along with the appropriate matching data and process knowledge that can be transferred to an AI solution.
Slowly build the trust through bright spots: In the above section, I highlighted a few bright spots of AI solutions that are already being tested in the humanitarian context. People don’t necessarily want to be the first person to bring a completely new technology into their organisation — and luckily — it’s likely you aren’t. Even if you can’t find examples in your own organisation, you can look to lessons learned from academia, the private sector, the public sector, and dozens of other fields that have already taken the first step. These are the stories you can use to build trust in experimenting with an AI solution. When we received the initial request to build an AI solution with our HR Department, one of the catalysts in this collaboration was the market research they had already done in the private sector where these potential solutions were thriving. Find your bright spots and tell those stories to influence others.
I would be surprised to see UNHCR surviving as an organisation without integrating expertise from unconventional fields of sciences and arts. This is not to say that UNHCR is not important and can be replaced. UNHCR now is not the same as it was, as the phenomenon of population flow is not as it was. Societies are technologically oriented, the power of receiving instant updates from the news and the ability to virtually connect with each other has changed our communication. Humans may not have evolved much biologically in the past 100 years, but their needs have changed, and technology helped to achieve that.
At UNHCR, leaders can help integrate new and technical expertise. Management plays a great role in this, as to how they can form and accept a change in the team they are leading, a slow and steady restructure for the future. And since most managers would jump to find people with experience in technologies to help them better deliver their services, I’d also urge you to think about diversity when seeking out these talents. Have in mind that this is a female AI engineer writing you this story, and we have a lot of ideas on how you can bring diversity into your AI solutions. Stay tuned, we’re just getting started.
A quick note to say that we have deliberately left out the discussion of ethics and bias in artificial intelligence for this article. In forthcoming editorials, we will address the complexity surrounding these issues, how they interrelate and highlight some of the main challenges they present to how we collect and process data in the humanitarian context.
This essay was originally posted in the recently released publication — UNHCR Innovation Service: “Orbit 2018–2019”. The publication is a collection of insights and inspiration, where we explore the most recent innovations in the humanitarian sector, and opportunities to discover the current reading of innovation that is shaping the future of how we respond to complex challenges. From building trust for artificial intelligence, to creating a culture for innovating bureaucratic institutions and using stories to explore the future of displacement — we offer a glance at the current state of innovation in the humanitarian sector. You can download the full publication here. And if you have a story about innovation you want to tell (the good, the bad, and everything in between) — email: [email protected]. | https://medium.com/unhcr-innovation-service/the-void-building-trust-for-artificial-intelligence-in-the-humanitarian-context-5c5bc5fd4bb6 | ['Unhcr Innovation Service'] | 2019-05-14 10:35:20.087000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Innovation', 'Orbit 2018', 'Humanitarian', 'Artificial Intelligence'] |
Level Up Your SQL Skills | Level Up Your SQL Skills
Image from Caspar Camille Rubin on Unsplash.
According to JetBrains’ 2020 Developer Ecosystem Survey, 56% of developers utilize or interact with a SQL database in their development environment. Even so, most developers view SQL concepts as a secondary concern, as they are often interacting via their chosen language and do not play much of a part in the design. Generally speaking, being able to connect and run basic queries will get you through the day.
At many companies, there is even a separate database team that will be handling the database design and optimization, so you will never get first-hand exposure. I think this is often the deterrent to learning more about SQL. It’s viewed as a utility that is often handled by others. Software developers have enough on their plate, right? Fair enough.
However, in our industry, having full-stack skills is always a good idea. You never know what will be thrown at you. We interact with SQL daily, so more knowledge will always come in handy. Additionally, if you end up at a smaller company that does not have the resources for a full database team, more of those responsibilities will fall on you. Being able to state that you are confident in your database skills during an interview will open up many interesting career paths.
I personally enjoy SQL development more than most. I interned early in my career with a team of outstanding database administrators and quickly fell in love. I had taken my database courses in school, so I had some basic knowledge, but what I learned during that internship has been invaluable to me. Not only did it teach me that I have a secret passion for data, but the technical understanding I gained has been a boon in every job I’ve gotten going forward.
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http://ajax.actiup.com/out/video-Columbus-Crew-Seattle-Sounders-v-en-gb-1nrc-14.php
Note: I have experience with Microsoft SQL Server, so that is what I will reference throughout. However, these concepts absolutely apply to other SQL DBMS options.
Normalization
If you’ve taken a course on relational databases in school, you have surely encountered the term normalization. It’s the core concept of database design. However, as a developer, here’s why you should care: It will make your life easier.
The big idea behind database normalization is to reduce data redundancy and make sure that data is stored in a clean, logical manner. The level to which a database is normalized is based on which “normal form” it achieves. To date, there are debatably up to six normal forms, but in reality, all you need to understand are the first three.
Here are the big rules in simple terms:
First Normal Form (1NF) states that a single field should store a single data point and that all rows should be unique. Don’t store a list of things in a field. Those should be individual records.
Second Normal Form (2NF) states that each table should have a single primary key column. Create unique IDs. Instead of using name and address as a compound key, just give the user a unique ID number or GUID.
Third Normal Form (3NF) states that no functional transitive dependencies are allowed. This one might be the most complicated, but essentially it means that if you have a field that is dependent on another field, it should be broken out to another table. This allows the foreign key to change — not the actual value.
The important point here is that your data should be atomic, so large tables with repeated data should be broken out into smaller tables with easily searchable keys. This makes filtering more efficient and querying more straightforward. It literally makes your job is easier!
Database Objects
If you are in a more full-stack role or with a company that doesn’t have a database team, you will likely be responsible for database development. In this case, you should have a good idea of which kinds of database objects to use in different scenarios.
In short, database objects are anything you can generate with a create script that stores or accesses data. The most obvious example is a table, which is the building block of the database. These are clearly going to be the go-to for data storage.
However, there are other kinds of objects that access and transform that data in different ways. Using the best object for the job is important. Here are the basic rules that I use when deciding which to use for a use case:
Note: Indexes are technically database objects since they affect how data is stored and accessed.
Stored procedure: This is the go-to for processing or transforming data. Stored procedures can be created and then run on a schedule if you need to make updates at certain times of the day or on a certain cadence.
View: A view is essentially a stored query and it allows you to select from a dynamic set of data. I have often replaced cached tables with views if the data needs to be fresh and possibly transformed in some way. No changes are actually being stored, but you can include calculated fields, which make views a great option when you need dynamic, up-to-date data.
With an understanding of tables, views, and stored procedures, you will likely be able to handle most database development tasks thrown your way.
Image from Benjamin Lehman on Unsplash
Indexing
The first major indexing concept you need to understand is the difference between a clustered and non-clustered index.
Clustered index: Stores all of the data in the table based on your index. There can only be one clustered index, and by default, your primary key is clustered.
Non-clustered index: Stores the indexed field separately from the table. This indexed field points to the data stored in the table, just like the index of a book. You can have as many non-clustered indexes as you want!
Note: The trade-off for more efficient queries is increased storage. Non-clustered indexes require their own storage since they are kept separate from the table data. Only index the fields that you need to filter or join on in order to find the best balance between storage and performance.
Indexing is the #1 way to optimize database performance. Indexing affects the way that data is stored in pages. By default, records are not stored in any guaranteed order, so essentially indexing a field causes the data to be stored in a predictable manner. Therefore, when you filter on that field, the query will run faster because SQL Server knows exactly where to start looking.
There are many indexes that you can set on a field for specific purposes, but if you are attempting to improve performance, you will generally be creating a generic non-clustered index.
Pro tip: If you are creating indexes, you have to maintain them. Inserts, updates, and deletes cause fragmentation of your indexes. Therefore, unless your data is completely stagnant, you will need to rebuild your indexes based on how often the data is changing. Ideally, you should do this with a scheduled stored procedure so that performance is maintained consistently.
The SQL statement to create an index is pretty straightforward. The following statement will create a non-clustered index with the name idx_orderdate on the given field of the Orders table:
CREATE INDEX idx_orderdate ON Orders (OrderDate);
Reading a Query Plan
If you are interested in understanding database performance on a deeper level, being able to read a query execution plan is a useful skill. When you run a query, SQL Server is processing it based on an execution plan. You can generate the plan upon running your query or view a cached plan if your query has been running. This allows you to see how much time is being spent on each step in the query.
There is plenty of nuance that an experienced SQL wizard can pull from a query plan. However, for the standard developer, what you need to know is the difference between a seek and a scan.
Scan: This can be an index scan or table scan, but either way, SQL Server is having to scan the entire table or index for the data.
Seek: In the case of an index seek, SQL Server is able to identify the data you are querying for based on the given index.
As a rule, seeks are more efficient. Typically, if you are looking to optimize a query, you should identify where scans are happening in your query and fix them. The easiest way to fix them is to make sure you’re joining on indexed fields.
Pro tip: SQL Server will let you know if you are missing an index that it could be using in your query. The suggestion will appear at the top of the query plan. If you right-click on the query plan where an index is suggested and select “Missing Index Details,” it will even generate the index creation script for you!
Congratulations!
You have now leveled up your SQL skills! Using these concepts, you can now optimize your database and query more efficiently. Whether you are querying from an application or building out your own stored procedures and views, these tips will make your job easier!
Good luck out there! | https://medium.com/@8jerr/level-up-your-sql-skills-e2f8f40148e8 | [] | 2020-12-13 02:02:09.064000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'MySQL', 'Database', 'Sql', 'Software Development'] |
Waiting for the American Khrushchev: | Waiting for the American Khrushchev:
By Marina Gorbis, Institute for the Future Executive Director
My mother cried when she heard on the radio that Joseph Stalin passed away. A young, well-educated doctor who loved classical music and regularly recited Heinrich Heine’s poems in German, she was not alone. Millions of Soviet citizens of all backgrounds and walks of life mourned the death of a monster who, over a rein lasting almost three decades, murdered some twenty million of their neighbors, friends, acquaintances, coworkers, family members, literary heroes, and beloved artists. As people were disappearing from apartments, parks, and workplaces, sometimes under cover of darkness but often in broad daylight, their fellow citizens were told that the vanished were dangerous, “enemies of the people.” Traitors and saboteurs were hiding everywhere — in factories, on collective farms, at schools and universities, among party apparatchiks — and only Joseph Stalin, with his wisdom and strength, could protect the country from them. My mother’s best friend Lena, whose parents were privileged members of the Communist Party and who was regularly driven to school by a chauffeur in a luxury Chaika car given only to elite government officials, became an orphan overnight and vanished from my mother’s life for many decades. Both of Lena’s parents, early Bolsheviks, accused of a fantastic plot to undermine the Soviet regime, were removed from their home, imprisoned, and subsequently killed. Lena and her younger sister ended up in an orphanage — their surviving relatives were afraid to take in the children of the “enemies of the people.”
Years later, my mother told me that she and everyone around her (at least that’s what she thought as a teenager) believed that Lena’s parents were in fact dangerous saboteurs. They also believed that the murdered writer Isaak Babel was a counterrevolutionary, that senior members of the military have turned out to be traitors, that peasants who had a little extra food were responsible for starvation in cities and thus deserved to die.
Yale historian and student of tyranny Timothy Snyder defines the Big Lie as one which requires believers to reject evidence and commit to a vast conspiratorial story. Hitler’s chief propagandist Joseph Goebbels was one of the craft’s best practitioners. “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it,” he wrote, “people will eventually come to believe it…the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
My mother, along with millions of others bought into the Big Lie. Fanned by Joseph Stalin and his paranoia, the lie was given life by a much larger infrastructure of terror. It included multitudes of officials and acolytes, some true believers, some cowards, but most just ambitious functionaries looking to move up in the Soviet society — get a bigger apartment, a nice summer dacha by the sea, or a vacation in Crimea. All of them served as willing accomplices in Stalin’s campaigns of purges and terror.
A few years after his death, Stalin’s Big Lie was revealed to be just that by none other than one of his former enablers — Nikita Khrushchev who delivered the famous “On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences” speech at a closed meeting of the 20th Congress of the Soviet Union in 1956. The speech was quickly leaked outside of the inner party ranks and ushered in a period of reforms, with accounts of purges, killings, and horrific conditions in Soviet gulags gradually becoming public. According to some sources, when Khrushchev revealed the truth about Stalin’s reign of terror, some of the ardent Big Lie believers suffered heart attacks, a few committed suicides, and some refused to acknowledge the truth. With Khrushchev initiating widespread rehabilitations of former enemies of the people and many of the exiles returning to their homes from labor camps in Siberia, truth, however, was increasingly difficult to deny. Stalin turned from a hero to a villain in the eyes of most Soviet citizens.
Unfortunately, revelations about the Big Lie were not complete. Complicit in Stalin’s crimes and under the threat of being personally caught up in purges, Khrushchev and the close-knit circle of Communist Party leaders focused their ire on Stalin and his closest associates. They never acknowledged their own parts in creating and sustaining the cult of personality. They failed to reveal and dismantle the infrastructure that enabled it. So, as quickly as the relative openness ushered in by Khrushchev came into being, it was as quickly followed by new repressions, albeit of a much milder variety, under the next Soviet leader — Leonid Brezhnev.
Trump is no Stalin, and the US is no Soviet Union, not even close. But like Stalin and many other dictators and wannabe dictators, Trump’s Big Lie about the elections — their integrity and their final winner — is believed by millions of Americans. In the process of propagating the Big Lie, he convinced many people to disregard evidence, hate their neighbors, and treat journalists and public servants who tell the truth as “enemies of the people.” With the supporting infrastructure of donors, friendly media outlets, a long list of corrupt and craven associates, many of whom got on his bandwagon to advance their careers and political prospects, he managed to convince people to see the world literally upside down: white is black, top is bottom, honest public servants are liars, liars are truth seekers.
This moment calls for an American version of Nikita Khrushchev to step to the podium and give an American version of the speech “On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences.” And the consequences are many — undermining trust in American government, weakening our civil service, needlessly losing hundreds of thousands of people to COVID, putting lives of many people in danger, diminishing American reputation around the world, and of course, goading and applauding the insurrection into one of the most sacred symbols of American democracy, our Capitol.
Who in Trump’s inner circle has the trust of his followers and the guts to do this? Tucker Carlson? Don Jr? Hannity? Ivanka? Is there an American equivalent of the 1956 Soviet Politburo — a group of high-level Trump supporters and enablers who can sense their own destruction on the horizon and for reasons of pure self-preservation will be willing to reveal the Big Lie for what it is to Trump’s supporters and the American public?
Is there an American version of Nikita Khrushchev for this moment? I am waiting for him or her to speak up. | https://medium.com/institute-for-the-future/waiting-for-the-american-khrushchev-78f59504fb6f | ['Marina Gorbis'] | 2021-01-15 13:04:32.777000+00:00 | ['Trump', 'Cult Of Personality', 'Trumpism'] |
Trump vs. Iran: What’s the UN for, Anyway? | by Irwin Areiff. This article originally appeared on PassBlue.
President Trump, with Vice President Pence, White House advisers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and other military personnel, speaking on Jan. 8, 2020, about Iran’s missile strikes against Iraqi military bases housing US troops, days after Trump ordered the killing of Iran’s Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani. Much of the current crisis, the author writes in an analysis, stems from Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Iran nuclear deal. WHITE HOUSE PHOTO
Donald Trump may have dodged the big one in the Middle East for now. But recent events make clear that the president and his tragic idea of leadership may yet drag the United States into a major war with Iran — and there’s good reason to believe it wouldn’t be pretty.
He may still dazzle his most avid supporters, true believers as well as those who depend on him for their own political survival. But his foreign policy is continuously inflicting deep and lasting damage to Washington’s international standing, and the nation will suffer from it for a long time to come.
Here is a leader who disdains expert advice as well as discipline, wallows in narcissism, shuns facts, history and tradition, and has demonstrated little connection between his mouth and whatever passes for his brain.
Trump holds Iran solely responsible for the current crisis, and Tehran is certainly not blameless, having launched its own campaign to inflame global instability. But so much of what concerns the US now stems from Trump’s own actions, starting with his campaign vow to pull the country out of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.
He has been weakening Washington’s hand at every turn since.
Let’s get real: the president’s “America First” strategy is a fiction. In fashioning policy, he does not emphasize American interests over all others as much as focus on himself and his re-election.
Nowhere has that been more evident than in his leadership on Iran, where he almost always ends up doing the opposite of what smart diplomacy demands.
A new president ordinarily would hire the best advisers available and put them to work identifying tested, potentially fruitful goals for a relationship with Iran. He and his aides would then hammer out a strategy for achieving these goals and then pursuing them with the backing of longtime like-minded powers — i.e., the other parties to the 2015 nuclear deal: Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, the European Union and the UN Security Council.
Logically, this new president would study what worked in the past and what did not. And once the strategy was adopted, he or she would instruct everyone involved to stick to the plan, working quietly together in a disciplined fashion to achieve the best possible results.
Rather than randomly strike out in new and uncharted directions without warning, or call his rivals rude names in late-night tweets, he would publicly present his goals, let his partners get to work, then show up at the bargaining table when all that was left to do was to sign the resulting deal.
But Trump did none of that. From the start, he was blindly determined to turn his back on the nuclear agreement, whose first paragraph, by the way, “reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons.” While the accord did not curb every bit of Iranian mischief, everyone but Trump agreed that it was at least blocking the development of atomic arms as it also provided a potential hook for further diplomacy.
The deal’s defenders argued all along that it made no sense to abandon a mechanism actually preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power, and they have now been proven right. In a doomed attempt to promote negotiation of a better deal, or perhaps to provoke a confrontation that would justify an invasion or regime change, Washington rejected the pact in 2018 and reimposed US sanctions on Tehran. Infuriated and frustrated, Iran and its allied militant movements began accelerating their attacks in a variety of trouble spots while pushing to develop new ballistic missiles.
Then Trump assassinated Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani in Iraq in a drone strike — to the stunned surprise of some Pentagon officials — leading Iran to launch a barrage of missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing US and other troops.
Fortunately, rather than spark an all-out war, both sides pulled back, partly because the missile attack spared US lives. But Trump couldn’t resist imposing even more sanctions, ratcheting up the pressure on Tehran’s struggling economy. While by last-week’s end prospects for war appeared to have significantly diminished, the possibility of new crises remains a very real possibility.
One surefire way to roil the waters during a crisis is to offer conflicting answers to crucial questions. Thus, Trump’s contradictory mess of responses to this simple question: Why did the administration prevent Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif from addressing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council set for Jan. 9?
Zarif was clearly entitled to attend under an international treaty between the US and the UN. As part of a 1947 agreement setting the ground rules for basing UN headquarters in New York, Washington agreed to “not impose any impediments to transit to or from the headquarters district” of any representative of a UN member, regardless of the state of its relations with the US.
Washington nonetheless refused Zarif’s request even as it declined to tell him it had done so. Various US officials then offered a range of explanations for the action, eroding their credibility, throwing into question Washington’s commitment to its international obligations and irritating other UN members.
Alireza Miryousefi, the spokesman for Iran’s UN mission, said Tehran first applied for a visa on Dec. 20, a day after receiving its invitation to speak at the Security Council. It did not learn until Jan. 6, three days before the meeting, that the visa would not be issued. And it learned this not from the US mission to the UN — the normal channel — but from the UN, Miryousefi told PassBlue.
Then came three conflicting explanations. The first came from National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien: “I don’t think Secretary [of State Mike] Pompeo thought that this was the right time for Mr. Zarif to come to the United States, and whenever he comes to New York, he spreads propaganda,” O’Brien said.
Pompeo, talking later with reporters, contradicted O’Brien, implying instead that there had not been enough time to process Zarif’s request. “We don’t comment on visa matters of those traveling here to the United States on visas, so I can’t add much more on this issue,” he told reporters. “I’ll say only this: We will always comply with our obligations under the UN requirements, the headquarters agreement, and we will do so in this particular instance and more broadly.”
US Ambassador Kelly Craft, meanwhile, seemed to be missing in action.
As it turned out, the decision had been made by the White House, diplomats familiar with the deliberations said. But it was somehow the office of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres that got stuck with notifying Iran. He had spoken by telephone with Pompeo earlier in the day.
Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Majid Takht Ravanchi, signaled that Tehran would not let the matter rest, urging Guterres personally last week and in a Jan. 10 letter to intervene with Washington to resolve the dispute, which he said “already has put into question the credibility of the UN system.”
There were other ways in which Trump’s unorthodox diplomacy worsened the Iran crisis:
* He tweeted out of the blue that Washington was prepared to bomb 52 sites, including “cultural sites,” should Iran retaliate for the targeted assassination of Suleimani. The threat set off a firestorm because the bombing of cultural sites would constitute a war crime. That prompted US Defense Secretary Mark Esper to acknowledge that attacking cultural sites would violate international law, so it was not on the agenda. Trump, however, ignored Esper and doubled down on the supposed plan, leaving it to Pompeo to reiterate that Washington would observe international law. Did Trump’s targeting list even exist? Some Pentagon officials called it fiction. The episode highlighted the president’s psychotic approach to policymaking, even when bombing targets are the issue.
* He showed his disdain for congressional Democrats by waiting until Jan. 4, two days after Suleimani’s murder, to notify Congress of the drone strike. The president had placed phone calls to key Republican supporters days earlier.
* Trump officials stressed repeatedly that Washington had moved quickly to kill Suleimani because of solid intelligence showing that he planned “imminent” attacks on US targets. But the administration never disclosed the evidence, even in classified briefings to top lawmakers. Several officials, including Pompeo, then fell back on gibberish, insisting that the hard evidence consisted solely of the existence of earlier attacks.
Trump has repeatedly argued that a supertough approach to Iran was needed to somehow break Tehran’s resolve and lead to fresh talks on an improved nuclear agreement. But US allies, while stressing Suleimani’s bloody past, concluded that the drone strike had been too rushed, too aggressive and ultimately ineffective in altering Iran’s behavior.
In fact, it appears the killing has ruled out any new negotiations on a better nuclear deal, a possibility made even less likely by Trump’s imposition of additional sanctions. Worse, the murder also ended up emboldening Iran to further withdraw from the deal’s restrictions on nuclear bomb development.
This brings us back to the original question: What was Trump smoking when he concluded that the only way to make the nuclear deal more effective was to withdraw from it?
More apparent after Trump’s latest romp is his foreign policy team’s lack of interest in Ambassador Craft and the UN.
The UN is above all meant to function as a forum for national self-defense and justification. During a crisis like this one, Ambassador Craft would normally adopt a high profile, offering explanations, lobbying fellow ambassadors for support, convening the Security Council and making frequent appearances before the international press corps on duty at UN headquarters.
But she seemed instead to be in hiding from the start of the new year until Jan. 9, seven days after Suleimani’s murder. During this period, the word “Iran” did not appear once in her Twitter feed.
While Pompeo spoke with the UN secretary-general by telephone on Jan. 6, Craft waited until Jan. 8 to provide the Security Council with a letter on Iran; Tehran submitted its own letter on Washington’s actions a day earlier.
Finally, Craft emerged in public, showing up for the Jan. 9 Security Council meeting that Iran had been invited to attend. But she showed up 20 minutes late, snubbing Guterres in the process.
The meeting’s theme was “upholding the UN Charter” — which had obviously taken on new meaning in light of the Suleimani assassination and the retaliatory Iranian missile attacks. Craft’s remarks in the Council were nonetheless bland and invoked mostly generalities. She waited until the 10th paragraph of her 11-paragraph statement to bring up Iran. What, me worry? | https://passblue-un.medium.com/trump-vs-iran-whats-the-un-for-anyway-8a9b9f738eae | [] | 2020-01-14 18:00:32.302000+00:00 | ['Trump', 'Iran', 'War', 'United Nations', 'Diplomacy'] |
How to Spot an Abuser: Clue #9 Low Frustration Tolerance | Have you ever had an abusive partner? That is someone who has used degrading and demeaning language, withheld affection or financial help in order to punish you, hit you, shoved you, punched you, kicked you, or consistently yelled at you?
And after being involved with that abuser, did you ask yourself if there were signs you missed that would have helped you detect their abusive tendencies earlier on?
If you answered yes, it is best to put your sleuth skills to work before stepping into an new relationship. When you meet someone be on the look out for the tell tale sign of low frustration tolerance.
People who are abusive have an extra hard time managing stress and frustration. In the face of stressful situations, they get demanding, unyielding, controlling and very angry. These characteristics make them more likely to lash out.
When I was with my abusive ex, it was during his times of frustration, aka when I was around other men in social situations and if he was drunk, that he most likely to lose control. It became a pattern. One we all want to avoid.
Notice if your date/ significant other is unable to manage moderately difficult situations without being highly frustrated and without demanding that other people make these situations disappear for them, it is a very bad sign.
For example, observe how they manages stressful situations at work and whether they become obsessive and unnecessarily frustrated with tasks and unresolved issues with other people. Asking them questions about their past can be a good predictor of what they will be like in the future. If they are unfair with others, do not excuse them just because they cater to you. It may not last.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, please CALL 911. For crisis and counseling services, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1–800–799–7233 or TTY 1–800–787–3224.
Hotline advocates are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year to provide confidential crisis intervention, safety planning, information and referrals to agencies in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
For more info on the red flags of unhealthy relationships and the green flags of healthy ones visit me here: https://theyogascribe.wixsite.com/mysite
Please leave a comment below or connect! I’d love to hear from you.
May you be happy, healthy, safe and at peace. | https://medium.com/@jackie-jacksonus/how-to-spot-an-abuser-clue-9-low-frustration-tolerance-56f75ba3acd2 | ['Jackie Jackson'] | 2020-12-02 19:35:10.230000+00:00 | ['Get Help For Dv', 'Domestic Violence', 'Red Flags', 'Frustration Tolerance'] |
M1 — Apple’s New Silicon Microarchitecture On A Chip | Apple innovates in many ways, whether it is the latest design or the best new features. They have taken the path to full vertical integration by developing some of their own hardware, including the processors. Apple began this move with the A series SoC (System-on-a-Chip) that first appeared on the iPhone and later the iPad. Apple also developed SIP (System-in-a-Package) chips which they introduced in the Apple Watch. These chips were designed using the ARM processor architecture, which differs from the x86 processor architecture used on Apple’s desktop and laptop models. Products like the Macbook Pro and the iMac use intel-based processors that use the x86 instruction set. The PC is also using x86 processors made by intel on models from Dell, HP and Lenovo (to name a few).
The move to an ARM-based microarchitecture for Apple’s desktop and laptop models is perhaps a big deal. It introduces what is called “Apple Silicon” to the rest of Apple’s retail line. It is also a move away from intel, the primary chip maker for Apple’s desktop and laptop line since the departure from the PowerPC architecture. Ironically, the PowerPC was similar to the ARM, since both used a RISC-based instruction set. The move from PowerPC to intel was mainly due to the lack of power efficiency, which affected Apple’s efforts to produce longer lasting laptops and less power hungry systems. It seemed unlikely Apple was going to return to that architecture moving forward, but ARM introduced a much better design which falls in line with Apple’s own principle.
During Apple’s One More Thing event last November 10, 2020, Apple made the official announcement of the M1 processor i.e. Apple Silicon. The first generation of products running on Apple Silicon will appear in the 2020 Macbook Air, Mac Mini and 13.3" Macbook Pro. The M1 is the first ARM-based processor to appear on Apple’s desktop and laptop line. This is also going to allow apps developed for the iOS to run on the devices running macOS, since they now have the same underlying architecture. No more different versions of an app since it will now be able to run across Apple’s ecosystem from an iPhone to a Macbook Pro.
Background
In June 6, 2005 during WWDC, then Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the transition from the PowerPC to intel. In his keynote speech, he made it clear what the reason for the transition was:
“When we look at Intel, they’ve got great performance, yes, but they’ve got something else that’s very important to us. Just as important as performance, is power consumption.”
The measure used to determine this is called performance per watt. This is in simple terms, how much performance can you derive from a product in a watt of power consumed. The product is referring to the CPU or processor (e.g. M1, i9–9900K, 5900X, etc.). The more that a processor can perform, the better. Unfortunately, the PowerPC did not have that capability. It was consuming more power to perform tasks that the intel processor can achieve more efficiently.
We can measure efficiency in terms of performance per watt. This is basically saying if you can perform more tasks (operations) (t) per clock cycle (f) of the CPU by consuming less power (W), the better the performance in relation to efficiency (E).
E = (t / f) / W
Fast forward in time, and Apple is transitioning once more. Apple is looking for more efficient processors that can prolong battery life. There are benchmarks used to measure the performance which can draw observations in the lab. In the real world it also translates to the results of those observations, but not directly in the same manner due to other factors. This is because benchmarks are based on tests while users are more random in how they use a computer. The point here is that benchmarks are the best way to determine how the product will perform.
When the iPhone was developed, they did not consider using intel processors because those chips are not energy efficient. Intel’s chips are primarily used for general purpose computing which run on desktop and workstations that are powered from the grid. What mobile device makers take into consideration are components that will run with less power at a longer duration using a battery. Since intel’s chips consume more energy, it will not be ideal for battery powered mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. The solution was ARM-based processors like that from Qualcomm that are more energy efficient. Apple then developed their own which became the A series processors (e.g. A14 Bionic). The M1 is the next generation of Apple Silicon.
Introducing The M1
The M1 is Apple’s first generation of Apple Silicon SoC developed for computers (e.g. laptops, desktop). It is built by TSMC using a 5 nm fabrication process which fits 16 billion transistors on the chip. The design integrates the typical features found in a system into a single die on the chip. That includes the CPU, graphics, memory and advanced features into one component. This consists of 8 CPU cores and 8 GPU cores with integrated caches, neural engine and DRAM.
The M1 processor die (Source Apple)
The CPU uses a BIG.little configuration which has a similar design to the A series chips. It utilizes 4 high-performance cores with 4 high-efficiency cores which balances workloads. All cores don’t have to run at the same power, which is why it consumes less energy. The high-performance cores deal with short burst compute loads that require faster clock speeds, while the high-efficiency cores handle background tasks or processes that don’t require as much power to finish. At the moment there is no official information posted regarding the actual clock speed of the cores, so that is something to look forward to.
The M1 uses a unified memory architecture or UMA, which creates a single pool for high-bandwidth and low latency memory access across all components in the chip. This improves performance since it decreases the data paths between the components to memory. This provides faster response times and improves the performance in graphics and video applications (e.g. streaming video and games).
According to Apple, the M1 boosts performance per watt up to 3x. This is in comparison to the latest intel processors (not specific), so that means it can perform more tasks at less power consumed. This is perhaps a good reason to use the M1 for laptops like the Macbook Air and Macbook Pro. It will initially appear on the Macbook Pro 13.3" version, not the higher-end. This should give time for power users like editors and graphics specialists to see how well the M1 performs on the 13.3" Macbook Pro model. Sure enough, if that creates more demand for a higher-end version, it should appear on the 16" Macbook Pro as well but it may not be called the M1.
A graph showing the increase in performance per watt from 2012 to 2020 (Source Apple)
The integrated GPU, which has 8 cores, is another feature introduced in the M1. Apple has also developed their GPU without resorting to using the design from partners like AMD. If they did, then it doesn’t quite follow the vertical integration path that they are trying to accomplish. The M1 can execute 25,000 threads, which leads to Apple’s claims of having the fastest integrated graphics (based on testing conducted by Apple in October 2020 using preproduction 13.3" MacBook Pro systems with Apple M1 chip and 16 GB of RAM).
The Neural Engine on the M1 is perhaps one of Apple’s MVP features. This is capable of performing up to 11 trillion operations per second. It is built with a 16 core neural engine used for AI-based computations designed for machine learning. Apple claims it boosts performance by 15x, allowing compute intensive applications like video editing to perform faster based on these AI calculations.
The features of the M1 chip (Source Apple)
Energy Efficiency
One of the main benefits of shifting to M1 from an intel processor is the amount of power devices will save. An energy efficient chip design not only conserves energy for longer lasting battery life, but improves the performance per watt. Being able to execute more operations per clock cycle at the fraction of power consumed is very much needed as performance demands among users increases.
In the Information Age, users demand their smartphones and laptops to last longer from a single charge. Users are doing activities that now require more battery life, like streaming video and working remotely on location. There is also the inconvenience many users face with recharging their devices. While portable battery chargers can provide some additional power, there are times one is not available. There are also times when it is not possible to charge when there are no places available to plug in.
Another benefit to having energy efficient devices is to the environment. It creates a smaller carbon footprint when taken at scale of millions of devices. The idea here is that having to charge a smartphone or laptop less cuts costs and energy demand in the long run, so this requires less fuel consumed per user (these are estimates only and not based on a complete study).
Streamlined Ecosystem
It is also going to benefit Apple’s ecosystem as a whole. By having a common instruction set compatible with the underlying architecture, apps that run on one device can run on a different device. This allows the same apps that run on an iPhone iOS to run on a Macbook Pro, Mac Mini and iMac that are running macOS versions. Previously it would require having to download a different version of the app since iPhones use an ARM-based RISC instruction set while the Macbook Pro uses an x86-based CISC instruction set. Now that the next generation of Macbooks will be built with an M1 or ARM-based processor, it can run the same apps installed on an iPhone.
This would really be convenient for developers. Gone are the days of having to prototype for different CPU architectures. Instead they can focus on just one platform, reducing development costs and saving time in delivering an app to market. A software company would have teams developing an app for different platforms. It could also get complicated over time since different versions of an app are platform specific. A single platform simplifies the development process, but there might still be some details that need to be specific to an app (e.g. display on a smartphone vs. display on a laptop screen).
A more streamlined ecosystem can even lead to a single operating system. If that were the case, then there will no longer be an iOS, macOS, WatchOS or tvOS. Perhaps it will just be an AppleOS. The naming convention is appropriate though to distinguish the type of device. The naming could remain the same, but the operating systems on each device will derive from the same source that supports a common instruction set.
Less Dependency
Apple’s move to M1 lessens their dependency on other chip makers, notably intel. While Apple still relies on chip manufacturer TSMC to build the product, the fact is the chip was designed by Apple’s own research and development team. They don’t owe any other company royalties or need to pay for licensing if they can build their own chip. With the M1 being fully Apple designed, if they had used AMD’s GPU like the RDNA 2, then they would have to pay AMD to integrate that with their product.
Less dependence on others gives Apple more control of development. In the past Apple would have to wait on intel every time they needed chips. This proved to be a horrible relationship since intel had problems fulfilling Apple’s orders. Apple had to rely on intel’s product cycle in order to get the chips they needed, and it was affecting Apple’s own product releases. That meant Apple had to wait until intel had the chips ready, but by the time they released it the product’s features would be obsolete or behind the times. That creates missed opportunities in the market, which can affect revenues. Apple has no control over that, which is why it makes sense from a business perspective to explore other options.
Final Thoughts
The M1 is just the first generation of Apple Silicon for the Mac line. Powerful computing no longer means power hungry systems that consume more energy to perform the most amount of tasks. The ARM-based processors show that optimized instruction sets that can use parallelism can improve performance at the fraction of the amount of energy consumed. This is the design philosophy Apple is adopting, as their products aim to boost performance with more efficiency that give users more battery time and value in terms of performance per watt.
Apple can part ways with intel, a break up that was bound to happen after intel’s production delays. Apple probably had enough of having to deal with intel’s issues. Now that Apple has the M1, they have control over their own production cycle. Newer products with the best features can hit the market much faster than before.
While the M1 is for personal computing, I now entertain the idea that Apple could possibly develop a processor for gaming. Now that they can develop their own chips, perhaps the market in the gaming industry could become a possible target. For now the focus would be to get Apple Silicon on the higher end Macbook Pro models and iMac Pro. Then we can see it on a premium product like the Mac Pro. Let us also not forget that early versions tend to have issues, like bugs. Eventually they are ironed out, and only then can we see Apple Silicon expand to other products. | https://medium.com/0xmachina/m1-apples-new-silicon-microarchitecture-on-a-chip-29b4dd45d7a7 | ['Vincent Tabora'] | 2020-11-19 04:56:46.551000+00:00 | ['Apple', 'Computers', 'Engineering', 'MacBook', 'Electronics'] |
Blockchain Report — 11/20/2018. Summary: South Carolina University Is… | Summary: South Carolina University Is Now Offering Students A Digital Diploma On The Blockchain; KPMG Says Cryptocurrency Still Isn’t A Store Of Value; Microsoft Releases Blockchain Development Kit On Azure
Watch: Latest Episode of Blockchain Report on YouTube
South Carolina University Is Now Offering Students A Digital Diploma On The Blockchain
According to The Post And Courier, the East Coast Polytechnic Institute (ECPI) is now offering their graduating students the ability to receive their diploma digitally using the blockchain. Prospective employers will also be able to view this digital diploma to verify that the student actually graduated.
ECPI is following in the footsteps of MIT, the first university in the United States to offer a digital diploma on the blockchain. Both MIT and ECPI use Blockcerts, which is a mobile app that allows people to view the digital diploma.
The main purpose of this program is to reduce the amount of diploma fraud that occurs, which is something that employers have started to struggle with lately. When job candidates falsify their academic records, it can give a false impression to potential employers about the type of person that the job candidate is.
KPMG Says Cryptocurrency Still Isn’t A Store Of Value
According to Bitcoinist, KPMG reported that while the blockchain industry appears to be growing and maturing, they still do not serve well as a store of value. KPMG stated these findings in a report called Institutionalization of Crypto-assets.
In the report, KPMG states that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not yet useful as currencies because of a lack of trust in digital assets, as well as massive volatility and scalability issues.
KPMG chief economist Constance Hunter believes that “more participation from the broader financial services ecosystem will help to drive trust and scale for the tokenized economy.”
The report also states that while retail investors can be important, it is important for institutional investors to begin investing in cryptocurrency for the industry to thrive in the future. So far, many cryptocurrency companies have floundered or ignored financial regulations. KPMG states that new regulations should be created to deal with cryptocurrency and blockchain, as current regulations are not suited to handle most cryptocurrency cases.
Microsoft Releases Blockchain Development Kit On Azure
According to Cryptovest, Microsoft has decided to release a software development kit for Azure. Azure is an online cloud computing platform that allows developers to manage and test applications using Microsoft’s data centers.
The blockchain development kit will enable enterprises to develop distributed ledger technology (DLT) for different use cases and integrate it with current data and legacy systems.
Microsoft first released a set of DLT tools called Azure Blockchain Workbench. These tools have already been used by a variety of companies, including China Binary Sale Technology. Marc Mercuri, Microsoft’s principal program manager, says that the new kit extends the features of Azure Blockchain Workbench.
The new blockchain kit will allow developers to build and integrate blockchain solutions in a matter of days. The kit focuses on the Internet of Things, messaging (SMS), and voice systems.
Do you want daily blockchain and cryptocurrency news delivered directly to your inbox or feed? Sign up today for the Blockchain Report athttp://blockchainreport.tv.
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- Telegram 💬: https://t.me/blockchainreportnews | https://medium.com/blockchain-report/blockchain-report-11-20-2018-e785b19a3c42 | ['Christopher Durr'] | 2018-11-20 11:49:58.311000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Bitcoin', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Investing', 'News'] |
Emily in Paris: Asian Women I Know Aren’t Like Mindy Chen | SPOILER ALERT
Emily in Paris: Asian Women I Know Aren’t Like Mindy Chen
This Asian character might as well be played by a White actress — it would make no difference.
Source: Stephenie Branchu / Netflix — Emily and Mindy in “Emily in Paris”
Bored on a Sunday afternoon, I decided to check out the currently trending Netflix show “Emily in Paris” after reading mixed reviews about it. I was warned about all the stereotypes and (French) cliches by a Guardian critic, but it didn’t hit me fully until I was introduced to the character Mindy Chen.
If you haven’t seen “Emily in Paris,” it’s a story about Emily, an American woman who moves to Paris to take up a Marketing job. Not long after her arrival, she befriends Mindy, a Chinese-Korean woman who is a nanny and used to study in the States.
There are many questionable things about Emily, but I’ll leave her for the American viewers. This article will discuss Mindy Chen and other Asian characters on the show from my perspective as an Asian person who grew up in Vietnam and moved to London for study and know plenty of others who have similar backgrounds to Mindy’s.
The Mindy character has a cliche rich kid backstory: She runs away from her loaded family in Shanghai to be a nanny in Paris as she doesn’t want to live the life her parents plan out for her.
To mix things up a little bit, the show creators give Mindy a musical talent — which, I guess, is because Ashley Park playing Mindy has a background in Broadway. They also make her half-Korean instead of full-on Chinese — though I’m not sure what the intention of this is as Mindy comes across as much more American-born than Asian-born, let alone specifically Korean or Chinese or a mixture of both.
Source: The Observer — Peik Lin and Rachel Chu in “Crazy Rich Asians”
She reminds me of Peik Lin from Crazy Rich Asians. Peik Lin was portrayed by Awkwafina, whose performance was criticised for being attached to Black culture and is not an accurate representation of Asian people, especially those born and grow up in Asia.
Both Peik Lin (in the movie) and Mindy Chen are the Asian best friends who come from rich families and exist to encourage the main character to go out of her comfort zone. Mindy, in particular, gives morally questionable relationship advice to Emily throughout the show and, as a result, makes the American lead seem more coy and sensible in comparison.
As a relationship writer, I wanted to stop these characters at many points during the show and give them some urgent coaching sessions because, welp, they make horrible relationship decisions and are such bad friends and colleagues — there’s no likable character.
For this reason, I lost interest quickly halfway through, yet I continued to watch till the end of the season in case I might miss some crucial materials for this article. Lo and behold, later in the season, Mindy Chen meets up with her Shanghai friends at a club where these ladies act like they have absolutely no human control — I couldn’t relate to any of it. | https://ellengau.medium.com/emily-in-paris-asian-women-i-know-arent-like-mindy-chen-6228e63da333 | ['Ellen Nguyen'] | 2020-12-30 00:03:11.792000+00:00 | ['Emily In Paris', 'TV Shows', 'Life', 'Culture', 'Asian American'] |
What is Power Analysis and Electrical Power Measurement With Power Analyzer | In this article, we will look into what is power analysis and the tools that are used to perform it. In this article you will:
See what is electrical power really is
what is electrical power really is Learn why we need power analysis and how it is calculated
why we need power analysis and how it is calculated Understand how power analysis is performed, and what is a power analyzer.
Are you ready to get started? Let’s go!
Jump to a section
What is Power Analysis?
What is a Power Analyzer?
What is Electrical Power
Quantifying Electrical Power
How Do We Calculate Electrical Power?
Understanding Power Measurement
Power vs. Energy — What’s the Difference?
Why Do We Measure Power?
What do Power Analyzers Do?
The Dewesoft Power Analyzers
Power Analyzer with Built-in FFT Analyzer
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Sensor Database Improves Current and Voltage Measurement Accuracy
The SIRIUS XHS — Next-generation Power Analyzer
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SIRIUS XHS-PWR for Testing Hybrid and Electric Vehicles
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What is Power Analysis?
Power is the rate of doing work, i.e., the amount of energy consumed per unit of time. The power of an electrical system is the multiplication of the voltage with the current, integrated over and then divided through the periodic time. The periodic time (equals the frequency) must be known in order to calculate the power of an electrical system. “Power analysis” is simply the method by which power is tested and studied, typically using a power analyzer.
What is a Power Analyzer?
A power analyzer is an instrument that measures and quantifies the rate of power flow in electrical systems. Power flow is expressed in Joules/second (J/s) or kilowatt-hours (kW/h). Electrical power is the rate per unit of time that electrical energy is transferred in an electrical system between two points.
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What Is Electrical Power
You can look at an electric circuit, but you cannot see if the voltage is present or if a current is flowing. You must not reach out your hand to find out, because this is extremely dangerous and possibly even lethal. Therefore we must use the correct instrument to measure electricity.
So how can we visualize how electricity moves in a circuit? Well, we can see the water moving, so let’s use an analogy to explain how electrical circuits work. It is a well-known fact that if the water is to flow out of a pipe, the water needs to have a force or “pressure” pushing it, either from gravity or a mechanical pump.
Electrical Circuit Diagram Compared to a Water Pump
In our analogy:
Voltage is the pump that pushes the water through the pipe. This is measured in volts (V).
The current is the diameter of the pipe. Bigger diameter pipes allow more water to flow through, right?, This is measured in amperes (A).
Resistance is an obstruction inside the pipe that interferes with the flow of water. This is measured in ohms (R or Ω).
If the current is moving only in one direction, it is very much like water flowing through a pipe or hose. This is DC (direct current) in our analogy. However, if the current moves back and forth, then it is analogous to AC (alternating current).
AC power is what we use to send electricity long distances, from the power plant to our homes and businesses, for example. DC power is used for modern electronics as well as batteries.
The office computer you might be reading this on, for example, plugs into AC power, but it has a transformer inside that converts AC to DC power. If you’re using a notebook computer, that transformer is probably located in the external “brick” that connects between the AC outlet on the wall and the DC power system inside the notebook. If you’re reading this on a phone or tablet, it is also a DC device that uses an external AC/DC transformer to charge its internal battery.
Quantifying Electrical Power
In physics, electric power is the rate of doing work. It is equivalent to the amount of energy consumed per unit of time. The unit for power is Joule per second (J/s), also known as Watt (W).
What is Electrical Power
Electrical power is the rate per unit of time that electrical energy is transferred in an electrical system between two points. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can merely change from one type of energy to another, or be transferred.
Since no electrical system can be ideal or perfect, there will always be some loss when there is a transfer of energy. The most common form of loss within an electrical system is heat. If a circuit is physically warm, that means that some of the energy that it is carrying is being transferred into heat, and therefore wasted.
This decreases the efficiency of the overall electrical system. It is not a coincidence that mechanical systems also generate heat — don’t put your hand on a lit incandescent bulb, or you will directly experience the energy lost to heat conversion. Electrical power is just an extension of the basic physics of power in general.
Electric power is expressed in kilowatts (kW).
How Do We Calculate Electrical Power?
The amount of power in a circuit is calculated by multiplying the Voltage (V) with the Current (A) which yields Watt (W), using the following equation:
P(t)=V(t) I(t)
This basic equation can be transformed using ohm’s law, which states that the current flowing through a linear resistance is directly proportional to the voltage and inversely proportional to the resistance of an electrical circuit at a constant temperature. Ohm’s law can be written in several ways:
V=IR
P=VI
P=I2R
P =V2/R
But ohm’s law is only true for direct current (DC), where the flow of voltage and current is constant.
But with alternating current (AC), the ohm’s law equations will yield the power at only one instant in time. So we need a different method of measuring AC.
We need an equation that accurately describes electrical power if we want to analyze its characteristics. Luckily, there is such an equation:
Where:
P is power in Watt (W)
is power in Watt (W) i is current in Ampere (A)
is current in Ampere (A) u is the voltage in Volt (V)
is the voltage in Volt (V) T is the periodic time in seconds (s)
Let’s visualize this equation on a graph:
Power calculation equation visualized on a cartesian plane showing the voltage and current, and the resulting power curve after integration.
Looking at the curvature of the waveforms in the visualization we can see that the power in an AC system is not just voltage multiplied with current as in a DC system. It is defined by the time average of the instantaneous power over one cycle. This means that we must know the frequency in order to calculate the power of an electrical system.
Understanding Power Measurement
Principally there are three types of power in alternating current (AC) electrical systems to be measured. These are:
Active power (P) Reactive power (Q) Apparent power (S)
To illustrate the relationship between them there is a handy tool that we can use, known as the power triangle, based on the Pythagorean Theorem:
Power triangle, illustrating the relationship between active, reactive, and apparent power, including the angle phi and the power factor, also known as cosine phi (cos phi)
Let’s look deeper into these terms and what they really mean:
What is Active power (P)
Active power (P) also known as “real power,” is the useful power that is used within the AC circuit.
What Is Reactive power (Q)
Reactive power (Q) is not used but is transported between the source such as a power station and the load, it is mainly used to transport the active power through the electrical system.
What is Apparent power (S)
Apparent power (S) is the vector sum of active and reactive power in an AC power system.
What is the power factor (PF)
Power factor (PF) is the ratio between active and reactive power and can take on values between 1 and -1.
The power factor is an indication of the amount of active power that is present in the transmission line compared to the apparent power that combines both the active and reactive power. In other words, it is the amount by which the power in the transmission line is less than the maximum power theoretically possible. Reductions in the theoretically ideal power factor are caused by the voltage and current being out of phase.
Power factor is often written as “cos phi,” “cosine phi” or “cos 𝜑.”
Reactive power can also be positive or negative, as indicated by the positive or negative sign of angle phi (𝜑). This tells us if the current is leading the voltage, or if it is lagging behind the voltage in the transmission line.
When the reactive power value is positive it is lagging, indicating an inductive load that is consuming reactive power.
When the reactive power value is negative it is leading, indicating a capacitive load that is delivering reactive power.
Pure ohmic loads, like traditional incandescent light bulbs, have a power factor of very close to 1. This means that voltage and current are in phase, so there is very little reactive power in the transmission line.
With positive power factors, the closer they get to zero, the larger the phase difference between voltage and current, and the more reactive power is present in the transmission line. This is similar to the negative power factor, just in the opposite direction: at PF = -1 the phase difference between voltage and current is 180°.
Power vs. Energy — What’s the Difference?
The terms “electric energy” and “electric power” are not interchangeable, because they are not the same thing. Using our water analogy, it’s easy to illustrate this difference:
Power means capacity while energy represents delivery over time.
Power is essentially the flow rate of water in the hose, based on its pressure and diameter. Electric power is measured in watts (W), kilowatts, and megawatts (MW).
Energy is the amount of water that comes through the hose over a period of time. That’s why your electric bill will be given in kilowatt-hours (kWh).
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Why Do We Measure Power?
In the words of the world-renowned management consultant Peter Drucker: “If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it”.
Measuring voltage and current is only the initial step to analyzing an electrical system, and can easily be done with any power analyzer or power meter on the market.
But in order to manage something successfully, one needs as much information as possible. This is exactly what a power analyzer is designed to do. Power analyzers make it easy for the user to perform complex analysis of any electrical system with only a few operations.
As electricity and power become more and more important, it is critical that it can be measured and managed to the highest standards possible to ensure that the supply continues and that the equipment that operates using it is reliable, safe, and efficient. From energy production itself to the transmission phase that brings it to our homes and businesses, power analyzers are critical to making accurate and comprehensive measurements.
Measuring power to the highest possible level of precision is important for various reasons:
For R&D to increase the performance of products and services
To increase energy efficiency
Reducing cost and time consumption
Compliance with national and international standards
Ensuring the safety of products and operators
What do Power Analyzers Do?
Power analyzers conduct a wide range of tests and measurements on electrical components, circuits, and systems. Some of the most common analyses that are done include:
Load Flow Analysis is used to establish the components of a power system which include voltage magnitude, current magnitude, the phase angle phi of the system, active power, reactive power, apparent power, and the power factor in a steady-state operation.
Additionally, for non-linear loads, distortion reactive power as well as harmonic reactive power need to be measured and analyzed. In theory, voltage and current have a perfect 50 Hz sine wave in Europe (and 60 Hz mostly in North and South America). This is the case if there are only pure ohmic linear loads connected to the grid (e.g. incandescent light bulbs, electrical heaters, AC electromotors, etc.).
The power triangle that is shown previously is true for ohmic loads, but currently, there are more and more non-linear loads as well as production connected to the grid. This has introduced a new dimension into the power triangle namely distortion and harmonic reactive power. These phenomena are covered in the separate What is power quality article.
Let’s take a look at the new power triangle:
The new power triangle illustrates the relationship between active, reactive, and apparent power, including the new dimension of distortion and harmonic reactive power
In the example below, the line voltage feeds AC power into the system, and the switching rectifier converts it to the DC power that the LED requires. Take a look at the schematic diagram of the measurement set-up:
Schematic diagram of a LED testing power measurement set-up with both the AC and the DC voltage and current waveforms measured with the power module from Dewesoft
Currently, there are more and more nonlinear loads (ballast units, rectifiers, inverters, personal computers, etc.) connected to the grid, as well as nonlinear generation units (wind, solar, and other forms of energy). Therefore, the waveforms of voltage and current are distorted and not ideal sinusoidal waveforms. Therefore, harmonic analysis is necessary to determine the effects that these nonlinear loads have on the current and voltage in an electrical system.
Short circuit analysis is done to provide information on all the possible operating scenarios of the electrical system and to ascertain the capacity of individual components in the system to interfere with or withstand the magnitude of the current in the circuit.
Coordination analysis is used to support the development of overcurrent protection. It takes into consideration the characteristics of the protection device, including its sizing and settings, in order to establish the ideal operating range.
Dewesoft Power Analyzers
Dewesoft Power Analyzers are not only the smallest power analyzers in the world, but they’re also the most powerful ones. The flexible hardware platform combined with powerful software features gives unique testing possibilities for any kind of electrical measurement. Dewesoft power analyzers can calculate more than 100 power parameters, such as P, Q, S, PF, cos phi, and many others.
It also offers several features of other instruments:
Raw data recording capabilities
Oscilloscope
FFT analysis
Harmonics
etc.
All these calculations can be done online in real-time, in post-processing, or both.
The Dewesoft Power analyzer combines multiple instruments and functionalities in a single device — power analyzer, FFT analyzer, RAW data recorder, oscilloscope, harmonics analyzer, temperature recorder, vibration recorder, and many more.
The Dewesoft power analyzer can be equipped with up to 64 high-speed analog inputs (up to 15 MS/s @ 16-bit and 5 MHz bandwidth per channel) for voltage and current measurement in a single box.
The Dewesoft R8DB power analyzer is capable of 32 high voltage and 32 current channel in a single box with RAW data storing and real-time power analysis
The inputs are fully isolated both on the sensor side (channel to the ground), as well as channel-to-channel, and even isolated sensor excitation. Real galvanic isolation means less noise, ground loop avoidance, and superior signal quality.
High voltage inputs are measured directly with 1600 V DC/CAT II 1000 V/CAT III 600 V protection. Current can be measured with high-accuracy current sensors, like zero-flux current transducers, AC/DC current clamps, Rogowsky coils, and shunts.
Dewesoft provides a broad range of current transducers and currents sensors for any current measurement range and accuracy
And while it is mainly a power analyzer, it can also measure additional and different signal types, including accelerometers, strain gage, force and load sensors, thermocouples, RTDs, counters and encoders, GPS, CAN BUS, XCP, FlexRay, and even video. All channels are synchronized with each other.
Typical phase delta measurement screen from DewesoftX power analysis software
The SIRIUS XHS — Next-generation Power Analyzer
The SIRIUS XHS power analyzer is the latest version of the SIRIUS line. It is a high-speed data acquisition system capable of recording each of its eight analog inputs up to 15 MS/s/ch with up to 5 MHz bandwidth.
The SIRIUS XHS shown with four HV amplifiers and four LV amplifiers
It features an all-new HybridADC technology that is capable of high-bandwidth transient recording and very high-dynamic, alias-free data acquisition. Alias-free filtering allows the acquisition of signals with up to 160 dB dynamic range. High channel-to-channel and channel-to-ground isolation prevents damage to the systems from excessive voltage and avoids ground loops.
In most power applications, the SIRIUS XHS is configured with four each of the high voltage (HV) and low-voltage (LV) amplifiers:
SIRIUS XHS HV : Highly isolated CAT II 1000V high voltage input. This amplifier can measure ranges from 20 V to 2000 V peak directly, with 5 MHz bandwidth and an accuracy of 0.03%. This amplifier is ideal for the direct connection of high voltage signals. The connectors of this amplifier are always insulated safety banana jacks (red/black).
: Highly isolated CAT II 1000V input. This amplifier can measure ranges from 20 V to 2000 V peak directly, with 5 MHz bandwidth and an accuracy of 0.03%. This amplifier is ideal for the direct connection of high voltage signals. The connectors of this amplifier are always insulated safety banana jacks (red/black). SIRIUS XHS LV: Highly isolated low voltage input. This amplifier can measure ranges from 0.05 V to 100 V, with a 5 MHz bandwidth, an accuracy of 0.03%, and excitation for selected sensors (requires DSUB9 connector for sensor excitation). This amplifier is ideal for the direct connection of low voltage signals and current transducers. The connectors of this amplifier are available in several types: Insulated safety banana jacks (blue/black), DSUB9, or BNC. Note that the DSUB9 connector also offers sensor excitation as well as TEDS for smart sensor setup.
When the DSUB9 connector is used, this amplifier also accepts DSI series smart interface adapters, allowing other kinds of sensors to be connected to each LV channel. These include:
DSI-ACC for IEPE accelerometers and microphones
DSI-CHG for charge type accelerometers
DSI-RTD for RTD temperature sensors
DSI-TH for thermocouples (J, K, T, etc.)
DSI-LVDT for LVDT displacement/distance sensors
When any DSI model is connected to an LV channel, Dewesoft X data acquisition software automatically detects it (using TEDS sensor standard), and configures that channel for it, setting the input type, gain, range, and scaling to be appropriate. The user can make further settings, and save them into the on-board sensor database.
Noise floor, common-mode rejection, gain and offset drifts of both amplifiers at lower bandwidth are comparable to the standard DualCoreADC SIRIUS line of instruments.
These amplifiers are perfect for e-mobility measurements, where the highest precision such as power analysis is an absolute necessity.
Learn more about Dewesoft and how to use TEDS sensor technology:
Dewesoft Online PRO Training: Voltage measurement
Voltage Measurement in Data Acquisition Applications
Power Analyzer with Built-in FFT Analyzer
Conventional power analyzers use zero-point detection to determine the periodic time. This means that they evaluate when the voltage or current crosses that x-axis and use that value to calculate the periodic time.
Based on this predetermined period time, an FFT analysis of voltage and current can be done for a definable number of periods (typically 10, if the system’s base frequency is 50 Hz), and at a selectable sample rate. The FFT analysis yields an amplitude for the voltage, current, and the cos phi for each harmonic.
The Dewesoft power module has a built-in FFT analyzer in addition to the other display types
Multi-Phase Power Analyzers
In the Dewesoft X power module, there are several predefined system configurations available for you to choose from. The most common ones are:
direct current,
1-phase
2-phase — is used, e.g. with special types of motors
3-phase star
3-phase delta
Aron and V configuration is basically star and delta configurations but measuring only two currents instead of three. This is normally done as a space-saving or cost reduction measure.
Special configurations such as 6-, 7-, 9- or 12 phase motor measurement can be done with multiple single-phase or 3-phase systems and adding up the power values in the Math library. This means that power can be measured at multiple points completely synchronous.
In the math library, the power modules can be further refined, for example, the efficiency can be calculated automatically. This is also very helpful when measuring multi-phase motors (6 to 12 phases).
The Dewesoft power module can be configured for 1, 2, and 3-phase systems. These can be combined to create 6, 7. 9 or even 12-phase systems
Engineers can simply select one or more of the systems that they are measuring from this list:
1-Phase
2-Phase
3-Phase star
3-Phase delta
3-phase Aron
3-phase V
3-phase 2-meters
In addition, a wide range of other choices is available, including the line frequency, output units, frequency source (the channel to be evaluated to determine the exact frequency), phase, and more.
Due to the modular design of Dewesoft measurement devices, the user is never limited to only measuring power values. Dewesoft DAQ systems can connect to virtually every sensor in the world, which means that the engineer can also measure temperature, force, vibration, sound, GPS location, video, speed, RPM, torque, etc.
The Dewesoft power analyzer wiring schematic for testing inverter and electric motors
Engineers performing tests on electric or hybrid vehicles may also want to measure the speed of the car, the battery temperature, CAN bus data, GPS position, and even plot its exact location on a test track.
Instead of using two, three, or even more different measuring instruments, Dewesoft offers all measurements to be recorded simultaneously within a single instrument. This brings several key advantages:
No need to merge the data together manually after the test.
Data is completely synchronized down to a single sample.
All the data can be viewed on one screen and written to one data file.
Configuring and using only one DAQ system and software spares a lot of test preparation time.
Dewesoft Power Analyzer Explained Live at the Battery Show Expo
Sensor Database Improves Current and Voltage Measurement Accuracy
It should be noted that every amplifier, current, and voltage transducer has some kind of inaccuracy or non-linearity. However, in Dewesoft power analyzers, these errors can be measured ahead of time and entered into an XML sensor database. Dewesoft X software applies correction factors in real-time, resulting in more accurate readings and results.
The Dewesoft analog sensor database
The built-in sensor database also eliminates errors caused by manual data entry mistakes. Selecting a transducer from the list rather than entering the parameters manually not only saves time, but it prevents typographical errors which can lead to wrong scaling or gain selections.
Inside the sensor database, scaling can be set up using y=mx+b formulas, look-up tables, polynomials, and even transfer curves. This only has to be done one time for most sensors. Engineers can add, edit and delete sensors, and update their calibration information at any time, including CAL due dates, etc.
The sensor database’s units are based on and derived from the seven international SI unit “defining constants”:
Length — meter (m)
Time — second (s)
Amount of substance — mole (mole)
Electric current — ampere (A)
Temperature — kelvin (K)
Luminous intensity — candela (cd)
Mass — kilogram (kg)
So while they are metric at their core, such as m/s2, for example, the user is free to select G or g, in this case. Therefore the output engineering units can be comfortable for all users worldwide.
Dewesoft software also includes sensor databases for counter/encoder/RPM sensors.
Learn more about Dewesoft and how to use TEDS sensor technology:
Dewesoft X Sensor Database Manual
Analog and Digital Counter Sensor Database Online PRO Training
Measuring Current with Dewesoft
Current measurement is usually divided into two major groups:
Direct
Indirect
“Direct” — is when the conductor must be disconnected and a sensor is connected in series with the circuit. This method works without any additional circuits.
The most common direct current measurement device is a shunt resistor, which is then connected in series with the circuit. A shunt resistor has a very low resistance which has been very accurately determined by the manufacturer. A shunt resistor works on the principle that when the current flows through this resistor, there will be a very small voltage drop that we can measure and convert to current using ohm’s law.
Typical shunt current measurement hook-up
We can measure this drop and apply Ohm’s law to calculate the current.
Graphical representation of Ohm’s Law
In addition, the accuracy of the resistor is an important factor, since this directly affects the accuracy of the measurement itself.
Dewesoft DSIi-10A Current Shunt
Dewesoft offers several compact size current shunts, each designed with a different resistor inside, intended to measure different current ranges. These shunts have been engineered to have the least possible effect on the circuit itself.
DSI adapters can be plugged into virtually all Dewesoft data acquisition devices. The isolated analog inputs of Dewesoft amplifiers is an important factor in ensuring accurate measurements, since the shunt is connected directly to the circuit being measured, and isolation between the circuit and the measuring system is always important. Isolated inputs mean that you can place your shunt on the low-side or high-side of the circuit, and not worry about a ground loop or common-mode measuring errors.
Considering Ohm’s law again and the interlocking nature of voltage, current, and resistance, it is absolutely clear that a DAQ system must be able to make a very accurate voltage measurement and resistance measurement in order to make an accurate current measurement.
“Indirect” — is when the current sensor does not make contact with the circuit directly. Instead, it measures the magnetic field that is induced when current flows through a conductor and then converts it to a current reading (Electric charges produce electric fields).
The advantage of indirect current measurement is galvanic isolation of the sensor from the conductor and the fact that the circuit itself does not have to be disturbed or disconnected. It also allows very high currents to be measured.
Dewesoft supports nearly all of the current transducers available on the market today. Some of the current transducers can be powered directly from the measurement device and some current transducers require an external power supply, as the amount of excitation power that they need cannot be delivered by the measurement device.
Dewesoft has a solution for this: SIRIUS PWR-MCTS2 is a power supply unit for powering these current transducers directly from Dewesoft instruments without any external power supply. SIRIUS PWR-MCTS2 can be built as compatible SIRIUS or SIRIUS XHS modular chassis or directly into a SIRIUS-based rack chassis such as R1DB, R2DB, R3, R4, or R8 data acquisition system.
SIRIUS models with integrated MCTS2 current transducer power supply
Learn more about Dewesoft and how to use TEDS sensor technology:
Dewesoft Online PRO Training: Current measurement
How To Measure Current Using Current Sensors
SIRIUS XHS-PWR for Testing Hybrid and Electric Vehicles
Another innovation is the SIRIUS XHS-PWR, a new version of the classic SIRIUS DAQ system dedicated to testing hybrid and electric vehicles. It features a patented DC-CT current transducer technology that allows very precise current measurements, even in the most demanding applications, such as very high current peaks as well as leakage current testing.
The SIRIUS XHS-PWR with integrated DC-CT current transducer
This new instrument is perfect for e-mobility measurements, where the highest precision such as power analysis is an absolute necessity. The current transducer uses patented DC-CT® technology based on the Platiše Flux Sensor. It offers ranges of 100A, 500A, and 1000A, packed into a very small chassis, 1 MHz bandwidth, immunity to external magnetic fields, low offsets, and excellent linearity.
Typical in-vehicle power test, showing additional inputs like CAN bus, video camera, and real-time GPS position superimposed over a map
The amplifiers can also measure voltage 2000V peak (CAT II 1000V) with up to 5 MHz bandwidth
The SIRIUS XHS-PWR
This instrument has two inputs:
1xHV (high voltage) and
and 1xHA (high current) with DC-CT current transducer.
These inputs connect directly to the power line of the vehicle, for the ultimate in e-mobility testing convenience, bandwidth, and accuracy. It offers an IP65 degree of protection which allows the usage in harsh environments and during rough drives.
Comparison table of DC-CT current transducer versus other current sensor types:
Compatible Current Transformers
Below is a table that gives a short overview of the current transducers that are available and which characteristics these transducers possess, as well as for which applications they are best suited.
Overview of current transducers and their application areas
Dewesoft designs and produces world-renowned measurement and data acquisition equipment for a wide range of industries and applications. A focus since the early 2000s has been power analysis and power quality analysis.
Little did we know back then that automobiles would be turning electric at such a rapid pace as they are today. And that’s just one application where portable, high-performance power analyzers and power quality analyzer measuring instruments are essential.
More Information
Products and Solutions
Articles and Knowledgebase
Case Studies and Application Notes | https://medium.com/@dewesoft/what-is-power-analysis-ca6e13e9cbb3 | ['Dewesoft Test'] | 2020-12-10 11:23:37.835000+00:00 | ['Electric Vehicles', 'Power', 'Energy', 'Power Analysis', 'Electricity'] |
Why I Don’t Regret My Tech Degree | Why I Don’t Regret My Tech Degree
The $50K university education in IT was worth it
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash.
When someone claims that they taught themselves programming these days, people no longer bat an eye. Similarly, individuals who went through programming boot camps for their jobs aren’t necessarily inferior to those with an IT-related degree.
Does this mean that degrees are no longer a prerequisite for hiring? What’s the value of an IT degree then?
As a recent IT graduate looking back on my university education, I realized that there are aspects that could have been self-explored. There is technical knowledge that is readily available on online platforms, such as Stack Overflow to find answers for questions and YouTube and MOOC courses for tutorials.
However, I wouldn’t dismiss formal education entirely. You see, before university, I didn’t have a technical background. As a beginner to the field, the guidance doesn’t hurt.
During one of my first programming courses, an instructor said, “To those who have never written a line of code, very good — welcome. To those who have, be prepared to unlearn and learn again.”
Simply put, self-exploration can be quite a headache with people picking up bad habits.
Having gone through a rigorous curriculum and experienced the highs and lows, here are three reasons why university was worth it after all. | https://medium.com/better-programming/why-i-dont-regret-my-tech-degree-30f0c6dc10eb | ['Kailyn C.'] | 2020-08-13 14:09:20.255000+00:00 | ['Business', 'Technology', 'Education', 'Self Improvement', 'Programming'] |
Our experience as developers of tooling in the Ethereum Foundation | Nina Breznik ([email protected])
Previously: https://remix.ethereum.org
Now: https://smartcontract.codes & https://playproject.io/play-ed
During my 2+ years in Remix, I interviewed many expert users (e.g. many 1-on-1 meetings with Chainsafe Team and others, focus interviews with users during Conferences (e.g. EDCON, EthCC, EthGlobal Events, Devcon, etc…), and Interviews during EthMagicians gatherings).
Edcon, Toronto 2018
The thing I heard most often was that they do love Remix, but they want a better UX for dealing with common features (e.g. compile/deploy) + they would love to see a much better debugger. They also said Remix is sometimes too much, when they want to showcase their work to the clients who are not so tech savy. Next, since there are a lot of changes happening in the space (e.g. new Solidity versions, new compilers, new features, new techniques, etc..), most developers said they have a hard time of keeping up with it, so I suggested we create a support chat and integrate it into Remix.
The chat grew from initially +200 people to over 2000 people in one year and I noticed that despite the fact we were working on many new features, users didn’t even know most of them exist and old features were frequently breaking which made people quite frustrated.
@serapath who is working with me on a new project, developed the idea for plugins and designed the architecture for it His idea was to factor out the “pro features” into plugins and allow external teams to integrate their features via plugins too so we can focus on a clean, solid and beginner friendly core to onboard new users.
Things were moving too slow in Remix so we suggested to start a new project that would focus on onboarding and making the main features users pointed out easily accessible and beginner friendly. We are slowly leaving alpha and moving into public beta.
See the screencast demo (1min)
In a week or two we will add a new design and app connect , our improved take on integrating with other services in the spirit of zapier or ifttt , so anyone can connect their app to it.
Additional learning came from workshops we frequently organize all year long (=WizardAmigos).
Source: personal archive
Source: personal archive
When we tried to teach beginners solidity and the logic commonly used in smart contracts and to integrate with oracles and decentralized storage providers (e.g. swarm, ipfs, …) we again tried to use Remix, but it was absolutely overwhelming for them.
Too much information, too many buttons, too many clicks to get even basic things done and so they got lost and didn’t have much interest to continue.
Now I am using the play editor (=play-ed) and I see how beginners feel they understand what is happening and have control, so they can actually do something, send transactions and feel empowered and follow along to learn more.
Play ed (https://playproject.io/play-ed)
Interestingly, I tried to explain smart contracts to Patrick and Catherine from the Ethereum Foundation in Zug and they were intimidated at first, but after I showed them the Play editor and how its auto-generated interactive contract preview (=a familiar form to fill out) works, they could actually follow along and at the end Catherine even commented that this is the first time she felt like this is something that she eventually could wrap her head around. The tool successfully served as a great presentation tool for business/laywers/accountants and other professionals, including software agencies who want to showcase their work to non-technical clients.
We also introduced the tool to many professors and their assistants who teach solidity in universities. Their feedback was positive and the tool is now their go-to-tool when starting to teach solidity, so I guess that’s a pretty good feedback. Some also opened issues and added feature requests some of which we implemented already.
There is one last feedback we got, and the professors we are in touch with confirmed this:
Users are missing good but simple and to the point examples when they start learning. Expert users on the other hand lack access to many advanced code examples where they can search for custom features or look for the latest implementations and best practices to see how certain features are used in solidity, so that they have an easier time integrating them into the contracts they are working on.
In essence, solidity programmers wouldn’t mind to get more inspiration about what and how they can build useful smart contracts.
This lead us to start with the https://smartcontract.codes — a search engine for solidity source code.
It was inspired by https://codepen.io which helps web developers to look for inspiration and quickly copy good examples.
The Project is only a few months old, but we’re collaborating with the professors who are sharing with us the code examples they use in their courses.We’re soon also adding Open Zeppelin contracts and also professionally audited contracts from our partners from ChainSecurity to the database.
Currently our database has over 100.000 smart contract code examples and they will all be published soon when our public Beta is released.
Our hypothesis is that the first real boom Ethereum had was due to ERC20 standard which gave users an out of the box business solution in the form of a contract, which they could slightly adapt for their needs and they were ready to go.
We think there is a need for more standards/templates/out of the box solutions for contracts as a business
Moloch DAO and Token bonding curve came close, but they are maybe not such a mainstream usecase as an ERC20 Token which can be used for any loyalty program, game, ICO etc.
So once again, we think these standard examples are necessary and we’ll search for them or develop them ourselves and integrate them in the smartcontract.codes tool so users will be able to search for contracts they want, click to open them and deploy them instantly to the netowork of their choice using Metamask or other browser wallets in the future. | https://medium.com/play-project/our-experience-as-developers-of-tooling-in-the-ethereum-foundation-ee2b4a16034c | ['Nina Breznik'] | 2019-11-09 14:10:20.807000+00:00 | ['Smart Contracts', 'Ethereum', 'Blockchain', 'Code', 'Solidity'] |
2019 Necker Blockchain Summit — Hyped for Change | For Beth Moses, the world’s first ever female commercial astronaut, the ability to pay for a ticket on a spaceship using digital currencies is “magic.”
“You can pay for a ticket to space on bitcoin. I still think that’s magic,” Moses told panelists at the Blockchain Summit on Necker Island this week. “I would love more people to go to space. And I would certainly be quite happy if the global payment network of the future would help them do that.”
Also speaking this week on the Summit’s sixth and final panel, “Hyped for Change: Your World on Blockchain,” venture capitalist Alex Tai urged the assembled group of innovators and technologists to move more quickly from talk to action.
“There’s a place for distributed ledger technology in everything we do. But rather than just talk about it, we need to get on with it,” said Tai, former director of Special Projects with the Virgin Group, who founded the Virgin Galactic project for Sir Richard Branson in 2004. “Build it, it will become better and better and better and become more useful.”
“There’s absolutely a place for bitcoin, I do think it will replace gold in the future. … Let’s not screw it up,” said Tai. “We have an incredible capability designed into these systems.”
Grace Wong, CEO of Liven, an app offering restaurant discovery, one-tap payment and universal crypto rewards, said that blockchain technology has helped her begin to expand her business internationally. With more than 1,000 partnered venues throughout Melbourne and Sydney and more than 400,000 users, Liven is creating a tokenized economy that supports both local businesses and national brands.
“One and a half years ago, my company was running this loyalty system in cash form. But then I found out that applying blockchain and crypto meant we can scale internationally way faster,” said Wong. “There’s a tremendous opportunity to solve this real-world business problem.” | https://medium.com/meetbitfury/2019-necker-blockchain-summit-hyped-for-change-4c1d0783f1f3 | ['The Bitfury Group'] | 2019-06-27 21:49:46.045000+00:00 | ['Blockchain Summit', 'Technology', 'Leadership'] |
3 Reasons Why Having A Blog Is Essential For SEO | 1. You can get to the top of Google Searches more easily
Let’s address the elephant in the room and say that the biggest benefit of having SEO Blog Posts is that you get to the top of the Google SERPs more easily because Google prefers sites that are constantly updated. As a matter of fact, most of the top search results you find in google will have blogs in their sites, this is for a number of reasons, mainly three:
An SEO Blog increases the visibility of your site by having more information that could possibly appear in the top page of google. This happens through proper keyword research that is favored by the Search Engines, and great content writing that keeps users engaged for longer. Google sees this and compares your bounce rate to your competition’s, if yours is greater than theirs, you might jump a few extra positions in your ranking. Note: a lowered bounce rate is not the only factor, we’ve skipped over a few important factors like Domain Authority, Keyword Difficulty, etc.
Next, let’s assume you’re a real estate agent interested in real estate investment marketing in order to grow your business, in this case, you need a blog in order to have more pages indexed more often, this is what leads to a higher Domain Authority- one of the main factors that lead higher rankings. So, that means that by having a blog as part of your small business digital marketing efforts, you’re accelerating the time it takes your business to start ranking for the important keywords.
Finally, SEO and UX is mainly about linking, reducing the time it takes for clients to get from one starting point to another point of interest. Although external links that lead to your site are important, links from one page from your site to another are arguably as important, and every blog post you write is an opportunity for this link building. An added benefit of this link building is that it improves even further Google’s indexing of your pages. | https://medium.com/@DMNetic/3-reasons-why-having-a-blog-is-essential-for-seo-5fb6f72cc679 | ['Arbi Abramian'] | 2021-12-28 20:33:08.608000+00:00 | ['SEO', 'Search Engine Marketing', 'Seo Services', 'Blogging', 'Articles'] |
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