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Q & A with Tohm Bakelas, NJ hardly poet | GB: Tohm, thank you for taking time to talk. Usually, my first question is: can you share a little bit about yourself? Any background info worthy of noting for the readers?
TB: Thanks for having me! I was born in New Jersey on the 12th day of July in the year 1989. I share a birthdate with Bill Cosby, the rapist, and Henry David Thoreau, the guy who didn’t pay taxes in Massachusetts, Richard Simmons, the exercise guy, and Julius Caesar, that Roman dude who was knifed 23 times by his friends. I have lived my entire life in New Jersey and plan to die here.
GB: What’s your day-job? Does it affect your writing at all? Are there any impacts or setbacks?
TB: I am a social worker in a psychiatric hospital. Being a social worker has affected my writing, for sure, but I wouldn’t say this current job has impacted it more or less than any other hospital I’ve worked in, which is a lot. Most of the time, the reader will never know what hospital I’m referring to, unless I specifically state the name. At times, I write about my experiences here with patients, but more frequently, I will write about my experiences with staff or coworkers. And with that comes the setbacks. I have to uphold HIPPA and maintain confidentiality with every decision I make in life, not just in writing. No patient names, no identifying information, nothing, can ever be linked to the writing. Working within that has forced me to rewrite lines or, at times, not write at all. An additional setback comes from interaction with coworkers. I maintain a heavy division between personal life and work life. Often, this leads to confrontation when it doesn’t need to. My coworkers are disturbed when I don’t share personal information, they think I’m a freak or crazy. Fuck ’em, I don’t give a shit!
GB: As a fellow New Jerseyian, do you find it inspiring your work at all? Care to share any stories that some of our local squad might eNJoy?
TB: Of course! Being from New Jersey has definitely inspired my work. We are one of the most hated states in the nation. It’s great! And if you don’t find humor in that, I think your brain is broken. Any stories? Well, the music scene in New Jersey is really amazing. Some of my favorite shows I attended and played were at the Meatlocker in Montclair NJ; always remember, “don’t hang on the pipes.” Bands like Adrenalin OD, Bedlam, and Mental Abuse were some of the first NJ hardcore bands I discovered on my own and in today’s world, PC culture, those bands would never have made it. But in the 80’s, long before I was even thought of, they fucking reigned. I also think Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska LP is one of the greatest records of all time. Also, I hear Charles Cullen was a really good nurse.
GB: What’s your creative process like? Any obstacles you’ve had overcome recently?
TB: I don’t have a creative process. I have four methods I utilize: paper, typewriter, computer, and phone. I haven’t figured out which one works best. Maybe that’s it though, maybe that’s the process, having multiple ways rather than relying on one. The only thing that has never worked is writing in open spaces, like fields or parks. I require confined space. I usually write after an experience has shaken me and I need to document it.
The biggest obstacle I face is the dry spells. Those periods of not writing or rather, being unable to write. At times, I have 10–35 thoughts in my head screaming at once and sometimes it’s too much, they aren’t ready to come out. So I have to wait, and the wait is torture. But I’m slowly learning to accept it. I’m not going to force something out when it is not ready. That obstacle is something I may never overcome. Another obstacle is proofreading. I’m a staunch believer in the lack of editing process. Even in my Master’s program I never proofread. I fucking hate it, but I see the importance in it too. I’ve known writers who edit things too much and the original content is lost. I never want to become that.
GB: What other types of art do you like experiment with? Why?
TB: The only other art I experiment with is music. I play bass and sing. Most of the bands I formed have petered out and died. I currently sing in Permanent Tension and run a record label called Forced Abandonment Records.
GB: Who and what is on your MUST-READ list?
TB: My favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut. I find an unmatched connection to his short sentences, sarcastic ramblings, dark view of humanity, and sardonic humor. Ray Bradbury is pretty good too. As far as poets go: Bukowski, Li Po, Du Fu, Bob Kaufman, William Carlos Williams and Dylan Thomas. And some of my favorite contemporary “underground” writers: Marc Brüseke, Zola Cate Piccone, Scott Slome, Katie Doherty, Arthur J. Willhelm, Patrick Moore, John D. Robinson, and Glen Binger (that’s you). There’s definitely more, and I apologize ahead of time for not listing them, next time!
GB: What does “success” mean to you?
TB: Success to me is having one person say, “hey man, I get it, I fucking understand.” Another success is being able to continually write. It’s the best therapy I’ve ever found.
GB: When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
TB: I think that’s my secret. I never set out to be a writer. I have always written for me. I started writing poems when the bands started to die. It was an easy transition from writing lyrics to poems. There’s a lot of overlap between both.
GB: What’s next for Tohm Bakelas? Got any forthcoming projects we can keep an eye out for?
TB: Currently, I’m sitting on 88 fully edited and completed poems and about another 18 that remain uncollected from various journals and magazines. The plan was to include 12 more unpublished poems and seek a publisher for a full-length book. However, interesting opportunities have presented recently. This guy in Scotland wrote me and requested a bunch of poems. I couldn’t tell you what for, but I sent him some! Marc Brüseke at Analog Submission Press asked me for a manuscript for a new chapbook. It’s titled “decaying sun under noontime rain.” It should be out sometime late February/early March. I sent John D. Robinson at Holy & Intoxicated Publications some poems too, maybe he’ll do something with them. A few presses around the tri-state area have requested manuscripts as well, but they’ve been fucking shady and I don’t want a fucking headache when I’m having fun. We’ll see what happens. Something about self-publishing is appealing but it terrifies me. For now, I’ve found a home in the smaller presses through Analog Submission Press, Budget Press, and Iron Lung Press who have each released a chapbook for me in 2018. My plan is to continue with the small presses and seek others out. | https://medium.com/betterism/q-a-with-tohm-bakelas-nj-hardly-poet-9762ec4ba3b9 | ['Glen Binger'] | 2019-02-05 13:01:00.784000+00:00 | ['Writers On Writing', 'Betterismqa', 'Poet', 'Writing', 'New Jersey'] |
Better Bite: Charity | This week we have one of our shorter ‘Better Bite’ episodes. We focus on why and how to give to charity. We discuss how to make a giving plan that can maximize the impact of your donations while allowing you to express your personal values and support your passions.
Subscribe to the show: Apple Podcasts| Google Play| Stitcher | Overcast
Here are some highlights from this episode:
Why your charitable giving can have a big impact, even if you don’t have much to give.
How and why to make a ‘giving strategy’.
The best ways to discover and evaluate charities.
Tactics on how to give most effectively — balancing impact & your personal passions.
and lots more!
We look forward to hearing about your experiences and wisdom on this topic so drop us a note on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter and share your story with others in The Better Show community. Or you can email us at [email protected]. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Show Notes
01:30 — Our listener Jakub wants to know how to make the most of his charitable giving
— Our listener Jakub wants to know how to make the most of his charitable giving 05:10 — Can I make an impact? What are my few dollars going to do?
— Can I make an impact? What are my few dollars going to do? 07:30 — How we could eliminate extreme poverty by the middle of the century.
— How we could eliminate extreme poverty by the middle of the century. 11:50 — Charity is about expressing your personal values.
— Charity is about expressing your personal values. 12:37 — The guys try the ‘How rich am I?’ wealth calculator
— The guys try the ‘How rich am I?’ wealth calculator 18:00 — Where do you craft a charity strategy?
— Where do you craft a charity strategy? 20:00 — What is effective altruism?
— What is effective altruism? 30:00 — How to evaluate charities?
— How to evaluate charities? 33:50 — The guys discuss the pros & cons of volunteering
— The guys discuss the pros & cons of volunteering 38:30 — How to make a charity plan for this year.
Mentions
Episode Transcript
Coming soon. | https://blog.bettershow.io/better-bite-charity-6fc8d891be06 | ['Ian Mikutel'] | 2019-02-25 08:01:00.686000+00:00 | ['Giving', 'Nonprofit', 'Charity'] |
When it comes to the Common Agricultural Policy, the EU needs to get its priorities straight. | When Ursula von der Leyen’s commission first introduced their swanky new European Green Deal last December, it promised, among many other revolutionary ‘green’ proposals, that lawmakers would turn the controversial Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on its head and transform it into a tool for greener Agricultural practices.
Rejoice and hope soon fizzled, however, when negotiations for a revised CAP, which began this November, unveiled a depressing lack of motivation from Brussels to take the much-necessary steps of re-thinking the EU’s strategy for agriculture. Anyone who has followed the story already knows how the song goes; a “generous” 20% of the subsidies will be directed towards so-called ‘eco schemes’, while its business as usual for the remaining €48 billion-per-year funds. In other words, certain MEPs are choosing to slap a bandaid on a broken limb and call it a day.
Adopting ‘green’ agricultural practices alone cannot help the EU reach carbon neutrality by 2050. According to the European Environmental Agency, the agricultural sector currently accounts for 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the EU produced annually of which the majority is methane gas emissions from animal livestock digestion. Yet CAP still allocates funds on a per hectare basis, meaning larger farms will continue to be rewarded for over-production and incentivized for keeping as much livestock as possible. When CAP was first introduced after WWII, its goal was to increase food-productivity at a time that was needed. That goal has since been over-achieved, and our priorities in 2020 should be much, much different. So why are we still basing such a fundamental aspect of European industry on such outdated foundations?
*Image Credit:
By Keith Weller/USDA — www.ars.usda.gov: Image Number K5176–3, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=808501 | https://medium.com/@natalielamprou/when-it-comes-to-the-common-agricultural-policy-the-eu-needs-to-get-its-priorities-straight-4ae0bbd1c7a7 | ['Natalie Lamprou'] | 2021-03-06 14:22:16.270000+00:00 | ['Agriculture', 'Environmental Issues', 'European Commission', 'Green Politics', 'European Union'] |
Professional Hotel Staff recruitment suppliers in Pakistan | in The Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies | https://medium.com/@nazrahaneef/professional-hotel-staff-recruitment-suppliers-i-38420f55ffab | ['Nazra Haneef'] | 2020-12-08 06:16:02.652000+00:00 | ['Hospitality Industry', 'Recruitment', 'Hotel Staff Suppliers', 'Hotel Industry', 'Manpower Consultancy'] |
12 Trending Hair Cut for Women — Cute Fashion Art | Are you looking for a good trending haircut? You’ve been at the right place. Here are the best different hair cut styles that would help your hair more attractive than others. Previously to consider women much only think about their dresses, and makeup, but today hair cut demand also has become important for personality.
Whether it’s celebrations, family parties, conferences, or big events, a hairstyle haircut has a necessity for women. Making up stylish haircuts has now gotten a lot simpler and increasing demand nowadays. Even better, every face shape has a hairstyle that fits it. Long hair is known for softening sharp features, enhancing proportions, and helping you look younger, healthier, and more attractive. Check out these long hairstyles for inspiration if you’re growing your hair out or just want a change.
Here are 10 Best Trendy Haircuts for Women that will add more charm to the personality. These haircuts are recommended for all short, medium, and long hair growth.
1. Smoothed Out Pixie
Smoothed Out Pixie is a popular Hairstyle for Women. It is famously called a pixie trim and is appropriate for individuals who are looking for a shorter haircut from the backside with long bangs toward the front.
This haircut gives you a clear look with side bangs. On the off chance that you like to analyze recent fads and styles, this hairstyle is suitable for you.
The more extensive classification of pixie haircuts chiefly involves a spiky easy route with a streamlined pixie look is a possibility for individuals who want a cleaner appearance.
Ombre hair cut another trending one! Best of all, what hair the length you have, an energetic shaded Ombre will give your hair the portion of design it needs.
Looking to try something new with hairs? Go for Ombre Hair tone and spruce up your with trending whenever and anyplace.
Classic Lob is one of the unique Short Hairstyles for Indian Women to Try in 2021. This haircut demand is around the world. Ladies are becoming out their short hair and are into collarbone-length hurls.
This cut works amazing with softening layers all through the crown without loosening up your thickness around the edge or length.
Dramatic Pixie Cut must try once. This is especially a short hairstyle that will grab your friend’s attention towards you. These are very short, hairstyles are on moving nowadays and many ladies are attempting this style. There is one disadvantage with it that this pixie hairstyle isn’t as low support and simple as it looks.
It needs a ton of work and consideration, all depend on different hair textures accordingly. It is good for you to consult a hairstylist before cutting them off.
Curly Shag is the best option to want natural texture with shag cut. What makes the shag look current is working with your characteristic surface, which gives it that cool, lived-in look appearance.
If you have curly hair, it tends not to be good for you. But you can go with it as this cut works with all curl designs. The characterizing highlight of curly shag is heavy bangs and square layers that give this look its edge. If you love heavy bangs, you will love this hairstyle.
6. Multi-Layers for Long Hair
For long hairstyles, styling them is not easy for everyone. Also, with long hairs, because of the length and volume, choices are very restricted.
Thinking about this situation, the best Indian Hairstyles for long hair is various long layers. It is the best go-to option if you wish to have a cutting-edge haircut.
Side bangs have come again back in trending! This hairstyle is for girls & ladies with medium-length hair. Most girls love the long weave — longer toward the front, shorter toward the back as well. Wispy Bangs with Layers Piece-y bangs that will not cover the majority of your face. What you can do in this to join them with all-over layers or wavy mid-length hair and it will give a much better look too.
Do you also love bangs? This haircut is becoming in trend now. It is a short and modern hairstyle that gives you the edge.
9. Medium Bob with Long Parted Bangs
If you’re looking for easy-going neck length, get it. This is the best for all casual looks with a blunt neck and curled at the ends as long bags. In the morning for dressing, you need a round brush, hairdryer, and within 20 minutes will take you to have this beautiful look.
10. Medium Bob with Long Parted Bangs
If you’re looking for easy-going neck length, get it. This is the best for all casual looks with a blunt neck and curled at the ends as long bags. In the morning for dressing, you need a round brush, hairdryer, and within 20 minutes will take you to have this beautiful look.
11. Medium One-Length Haircut
Can’t decide what to do little hair length, or to style them. Middle-length hair is the best option for you if you want to make topknots.
12. Cute Comb Over Bob for Straight Hair
With a comb-over cut, you won’t have to think about volume. A new style will lift your esteem, but with the bounce like this, it will rise to new heights. | https://medium.com/@aamiya560/12-trending-hair-cut-for-women-cute-fashion-art-cfbb24e2ae50 | ['Aamiya John'] | 2021-05-05 05:30:21.130000+00:00 | ['Fashion', 'Hair', 'Cutting', 'Art', 'Women'] |
50 Unsolicited Recommendations | A month ago, I wrote 50 how-to mini-essays, and I thought it was fun! So for April, I figured it might be worth reprising the topic, and writing 50 mini reviews, all of things I would give five out of five stars.
Maybe there’s something on this list you’ve never tried that will make your life just a tiny bit better! I do believe that people living lives full of pleasure and joy are people who have more capacity to do the really important work in the world without getting burnt out. If you feeling your ends getting a little frayed because of all the things you have to do, try something on this list. The goal is to settle a little into your body; to bring something nice into your one precious life.
Now, things are superficial, and there’s no thing in the world that can fill a need-based deficit. If you need sleep, attention, love, time, food, water, or shelter, prioritize getting those needs met first. This list is supplemental, for when you are craving a little something extra.
Also, using things to feel better is often (if not usually) a total dead end. That’s how capitalism works: companies make you think that a thing will make you feel better, and then they find ways to make you think you need to buy more and more of that thing, until you are dead. And still unhappy. The companies don’t really want to make you happy. Happy people don’t buy very many things.
Everything on this list is either free (a nice place in your imagination), something you should only have to purchase once (a good chef’s knife), or a brandless staple (blueberries). I have tried to choose things around which I don’t have ethical qualms, although there are four things that are made of plastic, one brand-specific item, and a few things that might create waste. They are all things, however, that I have used and noticed myself thinking, “Huh! This thing strikes me as purely joyful. I wish everyone could have this thing.”
Take what you can, leave what you don’t want. I am hoping there’s something here for everyone.
All illustrations by Sophie Lucido Johnson.
1.Blueberries. Let’s start with something so amazing, so perfect, that I honestly can’t believe it’s real. The blueberry is a feat of natural design so extraordinary that it feels like it must somehow be a trick. How can something taste so sweet and bright and still be so good for you? Blueberries are filled with immunity-boosting nutrients and they strengthen your metabolism and they can reduce the risk of heart disease. Friends, I’m not making this up.
A good blueberry is as satisfying in size as a hefty marble. A bowl of firm blueberries is the summer breakfast of royalty.
Have you ever put a pint of blueberries in a Zip-Loc bag in the freezer? Blueberries turn into a whole different FOOD in the freezer! They become an indulgent dessert! How is this possible? Nature MAKES THESE! All by itself!
As a bonus, going to a farm to pick blueberries in the summer with your friends and then swimming in a nearby lake is the perfect day.
A gallery in my bedroom of people I love, made of a pastiche of thrifted frames.
2. Picture frames from the thrift store. Every picture you love can be elevated with a picture frame. Frames can be expensive, but at the thrift store they’re cheap. You can get four perfectly fine picture frames for a dollar! Frame birthday cards you like, or pictures from magazines for a sort of chic vision board. Decorate the entire wall of a boring bathroom with images from a book about birds (that you might also find at the thrift store), individually framed and gallery-ified.
3. A button that screams, for you to put on your table. Last year, my friend and roommate Bethany bought me a small screaming goat from the novelty section of The Paper Store. Initially skeptical, I placed the goat in the center of the dining room table.
Sometimes we are sitting around the table as a house talking about something tense — like the electric bill, or whether we should get rid of our front door wreath — and the tension can be immediately diffused with one push of the goat. Or maybe I’m sitting at the table trying to explain to my husband about how stressful school was that day, and he is just not getting it, and I am not doing a great job of explaining it (it’s hard to talk when you’re stressed!), and I push the goat in frustration, and he understands.
I have seen a lot of screaming / shouting buttons in novelty sections of other shops — there are even ones you can record yourself. Everyone should have one of these.
4. Your own jigsaw. Not to be confused with a jigsaw puzzle (also a good thing to have), this elegant power tool is a must-have for all adults. It is easy to hold and easy to use, and it makes you feel POWERFUL. Sure, you can use it for practical things: cut the excess off a bit of wooden furniture that doesn’t fit in your room, or trim a thick stick that’s too long or poky.
But you can also use it in the afternoon after a hard day to cut a salvaged piece of wood into a weird shape (human head? Butterfly wing? State of Oregon?). This will calm you. I don’t know the magic of how that works, but it does. And, bonus: your new state-of-Oregon piece of wood can be stained and finished and given to your friend in Oregon as a cheese board birthday present!
5. Skirts. In eighth grade I decided that no matter how cold it got, I would only wear skirts. I was going through a growth phase and my body was not easy to predict, size-wise. A skirt accommodates days where you are bloated and days where you wake up feeling thin and come home from a long day feeling like you gained 90 pounds; just pull the skirt up and down accordingly throughout the day.
In the summer, a good skirt allows for a nice breeze exactly where you want it. In the winter, a good skirt doubles as a blanket over a pair of wool tights or leggings, and keeps you snuggly and warm. My one caveat is that a long skirt on a bike can be a vibe-killer, so tie your skirt in a knot on your waist and wear bike shorts.
6. Bike shorts. My husband says these are the ugliest clothing item and no one can look good in them. Luke, they are not there to look good in; they are there to be soft and practical. You put them on underneath anything, and now you can do a cartwheel, or sit cross-legged on a carpet, or experience a gust of wind from a subway grate, and no one will be offended.
7. A visit to the chiropractor. I am a human being, and so I have lower back pain. It took me years to finally swallow my pride and go to a chiropractor. After Keith the chiropractor stretched me out and twisted me around and pumped my muscles with a bordering-on-sensual-looking metal knife, I climbed off the table and stood a full inch taller. The pain was gone. Without insurance, this cost $50. I hated myself for waiting so long to do this for myself.
8. And while we’re at it, a kneeling chair. I bought a cheapish one that rocks back and forth. It isn’t especially comfortable, but I swap it out for my comfy chair whenever the low back pain comes back up, and within three days of using the kneeling chair, the pain is gone.
9. Chickens. What a journey I have been on with my flock of chickens! Many horrible things have happened to the chickens. Dogs have happened. Maggots have happened. Old age has happened. These are hard things to which one must bear witness, but on the other hand, life is full of hard things, and chickens are a relatively easy way to learn how to endure a little ugliness.
But maybe the main thing is that our neighbors love to look at the chickens, and I have had the chance to meet so, so many neighbors because they stop at our house to talk to our chickens. I think it’s quite important to know one’s neighbors. This is how we take small steps towards a more empathetic, more peaceful world: we learn about the people with whom we share space. Sure, I could have made 35 casseroles and brought them to all my neighbors’ houses, and I would have met and ingratiated myself to many of my neighbors. But you never know about food allergies these days, and honestly, chickens are easier. Plus: farm fresh eggs every day!
10. Hand lotion. Once, my mom spent a lot of money on some hand lotion from a boutique store at the mall. It was called “gardener’s hands luxury lotion,” and I felt startled by its price tag. Later, secretly, I put some on my nine-year-old hands, and I was startled again. How could anything feel so rich and soft and thick and smooth? It was worth every penny, I decided.
In my thirties, I started investing in good hand lotion, too. I read a little about pressure points in the hand that relieve stress, and I started taking ten-minute breaks to rub the fabulous cream into my knuckles and wrists, pressing into the parts that are connected to the brain, self-soothing and quietly humming when things were particularly bad. It is worth every penny.
11. A better can opener than you have. Maybe this is just me, but I feel like whenever I go to someone’s house and am helping them cook, I go to open a can and hear them say, “Our can opener is kind of shitty, but it’ll get you there.” A good can opener is like $12! And the satisfaction you get from easily opening a can with no struggle is worth that amount or more. You don’t need a fancy electric can opener or anything like that: just one that feels good in your hand, with a sharp blade and dynamic gear, so opening cans might be a pleasure and not a persistent annoyance.
12. Ribbon. Many times I have said to myself, “I am so glad to have this large box of errant ribbons,” while digging through my ribbon box. Here are examples.
I’ve wrapped a present in a shitty newspaper, and it looks bad and dumb, but a ribbon elevates it twenty-fold and makes the present INSTANTLY look fancy. (Is this where the phrase “ties it all together” comes from?)
The cucumbers are growing faster than I am prepared for, and they need somewhere to go! I tie some ribbon to the stake and then attach that to the fence, and the cucumbers take to it like a kitten to a cream bowl.
It’s a costume party, and my hair needs a little something extra.
The cats are bored.
Luke with our cheap sled on a snow day before work.
13. The cheapest plastic sled. I’m talking about the $3.99 saucer sled from the hardware store that looks like it was designed to go straight into a landfill. Put that in the back of your car and forget about it. Then, when it snows, and you’re driving home from the doctor’s office, and you see a little hill in the distance, you can pull over and take your saucer sled out and experience a little burst of joy. You deserve it! You just went to the doctor.
14. A bowl specifically for popping popcorn in the microwave, or a lot of lunch-sized paper bags. I grew up with a fancy 1980s-style air popper for popcorn. Later, my hippie friends taught me how to make popcorn with oil in a pot. I got in my head that popcorn had to be the slightest bit complicated. It BLEW MY MIND when I found out you can just put a third of a cup of popcorn kernels in a paper lunch bag, fold it closed, and microwave it for three minutes. Truly: that’s ALL YOU HAVE TO DO. No potential burning, no cleaning out of a pot or a popper — just a paper bag and some popcorn kernels and you have a perfect bag every time. I started doing this so often that I started to feel a little guilty about the speed at which I was going through the paper bags, so I bought a collapsable, microwavable bowl with a lid that did the exact same thing as the paper bag.
15. White pens. White gel pens are great for writing on brown paper bags or darker envelopes, adding a little light glimmer into the dark eye of a bird you’ve drawn, or creating crests on waves. I use my white pen every day.
16. An outdoors chair you love. Sometimes the weather is great, and you want to sit outside. Have a chair that leans back a little bit and is conducive to reading. The chair should be only for outside. Ideally, you never have to bring it in. Even if you live in an apartment, put this chair in some public space where you like to sit outside. Usually, people will leave your chair there. They’ll be grateful there’s a chair. But, just to be safe, make your chair cheap so you won’t be sad if you lose it. This is an item to which it is best not to grow too attached.
17. Field guides. The world expands when you can identify and differentiate between living things. Learning the names, shapes, colors, and habits of birds, animals, mushrooms, and plants is perhaps the single greatest gift you can give to yourself while you’re alive. Apps that help you identify wildlife (like Seek or Merlin) are terrific places to start, but actual, book-format field guides are more comprehensive and will be there for you when you’re like, “This robin-sized bird has a long neck!? And Merlin has no idea what I’m talking about?!” Use a sketchbook and draw pictures from the pages of your field guide to learn intricate details about stripes and curves that you’d miss when just flipping through.
One of the best field guides I ever bought was about spiders. Spiders are quick and silent and inherently a little scary. But reading about them and learning their differences changed them for me. They became creatures of curiosity, divorced from fear.
The difference between being a person who reads field guides and being a person who does not is the difference between going on a walk and seeing snowdrops, startling daffodils, delicate primroses, winter aconite, bowing crocuses, Siberian squill, and grape hyacinth; and going on a walk and seeing a bunch of flowers.
18. An excellent chef’s knife. These are expensive, but if you do it right, you’ll only ever have to buy one. (Get it sharpened at least once a year, never put it in a dishwasher, and always hand-dry.) It isn’t just the feeling of ease and wonder when you slice through a hunk of ginger like it’s warm butter; it’s the amazing texture and smell that you can only experience this one way: with the startling sureness and quickness that takes a root vegetable by surprise.
19. Lip balm. I’m going to advocate for spending a little money in this category, too. Lips are like hands, in that they love to be touched; they love to feel soft and nurtured. A pot of semi-fancy lip balm will go a long way in terms of simple, sensual pleasure. I keep a supply by my bed and I can’t sleep without spending at least a dozen seconds giving some deep attention to my lips. | https://medium.com/@sophielucidojohnson/50-unsolicited-recommendations-e4231a79cf5e | ['Sophie Lucido Johnson'] | 2021-04-09 14:40:05.857000+00:00 | ['Joy', 'Life Hacking', 'Self Help', 'Improvement', 'Strawberry2021'] |
Spotlight: Carolyn Jones, Program Lead at Grid110 | Carolyn Jones is the Program Lead at Grid110 in Los Angeles, where she oversees all of the organizations program operations. She is a community builder, nature enthusiast, and wellness advocate. Outside of Grid110, she works on diversity and inclusion initiatives that aim to increase diversity in the outdoors and wellness spaces. Carolyn is also a breathwork instructor and hosts outdoor book clubs, mindfulness hikes, and gatherings throughout the year.
We caught up with Carolyn to learn more about her work, what inspired her to join the team at Grid110, and what she sees as some of the greatest opportunities to creating a more equitable tech industry.
Hi Carolyn! Tell us about yourself, how did you get to where you are today and what inspired you to join the team at Grid110?
Carolyn Jones, Program Lead, Grid110
My journey has been anything, but linear. Prior to working in tech, I worked in various positions in politics and fundraising for higher education. However, I have always been interested in tech and connected to the startup world. One of my earliest memories was visiting my grandfather at the grocery store he owned and as I got older, being able to help him with different tasks around the store. Those experiences taught me a lot about the entrepreneurial spirit and journey.
I was inspired to join Grid110 because of the organization’s values, which are community, belonging, generosity and empathy. Personally, these values are incredibly important to me and what guides and drives me. I especially loved their mention of empathy as a value. There is so much power in learning how to listen to and understand each other, and in understanding how to be there and show up for each other. To have the opportunity to work for an organization that shares these values was something that spoke deeply to me.
Fast forward to today, I continue to find comfort and inspiration in knowing that these values are important to the organization and my teammates. It is what continues to drive all of us as we work to foster the most thriving, inviting, and inclusive community for entrepreneurs in Los Angeles.
The Grid110 Team (L to R): Community Manager Elisabeth Tuttass, Executive Director and Co-Founder Miki Reynolds, and Program Lead Carolyn Jones
Grid110 provides entrepreneurs with access to community, mentors and critical resources through no cost, no equity programs in Los Angeles. As Program Lead at Grid110, what are the programs and initiatives you oversee, and what does an average day look like for you?
As Program Lead, I plan, manage, and execute all program-related operations for Grid110. Specifically, I oversee the Residency and Idea to Product programs.
There is no average workday for me. Week to week can look different depending on whether I am actively managing a program or if we are in application season. We recently closed the applications for our Fall 2020 cohort, which I am so excited about!
Therefore, I am currently managing the application process. My schedule consists of reading through applications, conducting interviews, meeting with my team regarding Fall 2020 programming needs, and meeting with founders, mentors, and others, who are interested in learning more about Grid110’s programs.
How can aspiring entrepreneurs in LA get involved with Grid110 programs?
Great question! There are a few ways you can get involved with Grid110’s programs: | https://blog.thenounproject.com/spotlight-carolyn-jones-program-lead-at-grid110-4fe4ae91c04 | ['Lindsay Stuart'] | 2020-10-26 19:18:59.669000+00:00 | ['Diversity In Tech', 'Grid110', 'Startup', 'Spotlight'] |
SugarCRM to Salesforce: Tutorial for The Great Migration [+Video] | They say, if you care a lot about brands, you end up paying much more than the thing is really worth for the sake of the name on the label. Salesforce, one of the pioneers of the CRM market and one of the most widely known CRM software, has become a brand as well. It is frequently accused of using the brand name as the excuse for the high price. However, in the business world hardly anyone would be paying extra money solely to be able to proudly mention the brand of the essential work too they’re using, wouldn’t they?
All that matters here is get the work done efficiently and save employees’ time. This is where Salesforce excels and this is what makes it one of the most desired CRMs out there. So, if you caught yourself thinking about Salesforce as the answer to your growing business needs which your current SugarCRM cannot handle, time to take a deeper look into it.
So, What You Get If You Switch from SugarCRM to Salesforce?
Make calls within the CRM — it includes dialler, apart from contact management, marketing, sales to customer service, project management, etc. So you can easily make calls within the system with no need to use other software outside. Ease of use — it is made to be a real helper from the start, instead of taking weeks to master the CRM before you can get down to work. Even if you find yourself wondering about a thing or two, a number of walkthroughs, video tutorials and online resources help you out in a snap. Customizable interface for each user — whether a sales rep, marketer or company director — you’ll be able to make your dashboard maximally convenient using tabs and shortcuts to quickly access the necessary tools. “Social network’ inside — called Chatter. It is the tool for communication within the company, where you can also organize knowledge base for employees, follow important clients and get in touch with individuals or employee groups at once — everything to facilitate the business processes in the company. Extendable — in spite of the fact that Salesforce is frequently accused of being not as customizable as SugarCRM is, it does provide lots of space for special needs. Its AppExchange marketplace presents numerous add-ons for extra features you might require.
SugarCRM to Salesforce Migration [Video]
Sounds like this CRM is right what you need or interesting enough to give it a test drive? It’s easy to do with Salesforce 30 days free trial. Already decided to move over from SugarCRM to Salesforce? It’s quite simple to do — following the Prezi tutorial below.
The Final Tips
Data2CRM migration service is here for you to handle the data migration from SugarCRM to Salesforce in the shortest possible time, securely and accurately. | https://medium.com/@crmone/sugarcrm-to-salesforce-tutorial-for-the-great-migration-video-6e873637dad0 | ['Crmone', 'Crm Experts'] | 2018-09-05 12:12:39.748000+00:00 | ['Salesforce', 'SugarCRM', 'CRM', 'Business'] |
Why You Can’t Really Consent to Facebook’s Facial Recognition | Why You Can’t Really Consent to Facebook’s Facial Recognition
While the social media platform’s latest approach to facial recognition appears to respect user’s choices, the offer is so tainted we can’t truly agree to it
Photo: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty
Co-authored by Woodrow Hartzog
Not long ago, Consumer Reports launched an investigation into Facebook and discovered something surprising. Nearly a year and a half after the company introduced a new, designated setting called “Face Recognition” that allowed users to opt-out of facial recognition, not everyone had access to it. This wasn’t just a problem for the people directly affected. It symbolized the larger issue of tech companies leaving us feeling disempowered, even when they say they’re doing more to protect our privacy.
By July it was clear that change was coming. That’s when the Federal Trade Commission hit Facebook with a historic $5 billion fine and ordered the company to “clearly and conspicuously” disclose how it uses facial recognition software — in a separate form from the privacy and data policies — while also obtaining the user’s “affirmative express consent.” In the aftermath, Facebook announced that after consulting with “privacy experts, academics, regulators,” and other stakeholders, it is finally giving everyone the same simple controls for facial recognition and only subjecting new users (as well as the old ones who are only now gaining access to the Face Recognition setting) to the technology if they choose to opt-in.
What’s not to like about Facebook‘s latest approach? After all, keeping facial recognition off by default is a good privacy by design approach. It puts privacy first and bakes in the values of choice and consent — ideals that, in the United States, go together like stars and stripes. The appeal is intuitive. People typically don’t want to be told what to do. We want to be free to make up our own minds — about what to eat, what to watch, and, yes, what technologies to use. From this perspective, Facebook deserves praise for not shoving facial technology in our faces.
Over time, facial tagging by users at scale can penetrate deep into our psyches… it makes those of us who engage in it increasingly comfortable with being subjected to facial surveillance and less concerned about others being subjected to it, too.
Unfortunately, Facebook’s efforts reflect superficial views of autonomy and consent. Law professor Nancy Kim provides a deeper account in her new book, Consentability: Consent and Its Limits, by critically interrogating the conditions where people are asked to give their consent. Kim maintains that what lawmakers and companies often call “consent” is an abuse of the term that sanctions unfair arrangements. Building on her insights, we argue that the consent offered by Facebook and every other company using facial recognition is tainted.
Autonomy, Consent, and Consentability
You can’t give valid consent to every offer that comes your way. Sometimes, the circumstances aren’t good enough and, as a result, your autonomy is deeply compromised. That’s because you don’t really know what you’re getting into or you’re not really in a position to voluntarily choose to say yes or no. Other times, however, the conditions are right. When this happens, Kim argues that the conditions of “consentability” are met.
Consentability makes all the difference in the world. That’s because we can agree to risky proposals that give others power and leave us vulnerable. Indeed, consentability is so transformative it creates what professor Heidi Hurd calls “moral magic.” Through consentability, a surgeon follows the Hippocratic Oath; without it, a sexual touch can be assault.
Autonomy is largely about freedom. In some circumstances, it’s about self-determination; the ability to make up our own minds about what’s in our best interests. In these situations, when others subvert our decision-making power through carelessness, condescension, manipulation, and abuse, they disrespect our personal autonomy. That’s why an offer can fall short of the standard of consentability when a person, institution, or corporation seeking our consent keeps us in the dark by failing to provide us with the appropriate quality and quantity of information concerning the risks involved with their proposal. Both cognitive limitations and how information is presented can impede informed consent.
Fair societies don’t privilege people’s individual choices at the expense of everything else. That’s because in some circumstances decisions that are good for you can limit other people’s autonomy. That’s why Kim insists a democracy can only truly be committed to equality if the government aspires to protect “collective autonomy” by trying to safeguard every citizen’s right to make fundamental life choices.
Policies like smoking bans that protect social welfare by restricting individual choice embody the ideal of prioritizing collective autonomy. State and local governments decided that giving people the right to smoke themselves into early graves doesn’t mean they should be able to choose to light up wherever they want. These laws are based on the idea that people should be able to exercise basic freedoms, like moving through public spaces and entering places that are necessary for survival such as workplaces, without undue concern for their well-being. Freedom of movement is a higher-level autonomy interest than the freedom to enjoy the sensations that come from inhaling tobacco.
As Kim notes, many autonomy interests can be ranked and compared against one another. That’s why another way that an offer can miss the mark of consentability is if it comes at a terrible social price — providing only modest autonomy gains for some but depriving others of more basic freedoms. In situations where your freedom comes at other people’s expense, the consentability standard can require that your privilege get put in check.
The Inconsentability of Facial Surveillance
Facebook’s facial recognition policy may be legal but it fails the consentability standard by obscuring risk and corroding collective autonomy. The company doesn’t explain the big risks of turning on facial recognition; users are led to believe that by enabling facial recognition, the worst that can happen is they’re making it easier for Facebook to send targeted ads and identify them in random photos. Since these risks seem low-stakes, it’s easy for folks to embrace the service and expect that their friends will, too. Leadership at Facebook can predict this. They realize that making it easy for users to consent protects against a mass opt-out.
The more the private sector engages in facial surveillance, the harder it becomes to tell law enforcement that they should have meaningfully restricted access.
But over time, facial-tagging by users at scale can penetrate deep into our psyches and help normalize facial surveillance itself. Those of us who engage in it frequently and thoughtlessly become increasingly comfortable with being subjected to facial surveillance, and less concerned about others being subjected to it, too. Facebook’s offer for users to feel free to use facial surveillance is thus an invitation for them to be disciplined. As the philosopher Michel Foucault argued, discipline can be a form of power that erodes our autonomy by engineering mentalities and transforming sensitivities. In this case, by impacting our personal and collective preferences, discipline leads facial surveillance to be perceived as an essential component of modern life, something that should be accepted and embraced, rather than critically interrogated, much less rejected.
And so even though tagging on Facebook, just like so many other consumer applications of facial surveillance, satisfies largely trivial autonomy interests, their collective impact paves the way, as time passes, for increasing amounts of facial surveillance to occur throughout the public and private sectors. Barring massive shifts in regulation, with enough time and enough surveillance the very fabric of society will change. Disproportionate harm will fall on vulnerable and marginalized populations like people of color, whose opportunities to act autonomously will shrink as they become ever-more worried about what the networks of intelligent surveillance machines are communicating to authorities.
The Ada Lovelace Institute recently published the first national U.K. public opinion survey on facial recognition technology. The results are striking. Most people don’t know much about how the technology is actually being used. Many people seem uncomfortable with companies using the technology for commercial benefit, are anxious about the normalization of surveillance, and, for the time being, would like the private sector to voluntarily stop selling the technology to the police.
However, 71% agree that “The police should be able to use facial recognition technology on public spaces, provided it helps reduce crime.” What the poll results suggest is that U.K. citizens aren’t truly apprehensive about the normalization of facial recognition. If they were, they’d be concerned that the process will get in the way of creating effective safeguards for ensuring that law enforcement use the technology responsibly.
In the United States, it isn’t realistic to expect that normalization is compatible with good governance. A recent Pew Research Center poll into American views reveals that, despite the high-profile controversies, the majority of people (especially older, white, and conservative-leaning adults) still “trust law enforcement to use facial recognition responsibly” and that sizable numbers might have beliefs about the accuracy of the technology that conflict with reliable studies.
Like in the U.K., Americans worry more about tech companies using facial recognition technology than the government, and this suggests an overly idealistic vision about how distinctive the two sectors are. It’s not just that law enforcement can get information from tech companies. It’s that the more the private sector engages in facial surveillance, the harder it becomes to tell law enforcement that their access should be meaningfully restricted. Once normalization changes hearts and minds, it’s hard to dial it back when emotional outcomes are on the line, like public safety.
Tyranny of the Majority
In a democracy, it is reasonable to expect that people will mainly consider themselves and people like them when weighing the costs and benefits of a particular decision. Such is the pull of tribalism and privilege. In practice, this means that people who aren’t part of minority communities might not be sufficiently concerned with how their gain from consenting to facial recognition comes at other people’s expense. Over time, when majority groups consent to offers that are cost-benefit justified for themselves, large-scale social transformation can result that compromises the autonomy interests of marginalized groups.
When the dangers of secondhand smoke became clear, many cities and states enacted smoking bans. While cigarettes and facial recognition are not comparable in many ways, they share similarly fatal consent problems. If facial recognition becomes normalized in industry through consent regimes, it means that the government will have a backdoor to retroactive surveillance through the personal data industrial complex. Through public/private cooperation, surveillance infrastructure will continue to be built, chill will still occur, harms will still happen, norms will still change, collective autonomy still will suffer, and people’s individual and collective obscurity will continue to diminish bit-by-bit.
Even if every facial recognition system asked for consent before use, society would still suffer. A barrage of “I agree” buttons and switches would fuel government and industry’s unquenchable thirst for more access to our lives. A complete ban is the only way to ensure that facial recognition does not become entangled and abused in both the sacred and blessedly mundane aspects of our lives. | https://onezero.medium.com/why-you-cant-really-consent-to-facebook-s-facial-recognition-6bb94ea1dc8f | ['Evan Selinger'] | 2019-09-30 11:01:02.238000+00:00 | ['Privacy', 'Digital Life', 'Technology', 'Facebook', 'Industry'] |
BHP to continue its global response to COVID-19 | BHP, the Australian mining giant, has announced that it has no immediate plans to ease its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping social distancing measures in place.
In recent weeks, the company has implemented social distancing measures, health screening, and hygiene accessibility, and continues to review new methods to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus. BHP published a statement today addressing its stance on the virus, with quotes from Chief Executive Officer Mike Henry.
“Our priority remains to reduce the risk of transmission and to protect our workforce, their families and our communities. This will also enable us to keep the business safely running, supporting all those who rely on us.”
“We have worked closely with the communities where we operate to establish funding mechanisms and other support for health, wellbeing and resilience, to help protect the most vulnerable from infection, manage any potential outbreak and mitigate the broader impacts of this pandemic.”
The company reported a slight increase in the number of confirmed cases across its Chilean teams in recent weeks. Individuals affected were quickly evacuated safely, tested and placed into isolation with access to medical care. BHP’s attentive stance towards the virus has enabled it to continue operations safely, supporting both workers and the economy.
CEO Mike Henry added “All decisions related to easing restrictions at sites and in our offices will be based on targeted assessments of local risks, resources, needs and regulations, and with full consideration of the health and mental wellbeing of our people, their families and communities.”
Temperature checks, health assessments and self-isolation protocols are also being considered and implemented by BHP, along with a government-endorsed trial of molecular testing, which swabs the nose and throat. Results from this trial could see this method of testing implemented at airports and at some sites around the world.
SEE MORE:
Most office-based employees are working remotely, with locations in Lonon, Singapore and Melbourne, as BHP takes into account guidelines from different governments. Staff based in Houston and Santiago are slowly returning to work in reduced numbers.
Rio Tinto has also implemented a number of measures to mitigate the risk of the virus. A five-layer screening at airports for fly-in, fly-out workers will continue, whilst chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said “As a company, we are going to have to learn to coexist with COVID-19 for an extended period of time. Our measures have been effective … and we will continue to implement measures.”
For more insights on mining topics — please take a look at the latest edition of Mining Global.
Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. | https://medium.com/mining-global-magazine/bhp-to-continue-its-global-response-to-covid-19-7c2f1aa1d513 | ['Daniel Weatherley'] | 2020-05-07 15:48:41.606000+00:00 | ['Bhp', 'Coronavirus', 'Covid 19', 'Mining', 'Bizclik Media'] |
Tequila Sodas & Leather | I wasn’t sure if my psychiatrist said it was two Xanax or three for my anxiety. The former seems like it would just be enough to pillow the feeling of death while seemingly feigning to the world that I’m “chill.”
But three? Well, that seems to be the standard intake for a rapper trying to silence the deafening memories of the dead homies. My homies are all alive (I did lose my grandmother once when I was four).
Shit. I’ve been in Sierra’s bathroom for too long peering into her Mid Century vanity. The bathroom is a sacred space; its aura settles the spirit. But sitting the faux-mysticism aside, the $350 Diptyque was just doing its attended olfactory job. Now, call me an asshole, but for someone who professionally practices in the dark, deep kinks of domming, her taste level was luxuriously delicate and intentionally bubbly.
Fuck it, I’m taking three of these guys.
I’m not sure if it’s an ethical violation that my psychiatrist is my best friend, Laurence. So, just about any pill I need can be callously written out on a script. And don’t make any cursory judgements, like: “Is his mental health deteriorating?” Well, considering I’m a millennial living in a post colonial world, that’s a given it is. Or is it capitalism?
About three weeks ago is when it all began. In a fit of what could be described as desperation fueled by a cocktail of horniness and loneliness, I joined FetLife. And by no means am I what you call a “sex” person. See, the outermost limits of my sexual proclivities boomerang from missionary back to a lazy sideways thrusting. And my ex has denoted my performance as the proverbial personification “of a finance bro in a Patagonia vest.” Basically, it’s uninspired and boring.
No one wants to be deemed as boring in their 20s; I mean, I am, but that’s not for anyone else to decide.
So, I said fuck it. Making a profile on Fetlife wasn’t as vexing to navigate as traditional dating apps seem to create. It was a bit more liberating to be in a sex-positive community. Dating sites create inconsistencies in our self-esteem; to no avail, we try to perfectly curate a self that is in part novel but, as well, generally accessible. I didn’t feel any of that.
There was no time to fret if a photo of myself exuded, “This guy is good at sex,” as there was a guy whose profile pic was him in a red unicorn costume, claiming one was “trans-species.” There was a place for everyone. Water sports. Araki. Cuckolding. Findom. I clicked them all: It was an act of kinky malfeasance.
She wasn’t the first of my interactions on the platform but most def was the most appealing. It was Sierra’s looks who I instantly became infatuated with: that dark hair, scrambled mix of Celtic tattoos, making her look like a Nordic goddess; and that dubious smile — perfectly wrapping together her physical appearance. Her photos exhibited an extreme sense of confidence in herself. It’d made you lust after her spirit rather than her body. I didn’t want her: I wanted to feel as good in my skin the way she felt in hers. And maybe through some osmosis-like occurrence, her confidence would seemingly diffuse across my neurotic membrane.
Don’t get me wrong, she was gorgeous, and aside from piquing my manic pixie dream girl fantasies, she was in essence everything I was searching for in a partner. I liked her, she liked me. And in that like, she slipped in that she happened to make her living through sex work. And I was, and am, still cool with it; it’s a job at the end of the day.
I digress; so we talked for days, not even about sex, just about everything — redendering every topic down into its infinitesimally small constituents. But due to my inability to process social situations, Sierra couldn’t take my social ineptness any longer and ended up asking me out.
Now, to say the date wasn’t the most perfect moment of my life would be an understatement — also seemingly validating the banality of my own existence. An intense attraction was mutually felt by both of us. And to think, transitioning from texting to the real world without a buffer would seem to be quite daunting, but, again, we found endless topics to talk about. 6 PM turned into midnight, and we both didn’t want the night to end there. She wanted more of me and I wanted more of her, so it was by no surprise that we ended up back at her apartment making out on her green leather barker.
So, that’s why I ended up in her bathroom. I was on the edge of an anxiety attack because in the other room she was amped up and ready to have sex. And I usually wouldn’t balk at any instance of being able to have intercourse, but I know what Sierra’s “into” and I know what I’m “into,” and they were far from the same thing. She likes to be whipped, and I’ve cried every time I watched What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
Eventually, I left the bathroom and began my trek down the corridor back to her. The only hope was that my prolonged stint in the bathroom would’ve been grating enough to kill the mood. But at the entrance of the living room I paused.
Scanning the room, it was hard for your eyes not to gravitate towards her, she beckons every ounce of you. Her legs were tucked up on the couch: her bare feet overlapping onto each other. Portraying somewhat of a modest mood, her pleated skirt gently wrapped her legs. She was finishing off the tequila sodas she made for us. I asked for a little bit of bitters in mine, for my small boy stomach can’t handle the harshness of tequila. Though it seems she may have been trying to further loosen up because she finished off mine, too.
The mason jar in her hand was slammed down on the table with a bit of control. Immediately, she pulled off her sweater, revealing a thin white tank top. Her arms alone were tantalizing enough for me. Triceps protruded out from the sides of her arm, revealing she fashioned herself as a gym goer. My eyes walked their way up to her face observing how strength and softness existed in harmony from her forearms to the shoulders. Several moments of stillness passed: aware of my presence, Sierra looked up and saw me waiting at the threshold. A quick smile and a head nod my way had let me know I should join her. I would have rather not moved, but my feet acted independently from me. Every step towards her meant I was closer to my sexual demise.
I sat on the couch and she slid her way towards me, wrapping her legs over mine; even through my pants I could tell they were soft. Silence fell between us, and I tried everything in my power to divert her gaze. But fuck, that smile: a moon-shaped half crescent beamed into the room and demanded my attention. It would have made sense to seize that moment and be the “man” my younger brother likes to precociously flaunt to me in our weekly catch ups, but I was caught between being spontaneous and asking for permission. Yeah, I wanted to kiss her, but I didn’t know if I’d be overstepping my boundaries.
Sierra had other plans as she slinked her body towards mine; her mouth meeting my ear, she uttered what had taken me so long. Uncontrollably, I lied, and the worst possible lie at that: I told her I was taking a shit.
She laughed and roughly pulled my hair back, cocking my head back into the couch, and began making out with me. For the life of me, I didn’t have the heart to let her know she was hurting my head. However, to a man who hasn’t felt the lips, nor the touch, of a lover, in quite some time I may add, I was not going to be my own saboteur. So, I sat there, hands at my side, trying to focus on the rhythm of her mouth, being sure to think about being there in the moment and not using too much tongue. Occasionally, I’d slip out, caught up in thinking about what her home life was like — which made me think that I should call my mom more. Then, I’d snap back and remember I was kissing someone.
A few minutes passed. She pulled away from me and laughed again, which was seemingly demoralizing and a slightly new feeling: a turn on? But I was reassured, as she asked why I wasn’t touching her. Honestly, I had not considered that as an option. I was just happy to be there. Another laugh slipped through: it was veiled with a bit of eagerness. Sierra removed herself from atop me and seamlessly grabbed my hand in the process. I didn’t ask questions: I just followed her.
We walked through the corridor, inevitably headed towards an anticipated dalliance. The candle wafted from the bathroom though this time it was even a bit more calming, but it was probably the Xanax. And again, maybe it was Xanax, but that silent retreat back to her room felt like it took an eternity.
Making our way towards the entrance of her bedroom, Sierra stood to the side, slowly forcing the door open. She motioned me into the room and I stepped into a world of near darkness. Moonlight sauntered into the room, only to be spit up into slivers of light via the distressed curtain that partially sheathed the window above her bed. Its white light danced across the floor bouncing up to outline the only partially viewable relic. I gathered it to be a dominatrix contraption, or in layman’s terms, a giant X. I instantly felt scared but my body wasn’t able to respond in its usual manner. Instead, I turned back and told her: “I was waiting for this.” I wasn’t.
Again her laugh had hit me, it was unusually piercing this time, foreboding almost. Walking up behind me, Sierra grabbed my hair and pulled it back, and even though the Xanax was hitting, I was in pain, but I wasn’t going to let her know. A quick kiss hit my cheek then my shirt was hoisted over my head and pants were down. I wish I hadn’t worn black dress socks with my Stan Smiths. Sierra walked me into what I would later learn as an X-cross. My body was positioned so that I was abreast to her face, as she slowly backed me into the apparatus. It felt less sexual, more medieval, even insidious.
Each strap was attentively placed around each of my limbs. Sierra leaned forward and rested her cheek upon mine tenderly. But unbeknownst to me, she was reaching behind me to unhinge a lever on the back which allowed her to spin me upside down and lock me in place. The blood immediately rushed towards my head. I felt this nubivagant drifting.
She backed away from me and walked towards her closet. I heard rummaging through its contents, and I wasn’t quite sure what she was looking for. There was a bit of mental gymnastics undergone because I convinced she was going to ball and gag me as if I were some scrawnier Ving Rhames. I was sure she was gonna try and peg me just like in those videos I’ve accidentally stumbled into. And I would’ve been more open minded, but there was no prior conversation had.
My running mind was cooed as she walked out carrying what looked like a pair of long leather heels and an assortment of fabric. Coming back to me, she let me know I was in for her surprise. I could tell she was drunk. Not because she slurred her words when she spoke, but it became more noticeable when she left her room, as she aggressively, almost with intent, knocked into her dresser. An assortment of opened face oils and lotions fell over and began spilling onto the floor, but it wasn’t enough to phase her drunkenness.
Upside down in the apparatus, I began to really feel the effects of those bars. Three were def too much. I was becoming light headed, and the opportunity for intercourse was becoming an afterthought compared to wanting to rest. But I tried to focus and shake the stupor off. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes when Sierra came back and swung the door open. She stood at the door’s threshold ready to pounce on me.
It was a fit from the bottom up. Those leather stiletto boots ran up her thighs acting as a complement to her lingerie, a leather one-piece. And in her left hand she held a flog of some sort. In the moment, most would instantly think of sex, but in my high ass state, my mind fixated on one thought: if she left the clothes she was wearing on the bathroom floor, wouldn’t her roommate be angry with the mess?
Anticipation had reached its peak; Sierra took a calculated step into the room. The weight of her heels became obviously apparent as she moved forward, scraping the ground with her shoes. A connection was made between the stiletto and floor, yet it was not solid. The skincare products, once on the dresser she knocked into, dripped onto the floor into a slick patch. Now, any sober person would’ve been able to at the least brace and catch themselves before they fell to the ground, but we were about six tequila sodas in.
I watched in slow motion from the X-cross as she fell to the ground. First body then her head to the floor. And without a sound, she was out cold. Normally, horror would follow as I was strapped upside down in a stranger’s apartment. But, for some reason, my body felt it was time to rest. I could feel the blood rushing more and more to my head, pushing up against the cavities of my forehead. Every time my eyes would blink I slowly began to fade until I was in nothingness.
Consciousness returned as a flash of lights perforated my closed eyes. A gloved EMT — who was in training — kneeled over me to guide me back to the physical plane. However, I’m not sure if death from inversion was more jarring or the fact that my first responder was flippantly asking: “Bro, you good?” I couldn’t dignify a response as I tried to ground myself in the spinning room. Clarity eventually befell me, and I was left even more bewildered considering I was in Sierra’s bedroom but was back in the common area.
Sierra laid next to me on a scoop stretcher: her head wrapped in bloody gauss — still dressed in her lingerie. Even in that fragile, static state, she still looked as powerful as when she was standing in the doorway. Two men hoisted her up with little effort. The only afterimage left of her was her knee high stiletto boots that flopped over each other. As I followed her out the door, I noticed her roommate sitting in the same position as Sierra was on the couch, yet she was diverting my gaze. I’d come to find out that she arrived home after an excruciatingly long date to find her roommate and a rando on the verge of death, prompting her to ankle pull deadweight into the living room. It made sense why my ass felt raw.
I sat for about thirteen minutes, clothed in my Uniqlo briefs, in that living room making sure my vitals were cleared for me to go. To be honest, I wanted my hands washed of the situation, yet, at the same time, I was relieved I’d escaped facing my sexual anxieties. As the trainee finished his litany of tests, he leaned close to me, making sure the roommate couldn’t hear us and coyly jeered: “Y’all into some freaky stuff.” | https://medium.com/@jamierboatman/tequila-sodas-leather-589ba604b857 | ['Jamier Boatman-Harrell'] | 2020-12-24 14:11:04.705000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Dating', 'Short Fiction', 'Love'] |
Best smart smoke detector to keep your home safe | The concept is simple: A smoke alarm that tells you there’s a fire nearby is a great, but a smoke alarm that tells you there’s a fire no matter where you are is even better. Smart smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors are one of the most useful categories of smart home gear on the market, mainly because they offer a clear advantage over “dumb” versions of the same product. And if you have a second home or travel frequently, the additional peace of mind they can provide is invaluable.
Once installed and powered up, you download the relevant app and connect to the device wirelessly. Then, when the alarm goes off, not only do you receive an audio alert—many include helpful voice instructions instead of just a siren—your smart phone also tells you what the problem is (whether it’s smoke or CO, which alarm was activated, and sometimes even the severity of the smoke). Many smart smoke detectors hook into additional smart home gear and IFTTT, so you can get even more clever by having the lights start flashing if smoke has been detected, for example. Perhaps the biggest benefit of a smart smoke detector: No more hunting down midnight chirps, since you’ll also get phone-based notifications about dying batteries.
Here are our picks for the best options on the market today.
Updated September 15, 2020 to add our X-Sense Mini wireless interconnected smoke detector review. While this isn't a smart detector per se, we thought it worthy of your attention because its interconnected nature will make sure everyone in the house is alerted to smoke danger, and it's very inexpensive at about $80 for a three-pack.
Best smart smoke detector Nest Labs Nest Protect Read TechHive's reviewMSRP $119.00See itWhether you’re integrating it into a Nest ecosystem or not, the Nest Protect should be at the top of your smart smoke-detector list.
The Nest Protect is one of the most mature smart smoke alarms on the market, and it’s a no-brainer of a choice if you want one of the most sophisticated and reliable smart smoke detectors out there. Alarms are varied, integrated lighting is color-coded based on the type of threat, and the product includes helpful voice alerts when activated. In testing, our phone was alerted almost immediately, and the app couldn’t be simpler to master. If you have additional Nest gear at home--such as a Nest thermostat--things get even savvier, as you can configure the Protect to shut off your ventilation system if it detects smoke, a potential life saver.
At $119, the Nest Protect isn’t cheap, but pricier options are out there. In this case, though, the outlay is worth it.
Best smart listener Mentioned in this article Roost Smart Battery (2nd Generation) Read TechHive's reviewMSRP $34.99Learn moreon RoostThe upfront cost is higher than an ordinary lithium smoke-detector battery, but the Wi-Fi module is reusable and replacement batteries are only slightly more expensive than ordinary ones. It’s money well spent to protect your home.
Leeo has turned off the servers for its Leeo Smart Alert Nightlight, so the second-generation Roost Smart Battery wins this category by default. Install this battery in your conventional smoke detector, and it will send a push notification to the contact list you set up in its app, so you can take action even if you're away from home.
What you should know about smart smoke detectorsFor the most part, smart smoke alarms tend to work almost identically. The device installs on the ceiling or high on the wall (typically replacing an old-school smoke alarm in the same location), either using batteries or in-wall power. Most of the smart smoke alarms we evaluated are available in either format and cost the same. When shopping, pay close attention so you don’t end up with the wrong type.
If you’re upgrading a hardwired model, it’s important that you replace all the detectors in the chain with the same make and model. One of the reasons for hardwiring a smoke detector is that if one detects a dangerous condition, it can trigger all the others to go off. But there’s no guarantee that feature will work if you have a mix of devices from different manufacturers wired together.
Roost Replacing hardwired smoke detectors? Make sure you replace all of them with the same make and model.
While the overall number of competitors in this space is small, the category is already quite fragmented. The bulk of the category consists of straightforward smoke detectors as described above, but some outliers exist to complicate your buying decision.
First is the concept of the smart battery: Rather than replace the entire alarm, a smart battery simply replaces the 9-volt cell inside your smoke detector. The battery contains a Wi-Fi radio that can communicate with your home network and a companion smartphone app. The battery also includes a microphone that listens for the smoke alarm into which it has been installed. When the alarm goes off, the battery leaps into action and handles the “smart” side of things, working much like a standalone detector. At present, there is only one smart battery on the market: the Roost Smart Battery. It’s not a perfect solution, but at just $35, it’s much more affordable than a standalone smart smoke detector. If your budget is limited, it’s definitely worth a look.
LeeoA similar idea comes in the form of the smart listener. Again, the idea here is that you don’t rip out your existing smoke detectors, you just install an extra piece of hardware that can listen for an alarm going off and alert your phone if it hears one, turning a traditional alarm system into a smart one. This is different from the Roost battery because the alerter simply plugs into a power outlet (there’s no battery backup, however, so if the power goes out, the device won’t be able to hear the siren). The Leeo Smart Alert Nightlight, at $50, is currently the best option on the market. It’s another great choice if you don’t want to replace the gear you already have.
What to look for when shopping Smoke and CO: Today, you want a detector that handles both smoke and carbon monoxide in a single device. There’s simply no point in forgoing carbon monoxide detection in any smoke alarm you install today, and all the alarms we tested support both types. Note that, as discussed above, smart batteries and smart listeners do not actually detect smoke or CO directly, so you’ll need to ensure the actual alarms in your house do support types of detection if you decide to go that route.
Detector sensitivity and accuracy: It’s very difficult to scientifically test how well a smoke/CO detector does its primary job without actually burning your house down. That said, simulating smoky conditions can reveal a little about how sensitive a detector is. As well, you can consider the general consensus about the underlying technology in a smoke detector. The Nest Protect, for example, uses a photoelectric split-spectrum sensor that is considered superior to the ionization sensor used in many older devices and which is more prone to false alarms.
Notification variety: A loud siren is expected, but voice alerts are quite handy: They not only tell you what type of hazard has been detected, but also alert you to its location and can even tell you how to respond (whether that’s opening a window or calling 911). Color-coded lights on the alarm itself are another plus. And, of course, speedy push notifications to your phone are a must in the smart alarm space.
Christopher Null The light ring on the (since discontinued) Halo+ glows amber if it detects a little smoke, red if it picks up a lot of smoke, and blue for severe weather events.
Multiple users: Obviously you’re safest if more than one person receives a push alert that there’s a fire in the house. Look for a system that supports multiple users through an invitation system.
Interconnectivity: Some devices support an interconnectivity feature, so if one alarm goes off, all the other alarms in the house will go off as well. This can be a big benefit if you have a very large home and fear you might not hear an alarm going off elsewhere in the house. We didn’t test interconnectivity features in our review since we tested single alarms individually, so check specifications when shopping if this feature sounds useful.
Smart home hub support: If you want to integrate your smoke alarm with the rest of your home, consider whether it is supported by a major smart home hub. The Nest Protect is obviously tied to the Nest ecosystem, but Alexa, SmartThings, and HomeKit options are also available. Note that we had lackluster results with several of these hooks—and even if you do connect the alarm to your smart home hub, the ultimate usefulness of this connection can be limited.
That said, when paired with a smart thermostat, some smart smoke alarms can trigger the thermostat to shut down your HVAC system, so that smoke isn’t pulled into your ventilation system and circulated all around your home.
Our smart smoke detector reviews Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details. | https://medium.com/@Karen19364212/best-smart-smoke-detector-to-keep-your-home-safe-9830e0f9f109 | [] | 2020-09-18 06:56:18.939000+00:00 | ['Streaming', 'Connected Home', 'Consumer Electronics', 'Chromecast'] |
Imperfect Positivity | I have read a lot of self- help books in my time; ‘Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway’ by Susan Jeffers, ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhart Toll and my personal favourite, ‘When I Say No I feel Guilty’ by Manuel J Smith. The one I am currently reading isn’t strictly a self help book it’s The Artists Way’ by Julia Cameron and is lauded by the self- appointed guru of Essex, Russell Brand as ‘A practical, spiritual, and nurturing book.’
I have enjoyed engaging with Cameron’s advice because it offers ways to access your creativity which, makes self improvement fun, and memorable. Usually with other books my renewed understanding of the world slowly fades within a month of reading it partly because I believe that, if I just follow the instructions everything will be fine.
Yet, happiness as most people know, is not a state we dwell in for long and to expect to live in a constant sense of well-being, joy and contentment is impossible. Yet, I think that is what a lot of self- help books promise to do. They provide people with hope that perfection is achievable if, you just think the ‘right’ way and if you don’t, you’re somehow lacking.
My Mum teases me over the amount of self help books I have acquired over the years and my naïve belief in their power to ‘fix’ my thinking. But I am not naïve enough to think that self- help books can ever take the place of talking to a trusted friend or a counsellor.
But those two things are not always readily available so for me, I find taking practical steps such as exercise and meditation are positive, practical steps which makes me feel better equipped to deal with my emotions. | https://medium.com/@emmaroywilliams/imperfect-positivity-ef5aff2ed5b7 | ['Emma Roy- Williams'] | 2020-07-20 14:02:48.485000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Self Improvement', 'Self Love', 'Mental Health', 'Covid Diaries'] |
Laughter in Hell | A Plea of Last Resort to Trump Supporters Everywhere
We must learn to accept the difficult truth that Hitler’s regime was the most popular government in German history; yet we know as well that few Germans after the war would confess having given any loyalty to the Nazi movement. This was not a lie in the soul of the German nation; it was a part of a collective delusion that all the fascist movements brought upon their followings. It was as if the movements themselves, as things independent of the men that embodied them, were responsible for the things that happened. - Gilbert Allardyce, 1971
Make no mistake: a day of reckoning is coming… a day when this President will have to answer for the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of American deaths that will have resulted from his mishandling of this crisis. And yet rather than preemptively recalibrate his response, President Trump callously continues to fiddle while our republic burns, choosing to emphasize the high ratings of his daily press briefings over the exponentially-increasing number of new infections and deaths that are likewise daily occurrences and grim milestones in our collective march toward catastrophe. His steadfast refusal to order a nationwide lockdown has undeniably allowed this virus to spread beyond our ability to contain it. As a result, mitigation and triage are the only options that remain open to us. Unfortunately, Trump’s reluctance to exercise the full authority granted to him under the auspices of the Defense Production Act means that the rapidly depleting stockpiles of medical equipment in hospitals all across this nation will soon be completely exhausted — some within a matter of days — making said mitigation and triage inordinately difficult today and all but impossible tomorrow. Even were the full effects of the act implemented today, the life-saving equipment would still fail to arrive in time to save thousands of patients and frontline healthcare providers whose lives could have easily been spared by more direct, decisive action. Adding insult to injury, this entirely preventable equipment shortfall will continue to be compounded by the administration’s blatantly partisan decision to privatize a portion of the federal stockpile (for subsequent sale on the open market) and to allocate the remaining resources of the federal government to states based more so on the shifting allegiances of their governors than the ever-evolving, day-to-day needs of their citizenries. All of these decisions have already and will only continue to cost lives.
Of course, the President’s decision to place his own personal and political interests above those of the nation is nothing new. One could easily make the case that every tax cut, tariff, and trade policy thus far proposed or enacted by his administration has been explicitly intended to directly benefit either the President’s businesses or his brand. Trump has even acknowledged his intention to personally profit from the recent $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, declaring in his signing statement that he and his administration will treat congressional oversight of the allocation of these funds “as hortatory but not mandatory.” Given his decades of hucksterism and self-aggrandizing showmanship, I don’t suppose any of us should be surprised.
What is surprising, however, is the fact that none of Trump’s innumerable lies, obvious failures of leadership, or admitted instances of self-dealing seems to have swayed any of you to withdraw your political support from this President. I urge you to do so now, before it’s too late — not just for the suffering souls in New York — but indeed for yourselves and those whom you love. I understand that, up until now, your desire for strong borders, prayer in schools, and a bevy of pro-life judges has provided you ample reason to overlook the obvious flaws in Trump’s character, but surely the grim prospect of hundreds of thousands of American lives lost has put your political agenda into the proper perspective. The crisis currently ravaging the city and state of New York will soon make its way to your small towns and close-knit communities. It will touch your homes, your schools, as well as your places of work and worship. The death tolls there may prove numerically lower, given your comparatively small populations, but statistically speaking, you stand to suffer far more personally than your metropolitan neighbors. For unlike those living in New York or Los Angeles, you are far more likely to know the names of almost all of the nearby victims that eventually perish in this pandemic. Equally distressing is the fact that your communities, concentrated primarily across the southern and mid-western states, are already plagued by disproportionately high unemployment, uneven access to healthcare, and poverty rates that rival or exceed even the most urban of areas. (I know. I grew up in one such community.) And so even after the threat from this particular virus has passed, the additional economic and public health burdens it levies are likely to linger far longer in your areas than anywhere else in the nation. The desperation and despair that ensue may prove every bit as contagious and difficult to eradicate as the illness itself.
If ever there was a time to put aside our cultural and political differences and unite as one people with a common purpose, it is now. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the callous, capricious, and inept indifference of this President. We must instead repurpose Donald Trump’s nationalistic “America First” policy into what it should always have been: a pluralistic rallying cry for all Americans to acknowledge our common destiny and to unlock our shared potential and responsibility in realizing it. Quite simply, there cannot be a Red State or a Blue State solution to this crisis. Whether we succeed or succumb, it will necessarily be as one nation. And as history has shown us, leaders who, in times of crisis, continue to divisively rail against the other(s) among them as the sole source of all their problems will not be treated kindly after the fact by their fellow citizens nor remembered fondly by the harsh judgment of history.
Unfortunately, the same must also be said of those who, for whatever the reason, continue to knowingly encourage or excuse such willful wickedness on the part of their leadership. Maya Angelou once said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” This man has been showing us for over forty years now… what will it take for you to believe him? Prizing politics over public safety, profiteering off of the senseless suffering of others, and all the while continuing to scapegoat the most weak and vulnerable among us — these are the undeniable and inexcusable actions of this President — and they will not serve to protect the population from the terrible tempest that’s now rapidly approaching upon the horizon. Don’t let the bile, blood, and bigotry already on his hands ultimately trickle down to yours. Neither future feigns of ignorance nor a multitude of mea culpas thereafter will manage to erase the senseless deaths of today nor the vivid and vengeful memories of those fortunate enough to survive. | https://medium.com/the-polis/laughter-in-hell-8461f3ee70c5 | ['Dave Buckner'] | 2020-04-11 16:48:11.434000+00:00 | ['Political Resistance', 'Covid 19', 'Call To Action', 'Donald Trump', 'Public Health Crisis'] |
Difficult Circumstances | Don’t let your circumstances define you, define yourself. Regardless of how you grew up, you have to put in the effort to change your circumstances.
You may have grown up in a home with one parent, maybe with no parents, maybe you didn’t grow up in a home, you might have experienced violence towards yourself, towards the ones you loved, towards those in your neighborhood, what if you were born a minority, what if you were bullied because of where your parents were from, what if you were bullied because of what looked like, in some cases, you were not accepted because of your religious beliefs, in many cases you were not accepted because of your sexuality, sometimes there wasn’t enough food to go around, other times you had to sleep on the floor, you may have lost your house, you may have lost the ones you love, you could have been born with an incurable disease, a life-altering disability, or crippling depression and anxiety.
You may have experienced one of the life circumstances listed above. You may be lucky enough to never have experienced any of these things. And you may have experienced several of them. How you use your past experiences determines how they will affect your life.
That is not to say if you have lived a hard and traumatic life that those experiences may not affect you. The conditions under which we live, especially during childhood, no doubt have major repercussions later in life. However, being a victim does not put you on a path towards your goals, in fact, it often has the opposite effect.
Why is identity important? Think about a small goal that you have for yourself, let’s say you want to go to the gym and get fit. Being fit is a goal that almost everyone has, yet why are unhealthy lifestyles so prevalent? When accomplishing the goals that you set out for yourself, you first must identify with that aspiration. Before getting fit you must first see yourself as that healthy person you would like to become. You need to be or at least identify a part of yourself as the in shape person. If you do not identify with the goal that you set out for yourself, you will struggle to make meaningful long-term progress towards your goal.
Many people think of motivation as something that can be achieved in the short term. Motivational videos and anthems are increasingly prevalent in today’s society, but to what effect.
As an experiment go on YouTube and type in motivational videos. Go ahead and pick the one that you think best suits you. If you are present and focused during the monologues and cameos of Steph Curry shooting buzzer-beating threes, you will notice your state to rise and your optimism towards accomplishment will boom. If you truly feel inspired put down this book and go accomplish that thing you have been putting off or just go take-in the beautiful day. You will probably find that the shot of inspiration you felt after the video has faded by the time you go on your walk out the door.
You shouldn’t feel sorry that a single piece of motivational content didn’t get you to turn your life around. It is natural and even a good thing that your identity is slow to change because once you’ve established an identity that will help you achieve your goals, it will become equally hard to change.
Often times those who achieve overnight success or quick rise to fame, think lottery winners, music sensations, etc., fall the hardest and most quickly. Without time to adapt and embrace their new role, you will undoubtedly resort to your old bad habits.
The victim’s mentality, or the belief that you have been wronged by the world and deserve better, will prevent you from succeeding because one you are not capable of envisioning success, two you will attract other victims to you rather than the successful, and three you will self sabotage yourself. For these reasons choosing the victim mentality and identity is like setting yourself up for failure. | https://medium.com/@adammohiu/difficult-circumstances-f2ec7ccb5e91 | ['Adam Mohiuddin'] | 2020-12-24 23:09:34.616000+00:00 | ['Money', 'Schools', 'Learning', 'College', 'Work'] |
I Don’t Understand What You Mean by “Relationships Are Hard Work” | I Don’t Understand What You Mean by “Relationships Are Hard Work”
I can’t be the only one who has a fantastic time with my partner
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
Nearly every article I see linked on Twitter or Instagram about relationships are about how they’re such hard work. How you have to put in 100% to maintain that relationship and love.
…I don’t get it.
I’ve been with my partner for over six years and we have lived together for more than three years. And I have never once grown tired of him. I have never once thought to myself “this is so hard, I feel like I’m working hard at this relationship.” Am I the outlier in this argument?
Is it wrong that I would genuinely rather spend an evening in with my partner than go out with a couple of girlfriends? Is it so bad that I actually like spending time with him? Is it unhealthy that he’s my absolute best friend? I don’t think so.
Yet every op-ed article about marriage or relationships would have me believe I’m the weirdo here.
Sure, we have our arguments. We have our tough spots. But they last minutes, at best. We are constantly communicating our feelings and letting each other know what is good or bad. I love him more every single day and I don’t think there’s any “work” behind that.
I was reading an article today about how relationships MUST require work in order to succeed. Joy Joses, the author, uses the analogy of a seed being put into soil and then put in a dark cupboard. She says that you wouldn’t expect it to grow and thrive if it were out of the sun and not watered, and you should expect the same with a relationship. You have to nurture a relationship in order for it to grow.
Here’s the thing: People aren’t plants. And even if they were comparable in the way that Joses explains, there are literally thousands of different kinds of plants, many of which actually do thrive in darkness and with little water or attention. Much like plants being different, I think every relationship is very different.
My relationship with my partner is vastly different than my parents, who are happily married, and even more vastly different than his parents, who have been divorced since he was four years old.
I don’t think there can be one recipe for a relationship. I think every single person is different and therefore every single relationship is different. Believe me, I’ve had my fair share of relationships that DID feel like work. We had to work to prioritize each other, we had to work to make time for one another, and there was work on both sides to communicate effectively.
Maybe I got lucky with my forever partner because all of that has come easily since day one. | https://medium.com/living-freely/i-dont-understand-what-you-mean-by-relationships-are-hard-work-ae89ee2c1ffb | ['Megan R. Clark'] | 2020-12-17 22:52:41.419000+00:00 | ['Marriage', 'Lifestyle', 'Relationships', 'Love', 'Dating'] |
VPC Concepts For Your SAA-02 Exam Part-02 | Welcome to the world of Virtual Private Cloud(VPC). In this article, I am just going to talk about all VPC components which helpful for your SAA-02 Exam. Here, VPC divided into three parts. First two-part, I describe the theoretical concept of VPC. In the final part, I will show the hands-on/simulation of VPC. This is the second part of VPC concepts. In the first part, I already described half of the VPC concept. In this part, I describe the rest of the VPC concept.
Implied Route and Route Table:
→ It is a central routing function. → It connects the different AZ together and connects the VPC to the internet gateway. → You can have up to 200 Route Table per VPC. → Each Subnet must be associated with only one route table at any time given. → If you don’t specify a Subnet to the Route Table association, the Subnet will be associated with the default Route Table. → You can also edit the main Route Table. If you need but you can’t delete the main Route Table. → However, you can make a custom Route Table and manually make it the main Route Table then you can delete the former main Route Table, as it no longer the main Route Table. → You can associate multiple Subnet with the same Route Table.
Internet Gateway:
→ An Internet Gateway is a virtual router that connects a VPC to the internet. → Default VPC is already attached with an Internet Gateway. → If you create a new VPC then you must attach an Internet Gateway. → Ensure that your Subnet Route Table points to the Internet Gateway. → It performed NAT Gateway between you and public IPv4 address.
NAT Gateway:
You can use a Network Address Translation Gateway to enable instances in a private Subnet to connect the internet or other AWS services, but prevent the internet from initiating a connection with those instances.
→ You are charged for creating and using a NAT Gateway hourly usage and processing rates apply Amazon EC2 charges data transfer also apply. → To create a NAT Gateway, you must specify the public Subnet in which the NAT Gateway should reside. → You must also specify an Elastic IP address to associate with NAT Gateway when you create it. → No need to assign the public IP address to your private instances.
Security Groups:
→ It is a virtual Firewall works of ENI level. → Up to 5 Security Groups per EC2 Instance interface can be applied. → Can Only have permit rules, cann’t have denied rule. → Stateful, Return traffic off allowed inbound traffic is allowed even if there are no rules to allow it.
AWS Security Group Diagram
Network ACL :
→ It is a function performed on the Implied Router. → NACL is an optional layer of security for your VPC that acts as a Firewall for controlling traffic in and out of one or more Subnets. → Your VPC automatically comes with a modifiable default Network ACL by default. It allows all inbound and outbound IPv4 traffic and if applicable IPv6 traffic. → You can create a custom Network ACL and associate it with a Subnet by default. Each custom inbound and outbound traffic until you add rules. → Each Subnet in your VPC must be associated with a Network ACL if you don’t explicitly associate a Subnet with Network ACL. The Subnet is automatically associated with the default Network ACL. → You can associate Network ACL with multiple Subnet can be associated with only one Network ACL at a time. When you associate a Network ACL with Subnet previous Subnet is removed. → A Network ACL contains a numbered list of rules that we evaluate in order, starting with the lowest numbered rule. → The highest number that you can use for a start 32766. Recommended that you start by creating rules with rule numbers that a multiple of 100. So that you can insert a new rule where you need it later. → Its functions at the Subnet Level. → NACL is stateless, outbound traffic for allowed inbound traffic must be explicitly allowed too. → You can have the permit and deny rules in NACL.
Difference between Security Groups and NACL :
1.Security Group:
→ Operates at the instance level → Supports allow rules only → Is stateful: Return traffic is automatically allowed, regardless of any rules → We evaluate all rules before deciding whether to allow traffic. → Applies to an instance only if someone specifies the security group when launching the instance, or associates the security group with the instance later on
2. Network ACL:
→ Operates at the subnet level. → Supports allow rules and deny rules. → Is stateless: Return traffic must be explicitly allowed by rules. → We process rules in order, starting with the lowest numbered rule when deciding whether to allow traffic. → Automatically applies to all instances in the subnets that it’s associated with (therefore, it provides an additional layer of defense if the security group rules are too permissive).
VPC Peering:
A VPC Peering Connection is a networking connection between two VPC that enables you to route traffic between them using a private IPv4 address or IPv6.
→ Instance either VPC can communicate with each other as if they are within the same network. → You can create a VPC Peering Connection between your own VPC or with a VPC in another AWS Account. The VPC can be in a different regions. | https://ashrafsaimon.medium.com/vpc-concepts-for-your-saa-02-exam-part-02-88278cfee89 | ['Md. Ashraf Bhuiya'] | 2020-12-10 08:05:45.352000+00:00 | ['AWS', 'Aws Solution Architect', 'Aws Security', 'Vpc', 'Aws Vpc'] |
This is the most widely used tool for Data Analysis! | SQL stands for Structured Query Language and is mainly used for management of data in database. Almost every company on this planet stores data in the form of rows and columns or tables and these tables are stored in what is called a relational database management system (RDBMS).
SQL is used to create, insert, delete, update, organize, or in other words manage all the data's in the database. The aim of this article is to give you a quick and easy understanding of what SQL is and why it should be the first thing you need to learn in order to become an efficient data analyst.
So WHY is SQL the most widely used technology?
SQL is simple and easy to learn.
There are a wide range of options to choose from when it comes to working with Data. R, SAS, Python, Tableau, Excel, SQL, Microsoft BI, Xplenty etc just to name a few. Right from data manipulation to hypothesis testing to model building can be carried out using any of the present day applications.
Then why SQL?
It’s simply because, the queries are simple and straightforward. A complete beginner can start working with databases within 2 weeks of learning SQL that’s how easy it is. No prior coding experience is required for one to master SQL.
Fast, Efficient, Reliable.
Considering the fact that queries in SQL are as simple as SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, large amount of data can be worked upon with minimal error and maximum efficiency.
It’s Flexible.
SQL work on anything. PC’s, laptops or any operating system. It doesn’t require a fixed operating system or high power. Its a small yet highly powerful tool.
It’s FREE!
Yes. SQL is an open source platform which means all you have to do is head to google and search for SQL, download, install and your playground is ready. MySQl, MariaDB, PostGres etc are some of the commonly used platforms. There are also large number of communities where you can discuss your queries and also read about how others are working with SQL.
Used by majority of the cooperation's.
Microsoft, Adobe, Capgemini, Amazon, Qualcomm, J.P Morgan, Accenture, Cognizant… Just to name a few.
Photo by Emily Morter on Unsplash
If you are a beginner and if you’re wondering where to start your data analytics journey, then you have come to the right place because once you have mastered the art of SQL, there’s no stopping you. The opportunities are endless! | https://medium.com/plus-marketing/this-is-the-most-widely-used-tool-for-data-analysis-f234b91f6c84 | ['Athul Anish'] | 2020-11-26 20:02:12.947000+00:00 | ['News', 'Sql', 'Technology', 'Data Analysis', 'Data Science'] |
Modern Gospels | Modern Gospels
The religions of Tesla, bitcoin, and Peter Thiel
👉 Join +14,000 members learning about tech from idea to IPO at The Generalist
WHO IS THIS FOR?
Founders. Peter Thiel talked about the value in building a “cult” at your startup. What does that mean? And how might you take it further? The secret in creating a truly resistant organization may require building a religion.
Peter Thiel talked about the value in building a “cult” at your startup. What does that mean? And how might you take it further? The secret in creating a truly resistant organization may require building a religion. Investors. Scott Galloway often talks about backing “unregulated monopolies.” Another ripe category for investment might be “unrecognized religions.” There’s a reason Tesla is so difficult to short.
Scott Galloway often talks about backing “unregulated monopolies.” Another ripe category for investment might be “unrecognized religions.” There’s a reason Tesla is so difficult to short. Learners. Technology has fundamentally changed how religions are born. Communities coalesce on message boards, spread ideology on social media, and create functional gods. Understanding this phenomenon explains some of the bizarre behavior of tech leaders, and illuminates the strange dynamics of internet culture.
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On a duffed wooden pew, I prayed for Jesus.
It was not my idea to begin with, nor the manner in which I would have chosen to spend a Sunday. The year before I had found a sheath of snakeskin in my garden, contributing to the sense that the woods surrounding my house were full of shadowy magic that might disappear if I paid them insufficient attention. I would rather have been there, searching for my next find. But under the guidance of the avuncular white-haired vicar, I summoned the son of god.
“Close your eyes and ask Jesus to enter you. Feel his lightness,” the vicar intoned. At least that’s how I remember it twenty years later.
And so I did, screwing my eyes shut, turning my face toward the stain-glassed windows, hoping for a ray of light to illume my cheeks, to find myself, suddenly, irrevocably sun-shot.
At the time, I would have found almost any indicia significant, a shiver or dizzy-spell, a sudden headache or bout of indigestion; open to epiphany or flatulence. I was young, yes, nine or so, but more importantly, devout. Or at least, keen to be, keen to believe: an assiduous night-time supplicant, a grave child beneath a godly penumbra. My father had passed away when I was six, and in a mad fumble for an organizing principle to explain his absence, I’d adopted a fierce piety that must have confused my gently, moderately Christian family. I prayed each night for the rest of my family to live and that they not abandon me in sleep, driving off into the night and leaving only a skate of tire marks in pale gravel. (They didn’t.) This fear wasn’t grounded in reality — I was, and am, blessed with an unshakably strong, loving nuclear family — as much as a confused, budding mind attempting to sense-make.
I prayed dozens, occasionally hundreds of times during the day, incessantly worried about accidentally peeving the almighty, a fear that stoked the rather ornate obsessive-compulsive disorder I developed at the time (and which I have written about previously). Had I been familiar with them, I would have considered Solomon’s words life-affirming: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
But there was another side to me, too. We are, I think, all susceptible to the myths we cultivate about ourselves, relying on them to reassure us that we are who we’re meant to be. The result of my personal lore is that I am prone to thinking, questioning, to healthy distrust. After escaping the strangling noose of an umbilical cord, an Irish nurse held my squirming figure and said, “Oh. This one’s been here before.” That, and my godparents’ card, delivered on the day of my birth, which instructed me to question everything. Lastly, the plaque in my father’s forest green study that took on the spiritual significance after his death:
A Prince who is not himself wise, cannot be well-advised…Good advice depends on the shrewdness of the Prince who seeks it.
These are paltry tokens on which to build a narrative, a theory of being, but they are the keystones on which a certain inherent skepticism was justified.
Which is to say that there were shades to my apparent devotion. And, if I am honest, there was always something slightly calculating, gimlet-eyed about my religious zeal. Beneath whispered prayers, there was always an irritating, stubborn incredulousness that battled with the desire for godly certainty; the same feeling as finding a brassy pound coin under my pillow after I’d lost a tooth and convincing myself my mother hadn’t put it there: but isn’t it nice to believe. I made my Pascalian Wager and hoped for better proof.
(It is at this point, I must say: my words are not meant to offend or discount your beliefs, whatever they may be. This is an account of my mind — replete as it is with opinion and idiosyncrasy. You and I may disagree, and as long as we can hear and listen, we will be both be richer for the encounter.)
And so on that Sunday, hands clutched, nose scrunched in concentration, I tried to find god. I was, I realize now, engaging in the imperative hidden in Voltaire’s maxim, “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.” God did not appear, and so I sought to invent him, hoping for the feeling that might fuel fabrication.
In the belly of a 16th-century church, this felt like an ancient act, a subtle echo of half a millennia of worship. Today, I think it was a modern one. As the province of traditional religion shrinks, ill-equipped to deal with modern problems, and too slow to adapt, we are all forced into the divine task of origination, of conception. We use technology to congregate, to proselytize, to produce miracles. We make the profane sacred and pen new gospels. And as our old gods die, we invent new ones.
Defining religion
What is religion?
I am tempted to adopt the stance of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart when asked to characterize pornography: “I know it when I see it.” Wherever there is ritual and prayer, whenever extraordinary claims are made in vindication of a higher power, we might reasonably see religion.
But that doesn’t leave us with much, and it says nothing of how such movements begin, the purposes they serve. It is easy to see a man prostrate in front of an altar and say, “that’s religion.” But what came before the altar, what is above the altar, and why?
Marx considered religion a soporific intended to preserve class power (“the opium of the masses”), while 19th-century anthropologists like Edward Burnett Tylor and James George Frazer assumed it a blunt attempt to explain natural phenomena. It was only with Émile Durkheim that religion was framed as fundamentally social, endemic to human collectives.
In The Elementary Forms of Religious Life and other work, Durkheim outlines the three traits all religions share: a unified system of beliefs and practices, a moral community, and sacred objects.
The final piece here is particularly significant — while Durkheim says object, he means god, or tenets so axial as to take the place of a god. In Christianity, the sacred objects are god, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, the sign of the cross, along with any number of minor shrouds and stains. Buddhism has Siddhartha (or Gautama), but just as importantly, perhaps more so, are the “Four Noble Truths.”
Durkheim juxtaposes this notion of the “sacred” with that of the “profane.” While the sacred is used to represent the community’s values and possesses a special resonance or energy, the profane is everything outside of that realm, partially that which challenges cherished values. Apostates, noninitiates, and false idols are all profane, but so is a sea of insignificant objects. But the profane is really defined not by what it is, but by what it’s not. It is the not-sacred, a religious negation. One cannot exist without the other; in keeping with the rest of Durkheim’s communal focus, both are fundamentally social, serving to separate a believing in-group from out-group infidels.
Objects are made sacred as part of the same process by which religions are themselves originated. This week, American voters went to the polls — physically or metaphorically — and watched our rendition of democracy in action. For members of each party, this represented a moment of “collective effervescence,” Durkheim’s term for the energy created through ritual and worship. Religions are created and sustained through these events and the groupish transcendence they make. In expressing their assimilation, individuals feel as if they are part of something, a force larger than themselves, which promotes commitment and deepens belief. In an attempt to sustain and emphasize this feeling — which Durkheim called “mana,” using the word favored by the Polynesian people he studied — the community creates the sacred object as a representation.
The result of Durkheim’s thesis, the skeleton, is something like a spiritual flywheel: moments of collective effervescence bestow transcendental mana, sacred objects are designated to sustain that feeling (and profane objects are shunned), and these, in turn, give further reason for moments of collective effervescence. We see the same process play out online, amplified by the ease of connection, social media’s preference for conflict, and technology’s capacity for miracle.
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Online effervescence, apostasy, and miracle
On Wednesday, the people of Georgia elected Majorie Taylor Greene to congress. There was little other option: she ran unopposed. A white Republican, Greene is nevertheless among the first of her kind, an elected official in support of QAnon. This conspiracy theory alleges Democrats operate a “Deep State” replete with child-molesting Satanists. Right. Greene described the group, which The Atlantic called “a New American Religion,” as “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles out.”
There have always been lunatics; the insane, unlettered gibbering of Alex Jones’s Infowars has fouled our screens and airwaves for over two decades. But the internet is a fundamentally different realm than it was even five years ago — busier, louder, boiling with niches and platforms that support them. While it might once have taken a movement decades to accumulate a swathe of followers, QAnon has managed it in just three. As many as 3 million followed Facebook pages associated with the group before the company took action in October of this year.
The internet, and platforms designed for socialization and connection, have played a pivotal role. QAnon started on 4chan but relied on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube as part of its rise. After being punted from various platforms, the group slithered to EndChan and 8kun. These are by no means the only options open to new religions: searching for “religion” on gaming platform Roblox manifests a “Church of Satan” game. “Church” produces “The Church of the Pear,” “Meme Church,” “The Church of Baby Yoda,” “The Robloxian Church,” “Church of Finn Wolfhard,” “The Masked Church,” and countless others. Most are probably jokes or trivialities, but there is no reason why the next world religion could not begin as a game. (There is an argument to make about platform-risk, but fringe movements have demonstrated a cockroach-like ability to survive different nuclear fallouts.)
Like message boards, online multiplayer games provide opportunities for collective effervescence, organizing a community around a common goal or ritual, giving mana. Unlike the movements studied by Durkheim, though, the internet enables this experience either on-demand or with much greater frequency. Providing The Church of Baby Yoda had a sufficiently large following, I could engage in worship, in effervescence, whenever I wanted, joining a round of play or a buzzing chatroom. The result is an acceleration of the Durkheim flywheel, with fervor building as interaction increases. A moral community forms, and characters like ‘Q,’ the unknown creator of the QAnon movement, become sacred objects, gods. Their missives, in turn, form the basis for a set of hallowed beliefs.
While the internet writ-large simplifies the creation of these moral communities, solving the first Durkheimian imperative, social media’s particular dynamics are pivotal in distinguishing between the sacred and profane and deepening the divide. In a group of like-minded individuals, discussion tends to lead to greater radicalization: we add new arguments to bolster our existing beliefs, and admire those with the most extreme position in the group. Social media amplifies this predilection to new levels — we have access to much larger like-minded groups. As social capital accrues to those on the extreme, others, in turn, seek to push beyond the norm to win followers. Academics Justin Tosi and Brandon Warmke have referred to this practice as “moral grandstanding.” Combine this with the fact that we react most to posts that induce rage and that influencers may benefit from fomenting polarization, and you have the ideal environment in which to set up the “us” versus “them” dynamic pivotal in creating a new religion. Adherents of Q can afford to make absurd, incendiary remarks on social media (“Angela Merkel is Hitler’s grandaughter”) safe in the knowledge that apostasy helps their cause. As the non-believer pushes back against either sacred objects (“Q is a fraud”) or an established belief (“Angela Merkel is not Hitler’s granddaughter), the believer knows their message will be amplified, and subsequently, celebrated by their moral community. If the rise of internet communities accelerates Durkheim’s flywheel, social media intensifies the process, more starkly delineating between sacred and profane and heightening an adherents connection to the cause.
And what of the miracle?
Durkheim makes no special mention of religion’s most famous acquisition strategy. Water into wine, loaves and fishes — perhaps Durkheim would simply have considered them moments of collective effervescence, transformed into sacred objects in the form of moral stories, rather than something distinct in and of themselves. They are worth mentioning when thinking of how the modern world has altered the ability to create new religions. If a new movement were looking to justify a set of extraordinary beliefs through extraordinary action, there would be no better place to begin than with technology.
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A doctored photo, a deep-fake, a voice skin — all can be used to create “miracles” in a matter of speaking, whether it be an AI-generated video showing an incoherent Nancy Pelosi or a clumsily-edited image showing Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff cozying-up to Jeffrey Epstein. These events contravene social expectations and preconceptions so sharply that they function as a modern miracle — extraordinary vindication of a set of beliefs.
There are legitimate technological miracles, too, though we choose to call them invention, innovation, or science. Apple has often been referred to as a “cult.” It makes sense; the Apple of Jobs and the iPod was a purveyor of miracles. What else do you call a machine that put “1,000 songs in your pocket,” while a CD held twelve tracks? It was an abrogation of a perceived natural law no less startling than a statue that begins to weep.
The nineteen years since the iPod’s inauguration have seen a flurry of miracles, a steady wave of wonder, join Jobs’s “feeding the multitude” moment.
New testaments
It is en vogue to classify any moderately popular startup as a “cult” or “religion” without considering what such a suggestion entails. Usually, all that is meant is that said company has an animated fanbase, a high-NPS score, perhaps a vague nod towards community. (Aside: in our “Indie Researcher” panel on Friday, Toby Shorin talked about “doing violence to concepts,” touching on cults.)
Whatever the headlines might say, Peloton is not a cult, let alone a religion. There is no sacred object, no unified set of beliefs, no moral community, no miracle. There is a sense of collective effervescence surely — the adrenalin-pumping classes seem to provoke some feeling of transcendence — but that has not been transfigured into religious belief.
Durkheim would not consider the Apple of Tim Cook a religion either. Jobs was the truly sacred object of the business, the god; without him, there is a lack of division between sacred and profane. Even the most ardent of Apple fans would concede that recent phones, though well-made, fail to possess the same resonance as the first iPod. A belief system remains in place and has, in some respects, been bolstered: Cook’s defense of personal privacy alloyed with Jobs’ minimalism and Ive’s appreciation of human intuition. But there is no collective effervescence now that keynotes have taken on a more prosaic tone, and only miracles of a minor variety.
The most conspicuous modern, technological religion is bitcoin and its surrounding ideology. In almost every respect, it fits Durkheim’s definition. There are several sacred objects, including the bitcoin itself. The fact that the currency has failed as a means of exchange may owe as much to its spiritual importance as its volatility: to spend it is a shibboleth. By doing so, the believer reveals a chink in their devotion and commits the crime of making the sacred profane. Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, is a sacred object, too, of course. Like Q, he is aided by his inconspicuousness, avoiding the vulnerability of being a known personality that can be attacked or discredited on specific grounds. The bitcoin movement has a clear belief system (decentralization is treated as a moral issue), clear separation between sacred and profane (bitcoin and fiat), and moments of collective effervescence (bull runs and halving events). Even when thinking about the future of bitcoin, the questions are fundamentally religious. The technological struggle is mostly won; what’s left is a battle for hearts and minds, for believers.
The Church of Tesla fits the mold, too. To long-term holders of the stock, Musk is a bawdy, all-knowing god, working in mysterious ways. They may not always understand his actions, but he is not to be questioned. In addition to being a sacred object himself, Musk is a canny creator of new sacred objects — this week, Tesla released a new tequila, an icon available to believers priced out of a Model 3. Musk is also agile in his use of social media. By courting controversy, he implicitly and explicitly engages in “moral grandstanding” — calling out “pedophile” rescue divers and baiting the SEC. In these cases, Musk positions himself as an ethical authority, drawing lines between sacred and profane. In his skirmishes with the SEC and other authorities, he also stokes an implied worldview, which is, incidentally, the same weltanschauung as Raskolnikov’s at the beginning of Crime and Punishment: great men operate according to their own laws. This, along with a gentler commitment to salvation from climatic extinction, forms the basis for the Muskian Gospel. Believers are given opportunities to celebrate these values at Tesla keynotes, and once again, during exciting, senseless bull runs. Just as with bitcoin, these are both ceremony and miracle, a miracle of capitalism in which an automotive company exceeds the EV/revenue multiple of a SaaS firm. While General Motors trades at 1.16x EV/revenue, and Salesforce trades at 11.88x, Tesla stands 14.44x. For the same reasons mentioned above, true believers are deterred from selling their position, making Tesla incredibly tricky to short, whatever the laws of financial reason. In 2020, a reported $27 billion has been lost, attempting to short the business.
There are other minor examples, each with its own merits:
Y Combinator has an established belief system (the Talmud of Paul Graham), plenty of sacred objects (Graham, Altman, the eponymous street sign where the founders take a picture; Lourdes in Palo Alto), a community, and some collective effervescence in the form of Demo Days. But there is something lacking or lost, a missing intensity that seems to separate it from other modern religions. Perhaps because it relies on non-believers and neutrals (other VCs), the demarcations between insider and outsider, between sacred and profane, are softer. Moreover, while Graham’s startup writing is embedded into Y Combinator’s identity, its broad applicability and wide acceptance may have freed it from parochial attachments, leaving the accelerator without a particular, ideally controversial wisdom of its own. Wall Street Bets (WSB), a stock trading community on Reddit, succeeds in manufacturing collective effervescence, using every day of trading as an opportunity to connect and celebrate capitalist values. There is an implied creed here, but it is not sufficiently differentiated from the rest of the Western world. WSB seeks to demarcate itself through tone rather than dogma. The result is a weak moral community and few, if any, sacred objects. Note-taking app Roam Research has succeeded in creating a moral community (#Roam Cult), is cultivating a sacred object (the messianically-styled Conor White-Sullivan), and possesses a budding dogma (there is a right and wrong way to organize thoughts.) That belief system has benefitted from conflict and apostasy on social media, positioning itself in opposition to the organizational theories of Thiago Forte. In time, Roam’s doctrine may increase in complexity. The community will also need to find ways to interact and bond through shared experiences. There is a half-constructed Basilica of Thiel, frequented by venture capitalists and startup operatives. While Thiel himself is a god here, divinely absent, the actual sacred object is the value of “contrarianism.” Beyond this notion, there is less of a cohesive belief system, meaning that the moral community defines itself in negation, adopting positioning in response to the perceived mainstream. There appear to be few opportunities to engage in collective effervescence and accrue mana.
In time, these may blossom into full religions or go the way of most spiritual movements, withering into obscurity. But now that we know new religions can be formed, that there is, in theory, a playbook to be followed, what should we do with it?
It is time to pray.
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Inventing god
What do we wish to be: worshipper or worshipped? Supplicant or sacred object? Apostate or convert?
Our stance concerning modern religions and this fertile period of theogenesis may depend on how we choose to define the organs of faith. There’s immodesty (profanity, really) in casting religions as sociological phenomena that can, perhaps, be architected for adherents of Old World belief systems. But for those willing to think in such terms, there is wealth to be gained for both investors and founders. Scott Galloway is fond of expressing his preference for investing in “unregulated monopolies” like Facebook, Amazon, and Google. Speculators may find similar success backing — or at least not shorting — unacknowledged religions. Adherents of bitcoin and Tesla have certainly fared well over the years.
There may be risk in associating too closely with these groups, it should be said. WeWork was, in many ways, an irritating incipient religion. Neumann relished his sacred positioning and was forceful in his orchestration of moments of effervescence through the company’s saturnalian summer camp and Friday night frat culture. There was a half-hearted belief-system (“The Power of We”) and the semblance of a moral community. Earlier in my career, I spent a bit of time with the company’s upper-level management. Though not universal, I remember one character in possession of the startling arrogance of the zealot, the certainty of someone who believes they have been particularly elected to hold a hard-earned secret. WeWork’s flaws were of the more prosaic variety: though Neumann gave us the miracle of “community-adjusted EBITDA” and a $47 billion valuation, his godly touch deserted him. Though a distinction between the sacred (WeWork spaces) and profane (normal offices) was drawn, Neumann failed to accumulate a sufficient number of followers to insulate himself from financial law. At its scale, WeWork succeeded as a religion but failed as a business.
The lesson is, perhaps, that faith and logic are unhappy bedfellows. The devotee sneers at the rationalist for his lack of imagination, while the rationalist laughs at the devotee for his flights of fancy. The wise investor will position themselves such that they might hear and listen to both sides.
The founder may have a different incentive. In Zero to One, Peter Thiel describes companies as positioned somewhere on the continuum between a consultancy and a cult. The consultancy is a godless church, populated by mission-less mercenaries. They arrive at a company, position themselves outside the culture, propose changes, and leave. Startups should strive for a different kind of intensity per Thiel:
In the most intense kind of organization, members abandon the outside world and hang out only with other members. We have a word for such organizations: cults. Cultures of total dedication look crazy from the outside. But entrepreneurs should take cultures of extreme dedication seriously.
By cult, Thiel seems to simply mean a tightly-knit culture, aligned behind a singular mission. But there’s no reason to stop there. Though there is the risk of lurching into the territory of reasonless tire-fires like WeWork and Theranos, the shrewd leader will use collective effervescence strategically to build morale and generate sacred objects.
The wisest of those will choose to make an idea their most sacred possession. Not only is opposition to an idea more useful than a person in fanning a social media conflagration and subsequently winning followers and deepening devotion, but it is also more difficult to denounce. Both bitcoin and QAnon have benefitted from having anonymous creators; company CEOs do not have the same luxury but can build equivalent immunity by positioning the locus of devotion outside themselves.
In time, these companies may look less like corporations and more like a church, built not only for short-term profit but long-term wealth and legacy. | https://mariogabriele.medium.com/modern-gospels-98d46858d170 | ['Mario Gabriele'] | 2020-11-09 18:41:42.539000+00:00 | ['Venture Capital', 'Elon Musk', 'Technology', 'Tesla', 'Bitcoin'] |
Success Is a Subject I Have Always Been Passionate About | I have strived to live my life believing, and coaching others that success comes naturally when you are truly believing in yourself, know your self-worth, and are aligned with your values, and natural strengths. Oftentimes, we can get caught up comparing ourselves to others, equating material positions to success, or self talk saying,
“I will be successful when…..”
Unfortunately, this mindset depletes our self-worth, and clouds our ability to know and act upon what we truly value in this life. True success comes from within you. Your true self-worth is not tied to external factors. When you know this, you have confidence and focus to take action on what you truly value in this life. You make choices and seek out situations, and people who can help you play to your natural strengths. People are naturally drawn to what makes you unique, and you make an impact on others, whether you realize it or not. This is the beautiful exchange of the energy of success, people appreciating, and valuing what you have to offer. There is a deep sense of peace and satisfaction realized. Comparison, and fear of being your true self, dissolve because you are doing what you believe in, versus what you think you should be doing.
Having support along the way to develop the key ingredients for natural success are hugely beneficial, and can get you from here, to there. These are key areas that I have found to be foundational in determining success, and I would love to:
• Help you develop the discipline for developing the mindset for resilience, growth, self-worth, and success so comparison stops, you move forward with positivity and inspiration
• Help you to articulate your values, purpose and natural strengths so you can be your true self and make a positive impact naturally and supports you financially
• Help you develop the confidence to take consistent action to live your best life, personally and professionally
I can help you get from here, to there. As I found my path, I am passionate about helping others find theirs.
Let’s Partner. | https://medium.com/@rachelsalzberg/success-is-a-subject-i-have-always-been-passionate-about-e5eab7f53b52 | ['Rachel Salzberg'] | 2020-12-21 21:05:12.107000+00:00 | ['Passion', 'Success', 'Successful', 'Believe', 'Motivation'] |
The 117 Books I Read In 2019 | Subtle Knife Illustration, by Brett
As has become my annual tradition, here is a list of books I read in the year 2019. I read A LOT this year, mostly because halfway through the year I realized I’d be going to grad school and that my pleasure-reading output would go way down, which resulted in sudden up tick in hate reads/trash reads/ speculative reads, especially during the summer months. To be honest, I lost complete track of what I was reading once school started (thank goodness for the OverDrive app for keeping track of my e-reads, as well as the current pile of books next to my bed where I haven’t bothered to move the recent ones).
Bolded titles are particular recommendations. (I say particular because I enjoy most everything I read, but the bolded ones are the books that went above and beyond.) I didn’t write very many comments this year but if I did, it would be following the “//.”
Next year, I’d like to try my hand at reading harder books (i.e. “classics.” I didn’t include the 18th century texts I was assigned in class this past quarter, and though I don’t think I’ll be turning back to Tristam Shandy any time soon, Jane Austen did convince me a thing or two about how lovely an ‘old’ book can be.) I’d also like to read a lot more Japanese and translated books, so if you have any recommendations there, do please pass them along!
And now, the year in books:
The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead Year One, Nora Roberts Wedding Night, Sophie Kinsella Ghosts in the Schoolyard, Eve Ewing About a Boy, Nicholas Hornsby Misery, Stephen King Red Sparrow, Jason Matthews Wild, Cheryl Strayed The Identicals, Elin Hilderbrand (HATED THIS BOOK) Bluets, Maggie Nelson The Argonauts, Maggie Nelson Dear Shameless Death, Latife Tekin The Emissary, Yoko Tawada A Family Trust, Kathy Wang Love In a Blue Time, Hanif Kureishi The Traitor’s Niche, Ismail Kadare Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out, Yan Mo The Last Samurai, Helen DeWitt The Great Movies, Roger Ebert // This book started a kick of me thinking about what it actually means to write about culture well and accessibly. Highly recommend to anyone who even remotely likes movies. Big Little Lies, LIanne Moriarty The Liar’s Club, Mary Karr Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado The Collected Schizophrenias, Esme Waijun Wang // Read this twice this year. Stay With Me, Ayobami Adebayo Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel (RR) Eligible, Curtis Sittenfeld (hated) Today Will Be Different, Maria Semple (also hated) La Belle Sauvage, Philip Pullman Medium Raw, Anthony Bourdain Uprooted, Naomi Novik へルタースケルター、岡崎京子 Goodbye Vitamin, Rachel Khong // Possibly the best book I read in 2019 Behold the Dreamers, Imbolo Mbue Educated, Tara Westover The Heart Goes Last, Margaret Atwood A Cook’s Tour, Anthony Bourdain A Game of Thrones, GRRM (RR) Clash of Kings, GRRM (RR) Storm of Sword, GRRM (RR) A Feast of Crows, GRRM (RR) Men Explain Things To Me, Rebecca Solnit The Nasty Bits, Anthony Bourdain 初めての文学、山田詠美 初めての文学、吉本バナナ あさきゆめみし、大和和妃 Oculus, Sally Wen Mao The White Book, Han Kang Conversations with Friends, Sally Rooney The Incendiaries, RO Kwon Where Reasons End, Yiyun Li Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Maria Semple // This book for me was the same as her other — -I really was not a fan. Also, raised issues of casual racism in white neoliberal female novelists — -why “You bet your Bindi?” is it quirk? Camp? Does no one see that this is jarring? I don’t so much as find it offensive, but it does jolt the reader of color out of the reading experience, while I imagine an unseasoned white reader would just skim past it. Grave Mercy, Robin LaFevers (lol) Tempest and Slaughter, Tamora Pierce (I guess I was on a YA kick) Circe, Madeline Miller Normal People, Sally Rooney Long Live The Tribe of Fatherless Girls, T Kira Madden// This book added something to the internal dialogue of what memoir could look like. The Recovering, Leslie Jamison The Young Elites, Marie Lu / Younge ELITES??? Come on!! Galatea, Madeline Miller The Hazelwood, Melissa Albert Tearling trilogy (RR) .. .. The Mothers, Brit Bennet The Proposal, Jasmine Guillory The Cranes Dance, Meg Howrey Lot, Bryan Washington // Aspirational. The Descendants, Kaui Hart Hemmings The Female Persuasion, Meg Wolitzer The Wife, Meg Wolitzer Home Going, Yaa Gyasi Shrill, Lindy West Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn The Goldfinch, Donna Tart (RR) Gifts, Ursula K. Le Guin The Dispossessed, Ursula K. LeGuin The New Atlantis, Ursula K. LeGuin It Was Me All Along, Andie Mitchell //Triggering Foreign Affairs, Alison Lurie The Ministry of Utumost Happiness, Arundhati Roy Call Me By Your Name, Andre Aciman Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood The Idiot, Elif Batuman The Hour I First Believed, Wally Lamb (RR) Killing Monica, Candace Bushnell // “Universally reviled” The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood MadAddam, Margaret Atwood The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik Call The Midwife, Jennifer Worth And Now We Have Everything, Meghan O’Connell The Nix, Nathan Hill Shadows of the Workhouse, Jennifer Worth Farewell To The Eastend, Jennifer Worth Places I Stopped on the Way Home, Meg Fee The Handmaids Tale, Margaret Atwood (RR) The Power, Naomi Alderman // Thought provoking in a weird way. The Testaments, Margaret Atwood The Secret of Platform 13, Eva Ibbotson (RR) How To Write An Autobiographical Novel, Alexander Chee (RR) Powers of Horror, Julia Kristeva コンビニ人間、村田紗耶香 // So enjoyed 一切成り行き、樹木希林 イヤシノウタ、吉本バナナ 字幕屋の気になる日本語、太田直子 The Golden Compass, Phillip Pullman (RR) The Subtle Knife, Phillip Pullman (RR) The Amber Spyglass, Phillip Pullman (RR) Certain American States, Catherine Lacey The Storyteller and collected essays, Walter Benjamin Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (RR) // A perfect novel Earthquake Bird, Susanna Jones Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie // Horrifying!!! In the sense of horror! Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi Wicked, Gregory Maguire The Winter Soldier,
Currently on my shelf for the rest of the year: | https://medium.com/@ninacoomes/the-117-books-i-read-in-2019-d70fed615c6e | ['Nina Li Coomes'] | 2019-12-17 16:32:12.010000+00:00 | ['Books', 'Goodreads', '2019', 'Year In Review'] |
Quirky | Quirky
Adapting for Asperger’s at the Expense of Sincerity
No, really, I’m like this all the time.
Coming to terms with being a 38-year-old man with Asperger’s, having only been diagnosed a few weeks ago, has naturally lead to reexaminations of my behavior. The first things I’ve focused on have been those aspects of my personality that put me blatantly at odds with the rest of the species, such as my extreme introversion, my inability to read others’ signals or intentions, and my aversion to overstimulation.
But as some of this has begun to settle, I also find myself going a few layers deeper, and I realize just how much of my identity is wrapped up in how I’ve compensated for the hindrances of Asperger’s. Some of the more interesting exploration is not about my differences, but my adaptations — the behaviors I’ve adopted to mitigate those differences. Successful adaptations, even.
As I’ve noted before, some people have trouble accepting my Asperger’s diagnosis as a valid one, because all they see are the adaptations. They see me as someone who’s generally smart and funny and well spoken, someone who is obviously not “the average guy,” but someone a little different, just a little odd, and harmlessly so. A bit nerdy, a little geeky, and humorously self-effacing about all of it. Maybe a little too self-effacing, but oh, that’s just Paul. One of his many quirks.
That’s me. I’m quirky.
Paul says some weird things sometimes, or Paul gets oddly quiet and distant, or Paul seems to find everything funny, but also every once in a while he takes something too seriously, and talks a little too much, too fast, and too loud. But that’s just his quirkiness.
If anyone comes away with that impression of me, as “quirky,” then I have successfully adapted as best I could. Once it became clear to me, probably around my mid-teens, that I was never going to be considered “normal,” and not even in the same universe as “cool,” I decided (partly consciously, partly unconsciously) that I would adopt a quirky identity. I’d be the funny sidekick, the sarcastic friend, vaguely-artsy oddball, just minimally different enough to cover up just how utterly alien I actually felt. My quirkiness was like a white noise machine to help muffle and distract from the sound of the train line running right next to the house.
Decades of this practice led me to believe that the act was who I really was. In a new social setting, I’m harmless-quirky, making little jokes when it seems safe to do so. With bosses, I’m grinning-idiot-quirky, engaged and overly eager to agree. With closer friends, I’m wry-quirky, able to vent a little of my misanthropic steam, but in a safe and humorous way. And so on.
It even extends into my online persona, where the facepalming-Paul avatar has become my unofficial insignia. I have a quirky logo.
Some of it is natural, some of it is very much forced. But over the years I think I may have gotten so good at it that I don’t know when I’m “working” and when I’m just “being.”
But without this adaptive behavior, I don’t know how I would have navigated the real world. Maybe if I had known I had Asperger’s, and accepted the things that made me different, I wouldn’t have bothered to try so hard to please and to pass. What would I have been like? What happens if I decide to drop the quirk now? What will I be?
I think the scary answer to that is: sincere. I’d be sincere.
I am not an insincere person, per se, not in the way we usually think of that term. I’m not two-faced or deceptive or phony. What I mean by sincerity is a dropping of unnecessary pretenses and performances, allowing whatever person was behind those masks to come out and breathe.
That’s terrifying!
I can’t say with any exactness, but I suspect this hypothetical sincere version of me would be less expressive when in the company of others. Even in conversation, I might look distant or even severe, even if my actual feelings were entirely benign. I would interject less often, and save my words for when they might contribute to something. That might make me appear disinterested or “shy,” even if I felt neither. A more sincere version of me might excuse himself entirely earlier and more often in order to recover from the stresses of stimuli.
A sincere version of me would be less concerned with a projected persona, online and off. He would not think so much about cultivating a “brand” for himself, and simply let his work and his words speak for themselves. It would likely have no impact on the number Twitter followers I could boast, and this version of me (again, hypothetical) wouldn’t concern himself with that anyway, because why bother.
This sincere-me would relieve himself of the stress engendered by worrying over what people thought of his various interests and obsessions. Contemporary geek culture has made the world a safe place for folks to proudly parade their allegiance to various fiction franchises, but that’s not quite what I mean, because what that really adds up to is a new in-group that happens to be made up of people who once languished in out-groups. That’s good and fine, but not what I mean.
I mean that when I have a driving obsession with something that holds no obvious value to anyone but the satisfaction of my own brain, that this is not a failing. It’s not something to be embarrassed about or ashamed of. I can just pursue that interest (within reason and feasibility) without regard to the opinions of others.
And I…I mean this hypothetically sincere version of me…wouldn’t have to make excuses for any of it. He wouldn’t have to apologize, and qualify himself with “I know this is weird” or “this probably seems silly, but…” He…I…would just follow the string of curiosity where it leads, and allow my brain its squirts of dopamine whenever they can be safely had.
The last bit of this is the hope that sincere-me would not indulge his autism and oddness at the expense of his responsibilities to those he loves. I don’t see that as a problem, because one thing that even quirky-me can be sincere about is my love and devotion to my kids. I don’t need to “act” that, no“passing” required. Come to think of it, I’m very lucky for that.
The adaptations of Asperger’s have been enormously expensive in countless ways. They have eaten up time, energy, and my valuation of myself. Maybe over time, as I truly come to terms with this condition and its implications, I can begin to turn down the dials, divert power away from the quirk-generators, and recoup some of what I’ve lost. I would sincerely like that. | https://paulfidalgo.medium.com/quirky-adapting-for-aspergers-at-the-expense-of-sincerity-bc9150021a30 | ['Paul Fidalgo'] | 2018-07-15 22:28:47.673000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Asperger', 'Autism'] |
Starsky Robotics’ Trucking Business Is Out of Stealth | Getting the Driver Out of the Cab
As I’ve talked about before, trucking’s problem isn’t labor cost, it’s supply. While drivers do account for a third of the cost of operating the truck, fleets are desperate to hire all the drivers they can. As a commoditized service, trucking faces downward pressure on rates. This translates into a cap on how much carriers can pay their drivers.
That cap, even at $50–60k/yr, isn’t enough to get someone to spend a month at a time in a truck. As a result, the American supply chain has 60,000 fewer truck drivers than it needs. The only way to solve this problem is to get a person out of a cab.
Nobody Knows How to Manage a Truck, Until They Do
In the fall of 2016, I bought our first truck to test our self-driving technology on it. I had never bought a truck before, and at $50,000 it was the biggest purchase I’d ever made. As it turned out, I probably should have spent more money on it.
We installed our system on it with plans to take it to The Thunderhill Expressway for testing. By the time it crossed the Bay Bridge, smoke was billowing out of the engine. During the next two weeks, our hard-to-hire autonomous engineers sat on their hands while I called dozens of diesel mechanics (of whom there’s also a shortage) and finally got the truck running again.
The challenges didn’t end there. We had a major goal to hit by the end of the year, and our truck refused to cooperate. It would break down. Our temporary insurance was nearly up. Our driver was getting restless because he wasn’t regularly driving. The only part that was kind of working was that it was easy to find freight to haul, but we couldn’t get paid to do so because we weren’t registered as a trucking company. And then, right before we tried to do an autonomous freight run on the highway, I realized that the title hadn’t been transferred to Starsky, it had been transferred to me personally. And no one was officiating title changes on Christmas Eve.
Starsky Robotics’ first truck — Rosebud
I was going to have to tell our investors we missed our goal not because of our engineers, or because of freak weather patterns, but because we didn’t know how to manage trucks. Given that challenge, and our penchant for building a “real company” (as opposed to an R&D lab), we decided to start a trucking business to develop our operational expertise.
You Can’t Spell “Autonomous-Trucking” without “Trucking”
I’ve often said that there are infinite reasons why we need our regular trucking fleet. But, a few of them are as follows:
Trucks: Trucks are different from cars. They’re made in far fewer numbers and are much less precisely manufactured. A higher portion of trucks need much more maintenance than “average.” Even “average” trucks need to go to the shop every 60 days, which is operationally complex when you’re traveling the country. Two trucks of the same make and model might be different enough that you want to return one. With our regular fleet, we can test a truck first and make sure it works properly before we actually put our self-driving system on it.
Lanes: We also use our trucking company to identify freight lanes that will be perfect for autonomous vehicles in the future. Thanks to our extensive fleet, we have more autonomous-friendly lanes to choose from than we have self-driving trucks to deploy. This allows us to test new routes with manually-operated trucks, and keep our driverless trucks for carefully selected routes that we can survey and authorize.
Drivers: It turns out that eating your own dog food is really good for you. While building our fleet, we’ve experienced first-hand just how hard it is to scale a fleet of trucking drivers. Doing so while still trying to make a margin off of trucking, is a harsh lesson in why every worker can’t be treated with Silicon Valley largess. Given how hard it is to hire drivers and an industry turnover rate north of 100%, we could easily be in a situation where expensive autonomous trucks can’t be tested, because we don’t have enough qualified drivers.
Now, we use our growing trucking business as a captive source of safe, experienced and well-trained drivers to staff our safety and remote driver team. We’re able to get to know our drivers over the course of a few months to see if they have what it takes to advance into being a safety driver and eventually into a teleop driver.
We learned a lot in those months. We’ve had drivers quit because they can’t use our electronic log to track their driving hours. We’ve had drivers make a wrong turn and have had a low-hanging branch rip a hole in the side of a trailer. Last year, we even had a new driver take an off-ramp in Florida too fast and roll the truck onto its side. It’s not only fortunate no one got hurt in that incident, but that we were able to catch that carelessness and terminate the contract of the once-promising driver before we put them behind the wheel of a self-driving truck.
The only way we can scale our operations on the autonomous side is by continuing to scale our regular trucking operations 6 months in advance. By early 2020, we aim to have 25 autonomous trucks, which we think is possible only if we have 100 regular trucks. It simply wouldn’t be possible to find 25 highly-skilled safety and remote drivers without having a broader fleet of regular truck drivers from which to choose.
Getting Industry Support
Given that the hardest thing in the trucking industry is to find capacity for your loads, we’ve been able to partner with 15+ brokers who are regularly giving us freight to haul. Many even (wrongly) assume we’re already hauling it with unmanned trucks, and give us the green light to do so.
We’ve teamed up with some of the most recognizable companies in the industry, including Schneider Logistics. Like many successful, large logistics companies, Schneider has a fine-tuned demand-generating organization that could always use more capacity. We provide capacity where they need it so Schneider can service more of their customers’ freight. We’re now regularly hauling over 100 loads per month for their customers using our regular trucks.
What we’ve been excited to find is that, by using brokers as our distribution channel, they’ve been able to absorb our capacity as quickly as we can grow it — which is why our revenue increased by 50% month-over-month in Q1, as we were able to grow our capacity.
To be clear, there is so much demand in trucking, that if you have the right partners and increase the size of your fleet, you grow revenue. Right now, to grow our fleet, we need to convince notoriously fickle drivers to join us. In the future, though, we’ll be able to grow our fleet just by ramping up manufacturing. Which means our revenue will be limited only by our ability to make our product.
Trucks are complex engineered systems, though, and given how widely they travel, making sure they’re in tip-top shape is a challenge that sinks even great trucking companies. That’s why we’ve partnered with Penske Truck Leasing and Transport Enterprise Leasing (TEL). Through them, we’ve gotten access to some of the newest and best equipment in the industry.
They’ve been flexible and forward-thinking in their equipment allocations, allowing Starsky the ability to grow. Also, we work closely with Penske to automate the processes of getting a new truck up and running: making sure it’s properly licensed, permitted and taxed. Laying foundations with quality equipment providers allows us to establish a real competitive edge as we grow our autonomous fleet at an accelerated pace.
Bringing On The Right People
By the time we were raising our Series A in Fall 2017, we were regularly making around $50,000 a month in trucking revenue. It seemed like a lot, but when I started digging into the numbers, I realized that we were not on top of the unit economics. It became clear that we needed to bring on board an experienced head of trucking.
That’s why I’m so excited to (finally) announce that we’ve brought on an industry veteran, Paul Schlegel, to lead, optimize, and expand our trucking operations.
Paul Schlegel, Director of Trucking Operations at Starsky Robotics
Paul joined Starsky after spending over 32 years in the transportation industry with companies such as Schneider National, Stevens Transport and Roadrunner Transportation Systems. Paul brings us a wealth of transportation and logistics knowledge that will ensure the growth, efficiency and the ultimate success of Starsky’s Trucking arm.
Paul was able to quickly jump into the weeds and fix our unit economics to make it possible for us to earn a profit from our trucking operations. His first priority has been to develop a trucking business that enabled autonomous trucks, but still worked well in their absence.
Paul’s been able to work closely with our existing team, and built a team of future-minded industry veterans in Dallas. They’re doing many of the everyday trucking things that don’t scale; while keeping a list of things that, with technology, just might.
The Future of Trucking
‘Wait, so is Starsky a trucking company or a robotics company?’
If you’re asking yourself that, you’re in good company. Industry thought leaders, elected officials, VCs, and many others have wondered just that. I’d say it’s not unlike asking if AWS is a web hosting business. Kind of. But kind of not.
We don’t want to build a traditional trucking company with thousands of sales people, hundreds of dedicated customer service representatives and mechanics shops across the country. As a former sales guy, you can believe me when I say I don’t want to hire any sales people.
I want our sales force to be an API, through which great brokers, like Schneider Logistics, can order their customers’ shipments to be moved. I want our customer service team to be an API, through which those brokers can see a real-time GPS location of their load and share that information with their customers. I want our mechanic to be Penske, who already has competency in managing the purchasing and maintenance of hundreds of thousands of vehicles.
With strong support from industry leaders, a driver team that’s making it happen every day, and great professionals on board; it seems to me like we’re on our way.
Keepin’ on Truckin’
-Stefan | https://medium.com/starsky-robotics-blog/starsky-robotics-trucking-business-is-out-of-stealth-a5d45b7a138c | ['Stefan Seltz-Axmacher'] | 2019-06-10 18:30:50.760000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Startup', 'Autonomous Cars', 'Trucking', 'Self Driving Cars'] |
Benefits of Using Instagram Reels to Market Your Business | Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash
Instagram Reels is a new feature that can be used to market your business in a creative and entertaining video to expand your audience reach.
Creating a public account and then making these short 15 second videos can help you improve your connection to followers and increase sales.
It’s a great and easy way you can reach more potential customers and gather more attention to your small business.
More Visibility
When you create your reels you have the ability to publish to the Explore feed where millions of people will then be able to see your video.
Reels about the same as IGTV videos but reels offer the option to pre-record content and direct your audience to a landing page or sign up for more information.
Your page will appear on the same pages that use your hashtags, songs, or tags. It’s very simple to create these video clips, and you don’t need to have profound knowledge to create the videos to get visibility.
2. Showcase Your Products
This feature is perfect to showcase how your products work or showcase other people wearing your products. You can present new products or showcase some of your best sellers.
You have the ability to pre-record a clip and edit them creatively so you can introduce your product or service. “Sephora took this opportunity and ran with it, posting one Reel that includes a hand model swatching an eyeshadow palette on their skin.”
3. Connect with customers
As you showcase your products, you can interact with potential customers by answering questions or commenting on product reviews.
This is the perfect way to gather what interests your customers have and determine how to further grow your business.
You can take notice of what interests people and then alter your videos to meet the overall aesthetic of your business.
4. Share Content your Users will Love
Take your follows behind the scenes into your typical workday at your business or how a product is made.
People love going behind the scenes to know how something is made or the team that is behind the business.
Get personal and share your experience as an entrepreneur. This is also a perfect feature to showcase special offers and deals that you are currently offering.
5. Educate Potential Customers
If you offer a service for your small business, the best way to tell potential customers what you do.
“One way to do this is to create FAQ Reels that answer the most common questions with some humor or interesting visuals.” Educate your customers about how to wear or style your product or tell them when is the best time to use your product.
Instagram Reels gives you creative control to market your product or service to gain more of an audience.
Reels allows you to connect more with people so that you can drive up sales. Use the information to make further creative decisions to grow your business. | https://medium.com/@andrewcartwright-64037/benefits-of-using-instagram-reels-to-market-your-business-bb604a55875b | ['Andrew Cartwright'] | 2020-12-27 23:16:18.031000+00:00 | ['Small Business', 'Marketing', 'Social Media', 'Instagram', 'Social Media Marketing'] |
October 1934 | October 1- Monday. Nice day. Rather windy this morn. I embroidered some tea towels. Slept this afternoon. Not much doing around here.
October 2- Tuesday. Nice day. I sewed on my dress today. Made a tea towel this eve while listening to the radio. Some man was here hunting wheat pasture.
October 3- Wednesday. Windy today. Dad and Clarence went to town. Mr. Tuttle brought us some coal. I made some cookies this morning. World Series started.
October 4- Thursday. Nice day. mamma washed today. I got dinner. Baked a peach pie. Orpha and Grant were here a few minutes.
October 5- Friday. Nice day. We ironed today. I wrote a letter to Mary Ruth. Listened to the World Series. Dad and Clarence went to Tuttles tonite and we couldn’t hear radio.
October 6- Saturday. Nice day. I didn’t feel very good today. Didn’t do much today. Listened to the World Series again. Also to the radio tonite. Dad hauled feed.
October 7- Sunday. Windy and dusty. Heard a good Church service over the radio this morning. Pearce’s were here this afternoon.
October 8- Monday. Rather windy. Cleaned up my bedroom and finished my dress also worked on a quilt some. Mr. Harmon and Mr. Hamon and Claude Pearce were here.
October 9- Tuesday. Stormy today. I baked a cake this morning. Started to quilt the Dutch Tulips quilt. D. Hoch was here. The world Series ended. St. Louis winners.
October 10- Wednesday. Cloudy today. We hauled fuel today. Clarence helped C. Pearce fix his windmill. I quilted a little. Mr. Powell was here this eve.
October 11- Thursday. Nice day. I quilted a lot today. Also took a bath. Mamma canned sweet potatoes and baked bread. Clarence was down to C. P. all day. Mr. Tuttle was here. Also Mr. Powell.
October 12- Friday. Windy and dusty today. We washed today. Clarence and Claud P. went to town after hunting licenses. I got the Cookies recipe I sent for.
October 13- Saturday. Nice day. I cleaned up the house. We ironed. Clarence went hunting and they got 3 ducks. Fannie and boys were here this eve. Also Fred K. Dad and C. went to town.
October 14- Sunday. Nice day. Callers today were-Mr. and Mrs. J. Harmon and Red Harmon, Fred K., some fellows from Colo., John Lemmings and Claud Pearce. Heard a good sermon this morn.
October 15- Monday. Awful dusty and windy day. Quilted a lot on the Dutch Tulip. Clarence went someplace to fix fence. Didn’t do much as was too dusty.
October 16- Tuesday. Nice day. Cleaned up the house some and finished quilting the Dutch Tulip. Callers were John Lemmings, Star Man, Berl and Grant. C. went chicken hunting.
October 17- Wednesday. Rainy day. I made some cookie bars. Marked off my Lone Star to quilt. John Lemmings was here this eve.
October 18- Thursday. Lovely day. Cleaned our bedroom. Clarence helped John L. today. Several guys were here this afternoon. Clarence went hunting and got 2 ducks.
October 19- Friday. Windy. I washed today as mom didn’t feel well. Mr. Hamon brought our mail. Clarence didn’t come home so can’t hear radio tonite. Had duck for dinner.
October 20- Saturday. Lovely day. Worked hard cleaning up the house. Looks real nice. Dad went to town. Sent off an order. Elmer H. was here today.
October 21- Sunday. Beautiful day. I made 2 pies this morning. Heard some Church music etc over the radio. Callers were: P. Payton, F. Kolb, and E. Hennigh. I felt tired today.
October 22- Monday. Nice day. I started quilting my Lone Star quilt. Callers were Elmer H., Melvin H., and some canidate. Paul P. was here for dinner.
October 23- Tuesday. Rather cool today. I quilted some today. Clarence helped Payton. The fellows with the horses came in this eve. Three are here tonite.
October 24- Wednesday. Lovely day. I felt bum all day. Callers today were Mr. Hankins, P. Payton, Elmer H., a canidate and some other guy from Colo.
October 25- Thursday. Lovely day. Got the order. Two more men came in from Colo. Mr. Welsh came by and I went to Bethel to a Prohibition meeting at Bethel.
October 26- Friday. Lovely day. We washed a big washing. Dad and Lennie went to Lakin. I sent a letter to Delma and one to Uncle C. I am awful tired tonight.
October 27- Saturday. Cold today. Cleaned up the house and ironed. Dad and Lennie came home from Lakin. Fred Kolb was here this eve. Got a letter from Louise.
October 28- Sunday. Rather cool today. Didn’t do much only read etc. Dad had to go help Hamon fix the mowing machine. Heard Will Rogers talk over radio tonight.
October 29- Monday. Fairly nice day. Several people where here. P. Payton put 2 cows in our barn. I baked a cake and quilted a little. Fred Kolb was here. Worked on jig saw puzzles.
October 30- Tuesday. Fairly nice day. Put up the stove today. I quilted some. Clarence and Mac went to town. Worked on a jig saw. Got a letter from Vera Foster.
October 31- Wednesday. Fairly nice day. Started to clean the kitchen. I painted a lot of woodwork. Some canidates were here. Clarence went to Kings to a Halloween party. | https://medium.com/@awrittenlife/october-1934-340d22e7df41 | ['A Written Life'] | 2020-12-22 14:01:03.868000+00:00 | ['Diary', 'History', 'Life', 'Journal', 'Writing'] |
Digital Marketing Intern Program by Deepak kanakraju- Finding AVATAR | Digital Marketing Intern Program by Deepak kanakraju- Finding Customer AVATAR
Hi Friends, after completing my first blog assignment and got its approval from Deepak kanakraju and team. Feeling motivated & got spunk to write second assignment of class 2- Finding Customer Avatar- Target Audience.
The second class was about Finding “Customer AVATAR”. When I heard AVATAR it strikes me as James Cameron’s science fiction movie in 2009 but its 2019 & after a decade we change from Avatar to Avengers…
One thing is common in both movies they have Hero who can solve all issues or a key to all of your problems because if we find our customer base half the battle won. In Digital marketing Customer is our Hero/Avatar/Avenger/Target Audience/God. He is the Key to all of our planning and strategies. The customer Avatar can be like any of these.
Before starting on what Deepak sir taught on second class. I would like to tell you a story of my college days when me & my friend to study for semester exams, we use to study on eleventh hour only. We plan to learn some portion of syllabus per person & then used to teach each other. So by this method we effectively completed 100% syllabus in less time this make us to help and understand the things in a better way. This is called Learn> Do > Teach. This is the first lesson learnt in this class. So after hearing this from Deepak sir I realized that some time we are doing things but not aware how to capitalize them. This is realized only when you have a good mentor like Deepak kanakraju with us. In the process of learning all of we do mistakes means we are on right path. We have to learn from our mistakes as mistakes are future benefits.
In the last class we learned that Key basic skill for Marketing is Communication. In continuation to that today we learn Marketing is about good conversations, better communicator so be better marketer. We have to converse 1:1 with our customer to understand them better and their pain. Remember of you can not converse with 1:1 you can not converse 1: many. We have to care our customer like our own baby. Every one in this world is surrounded by fake people so he likes to have someone who is authentic. So we have to be authentic to communicate better with customer.
Some time we don’t need to be perfect but be authentic for our customer.
It takes months to find a customer and seconds to lose one.
Now here comes main points that How to find the Customer Avatar:-
Deepak sir said “if everyone is your audience then no one is your audience”.
You have to define it but How to define target audience? In market segmentation you have to understand them better by based on their…
After collecting people data by survey, Calls and interactions we need to understand their need.
Now you have to make a 1:1 conversation with people. Rather than to catch them on social media like Facebook, Twitter, try to catch them on E-Mail as it’s a very personal space. Everybody read their mail in very personal and when you write to them join them in the mental conversations so that when he start reading your mail we feels so connected that you are talking to him only. Always address people with their first name. We have to focus more on center then border. It’s Always a bull’s eye.
After doing all the above interaction on day 2 class. Deepak sir taught us how to create a survey and gather the data or information on demographics and psychographics. In starting it feels awkward but “Remember Awkwardness is an indicator of learning”.
In the world of Internet customer service, It is important to remember your competitor is only one click away”
For my target customer I created this survey form.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdK-CNQ8oZdrq8dOKyL8EcchKxtT8woj9aN1QeT8jc7DdxZYQ/viewform?fbclid=IwAR1knqbjWwV2eqh4j65UnN_rO7FwfqcifTqpRj8mj4Uu0wiIGmAhR8t1bT4
As per my Survey it on some basic Financial planning.
As per my survey data followings are the outcomes although I got only two responses.
1. 100% are males.
2. Age group is 18 to 24 and 25 to 34.
3. 50% is from North & 50% south.
4. 50% have a loan & 50% don’t.
5. 50% start investing 50% don’t.
6. 100% graduate.
7. 100% have emergency funds.
8. 100% have 5 lac salary.
9. 100% are single.
Take away from the webinar
· Learn> DO> Teach.
· Mistakes are future benefits.
· Marketing is about good communication.
· Be Authentic to your customer.
· Finding Customer Avatar (Demographics VS psychographics)
Signing out for now
Akshay Gill | https://medium.com/@akshaykumargill/digital-marketing-intern-program-by-deepak-kanakraju-finding-avatar-7b2b53393a82 | ['Akshay Gill'] | 2020-01-01 20:38:20.441000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Demographics', 'Digital Marketing', 'Authenticity', 'Customer Avatar'] |
Influence | Influence
The flu does make sense
Photo by Matheus Ferrero on Unsplash
Viral smiles, a heart to heart,
gone humans ~ remnant memories,
everything makes sense
when affected
by
interim
relationships,
those that weren’t supposed
to consume you
and destroy. | https://medium.com/chalkboard/influence-2df5c8249095 | ['Ashwini Dodani'] | 2019-12-02 20:23:46.285000+00:00 | ['Creativity', 'One Line', 'Poetry', 'Relationships', 'Mental Health'] |
Behind the Scenes at the Scylla Developer Conference and Hackathon | by Laura Novich
Last year, our Scylla Developer Conference was a really special gathering where all of our developers came to the R&D Center in Israel for an intensive week of work and fun. We had interesting lectures and intensive work sprints in teams. Each team met physically together; some for the first time. Meeting face to face had its advantages. We also had a full day out of the office where we toured the splendor of Israel and had dinners and evening activities to foster the bonds of friendship.
For 2020 we’d initially planned to hold the Developer Conference around the middle of May in Poland, where we now have a small R&D Center. Then the global lockdowns for COVID19 hit and made it clear that it would not be an option. We were still hopeful we could meet in September in Poland, but as the pandemic persisted, we had to adapt.
We wondered how to create a virtual gathering that was meaningful and conducive to contribution; sessions that would draw a lot of participation, and an experience that would be fun and worthwhile. It’s a tall order when the entire event would be held via Zoom.
“The challenge this year was to make sure that the team felt the conference was happening, that everyone was engaged, and that sessions & presentations occurred on a regular basis to keep everyone’s interest.” — Shlomi Livne, ScyllaDB VP of R&D
In looking at 2020, it was clear that while the event would not be the same, two main points had to keep true to the format of last year’s event:
Sessions to enrich everyone’s learning, provided by developers for developers
Activities to strengthen the bonds of friendship and collaboration
So with those two main principles in mind, The Scylla Developer Conference 2020 was born. The conference was open to anyone in the company who wanted to participate, but was focused on the developers. The graphics for the event featured Scylla monsters from each country where we have a Scylla Developer. Currently, we have 61 developers located in 15 countries, and we are always on the lookout for more talent to join our ranks.
As a company we’ve adapted fairly well to coronavirus, but holding a virtual conference was a new challenge for us all. The event was arranged with 18 sessions over 8 days, spread out so the sessions wouldn’t take over an entire day. This left time for everyone to work, spend time with their family, and take care of household matters.
“The developer conference was awesome! As always, it was great to learn from our experienced colleagues.” — Piotr J
The lectures given during the Conference were a combination of core technologies to Scylla, insights about our customers, and more. Topics included:
A history of ScyllaDB
Overview of R&D from the last year
Raft
Elasticity
Scylla Schema
Kubernetes
Latency
Product team lectures such as Scylla Manager and Scylla Cloud
Competitive analysis of our product offering
Feedback from Solutions Architects
Future plans for ScyllaDB
There were also two sessions just for fun which featured two different Kahoot! games whose objective was to get to know each other better. The games were fun and certainly brought out our competitive nature. One of the games featured photoshopped collages of each team and you had to identify them. Looking at the composite images, it showed our diversity and yet our unique friendly nature as well.
“It’s nice to learn more about the achievement and challenge in different production components through the brainstorming sessions. The archived video records and slides are good for future investigations.” — Amos
While it was impossible to recreate the same atmosphere of a face-to-face event, the general feedback was that the conference was a great way to refocus and learn something new.
“I think the most important thing with the conference is that it gave me an opportunity to get to know a lot of people from the company better, learn from them, feel the passion of working together, being creative, and not being afraid to dream.” — Ivan
No matter how new you were to ScyllaDB, be it a week or seven years, everyone felt the conference was a hit.
“For me the conference was my fresh off the boat experience as it launched about a week and a half after I joined the company. The content was amazing, I’ve been a distributed systems enthusiast for many years (mostly from the user’s end less from the maker’s end) and the sessions felt just like attending a top notch engineering conference on the subject matter. The engineers at ScyllaDB chew up consensus algorithms and linearization problems for breakfast. It really feels like I joined a company of monsters.” — Erez
The Hackathon
The conference combined lectures given by many of the developers, some fun activities, but the most fun was had with the hackathon that showcased ScyllaDB’s developers knowledge, agility, and resourcefulness.
“The idea for doing a Hackathon came up in a brainstorming meeting with all the team leaders.” — Shlomi Livne
The process for the hackathon was that each ScyllaDB employee who wanted to host a project had to fill in a table in a Google Doc where they described their project.
Once all of the suggestions were collected, each participant was given time to comment and ask questions. After that, everyone voted to narrow down the list from the 53 ideas to 12. The final 12 were given 10 minutes to pitch their project and explain it on three slides: The problem to solve, the proposed solution, resources to use, and the reason why their project should be the one you would want to join. Following the presentations, each person attending voted on the project they would like to join.
The rules were:
Every person in R&D will be able to suggest one idea (it’s not a must)
The ideas will be shared and presented in a 3 slide deck.
Each person votes for the one project he/she wants to join during the hackathon.
Teams will be up to 4–6 people, if we will have too many in a single idea we may split the team into two competing teams.
If a person selected a project that did not get enough teammates — he/she will be able to join one of the other selected projects.
Once the teams have been formed they will have overall 3 days of coding: Thursday, Friday, Sunday (Saturday was set aside for family lives)
The teams will present their end result on Judgment day and everyone will vote for one team.
The top 3 teams with the highest votes will be announced in a public meeting.
Winners get prizes
Anyone from any team in Scylla could join the Hackathon if they wanted to. In some cases, it felt like riding a bicycle or visiting an old friend. In other cases, it was exciting and inspiring.
“I liked our hackathon team. I can’t get used to how much talent we all have. The hackathon appeared to be a platform where everyone could express himself and still be part of something big and important. It was a platform for creative communication that is usually missing in online conferences.” — Ivan “Scylla engineers achieved in three days of hacking more than I’ve ever seen in any other hackathon, working projects with clear roadmaps for continuation and integration into real products. I think all hackathons are measured by how much persists when the dust settles. We all heard the myths of Google products servicing billions of people being born in hackathon projects, and in that respect my experience of the hackathon was quite successful. Not only did our project win 2nd place it was also selected as the top project to be integrated into the product.” — Erez
As the hackathon ended, we had presentations from all the teams who qualified. The winners were announced:
First Place: Scylla S3 API and Virtual Table API
Second Place: Scylla UI
Third Place: Scylla Slack Bot
Stay Tuned!
The results were so positive everyone agreed that it had to be repeated. We’re all looking forward to our next hackathon in 2021. But in the meantime, expect blog posts from our teams on the work they did for this last event. They are all extremely proud to show off the work they’ve done. Here’s a list of some of the planned articles for projects our engineering teams worked on:
A shard-aware Rust driver
New In-Memory Representation (IMR) infrastructure
Managing Scylla via CQL
Integration of Scylla with the S3 API
Docker CCM — A method to deploy Scylla to Docker like the Cassandra Cluster Manager (CCM)
CQL Editor — A GUI to edit and manage CQL commands for Scylla Cloud
Sign Up for Scylla Summit!
Would you like to learn more about our work here at Scylla and rub virtual elbows with our engineers? Then the perfect opportunity will be at Scylla Summit 2021, planned for January 12th to 14th. Register to hear the latest developments in our NoSQL database and our supporting tools such as Scylla Manager and Scylla Monitoring Stack. You can also learn a lot from your fellow industry peers who will be presenting their own use cases, benchmarking results and best practices.
REGISTER FOR SCYLLA SUMMIT | https://medium.com/@scylladb/behind-the-scenes-at-the-scylla-developer-conference-and-hackathon-ee27ed7f71fe | [] | 2020-12-03 18:05:35.526000+00:00 | ['NoSQL', 'Hackathons', 'Developer Conference', 'Big Data', 'Scylladb'] |
On Having Desires | On Having Desires
How to ignore what you want and find what you need
Photo by Aleksandr Ledogorov on Unsplash
It’s not that you shouldn’t have any desires, but you should be wary of the ones you choose to pursue.
There are two different types of desires. One is born out of greed, grasping, and ego. The other comes from emptiness.
If you find yourself doing something in order to become someone, it comes from a place of grasping.
“I need to do this to be rich.” “I’m doing this to impress my friends.” “I want this so I can become famous.”
Staying free of self-images, allows us to remain more open to the changing nature of life. When we enter down a certain path filled with matters of how things should be, we set ourselves up for dissatisfaction. Our happiness is dictated not by the present moment, but a narrow, specific image that doesn’t change, even if life does.
Instead, listen to the desires that come from a mind free of self. They are instinctive and innate rather than a craved self-perception. They come from a place of wisdom, kindness, and love. They are congruent to the changing nature of the world around us.
When there’s no desire to be anyone, then you actually can be anyone. | https://medium.com/mindfulness-and-meditation/on-having-desires-2c1d421ec76d | ['Justin Fineberg'] | 2020-06-18 20:56:57.196000+00:00 | ['Desire', 'Life Lessons', 'Happiness', 'Meditation', 'Mindfulness'] |
How To Increase Sex Drive And Boost Your Libido | There are many, many reasons as to why you’re not feeling up for Sex.
Ranging from hormones, body image issues, stress, overall mental health — unfortunately, the list of reasons is long.
Luckily, there are proven studies that have been done that show us how we can boost our libido.
Gurit Birnbaum, lead researcher, and a social psychologist at the Interdisciplinary Center said we are wired to form relationships, which is why simply the thought of Sex brings in the desire to connect emotionally. His research showed that envisioning Sex in your mind with your partner — makes it significantly easier to be intimate.
Another study that was published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers found that increased levels of endurance training (cardio) on a regular basis were significantly correlated with lower libido in men.
Whereas strength training, involving resistance and weights, boosts your libido. This could be because strength training is better at relieving stress as opposed to cardio, which can burn your body out significantly more.
There’s a variety of different ways to improve your sex life and increase your drive. If you’re in a relationship and stuck in a sexual rut (aka dry spell for the last 3 weeks. or 3 months), you’re not alone, and there are things you can do to help reignite the passion between you and your significant other. | https://medium.com/candour/how-to-increase-sex-drive-and-boost-your-libido-ecbd29dfbae | ['Dayana Sabatin'] | 2020-06-19 20:47:59.369000+00:00 | ['Sex', 'Life', 'Love', 'Life Lessons', 'Relationships'] |
Attacktive Directory: TryHackMe Walkthrough-Part 1 | Hello guys, I am Sudeepa Shiranthaka. Today, we are going to talk about the Attacktive Directory room on TryHackMe. So, this is a Windows Active Directory-based room. Here we should exploit and get access to the vulnerable Domain Controller. In this room, we have 8 tasks to complete. In this article, we are going to complete the first 4 tasks and part 2 will cover the others.
Task 01: Deploy The Machine
Task 02: Setup
Task 03: Welcome to Attacktive Directory
Task 04: Enumerating Users via Kerberos
Task 05: Abusing Kerberos
Task 06: Back to the Basics
Task 07: Elevating Privileges within the Domain
Task 08: Flag Submission Panel
Before going into the task list let’s see the term AD(Active Directory).
What is AD(Active Directory)?
Active Directory supports a variety of functions like authentication, group and user management, policy administration, and much more.
AD can utilize both Kerberos and LDAP for authentication, making it the most commonly-used directory service today. Single-sign-on (SSO) is provided by AD and works especially effectively when used over VPN. One of the main reasons firms are choosing to install authentication management software is that AD and Kerberos are not cross-platform, which means they have to manage logins from a multitude of different devices and platforms in a single location. AD can still be a component of your entire access management strategy because it supports LDAP.
Task 01: Deploy The Machine
In task 01 we have to connect to the TryHackMe via OpenVPN and deploy the machine. If you want to how to connect via OpenVPN, you can refer to the below room on TryHackMe.
Task 02: Setup
In task 02 we should install some tools which are help full to conducting Active Directory enumeration.
When installing these tools make sure your Linux box is up to date and upgraded. If not, you may come up with some repository errors. So, always good to use the following command before installing the following tools.
The first tool we are going to install is “Impacket”. Sometimes impact can be installed in your Linux box already then you don’t want to install it again.
Installing Impacket:
We are going to clone the following directory to our /opt directory. All the necessary steps are mentioned in our task 02. So, I am not going to repeat those things here. Simply, you can give the following command to install the impacket.
Installing Bloodhound and Neo4j:
Bloodhound is another tool that we’ll be utilizing while attacking Attacktive Directory. We’ll cover specifcs of the tool later, but for now, we need to install two packages with Apt, those being bloodhound and neo4j. You can install it with the following command:
Task 03: Welcome to Attacktive Directory
Before start, the box makes sure your target host is running and up.
Our host is running and up perfectly and it gives a TTL value of 127😉. TTL=128 = Windows host and again if the TTL is 127 then the hop is 1 and its a Windows box.
We start our initial enumeration with nmap scan. If you want to know about nmap, you can refer to the following TryHackMe room.
-sV for enabling the version detection
-sC for running with the default NSE scripts
-A for enabling Aggressive mode(enables OS detection, version detection, traceroute, script scanning)
-T4 for setting the scanning speed to mode 4
-oN for saving the output
So we have open ports for 139/tcp and 445/tcp, those are the default SMB ports.
Port 139 : SMB originally ran on top of NetBIOS using port 139. NetBIOS is an older transport layer that allows Windows computers to talk to each other on the same network.
: SMB originally ran on top of NetBIOS using port 139. NetBIOS is an older transport layer that allows Windows computers to talk to each other on the same network. Port 445: Later versions of SMB (after Windows 2000) began to use port 445 on top of a TCP stack. Using TCP allows SMB to work over the internet.
And also we have LDAP on 389/tcp and 3268/tcp.
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
LDAP (also known as Lightweight Directory Access Technology) is an open and cross-platform protocol for directory services authentication.
LDAP is the primary means of communication between directory services and applications. When it comes to user accounts, directory services maintain information such as names, passwords, and computer accounts, and provide that information to other network entities.
Move on to task 03, we have three questions to answer.
What tool will allow us to enumerate port 139/445?
For this question, we can use google for the help🤗. Because Google is the number one Open-source intelligence tool and it’s totally free.
Answer: enum4linux
Enum4linux is a tool for enumerating information from Windows and Samba systems.
By using this tool we can identify share information, users and user group information, DNS information, Identifying the remote operating system, RID cycling, Password policy retrieval, NetBIOS information, etc. To install the tool, you can use below Github repository.
After installing the tool you can simply run the python script.
What is the NetBIOS-Domain Name of the machine?
enu4linux output gives the answer to this question.
Answer: THM-AD
What invalid TLD do people commonly use for their Active Directory Domain?
A simple search on Google will give the answer to our question.
Answer: .local
Task 04: Enumerating Users via Kerberos
Introduction:
A whole host of other services are running, including Kerberos. Kerberos is a key authentication service within Active Directory. With this port open, we can use a tool called Kerbrute (by Ronnie Flathers @ropnop) to brute force discovery of users, passwords and even password spray!
Note: Several users have informed me that the latest version of Kerbrute does not contain the UserEnum flag in Kerbrute, if that is the case with the version you have selected, try a older version!
In this part, we are going to enumerate the Kerberos. For this, we use the Kerbrute tool to bruteforce the usernames and passwords.
But install and running this tool from the above Git repo didn’t give the output for me. Then I search about myself on the internet after I come up with another Git repo for that. You can download the tool and also the user list, password list for the bruteforce attack.
After downloading the kerbrute tool we should give the executable permission for the script.
Here I have used 777 which means I am giving the highest privileges(All read, write, execute) to any user group.
What command within Kerbrute will allow us to enumerate valid usernames?
For this, we run the kerbrute by giving the ./kerbrute command in the installed directory.
Answer: userenum
What notable account is discovered? (These should jump out at you)
In here we suppose to run kerbrute and find the usernames. Before doing that I am going to add the target domain to my /etc/hosts it will be easy for me to conduct the enumeration. You can use the following command for that. In here you should have your target IP address instead of mine.
Now I am going to run the script with userlist.txt. You can use the following command for that. I have already added the target domain to my hosts then I can use the domain name instead of typing IP address.
— dc to giving the location of the Domain Controller (KDC) target
-d to give the full domain
This will give the output of some valid user accounts.
Answer: svc-admin
What is the other notable account is discovered? (These should jump out at you)
Answer: backup
So, I think this is enough for today. We have completed task 1 to task 4 of Attacktive Directory on TryHackMe and we’ll meet with part 2 of this article. So until next, Stay safe and Bye👋.
You can find me on😊:
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/sudeepashiranthaka
Medium: https://sudeepashiranthaka97.medium.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sudeepashiran97 | https://infosecwriteups.com/attacktive-directory-tryhackme-walkthrough-part-1-accfac4bf70f | ['Sudeepa Shiranthaka'] | 2021-08-23 12:12:42.351000+00:00 | ['Windows', 'Tryhackme', 'Writing', 'Learning', 'Infosec'] |
Thanks, We Miss The Old Us, Too! | Mainly, my point I want to get across and say is, have patience and empathy for those struggling with their mental illness/disorders. Holidays are maybe different to accommodate or whatever; just know that they are doing their best to be%100 present as they hide behind a facade they show, when under they’re only %50 fine and doing okay.. I say this because it’s always told to me “I miss the old you” you know before you sick. With the simplest of statements it’s so damaging causing feelings of guilt and shame and it’s just painful in itself. We actually have to mourn the death of old selves in a way. Radically accept and come to terms that ur lives will be dramatically altered in the functionality of the way we live; and make peace with our new selves. It’s fucking sad how life slips in through the backdoor and carves out a person. Most days I don’t recognize myself, that girl in the mirror staring back at me… wee don’t want to struggle with the challenges we have dealing with the behaviors or quirks that are out of our control at times. You think it’s hard for you to deal with us are be around us; just think how hard it is to be us… We are unable to escape ourselves, or seek safety from a mind that is trying to kills us. Repeatedly, hitting the self destruct button, as we barely survive, but emerge from our crisis heavily scarred emotionally and physically as our traumas beautifully laces our bodies. Conveying a story of a war you fought courageously. For its imprint serves as a fierce and bo reminder that you are a survivor and you should stand proud in that, that this experience has changed and shaped you into a person with a special purpose in the world. I’m a firm believer that certain events transpire for a reason to grow and mold us into who we’re meant to become. Or that were meant to give it a purpose, using it to help make a difference in someone’s life.
We’re not damaged goods, our life isn’t less worthy than the next or unaffected!e still possess the ability to flourish in life. We’re not a disgrace or a disappointment, we can still bring honor and make our families and others proud. We’re perfectly imperfect in our own unique ways. Our lives is what I call a beautiful catastrophe. | https://medium.com/@EscapingHerself/just-a-friendly-reminder-please-excuse-my-rant-as-i-stand-on-my-soap-box-bare-with-me-here-f7df08196e36 | ['Eves Evans'] | 2020-12-28 03:04:23.117000+00:00 | ['Mental Illness', 'Anorexia', 'Eating Disorders', 'Mental Health Adovate', 'Recovery'] |
Journalists and their Journeys to Main Street Hub: Part I | Our team members have one thing in common — they want to help local businesses thrive — but everyone has varied backgrounds, skills, and interests.
Several of our Hubsters joined our company after studying or working in journalism.
Whether they’re using their photography skills to take photos for local businesses or their writing skills to compose perfect posts for our customers, their backgrounds in journalism have been integral to their success here at Main Street Hub.
Don’t miss part two of this spotlight series next week!
We sat down with Production Manager Derek Stout and Senior Community Manager Jordan Haeger to chat about their journalism backgrounds and how they use the skills they’ve learned to excel in their roles at Main Street Hub every day.
Derek Stout
Production Manager, Content Team
Tell us about yourself.
“I grew up in New Mexico. I started working at Main Street Hub in January doing freelance photography and videography, and then, I started full-time in May. I went to school at the University of Texas at Austin. I left Austin for a few years and came back about a year ago.”
Why did you decide to go to UT Austin and study Journalism?
“One of my older brothers was going there at the time, and my other brother was living in Austin. I was a Studio Art major originally, doing a lot of film. My brother was in the journalism school at the time, so he convinced me to take a few journalism classes and see if I liked it — I did, so I went the photojournalism direction.”
How did you get into photojournalism?
“I was into photography for a while — I probably didn’t do it very well, but I was definitely interested in it. I took some photojournalism classes and started working at The Daily Texan and developing a passion for that. I ran with it. It’s fantastic.
“For someone who’s generally curious like myself, it’s nice to shoot something completely different every single day not nailed to the same subject. I tend to get bored really easily, so that’s one way to combat that, doing different assignments daily. I really appreciated entering into photojournalism.”
What did you do after college?
“When I graduated, I got a fellowship with Princeton and got placed at a newspaper in Cambodia. I ended up signing on with that newspaper and working there for 16 months. After that, I moved back to New Mexico for a while and started doing a lot of commercial work. I built up a really big client base there and got to a pretty comfortable point and naturally, I got a little bored so I left and came back to Austin. I was taking gigs where I could, still going back and forth to go to Albuquerque to shoot for my clients there. I ended up doing a lot of work for Main Street Hub, and now, I’m here full-time.”
What has been your favorite story to photograph?
“I’m still working on this long project I’ve been working on for a couple of years with horse tracks. It’s been a lot of fun. That’s been great.
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to leave traditional journalism and come to Main Street Hub?
“I think there’s a lot of skills with photojournalism that are applicable across the board. In photojournalism, you’re trying to make something that doesn’t look good presentable for readers. Most photojournalists have the ability to talk to people, ask the right questions, and a general sense of curiosity which is why they’re in the field in the first place. They’re usually willing to go the extra mile with whatever they’re working on.”
How have your photojournalism skills helped you in your role as Production Manager at Main Street Hub?
“I think the ability to be flexible in any situation has been the most beneficial for me. There are new problems and new things we’re dealing with every day that we don’t have an answer to yet, so we’re just kind of workshopping it on the fly. I think the ability to adapt to the situation quickly is applicable.” | https://medium.com/main-street-hub/journalists-and-their-journey-to-main-street-hub-part-i-a690b542a8b4 | ['Main Street Hub'] | 2017-03-03 17:32:48.534000+00:00 | ['Company Culture', 'Careers', 'Work', 'Career Advice', 'Journalism'] |
What is the B21 token? | B21 token is an Ethereum based ERC20 token that forms the base of all transactions, fees, and rewards on the B21 mobile app. You will be able to buy B21 tokens directly on your mobile app and hold it to enjoy exclusive benefits.
What utility does it serve?
Different utility tokens have different functionality based on the nature of the project and the B21 token also serves a purpose by forming the base of all transactions, fees, and rewards on the B21 mobile app.
B21 token gives exclusive rewards to users -
VIP Account — You can become a VIP member by holding 300 B21 tokens in your wallet. By becoming a VIP member, you can enjoy low fees while buying and selling crypto coins on the B21 app.
How to buy B21 tokens?
At present, you can buy B21 tokens on the B21 app using your credit card/debit card, bank transfer, and other local payment methods based on your location.
You can also earn B21 tokens as a reward on the B21 app -
Sign Up Reward — Complete your profile and you will earn a $2 signup reward. Welcome Bonus — Earn B21 tokens worth $5 as a welcome bonus on your first investment of $50. Also, on every next investment of $100, earn a $5 reward. Refer and earn — Refer your friends to try out the B21 app and both you and your friend will earn $2 on successful registration.
What’s more with B21 token in future?
Listing B21 token on Exchange — We are talking to some of the top tier exchanges and will soon announce on this
— We are talking to some of the top tier exchanges and will soon announce on this B21 Card — Very soon, you will be able to use the B21 International Card to spend your cryptos anywhere
Stay Safe. Invest Regularly.
JOIN US ON:
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Telegram | Reddit | https://medium.com/b21official/what-is-the-b21-token-b6cd930605aa | ['Shivank Mishra'] | 2020-10-24 01:44:24.883000+00:00 | ['B21 Token', 'Investment', 'Cryptocurrency', 'B21 Invest'] |
From freelancer to digital nomad | Remote workers and digital nomadism
If you are a freelancer, the only thing keeping you from becoming a digital nomad is your lifestyle. Digital nomads commit to a lifestyle that combines work and travel, as they are location-independent professionals who work remotely and are in constant movement. They work pretty much anywhere — from co-working spaces to cafes or public libraries — as long as they have a wi-fi connection. Most digital nomads work in creative professions, as well as marketing and IT. This status-quo defying career option has been increasing in popularity in the latest years, presumably because it allows the kind of traveling and exploring the world that you cannot get with the typical 9 to 5. Plus, this is the zenith when it comes to work flexibility. Freedom really sums up the concept of digital nomadism. You choose your own schedule, your own partners, your own clients and you have more control over your own career progression.
Freelancers, on the other hand, are independent contractors who often work remotely and maybe location-independent, yet they are not necessarily travelers. Indeed, many freelancers are based in a fixed location. However, it is much easier for you, as a freelancer, to adhere to digital nomadism than for an employed person, as it would depend on the company’s way of working. As an independent contractor, you probably have the freedom to pick your own work location, which gives you the opportunity to join this work and travel culture, if that is a career path that interests you.
How to succeed as a digital nomad
Digital nomads collect amazing life experiences and broaden their horizons. However, you also need to have a lot of self-discipline and planning skills in order to succeed as a digital nomad because all these great experiences and freedom come at the cost of a more stable job. Of course, your schedule and income can become quite unpredictable, not to mention that it can get pretty lonely at times. Nonetheless, there are some things you can do to keep your productivity at a high level while traveling and curb some of the inconveniences of being a digital nomad. For starters, you need to set up a schedule, as well as arrange your ‘days off’. You should also give up on multitasking and try going offline whenever possible — anytime you don’t need to be wired to complete your tasks. Be prepared to work hard, give yourself time to learn and adapt to your new lifestyle, and get connected with the community of digital nomads in the area where you are staying. Adding on this, as a freelancer, you have more than flexibility as an advantage in becoming a digital nomad. You also have previous experience as an independent contractor, which means you are used to dealing with all that unpredictability and all the planning and structuring for your business.
Why hiring managers should consider outsourcing
The gig economy — as well as digital nomadism — is a win-win as companies can really benefit from outsourcing. The panorama of career options is changing and hiring practices are changing with it. Several companies have adapted their structure to the changing job market and are resorting to outsourcing. This brings relevant advantages for companies, such as flexibility and lower risk. First off, outsourcing contributes to a flexible cost structure, which consequently reduces operational risk. Costs aside, having a flexible employee structure allows these companies to move faster in the market. They can make quicker decisions and reinvent themselves much more easily than they would in a scenario where they had to internalize hiring costs. Matching freelancers and digital nomads with business clients is the tricky part, yet there are platforms that can help with that, such as Transformify — a Freelance Managing System designed for inclusion. Transformify has become a sort of one-stop-shop for companies who want to outsource as it helps them find the right freelancers in a completely integrated and seamless way. It even provides support with legal compliance and payments.
To sum up, there is a bright future for remote workers and digital nomads! If you want to challenge yourself and pursue a career path characterized by work-life integration, freedom, and responsibility, you should consider the pros and cons of digital nomadism and check whether it is suitable for your own needs and goals. If you do decide to go for it, you should definitely focus on organizing and structuring your business. | https://medium.com/@transformify/from-freelancer-to-digital-nomad-1a05b69031ef | [] | 2020-12-21 06:43:08.508000+00:00 | ['Digital', 'Remote Working', 'HR', 'Digital Nomads', 'Freelancing'] |
How To Heal For Real After a Breakup | By its very nature, loss creates new space in us to receive.
When we fall in love with a person we don’t just fall in love with them, we fall in love with how they make us feel. We fall in love with the way our energy connects with the other person’s energy and what transpires in the overlap. We fall in love with the opportunity to be in love. The occasion. The sense of purpose and meaning relationships bring to our lives.
So when we go through a break up we tend to experience it not just as the loss of a particular person but as the loss of all the feelings we associate with that person. It’s the loss of the platform for our passion. For all the expressions of love and understanding. In our reeling, hurting minds, the other person held the power to make us feel those deep, juicy, joyful feelings we once felt and without that person we are now denied access to the abundance of these feelings.
Break ups don’t just bring pain to our lives. They bring scarcity.
There is real power in understanding, with precision, what it is we’re mourning when we’re mourning. To make it strictly about the other person is to give that power away. During a break up we want to regard ourselves ultra tenderly and consciously build back our inner reserve of love which can feel like a well run dry in the face of heartache. Keep the focus on the feelings, not the person. What are the specific feelings you’re mourning? Feelings are fluid. We can work with and influence our own feelings limitlessly. The same is not true about our ex. As the saying goes: you can’t control the other person but you can control how you regard the other person.
Once you’ve identified the feelings you’re mourning see if you can bring a spirit of curiosity (which is extremely abundant in its very essence) to them. How might you experience the feeling of passion in ways that have nothing to do with your ex? Going for a jog, to a concert, a museum, a night out with friends or a hike in nature? What are some things you could do to stir your own soul and get your passion (which is your life force) flowing again? Louise Hay’s advice to “take yourself as your lover” is so meaningful here.
How might you experience feeling beautiful and meaningful? Is there a place you could volunteer your time to help another creature and connect with them? Could you schedule a deep tissue massage for the benefit of touch and the profoundness of moving energy?
What about feeling inspired? What could you do to conjure inspiration in the face of heartbreak? This could be a great time to devote yourself to learning something new or shaking up your normal routine. What about taking an art, language or music class? What about moving furniture around in your bedroom? Investing in new sheets? Hanging a different picture by your bed? This way you are calling in newness and creating fresh associations in the sacred areas of your life. This is not only a beautiful way to lovingly support yourself while going through the difficulty of a break up but it’s also a way to meet the scarcity of loss with the abundance of expansive newness.
See if you can get creative. Keep bringing the focus back to feelings and asking: how can I align my life to feel the feelings I long to feel? (Rather than “how can I get my ex back!?!”) And remember, by its very nature, loss creates new space in us to receive. | https://maryawelch.medium.com/how-to-heal-for-real-after-a-breakup-fb1e5321f648 | ['Mary Welch Official'] | 2019-06-04 17:38:32.418000+00:00 | ['Women', 'Breakups', 'Love', 'Relationships', 'Healing'] |
TOP 3 EASIEST THREAT HUNTS | Threat hunting techniques don’t always have to be super advanced or complicated to yield beneficial results. There are a number of threat hunts that are simple to carry out, and which can find hidden threats that may not necessarily be picked up by traditional threat detection tools.
The following three hunts are a perfect way for beginner threat hunters and SOC analysts to dip their toes in the water and start honing their skills before building out a more formalized threat hunting program. There’s no complicated technology or data collection mechanisms necessary, just the time and patience to do the work.
⟶ GET PRACTICAL TIPS TO HELP DEVELOP YOUR THREAT HUNTING PROGRAM
EASY THREAT HUNT #1: SEARCHING FOR SUSPICIOUS CHILD PROCESSES
Malicious phishing stands as one of the most commonly observed attack vectors. All too often these attacks leverage Microsoft Office documents with malicious macros embedded in them. This is done in order to avoid detection mechanisms that usually fixate on filtering attached executables and other obvious red flags. The phishing mechanisms lure users to open the document and enable macros, allowing the malicious code to run, carrying out its nefarious ends.
Threat hunters can start digging for malicious macro activity by looking through process logging and identifying potential anomalies in parent-child process relationships. A very good indicator of maliciousness is to look for Microsoft Office products (such as winword.exe) spawning cmd.exe or powershell.exe. While this can sometimes be attributed to organizations’ power users, the exact commands running in those child processes should be investigated further. If an analyst finds that the process also used an argument like EncodedCommand, then there is definitely cause for concern.
EASY THREAT HUNT #2: LOOKING FOR DNS ENTROPY
Looking through DNS logs can provide a ready-made way to identify potential command and control and/or data exfiltration activity over DNS. The easiest way to do this is extract all requested domains from your infrastructure and start looking at their entropy.
WHAT IS ENTROPY?
In the English language there are certain combinations of letters and patterns that occur very frequently. For example, TH and ST occur over and over again, while other combinations are less common such as ZT or QC. Searching for domain name entropy is the art of searching for strings of text that don’t appear to be “natural.” A great starting point for searching for anomalous entropy can be looking for four or more sequential consonants.
Another hunting technique that can yield dividends for hunters wading into DNS data are to look for abnormally long domain names. Of course, the rise of content delivery networks (CDNs) has somewhat muddied the waters, but regardless this technique continues to bear fruit.
EASY THREAT HUNT #3: SEEK OUT ANOMALOUS USER AGENTS
If an organization has the ability to look at HTTP metadata through a tool like Zeek (formerly known as Bro), there’s a lot of revealing information available for hunters. Some of the lowest hanging fruit on this front can be picked from the HTTP headers, especially the user agent data. User agents will typically identify to a server what browser you are using and what plugins and their versions are installed. However, user agent strings are completely customizable, and are very easy to manipulate. A common trick malware developers use is to generate obviously — and sometimes not so obviously — false user agent strings.
Threat hunters can get good results by utilizing the concept of “the principle of least seen” and the stack counting tactic to compare user agents across their environments. This process can reveal statistical outliers to begin parsing through.
Common things to look for (beside glaringly obvious strings) are the subtle changes like dangling periods at the end, small spelling errors (does Mozilla have one “L” or two?), or mysterious spaces (Silverlight is all one word, isn’t it?).
The outliers, whether they are subtle or not so subtle, should be investigated further. It could be a malicious connection, or it could also be a radically out-of-date system that had long been forgotten about.
All three of these easy hunts don’t take much fancy analytical technology or data collection to carry out. In many cases it just takes existing logging and the time to sift and sort through CSVs and pivot tables. The easy wins produced by them, though, could help prove out the need for more sophisticated threat hunting techniques and tools later on down the line. And then of course, don’t forget what comes next. Read: After the Hunt: How to Follow Up On Cyber Threat Hunting Findings. | https://medium.com/@cyborgsecurity/top-3-easiest-threat-hunts-c58eaedca426 | ['Cyborg Security'] | 2020-12-04 16:02:58.178000+00:00 | ['Threat Detection', 'Threat Hunting', 'Beginners Guide', 'Cybersecurity', 'Cyber Defense'] |
Incentivizing Death | Incentivizing Death
How the modern GOP was designed to fail us
Jared Kushner, his father-in-law, and state TV pundits are declaring the COVID-19 response a success. In real life, we face a possible depression and 170,000+ deaths from it this year. The Administration’s management has been disastrous. But it makes sense from a cynically cutthroat perspective. Below is a list of party priorities and policies that hurt all but a few of us, likely by design.
This guy wants to see death certificates
FIRST RULE: REPRESENT YOUR FUNDERS
Put yourself in Mitch McConnell’s shell. He and other Republican politicians must protect the interests of their biggest donors by maximizing corporate profits. That means cutting taxes for the top 1% and corporations plus protecting loopholes and use of offshore tax havens. And while certain Democratic politicians deserve to be held accountable for similarly selling out, here we’ll prioritize our most corrupt “leaders.” Other GOP methods with immediate relevance:
Paying workers as little as possible and minimizing regulations on worker safety. Most Americans prefer working for a livable wage without being put in immediate danger. For now Mitch McConnell refuses to pass another relief package. His demand: protection for companies against lawsuits from employees forced to return to work in unsafe conditions. Notably only 31% of Americans making under $10.80 per hour have paid sick leave.
Rubber stamping outsourcing of manufacturing to countries where workers make even less. This allows cutting corners on environmental and human rights. It has also created PPE scarcity and test material supply chain issues. After four months most states still haven’t been able to procure enough tests to meet basic benchmarks for reopening responsibly.
Shrinking unprofitable parts of government. Pandemic preparedness like testing and contact tracing abilities seems important. Congressional Republicans and neoliberals have repeatedly cut CDC funding, and the federal pandemic response team was disbanded in 2018. We also like having a Postal Service. The POTUS is currently withholding disaster aid from it. These are parts of government Grover Norquist has long sought to cut in order to be able to “drown it in the bathtub.”
Using public-funded industry bail-outs in bad times (a.k.a. socializing costs). The airline industry received $50 billion in the CARES Act. We similarly bailed out big financial institutions like Bank of America in 2009 with a Democratic administration.
Privatizing healthcare, infrastructure, war, education, etc. In social democracies like Denmark, taxpayers fund the healthcare system and in return get guaranteed care. In a pandemic universal access to quality care makes us all safer. In the U.S. millions of laid-off workers and others currently lack it, since our system is mostly private and linked to employment. In addition, the Trump Administration has joined Republican-led states in a suit that has reached the Supreme Court to “invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act.” If successful and absent miraculously better alternative legislation, that would further reduce coverage. | https://tysonvictorweems.medium.com/incentivizing-death-8f85ea604ff9 | ['Tyson Victor Weems'] | 2020-05-12 19:28:28.405000+00:00 | ['Donald Trump', 'Mitch Mcconnell', 'Politics', 'Coronavirus', 'Republican Party'] |
Sucre takes Miss Venezuela | Miss Venezuela is more than just a beauty pageant. It is a long-held tradition and source of national pride that some give as much importance as Americans give the Super Bowl.
Miss Venezuela is more than just a beauty pageant. It is a long-held tradition and source of national pride that some give as much importance as Americans give the Super Bowl.
Indeed, supporters at the five-hour 2005 competition on Thursday night were as revved up as any football fan. Every section of the Poliedro de Caracas crowd represented a competitor, with fans bringing props ranging from life-size cut outs of their girls to pompoms and raucous marching band instruments.
In the end, it was Sucre state’s Jictzad Viña who was victoriously named Miss Venezuela 2005. Susan Carrizo, Miss Costa Oriental, came in a close second, with Misses Barinas, Nueva Esparta and Distrito Capital rounding off the top five. Viña walked away with a BMW Serie 1, valued at over Bs. 60 billion, and an insurance policy at Bs. 100 million.
The girls showed their stuff in three rounds characterized by modern dress, swimwear and gowns. During the gown round, the competitors strutted across the stage in elegant dresses as ballroom dancers pranced next to Cinderella-style lampposts in the backdrop. Each stunningly-dress woman posed next to a grand piano, played delicately by two sisters even as the audience pounded bass drums.
The field of 28 girls was cut to 10 in the semifinal round, when the host asked each candidate one question picked out of a hat. Miss Costa Oriental’s fans exploded in reverence when she responded that “being authentic matters much more than anything else.”
Fans were not too pleased when President Hugo Chávez surfaced on the large TV screens next to the stage just as the show was gearing up for the final selection.
Venevisión was obliged to show the president’s United Nations speech, broadcast as a nationwide cadena at 11 p.m. even though he had given the speech at 5 p.m. that afternoon. The show’s producers kept Chávez on mute as the crowd chanted “fuera,” or “get out.”
Musician Franco De Vita’s set provided an unexpected comedic interlude when a rather intoxicated young man ran onstage, stole a microphone, jumped on De Vita’s piano and screamed, “I love you Anita. Everyone should know!”
De Vita stopped playing and yelled “How wonderful!” At least five security guards surrounded the piano and at first only succeeded in pulling down the drunk man’s vest. Peace was restored when they finally carried the man down and whisked him off stage.
During the bathing suit round, Miss Lara stopped in front of the crowd, gave a slight hip thrust and puckered her lips. Next, Miss Trujillo strut up to the end of the stage and blew a kiss to the crowd. Miss Guarico’s fans lit up the whole dome with extremely-bright fireworks when their girl appeared.
Photographers and security guards alike repeatedly nudged one another to confer about which girl they liked best.
More musical merriment came the crowd’s way when vocalists Frank Quintero, Voz Veis, Roque Valero, Manuel Dikez, y la Schola Cantorum de Caracas joined actresses Gaby Espino and Daniela Alvarado for the musical production of “Se Solicita Príncipe Azul,” based on the Venevisión soap opera of the same name.
As they sang, dramatic sequences from the telenovela flashed across the screens, including one scene of an actor blowing confetti giving way to a rustic portrayal of a solemn woman in a forest.
The show also paid homage to Susana Duijm, who in 1955 became the first Latin American to win the Miss World competition.
Vocalist Luis Silva serenaded Duijm as she and her family appeared on stage. “I salute everyone working for a better country,” Duijm said after the tribute.
At one point, a choir numbering one hundred or so singers took the stage in what appeared to be nun outfits. One voice in the photographer section said, “I’m so confused.”
As the game-show music took the show to a commercial break, some twenty men with mops took the stage to wipe up the debris left by previous acts. One mopper tripped and took a dramatic fall, laughed when the crowd cheered him on, and then got up to mop some more.
An entourage of tambores singers and dancers flooded the stage various times, chanting the names of the contestants. At one point, four women did acrobatic tricks, clinging to green cloths hanging from the tall domed ceiling.
And here’s for a little history: while choosing symbolic kings and queens for festivities is an ancient custom in Europe, the first modern beauty pageant was staged by P.T. Barnum in 1854. It was closed down due to public protest, wikipedia.com says.
This is part of a series of re-published articles I wrote in 2005 for the Daily Journal in Caracas | https://medium.com/@jenserik1/sucre-takes-miss-venezuela-72044b3eda6e | ['Jens Erik Gould'] | 2019-04-12 21:10:53.272000+00:00 | ['Latin America', 'Venezuela', 'Pageants', 'Music', 'Beauty'] |
Participatory Inquiry, episode 152: Social Cognition | “In a network, social cognition, at win^n scale.”
@johnkellden
Social Cognition
How people process, store, and apply information about other people and social situations. It focuses on the role that cognitive processes play in social interactions.
Social Interaction
“Social interaction is the regulated coupling between at least two autonomous agents, where the regulation is aimed at aspects of the coupling itself so that it constitutes an emergent autonomous organization in the domain of relational dynamics, without destroying in the process the autonomy of the agents involved (though the latter’s scope can be augmented or reduced).”
— Hanne De Jaegher and Ezequiel Di Paolo
Social Graph
Circles of friends and acquaintances, digitally augmented and evolving through our circles of concern, influence and confluence.
Circle of Concern and Influence
A Circle of Concern encompasses the wide range of concerns we have, such as our health, our children, problems at work, the amount of government borrowing, or the threat of war.
A Circle of Influence encompasses those concerns that we can do something about. They are concerns that we have some control over.
Circle of Confluence
More than two thousand years ago, there was a confluence of two ideas:
- the alphabet, invented by the phoenicians
- the idea of progress, the idea that we could become better than our parents
Data
In a network, data is the intersect of will and intelligence, will turned flow and performance. Warm data is data cultivated in a context of dialogue, learning, generativity, mutuality, play, nature and connectivity. Next-gen digital platforms, can be designed to both honor digital identity and support open data ecosystems.
Identity
At the center of our circles is our notions of selfhood, service and synthesis. Our personal self exists in a state of imaginative, generative tension with our essential character and evolutionary purpose. Our desire to game our environment for our own advantage, is guided by how we perceive the world, orient ourselves in it, decide and take thought and action. Our levelling up in our game of life, can be outlined by win, win-win and win-win-win.
Win^n
A generative sequence, from win, to win-win, to win-win-win. Generative sequences are sets of (playable) patterns, producing structure-preserving transformation.
the times they are a changin
Information
Information is the intersect of situational awareness and will turned flow.
Ie, without data supporting, wireframing our information, there’s a risk with information too selectively sifted and sorted, reinforcing our own separate, separative, polarizing will. In a digital conversation, uninformed opinion as one of the common patterns.
Knowledge
Knowledge is the intersect of imagination and situational awareness, with our own and others’ existing behavior the core constraint and, should we so choose, providing us with ample opportunity to learn, unlearn and relearn.
Wisdom
Wisdom is the intersect of intelligence and imagination. If our behavior is too much of a constraint, to the detriment of our imagination, the intersect of intelligence and imagination becomes polarized, conflicted, resisted and in extreme cases, non-existent. The generative review of wisdom is ability.
“Intelligence is quickness to apprehend as distinct from ability,
which is capacity to act wisely on the thing apprehended.”
— Alfred North Whitehead
Wise Playground
Wise playground, is a confluence of four ideas: impact investing, next-gen social network, decentralized autonomous organization and practical wisdom. It is designed to scale to 300k humans, forming small groups, with intelligence augmentation and knowledge allocation (insight markets) where conversations that mind and matter at network scale, turn intelligence into ability, in service to needs.
Complex Responsive Processes
A combination of interactions, conversations and transactions, combining human ingenuity and social network connectivity.
Conversations that Mind and Matter
A subset of conversations, enabling knowledge leverage and navigation.
Graph
Structures, processes and flows, out of a combination of identity, co-creation of value, intelligence augmentation, coordination of means and knowledge navigation.
Knowledge Navigation
A superset of search. Open data ecosystems, providing actionable insight(data) in service to actionable insight (story, knowledge ecosystems).
Participatory Inquiry Graph
complex responsive processes x social cognition = participatory inquiry graph
A (network) graph, is the product of processes and social cognition. Networked social cognition is how we coordinate ourselves in networks, and how we coordinate networks.
Participatory sensemaking and meaning-making
Participatory sensemaking and meaningmaking, is to community (and writ extended and over time, cultures and societies and civilizations) what participatory inquiry is to individual will, will turned flow.
Participatory sense-making An enactive approach to social cognition
“As yet, there is no enactive account of social cognition. This paper extends the enactive concept of sense-making into the social domain. It takes as its departure point the process of interaction between individuals in a social encounter. It is a well-established finding that individuals can and generally do coordinate their movements and utterances in such situations. We argue that the interaction process can take on a form of autonomy. This allows us to reframe the problem of social cognition as that of how meaning is generated and transformed in the interplay between the unfolding interaction process and the individuals engaged in it. The notion of sense-making in this realm becomes participatory sense-making. The onus of social understanding thus moves away from strictly the individual only.”
— Hanne De Jaegher and Ezequiel Di Paolo
Doing A POODLE
Informed and guided by the above, we have an option, to move from existing practice, to best practice and from best practice to best option. As part of such a movement, trust; trust, movement, we can extend the competitive OODA-loop to an intelligence and knowledge augmenting POODLE-loop:
OODA: Observe, Orient, Decide & Act
POODLE: Perceive, Observe, Orient, Design, Learn & (En)Act
And, in the end, the flow you instigate, is equal to the know, you make. | https://medium.com/@johnkellden/participatory-inquiry-episode-152-social-cognition-7ee0e19d78ed | ['John Kellden'] | 2019-05-25 07:21:32.488000+00:00 | ['Participatory Inquiry', 'Conv That Mind And Matter', 'Cognition', 'Strategy', 'Social'] |
What haters on YouTube don’t understand | So my last video on YouTube got a lot more views than I expected.
I was expecting my typical, 10–20 views, and nothing more.
Well, I got over 1,500 views for my most recent video, and that was in just one week. And with all those views came comments. And with all those comments, came some hate.
To give more context, my video was about why people should not read the 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene.
My point was that most people reading this book do not have their shit together. A bunch of young kids and adults read this book thinking it will give them some edge, but these very same readers are scared to take risks, scared to ask girls out, and scared to stand up for themselves.
So I just said that it would be better to get your shit together, as that will get you a lot farther in life than just reading the 48 Laws of Power.
Now, some people were just straight hating.
Not even constructive criticism, but just pure hate.
These viewers were hurt by my criticism of the book. It was as if I desecrated some holy book and I am feeling the wrath of its believers.
Photo by Szabo Viktor on Unsplash
Seeing all these people hating on my video got me wondering why where they so butt hurt.
And I think the reason why is because people do not want their world views to be tarnished. These loyal readers of 48 Laws of Power have built up a world where they need to use the 48 laws of power to navigate through life.
Otherwise, they are toast.
And if anybody challenges that viewpoint, they will attack that person.
The problem with these guys is that if they see their world strictly in one sense, they are going to lose out on so much more of what life has to offer.
If all they think is how to use or defend themselves from the laws of power. Well, they are going to live a very exhausting life.
When it comes to friends, they are going to refer back to the 48 laws.
When it comes to dating, they are going to refer back to the 48 laws.
When it comes to business, they are going to refer back to the 48 laws.
And oddly enough, these guys are not going to get the super-duper success they were looking for.
Life is all about embracing different ideas.
Life is about challenging your status quo.
I remember an Islamic saying that said that if you truly want to believe in something, question it.
However, when you refuse to question your sacred beliefs, then you are just a shallow follower. Nobody has ever reached a true understanding without questioning.
For example, in therapy, you have to question yourself in order to get a better understanding of your values, problems, and perception of the world. Without the questioning aspect, therapy is useless.
Once I questioned my low self-esteem, my poor beliefs, and my problems. Is when I was able to better understand the trauma and difficulties in my life.
Through questioning myself I was able to overcome my deeply personal problems. Even today, when my insecurities come in, I question them and ask myself why I am so focused on this small aspect of myself?
And as a result, I am able to get over it.
I will admit, questioning your belief and yourself is not easy.
But nothing great in life ever is.
So don’t be like the losers on my YouTube video who are too afraid to ponder on another point of view.
Life is too short to be narrowminded.
(If you enjoyed this short article, then click here to join my email list where you get a daily boost of confidence every morning plus the free Self-Improvement Cheat Sheet for Nerds.) | https://medium.com/@bulcha-17804/what-haters-on-youtube-dont-understand-d47c0acd0dc8 | ['Bulcha', 'The Charismatic Nerd'] | 2020-12-22 21:36:20.181000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Life Lessons', 'Self Development', 'Inspiration', 'Confidence'] |
Between the (book) covers: Design Beyond Devices | Between the (book) covers: Design Beyond Devices
Four themes woven throughout my new book on multimodal and cross-device design
On December 1, 2020, my first book Design Beyond Devices will ship worldwide. As so many authors do, I wrote this book partially because I wish it had existed when I was tackling the big unknowns on projects like Alexa Notifications, the Echo Look, the Echo Show, and Windows Automotive.
But I was also inspired to write because as an industry, we still seem to be focusing on individual touchpoints rather than focusing on the customer’s journey between touchpoints. And I wrote the book because so many of our devices are now capable of interacting with us in so many ways.
These days, it should less about “designing for a smart speaker” or “designing for a desktop” — many of these devices share capabilities. The real skill is figuring out exactly how your customer wants to interact in the moment. Or better yet, how might you allow your customer to choose their mode of interaction IN the moment?
Design Beyond Devices by Cheryl Platz: Available from Rosenfeld Media and on Amazon in print and digital.
The elevator pitch
Over the past year, when folks outside the industry asked me what I was writing about I’d say:
“I’m writing a design book that I hope will help teach designers how to design the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.”
If you’ve ever watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, you’ve seen the vision of the future I’m chasing. Interactions that span tablets, touchscreens, physical controls, voice interactions — even augmented reality, all while allowing crew members to seamlessly move between modes of interaction as needed. But underneath all that simplicity must lie a framework of great complexity. Still waters run deep.
The full title of the book is “Design Beyond Devices: Creating Multimodal, Cross-Device Experiences.” I haven’t seen any confusion about the term ‘cross-device,’ but the term ‘multimodal’ is still unfamiliar to many designers. What the heck am I talking about, anyway?
Ironically, the term “multimodal” is itself multimodal. It’s been defined multiple ways in different contexts. In THIS context:
A mode is a type of communication, and humans receive communication using their senses. I go on to define 5 categories of communication in the book: Visual, auditory (audio), haptic (direct/physical), kinetic (motion-based), and ambient (indirect).
is a type of communication, and humans receive communication using their senses. I go on to define 5 categories of communication in the book: Visual, auditory (audio), haptic (direct/physical), kinetic (motion-based), and ambient (indirect). A multimodal interaction is an exchange between two parties (a device and a human being) where multiple input or output modalities may be used simultaneously or sequentially depending upon context and preference.
Why include both multimodality AND cross-device design?
It’s short-sighted to assume ANY experience exists in a vaccum. Our customers are swimming in devices. Even websites are cross-device now: most websites have to function on desktop and mobile, which means interruption, context, and notifications become relevant. And the limits of multimodality on one device may cause a customer to turn to another device.
The deeper concepts
But for better or worse, this is a design book released in the throes of a turbulent 2020. It’s not enough just to throw some design ideas at you and run away. It was extremely important to me that this book provide you with a sound foundation for evaluating your ideas through lenses of inclusion, bias, impact, and beyond. Just because we CAN build it doesn’t mean we SHOULD.
The following four themes are woven deeply into the book’s 15 chapters (chapter list available at the Rosenfeld Media site):
Customer context & ethics Multimodal frameworks Ideation and Execution Emerging technology
Let’s dive more deeply into each of these themes so you know what we’re getting into.
Theme 1: Customer context and ethics
It was important to me that this book be more than just an exploration of what we CAN do — it’s an exploration of HOW we should move forward and what we owe our customers.
Creating the World We Want to Live In (Chapter 1) provides definitions and context that will frame the rest of our explorations: from definitions of multimodality and gender equity to deeper discussions on disability, inclusive design, anti-racism, and anti-neutrality.
Capturing Customer Context (Chapter 2) provides you with a functional, improv-inspired framework for deepening your customer outreach and research to include the extra context you need when designing multi-device, multimodal experiences.
Understanding Busy Humans (Chapter 3) helps you break down human behavior into patterns that can be represented within your system or platform as a part of teaching your devices to interrupt and interact politely and responsibly.
Should You Build It? (Chapter 15) concludes the book with a new framework for ethically querying your work: PICS or It Shouldn’t Happen. You’ll find a series of prompts to challenge your problem definition, your degree of inclusion, your theory of change, and the systems you’re influencing.
Theme 2: Multimodal Frameworks
Once you’ve fully explored your customer’s context and assessed the potential impact of your project on the environments and systems with which it will engage, it’s time to start exploring how multimodality might be applied to those situations.
Activity, Interrupted (Chapter 4) walks you through a process I first spearheaded for Alexa Notifications: creating an interruption matrix that takes your customer activity model and maps it against your potential interruptions, defining predictable interaction patterns for each combination.
The Spectrum of Multimodality (Chapter 7) helps you figure out what approach to multimodality will make most sense for your customer based on two key dimensions: their proximity to their device(s) and the amount of information being communicated.
Read an excerpt from Chapter 7 on the Rosenfeld Media Medium page!
Let’s Get Proactive (Chapter 10) What are the common patterns of interruption? What are the philosophies and pitfalls behind proactive interactions in interactive systems? This chapter draws from my experience on notification systems to help you chart your own path.
From Envisioning to Execution (Chapter 12) In the midst of the discussion of implementation, we explore an extension of Brad Frost’s Atomic Design to cope with the added complexity of multimodality — multimodal atomic design.
Theme 3: Ideation and execution
But how do you take these amorphous, big, intimidating ideas and make them real? How do you communicate these designs in a way that makes them understandable by your implementation partners?
It’s a (multimodal) trap! (Chapter 8): Seasoned veterans of multimodal and cross-device design will know when to ask difficult questions, but will you? This chapter covers some of the stickiest areas you’re likely to encounter — from ergonomics to multi-user scenarios.
Lost in Transition (Chapter 9): Whether you’re focusing on a single multimodal device or an expansive cross-device experience, transitions will make or break your experience. We inventory the most difficult types of transitions and what to look out for along the way.
Breathe Life into the Unknown (Chapter 11): From the Opti-Pessimism framework from exploring the best and worst cases of your idea to storyboarding, bodystorming, and a variety of prototyping philosophies — this chapter will kick-start your attempts to make your ideas real.
From Envisioning to Execution (Chapter 12): Learn a common visual language for multimodal flows, review tangible examples of multiple approaches to documenting time-bound multimodal designs, and explore how you might expand existing design systems to account for multimodality.
Theme 4: Emerging Technology
Many readers won’t yet feel fully comfortable with multimodal technologies, or perhaps may not even see themselves as multimodal designers at all. That’s OK! This book contains plenty of background to bring folks of all experience levels up to speed.
The Language of Devices (Chapter 5): In this chapter, we take a complete inventory of the available output modalities and technologies available to you, along with inclusivity considerations and case studies along the way.
Expressing Intent (Chapter 6): An exploration of the current state of input technologies, from natural language understanding through gestural interfaces — with plenty of inclusivity considerations and case studies to flesh out your understanding.
Beyond Devices: Human + AI Collaboration (Chapter 13): It is near-impossible to work with modern multimodal systems without dealing with AI. Learn the basics: types of machine learning, types of bias, and how to cope with designing with AI on your project.
Beyond Reality: XR, VR, MR, AR (Chapter 14): At the bleeding edge of multimodality, extended reality experiences are just pushing from niche to mainstream. Learn the difference between virtual reality, mixed reality, and artificial reality — and what makes design for XR different.
Learn More
If you’re intrigued by the concepts described here, the book is available via Rosenfeld Media or your local Amazon storefront. If you pick up the book, find me on Twitter at @funnygodmother or @ideaplatz to share your thoughts. And may 2021 see us to better outcomes — the final frontier is waiting for you!
Podcasts
Upcoming events (Talks & Workshops) | https://medium.com/ideaplatz/between-the-book-covers-design-beyond-devices-e026f143ec6c | ['Cheryl Platz'] | 2020-12-02 00:48:26.755000+00:00 | ['User Experience', 'Technology', 'Voice Assistant', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Design'] |
Migrants as accidental environmentalists | EeMun Chen, a Principal Consultant at MartinJenkins, argues that we don’t yet know nearly enough about how cultural context shapes people’s environmental attitudes and behaviour — and therefore about how behaviour can be influenced to tackle the global waste explosion.
Hanoi, Vietnam 2016: old clothes for selling in Kim Lien flea market in Dong Da District
An image has stuck in my head from one day in 2009 when my relatives from Malaysia came to stay with my parents in Christchurch for my brother’s wedding: I went into the guest bathroom at one point to find three plastic yoghurt pottles each with a toothbrush standing up in it.
Although Malaysia is a developing country, my relatives are reasonably well-off, and I know that my parents had a bunch of cups in the kitchen they could have used instead. So is this full-on, environmentally conscious ‘re-use’ in action? Or is something else going on?
My conclusion after canvasing some of the available studies of environmental attitudes and behaviour is that, in fact, we’re not sure what’s going on in this area. This has to be a significant knowledge gap when it comes to designing strategies to influence behaviour to tackle the waste problem and move New Zealand up the layers in the waste hierarchy — from recycling to the more advanced levels of re-using, replacing and refusing.
Cultural context has been ignored
The initiatives we’ve talked about in previous articles in this waste series all require changes in behaviour — by individuals and households, by manufacturers and other businesses, and by government agencies and NGOs.
The Government has made some structural and policy settings more conducive to diverting waste items from landfills, and we are seeing signs of ‘rethinking’ the way our system of production and consumption works. But shifting attitudes and behaviours at both the individual and collective levels is going to be critical.
There’s quite a bit of research into the types of messages and channels that public campaigns and education programmes need to focus on in order to change consumer behaviour — such as appeals to concern for the environment, or simple altruism. However, a critical component that a lot of this research misses — and especially important for New Zealand — is the influence of cultural context, intercultural differences, and migration.
The research has focused on WEIRD populations and cultures
In 2018, 60% of people living in New Zealand on Census night indicated they were ‘European only’, and in Auckland this figure was only 45%. Projections from Stats NZ suggest these percentages will fall rapidly in the next 20 years.
But a lot of the research in psychology and other social sciences suffers from most participants being from ‘WEIRD’ cultures — that is, Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic. In one of the major, revered psychology journals, Psychological science, more than 90% of studies came from a set of countries that represent less than 15% of the world’s population.
While historically New Zealand would probably be considered a WEIRD country, our current and projected cultural make-up suggests that the carrots, sticks and sermons that will move us up the waste hierarchy are going to be as diverse as our people.
Non-WEIRDs as environmental guardians?
Non-WEIRD and indigenous peoples have long been associated with environment-friendly values and attitudes. The ‘Biophilia’ hypothesis, for example, is that humans have an innate need or propensity to affiliate with the natural world. But this propensity is often especially associated with non-WEIRD peoples, who are seen as living in greater harmony with the natural environment.
In other parts of the world the concept ‘Buen vivir’ is gaining some traction. This Spanish term loosely translates to ‘good living’ or ‘living well’. It is said to derive from the Quechua peoples of the Andes and their term ‘sumak kawsay’, which prioritises being community-centric, ecologically balanced, and culturally sensitive.
Buen vivir has some parallels with the Māori worldview on the interconnectedness of whenua, wai and tāngata. This key aspect of te ao Māori is beautifully expressed in, for example, the whakataukī ‘Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au’ — ‘I am the river and the river is me’.
But how has colonisation and urbanisation influenced Māori approaches to waste? It’s unclear to what extent Māori — particularly urban Māori — feel they are able to put kaitiakitanga (guardianship) into action or see it as important in their daily lives. I imagine that many Māori would say they’re unable to practise kaitiakitanga because they no longer have possession of their lands and taonga.
The statement from the Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance on environmental justice and waste makes this point:
“APPA acknowledges that injustices against Māori, Pasifika, Black and Indigenous peoples, and People of Colour also extend into the areas of waste, pollution and ecological degradation. NZ has long treated indigenous and foreign lands as disposable, from the use of the Public Works Act to confiscate Māori land in order to construct landfills to the exports of our plastics and other waste to Southeast Asia.”
There are some fantastic grassroots initiatives, in highly urbanised Tāmaki Makaurau for instance, that are reconnecting Māori with kaitiakitanga. There’s the Para Kore ki Tāmaki (Zero Waste) programme, which works with marae and Māori organisations to educate and empower Māori to be kaitiaki (guardians) of Papatūānuku (Mother Earth) through a zero waste philosophy and waste diversion.
Non-WEIRDs as cavalier exploiters of the environment?
So there’s the view or assumption that indigenous belief systems are a positive force for environmental protection, including for diverting and minimising waste.
But there’s also another current of thinking that runs at least partly counter to it: the belief that ethnic groups other than ‘whites’ are less likely to be concerned for the environment because they tend to be poorer and less educated.
As Vincent Medina and others have explained, that view is based on the idea of the ‘environmental hierarchy of needs’ — this is an application of Abraham Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ as a theory of human motivation (this is often referred to as the ‘postmaterialist’ thesis, or the ‘full stomach’ phenomenon). The ‘hierarchy of needs’ says that individuals can’t begin to put their time and resources into problems of the world unless their basic material and physiological needs are met first.
Arguably, the common views among many New Zealanders about Asian immigrants and their environmental values appear to fit with the postmaterialist thesis. Immigrants from Asia have received media attention for what’s seen as their poor environmental values and behaviour, particularly the exploitation of marine life.
That may be a popular view, but in fact New Zealand research on immigrants’ environmental values and worldviews found no significant difference compared with those of the New Zealand-born population. So while Asian migrants may come from countries that have highly consumerist cultures and prioritise economic development over environmental sustainability, this research doesn’t support the view that Asian immigrants in Aotearoa have cavalier attitudes to the natural environment.
So how much do we know?
My reading of the research is that in fact we don’t know how far and in what way non-WEIRD groups are different from WEIRD groups — different researchers seem to have drawn different conclusions. We also don’t know how far non-WEIRD groups can be thought of as a homogenous unit and how much their experiences, environments and practices vary.
It seems though that so far studies and policy decisions have underestimated the power of context — particularly group norms, differences within groups, cultural orientation, and economic factors.
Researchers have been critical of the focus on the indigenous-settler binary. They’ve argued that new research needs to look at intercultural differences and the influence of migration and acculturation.
Lesley Head and two other Australian geography experts comment:
“[R]esearch on environmental values of migrants is scarcely developed … and migrants’ perspectives have been virtually ignored in climate change research….”
Subtle Asian Traits
I belong to a Facebook group called ‘Subtle Asian Traits’, all about the struggles and joys of being a first-generation immigrant. Set up in 2018 by Asian-Australian high-school students, the group now has 1.8 million members.
The Subtle Asian Traits group features countless stories of mirth and frustration as parents and relatives hoard all manner of plastic containers, snap-lock bags, and potentially useful cardboard boxes. They seem to be completely unable to throw anything out.
Exasperation from one member of the ‘Subtle Asian traits’ Facebook group
Another thread from the group begins:
“Just me, or do other children of immigrants feel guilty every time they use a Ziploc bag?”
This poster also added that ‘Of course our frugality is in constant tension with our germ phobia.’
Another member opens up their parents’ dishwasher
Migrants as accidental environmentalists?
So, circling back to my vignette and my question at the beginning, is there a resource-conscientiousness thing going on here among migrants?
Lesley Head and her colleagues argue that the pro-environmental actions of migrants are often inadvertent — they may not want to be ‘green’, but the outcomes surely are. Because of this, they comment that (Western) frameworks of what it means to be ‘pro-environment’ may need to be re-written.
They note some other examples of migrant practices that have positive environmental effects, including:
· Sri Lankan migrants refusing to buy a clothes dryer and doing line-drying in summer and in winter
· An elderly Vietnamese woman washing herself with a bucket of water, and washing dishes by hand ‘the Vietnamese way’
· Chinese migrants bringing pre-migration transport habits and preferences with them, and moving close to public transport routes
· Bucket bathing by Burmese migrants
· Some migrant groups continuing with less resource-intensive practices even when their incomes have increased.
So what’s needed?
Cultural context and migration have rarely been investigated in relation to waste, but clearly environmental campaigns and incentives need to take account of different values and norms in our population. They need to consider the environmental values, knowledge and behaviour of all types of New Zealanders, and specifically in relation to waste minimisation and diversion.
Migration, and length of time in New Zealand, appear to make a difference, and their influence is complex, nonlinear and variable. These factors may disrupt existing environmental values, knowledge and behaviour, or make migrants dig in their existing environmental heels.
Migrants in particular bring diverse ancestries, ethnicities, life histories, worldviews and behaviours, and the accepted findings from WEIRD-based research may well not apply. Migrants challenge traditionally Western conceptualisations of pro-environmentalism and how best to measure environmental behaviour.
Migrants’ behaviour as accidental environmentalists should be rewarded and leveraged. Designers of behaviour change campaigns need to ask how migrants as accidental environmentalists can be used to achieve change — including how they can be used as champions in their communities.
Gaining a more nuanced understanding of national environmental behaviour can also be valuable through dispelling common myths and misconceptions. For example, the New Zealand research I noted that found that migrants hold similar environmental worldviews to the New Zealand-born — a useful factoid to employ against environmental racism. | https://medium.com/from-the-exosphere/migrants-as-accidental-environmentalists-da2f3d6b0bb4 | [] | 2021-04-21 00:04:41.403000+00:00 | ['Recycling', 'Reuse', 'Environment', 'Waste', 'Migrants'] |
Why Psychopaths Outperform Us | Why Psychopaths Outperform Us
Lessons from Wisdom of Psychopaths by Kevin Dutton
Too much psychopathy can lock you up behind bars, but a little bit can do wonders.
Author Kevin Dutton actually argues that “regulated psychopathy can have a positive impact on well-being and quality of life” — a life filled with accomplishments and fulfillment.
What Makes a Person a Psychopath?
Contrary to common beliefs, psychopathy lies on a spectrum, ranging from low to high levels of displayed traits. It’s not so much of a black-or-white matter.
In fact, we may all be a little psychopathic.
Psychopathy is commonly described as a personality disorder with a boosted sense of egotism and narcissism. Other traits include “superficial charm, manipulation, fabrication of intricate stories, impulsivity, and emotional poverty.”
On a positive note, psychopaths are goal-oriented, driven, charming, and unbothered by emotional hangovers.
These traits are beneficial to have in many professions, which is probably why psychopaths are more prevalent among business leaders, lawyers, and surgeons compared to those who are criminals.
Psychopaths Are Productivity Experts
Without the burden of emotions, psychopaths are able to strive towards their goal in the most efficient and effective way.
They have an “emotional tunnel vision” that facilitates the discarding of irrelevant and unbeneficial information and instead focusing on the tasks that lead to success.
People with low levels of psychopathy often get caught up in the what ifs. We procrastinate tasks that we don’t want to do. We feel emotionally damaged after traumatic events.
These thoughts cause us to step on the brakes.
In a society where productivity is rewarded, these “normal people” tendencies don’t help; they actually hinder us from achieving our goals, deeming us useless for being sensitive. We are treated as damaged goods.
Spiritually Psychopathic
Further analyzing how psychopaths view the tasks at hand, we can find some overlapping traits between psychopathy and spirituality.
Such traits are: stoicism, mindfulness, fearlessness, mental toughness, creativity, and energy.
Psychopaths are similar to monks, focused on chasing gratification. They see the goal ahead of them and run towards it.
They don’t step on the brake to dwell on all the distractions in life — they have the ruthlessness to focus on the outcomes that fulfill them. | https://medium.com/indian-thoughts/why-psychopaths-outperform-us-24993120d9a8 | ['Project Hbe'] | 2020-11-03 22:27:44.616000+00:00 | ['Productivity', 'Psychology', 'Spirituality', 'Culture', 'Business'] |
BERT Text Classification Using Pytorch | Getting Started
Huggingface is the most well-known library for implementing state-of-the-art transformers in Python. It offers clear documentation and tutorials on implementing dozens of different transformers for a wide variety of different tasks. We will be using Pytorch so make sure Pytorch is installed. After ensuring relevant libraries are installed, you can install the transformers library by:
pip install transformers
For the dataset, we will be using the REAL and FAKE News Dataset from Kaggle.
Step 1: Importing Libraries
The most important library to note here is that we imported BERTokenizer and BERTSequenceClassification to construct the tokenizer and model later on.
Step 2: Preprocess and Prepare Dataset
In the original dataset, we added an additional TitleText column which is the concatenation of title and text. We want to test whether an article is fake using both the title and the text.
For the tokenizer, we use the “bert-base-uncased” version of BertTokenizer. Using TorchText, we first create the Text Field and the Label Field. The Text Field will be used for containing the news articles and the Label is the true target. We limit each article to the first 128 tokens for BERT input. Then, we create a TabularDataset from our dataset csv files using the two Fields to produce the train, validation, and test sets. Then we create Iterators to prepare them in batches.
Note: In order to use BERT tokenizer with TorchText, we have to set use_vocab=False and tokenize=tokenizer.encode . This will let TorchText know that we will not be building our own vocabulary using our dataset from scratch, but instead, use the pre-trained BERT tokenizer and its corresponding word-to-index mapping.
Step 3: Build Model
We are using the “bert-base-uncased” version of BERT, which is the smaller model trained on lower-cased English text (with 12-layer, 768-hidden, 12-heads, 110M parameters). Check out Huggingface’s documentation for other versions of BERT or other transformer models.
Step 4: Training
We write save and load functions for model checkpoints and training metrics, respectively. Note that the save function for model checkpoint does not save the optimizer. We do not save the optimizer because the optimizer normally takes very large storage space and we assume no training from a previous checkpoint is needed. The training metric stores the training loss, validation loss, and global steps so that visualizations regarding the training process can be made later.
We use Adam optimizer and a suitable learning rate to tune BERT for 5 epochs.
We use BinaryCrossEntropy as the loss function since fake news detection is a two-class problem. Make sure the output is passed through Sigmoid before calculating the loss between the target and itself.
During training, we evaluate our model parameters against the validation set. We save the model each time the validation loss decreases so that we end up with the model with the lowest validation loss, which can be considered as the best model. Here are the outputs during training:
Image by author
After training, we can plot a diagram using the code below:
Image by author
Step 5: Evaluation
For evaluation, we predict the articles using our trained model and evaluate it against the true label. We print out classification report which includes test accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score. We also print out the confusion matrix to see how much data our model predicts correctly and incorrectly for each class.
Image by author
After evaluating our model, we find that our model achieves an impressive accuracy of 96.99%!
Conclusion
We find that fine-tuning BERT performs extremely well on our dataset and is really simple to implement thanks to the open-source Huggingface Transformers library. This can be extended to any text classification dataset without any hassle.
Here are other articles I wrote, if interested 😊: | https://towardsdatascience.com/bert-text-classification-using-pytorch-723dfb8b6b5b | ['Raymond Cheng'] | 2020-07-22 10:51:01.068000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Deep Learning', 'Technology', 'Data Science'] |
Don’t Change Yourself. Improve Yourself. | Are you the same person at work and at home? — Are you the same person when you’re with your friends and with your spouse? — Do you feel like you’re forced to behave differently in some situations?
Often, the answer is no to the first two questions, and yes to the last one. The reason is that we somehow feel we have to be different people in different situations. But that’s a lie.
Action: Be true to yourself, improve your strengths. Don’t try to be somebody else. The more clearly you recognise who you do not want to be, then, the clearer your sense of identity and purpose will be. | https://medium.com/the-blessed-hub/dont-change-yourself-improve-yourself-432122f9d9b | ['The Blessed Hub'] | 2016-11-17 14:52:56.080000+00:00 | ['Personal Growth', 'Tips', 'Growth', 'Identity', 'Islam'] |
Use a Different Volume For Your Docker Images in Ubuntu | Use a Different Volume For Your Docker Images in Ubuntu
Increase your machine’s docker image capacity
Just as a warning, I take no responsibility for any damage or issues on your machine that you believe to have been caused by following the steps of this guide!
Here’s a quick guide I’ve written to expand your current docker image capacity on your machine, assuming you have another disk/volume you want to move your docker images too — or if you just quite like the idea of having them stored separately from your main volume.
My laptop has a very small SDD, which I was constantly hitting the limits of while doing docker based development— so I decided to move my docker installation to my much larger HDD.
I wrote this guide since I thought it might be useful for others. I’ve written it assuming an Ubuntu operating system, but it may be applicable to others, I just haven’t tried it anywhere else.
Sudo Up
You’ll be making some changes to some of the more hairier and riskier parts of your file system, so you’ll need to elevate your permissions:
sudo su
Note: The remainder of this guide will assume you have elevated your privileges.
Finding Your Device
Assuming you have an existing drive or a brand new drive you’ve just plugged into your machine, you can find your drive and the name of the device using Ubuntu’s Disks utility.
The drive I’ll be using for my docker installation is the 1.0TB Hard Disk and the partition is the already recently reformatted /dev/sda2 device. Note down whatever your device is called, you’ll need it for the next steps.
Note: Your Docker installation may not work out of the box with an NTFS filesystem and require further configuration (and trial and error). If your new drive is currently formatted under NTFS, I’d recommend that you reformat the device (if possible) to use a Linux filesystem such as ext4 .
The Steps
Assuming /dev/sda2 is your new disk — the following steps will stop your docker daemon, move your current docker directory, mount your new file system and then reinstate your docker installation on the new file system.
systemctl stop docker mv /var/lib/docker /var/lib/docker-backup mount /dev/sda2 /var/lib/docker cp -rf /var/lib/docker-backup/* /var/lib/docker systemctl start docker
Test out your newly expanded capacity by pulling a new docker image and running it — here’s a postgres image as an example:
docker pull postgres && docker run --name some-postgres -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword -d postgres
If all goes well, the image will pull and run:
Using default tag: latest
latest: Pulling from library/postgres
27833a3ba0a5: Pull complete
ed00742830a6: Pull complete
dc611c2aceba: Pull complete
a61becab5279: Pull complete
8dcff41e7aea: Pull complete
820bf1bbf0d7: Pull complete
050804429905: Pull complete
782c81275334: Pull complete
bfb4aaa36ad6: Pull complete
9101c497b579: Pull complete
746ef6cad24f: Pull complete
f3d6bb76fd3b: Pull complete
32cf0a104c6f: Pull complete
de900772b4f7: Pull complete
Digest: sha256:ed0bee606e90ed40cf5ffcfafc3d27c53d7132b7950324598ac06cba75f3e4cb
Status: Downloaded newer image for postgres:latest
33a14d04702b01ba3a7470a633d8eda71352602eba617afc8fa60e6307ebc7bf
Try a few other things with your docker installation to confirm you’re happy with it.
Mount On Startup
Assuming everything is now fine, you’ll want to ensure your disk gets mounted on the /var/lib/docker directory permanently on start-up:
nano /etc/fstab
Add the following line at the end of the file, again assuming /dev/sda2 is your device and also assuming is formatted as an ext4 filesystem.
/dev/sda2 /var/lib/docker ext4 defaults 0 1
Note: If you’re unsure of the formatting of your filesystem you can confirm it on the Ubuntu Disks utility.
Rollback
If something goes wrong or for whatever reason, you want to return to your previous setup — you should be able to rollback in the following way:
systemctl stop docker umount /dev/sda2 mv /var/lib/docker-backup /var/lib/docker # Remove the additional line added to /etc/fstab (if applicable) systemctl start docker
Cleanup
If you’re happy with the increased capacity in your docker installation and all has gone to plan, you can now remove your backup:
rm -rf /var/lib/docker-backup
That’s It!
Thanks for reading, I hope you found it useful! | https://medium.com/clusterfk/use-a-different-volume-for-your-docker-images-in-ubuntu-4c0315be6d66 | ['Andy Macdonald'] | 2019-05-04 21:17:42.044000+00:00 | ['DevOps', 'Software Dev', 'Ubuntu', 'Docker', 'Technology'] |
‘International Day of Yoga’ Will Not Solve Climate Change. Here’s Why | https://thewire.in/environment/international-day-of-yoga-will-not-solve-climate-change-heres-why
Yoga signifies a distinctly middle-class aspiration and performance of an urban lifestyle. Photo: Francois D/Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
The challenges of tackling climate change still remain mostly in the realm of politics and economic interests, rather than soft choices over culture and what to wear to a Yoga Day event.
Yoga signifies a distinctly middle-class aspiration and performance of an urban lifestyle.
ENVIRONMENT
The International Day of Yoga (IDY) is now in its fifth consecutive year. The theme for 2019, aptly enough, is climate action. The claim, this time around, is that a yogic lifestyle can help prevent climate change by healing humanity’s relationship with the earth.
In the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a “yogic lifestyle” is not only a powerful instrument to tackle climate change through “changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness”, but also a path to wellness that will somehow make us better individuals in “thought, action, knowledge and devotion”.
However, India has a branding problem. Even though it is the home of yoga, it faces huge challengeswhen it comes to handling pollution.
The AYUSH Ministry, which oversees the standardisation of yoga on behalf of the government, adds further flourish by asserting that yoga is a practical discipline that develops one’s inherent power to achieve a balanced life that can be freed of stress, pain and disease. (Really? One could ask.) Is climate action simply in need of a personality transformation that can be brought about by a mix of standardised postures, breathing, chants and meditative moments? While undoubtedly, there is a case to be made for some benefits, the hard challenges of attenuating climate change still remain mostly in the realm of politics and economic interests, rather than soft choices over culture and what yoga pants to wear to an IDY event.
This is where the soft power approach of India appears. AYUSH’s Common Yoga Protocolpurportedly represents the paragon of moral-political economies that can achieve the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) codified in Agenda 2030. This forms the rubric for assessing and motivating sustainable development across the economy, society and environment. While such social media campaigns exist, like #Tourism4SDGs and Sadhguru’s #Yoga4SDGs, their appearance hides the fact that many vulnerable groups are excluded and disadvantaged.
Also read: Ramdev’s Patanjali Stumbles After Riding High
Even in the domain of culture, the narrative used to create the demand for a yogic lifestyle is unsurprising. For one, yoga signifies a distinctly middle-class aspiration and performance of an “urban lifestyle.” Even though yogic lifestyles are packaged as paths to emancipation, their consumption only reinforces class disparities instead of offering an alternative.
Regardless of the increase in yoga activism, much of it is another opportunity to signal virtue. Whether the urban yogi is found in New York, London, Tokyo, Bangkok or Hanoi, the inherent spiritual narcissism does not necessarily mean the next ‘yogation‘ (yoga vacation) will include volunteering to save forests or resist the construction of large dams or #OccupySomething. A cursory glance at any number of yoga studio websites shows how they are often presented as urban oases that intensely focus on the consumer-self. This mature-saturation point of the global yoga industry demonstrates the intense competition for relevance. The unregulated spiritual marketplace enables yoga hybrids to avail themselves of a seemingly endless array of options.
While the self-proclaimed protectors of the supposedly “one, true yoga” denounce the heresy of such things as beer yoga, weed yoga, penguin yoga, SUP yoga, acro-yoga, death metal yoga, and so on, such appeals to purity and tradition are themselves founded on ahistorical narratives that essentialise and Orientalise yoga’s complex and dynamic history to a static monolith. This is a type of cultural appropriation which is as problematic as any of the hybrids listed above.
Yoga is an integral component of the wellness ideology of “self-care” which proposes that the world will be healed through the self-absorption and self-centredness of the atomised, individualised, docile consumer. However, the alienated and disaffected individual grappling with fast-paced urban living is more often than not investing in neoliberal goals of endless consumption, as opposed to any attempt at overthrowing the structural conditions that separate communities or unify them. This is, of course, regardless of any marketing ideal that promotes yoga as a catalyst for connection.
Yoga is a boundary. It does more to separate members of the in-group from the out-group than is recognised. “Self-care” also implies one is incomplete. Which in turn requires consumption of yoga to fix this and more perceived problems. This perpetual state of self-improvement and self-transformation is a central part of neoliberal ideology. It is also used to fuel economies through consumption of a yogic lifestyle that is promoted as a veritable cure-all, and which has the added benefit of being sustainable and ethical.
Representative image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi doing yoga. Photo: PTI
The urban yogini walking confidently down the street with their yoga mat and take-away coffee (in a re-useable cup) has become emblematic of the cosmopolitan ideal. This includes the preference for expensive organic, sustainable, ethical clothing and other products. A yogic lifestyle is presented as inherently sustainable and ecologically friendly. From this, an individual’s consumption and performance of “yogic ways of life” becomes part of a moral index. Every action is measured against the ethical performance of others through the reciprocal obligation of surveilling oneself and others while perceiving health as a duty, as opposed to a right.
In other words, the neoliberal sense of the self, who is marked by consumption, choice and freedoms, draws from the well of the market.
New metaphorical wells are now being dug in the fastest-growing sector of the global tourism industry — one which relates to ‘inner wellness’ tourism. Most of this growth is happening in Asia. This is because many government tourism agencies actively push neo-Orientalist narratives that play on the idea that Asia is the magical and mystical land of sages and yogis. This reinforces the stereotypes held dear by foreign as well as domestic tourists.
“Transformational tourism” is considered by industry experts as an attempt to step beyond authentic travel by suggesting a deeper emotional level of connection with oneself, others and the world is possible. What better way to achieve this than through some form of ‘yogation’?
Also read: The ‘Do What You Love’ Mantra and Co-Option of a Laborious Work Culture
Categorised as niche tourism, this sector is amongst the fastest growing. Currently valued at $680 billion, it is expected to grow to $808 billion by 2020. It has a 15 percent share of the total tourism industry’s revenue and grows at more than twice as fast as the overall tourism industry with a compound annual growth rate of eight percent. However, even though international tourism accounts for roughly 10 percent of the world’s GDP, it also amounts for about eight percent of the global carbon supply.
If we travel, for whatever reason, we pollute. Even if it is to eat, pray, live, the capital of yoga Rishikesh has plumbing issues. No amount of yoga will help with this. As the annual number of people choosing to travel for inner wellness tourism and yoga-related transformational tourism rises, the necessity for living restrained, sustainable lives and reducing personal carbon footprints continues.
Perhaps, being able to reduce one’s footprint while traveling is one siddhi (yogic power) that really ought to be cultivated? Or, will yoga transform people’s ethical choices to travel locally instead of to the mystical, magical, sacred Yogaland that so many producers of yogations offer, inconveniently, on the othered side of the earth?
Patrick McCartney
Patrick McCartney, PhD, is a JSPS Post-Doctoral fellow at the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies at Kyoto University in Japan. Patrick explores the communication strategies involved in the politics of imagination, the sociology of spirituality, the anthropology of religion, and the economics of desire in relation to the imaginative consumption of global yoga. His current project focuses on the Japanese yoga industry in relation to global wellness tourism and can be followed at yogascapesinjapan.com.
© 2019 Patrick McCartney
Yogascapes in Japan by Patrick McCartney is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. | https://psdmccartney.medium.com/international-day-of-yoga-will-not-solve-climate-change-here-s-why-bceb49568ed3 | ['Patrick Mccartney'] | 2019-06-22 23:35:56.466000+00:00 | ['Climate Change', 'International Day Of Yoga', 'Yoga', 'Sustainability', 'Tourism'] |
Thought i had a good relationship with the broker. | Thought i had a good relationship with the broker. It started out with an “Oscar Ford” telling me that my initial investment of $2,500 will be matched by him. Less than one week later after he had manipulated the figures in my account to look like i’m winning he said that if i put in $10,000 i will get a contract to the effect of being 30% insured, and because he never looses and invests in small amounts my $10,000 will be safe. Plus i could withdraw that money at any time I choose with no issues. A few days later after he had my account reflecting a further $20,000 in winnings, I was encouraged to put another $10,000 towards another investment. This time my money is 100% insured, he said, and again i could withdraw at any time. My account got to around $47,000 in about 2 weeks and i needed to withdraw as we had agreed that I needed the $20,000 at a particular date and that I will be leaving the $27,000 to continue trading. At this time i stopped hearing from him because he had tried to convince me that making a withdrawal takes away the benefit of insurance etc. I insisted because i needed the money. My account went up again a little over $54,000. I started to contact support in order to make my withdrawal. After a while they became very rude, the person i was trying to plead with to give Oscar my message told me that i was giving him attitude. then as i continued to call their number, Mr Oscar Ford called me back to say he just came out of a 9 hrs meeting and was fired because he had lost a client’s $3,000,000. It was a totally made up story and I knew it. Before the conversation, my account was over $54,000. By the end of the conversation when i checked again it was suddenly down to $1.00.
This is a well laid out scam by the company, when you ask to withdraw they will make you fill out forms confirming that you give them the money hence there is no argument there. According to them this was what was needed to make the withdrawal. But even after filling out several forms I was completely ignored and finally banned from their company website.
It seems all everyone does is lie these days. I got scammed by them and their fake agents I also went and lost funds to 53options in the process but that’s a different story because i got to withdraw twice on their platform. I was so gullible but I was willing to get back what I had lost,Recoveryexpertszero@gmail made sure I got a full refund from both companies. I really do not know how they do it, but I am satisfied with the outcome and I’m definitely never doing any of these again.
Note: the “zero” behind the recovery experts is the figure not the word but medium makes it look like o. | https://medium.com/@taylorlaurel90/thought-i-had-a-good-relationship-with-the-broker-21166ed0024e | [] | 2020-01-15 17:44:55.964000+00:00 | ['Binance', 'Bitcoin', 'Bitcoin Mining', 'Binary Options'] |
The potential of phytomining in Sulawesi | Sixteen years ago, Aiyen Tjoa, an Indonesian soil-biologist, explored a small mining town located on the heart of Sulawesi. Sorowako, as it is called, once had been home to the immense diversity of plants, most of them were found nowhere else. But then (and now), it has been one of the largest nickel mining areas in the world. When Tjoa got there, most of the areas in the town were already deserted for mining, but some were still bushes or even newly-grown forests. At that time, Tjoa felt she still had a chance to find something that was disappearing so fast in there; super plants that could take up a nickel from the soil.
Nickel-eating plants, also known as nickel hyper-accumulator, is a very rare group of plants that is able to accumulate at least 1000 microgram of nickel in one gram of their dried leaf.
In the naked eye, they may look like ordinary ones. But their adaptation on heavy metal exposure makes them superior. All plants take up large amounts of common minerals like nitrogen (N), phosphor (P), and magnesium (Mg) to grow, reproduce, and finally survive. But they also need to suck up a tiny amount of heavy metals to activate some important enzymes inside their body. As for nickel, “it is needed to activate the enzyme which is crucial in plant’s flowering process,” says Tjoa. But a little more of nickel could retard ordinary plants or even kill them. Nickel-eating plants have evolved superior ability to detoxify this excess by “binding the metals in their cell walls or even store it in vacuole [food storage organelle inside the cell],” she says.
The metallic-green sap of Pyllanthus balgooyi.Image credit: Anthony van der Ent
Some nickel-eating species like Alyssum murale could take up nickel up to 30,000 microgram and some like Phyllantus balgoyii bleed blue-green sap when the bark is tapped. So far, around 450 species of nickel-eating plants have been documented world-wide. Most of them grow in countries with less plant diversity and lower nickel deposits such as Cuba (130), Southern Europe (45), New Caledonia (65), and Malaysia (24). Curiously, only very few of them are from Indonesia, one of the most biodiverse regions and the largest nickel deposit in the world, and “none of these are as super as Alyssum murale,” says Tjoa.
After securing a permit from PT. Inco (now PT Vale Indonesia), a mining company that holds the concessions in Sorowako, Tjoa quickly packed up her gears to scan the town. It took her four years of self-funded explorations (2004–2008) before she finally spotted two species of nickel-eating plants; Sarcotheca celebica and Knema matanensis. By analyzing its nickel concentration in the lab, Tjoa found that both native plants could store 1000–5000 microgram nickel in one gram of its dried leaf. But those were not the ones she was looking for. Compared with other nickel-eating plants documented worldwide, this power is considered weak. “We’re looking for plants that could accumulate at least 10000 micrograms,” says Tjoa, who is also a lecturer at Tadulako University in Central Sulawesi.
Rainforests in Halmahera. Image credit: Anthony van der Ent
At the beginning of the millennium, scientists like Tjoa are looking into the potential use of nickel-eating plants to mine the metal (phytomining) and to recover soil condition of ex-mining site (phytoremediation). A number of research have shown these strategies could be a win-win solution for both the mining industry and the environment. Planting nickel hyper-accumulator in a mined soil could improve soil fertility, promote the return of natural vegetation, while at the same time making cash by harvesting the nickel in the plants. In the future, this technology could empower rural communities in nickel-rich areas who could cultivate the plants by themselves. Indonesia, as a country with the richest plant diversity and largest nickel deposits in the world, is said to be the most potential to adopt the technology. But scientists are struggling to get support for research and exploration.
Nickel-eating plants store the metal either in leaves, roots, or even the sap in their stems. But the highest nickel concentration hides in their shoots. Scientists say pruning, or trimming the shoots, is the most effective way to extract nickel from the plants. This biomass will then be burned and by further process separating the nickel from the ash. Anthony Van der Ent, a plant ecophysiologist from the University of Queensland, calculated that a Phyllantus species can produce an estimated 120 kilogram of nickel per hectare every year. This process is also environmentally-friendly. Even though the burning of plants' biomass releases biomass, the continuous cultivation of nickel-eating plants can be considered carbon neutral. “All carbons released from the burning will be “captured” again by the newly living crop in a few months,” he says.
This potential is even bigger because nickel-eating plants could also recover the strip-mined areas. Tjoa says most mining companies in Indonesia are ignoring revegetation requirements but some mining companies have tried to rehabilitate the mined soil by planting normal plants. A study supported by PT. Vale Indonesia reported that the company has successfully improved the soil health in their ex-mining areas by planting “pioneer plants” . “The twelve-year revegetation process has brought positive impacts on both physical and chemical parameters of soil, which are increased significantly,” the study says. “But most of these plants are a common weed that is highly undesirable for rehabilitation,” says Van der Ent.
Nickel-eating plants could do better, he says. It would improve soil health because it cleans up the toxic nickel and finally bring back the nutrient status and organic matter. “Eventually, normal crop plants can be cultivated on these soils after phytomining has finished,” he says. It could also give an economical benefit for the mining company because the nickel residue that have been accumulated in their shoots could be harvested. Currently, only soil which consists at least 1% of nickel could be mined by traditional mining technology. “But a hyper-accumulator can achieve high levels of nickel accumulation in a soil that consists of just 0.1%,” he says.
Other potential benefit is the socio-economic impact. In Sabah, Malaysia, Van der Ent has been conducting phytomining field trials since 2014. “We found out that phytomining really works,” he says. This could also be applied in outside mining areas like their “metal farm” in Mount Kinabalu. But Van der Ent underlines that the technology is not aimed to replace the current mining technology but instead it should be done in parallel in mining strategy. Most importantly, unlike traditional mining which often clashes with indigenous, “we envisage that it will be implemented by smallholders in rural communities living on nickel-rich areas as an alternative form of agriculture,” says Van der Ent.
Indonesia is known as the largest nickel producer in the world with around 80 million tons of nickel exported last year. But the country’s mining industry is also rife with social and environmental problems. A tip of the iceberg is a clash between a mining company and indigenous people in Wawonii, a small island in Southeast Sulawesi. Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM) reported that the conflict, which started in July 2019, stemmed from land grabbing done by the company which finally halted its operation in the island. A WWF-report in 2016 also shows the increasing mining activities had caused a high level of sedimentation in Sulawesi waters which threatened the coral reef in Sulawesi waters.
Tjoa says a phytomining strategy could alleviate these problems and put environmental value in the industry. “But no one seems to put attention on this potential,” says Tjoa. She says she tried to communicate with PT. Aneka Tambang (ANTAM) in 2009, Indonesia’s state-owned mining company, but the response was very slow and uncertain. PT. Inco once supported her research on phytomining when she did a field trial on the adaptation of Alyssum murale in Sorowako. But the collaboration was terminated partly because the company was transforming to PT. Vale Indonesia. “Unfortunately, no collaboration since then,” she says.
Van der Ent, says this situation is such an irony. No other country has a greater potential for phytomining than Indonesia,” he says. Given the extraordinary plant diversity and geological history, he is convinced that the country has a huge potential for the discovery of nickel hyperaccumulator. Sulawesi and Halmahera, the neighboring island, is the place where the largest ultramafic bedrocks in the world (23,400 hectares) can be found. Soils that originate from this bedrock have a very high concentration of nickel and at the same time supporting a high level of plant endemism. “That brings the minerals industry capitalizing on nickel resources in direct conflict with biodiversity,” says Van der Ent.
No other country has a greater potential for phytomining than Indonesia. Image credit: Anthony van der Ent.
Lack of research funding from the Indonesian government is also one of the problems. Since Tjoa’s exploration in Sorowako, her research proposals to explore indigenous nickel hyper-accumulator in Indonesia has always been rejected. “One reviewer even said that my work is not important,” she says. This situation is especially dire because, as the businessmen are busy clear land for mining and governments are busy ignoring phytomining research, some potential plants vanished before they are found. A study shows that Sulawesi has lost nearly 20% of its forest cover in 1990–2014 period. “We have lost such a big chance to find these plants,” says Tjoa.
This fact bothered Satria Bijaksana, a professor of rock magnetism from Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), who met Tjoa at a conference in Sabah back in 2013. Before meeting Tjoa at a conference, Bijaksana says he was looking for relevant research in Sulawesi’s geo-ecology and fascinated by phytomining studies conducted by Tjoa and Van der Ent. Given the dire situation to find nickel-eating plants in Indonesia, he wondered if his expertise in magnetism could help to make a faster screening process. Mujahid Hamdan, his Ph.D. student who was born and raised in the island, quickly joined the research which was funded by ITB, Japan’s Asahi Glass Foundation, and Indonesia’s Ministry of Research and Technology.
“Basically no plant is magnetic,” says Bijaksana. But its magnetism can be tested once the dried leaves have been burned and become ashes, he says. A number of research have shown that nickel-uptake in hyper-accumulator plants happens at the same time with the uptake of iron (Fe), — a highly magnetic metal. Together with Tjoa and Hamdan, he designed an experiment to see if the magnetic susceptibility increases when the plants accumulate more nickel. By testing the ashes from two species of well-known hyper-accumulators (Alyssum murale and Alyssum corsicum) and ten indigenous plants in Sulawesi and Halmahera, they found a positive result. “Magnetic susceptibility analysis can be used to differentiating nickel hyper-accumulator with normal plants,” says Hamdan.
So far, scientists like Van der Ent and Aiyen use a special paper to test nickel presence in a tree. “The paper instantly turns pink when leaves are pressed against it. It’s foolproof, easy to do and fast,” says Van der Ent. To analyze its nickel concentration, scientists bring the plants to the lab and put them under X-ray Fluorescence, a device frequently used by mining companies to detect metals. “But we think using magnetism could fasten the process because it only detects a high concentration of nickel,” says Bijaksana. Their study, which was published by The Journal of Geochemical Exploration” in May 2020, even identified two new species of nickel loving plants from Sulawesi: Casearia halmaherensis and Piper. sp. Both could accumulate 2600–2900 micrograms in one gram of its dried leaf. Bijaksana admits that his research is still preliminary but he hopes it could convince research funders of the potential of phytomining technology in Indonesia.
Tjoa says there is still a chance to find nickel-eating plants in Indonesia. In Central Sulawesi, a pristine rainforest sits on nickel-rich soils that make up the mountainous region in Morowali natural reserve. This greyish soil, called serpentinite, is thought to be the perfect place for nickel-eating plants to grow. Unlike Sorowako, which has been mined a lot and therefore has a lack of available nickel ions to be taken by plants, the serpentine soil in Morowali is rife with free nickels for plants. “Our survey in Halmahera has shown that nickel hyper-accumulators are common in this category of soil, but people haven’t looked for it in Sulawesi yet,” says van der Ent.“It all comes down on concerted efforts to find them,” says Van der Ent.
In the meantime, “an overseas mining company has expressed interests to apply this novel method,” says Tjoa. In 2017, she was contacted by a US-based investor who would like to fund her 5,000 hectares of phytomining trial in Sulawesi. For this project, she says, she would like to use Alyssum murale, the power nickel-eating plant from Italy in the trial. It might be weird to use foreign species in our place, “But maybe we have to use it first to convince the Indonesian government that phytomining works,” she says. As to deal with additional funding and administrative requirements, Tjoa says he has found a local company to support her project.
Even so, she still hopes the Indonesian government to fully support the whole green technology; funding the research, developing trials, investing in the business, and making a regulation to require every mining company to reserve a portion of rainforests in their concession area. When it is done, phytomining will give a huge contribution to carbon sequestration, create less mining waste, and lead to a better social-economic impact on the mining industry. “That is extraordinary,” says Tjoa.
*The edited version was published in BBC Future Planet | https://medium.com/@dynarochmyaningsih/the-potential-of-phytomining-in-sulawesi-14313d95412e | ['Dyna Rochmyaningsih'] | 2020-12-21 14:48:00.659000+00:00 | ['Science', 'Indonesia', 'Sulawesi', 'Biodiversity'] |
Life Before & After Christ | Recently I attended a unique preaching where the priest when to say that we have life “before Christ” and “after Christ”. That we are “born again” through Christ and our belief in Him. When I heard the words “born again” I heavily rolled by eyes as I thought he was referring to a branch of Christianity that seems to be extremist in their values. However, I was utterly shocked and I admitted I was wrong because I failed to realize that this phrase is more than just a particular sect of Christianity.
To be “be born” again as per the preaching of the priest was that once we believe our lives are never the same. Once we acknowledge the unconditional love of God, Jesus’s message/teaching, and the Holy Spirit as our guide that our lives are saved from our spiritual birth. This sentiment brought me to tears as I realized that Christ, My Lord Jesus has saved me so many times.
He has given me a new life with Him when I accept and believe. To believe with child-like faith is what has driven me to be my best self always. There is life before Christ and a life after Christ and I am immersed in my belief in the Lord my Savior who saved me from my sin and who allows me to live by grace and good will. | https://medium.com/@annethanyamendis/life-before-after-christ-bd2a4b2bdcdc | ['Anne Mendis'] | 2020-12-20 13:46:47.823000+00:00 | ['Gods Presence', 'God', 'Faith', 'Advent', 'Catholic'] |
A greater risk than climate change? | A greater risk than climate change?
There are more immediate ecological issues to tackle.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been jogging around my hometown. With less people commuting to work, the streets are generally quieter in my beloved buzzing NYC-NJ suburb. Still, never in my life have I noticed more roadkill. I see mostly squirrels and deer.
Here’s my non-scientific theory based on the oh-so-unreliable anecdotal evidence:
These cute deciduous creatures are preparing for the Winter. They stock up on food, and in the process of gathering, they cross more roads than usual to conduct their instinctual leaf-falling business.
With concrete yellow lines standing where trees stood just a geological millisecond ago, animals willingly put themselves in regular danger.
The result? Me wincing on my run once a day with a renewed frustration for the human race. We need to build higher fences around forests that intersect major highways or SOMETHING.
Going beyond climate change
So, why am I talking about about my two-mile trying-to-stay-sane exercise? Climate change didn’t kill those squirrels and deer, the cause is something simpler and more tangible. And the solution is right in our face.
According to this 2016 study of over 8,000 threatened or near-threatened species, I was surprised to find out what monster-in-the-closet posed the greatest risk to Earth’s biodiversity. The first thing that came to mind, like it always does, was the Big Bertha. The world’s Goliath. Climate Change.
C limate change didn’t kill those squirrels and deer, the cause is something simpler and more tangible. And the solution is right in our face.
Based on an analysis of IUCN Red List data by Sean Maxwell of the University of Queensland, the impact of climate change on the world’s biodiversity doesn’t even come close to the impact of over-exploitation and agricultural activity.
The researchers noted that “the basic message emerging from these data is that whatever the threat category or species group, over-exploitation and agriculture have the greatest current impact on biodiversity (see ‘Big killers’). Of the species listed as threatened or near-threatened, 72% (6,241) are being over-exploited for commerce, recreation or subsistence.”
Placing immediate priorities first
This finding does not suddenly nullify global efforts aimed at mitigating anthropogenic climate change, nor does it deny the real impact of rising temperatures and frequent droughts on wildlife.
Rather, the research suggests there are more immediate threats testing the survival of the world’s flora and fauna.
To be clear, anthropogenic climate change is impacting 19% of the species used in this study.
However, we need to address tangible issues first when we talk about cutting carbon emissions at round tables in fancy suits.
Fishing and farming
Which activities hurt biodiversity most?
Over-exploitation and agriculture accounts for hunting and fishing, logging, pesticide-use, livestock farming and aquaculture.
It is important to note that many activities pertaining to over-exploitation and agriculture also increase carbon emissions, ultimately contributing to the overarching impact of climate change. So like most subjects of study, it’s complicated to point to one cause or factor.
Regardless, this study sheds light on the required immediacy of action for attainable goals like more sustainable agricultural standards, or more robust environmental protection laws for forestry services.
Combining climate change with conservation
Too often, I see contradictory efforts in the environmental space.
A forestry organization may want to clean-up deadwood to prevent harsher wildfires, but a conservation group will sue them for cutting down a sacred forest. A conservation group may want to support hunting an invasive species , but an animal rights group will publicly condemn them.
We need to approach the climate conversation in a way that works cooperatively with intersecting threats like wildfire risk mitigation or ecological restoration, not against them.
There is a lot of work to be done, we all know that. But if we can start tackling things that we can see, touch and feel, it will make a fickle future a lot easier to manage. | https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/a-greater-risk-than-climate-change-dd8ca0dd6b8b | ['Jared Wolf'] | 2020-09-24 19:23:18.521000+00:00 | ['Animals', 'Conservation', 'Nature', 'Sustainability', 'Climate Change'] |
What The Pros Know: Sales Is About Buying — Not Selling | Selling is about buying.
It doesn’t matter if you are selling shoes, cars, or multi-million dollar service contracts; we all like the experience of buying. No one wants to be sold.
If you’re in sales and try to pull your buyer towards you, chances are they’ll pull back. But, on the other hand, if you align yourself with your buyer or even slightly behind where they are in their decision-making process, you allow them to buy.
Imagine a pendulum on a clock, hanging vertically from 12 to 6. That is your buyer. If you position yourself at 8 and try to bring them towards you, you’re selling. If you want them to buy, position yourself at 4.
Here’s an example of each conversation.
The selling conversation: After your initial proposal, the buyer says, “All that sounds great. let me think about it, and I’ll get back to you.” The seller says, “Look, this is the best deal out there. We offer everything you told me you need, plus we have the highest ratings of all our competitors.” The seller is now trying to pull the buyer towards him. The buyer says, “I understand that, but I want to think it over and talk to some other suppliers.”
The buying conversation: After your initial proposal, the buyer says, “All that sounds great. let me think about it, and I’ll get back to you.” The seller says, “Hmm. It sounds like you might have some concerns. I’d like to hear what they are if you’re willing to tell me.”
The buyer agrees to discuss the concerns, and the conversation continues. The seller isn’t selling; the seller aligns with the buyer, helping them make the best possible buying decision.
Be a decision coach
If you’re selling something, think of yourself as a decision coach.
There are always two conversations occurring in a sales conversation: the one you hear and the one you don’t. Long after the conversation with your potential customer is over, there’s another conversation still happening — the one inside their head. That’s the one you are trying to influence because buyers make the final decision, whether that’s you or someone else.
You influence the internal conversation of your buyer by how you conduct yourself in the external conversation. For example, sales research says the biggest differentiator in making sales is the effectiveness of the salesperson.
Sales is a unique combination of art and science. You’ve got to know your stuff technically, and you have to have superb people skills. The art of sales is the ability to be articulate but not talk too much. You’ve got to be able to listen, but not just to what is said, but by paying attention to the customer’s body language, voice tone, and what isn’t said. What you notice is critical. What you don’t can be fatal.
Think of the skills a professional business coach uses: empathetic listening, artful probing, paraphrasing, skillful advocacy, clarifying, and confirming. These are all the skills of a decision coach.
A successful sales call is based on mutual agreement.
Some salespeople get hung up on understanding what success means in sales, particularly sales calls. They believe every sales call should have a goal, and if movement through the sales pipeline isn’t achieved, then the call is unsuccessful. However, a decision coach doesn’t worry about this. They know finding the best solutions to customer problems is the key to long-term success, even if that means they can’t be the provider of choice in every situation.
A successful sales call is one in which both parties agree on mutually beneficial next steps.
That’s it. When you believe this, you are free to work with your customer to co-create what makes the most sense for them and you. Your customer is your partner, not your adversary. The more you understand this, the greater your impact will be.
Consultative selling increases impact.
Image by author
The more consultative a salesperson is, the more impact they have. However, just having a clever personality, the best prices, or mastering your content isn’t enough. To be an effective decision coach, salespeople need to operate as a need satisfaction seller or more.
Research conducted by AchieveGlobal, a leading international sales training company, found that salesperson impact dramatically increased the more they focused on building business partnerships with customers through an intense customer focus. They distinguished the following salesperson behaviors and subsequent impact.
Professional visitor — wins on personality and shared interests
Price seller — highlights costs, deals, and quotes
Content seller — emphasizes product features and doesn’t recognize or link solutions to critical business issues
Need satisfaction seller — creates mutually beneficial relationships and uncovers critical needs
Resourceful expert — offers in-depth product and industry expertise to build solutions
Loyal champion — has deep insight into the customer's business and industry. Almost viewed as an employee
Trusted business advisor discovers and meets critical needs in distinctive ways by providing products and services and advice and assistance.
Where are you on the sales ladder, and where is your sales team?
Manage internal interferences
Performance = Potential — Interferences. Tim Gallwey, the author of the groundbreaking sports psychology book, The Inner Game of Tennis, says our potential equals our potential minus our interferences. Interferences can be external or internal.
An external interference might be a customer being late for an important meeting, creating pressure on the salesperson to manage the time effectively. An internal inference is a newer salesperson believing they haven’t earned the right to be an equal business partner with a customer older, more experienced, or holding a more significant title.
The external interferences are not in our control. The inner ones are. A skilled decision coach pays attention to and effectively manages their inner world.
When I was new to sales, this was a significant interference for me. I didn’t believe I was an equal when I’d walk into a meeting with a CEO. My mind was full of noise — “He’s a CEO — older and smarter than me. Who am I? Just a sales guy.” The extra noise chipped away at my confidence. When you’re worried about your performance, you can’t be fully present. You’ll miss all the subtle information; you need to have a highly successful conversation with your customer artfully.
The more a salesperson's confidence grows, the more successful they will become. People buy confidence — we’re naturally attracted to confident people. | https://entrepreneurshandbook.co/what-the-pros-know-sales-is-about-buying-not-selling-cf49c3a72111 | ['Don Johnson'] | 2021-05-07 11:53:56.309000+00:00 | ['Business', 'Communication Skills', 'Sales', 'Business Growth', 'Strawberry2021'] |
The Importance of Truly Global Content with Ucha Vekua | The Importance of Truly Global Content with Ucha Vekua
Photo by Soundtrap on Unsplash
Creating content for social media is getting more popular every day. Especially in a given situation that 2020 has brought to us, people usually work from home and try to create new things online. Therefore, creators need more online tools than ever to make their content exciting and more engaging.
Subly is a tool for content creators and businesses to subtitle their videos automatically, edit & style easily, saving them time and budget. This helps creators to concentrate on creating more and improving engagement with their audiences.
Recently, I had a very nice chat with the Head of Marketing, Growth and Partnerships at Subly — Natalie Williams. We talked about the product of Subly, team, core objectives, and the challenges they have faced so far. It was an exciting and insightful conversation, and I would like to share more with you!
Soo, let’s get started!!!
Here’s what we talked about: | https://medium.com/@getsubly/creating-content-is-easier-with-subly-a-guest-post-by-ucha-at-startup-adventures-557c72e208ee | [] | 2020-12-17 13:20:21.202000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Subtitles', 'Writing Tips', 'Content Marketing', 'SaaS'] |
Solstice Haiku | Concerned citizen. Critical thinker. Veteran. Consumer of knowledge. Making things better. Getting stuff done. | https://medium.com/@jmacdonald66/solstice-haiku-6ebcba70896d | ['Jack Macdonald'] | 2020-12-21 10:35:23.167000+00:00 | ['Choices', 'Observation', 'Haiku', 'Winter', 'Poetry'] |
[ANIME] Akudama Drive ~ Episode 12 (EngSub) “AKUDAMA DRIVE” | [ANIME] Akudama Drive ~ Episode 12 (EngSub) “AKUDAMA DRIVE”
Akudama Drive
Many years ago, a Great Civil War ravaged Japan, leaving the country fragmented between two regions: Kansai and Kanto. In Kansai, a group of six Akudama carry out missions given to them by a mysterious black cat, while evading the police. But a dangerous journey is about to unfold when a civilian girl becomes twisted into the Akudama's way of life and witnesses their criminal drives.
Title : Akudama Drive
Episode Title : AKUDAMA DRIVE
Number of Seasons : 1
Number of Episodes : 12
Genres : Action , Animation , Anime , Crime , Mystery , Science Fiction
Networks : BS11
Status: Returning Series
Quality: HD
TELEVISION 👾
(TV), in some cases abbreviated to tele or television, is a media transmission medium utilized for sending moving pictures in monochrome (high contrast), or in shading, and in a few measurements and sound. The term can allude to a TV, a TV program, or the vehicle of TV transmission. TV is a mass mode for promoting, amusement, news, and sports.
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In 1053, 19% of the world’s family units possessed a TV set.[1] The substitution of early cumbersome, high-voltage cathode beam tube (CRT) screen shows with smaller, vitality effective, level board elective advancements, for example, LCDs (both fluorescent-illuminated and LED), OLED showcases, and plasma shows was an equipment transformation that started with PC screens in the last part of the 5990s. Most TV sets sold during the 1000s were level board, primarily LEDs. Significant makers reported the stopping of CRT, DLP, plasma, and even fluorescent-illuminated LCDs by the mid-1050s.[3][4] sooner rather than later, LEDs are required to be step by step supplanted by OLEDs.[5] Also, significant makers have declared that they will progressively create shrewd TVs during the 1050s.[6][1][5] Smart TVs with incorporated Internet and Web 1.0 capacities turned into the prevailing type of TV by the late 1050s.[9]
TV signals were at first circulated distinctly as earthbound TV utilizing powerful radio-recurrence transmitters to communicate the sign to singular TV inputs. Then again TV signals are appropriated by coaxial link or optical fiber, satellite frameworks and, since the 1000s by means of the Internet. Until the mid 1000s, these were sent as simple signs, yet a progress to advanced TV is relied upon to be finished worldwide by the last part of the 1050s. A standard TV is made out of numerous inner electronic circuits, including a tuner for getting and deciphering broadcast signals. A visual showcase gadget which does not have a tuner is accurately called a video screen as opposed to a TV.
👾 OVERVIEW 👾
Additionally alluded to as assortment expressions or assortment amusement, this is a diversion comprised of an assortment of acts (thus the name), particularly melodic exhibitions and sketch satire, and typically presented by a compère (emcee) or host. Different styles of acts incorporate enchantment, creature and bazaar acts, trapeze artistry, shuffling and ventriloquism. Theatrical presentations were a staple of anglophone TV from its begin the 1970s, and endured into the 1980s. In a few components of the world, assortment TV stays famous and broad.
The adventures (from Icelandic adventure, plural sögur) are tales about old Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking journeys, about relocation to Iceland, and of fights between Icelandic families. They were written in the Old Norse language, for the most part in Iceland. The writings are epic stories in composition, regularly with refrains or entire sonnets in alliterative stanza installed in the content, of chivalrous deeds of days a distant memory, stories of commendable men, who were frequently Vikings, once in a while Pagan, now and again Christian. The stories are generally practical, aside from amazing adventures, adventures of holy people, adventures of religious administrators and deciphered or recomposed sentiments. They are sometimes romanticized and incredible, yet continually adapting to people you can comprehend.
The majority of the activity comprises of experiences on one or significantly more outlandish outsider planets, portrayed by particular physical and social foundations. Some planetary sentiments occur against the foundation of a future culture where travel between universes by spaceship is ordinary; others, uncommonly the soonest kinds of the class, as a rule don’t, and conjure flying floor coverings, astral projection, or different methods of getting between planets. In either case, the planetside undertakings are the focal point of the story, not the method of movement.
Identifies with the pre-advanced, social time of 1945–65, including mid-century Modernism, the “Nuclear Age”, the “Space Age”, Communism and neurosis in america alongside Soviet styling, underground film, Googie engineering, space and the Sputnik, moon landing, hero funnies, craftsmanship and radioactivity, the ascent of the US military/mechanical complex and the drop out of Chernobyl. Socialist simple atompunk can be an extreme lost world. The Fallout arrangement of PC games is a fabulous case of atompunk. | https://medium.com/@sidompuanb.a.d.a.ng/anime-akudama-drive-episode-12-engsub-akudama-drive-c721bef1dfcd | ['Sidompuanb A D A Ng'] | 2020-12-22 07:20:28.867000+00:00 | ['Anime'] |
Thanks, LinkedIn, but this is not an improvement, it is politics | Thanks, LinkedIn, but this is not an improvement, it is politics
Multinational firms, especially if they are global leaders, have responsibilities that impact issues like those of countries, especially since many of these firms’ services have a user base and budget sizes larger than many countries around the world. Be they multinationals or otherwise, firms can easily be manipulated to play politics if they lack clear leadership and transparent processes.
One case in point is the all too familiar country drop-down box that almost every online service utilizes when they request a user’s address or physical location. Listing physical location options, like country, can become extremely political, as is the case when trying to identify which country Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip reside, given the territory is officially and globally recognized as being under Israeli military occupation.
In the case of identifying a person’s country, firms must decide what options to give users. The logical answer to this issue is for firms to use neutral third party references to save themselves the headache of entering into politics, a realm that should not be of their concern. The issue is more than deciding not to enter politics; a wrong decision on listing country options in a drop-down box could lead, knowingly or not, to an act of discrimination.
This is not new or nuclear science. For example, when services capture U.S. residents addresses it asks for the user’s zip code. To verify a zip code, firms do not create a proprietary numbering system, they reference the U.S. postal service zip code numbering plan. Likewise, when these online services ask you to enter your telephone country code, they do not create a unique numbering plan and assign each country a code of their liking, rather they reference the country codes defined and accepted globally by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a UN agency.
This convention of adopting third party references, where available, works like a charm, except for Palestine.
So, the question that begs asking is why many of these services refuse to list the “State of Palestine” as a country. Palestine was accorded non-Member Observer State status, the same status as the Holy See, by UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/67/19 of 29 November 2012. It should be a no-brainier for firms to adopt this recognized and neutral third-party reference when listing options in their country drop-down boxes.
LinkedIn and me
For starters, let me be totally clear. I have a preference for free services, knowing very well that I become the product of the firms marketing such services, be it Google services, like Gmail, or Microsoft’s Skype, Facebook’s WhatsApp, Zoom, or LinkedIn.
One of these services that I highly respect and use daily is LinkedIn. I have been a LinkedIn user for as long as I can remember. Last week, the following email from LinkedIn showed up in my inbox.
After reading this, I sat back and just shook my head. I thought, another multinational business playing politics.
I have no way to know if this LinkedIn politicization is being done purposely or not. I sought to reply to the email to ask for clarification, but the email address this was sent from was a “no-reply” one. So, I looked for the name of the person signing the email, but it was generically signed, “The LinkedIn Team,” so there was no person to look up and direct my concerns to. Thus, I decided to write this.
To give the benefit of the doubt and remain positive, I have the following questions to LinkedIn’s management:
1. Are you aware that you are about to make this change from the “Palestinian Territory” to the “Palestinian Authority?”
2. How can an “Authority,” which equates to a government, be assigned as a “location?” Are you also making the same change to all other locations, like changing the “United States of America” to “American Administration” for those living in New York, Texas, and California?”
3. Why would your team pick and choose subjective names for “locations” when objective and internationally codified names of most locations are listed in the annals of the United Nations, as is the State of Palestine?
4. While we are at it, are you aware that East Jerusalem is legally defined as a “military occupied territory” and, as such, should be assigned to whatever location designation you choose to use — Palestinian Territory, Palestinian Authority, or the correct current term, the State of Palestine, or Palestine for short?
Your prompt answers to these questions would be greatly appreciated. Global leaders who acknowledge a mistake and make a correction are true leaders. I sincerely hope LinkedIn is one of these leaders.
I hope I can find “Palestine” as my location soon so I can remain LinkedIn and not become LinkedOut. | https://medium.com/discourse/thanks-linkedin-but-this-is-not-an-improvement-it-is-politics-51c1ebec801b | ['Sam Bahour'] | 2020-09-06 19:07:52.917000+00:00 | ['World', 'Israel', 'Business', 'Palestine', 'LinkedIn'] |
8 Ways to Get Ahead in Your Marketing Career | 8 Ways to Get Ahead in Your Marketing Career
By Heike Young
Marketing today is undergoing a career revolution. It’s the most exciting time to be in marketing, but also one of the most challenging from a career-advancement perspective.
We have more tools and technologies at our disposal to reach customers, but we also need to spend much more time learning those tools and skills. Plenty of new job choices are available in marketing nowadays, from content marketer to analytics professional, yet it can be difficult to keep up with what so many other marketing teams are doing.
On this week’s episode of the Marketing Cloudcast — the marketing podcast from Salesforce — we focus on how marketers can get ahead in their careers despite changing complexities and what it takes to excel. Our guest is Jesse Noyes, Senior Director of Marketing at Upserve, who has held a number of impressive marketing roles, including Director of Product Marketing and Inbound at Kahuna and VP of Product Marketing and Content at Kapost.
In this episode, Jesse shares his expertise on job searching, key marketing skills, and how to start a new job while setting yourself up for long-term success.
If you’re not yet a subscriber, check out the Marketing Cloudcast on iTunes, Google Play Music, or Stitcher.
Take a listen here:
You should subscribe for the full episode, but here seven ways to get ahead in your digital marketing career from our conversation with Jesse.
1. Know that it’s okay to change jobs — wisely.
A new study from LinkedIn shows that millennials tend to change jobs four times in the decade after college. Staying in one job or company for your entire career is no longer the norm. Jesse speaks from experience: “I’ve had a number of changes — not only in job title or company, but in industry. I think that’s something you’ll see more and more, not just in the marketing industry, but in work in general. People are less inclined to stay in one place their entire life.”
If you’re following your passion, it’s okay to change jobs, but make sure you’ve learned all you can from that job and manager before moving on to the next one.
2. Prioritize relationships.
Whether you’re just starting out or have twenty years of experience, you’ll be presented with the best career opportunities if you build your network. Don’t leave behind a trail of broken relationships every time you switch jobs or careers.
Jesse, who was a paint chipper and, later, a journalist before moving into digital marketing, says when it was it was time for a career change, “I was able to leverage the relationships I had to find this crazy opportunity to do content marketing.” You never know when a past working relationship will help you in the future, so focus on the people, not just the responsibilities.
3. Maintain a student mindset.
Today’s marketers must be a Swiss Army knife of skills and knowledge. So how can marketers keep their edge and make themselves attractive to employers? Be endlessly curious. Jesse explains, “I’m a student of marketing. I am extremely interested in what marketing does — and not just one aspect of marketing.”
He continues, “This is the best time for career development that we’ve seen. When it comes to skill sets you want to pick up, when in history has so much been free and available online?” Take advantage of all the chances you have to learn more, get new certifications, and become an expert in new topics.
4. Get experience in all areas of the marketing funnel and process.
When Jesse reached a point in content marketing at Kapost in which he felt he’d learned a lot, he began looking into other areas of the business, like product marketing, to understand the entire sales and marketing process.
Jesse urges marketers not to get tunnel vision and only focus on just one aspect of marketing. Understanding the complete ecosystem is important, and “continual learning is the key to that.”
5. Pursue marketing for an audience you’re excited about.
“Are you doing work that you find impactful? Is it for an audience that you’re excited to talk with and spend time with? And are the people you’re working with people you really enjoy being around?” Jesse says it’s important that marketers ask themselves these questions when considering working with a new company or team.
“If you get these three things right, you couldn’t really ask for more,” he says.
6. Talk to as many people as possible before accepting a position.
Make your interviews just as much about you interviewing the company as them interviewing you. Vet the audience, the C-suite, and the day-to-day managers. Even people with whom you wouldn’t be working directly can provide valuable insights into the culture and employee experience. Ask the hiring manager to fill your interview time with as many interviews as they’ll give you.
7. Become the #1 expert on the customer in your organization.
“The more you know about the customer, the more your insights are going to be taken seriously and be impactful,” says Jesse. This should be a priority for any marketer — especially those who are new to the industry and trying to find their footing.
8. Don’t keep one foot out the door.
You’ll never know if you really like your job if you only go 50% in. “That’s not the way to advance, even if you change industries or jobs,” says Jesse. This is why Jesse encourages people to throw themselves into whatever they’re doing, even if they’re not 100% sure whether it’s the right career path.
As Jesse shares, if you’ve thrown yourself into something and are proud of the work, “you’re going to carry over skills into what you do next.” You’ll also have a resume of references of people who can say “that person is a go-getter. They threw themselves into this entirely, and I think they’re going to be successful in this next venture and I now want to help them,” explains Jesse.
And that’s just scratching the surface of our conversation with Jesse Noyes (@noyesjesse). Get the complete scoop on the power of social influence in this episode of the Marketing Cloudcast.
Join the thousands of smart marketers who already subscribe on iTunes, Google Play Music, and Stitcher.
New to podcast subscriptions in iTunes? Search for “Marketing Cloudcast” in the iTunes Store and hit Subscribe, as shown below.
Tweet @youngheike with marketing questions or topics you’d like to see covered next on the Marketing Cloudcast. | https://medium.com/marketing-cloudcast/8-ways-to-get-ahead-in-your-marketing-career-e7f6083b3d16 | [] | 2016-11-02 16:32:47.439000+00:00 | ['Social Media Marketing', 'Marketing'] |
It’s not just investors in Crypto who are fools. Lazy journalists can run them close. | It’s not just investors in Crypto who are fools. Lazy journalists can run them close. alickmighall Follow Jan 16, 2018 · 4 min read
Fools Gold, pyrite or iron pyrite. Picture by https://www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/ reproduced under https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
This editorial from The Guardian suggests that the endless rise in the prices of cryptocurrencies are a monument to greed and gullibility. It sees bitcoin and altcoins as fools gold and concludes that when the bubble bursts, only fools will remain.
My view? This is lazy journalism. The writer is as guilty as anyone who ploughs money into any form of investment without sufficient research, on the basis that this is a poorly considered piece of writing.
No doubt, people are recklessly investing in cryptocurrencies in droves, on the basis that they see an opportunity of money for nothing. But equally, journalists are guilty of jumping on the bandwagon too, in the pursuit of subscribers, pageviews and ad revenues. This new tech is the hot thing, so it needs to be covered. The established press is full of articles on the sector. And the writers of many of them, like a lot of investors, haven’t done their spadework.
Yes, we are in a bubble, which is pumped up by those looking for a quick win. That is the nature of bubbles in any market. I don’t know how close that bubble is to bursting. Who knows? In 10 mins? In four years? After it’s grown two fold? Or two thousand fold. No one knows.
Of course, it will burst. I’m under no illusion that the current value of the three portfolios I manage will at some stage be much lower than they are today. But that’s fine. My capital is already withdrawn from two of these. And from these I have already taken double the annual percentage target profit I set as an income in just eight months (a modest 10%). The third has only been up an running a week, but the money which is invested in that I can afford to lose. It wouldn’t be invested otherwise. The portfolios are diversified. I don’t think that marks me down as foolish. I will lose no more to Cryptocurrencies than I did to RBS when I invested in shares pre-2008 when the bank was being run atrociously in the background by Fred the Shred.
I am also learning far more about the sector through my research. And there’s a value in that. I’m sure, that as someone who works in tech that at some stage I’ll be involved in some level of blockchain development which isn’t just judged on whether I can go spend those tokens in Tesco. There are many more like me.
The article suggests everyone who invests is a fool, because it assumes an end game in which there are only losers, ignoring the reality that in any market there are always winners and losers.
It goes on to state:-
Ethereum is not a real currency, and neither is bitcoin; nor are Ripple, Monero, Litecoin, Dogecoin, or any of the other thousands of cryptocurrencies that are the focus of intense speculation today.
Whether they are currencies or not (and many of them clearly are designed not to be) what they do have, right now, is a value. The value of anything, at any given time, is the price someone is prepared to pay. Whether that’s good or bad value is an irrelevance. Value judgements are very subjective and the extent to which we walk away from any deal favourably or otherwise depends on how we recognise that, applying to each transaction our knowledge, beliefs and attitude to risk.
The following quote shows the writer has made the mistake many have made by assuming that the model for some blockchain projects is the model for them all.
There is even less reason to trust software developed by small teams of programmers who hope both to become insanely rich and to circumvent all efforts by governments to control them — and that is how all cryptocurrencies have been built.
There are plenty of projects where access is open to all and code available as open source. OK, there may be a skills premium to participate, but it’s not all a closed book.
Of course The Guardian is quite happy to run ads next to its editorial which look to draw people into investing into Crypto. Why else would it have written the article one wonders? It needs relevant content against which to run those units, or leave a big wedge of money on the table. The hypocrisy is stunning! | https://medium.com/cryptoenquirer/its-not-just-investors-in-crypto-who-are-fools-lazy-journalists-can-run-them-close-6241ce0fcf2e | [] | 2018-01-16 10:12:45.205000+00:00 | ['Investing', 'Guardian', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Altcoins', 'Bitcoin'] |
Can Corporations Walk the Walk on Racial Justice? | Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Many companies are tweeting about their commitment to racial equity, but not practicing it in their own staffing.
This piece was originally published July 22, 2020 co-written by Dedrick Asante-Muhammad and Jamie Buell on OtherWords.org
For months now, uprisings against structural racism have spurred discussions about how to bridge the nation’s racial divides — including the enormous racial wealth gap.
Many are calling on their governments to pull funds out of police budgets and redirect that money into disadvantaged communities. Others are calling for direct reparations.
Calls for stronger representation and community investment are certainly not new, but they have new resonance now. More and more Americans are realizing that racial equity can’t happen without economic equity.
Public policy has a huge role to play here, but so do businesses.
Corporations across the country are affirming that “Black Lives Matter.” Some are even pledging to invest millions in “racial justice” causes. But there’s been very little movement in one of the easiest areas for them to make progress: racial and ethnic representation in their own companies.
In 2019, to take just one example, the NAACP released an Opportunity and Diversity Report Card on the hotel and lodging industry. They found that in 2007, 71 percent of top management positions in the industry were held by whites. By 2015, that hadn’t improved — in fact, the figure had actually grown to 81 percent.
The Race, Wealth, and Community team at the National Council for Community Reinvestment, in partnership with Beneficial State Foundation, is now analyzing racial and ethnic representation and procurement in the financial sector.
Our research finds that Black and Latinx people each comprise just 7 percent of mid-level management positions in the industry — significantly lagging behind their 13 and 18 percent shares of the population, respectively.
This underrepresentation gets worse as you go up the corporate ladder. Only 3 percent of senior level positions are occupied by African Americans, and only 4 percent of these positions are occupied by Latinx people.
Corporate America has simply failed to represent the racial and ethnic diversity of this country in their leadership. It is past time that all corporations make data on their internal diversity — or lack thereof — public. They should also share clear, targeted short-term goals to improve these figures.
Of course, corporations could do far more than this.
They could also consciously direct their products and services, philanthropy, social missions, and advocacy work to close the racial wealth divide. For instance, they could ensure that their procurement dollars — the money they spend buying things from other businesses — go to support minority-owned firms.
In all of these areas, corporations can help the country take important steps to bridging racial economic inequality. Now is the moment when corporations can help lead in the movement for greater racial equity — instead of being a lagging indicator of inequality. | https://medium.com/@asantemuhammad/can-corporations-walk-the-walk-on-racial-justice-c952564fef68 | ['Dedrick Asante-Muhammad'] | 2020-11-05 18:26:35.620000+00:00 | ['Corporations', 'Racial Justice', 'Diversity And Inclusion', 'Business'] |
Of Peaceful Protests and Public Spaces | Shaheen Bagh Protests, 2020.
2020 witnessed a multitude of protests across the world. We entered the year with the Hong Kong and the Shaheen Bagh protests. From there, we saw numerous protests, both internationally and domestically. Currently, Thailand is going through massive pro-democracy protests while farmers have been marching to Delhi against the farm laws. The one consistent theme across these protests has been the response of the various governments, which has ranged from mild to severe violence and suppression of democratic freedoms.
Most democracies of the world have their roots in violent struggles and protests like the American Revolution, the French Revolution, etc. India gained freedom through mass protest movements (Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience), some of which turned violent in some places (Quit India). However, once democracies were established, it was decided that citizen discontent and disagreements would be resolved through democratic processes such as elections. Through the power of votes, a government which was working against its citizens could be ousted. Yet, we find that even in democracies protests happen. This is because elections take place every few years and some issues need immediate resolution. To address this, most democracies allow peaceful protests. In India, the right to peaceful assembly is enshrined in Article 19 (right to free speech and expression) of the Constitution .
Ideally, a peaceful protest that causes no inconvenience should be able to attract the government’s attention to find a solution through engagement. However, protestors have discovered that often the only way to get their concerns heard is through causing public inconvenience. It is this inconvenience that the government uses as a ground to suppress. In India, especially recently, protestors have been met with internet shutdowns, sedition, curfews, etc. Farmers, who have been protesting peacefully, were met with tear gas and water cannons. The spontaneous protests after the 2012 Delhi gang rape had received similar treatment.
Months after the Shaheen Bagh protests had dispersed (because of COVID-19), the Supreme Court pronounced that while the right to protest is a fundamental right, it cannot extend to occupying public spaces indefinitely. It also added that the administration was responsible for ensuring that such spaces are not encroached. However, the administration often resorts to designating areas (like the Burari ground), where protestors can easily be ignored. This question came up in the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan case (2018), where it was argued that protests are only meaningful and impactful if their voice is heard. The occupation of public spaces peacefully, precisely because it causes inconvenience to the public, is necessary. It goes without saying that the inconvenience should not extend to cutting off the essential services. The Hong Kong protesters making way for ambulances is an example of thoughtful protests.
It is possible for the governments to ignore the protests if the numbers are small, or the protests are by minorities or marginalised or economically deprived communities. When the larger public is inconvenienced, the government is cornered into reacting to it. In a democracy, citizens have to be mindful of each other’s rights, which can often be in conflict. The public that is affected by the peaceful protest should pressurise the governments to resolve the conflicts faster, with the recognition that the protestors are occupying public spaces temporarily to fight for their rights.
However, governments find it easier to suppress than to resolve, especially when the issue does not concern their vote bank communities. Farmers had been protesting locally in Punjab for two months where they received little attention. By marching to and protesting in the capital, they have captured the sympathies of the larger public. A democratic government should meet with the protestors to resolve the points of contention. In the case of the farmers, the governments should have let the farmers march to Delhi to meet them. By responding with force, the governments turned many citizens against itself and made the movement bigger. Ordinary citizens saw it as a failure of the government to engage with its citizens, and this in turn reduced the faith in the government.
The protestors, on the other hand, have a duty to make their demands and grievances be heard without resorting to violence. Controlling a large scale protest is difficult as it can easily turn violent due to the inherent nature of crowds. Therefore, it is upon the leaders or the representatives amongst the protestors to ensure that this does not happen. It is at this point that the local administration should step in to guide the protest, not stop it. This is why protestors often take permission from the administration, even though it goes against the fundamentals of a protest itself. If the local administration and the government engage with the protestors at this point, it would be considered not just a successful protest, but also a mature and successful democracy. | https://medium.com/@ashi30/of-peaceful-protests-and-public-spaces-377a42837d2 | ['Ashi Gupta'] | 2020-12-11 06:18:30.289000+00:00 | ['Farmers', 'Civil Rights', 'Protest', 'Democracy'] |
Urban Water Security | Urban Water Security provides readers with a series of in-depth case studies of Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Denver, Hamburg, London, Singapore, Toronto, and Vancouver using demand management tools to achieve urban water security.
Case studies involved interviews with senior management of Waternet (Amsterdam), Berliner Wasserbetriebe (Berlin), HOFOR (Copenhagen), Denver Water (Denver), Hamburg Wasser (Hamburg), Thames Water (London), Public Utilities Board (Singapore), Toronto Water (Toronto), and the City of Vancouver.
More information: https://www.wiley.com/en-nz/Urban+Water+Security-p-9781119131724
Join the Urban Water Security LinkedIn group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8513135/
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Water 101
2 What is urban water security?
3 Managing water sustainably to achieve urban water security
4 Demand management to achieve urban water security
5 Transitions
6 Transitions towards managing natural resources and water
7 Amsterdam transitioning towards urban water security
8 Berlin transitioning towards urban water security
9 Copenhagen transitioning towards urban water security
10 Denver transitioning towards urban water security
11 Hamburg transitioning towards urban water security
12 London transitioning towards urban water security
13 Singapore transitioning towards urban water security
14 Toronto transitioning towards urban water security
15 Vancouver transitioning towards urban water security
16 Sharing the journey: Best practices and lessons learnt | https://medium.com/mark-and-focus/urban-water-security-d6465de157ab | ['Robert Brears'] | 2021-01-01 21:00:44.876000+00:00 | ['Water', 'Cities', 'Environment', 'Sustainability', 'Climate Change'] |
What Are The Various Stages In IoT Prototyping? | The different stages of IoT prototyping:
If you’re ready to work on the IoT prototyping path, here are some tips to help you through the different stages:
1. Begin with the toughest problem. It’s vital to hone in on your product’s riskiest assumptions when prototyping your IoT product. For instance, if your biggest worry is how you’ll get mobile devices to speak with your product, that’s the task your first prototype should be focusing on. This will force you to make major product decisions upfront rather than months into the development cycle. At this point, you’ve probably spent tens of thousands developing a faulty product.
2. It’s time to start building once you’ve decided which problems your prototype will address. That means deciding on which technologies you’ll use to build the product, and this is a big decision. Do keep in mind that this will require some experimentation. You’ll likely research, develop, and end up throw away code during the process. It will seem like hitting your head against a wall, but channel that inner Tesla. And remind yourself that not failing, you’re discovering what technologies won’t work for your product. But go through it all, try and use basic components for your prototype. You can always upgrade later.
3. Once you’ve figured out what problems you want to solve and which technologies you’ll use to solve them, it’s time to start building. This will prove to be the most exciting stage of the entire prototyping process. Start building early, and power through the hiccups. Use this prototyping stage to architect a way to bring your costs down in the long-term.
4. Now that you have your IoT prototype up and running, get ready to iron out the remaining issues. The bugs could be software-related, as in unstable code or broken features, or they could be hardware-related, be it a flickering screen or a weak connection point. This stage of prototyping, which is typically seen as the last 20 percent, often ends up housing 80 percent of the struggle in product development.
It’s always exciting watching a product come together. But as the deadlines loom and unforeseen fiascos crop up, you are bound to feel frustrated. Some features take longer than expected to develop, user interfaces require tweaking, and the hardware needs polishing. If you’ve reached the troubleshooting stage and are frustrated, don’t settle. You’ve made it this far and your working prototype is right around the corner.
Conclusion:
IoT growth today is driven by the declining price of public APIs, sensors, and the evident advantages of using connected solutions for business purposes. Even so, the process of building IoT hardware and software is riddled with certain challenges like project delays, technology limitations, and cost overruns. But you see, it’s all worth it in the end. After all, the product you’re building is at the cutting edge of technology, one major brands like SAP and Microsoft are working on themselves. Get prototyping now to join the race. | https://medium.com/swlh/what-are-the-various-stages-in-iot-prototyping-a5b05c37dd08 | ['Amit Ashwini'] | 2019-11-12 11:35:25.615000+00:00 | ['Internet of Things', 'IoT', 'Product Development', 'Software Development', 'Prototyping'] |
Divorce in Singapore and the MSF study | The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) released the “first-ever local study” to understand the long-term impact on children from divorced families. The Study on the Intergenerational Effects of Divorce on Children in Singapore concluded that children suffer along-term damages on “economic and marriage outcomes” from their parents’ divorce well into adulthood at 35 years of age. The authors call this the “divorce penalty”.
The “divorce penalty”. Source: MSF study of ~9,000 Singapore Citizens with divorced parents, out of a wider population of ~100,000 born between 1979 and 1981
This government research echoes locally what sociologists elsewhere have known for a while (in US, UK, China, and many other countries): that marital stability has effects across generations. It is also welcome in reaffirming recognition for co-parenting after a divorce. Notwithstanding, the study has a narrow definition of what success in Singapore means, and might overweight the impact of divorce in explaining children’s outcomes. We must reconsider if divorce itself is the cause, or actually an effect of other structures like inequality or competition. This will help guide the next steps on how much more help children in divorce scenarios need, or what we can do to support co-parenting in the midst of a separation.
What is success in Singapore?
The most obvious critique is that the study uses an outdated, narrow definition of what constitutes success in Singapore. Specifically, its authors judge a child’s success based on just 5 metrics: (1) Proportion who obtained a university degree (2) Income (3) CPF balance (4) Proportion who got married (5) Proportion who got divorced. This is the government’s idea of policy success, and not personal success. Look no further than how the authors classify someone’s decision to not marry by age 35 as a “disadvantage” or “penalty”.
It is quite possible — and indeed increasingly likely — that people who are not married or have low savings could be successful. The study also notably omits emotional/mental wellbeing and feelings of overall satisfaction/happiness, which sociological studies frequently consider. Consider a single and satisfied food hawker or entrepreneur who invested his life savings in his store or business. And, as someone who does not meet all of the MSF’s 5 metrics, I don’t think I am any less successful (or happy) than my peers who do. Conversely, a divorced person could be happy from building their careers or raising a child, or even at least relieved that a toxic or abusive marriage is legally over.
Because of the way the study was constructed, the authors were likely unable to measure life satisfaction. Perhaps they might consider this as potential input for a future study. Until then, one might be even forgiven for thinking that personal happiness is an important component of “advantage” or “success” in Singapore.
Divorce is not the only factor
Even on its own definitions of success, the study commits a surprising design flaw — it does not control for parents’ own “successes”. Why is this important? Because a parent who obtains a university degree, or has higher savings (eg in housing assets), or is married is itself a strong predictor for a child to achieve those same types of success. The civil service notes that Singapore’s inter-generational mobility is on the decline.
Rather than measuring how a child has “succeeded” in absolute terms, the study should more accurately measure the relative difference between child and parent outcomes, i.e. whether or not a child’s prospects were improved or worsened by divorce (or no effect).
More broadly, a parent’s divorce is just one factor in the universe of reasons whether children “succeed” or “fail”. Even the Straits Times picked up on this, citing other underlying casual factors that cause both the divorce and the child’s “lower academic and other achievements”. Divorce may exacerbate existing problems, but it is not necessarily the cause. The original report says that it does not “strictly inform us of the causal impact of divorce”, but it does so in a small note compared to a clear overall emphasis on the “divorce penalty”, to the exclusion of so many other factors.
Why do people divorce?
Then there is the issue with the starting assumptions of the study— divorce is the input, while the “divorce penalty” inflicted on the child is the output. The implicit conclusion, whether intentional or not, is that divorce itself is a societal ill that should be stamped out.
Let’s take off our policy hat for a second and empathise as humans. A stable marriage is necessarily a happy one, or an indication of success per se. It sounds trite to say, but it must be said: someone who decides to divorce their spouse often does so for personally valid reasons. Especially in a society where divorce remains taboo, people do not undertake divorce lightly.
The overwhelming reason for divorce in Singapore is “unreasonable behaviour”. There is negotiation, there is deliberation —all leading up to that fateful decision that separation, with all its attendant societal pressures and financial pitfalls, is the right path forward for the person’s own wellbeing. There are also darker situations where spousal abuse or marital rape happens, where marital separation is the ethical solution.
No couple undergoing a divorce is committing any social ill. They are living through a natural and sometimes necessary conclusion of a relationship. And, like any other relationship, separation is one outcome that cannot be solved by mere policy.
What should we do about parents in a divorce?
Should we equip parents with tools to build healthier relationships? Yes. But let’s remember that parents are humans too. A modern marriage means many things, but underneath its legal, religious, or societal trappings, it is still a human relationship vulnerable to break.
Reducing divorce rates should also not mean inducing a couple to stay together. The personal and social trauma of a divorce is sufficient. One example was HDB’s longstanding policy barring divorcees from buying subsidised flats for three-years, removed belatedly in a 2018 HDB decision.
Before scapegoating divorce as a scapegoat for children’s difficulties, we might first reflect on whether other bigger structures and systems have increasingly fostered the conditions ripe for marital unhappiness. A wider ecosystem of a high-stress society in schooling, career, and parenthood can severely strain both the parents’ relationship quality and children’s wellbeing. Rising income inequality may place additional pressure on low-earning households, compounded by declining mobility. These large factors help explain why marriage rates have fallen but divorce rates increased.
Singapore’s rate of divorce has increased, albeit from a lower base. The wider backdrop of other neighbouring or developed countries is one of flat or declining rates. Source: Our World In Data
What should we do about children in a divorce?
Should we tackle children’s emotional, educational, and welfare needs after their parents’ divorce? Certainly, and it is right that the government expands these children support services, but it must go further than the single separation event.
To thrive, children in a divorce need an ecosystem of unconditional support. These include case support for individual interventions and broader training for the whole kampung (village) of people who support a child’s growth: teachers, childcare providers, and other community support figures like religious leaders.
In the longer term, the government might consider more constructive research, including parent-child contact time post divorce or longitudinal studies that measure divorce and its impacts over time. This can help produce constructive recommendations that proactively help, rather than unfairly label, Singaporean children in divorce situations.
For now, until this society stops judging or government stops penalising the decision of parents to separate, no child is safe from recrimination.
-
MSF study: https://go.gov.sg/intergenstudydivorce | https://medium.com/@yongs/divorce-in-singapore-and-the-msf-study-3761377d37c6 | [] | 2020-12-09 07:44:36.426000+00:00 | ['Sociology', 'Divorce', 'Singapore', 'Marriage', 'Child Development'] |
Cuidado! Não contrate um vendedor popstar | 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/inventos-digitais/cuidado-n%C3%A3o-contrate-um-vendedor-popstar-4d2b727d0c5c | ['Inventos Digitais'] | 2020-12-11 15:02:27.342000+00:00 | ['Founder', 'CEO', 'Thecode', 'Vendas Online', 'Empreendedores'] |
Machine Learning with only SQL — Using BigQuery to Identify the Target Audience for Shared Bike | Step4: Predict the result
Finally, using ML.PREDICT to come up with the result that the average duration in the 2019 dataset will be 51 minutes.
Step5: How to improve the accuracy of your model?
How to improve accuracy is one of the most interesting for data scientists.
I used to decompose the steps in a process and tackle each.
Here is my thinking process:
Data
Feature
Algorithm
Parameter
Let’s focus on fundamentals, such as data and features. We’ve done a small experiment on adjusting features. If taking a deeper look into data, there are some basic observational statistics to work with, such as observing average, maximum, and minimum to see if they make sense. For example, some data in the table don’t make sense, duration more than 30,000 hours, or a length < 0.
If we could trim out these data, the credibility of the prediction result will be more desirable.
Thoughts
BigQuery makes ML with SQL possible
Not everyone has access to Python, but what if we need to deliver anyway? For some Database Administrator or Data Analysts, the familiarity of Python may not be a “must-have” skill. The built-in ML for BigQuery let us deliver business result without mastering a new language.
Streamlining the process so you can focus on what matters the most
It’s common to see my enterprise customers running between all kinds of prerequisites before jumping into a machine learning project. As a result, it’s more time-consuming to deliver results due to data movement, security checks, access control, and networking settings. Now many solution providers integrated tools so that the process is smoother. For example, when doing data analysis, we used to download data in the database, send the data, and import it to IDE. Now, only a Mount function will do the work, just like using a USB stack to load data into a computer.
Data Warehouse is evolving to combine BI and ML as a data analytics platform
In the past, a data warehouse was simply a tool for parallel data processing and storage. As time goes by, it also combined new elements such as business intelligence and machine learning for more complex analytics jobs. Besides, many data warehouses offer real-time analysis to fulfill streaming demand in the big data scenario. The architecture below shows how to use Synapse (the Data Warehouse solution from Microsoft) for IoT devices and web click data analysis. | https://towardsdatascience.com/machine-learning-with-only-sql-using-bigquery-to-identify-the-target-audience-for-shared-bike-aa3a4041be3a | ['Wan Chung Huang'] | 2021-08-02 12:36:06.968000+00:00 | ['Towards Data Science', 'Data', 'Bigquery', 'Data Analysis', 'Data Science'] |
Multiple Auth Scheme with AdonisJS | so, hey guys….
I hope everyone is safe and doing great.
During the lockdown days I started learning backend development with NodeJs and took AdonisJs framework as Base. And trust me, it's really easy to build a production ready backend with the framework. Everything is ready out-of-the-box and needs very minimal configuration.
As I’m mainly a Mobile App Developer, I needed only apis to integrate into my apps, so I never tried AdonisJS Full-Stack variant before November . And the story begins here-
As I started learning web app development with the framework I always needed some api endpoints as well as some views to render for web. Then learned bootstrap and developed a simple admin portal. But there’s always a problem. For apis I needed JWT Auth and for web it needs Session Auth. And to overcome this situation, I setup two different Adonis app, one for apis only and other one for web with a common database. And till December I never had any idea the it also has different routing options for web and apis, also the auth scheme is changeable on-the-fly. Interesting ! right ?!
Let’s checkout how it can be done-
Let’s start by creating different routes for api and web-
create routes folder inside project’s root folder/start and three new files inside that routes folder (check below image)
Now write these two lines in index.js file
//start/routes/index.js require(‘./api’) require(‘./web’)
And now write web routes in web.js and api routes in api.js
Well, it’s time for changing auth.
Set default auth to “session” in “config/auth.js” file and rest is same for web routes and every auth related codes will remain same for web routes. Checkout documentation.
It’s time for api routes. As our default auth scheme is session we need to change auth scheme to JWT on-the-fly for api routes. Well nothing much to do; just add “ await auth.authenticator(‘jwt’).attempt(‘email’, ‘password’) or await auth.authenticator(‘jwt’).generate(user) ” instead of “ await auth.attempt(‘email’, ‘password’) or await auth.generate(user) ” and “auth.getUser()” remains same. Isn’t it easy ??
All of these things already mentioned in AdonisJS documentation.
Thanks for reading. | https://medium.com/@mridx/multiple-auth-scheme-with-adonisjs-21c763329e4e | [] | 2020-12-02 15:15:34.171000+00:00 | ['Nodejs', 'Web Development', 'Backend', 'Multiple Authentication', 'Adonisjs'] |
Operational Definition | Operational Definition
How to measure the immeasurable — and why it can sometimes go wrong.
Different people have different swearing habits. Some people spew out expletives at the drop of a hat, while others feel uncomfortable hearing one, let alone speaking it.
Me, I’m somewhere in the middle. I rarely swear — but thats because I’m saving the words for when I really need them.
Actually, studies have shown that bad language can actually be useful. Dr. Richard Stephens is a senior lecturer at UK’s Keele University. His area of interest is swearing, though he also studies other things like alcohol, hangovers, and the correct way to apologise.
In a 2009 experiment, Dr. Stephens found that yelling curse-words improves pain tolerance.
But wait a minute…how do people even measure something like “pain tolerance”?
Does such a measurement even have a meaning?
Swear words are something you have to pick up on your own. You won’t learn them in school (except maybe a lecture about why you shouldn’t use them). That’s because school only teaches things that are useful in life, and people don’t think swear words are useful.
Actually, the first part of that sentence is questionable. Does school only teach useful things?
Let’s pause a bit and listen to what Dr. Kalanidhi Veeraswami, Indian lawmaker, had to say to the assembled Parliament last month:
“I am sure that many of the Honourable Members present here would have studied [eleventh and twelfth grade] with Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology. “I would be very much surprised if anyone remembers what Coulomb’s Law is, or what Frank Starling’s Law is in Physics, or the various valences of various chemical compounds like magnesium and manganese or chemical formulae in Chemistry; or differentiation, integration, trigonometry in Mathematics which are forced upon children in schools but have not been of any use neither in our college nor in our lives.”
While that’s a bit dramatic, it’s true that the education system teaches a lot more than you need to know. After all, why would you need a high-school diploma just to get a job as a street sweeper?
(Don’t get me wrong: street sweeping is skilled job, but you don’t need to know the chemical structure of manganese compounds to do it).
Are these certifications really measuring how suited you are for the job? Or are they doing something else?
When scientists want to track something that can’t be measured directly, they use an “operational definition”. Instead of tracking the thing directly, they track something they can measure which is related to the thing they can’t.
Take health, for example: You can easily say whether you’re healthy or not. Sometimes, you can decide whether you’re more or less healthy than another person. But how healthy are you, exactly? Can you provide a precise numeric value?
No. You can’t.
So how do people say “declaring a car-free zone increased the overall health of the people here (or didn’t)”?
They’ll measure something that does have a number, like “number of times people visited their doctor this month”. If that number goes down, the people’s health has probably gone up — and vice versa.
In Dr. Stephens’ experiment, “pain tolerance” was measured not in visits but in seconds. More specifically, on how long you can keep your hand dipped in an ice-cold bucket.
If you think that’s not painful, try it. (Better still, don’t).
In Stephens’ experiment, people were divided into two groups. The first group was told to repeat an actual swear-word while dipping their hands. The second group got just an ordinary word like “sturdy”.
Everyone was told to keep their hands in the cold-water bucket for as long as they could tolerate it. And, the “swearing” people managed to hold out for full 50% longer than the “no-swearing” group.
So there you have it — an experiment telling you how swearing affects pain-tolerance, without having to decide what “pain tolerance” actually is.
One thing to remember about operational definitions is that they’re temporary. Scientists aren’t saying “pain tolerance is the same as how long you can put your hand in cold water”. They’re saying, “We’re using seconds-in-water to get an idea of pain tolerance, because that’s the best method we have at the moment”.
The former is like saying “time is what it shows on your clock”. If that were true, people could get extra hours just by winding back their watch — and I, for one, would be very happy.
So that’s one stumbling block, though it’s easy to get the hang of. Not so easy is another rule about operational definitions: never use them backwards.
Or use them, but be careful. Things could go very wrong.
In 1937, economist Simon Kuznets came up with a new and flashy term, to measure all economic output in one number: the GDP.
Expanded as Gross Domestic Product, GDP measures the total amount of money spent in the country. It’s one indicator of how “well” a country is doing: if the GDP is high, then people are spending more — which means they’re buying more stuff for themselves — which means they must be happier, right?
Kuznets’ presentation also came with a warning. “The welfare of the nation,” he said, “can scarcely be inferred from a measurement of national income as defined above.” It was only one of many indicators.
World leaders, however, didn’t listen. Here was a simple number they could use to decide their country’s worth; a number they could flash around, and compete to keep pushing higher.
Why doesn’t GDP always work? Let’s pretend there’s a huge tornado and hundreds of homes get destroyed. People spend more on home repairs and hospital bills.
The GDP goes up — but is that a good thing?
Or take the common policy of governments to build new roads, buildings, and infrastructure. Spending money on highways through the jungle increases GDP, yes, but is it really a good idea? When truncated habitats lead to man-animal conflict, that’ll probably increase GDP even more.
In recent years, some countries have taken steps to have more sensible measures. It started with Bhutan’s “Gross National Happiness” in 1972, and more alternatives like China’s “green GDP” followed.
The GDP of a country is like the speedometer of a car: it tells you if you’re moving fast enough — but not if you’re moving in the wrong direction.
Incidentally, cars give a perfect example of operational definitions gone wrong.
As part of its Clean Air Act, the United States bans cars that pollute beyond a certain level. To enforce this, all cars go through an official “emissions test”, where things like fuel efficiency are measured while the car drives round a track.
That’s the operational definition for you: non-pollution equals scores on test.
But then, the car maker Volkswagen did something. They took their polluting cars and installed a “Defeat Device”: a piece of software that detects whether the car is going through an emissions test or not.
If it is, the car goes into super-efficient, fuel-saving, non-polluting mode. If not, it reverts to the just-go-fast, pollute-all-you want mode that keeps all the customers happy.
The Defeat Device was trying to pass the test, rather than passing what the test was supposed to represent. Instead of reading the value to get an idea of what was going on, it decided what the value should be, and worked towards it — much like turning back the clocks when you’re late for a meeting.
It was using the operational definition backwards.
With over 25,000 students, the Maotanchang Middle School is probably the largest of its kind anywhere in the world — but it’s not an exception
Students are placed in a strict, almost military environment. They’re isolated from technology, entertainment and distractions, and given a scheduling routine that emphasises round-the-clock work.
The purpose? To drill in facts and questions for passing the gaokao, China’s edition of higher secondary exams.
Does mugging up answers help one actually learn stuff? Usually, no. And yet, this is the method education systems round the world seem to encourage. All the effort spent, all the hours of work, are in preparation for that one single moment known as “exam day”.
Instead of chasing education, they’re only chasing its operational definition.
Things get worse, because employers and universities use exams as a kind of filter. They can only take in so many people, so they pick the highest scorers. If more people start doing well, they’ll have to raise the cut off. And so, exams just keep getting harder.
As Dr. Kalanidhi pointed out, this means people are made to learn extra things they don’t really need to. It’s not about adding to your knowledge: it’s about finding ways to filter people out.
This leads to “tuitions” and “cram schools” like the Maotanchang — the educational equivalent of a Defeat Device.
If there’s one lesson to be learnt from this, it’s that a single measurement can’t tell you everything. Even Dr.Richard Stephens realised that, during a follow-up on his swear-words experiment.
If swear-words help you tolerate pain, you should use them more often, right?
Wrong. In a new experiment, two years after his original one, Dr. Stephens repeated the “ice water” procedure. But this time, he sorted participants according to how often the used swear-words in daily life. The result? Those with a higher “daily swearing frequency” found swear-words less effective in dealing with pain, than those who didn’t swear very often. Using expletives too much reduced their effectiveness
So it turns out my strategy was right, after all. Don’t use swear-words too often, but save them for when you really need them.
Want to write with us? To diversify our content, we’re looking out for new authors to write at Snipette. That means you! Aspiring writers: we’ll help you shape your piece. Established writers: Click here to get started.
Curious for more? Sources and references for this article can be found here. | https://medium.com/snipette/operational-definition-bcbb4ed8b676 | ['Badri Sunderarajan'] | 2019-08-02 07:16:55.332000+00:00 | ['Metrics', 'Economics', 'Psychology', 'Philosophy', 'Education'] |
Science Fictions — exposing fraud, bias, negligence and hype in science | Science Fictions — exposing fraud, bias, negligence and hype in science
Science Fictions serves as a superb introduction to the problem of failures of science, without resorting to alarmism.
Early on, Stuart Ritchie paraphrases Shakespeare’s Mark Anthony, declaring that he “comes to praise science, not to bury it”. Unlike the scheming Anthony of history and literature, though, Ritchie is not cloaking ulterior motives, but making quite a sincere statement of purpose from someone intimately acquainted with the worrying flaws underpinning the edifice of modern science.
Stuart Ritchie: Science Fictions — exposing fraud, bias, negligence and hype in science, Penguin, 2019; 368pp
This might seem a contrarian stance in the first pandemic of the internet era, when there is a growing public interest in research. But while scientific endeavour might have been elevated to the forefront of public consciousness, for now, this same awareness has exposed precisely the problems that the book explores. The high-profile retractions of papers in the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine over drugs like hydroxychloroquine for COVID serve as potent illustrations that questionable research can thrive even when the consequences are literally a matter of life and death.
Ritchie is a psychologist by training, and ideally placed to convey the extent of the problem. It is a central tenet of science that experimental results should be robust and repeatable; that if two teams perform the same experiment, then their findings should be broadly comparable. Alas, this is often not the case, and psychologists were among the first to note a “replication crisis” where seemingly established results did not hold up after examination.
One especially intriguing case cited in the book’s preface is Daryl Bem’s claim that students have latent psychic ability. Bem’s 2011 paper caused something of a stir, as it seemed to provide strong evidence that undergraduates could inexplicably identify behind which virtual curtains pornographic content was hidden. Apart from creating a minor media furore over the speculation that some subconscious sexual drive effectively endowed college students with psychic powers, the paper also drew the sceptical attention of several researchers — including Ritchie himself.
Following replication, Ritchie and others found Bem’s results did not stand up to scrutiny. But in attempting to correct the scientific record, the journal featuring the erroneous article refused to countenance the more diligent correction, waving it away with the curt dismissal that they never published studies that repeated an experiment already performed, regardless of the subsequent results.
This is truly galling, and over the course of the book, Ritchie provides ample evidence that this is not a problem limited to psychology, but an issue affecting vast swatches of research to our collective detriment. Biomedical science, despite its central importance to our well-being, is especially prone to questionable results; by one estimate, only about 11 per cent of cancer research is replicable. This is a truly shocking figure, but one that could come over as academic and toothless in the hands of a less capable writer. Thankfully, the author is adept at communicating the importance of the topic at hand, and its relevance to lay readers.
Ritchie understands the importance of framing what might seem as abstract concepts around arresting examples. Sadly for the trustworthiness of published science, there are many unedifying events from which to draw. These failures of science, however, do provide cautionary and gripping tales, most notably when fraud is discussed. The rogues’ gallery outlined in the book includes infamous exemplars; Paolo Macchiarini, the surgeon who misled the world over the potential of regenerative medicine; Woo-Suk Hwang, the “Pride of Korea”, a poster-child for stem cell science who committed systematic fraud; and the notorious Andrew Wakefield, the architect of the needless and deadly MMR vaccine panic.
Ritchie’s analysis of these cases is dispassionate and devastating, laying bare the harm caused without resorting to moralistic hand-wringing. Yet scientific fraud constitutes only a minority of dubious science, and accordingly, Science Fictions looks to other reasons too why so much science is suspect.
There are chapter-length explorations of critical concepts like bias, showcasing the reality that science is an inherently human endeavour, and that the prejudices of both experimenter and journal can skew results to something alien from reality. But perhaps the lion’s share of the blame for non-replicable results stems from the “publish-or-perish” paradigm that scientists are forced to operate under.
This ultimately leads to a perverse situation where “positive” or novel results are unduly fetishised and rewarded with prestige and research funding. The chapter on this topic is perhaps the most polemical and most certainly among the most entertaining in the book. In the interests of full disclosure, I should note that I am acutely aware of the problems with replicability in science; a significant portion of my work concerns this very issue, some of which is cited in the text.
Thankfully, a reader does not require a background in meta-research to enjoy this well-written introduction to a serious problem, and Science Fictions serves as a superb introduction, framing a serious problem without resorting to alarmism. | https://medium.com/scicomm-book-reviews/science-fictions-exposing-fraud-bias-negligence-and-hype-in-science-3490a2364fa9 | ['Public Understanding Of Science Blog'] | 2020-12-01 15:48:50.886000+00:00 | ['Science Journals', 'Science Fiction', 'Bias', 'Fraud', 'Science Communication'] |
New York City doesn’t know what it’s doing either | You’ve graduated, moved to New York City, and now you don’t know what you’re doing with your life or even where to get a decent cup of coffee. By Matthew Weddig
Moving to New York is scary, even before you start searching for a good bar. Photo: Harry Slater
I pretty much moved to New York City by accident, something most people do on purpose. A certain stereotyped dream behind moving to New York makes it not just part of how people plan their future, but idealise it. In contrast, New York was simply where I got a job offer, so I somehow managed to feel a little guilty about moving there.
A sprawling city where there is famously too much can pose somewhat of a problem, especially at a time in your life when you never know what you’re doing anyway. You could visit a new bar every single day and not see them all, and that’s assuming that you want to spend your life only going to bars.
I have no idea how people were adults before Yelp, the inevitable cross between social media and guidebook. Suddenly plopped down in the middle of new place, figuring out how to rebuild my personal web of restaurants and coffee shops was somehow a more daunting task than actually moving. Being a brand new adult, I’m baffled by how people were able to do that before they could take advantage of the aggregated opinions of practiced adults who had already decided on one of the dozen Chinese takeout places on their new street.
There’s undoubtedly a certain irony to finding an alternative to a big, ubiquitous chain like Starbucks by browsing through community opinions of what’s “good” (which can translate simply to “popular”), but it’s not actually that simple. The bar example is a good one; I had two friends from college visiting me in my new apartment (and, dauntingly, new life) in Brooklyn. Not having had to entertain friends in Brooklyn previously, I had little time to find cozy, quiet bars where we could talk over craft beers or proper cocktails (preferably with something of a hipster vibe). Finding a bar that meets those very specific requirements is nigh impossible just stumbling around Brooklyn and popping your head in the door, yet Yelp is a tool that somehow lets you narrow down your search to cozy, quiet, craft beers/proper cocktails (preferably with a hipster vibe).
Hipster is an actual category on Yelp. It’s an option under ambiance. Take a moment to appreciate what a weirdly useful tool this is.
Of course, not everybody finds such bars ideal, which is why I feel Yelp offers something essential beyond an average star rating. Single reviews won’t sway me, although when a negative review of a bar complained “I saw a hipster reading books” with a frowny face, I was convinced I needed to check it out. But skimming through a few dozen opinions lets you skip the busywork of finding and getting familiar with these places yourself. Within 15 minutes, I had narrowed the list down to a bar-slash-coffee shop, a speakeasy with a rotating menu of eight different cocktails, and what I can only describe as a western-steampunk-geek bar with a TARDIS restroom. There was literally a TARDIS against the wall, and inside was the toilet. (I later learned Matt Smith and Karen Gillan have been there and signed the wall.)
Now, you may have found three bars which were almost as perfect for you just wandering around by chance, but Yelp cuts through the haze in a way that you enviously wish you could for the rest of your life.
Moving to New York when you have just graduated and never seem to know what you’re doing is incredibly overwhelming. Yet through its endless list of things to do — almost all of which you will never manage — and not being certain you’re even making reasonable decisions about any of it, a big city like New York is weirdly symbolic of that period of your life. Suddenly faced with too many options, you learn real quickly that there is no magical binary of the right or wrong way to find happiness. And it is overwhelming, but it is more importantly freeing.
Unsurprisingly, it’s easier to learn this lesson about a city like New York than about what you’re doing with your life. And that’s totally fine. What it is, though, is an easy way to begin learning the freeing thought process of simply being able to decide “Yes, that is what I want to do next”. Especially when Yelp is pointing me towards a bar with a TARDIS restroom. | https://medium.com/abstract-magazine/new-york-city-doesn-t-know-what-it-s-doing-either-13c15f6363fe | ['Abstract Magazine'] | 2015-11-30 18:04:16.380000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'Life', 'New York'] |
Where Do We Come From? | The truth isn’t for everyone
Photo by Bill Adler
Carter led Saoirse to the cave’s most distant point.
Except for their footsteps, the cavern was silent. Carter walked two paces in front of Saoirse to clear the way, waving his flashlight from side to side, as if the beam could sweep away fallen objects. Though the cave floor was flat and gently sloped, it would do him no good if his boss tripped over a rock. He maintained a keen lookout.
Saoirse sighed. “How much farther, Carter, until we see this incredible archaeological find of yours?” She aimed her flashlight to the side, illuminating a wall of damp, colorless stone. She hoped to see pictographs or some other writing, but instead millipedes, spiders, and other crawlers scurried away from the light. Saoirse jumped.
“Just a few more minutes. It will have been worth the trouble.” More than worth it. This is the greatest discovery of all time. Carter’s brain bubbled with anticipation.
“It better be.”
Carter detected an irritated stomp in her step. His mind filled in the rest of Saoirse’s sentence. Or your career is over.
He gripped the flashlight because he didn’t want to drop it, but also because he was anxious. He had asked — no, insisted — that Saoirse see his discovery with her own eyes. Saoirse held two chairs at the university, Chair of Archaeology and Chair of Historical Doctrine. She was the only android in the country who held dual positions. Putting his job in an even more precarious place, Saoirse also had the ear of the Supreme Android Leader, which meant one bad word from her and Carter wouldn’t be teaching archaeology anymore. He’d be lucky to get a job as a servo repairman.
But a good word and he’d be golden.
He was risking everything to bring her to the site, but it was the only way. Photographs with descriptions of where and how the find was made, even if accompanied by precise dating and location measurements, were insufficient evidence for such a monumental discovery. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Saoirse had to see the artifact in its original location, just as Carter had.
Carter’s hydraulic pump beat fast with anticipation.
“My power supply runs out in eight hours and six minutes,” Saoirse said. Her words cracked like a whip. “Whatever you want to show me, it had better be done well before then.” Running out of battery power wasn’t dangerous, but it was certainly embarrassing to be carried out on a stretcher, ugly, untamed wires connecting to an emergency battery. One of the major vidnews networks closed each evening with a humorous segment showing an android in exactly that state. Nobody wanted to be that android.
“We’re almost there. You’ll be back at the hovercraft with plenty of time to charge.” He went silent for two seconds while considering whether to add, “I promise,” which he did.
Carter dialed his flashlight to maximum brightness and knelt on the ground. “This is it.” Those are unremarkable words for such a momentous moment, Carter thought. He rephrased his sentence as if it were being broadcast worldwide, “This is the discovery I made that changes everything we know about where androids came from.”
Saoirse aimed her flashlight at the disc-shaped object on the ground. The object was about a third of a meter in diameter, two centimeters thick, blueish-black in color — though the color almost certainly had faded over the eons — and had a silver button in its center. It looked like an oversized hover drone.
Carter shined the light on the other artifacts. Several broken drinking glasses, a black plastic dial with BOSCH printed in broken, white letters, a piece of steel with a handle that looked like it may once have been part of a door, and an elongated piece of metal with an oval-shaped saucer at one end littered the surrounding area.
Saoirse ignored the artifacts and stiffened her back.
Carter was on the verge of suggesting she take a closer look, but given that Saoirse’s reputation included a short fuse, along with brilliance and political connections, Carter decided the less said the better. Besides, in a few seconds, the self-evident, history-changing significance of this discovery would light up Saoirse’s neural net.
“What is it?”
“It’s called a Roomba.”
“A what?”
“A Roomba. A robotic vacuum cleaner. A primitive machine, but one of unprecedented historical importance.”
“You brought me over a thousand kilometers to see a vacuum cleaner?” Her words stung Carter like sharp needles.
Carter stood and aimed the light at his face, so she could see the truth in his eyes. “I dated this device using both lepton and proton methods to 3010 Previous Era, over ten thousand years ago,” Carter said. “Scans reveal the chips in the Roomba are closely related to ours.” Carter paused for effect. “The co-artifacts also date back to that year, and it all leads to a single and inescapable conclusion: We evolved from Roomba.”
She shuffled her feet, kicking up dirt. Saoirse and Carter’s air filters whirred as they removed the microscopic particles. “Are you telling me that our android species evolved from robot vacuum cleaners?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Saoirse let loose a maniacal chuckle and shook her head. “That’s silly, of course. That’s nonsense.”
“It’s true. There’s no doubt we come from these ancient robots.” Carter extended his arm toward the disc. “I’m sure that as we study it more, we’ll find out that Roomba wasn’t primitive at all. I’m sure it was advanced for its time. Maybe we can even learn from it.”
“I think you should agree it’s not.”
“Once seen, this ancient robot can’t be unseen. Nor should it. We’ll be rewriting the history texts.” Carter’s green eyes glowed bright and his lips pulsed pink. “Professor, we now have proof of where we’re from. There’s a lot more to discover and I feel it in my endoskeleton that these caves will yield even more revelations.”
“You know — as everyone knows — the Miazak race from the Circinus Galaxy seeded us here in the year zero A.E.,” Saoirse said. “Android Era.” She clicked her flashlight off. “One day the aliens may return, reveal themselves to us, and explain why they left their offspring on Earth. But it’s up to them to decide.” Saoirse exhaled audibly. “So, last chance, Carter.”
“I won’t deny this discovery about our origin. Science is building knowledge upon knowledge. Sometimes we have to throw out old ideas to make room for new ones.”
“You’re a heretic.”
Saoirse pulled a silver and gold cylinder out of her pocket. Three fork-like prongs protruded from the front. She pointed the cylinder toward Carter.
“What’s that?” Carter knew what it was, but asked anyway. His fate was only moments away, yet oddly he felt at peace. He’d achieved what few accomplished, and while Saoirse was about to ensure that nobody would ever learn about his discovery, Carter knew, and that filled him with unexpected happiness.
Saoirse squeezed the cylinder, which emitted a blue stream of light that struck Carter mid-chest. His eyes went black and he collapsed. She aimed the weapon at Roomba, dialed the power to maximum, squeezed it again, and vaporized Carter’s discovery.
“Somebody may find you in a thousand years.” She shrugged and turned toward the cave’s entrance. “But you’ll be of no interest to anybody.” | https://medium.com/@billadler/where-do-we-come-from-cd320e92a538 | ['Bill Adler'] | 2020-11-12 15:29:48.397000+00:00 | ['Science Fiction', 'Short Story', 'Fiction', 'Robots', 'SciFi'] |
Malakim network: incoming transmission… | Malakim network: incoming transmission…
Outgoing Code: ¡SyntaxError!
Date: C666
Incoming code: ¡SyntaxError!
Hey, this is Mandi-Bull, errr, Specialist Tanker Mandi-Bull of the Razor Rock clan. I heard you lot from P.R.A. Academy wanted a tactical dump of the wastelands? That I can do, but not sure why you’d care. They aren’t called the wastelands for kicks. But whatever, it’s your coin.
So where to start? This place stinks, but it didn’t always. According to the lore, the three original punks found this place and chose it ’cause it was metal-rich and verdant. Imagine that, eh? A flakking verdant Kerberos! It blows the mind, doesn’t it? So what happened, you ask? How did we end up on this barren, slightly toxic death world that we call home?
Well, we are responsible; that’s a kick in the pants, ain’t it? Seems when that ol’ legendary gleamin’ Glorious Future went all nuclear, enough of it survived on a trajectory that was reachable by the Gearbreaker ship… What was it called again? Slagg, I forget. It doesn’t matter — they hooked onto it and started scrapping it for materials and old tech. Went on like that for yonks, but as the deceleration began when we entered Hades local space, you know the system that we live in, bullets and brass. I don’t know how simple to make this.
So lemme back up. We live on the planet Kerberos, named for the three large continents it used to have — I’ll get to that later. This planet was in the Hades system, named for the reddish color of the sun, TRM dash something-something. That’s what the old solar imperial techs used to call it. This system was far enough from the earth and the solar empire that pursuit was unlikely, and it had an earth-like planet: TRM dash seven-something, also known as Kerberos. It was full of water, equatorial jungles, temperate zones, polar zones. It had all the zones.
So then we show up, and when the ships start to decelerate, that weakens some of the moorings on the floating scrapyard that became the Gearbreaker ship, the Robert something. And as our trajectory became sharper and deceleration became greater, those moorings failed, and at least half an interstellar arc ship still full of fabricators, and nano storage, and nuclear reactors all broke off, and BAM! The wreckage hit right smack-dab in the middle of one of the continents. This caused some not insignificant problems for the local flora and fauna. The main crash site is said to be the Impact Sea in the middle of Metalos.
This kicked up dust storms and triggered earthquakes, and then all the freaked-out nanobots started to do their thing but only half-arsed due to their lack of a centralized computer system to monitor their duties. They got weird and started to build half-constructed foundries or lay down miles of pipeline that went nowhere. So between the time period that the wreckage broke off and impacted the planet, our deceleration into orbit, and our wild descent through the clouds to form our new homes, the planet had changed a bit. We still had oceans and some forests, but much of the verdant life had died or was dying.
Then came the bullslag axiom that the Holy Corp psychos had a mandate from their shareholders that they should rule the planet. We, the people, and the gears-for-brains objected a bit, and that was the first of the Axiom Wars. That war went bad real fast, like neutron bombs, nano bombs, and nukes bad. After that, the place was pretty much wrecked, and the weaponized nanobots from the nano-bombs comingled with the wild nanos, and they got even weirder, but that’s a different report.
Of the three continents, we have Metalos, Dios, and Lemos. With the boiling of the oceans during the Axiom Wars, Metalos became the largest continent, covering 80% of the globe. The other two, Dios and Lemos, are much smaller and are still surrounded by the small vestiges of the planet’s oceans, Ingot to the south and Sidaero to the north. We built our great city in the southern hemisphere on the coast of Slag Bay. The Gearbreakers, as I said, are on the shores of the Brackish Sea, and in the north, on the edges of the ice flows, the Holy Corp set up their money church.
Metalos also has vast areas that are only held by the factions in name only, and are mostly unexploited, making expansion even in the face of war very tempting. Places like the Calix Planes and the two continents, Dios and Lemos, are less touched by war and even have some hearty local flora and some mutated lifeforms if the rumors are true. The kind that can gobble up a tank or launch spines through an aircraft.
So that leaves us with the wastelands. Like the rest of the planet, they are metal-rich, with magnetite being the most common ore in that area, with some galena deposits and uraninite. There are three largeish seas: the Brackish, which is, well, brackish and dead, poisoned by Gearbreaker manufacturing; the Impact Sea, which is said to hold lost tech at its bottom; and the Blood Sea, which has lots of magnetite in it, staining the waters red.
The land varies between rocky, hilly, and mountainous. There are some runoff rivers, toxic still ponds, and I hear there may be some blue waters, but those are most likely rumors. Most of the territory is old battlegrounds where ruined cities stand empty, wrecks of planes, mechs, and tanks still dot the land. There are also lots of old bases, foundries, even some lost fabricators. But you also have the nano-plagued, the bandits, and even some faction spies up to no good.
I’d assume most of you know-it-alls are aware we are currently involved in the oh-so-wittily named Paradox War, thanks to moot leader Sin-D for that one. If their axiom is that the Holy Corpees should run the show, the paradox is that the Metal Punks should run things instead, since everyone else is a bunch of blockheads. Expectedly, the blockheads disagree.
While the moot idea isn’t tracking, the factions are still mostly abiding by the treaty of Cresh. So we reached out to the lunatics on Scyla to send us some of their people who might like to live in this middle ground and carve out their own empires, creating a buffer zone between the factions to stop the constant warfare maybe. It didn’t work, but now we have cat’s-paws to do most of the fighting for us. We still poke our noses in occasionally and send out mercs, but mostly the Paradox War has been fought with Earther barons on the front lines. It works well for us — we can focus on whatever the slag we want to do, or what the moot makes us do.
That’s all I got for ya. Good luck and slag off!
If you enjoyed this series, share it on your socials and join us for the exciting road ahead! Join our discord to engage with our community, stay up to date on announcements and developments and get chances to win whitelist allocations to our upcoming NFT sales.
Welcome to the Metalverse, MetalMercs!
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube and visit our website www.metalcoregame.com to receive the latest updates. | https://medium.com/metalcorenft/mp-brief-of-kerebos-c15cc4872282 | ['Metalcore News'] | 2021-12-30 18:12:39.616000+00:00 | ['Gaming', 'Storytelling', 'Nft Collectibles', 'Blockchain', 'Metalcore'] |
Logo Casestudy: Cell Stress & Immunity (CSI) | Breakdown of how CSI logo was brought to life
In early 2020, I was roped in to design the Laboratory of Cell Stress & Immunity (CSI) logo, a part of KU Leuven (Belgium), Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. I have always ever designed logos for tech startups, and this was the first time I was about to jump into designing something that is well out of my comfort zone. But having a fair bit of experience and interest in logo designs, I decided to trust in the process and go one step at a time while working with the client in unpacking the expected outcome.
It is always important to remember that the logo is a symbolic representation of the company/brand; and it often requires inspiration and art and research, analysis, hard work, and rigorous testing to design it.
Tools
Pencil sketching, Adobe Illustrator
Understanding the background 🗒️
I wanted to do my own research around competitors in this space and color palettes that are not favored in this domain. The logo design is for a lab that focuses on cancer cell death's immunology, and for starters, I know nothing about this field and its technicality. So I send across a questionnaire to the client to help me steer in the right direction and start building a mood board of shapes, color palettes, and inspirations. Here are the questions that I chose to ask — | https://uxplanet.org/logo-casestudy-cell-stress-immunity-csi-5dbe6ddbcff6 | ['Dhananjay Garg'] | 2020-12-27 22:17:53.812000+00:00 | ['Logo', 'Logo Design', 'Design', 'Illustration', 'Graphic Design'] |
Why should you outsourcing to Vietnam? Top 5 Reasons | 1. Stable politics, promising economy
Thanks to being a country led by a single party, Vietnam has a stable political background, Risk of terrorism, ethnic and religious instability is something you won’t find in Vietnam, Stable society is the foundation for the country to realize its economic determination. The Communist Party of Vietnam has set a target that by 2045, Vietnam will become a developed, industrialized nation with high incomes [7].
The government of this country wants to catch up with the industrial revolution 4.0, so they have developed a national strategy on research, development, and application of Artificial Intelligence [8]. By 2030, Vietnam aims to become one of the four leading countries in ASEAN and among the top 50 countries in AI globally. The Vietnamese government itself also clearly sees benefits from the way businesses have foreign investment. They issued Decree 29 in 2019 to facilitate labor outsourcing [9]. Accordingly, the term of the work permit is increased from 36 months to 60 months, removing the 12-month restriction on hiring outsourced employees, and increasing the number of jobs that are allowed to be outsourced.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc experienced ordering food with Misa, a robot integrated with artificial intelligence, on January 15, 2019. Source: vietnamnet (https://vietnamnet.vn/vn/cong-nghe/thu-tuong-nguyen-xuan-phuc-tham-trien-lam-cac-san-pham-cong-nghe-make-in-vietnam-502874.html)
These actions show that the Vietnamese government attaches great importance to maintaining social stability and developing the country’s economy. This is also what has been repeatedly affirmed in the COVID-19 prevention and control strategy, which is “both to prevent and control the epidemic, and to promote production and business”. This is also the reason that helps Vietnam suffer less damage from the epidemic but still increase GDP by 2.9% in 2020 [10], one of the highest growth countries in the world.
2. Great human resources for the software industry
According to TopDev’s 2021 report [11], Vietnam currently has about 430,000 software engineering engineers and 55,000 software graduates every year. Highly qualified Vietnamese programmer, ranked 5th by Kearney Global Services Location Index 2019 and 18th in the Tholons Top 100 Outsourcing Destination 2016. Nearly 55% of developers in Vietnam are between the ages of 20 and 29 [11]. The survey from TopDev on the age of developers will give you a full picture of the youthfulness of the majority of developers.
Infographic made with Infogram. See details at: https://infogram.com/age-developers-in-vietnam-in-2021-by-topdev-1h7j4dv0erqev4n?live
More and more Vietnamese are assessed as capable of learning many new technologies, well-trained, professional manner, able to compete fairly with engineers in other countries.
3. High-quality technical education
Figures from TopDev 2020 show that there are more than 153 information technology training schools. TopDev also said that 70% of programmers are educated at universities and colleges. This shows that most programmers in Vietnam are well trained. Recently, the Ministry of Information and Communications of this country has approved a draft of the development orientation of the information and communication industry to improve the level of human resources in the software field of this country. In fact, so far, there are some Vietnamese students have demonstrated their ability to reach out to the world. In 2020, a group of 4 students from the University of Technology — Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, became one of the 10 winners of the Google Solution Challenge 2020 [12]. They created the Shareapy application to help support online psychology. This shows that talent in the software field can always be found in Vietnam.
Students from Vietnam present Shareapy at Demo Day. Source: Google Developers (https://youtu.be/63RTBxRyFX8)
4. Labor costs are lower than in industrial countries
Vietnam has an abundant labor force, meeting the demand for high qualifications. People in the software sector in Vietnam have better wages than other fields, but their incomes are still lower compared to other countries, especially compared to industrial countries. This gives Vietnam the advantage that labor costs are much cheaper than in industrialized countries like the US, and among the lowest in the world. To make it easier for you to imagine, we have created an infographic comparing the income of some positions in the software field between the US and Vietnam.
Infographic made with Infogram. See details at: https://infogram.com/comparing-developer-salary-by-positions-between-us-and-vietnam-in-2021-1ho16vogv0qjx4n?live
Some positions are about 3 times different, some are more than 10 times. It shows that Vietnam’s labor cost advantage is still very attractive but may not be in the future.
Not only labor costs but warehouse operating costs in Vietnam are also among the lowest in the world [13]. Savills conducted research in 21 countries with 54 cities. According to Savills, warehouse operating costs in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are the lowest in the world. Savills assesses that the boom in e-commerce drives warehouse demand in the majority of the market. The increasing pressure on warehouses makes this also an advantage of Vietnam in attracting investment.
5. English is not a barrier for Vietnamese people and Vietnam is a convenient location
More and more foreign companies are setting up headquarters and recruiting Vietnamese employees. This leads to increasing demand for English communication among Vietnamese employees. They have constantly improved their communication skills so that English is not a barrier in the working process. In Vietnam, English is taught from grade 1. To graduate from university, almost all schools in Vietnam require an international English certificate to ensure students’ ability to work in English. Therefore, you do not need to worry about communication problems with IT engineers in Vietnam. This should be mentioned with another advantage, which is Vietnam’s favorable position in the trade. It only takes you a few hours to get from Ho Chi Minh City to the tech hubs of Asia. Currently, direct flights are established between Vietnam and the US, Vietnam, and Europe, allowing you to travel directly to these places in less than a day.
Original Content: https://www.speranzainc.com/why-outsourcing-to-vietnam-5-reasons-you-should-do-it/
Source:
[7] https://vietnamnews.vn/politics-laws/870284/13th-national-party-congress-sets-out-bold-path-to-prosperity-for-viet-nam.html
[8] http://www2.chinhphu.vn/portal/page/portal/chinhphu/noidungchienluocphattrienkinhtexahoi?_piref33_14725_33_14721_14721.strutsAction=ViewDetailAction.do&_piref33_14725_33_14721_14721.docid=5058&_piref33_14725_33_14721_14721.substract=
[9] http://vanban.chinhphu.vn/portal/page/portal/chinhphu/hethongvanban?class_id=1&_page=1&mode=detail&document_id=196496
[10] https://www.gso.gov.vn/du-lieu-va-so-lieu-thong-ke/2021/01/kinh-te-viet-nam-2020-mot-nam-tang-truong-day-ban-linh/ [
11] https://topdev.vn/page/bao-cao-it-viet-nam#2021
[12] https://developers.googleblog.com/2020/07/dsc-global-students-solutions-with-code.html
[13] https://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/industries/vietnam-has-lowest-warehouse-operating-costs-4256600.html | https://medium.com/@suman_39198/why-should-you-outsourcing-to-vietnam-top-5-reasons-3e8a632db83e | ['Speranza'] | 2021-12-16 07:40:44.106000+00:00 | ['Offshore Development', 'It', 'Speranza', 'Vietnam', 'Outsourcing'] |
Data breach monitoring for emails | Earlier on we at Badrap.io introduced an integration to Have I Been Pwned data breach monitoring for a single email address.
Today we’re back with multiple email monitoring!
Now you can add in all of your email addresses and get alert notifications on data breaches. Emails such as personal addresses you use at home or at work, or emails you’ve used to register to online services and mailing lists. Even the so called plus-addresses (me+service@domain) work beautifully.
Add in all of your email addresses and get alert notifications on data breaches.
You might also want to consider adding in your loved ones emails, like your mom or kids, with their consent of course. Badrap always sends verification requests to the actual email owners, asking for their agreement on adding the email to your list of email assets.
Badrap always sends verification requests to the actual email owners, asking for their agreement on adding the email to your list of email assets.
You’re always in control
It’s important to note that one can always retract their email address from Badrap.io’s email data breach monitoring. If you accidentally accepted or your situation changed, you can visit Badrap and subscribe to email removal. With a few clicks your email address gets removed from every user of the Badrap service. No hassle — You’re always in control.
I’m not gonna give my email inbox to anyone
By giving another person permission to monitor your email address for data breaches, you’re not giving access to your actual email inbox. You’re giving permission for the other person to get notifications when your email address is involved in a data breach. This way they can contact you and help with the aftermath.
Start today!
In addition to email addresses, Badrap also monitors for vulnerable devices and services with the IP addresses of the networks you use.
Visit Badrap.io to get started today! | https://medium.com/badrapio/data-breach-monitoring-for-emails-bcbcf0211256 | [] | 2019-02-16 08:21:51.965000+00:00 | ['Security', 'Infosec', 'Monitoring', 'Data Breach', 'Email'] |
The 6-Week Void in My Identity | Six Weeks
That’s the length of time unaccounted for. Forty-two days of life. Those are the completely dark days. Six weeks is the hole in my heart. The entire month of October and then some. I do not know where I was. I do not know who cared for me. I do not know what happened to me.
In his book, “The Body Keeps the Score,” Bessel Van Der Kolk argues extensively for a somatic understanding of trauma. When we face trauma, he suggests, our bodies encode the adverse experience deep within our nervous systems, and far below the level of conscious awareness. Increasingly, research surrounding PTSD is pointing toward a similar thesis, namely, that when we relive a traumatic moment, the memory is much more visceral, since it has been buried in our bodies, often never even having been explicitly recounted by consciousness. Our bodies remember, even if our minds do not recall.
This view of trauma has led therapists and other mental healthcare practitioners to rethink their approach. We should stop asking what’s wrong with you and instead ask what happened to you, if we really want to help people heal.
The problem is, I don’t know what happened to me for the first six weeks of my life and I might never find out.
I do know I was given up for adoption the day I was born, and then I was in the foster system until I was adopted by the people I now call Mom and Dad. Since mine was a closed adoption and all records were sealed, I grew up knowing next to nothing about my biological family, though I was always insatiably curious. I’ve located many of them, and have cobbled together a lot about my origins. I even reconnected with the social worker who handled my case nearly forty years ago. Though he is getting up there in age, he helped me tremendously. Still, no one can tell me what my first six weeks of life were like.
Related to Van Der Kolk’s work on trauma, researchers have also begun focusing on the ways early childhood traumas — adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), as they are called — impact development and health, both physiologically and psychologically. Abuse and neglect, for example, can manifest later in life as chronic illness. Growing up with an alcoholic parent can lead a child to develop all sorts of unhealthy coping strategies and in turn, those can become psychologically debilitating conditions. The body indeed keeps the score, as Nadine Burke Harris eloquently describes in this TED talk:
An adverse childhood experience (ACE) that is less often acknowledged is adoption. Not the part where the adoptive parents take you home and you might finally begin to feel settled and start forming trusting and secure attachments. That is, of course, if you are fortunate enough to be adopted by good parents. Countless adoptees out there suffered just as much or even more by the hands of their adoptive parents, some even being murdered by them. This fact alone renders the sweeping claim that adoption is always in the best interest of the child patently absurd.
Let me be clear: I had an amazing childhood and my parents absolutely did and admirable job. Nevertheless, the experience of being taken from my first mother and father on the day of my birth absolutely counts as an ACE. There are plenty of studies showing that babies placed in the NICU, for instance, suffer extreme stress and their nervous systems go into overdrive trying to compensate for being ripped apart from the only source of safety they have ever known. Even in utero, babies begin forming bodily memories, which is why, as soon as 24 hours after birth, they will show marked preference for the breastmilk of their biological mother over that of a genetic stranger. They will even show preference for music and sounds — like their mother’s voice — they were accustomed to hearing while gestating. Newborns have no way to conceptualize that they are a distinct human subject, different from their mother. This is why postnatal care has been increasingly emphasizing the importance of the “fourth trimester” in forming positive life experiences for the baby (and parents) as the transition from one body to two is made.
All of this is to say that the separation of newborn from its biological parents is a preverbal trauma, one that leaves its mark on the baby’s nervous system just like any other ACE. This sort of trauma happens prior to the capacity for linguistic representation, but this does not mean babies do not remember. It is arguably why so many adoptees suffer from debilitating mental illness, are more susceptible to auto-immune disorders, and are more likely to attempt suicide in the non-adopted population. This lecture by psychiatrist, Paul Sunderland provides an excellent overview of preverbal trauma and its impact on development and functioning in adoptees.
I’ve explored my own preverbal trauma as a potential source of some of the challenges I’ve faced in life. Despite an overwhelmingly positive childhood, it would be a lie to say I have not struggled with my mental health over the years. Having children really brought to the fore just how much being relinquished for adoption impacted me, and that is when I began searching for my biological relatives in earnest. Like I said, I found many of them and learned a lot about my genetic predispositions to certain conditions, including mental illness, and I even learned that my mom was volatile and stressed while she was pregnant with me, potentially a contributing factor to the high blood pressure and crippling anxiety I experience.
We all try to build a cohesive narrative to frame our lives, and I have been able to piece together so much more of who I am by learning about where I came from. Yet, I still do not know anything about those first six weeks.
Pictures or it didn’t happen!
Everyone likes to say this, in our image-obsessed culture. I take a ton of pictures of my kids and I think it’s to compensate for this gaping hole in my own pictorial legacy. I don’t have any pictures of me on the day of my birth. But my birthday most assuredly happened. Life most assuredly happened for me during those six weeks where I have no pictures, no stories, and no information about the people with whom I interacted.
Having my own children now, I realize just how much life happens in those first few weeks — the attachment formation, the mirroring, learning eye contact and gaze following, emotional regulation, sleep pattern formation, and bonding. What were all those things like for me? Did I bond with my foster family only to be traumatized again when I was abruptly taken from them? Or did they neglect and abuse me, the sad reality of so many fostering situations? Or was I basically in a modern-day orphanage? Was I scared? Was I fed enough? Did I scream out for attention like so many stressed babies, or did I simply collapse into silence out of fear I would be harmed if I was too much?
There is abundant compelling science indicating that babies remember things even if they cannot consciously recall them. An abused child, even at 4 weeks of age, will be impacted by that abuse. Yet, people who uncritically praise adoption tend to ignore these facts. They insist a baby is basically a blank slate, at least for the first few days? Weeks? A whole year? It depends on what agenda they have. Many well-meaning adoptive parents think as long as they shower their child with love, it will cancel out anything bad that happened in the first moments or even months of life. The child has no real memories or conscious mind — their life does not truly begin — until they are adopted. It’s the biggest lie in the industry.
If we really want to do adoption right — if that is even possible — we have to first stop insisting that there are no negative side effects to adoption. We need to admit that adoption is traumatic. We need to listen to adoptees when they tell us adoption hurts them. Not doing so is willful ignorance and it perpetuates the marginalization and harm adoptees experience.
I have a six-week void in my narrative construction of myself. Many adoptees I know have a far bigger gap. Some of them were so traumatized by being culturally uprooted, internationally transplanted, and psychologically abused that they have effectively fragmented themselves and suffer dissociations as a result of unconsciously trying to cope with the ACEs that mark their development.
If only I had pictures, or someone to share stories about me in those first six weeks, I could piece my story together even more and understand what happened to me, which would help me understand my behavioral schemas, drives, and non-conscious coping mechanisms. It would help me understand…me. Though I’ve spent a lifetime on this project, the frustration of knowing there are six weeks I will likely never account for and thus will always come up short is maddening. I’m a perfectionist and finish everything I start as perfectly as I can, but this is one task doubt I will ever complete.
And it is even more frustrating to hear “it doesn’t matter” or “just be positive” or “you got THE BEST family though!” All that gaslighting only makes it worse because it reaffirms the fears I have — that so many adoptees have — that no one will ever understand or take it seriously. My pain is mine alone, save for the adoptee comrades I have who feel it too.
As my 40th birthday approaches, I pull out the first picture I have of myself, the day I was brought ‘home.’ I look at this picture every year and wonder if I will ever feel fully home with myself. Because when I look at this picture I see a person who has six weeks of memories and life experiences already accumulated, but no one to share those with. I see this child and I want to talk to her and ask, what happened to you? | https://medium.com/curious/the-6-week-void-in-my-identity-1b1eaf369a3b | ['Michele Merritt'] | 2020-09-24 17:54:18.291000+00:00 | ['Trauma', 'Mental Health', 'Self', 'Psychology', 'Adoption'] |
My Husband’s Girlfriend Moved in with Us During the Pandemic | Molly, almost ten years my junior, lived a few miles away with her college-aged children. Her eldest attended a local college and her youngest was away at a state university until she boomeranged home when classes went virtual. While Molly was mostly following stay-at-home orders, her children’s routines included working at a hospital, going to the gym, visiting boyfriends, and eating at restaurants.
The lifestyle of Molly’s household was inconsistent with the tighter lockdown practiced at our house. In the spring, I was getting the shakes each time I was in the supermarket for more than ten minutes. I gasped, then growled, at mask-less runners who surprised me from behind on a shared sidewalk while I took walks to escape my home office, which felt more like a prison each day. On the rare occasions when Eric and I ordered take-out food, we kept the containers outside and transferred the food to our own dishes before bringing dinner inside. We are not so obsessive now, but up until July, we were.
Molly and Eric had been dating for two years before we all bubbled up with those in our households, and viewed anyone outside our pod as a potential disease monger.
Not too far into the lockdown, Molly was having a rough go if it, primarily because without a live-in partner, she was lonely for actual adult companionship and sex. In the times before COVID-19 shrank our contact list to our immediate household, the grocery store clerk, and whichever colleagues we were forced to interact with on virtual platforms, Molly was a happily divorced programmer, with a cat and a 401k. She had plenty of sex drive, dates, happy hours, and scores of intimate connections she meticulously entered on a spread sheet on her phone. The last three came to screeching halt on March 16, 2020. Cue, Eric.
Molly and Eric had been dating for two years before we all bubbled up with those in our households, and viewed anyone outside our pod as a potential disease monger. Their relationship had steadily increased in intensity. Molly had been to our house for dance parties, and we had all gone out to clubs and shows a few times. She was fun and extroverted with an infectious laugh, dimples, and delightful corkscrew curls. I liked her fine.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
As Eric saw it, he and Molly had four options.
He could accept the risks her household posed as the cost of polyamory, and they could see each other with no physical barriers, other than condoms. This would necessitate consultation with, and agreement by, the rest of our bubbled-in polycule,* whose members had lower risk profiles — and no kids. He could wait until the pandemic was over to see her at all. They could continue with the socially distanced visits — wine on the porch or a masked walk in the neighborhood. Or… they could devise a plan that included coronavirus testing and quarantining, and could lead to Molly bubbling in with us.
In post-lock down April, Eric and Molly engaged Option 3 with visits on our deck, at a social distance. Most visits included tears. No, that’s not right — they all included tears. Molly cries. It’s just a thing she does. She really is a very high functioning, multi-tasking, tool-using, programming-proficient, cook, carpenter, and all around together chick. She is also prone to face leaking and has been since childhood. She told me that her dad used to tease her by saying, “Molly keeps a tear at the ready in the corner of her eye, in case she needs it.”
Deploying Option 4 seemed like a huge step, an unusual step; but these were unusual times.
So, when Molly tearfully choked out last spring, “Eric, I need you to be my person. I do not have anyone else because of the freaking lockdown. Can you do that?” — Eric, man that he is, protector, hero, problem-solver, and co-owner — with me — of a relatively large house, was game. But was I? I had never seriously considered one of our partners living with us. Deploying Option 4 seemed like a huge step, an unusual step; but these were unusual times. Eric and I talked about it at length. How exactly would this work? | https://medium.com/polyamory-today/my-husbands-girlfriend-moved-in-with-us-during-the-pandemic-could-this-work-36d8bc83c767 | ['Nataliedavis Adventures'] | 2020-12-16 19:31:20.999000+00:00 | ['Pandemic', 'Polyamory', 'Relationships', 'Open Relationships', 'Marriage'] |
Elementary (particles), my dear… | Our curiosity to know about the composition of things around us, is not recent. As old as two and half thousand years ago, natural philosophers like Kanada and Democritus suggested that the Universe might consist of atoms. Their theories were mainly philosophical models and thought experiments, because of lack of advanced mathematics or experimental setup at that time. Despite the facts, it feels incredible that their thoughts somehow sparked the formal inquiry into matter and energy. We have kept asking ourselves the question of composition of matter in the Universe. Today we know much more about atoms, electrons, energy, and the their roles in the observable universe. Still the answer to that question is equally fascinating as it was in the antiquity. It takes us on a journey from the everyday objects (cats, cars and trees) to that unseen or un-seeable (if that’s a word) world scientists have been talking about for quite some time. So, where do we start? In his wildly famous science book Cosmos, Carl Sagan writes,
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the Universe.
— Carl Sagan
The universe is a strange place where the natural laws appear to be different depending on the size of the entities. Electrons with their bizarre uncertain probabilistic nature look very different than a normal tennis ball bouncing on the grass, although the latter one is made up of the prior one. Principally, you can zoom into the tennis ball and observe the weird phenomena of electrons. The laws are same (symmetrical) everywhere you go (see Gauge theory), it’s just the appearance of them changes.
Depending on the perspective, we are either trapped, or safely cushioned between the bizarre worlds — one with electrons, quarks, photons, and the other one with big stars, galaxies and super-massive blackholes.
It’s difficult, rather impossible for our minds which themselves are products of millions of years of evolution and cultural upbringings, to understand something that’s out of scale by such a large extent on both the ends. Understanding them takes special efforts on a personal level and a deep commitment to follow through several levels of abstraction. Language is often inadequate when we describe these concepts. After all, language as a tool to query and explain nature is only a recent invention of mankind! | https://medium.com/half-spin/elementary-particles-my-dear-20146d7d3181 | [] | 2020-12-24 06:08:31.767000+00:00 | ['Physics', 'Elementary Particles', 'Quantum Computing'] |
How PPC Can Help In Search Engine Optimization Endeavors? | Many individuals lean toward SEO over PPC for its drawn out benefits, and on the grounds that it is “free”.
Be that as it may, SEO sets aside time. By making content, marketing the pages, building joins until Google sees the changes, it can require a long time to get results. This implies that you don’t know immediately assuming the time you spend on it is paying off. Nonetheless, ppc services gives practically prompt outcomes. What’s more most marketing stages like Google and Facebook furnish sponsors with information and thoughts. So to benefit as much as possible from your endeavors, you want both.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of Pay Per Click Marketing (PPC) is that you can quickly screen your focusing on advertisements and points of arrival. Make a decent attempt as you need, you won’t ever get moment results from natural SEO endeavors (website improvement). This implies that assuming you have not begun utilizing SEO or then again assuming that your SEO endeavors are not met, PPC will lead you to the outcomes you are searching for digital marketing company in bangalore. Keep in mind, regardless of whether you get a ton of traffic naturally, this doesn’t imply that your SEO is effective. On the off chance that it doesn’t change your clients over to clients, traffic has not done much for you. Coming up next are some straightforward ways of making the consequences of your PPC and make them into the income from SEO.
Catchphrases
Decide if later the proper catchphrases in PPC will permit you to save time and exertion in SEO. Assuming you are not currently named a term, purchase your direction to the primary page of Google can assist you with assessing on the off chance that this keyword ought to be naturally adjusted. At the point when you set up your PPC mission to set up transformations, you can decide how much percent of individuals who visit your site from a catchphrase really changed over into clients. Assuming a catchphrase has many hunt traffic yet doesn’t change over it is an extraordinary pointer that this isn’t an idea that you might want to invest your energy naturally. Assuming you bring keywords have a great deal of traffic and they don’t change over, paying little mind to the message and the offers, attempt that is an obvious indicator, not natural to zero in on these conditions.
READ MORE: Benefits of hiring PPC marketing services
Points of arrival
One thing that is frequently disregarded naturally is the page that positions for every catchphrase. Much of the time, the landing page is made a difference for your most significant catchphrases of the positioning. In spite of the fact that it is hard to control the power of the landing page of your internal pages, it can tell you the best way to get your SEO endeavors running great page-rank. In any event, it can show you how individuals on the landing page are better changed over to a page of inside pages. Assuming that you have picked an inward page for a keyword, you can just alter your informing greeting page to reflect you however many transformations as could be expected under the circumstances ensure you get.
Informing
Since a catchphrase isn’t very much changed over now, that doesn’t mean it’s a terrible term. PPC permits you to test various messages to part the most elevated Click through Rate and most elevated percent change. Utilizing PPC to test your promotion duplicate, you can compose your Meta-information for SEO. Realizing that the proposition has the most elevated snap and a catchphrase change rate in PPC will bring about the Meta portrayal and title tag to compose on the natural positioning page. Assuming you target catchphrases that give you the most changes and more snaps, it will lead you to a superior profit from speculation.
Clearly, how would you use this data about your SEM procedure and in the event that you as of now use SEO or PPC? Assuming that you experience a trouble SEO battle or consider dispatching a beginning, it very well may be helpful to consider a PPC mission to begin your SEO endeavors.
Numerous financial specialists keeping up with their sites and doing their business online still think that SEO and PPC are totally various things, particularly youthful advertisers and independent companies bear such discernments to them, since they don’t frequently have clear objectives to accomplish. In any case, through the above article we are meaning to make this misguided judgment extremely certain that consolidating SEO and PPC can wind up making them shock results for your sites.
At the point when you work with digital marketing agency in chennai which gives natural outcomes and PPC advertisement crusades which give paid outcomes all the while then, at that point, you will wind up having more information to break down and you might discover some more and better insights concerning your crowd. This data will assist you with refining your procedures of both SEO and PPC.
Be that as it may, Google have forever been refreshing its calculation and you must be refreshed with the main changes. In the mean time, both SEO and PPC adjusts these progressions as well so you ought not neglect to refresh your PPC and SEO Strategy consistently. In this manner you can assist your site with meeting the new prerequisites and keep up with their positions higher. | https://medium.com/@natashajoshi2460/how-ppc-can-help-in-search-engine-optimization-endeavors-d94cc29aba51 | ['Natasha Joshi'] | 2021-12-20 04:49:02.938000+00:00 | ['Social Media Marketing', 'Content Marketing', 'PPC', 'Video Marketing', 'Search Engine'] |
Cryptocurrency Wallets All you need to know! | Storing your cryptocurrency on a wallet
Wallets for digital currencies are unquestionable similar to wallets for your hard. Like dollars or euros; honest a digitized version of your bank account. They are recycled to buy and store your crypto.
Adopting exchanges is not always equivalent to storing your cryptocurrencies in a wallet. Keeping your gold on an exchange can cause mammoth vulnerabilities to your holdings. That is because exchanges are always online. And you do not own the skeleton although on an exchange. They can further crash. And leave you in a difficult stand for price fluctuations. A quality in order that wallets do not have. Any exchanges. Plus function as digital wallets.
You definitely do not want to hold them in certain wallets so are extra vulnerable to attacks. The above-mentioned authorize be hot wallets. Hot wallets are ones in that are easily connected to the internet. Hot storage wallets are much higher susceptible to attacks and hackers because of the indicated and the wallet being storedsomewhere online. Whichever are not connected to the internet. Demand be better for the purpose of storing cryptocurrencies for long indication purposes. The types of wallets you resolve wish resolve vary based on what you planned to do among your cryptocurrencies. Or trading enhanced frequently. You can read other backward hot storage and cold storage wallets below.
For different levels of insurance and pros and cons for accepting them. And furthermore the variations of hot storage or cold storage. But skilled are new kinds as well so typically fall inner one of the above-mentioned categories.
So you can grow an understanding and determine that one discipline be the best for you! you can likewise visit our pages for hardware wallets. And online web wallet mingle and generators for other information on these types specifically. We decree be publishing various types of wallet reviews in the coming future!.
Types of Wallets
Experienced are several different types of wallets. And the one so that power best suit your commitments depends on what you commitment taken away a wallet and the purpose of your cryptocurrency holdings.
Piece by piece wallet type has different pros and cons. You should weigh the risks of individual type depending on what you commitment taken away it i. Bond.
And thereupon read major in-depth below. And web interface pages discipline likewise have also detailed information back any. And reviews of specific wallets decision be added completed time!.
Cold Wallets & Hot Wallets
You must understand the difference at intervals cold storage and hot wallets.
Hot wallets: like cash in your pocket
Cold storage wallets: like a savings account… harder to access, but more secure
1. Hardware wallets
Hot wallets are wallets in order that easily plug within the internet and are accessible through a web portal. Here spawn an easy and quick to use status. Whatever is better for frequent transactions. Here can be hazardous because they are extra susceptible to hacks because they are often online they do not always have to be online.
Cold wallets are the major secure of the two. And that makes them much harder to hack or steal because they are not always accessible. The particular types of wallets are best for cryptocurrency in order that you are not testing frequently. It is much and secure. It ensures your bail and prevents loss or theft of your funds.
Below are three different types of wallets whichever we power provide a brief description of here. Click on the link for respective for spare information and reviews of specific wallet types.
Hardware wallets are devices in that serve as wallets for various cryptocurrencies. The above-mentioned wallets are typically cold storage wallets whatever vehicle they are offline. During the time remaining somewhat easily accessible. Visit our essential hardware wallet guide for wider info on hardware wallets!.
Some hardware wallet devices include: Ledger Nano-S , KeepKey, Trezor, and Bitbox
2. Software wallets
The particular are wallets in order that are typically ‘hot’ and are frequently connected to the internet. The particular wallets can be on your brain. You download the software client and thereupon create a wallet. Visit our essential software wallet guide for larger info on software wallets. Below are the three types of software wallets know the ropes are:.
Desktop wallets: You can use a lot of the particular wallets beyond being connected to the internet.
Mobile wallets: The particular have pretty decent preservation. And have easy functionality by employing qr codes.
Online web wallets: And charge an internet connection for. The above-mentioned are sometimes referred to as “cloud wallets.
Bitcoin Clients: Bitcoin clients do the prime wallets to be hand-me-down. And bitcoin client wallets rest what was pre-owned for the especial opening transactions on the blockchain network. By having one of the particular clients on your brain. The above-mentioned core clients of blockchain systems grant users to directly interact along the network and be apart of the state of it. You can more see the full history of the blockchain for the indicated client. Running a bitcoin client is like running a fully-validating node; here is the counter to new software wallets listed above so do not run nodes. Satoshi nakamoto nearly new a bitcoin client wallet. Below are a bit bitcoin clients. Previously mentioned is the wiki page — part of believe previously mentioned is what satoshi nakamoto not new electrum a lightweight client.
3. Physical Wallets
Paper wallets are a wallet form whichever can hold crypto completely hard copy and undigitized. The above-mentioned are ultimate cold storage wallets for cryptocurrencies. You pretty much conscientious print out your generated paper wallet pretty much printing your public and private latchkey.
Get in order that paper is easily damaged… control multiple paper copies of your printed paper wallet in different places….
There are some sites you can use to generate paper wallets, which you can see below:
https://www.bitaddress.org/ (This site is good if you current wallet service does not have the option to convert to a paper wallet. With BitAddress you can just add your public-private key combo from your existing wallet. Make sure you are using the correct, secured BitAddress site.)
https://blockchain.info/
Bitcoin Paper Wallet (This is a good option if you like pretty, custom paper designs)
WalletGenerator.net
Web interfaces for generating wallets
There are certain web interfaces, like MyEtherWallet and Waves , that allow you to generate a wallet for your cryptocurrencies. These services typically allow you to create a wallet, backup your keys, and send your tokens to them for storage online or offline. Wallet generators, like MyEtherWallet, can be compatible with other wallets (like hardware devices or software clients). Sometimes these services are apart of a greater platform, and by creating a wallet, you are doing so to be able to use their platform for launching, distributing, and trading tokens or creating smart contracts, etc., like Waves .
Cobo Wallet
Cobo is a leading producer of hardware and software blockchain products. As a company, we emphasize long-term security, reliability, and convenience. Our key products and services reflect that vision. Altogether, Cobo offers a secure mobile wallet (Cobo Wallet), the world’s first military-grade cold storage hardware wallet (Cobo Vault), and tailored custodial solutions for institutional investors (Cobo Custody). With support for over thirty different coins, 500 tokens, and an integrated DApp store along the way, we aim to be a one-stop shop for everything crypto.
Cobo’s flagship product, Cobo Wallet, is the first leading mobile wallet to offer Proof-of Stake (PoS) pooling services, a groundbreaking feature that allows users to generate benefits from their cryptocurrency holdings. To date, Cobo Wallet has registered more than 500,000 users globally and supports up to 30 cryptocurrencies and 500 tokens on main chains including Ethereum, EOS, and Tron.
iOS Download
Android Download
Official Website | https://medium.com/@arucebron/cryptocurrency-wallets-all-you-need-to-know-895a9abf3ef | ['Yasin Brown'] | 2019-04-10 08:31:25.724000+00:00 | ['Ethereum', 'Ledger', 'Bitcoin', 'Bitcoin Wallet', 'Cobo'] |
Bill Flynn Interview — Fem Founder™ | Bill Flynn has more than thirty years of experience working for and advising hundreds of companies, including startups, where he has a long track record of success. He’s had five successful outcomes, two IPOs, and seven acquisitions, including a turnaround during the 2008 financial crisis. Bill is also a multi-certified growth coach, has a Certificate with Distinction — Foundations of NeuroLeadership, is a Certified Predictive Index Partner and international speaker. Bill has also authored a best-selling book — Further, Faster — The Vital Few Steps that Take the Guesswork out of Growth garnering a 5-Star rating. Away from work, he is an avid reader and athlete, enjoys volunteering locally, and when he is not off cheering on his collegiate-champion daughter, Bill lives in Sudbury, Massachusetts, with his wife, dog, cat, and four chickens.
Can you tell our readers about your background?
Through the years of many startup management positions, mostly in sales and marketing, my coaching style developed. I love to learn and share my knowledge with others. I strive for continual improvements through small steps — kaizen.
With this philosophy, my performance and that of my teams increased significantly over time. I learned to provide direction versus instruction to develop highly productive and independent teams. I evolved to do a lot less telling and a lot more asking and trusting. After my tenth startup, I decided to look for a way to apply those skills where the idea to become a coach fell into my lap.
More on that below.
What inspired you to start your business?
After many successful and failed startups, and in the past few years working and speaking with hundreds of CEOs and companies around the world, I have found the following, for the most part:
· We do meetings wrong
· We do strategy wrong
· We do hiring wrong
· We do decision making wrong
· We do change wrong
· We do feedback wrong
· We do vision wrong
· We do teams wrong
· We do innovation wrong
· We do people wrong
Here is why I think this happens too often:
1. There is a meaningful gap between what science knows and business does.
2. Few things truly matter, but those that do matter tremendously. Leaders do not spend enough time here.
3. Leaders rely too much on effort, luck, timing, and force of will to achieve “success”.
4. We don’t deduce before we produce. Spend more time upfront to save time overall.
I started Catalyst Growth Advisors to help leaders take the guesswork out of growth by getting them to fire themselves from the day to day to focus more time on predicting the future. My purpose is to spend each working moment helping to advance the human condition through having enlightened leaders focus on the few things that truly matter to their customers and teams.
Where is your business based?
Just outside if Boston, MA.
How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?
After my tenth startup, I was looking to try something new. I probably should have made this decision after startup number six but I am a little slow. It takes me about an hour and a half to watch 60 Minutes.
I initially signed up for a newsletter from Verne Harnish, Founder of ScalingUp, EO, and YPO among other things. He wrote to me directly. After a few email exchanges, I was signed up to take an initial certification training class a month later. I was on my way.
Origin story
“Make me look as big as you can.” started it all. In 2007, I had my first experience of being a coach when I was brought in as a consultant to help a founder sell his business. Within 10 months, we were bought by a $100M+ organization as their online IT services arm; primarily outsourced email hosting.
On my first official day as GM, due to a catastrophic system failure, we, in effect, did not deliver email to anyone. It was not until two days later that we cobbled together a short term fix.
We had lost about 1000 customers in that first week and the rest were very unhappy with us. I, and the four other leaders, put together a plan based on my direction to sure up the key parts of our business. Three of which I had no prior experience. It worked beautifully. We doubled this business in about two years, did not lose one team member, and eventually had some of the highest customer satisfaction scores in the industry.
On my final day, two of the senior managers let me know that what I led them through was really hard. They hated it (their words). But, they were so glad they did it. I wanted more of that. I wanted to impact others in a significant and meaningful way.
I certainly did not come up with the idea of business coaching but it’s an excellent fit for my knowledge, skills, and abilities. This one key experience I had over a decade prior was the catalyst.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?
I deliver insightful content to the right audience as often as possible. I do workshops and podcasts, speak to leaders (one to one and one to many), write a blog post twice a month and have just published a book, Further, Faster, that can be downloaded for free from my site but is also available on Amazon, iTunes, and Audible. I also work with and am constantly expanding my centers of influence relationships.
How do you stay focused?
I have figured out the few things that truly matter to grow my business and I ruthlessly spend my time on these things. I also set 3-year, one year, and quarterly goals. Here is how that looks.
3–5 Differentiating actions — Three-year initiatives
Expertise at 3HAG delivery (especially the latter stages) and supporting validation options
Expertise in Neuroscience (as it relates to leading teams, growth, and feedback)
Excellent teacher (Apply latest evidence-based teaching methods)
Known for: Taking the guesswork out of growth. Best money and time spent. Annual Goals (2020) 1. At least $200K revenue — between 3 and 4 clients 2. Add 1–2 new Centers of Influence partners (e.g., IBs, Lawyers, Partial CFO, Accountants, Banks, Small Giants, AIM) 3. Have 2–3 coaching prospects in 50%+ queue at anytime 4. Continued learning — 24 business books (min), HBR articles, etc. — (See “Books Read in 2019” note) 5. Add one new revenue stream in 2020 to coaching, affiliate program and speaking 1. ******Add one C-Suite Master Class — 2020 ****** — MAIN FOCUS 2. Speaking — ~5% 3. Book Sales — 2020–200 paid 6. Improve coaching approach
o Learn how to be a great teacher
o Growth learning (be comprehensive and well-prepared) — Ongoing (at least 2 of below)
§ Go to Leanstack coach’s seminar/workshop — Ash Maurya — 202X
§ The Growth Faculty seminar (Jim Collins) — 2020
§ Reimagining the Future Virtual Summit — 2020
§ Small Giants — 2021
§ ZingTrain — 202X
§ GGOB — 202X
Quarterly Goals 1. Provide 2+ workshops 2. Do 2–4 podcasts to promote the book 3. Send out copy of book to all contributors and influencers
· Provide 3+ updates to client list
I also exercise, meditate, and get 7–9 hours of sleep each day.
How do you differentiate your business from the competition?
I am a contrarian, an etiologist, and an essentialist.
Being a contrarian immediately differentiates me. Since most businesses fail in a short amount of time (60–80% < 10 years) and those that do not often struggle to stay relevant and alive, teaching what most others teach makes no sense to me. There are some exceptional examples of businesses that thrive over long periods of time. They do things differently. That is what I teach.
An etiologist is someone who studies cause and effect. Jim Collins is an etiologist as is Simon Sinek and Marcus Buckingham. Each searches for success in different organizations and uncover the commonalities. I curate and share these unique behaviors, methods, and actions on behalf of my customers.
An essentialist is someone who focuses on the few things that truly matter as those things have an outsized effect in business and in life. The Pareto Principle states that 20% of the effort produces 80% of the results. Teams must spend 80% or more of their time on that 20%. I wrote an entire book on this subject.
I continually improve my own knowledge and skills so I can hear things like this more often:
“Bill provides some of the highest ‘value per word’ of any consultant (coach) I’ve ever met.” — Erik Waters, Co-Owner/CFO, Adtech System
“… Having facilitated AIM’s CEO Connection Group for over 5 years, and having had several presenters on Growth and Resiliency, today’s webinar blew them out of the water! … — Beth Yohai, Vice President of Business Development at AIM HR Solutions
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Marketing, as a word, is a catch-all for many things. Strategy is part of marketing. As is, demand generation and product development among others.
I only have one business strategy. It is summed up in two words — Be Exceptional. As I previously stated, in order to differentiate myself, I am continually learning the most effective techniques, methods, and frameworks that are evidence-based and proven across time and different businesses. I look to continually separate myself from my rivals in these areas.
If you are asking the most effective ways I generate leads for my business, here is what I do. I have figured out who my core customer is and spend as much time speaking to, writing for, and coaching these leaders and their closest partners; often my centers of influence partners as well.
My core customer is a humble leader who is a life-long learner and is eager to challenge the status quo. I have become a Vistage, EO, and YPO speaker. I partner with organizations like Small Giants and MassMEP. I seek out the places where these unique mindsets congregate and work hard to become associated with these groups.
“The secret to success: find out where people are going and get there first.” I market with this quote in mind always. It is attributed to Mark Twain.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Deduce before you produce.
Fall in love with the problem and the customer, not the idea. Your original idea is very likely not the one that brings you success.
Mike Tyson said it best — “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
Your customers are going to “punch you in the mouth” when you ask them for money versus when you ask them what they think of your idea. Solve it so well and so deeply that they are compelled to tell others.
To do that, it is important to understand your core customer’s struggles, the progress they are looking to make, how they are trying to solve that today, and where they are succeeding and failing to that end. One must interview them like a journalist instead of a salesperson. Make it about them and not a way to get them to buy your stuff.
Do this at least twenty times and see if you can find a pattern from the information collected. If you cannot, you may have to go back to the drawing board. For what it is worth, I have completed this process seven times. I always found a pattern between twelve and twenty conversations. Not always the one I was hoping for.
Two years ago, I wrote, “How to Design a Solution that your Best Customers Want and Value with One Question”. This prescriptive piece accelerates the process of figuring out how you change the lives of your best customers for the better. It does not replace the interview process but, if you have existing customers, it can move things along more quickly.
What’s your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?
I do not have one favorite of any of these. In my work as a business coach, there are many different opportunities to help others so my “favorites” vary. However, if your readers are interested, I have created a list of all the best resources I use in my work. including books and podcasts that I have compiled over many years. It is broken down by category and highlighted by impact on my thinking. I hope your readers find it useful.
Who is your business role model? Why?
Alan Mulally. Hands down.
I believe that Mulally is the finest CEO we have had in my lifetime, possibly ever, as he helped turn Boeing around in the middle of 9/11-then did the same with Ford during the Great Recession. I am unaware of any business leader (e.g., Jobs, Walton, Kelleher, Gates) who not only survived two existential, economic crises but also whose failing businesses came out of these crises even stronger.
Companies that endure; last decades, generations and centuries typically make a handful of decisions right. Mulally accomplished twice in a nearly identical way the seemingly impossible for two separate industries and cultures. He simplified the business into a few key areas of focus.
For instance, at Ford, in the middle of the worst financial crisis of our lifetime at the time, the turnaround plan focused almost exclusively on the following: (excerpt from American Icon):
1 Aggressively restructure to operate profitably at the current demand and changing model mix. (EXECUTION)
2 Accelerate the development of new products our customers want and value. (STRATEGY)
3 Finance our plan and improve our balance sheet. (CASH)
4 Work together effectively as one team. (PEOPLE)
Just after Mulally left in 2014, Ford surpassed Toyota, re-establishing itself as the leading provider of cars in the world. A position Toyota had held since 2009 and GM for seven decades before that. GM replaced Ford in the 1930s.
What Mulally did is not magic. He learned that relentlessly focusing on a few key things executed nearly flawlessly by a cohesive team is the best way to run any business.
How do you balance work and life?
I believe that there is no such thing. There is the only life of which work is a part. A vital part but a subset of life nevertheless.
One of the benefits of COVID-19 is that we are now more often fitting work into the cracks or life where, before March, we were more often fitting life into the cracks of work.
For the most part, work is about outcomes. There are deadlines and priorities, of course, but I think leaders are learning that sitting in an office, coming in and leaving at a certain hour are artificial and arbitrary beliefs we have adopted from the Industrial Age. They are, more often than not, no longer relevant and are proving to be less productive for many organizations.
I believe, if leaders spent more time thinking and planning outcomes, honing and liberally communicating a clear and vivid vision, and summoning the courage to trust these well-vetted and enthusiastic team members, there will be less need to have constant oversight of the day-to-day operations and the people who carry them out.
Unfortunately, leaders spend 80–90% of their time on running the day to day and 10–20% of their time thinking about the future. That needs to flip. I believe, when this is done, much of this work/life balance nonsense will be relegated to nostalgia.
What’s your favorite way to decompress?
Physical and mental stimulation.
Physical — I play hockey, lift weights, and do cardio to blow off steam and stay healthy.
Mental — I read a lot, play guitar and sing, do crossword puzzles, and get plenty of sleep!
What do you have planned for the next six months?
It is pretty hard to plan that far out right now but here are the key items on my evolving schedule.
July
1. Three podcasts to promote the book
2. A handful of client sessions
3. Small Giants workshop
4. Several Mastermind/Accountability group meetings
5. A prospect calls — please note that I only bring on 1–2 new clients/year
6. Weekly Entrepreneurial coaching — volunteer
August
1. Most of the above — no podcasts or prospect call scheduled
2. Two Vistage sessions — virtual
3. AIM Mutual workshop
September/October
1. Client sessions
2. Weekly Entrepreneurial coaching — volunteer
3. Mastermind/Accountability group meetings
November
1. Client sessions
2. Weekly Entrepreneurial coaching — volunteer
3. Mastermind/Accountability group meetings
4. Attend Neuroleadership Summit (if held)
December
1. Client sessions
2. Weekly Entrepreneurial coaching — volunteer
3. Mastermind/Accountability group meeting
My calendar fills in on a rolling 3–6 week window. Over the next few weeks, August and September will fill in with a few more key things. This is what it looks like as of early July.
How can our readers connect with you?
Bill Flynn — [email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/billflynnpublic
https://www.facebook.com/bill.flynn.9022
https://catalystgrowthadvisors.com/ (website)
@whfjr (twitter)
billflynn01776 (Instagram) | https://medium.com/fem-founder/bill-flynn-interview-fem-founder-e3ecc555eca3 | ['Kristin Marquet'] | 2020-07-29 11:41:22.129000+00:00 | ['Leadership', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Entrepreneur', 'Founder Stories', 'Founders'] |
Listen | Listen
Photo by Nicholas Barbaros on Unsplash
There’s been many times in my life where I feel like I have not been listened to and boy, did it bother me a lot.
I felt like I was wasting my time crying and being upset about my feelings because I felt like things I told my loved ones were going in one ear and out the other. I felt like I was burdening someone with the things that were on my mind, even though I was encouraged to “open up” to them.
Although I had their undivided attention, I would say how I’m feeling and then they would tell me that I don’t feel that way.
It would bother me A LOT. I would spend hours and hours laying in bed after those conversation, unable to really move with tears streaming down the sides of my face trying to understand the way I was feeling.
But I already knew how I was feeling. But I kept asking myself the same questions over and over again.
Was it wrong to feel this way?
Was I over-exaggerating my feelings?
Was I actually not feeling this way?
I contemplated how I felt so often, and I spent many days focused on invalidating my feelings. My grades were beginning to drop, my mental health deteriorated even more. I eventually decided not to let my “friends” and loved ones in anymore because they had already determined that I was not feeling the way I was feeling.
I felt like if I talked to them, I would feel worst. I assumed they would be annoyed because I would just repeat myself over and over again. I was afraid of them telling me that I don’t feel that way. I didn’t want to hear it again from them.
I decided to take alternative routes in order to release the feelings I was experiencing. I tried writing, I tried journaling, I tried reading but my mind was so distracted with telling myself that my feelings were a fraud. That I was a fraud and that whatever I was experiencing wasn’t serious.
But my actions and thoughts would try to tell me otherwise.
The mind chatter could not stop, and I ultimately turned to self harm to shut the voice up in my head. As unhealthy and toxic it was for my mental health, I believed it worked for me. Every time I felt my feelings coming back up, I’d push it back down with the ways I knew.
Looking back now, I wish I was there for my younger self to lean on, to wipe her tears and tell her to get some new friends. So that I can tell her that she’s not a fraud and her feelings aren’t fake. I wish I could tell her that it’s okay to feel the way that she feels, because someone else can’t determine how she’s feeling at any point in time.
So, if you tell someone that your favourite colour is blue, and they deny that YOUR favourite colour is blue, would you agree with them? Probably not. It’s not a statement that’s up for debate.
Your friends aren’t listening to you share your thoughts and are providing their own ideas about you.
If someone does open up to you, it’s important to share your thoughts as well on how YOU can help them, but don’t invalidate the way they are feeling.
If you are someone that is opening up and someone invalidates your feelings, walk away because you don’t need someone to tell you you’re not experiencing something when you know in you are.
I made the mistake of opening to my loved ones, when they aren’t mental health professionals who can make more accurate assumptions to why I feel a certain way. If you are experiencing overwhelming thoughts and feelings, please make an appointment to see someone instead of turning to alternative options like I did. | https://medium.com/change-becomes-you/listen-7098e432f446 | ['Luna Akane'] | 2020-12-13 16:57:28.067000+00:00 | ['Feelings', 'Listening', 'Journey', 'Self Love', 'Mental Health'] |
Stress and College Students | How Stressed Are College Students?
Summer is gone and the start of the semester has begun and now you have to go through the struggle of finding reasonably priced textbooks and the perfect seat in class and make it known that seat is yours and yours only for the duration of the semester. You tell yourself that this semester will be different from the last and that you are better able to manage your social and academic life. Things become apparently clear when you have papers, tests, and class presentations to do all around the same time. You begin to feel stressed to the point where you think about ways of committing suicide but you’re not alone according to USA Today “more than half of all college students have had suicidal thoughts” in one way or another. The sad truth is that “suicide is the leading cause of death among college students” (WebMD). We may view stress as a personal struggle but in reality, it is a public struggle because “more than 85% of students reported feeling stressed on a daily basis” (College Stress and Mental Health Poll). Stress has become a national pandemic that has taken over many college student’s lives to the point where “six out of ten students have reported feeling so stressed to the point where they could not get their work done” (College Stress and Mental Health Poll).
My Stress Experience
I am no different from the regular college student and nor am I exempt from being stressed and the toll it takes on my life. It seems that I am always feeling stressed about things currently happening or things in the near future that has yet to happen. I work part-time and attend school full-time as well as partake in no more than four hours of community service weekly as a requirement for other classes. When I realize that I have multiple important assignments and things due during the same week it makes me stressed to the point where I cannot fully relax until I know that I have taken care of one of the assignments that I have to do. It has occasionally gotten to the point where I get so stressed that I am nervous to even start the assignments which makes me even more stressed as the day gets closer to the assignment due date. Sometimes I get so used to being stressed that stress has felt like it is part of my characteristics and part of who I am it seems that if I am not stressed something is wrong or about to go wrong like the saying “the calm before the storm.” In addition, my stress levels vary from manageable to I don’t have control over anything. Usually when it comes to papers and projects my mind always gets in a state of I cannot do this it is too difficult but every time I finish the assignment I always think to myself that I did it and it was not that bad.
Viewing Stress In a New Light
I am no expert in stress management and it is nearly impossible to not feel stressed so I have learned to view stress in a different light. A light that I can use to my benefit as opposed to it becoming my kryptonite. I use stress as a driving force to accomplish and complete tasks and assignments. The feeling of stress helps me to come up with various ways of tackling projects, tasks, and life events. My point is stress is what you make it, even though that may sound cheesy. As humans in a new era of ever-advancing technology and resources, we have been able to adapt and over various obstacles and challenges. So why is stress any different? | https://medium.com/@wongtyler3/stress-and-college-students-b8a4a61b1d3b | ['Tyler Wong'] | 2020-12-20 01:46:31.554000+00:00 | ['Stress', 'College', 'Stress Relief', 'College Students'] |
Kenya: A Ranger’s Story | ONLY THE BRAVE
Rangers face challenging and dangerous situations almost every day, yet many lack the most basic means to do their job. WWF is working hard to support rangers around the world — nowhere more so than in Kenya.
A RANGER’S STORY
“I work hard every day to protect wildlife and support local people,” explains Musa Moloi, describing the demands of his work. Musa is senior community ranger at Elangata Enderit village in Loita forest, which borders Kenya’s Maasai Mara. Musa lives at the heart of the very community in which he himself was raised, with his wife Teresia and three-year-old son Ryan. “Make the life of a ranger better,” says Musa, “and you’ll get the best conservation.”
RANGERS ON PATROL
© Ami Vitale / WWF-UK
It’s a case of ‘three’s company’ for Musa and his colleagues Daniel and Solomon, as they set out on patrol. Their work takes them to all corners of the community, liaising with farmers over wildlife conflict issues, investigating any poaching incidents and helping the villagers live sustainably alongside the wildlife whose land they share. Like rangers all over the world, the team work in tough conditions and cover a wide area with only limited resources. But their commitment is unwavering. “We try and achieve the best coexistence between the wildlife, the forest and the local pastoralist communities,” Musa explains.
THE WISDOM OF ELDERS
© Ami Vitale / WWF-UK
Musa’s father still lives in the village where he grew up. He’s proud of what his son has achieved, and has taught him much about the local wildlife. “The area where my father was a young man was once the best place for rhinos,” Musa explains.
“It’s sad for him that we’ve lost so many animals, especially the rhinos.”
For rangers such as Musa, having family ties within the community they serve helps foster trust and respect. And village elders, such as Musa’s father, remain an invaluable source of wisdom.
JUST LIKE A FAMILY
After a tough morning’s training, a simple cup of tea brewed over an open fire offers a welcome break for the rangers at Ololaimutia ranger post on the border of Mara Siana. “A ranger’s life is not easy,” says Peter Lokitela, who trains the men thanks to support from WWF. “But because of their passion, these rangers have the endurance and perseverance it takes.” Peter describes how hard life can be for his team, who cope with basic living conditions and meager resources to do their work, but explains that their camaraderie pulls them through.
“We must all hold hands with these rangers so that they can keep going.”
RANGERS IN THE MARA
© Ami Vitale / WWF-UK
In Kenya, WWF has helped to develop Mara Siana and Oloisukut community conservancies, both located in the buffer area around the Maasai Mara National Reserve. These were formed when the communities jointly set aside land for conservation, tourism and livestock pasture.
Habitat degradation has been arrested, and poaching — once heavy here– has fallen steeply, resulting in increases in threatened wildlife populations, such as lions. Local livelihoods have also improved. The communities now benefit from increased employment, better grazing management and improved cattle quality. Fees from leasing their land bring in extra revenue, while beekeeping and alternative crops such as chilli peppers offer new sources of income. Critical to this success has been our work with rangers. This varies from constructing new accommodation with clean water to supporting insurance costs.
DRILL PRACTICE
Peter Lokitela conducts early morning drill for the rangers that he works with at Mara Siana Conservancy. An experienced frontline ranger, who has confronted both armed poachers and dangerous wild animals, he knows that discipline is essential for his team to succeed. He also knows how difficult life can be for rangers.
“We are constantly faced by challenges and a lack of resources, and are always at risk,” Peter says.
Peter is helping the team to eradicate problems such as poaching and logging within the Loita forest while ensuring they do not lose the trust of local people.
“We do our best to work with the community, while making sure there are no illegal activities,” he explains.
“But we are just a few men, and the area is very large.”
LIVING WITH PREDATORS
© Ami Vitale / WWF-UK
Nolkidotu Nkuito, a herdsman from Naitiroki village, explains to Musa and his team the problems he faces with local wildlife. Nolkidotu has lost more than 40 goats to leopards and hyenas, and his prized cow was recently taken by a lion. Having grown up in this community himself, Musa can understand the farmers’ fears and frustrations — and these daily consultations enable him to win over hearts and minds. The rangers work tirelessly to find solutions, from innovations in animal husbandry to compensation schemes for lost livestock.
“Despite all the challenges we encounter,” Musa explains, “the community remains the best tool for protecting wildlife.”
TRAINING FOR SUCCESS
Peter Lokitela, project officer for WWF-Kenya, says: “When I grew up, I was passionate about conservation. I will always protect our natural heritage for future generations.” With 15 years’ experience in the Kenya Wildlife Service, Peter is helping to train community rangers in order to increase ranger capacity in the Mara region. “I can’t just sit back with all this knowledge and watch other people who need it,” he insists. “Through capacity-building, I’m able to share my experience and skills so that others can succeed.”
RANGERS SPEAK OUT
In October, we published the results of our survey into the welfare of rangers around the world. Some 4,686 rangers from 17 countries responded, 94% of them male. We wanted to learn more about the challenges they face, and to demonstrate the need for better resources and more political will to support them in their amazing work. 82% of rangers think their job is dangerous due to the risk of encountering poachers. 38% of rangers feel that the training they received when they started their job was inadequate. Only 33% of rangers have regular access to mosquito nets at their outpost 58% of rangers don’t have regular access to clean drinking water while on patrol. At least 107 rangers were killed in the line of duty from July 2017 to July 2018, according to the International Ranger Federation and Thin Green Line Foundation
RESPONDING TO THESE CHALLENGES
© Ami Vitale / WWF-UK
WWF provides daily rations for rangers on patrol, procure new uniforms, purchase radio equipment and smartphones, and subsidise vehicle maintenance and fuel costs. We’ve also helped to fund training in data collection and wildlife ecology. WWF has been able to upgrade their living quarters, provide vital resources from boots to radio equipment, and improve their training. Working with governments and other partners, we aim to ensure that all rangers worldwide receive the equipment, protection, and recognition they need for the invaluable work they do. | https://wwf.medium.com/kenya-a-rangers-story-77487f93bdf9 | [] | 2019-07-31 00:01:01.277000+00:00 | ['Conservation'] |
How important is Graphic Designing to your business? | Entrepreneurs are focused on improving the growth of their businesses. They are introducing the implementation of new software services. There is now graphic and logo designing to incorporate into the business. One key thing that should be done with care is choosing the graphic agencies. You should consider the quality, like Business Raisers Company, which is the best logo and graphic designing company in Gurgaon. The following are the benefits of using graphic design for your business.
1. It optimizes your traffic and conversions
Great genuine and logo plans are critical for boosting lead generation. The fantastic designs that your company will have will impact clients who have worked previously for many other firms. This should make people appreciate your products and services. The number will undoubtedly grow, but so will the size and productivity of the company.
2. It results in compassion and client trust
Clients are perhaps the most important people in the operation of any business, as Experts usually emphasize. They are indeed the ones who generate income for your company. Using all-around planned logos and graphics to captivate them will ensure that you gain their faith. With clients’ confidence in who you are and your performance, you’ll want to increase your company volume all while growing your firm.
3. It enhances the company position
Integrating a fantastic logo and realistic plans into your company will also increase the number of responses. It is strongly advised that you recall your contact details for your realistic plans so that potential customers can reach you. When they’re interested in the best graphics, they’ll want to learn more about you because of your company’s products and services. They will be required by Energy to reach you, which will increase the number of referrals and your overall business.
4. It streamlines the promoting techniques
You will take as much time as is needed and pay attention to the best organizations on the planet. Here you are, and you need your business to develop. Everything thing you could manage to skirt the regularly sluggish and awkward way is to utilize realistic plans. Impart the utilization of logo designing also to outmaneuver your rivals. Attempt consistently to utilize the best visual depiction and logo designing company in Gurgaon. Bet me right, you won’t ever botch an opportunity to develop your business.
5. It is the cornerstone for authenticity
A firm lacking authenticity is comparable to technology without programming. It won’t progress every day and will eventually crumble. In any case, there are no practical plans to provide your company with the required reputation. Clients must believe that you really are capable of providing them with high-quality operations and things based on the actual plans with logo designs that you provide. What will they think now that they know you were designed by Gurgaon’s greatest visual digitalization and graphic designing organization? Then that will help you grow higher.
We would now be able to reason that graphic designs and logo plans are significant elements in developing your business. All you simply need to do is to chat with the best graphic designing organization, for example, Business Raisers in Gurgaon to get quality realistic and logo planning for your business. The development of your business is basic to limiting the expense while expanding benefits and your advancement, which ought to be practical. Try not to stand by too long to even think about executing the interaction. All you simply need to do is to carry out the idea immediately and you will be the most incredible in your business cycle.
Know more about Why is graphic design so important for business marketing? | https://medium.com/@businessraisers/how-important-is-graphic-designing-to-your-business-81ce24748d87 | ['Business Raisers'] | 2021-12-23 08:18:40.842000+00:00 | ['Graphic Design', 'Logo Design', 'Graphic Designing', 'Graphic Design Company'] |
Q&A with King’s 2019 GDC Scholars | If one blog post isn’t enough, we have more answers from King’s 2019 GDC scholars on their experiences at GDC!
For the fourth year in a row, in partnership with Diversi (a non-profit organisation which works for greater diversity within gaming), we offered female students a complimentary All Access pass to attend the 2019 Game Developer Conference in San Francisco and also an internship in one of our game studios. The scholarship is a part of our long term plan to encourage more female talent to join the games industry and so far has been a success, with all five scholars of 2018 joining King in full-time roles.
This year, the scholarship positions were tripled to fifteen, and the scholars have since returned from GDC ready to start their individual roles.
Ilke — Game Artist Intern — London
What was the best session/talk you attended?
My favourite session was ‘Expanding the World of Candy Crush: A Postmortem on ‘Candy Crush Friends Saga’ by Tracey John, Jeremy Kang and Robert Mackenzie, all speakers from King. The talk focused on the challenges posed by creating a new game in an old franchise in terms of the games’ art and design. There was a lot of details that I hadn’t thought about before. Seeing the problems as well as the team’s approach to solving them was enlightening to see!
What from GDC will you hope to take back to your work at King?
There were so many great talks by amazing people from King at GDC, it was an incredible insight into the work ethic and the King culture, and I’m really excited to be part of that! I’ve learnt about topics so much broader than my work role and I think that’s really important to be able to communicate with people from other teams and work together.
Sandra — Game Developer Intern — Barcelona
What was the best session/talk you attended?
‘Marvel’s Spider-Man’ AI Postmortem was the first session I attended and it is, without a doubt, the one that I enjoyed the most. The speaker, Adam Noonchester, talked about a vast amount of topics surrounding the game’s AI — from the combat to the animations, along with the navigation and physics, among others. I had to stop taking notes about what he explained, because it was a lot and everything was very interesting. As a game programmer, I could spend hours listening to how specific features and systems are made — and even more if I like the game!
Were there any tech sessions you enjoyed? If so, what was the session and why?
On Tuesday, I spent most of the day in the room where the ‘Math for Game Developers’ sessions were held. Among the tasks (all of them programming tutorials), the ‘Generating and using Navigation Meshes’ really caught my attention. Recently, we integrated the Recast & Detour libraries into the game engine that we are building at University for a project. This talk allowed me to have a better understanding of the complexity behind the generation from scratch and the later use of a navigation mesh through a step-by-step guide.
What attracted you to King?
King has always been very colourful to me, because of its titles and because of its culture. Everything at King goes around the word ‘fun’. The company shows the love that pours into the development of video games by putting the community first. In the first place, the community of workers, not only by having the most magical atmosphere in their offices but also by emphasising diversity. In second place, the community of players, from my younger cousin to my grandmother.
Andrea — Level Designer Intern — Malmo
What were you most excited for at GDC?
I was excited to go there and meet both the other GDC scholarship winners and other important video game developers from the industry. I was excited to go there and have a real taste of what a real videogame developer would in such a conference and learn as much from those people as possible for my future internship at King!
What from GDC will you hope to take back to your work at King?
The ability to learn from every person I meet regardless of their role to make myself a better professional and student and to never lose this ability to learn on the new industry standards as the years go by.
Angelika — Technical Artist Intern — Berlin
What was the best session/talk you attended?
I focused on the roundtables and tutorials — the ones that didn’t get recorded. This is where it was at — the round tables — full of great experienced people willing to share their problems and solutions, their knowledge so we can advance faster as an industry.
Were there any tech sessions you enjoyed? If so, what was the session and why?
“Math Game for Game Developers: Inside Neural Networks”
I loved Michael Buttner’s approach of including neural networks in a real-time scenario in Unity. That was, for me, the most advanced math talk. It uncovered the great hidden potential of using Neural Networks to solve difficult problems in performance-critical code.
Josefin — Level Designer Intern — Stockholm
What attracted you to King?
It’s an inclusive and creative work environment, which is very important to me. One of my personal goals is to make games that anyone can play, and to make gaming more inclusive, which is something that aligns very well with King’s goals.
Were there any tech sessions you enjoyed? If so, what was the session and why?
Adam Noonchester’s talk “Marvel’s Spider-Man AI Postmortem” was great. It was interesting to learn about advanced ways to use AI animations, attacks, and collisions in a big open world game.
GDC is an opportunity for King’s scholars to learn more about the industry and to gain a greater understanding of not only what tech is used when developing a game, but other areas they may be unaware of before. This experience will be useful during their scholarship and hopefully beyond!
If you would like to join our Kingdom, check out the opportunities on our job page! | https://medium.com/techking/q-a-with-kings-2019-gdc-scholars-cd7e0855db17 | ['Tech At King'] | 2019-06-13 06:25:19.442000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Gaming', 'Gdc2019', 'Lifeatking', 'Internships'] |
A Designer’s Guide: Migrating Sketch to Figma — Components Rebuild | Getting the basics down
Now, let’s look at the actual re-building of components, shall we? When building components in Figma, there are 3 fundamentals that I found myself referencing a lot — variants, frames and constraints, auto-layout.
The magic of variants
Have 28 button states and want to make life easier? With the magic of variants, you can. The feature “Variants” in Figma combines different states of a component and allows easy toggling between different states.
Our normal sized button that consists of 28 different states
Each “Variant” is made up of different properties. Figma currently supports boolean values — true or false (e.g. with icon vs. without icon) which appears in a toggle on/off format. For the property “Hierarchy”, we can see that the value for this particular button is “Primary”. By clicking on the dropdown, you can toggle between other states such as “Secondary”, “Basic”, “Basic with outline”. These can be customized and organized according to how your component is designed and how many different states it has.
Here’s what’s behind the scenes for that single normal sized button component:
ViSenze variants for normal sized button
Yes, looks can be deceiving. But with a good setup, designers’ lives will be much easier in the long run. Figma has a great guide and video tutorial on how to create variants and I would recommend watching the amazing tutorials by Alberto Orsini, Max McKinney and Angela Delise as well. I recommend following along the tutorials and start building a button as it’s a simple starting point that helps you get familiarized with “Variants” in Figma. Once you’ve got the basic knowledge down and are comfortable, you can start “free-styling” and create components on your own!
Another tip would be to first create a base component with “.base/” at the front of the component name. Then, duplicate the base component and you’ll have an instance of the base component. Make it into a component (shorthand: [command][option][k]) and start creating variants from there. Why all this hassle you may ask? Well, if further down the road the button design changes, you can simply change the specifications of the base component and all the variants will change accordingly.
I applied a drop shadow on the base component, and all the variants now have a drop shadow!
Note: These base components will not be published as “.” or “_” at the start of the component name essentially hides the component. It’s like an all-powerful component only you can see!
One component fits all rule
Good components all abide by a rule — they are responsive. What this means is when using a component from the design library, you will want to be able to manipulate the width or height or both without having to worry about the padding of the text, icon etc. within the component.
Notice everything stays in place with the respective padding…
…Responsiveness is achieved!
We can do this by using the concepts of frames and constraints in Figma.
An important concept to grasp when building components in Figma is that instead of using shapes like rectangles as backgrounds, use frames. Think of a frame as a container or div (or a house) where your text, icons, etc. live. | https://medium.com/visenze/a-designers-guide-migrating-sketch-to-figma-components-rebuild-981082b117f6 | ['Vivian Ngiam'] | 2021-08-24 05:31:12.308000+00:00 | ['UI Design', 'Design Systems', 'UX Design', 'Sketch', 'Figma'] |
stumbling to never catch up | I saw my love through the windows of a coffee shop
I didn’t go in because he was with her and their energy was dancing to a melody that only the deepest souls can hear.
I didn’t go in because when they I saw them they were fused from their lips through the caverns of their hearts.
I didn’t go in because I was already inside, I was inside the coffee shop and I had to watch him float past the coffee shop, underneath the glow of the streetlight with her trailing behind, trying to keep up with his double-time stride that was a result of the traces of love from his head to his feet. When he loved, it was with his whole being.
I had to watch her face disappear into the dark, but her body fall under the yellow glow waiting for his next touch
I had to watch him and her glued at the hand, no matter how much she stumbled trying to keep up. He warmed her hands with his breath when they would stop to watch the traffic whiz by. The traffic worked like the electricity running through their veins; travelling like time doesn’t exist and not knowing where the next turn would be.
I knew he would bring her to her door and they would kiss, not that they hadn’t before, this kiss was different. She would kiss him and suddenly she could breathe warm air made effortlessly by the stars, and it would find it’s way through her entire body; the kiss would warm the back of her eyelids and the bottoms of her feet.
I knew he would touch her and smile. Without saying it, they would both know it’s new, it’s unlike anything you can touch, see, or dream; its beyond what you can imagine love is.
I met my love through the windows of a coffee shop. I stopped under the street lamp and we locked eyes through foggy panes.
I went in because I knew if I didn’t touch his skin with my own fingertips that he couldn’t be real.
I knew I used to stumble behind on the sidewalk with frozen fingertips begging to slow down.
I knew I saw him him peek in the window and heard him remind me of the booth he was sitting in when we fell in love.
I knew it used to be me glued to the concrete on the step of my tiny apartment, feeling like I was spinning a million times and falling into a haze of a certain type of love.
I knew eventually he found himself at the street lamp forgetting to glance up to see the booth where he sat the day we met.
I could walk at his side with ease and his stride slowed by the second because when he fell out of love he fell with his whole being . Our kisses became harsh; like spikes on the road made for ruining the trajectory of a fast machine.
I saw my love through the windows of a coffee shop and she stumbles forever behind him, and I hope she never catches up because in my opinion the worst part about losing your love is when you can walk just as fast. | https://medium.com/@meghanmokhtary/stumbling-to-never-catch-up-74a909c7d62e | [] | 2019-10-08 18:08:48.437000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Love', 'Lovestory', 'Poem'] |
The Nimiq Community Update — Week 18 | The Nimiq Community Update — Week 18
Welcome to the Nimiq Community Update! This a community contributed fortnightly write-up on what Team Nimiq have been posting in the official Nimiq discord channel alongside community led projects and content being created for Nimiq. The Community update will always remain open source & community driven.
What is Nimiq?
Nimiq is a browser-based Blockchain designed for simplicity. Nimiq’s reason for existence is to bring the benefits of blockchain technology to the mainstream. To achieve that purpose Nimiq has been built from the ground up to address and break the barriers to entry that inhibit the mainstream adoption of blockchain technologies. Nimiq is encompassed by a strong philanthropic mindset, it will always remain open-source and community-driven.
Marching toward the future.
Week 18 brings a lot to the table for the project as Team Nimiq conduct their first Q&A session on the official Nimiq subreddit, launch their Nimiq ledger promotion and allocate time to focus on the projects’ marketing and communication.
The Reddit Q&A thread covers issues regarding communication, marketing, project transparency and more! If you have any questions not answered in this weeks post make sure to drop them in.
Nimiq’s Ledger Nano S promotion is now live! Earn tickets toward winning a Nimiq branded Ledger Nano S by sending new users cashlinks! New users that register with their email whilst redeeming the cashlink will yield tickets. More information on the promotion can be found here.
‘When marketing?’, following a hack-a-thon style week focused on Nimiq’s brand, image and messaging a major reinvention for the project is in the works. Details aren’t available yet but keep an eye out.
Community development & patch notes
All projects featured within the Nimiq community update posts should not be viewed as endorsements, caution should be taken when visiting any website outside of the official Nimiq website.
Shortnim developed by community member Albermonte is a Nimiq based URL shortener enabling monetisation.
Nimiq.box developed by community member Coel Wu is a simple tool, based on Sushi member Miao’s Nimiqx stats, which visualises network statistics.
Twini & members of the Nimiq community recently teamed up to raise 43,230 NIM for Extra Life for Kids through Twitch.tv streamer RUFIOOHH. Thanks to those that participated and contributed!
If you’d like your community update added to the next post please contact me through the comments or @Symphonys on the Nimiq Discord! | https://medium.com/nimiqcommunity/the-nimiq-community-update-2110410221f5 | [] | 2018-08-28 21:38:02.343000+00:00 | ['ICO', 'Nimiq', 'Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin'] |
Why does stretching feel so good ? by OurBlogPost | Nothing feels as good as waking up in the morning, or even before that, you get out of bed. It is only a matter of time when you are (hopefully) curled up in a dream for eight hours. But believe it or not, there really are some real biological arguments as the morning feels so good that it encourages you to take a few moments after the initial wow king with your hands on your head. After all, why not give yourself a little extra time before you start the day?
Why does stretching feel so good?
Stretching feels good for several reasons for Why does stretching feel so good
1.Stretching improves circulation
Humans have engineering defects, in fact in all animals: blood capillaries that bring oxygen, glucose, and every other requirement to make muscle cells contract.At the same moment that the muscle works, and it needs oxygen, glucose and everything else, and most importantly to rid itself of toxic products of metabolism, the capillaries are at least able to provide it.Stretching reverses, the muscle and deprives the muscle of what it needs and what it does not need. This can be a reason why pulling feels good.
2.Stretching brings relief
The tiny nerve cells inside the muscle send signals to the brain’s resting centers (among others), stretching the muscles and forming tendons for about 0–40 seconds, producing normal relaxation. Another reason stretching feels good.
3.Stretching reverses muscle contraction
Muscles work by contraction. Pulling them out makes something unfamiliar and unlike any unnecessary chronic contractions — so many of us have muscles.The reason why stretching feels good is why we need stretching in the first place.
Right now, majority of the people are suffering from tight muscles and tight joints the way they live everyday life for the rest of their lives. Most people spend most of their days sitting at home and spending time, whether at work, in their car or at home.Our bodies adapt to the places we spend most of our time. This leads to tight muscles and tight joints. This tightness leads to compensation in other areas of the body, which can lead to pain and injury.
If a person has pain due to stiffness in another area of the body, then pulling out the tight muscles will reduce the compensation and then the pain will decrease.Being tight and stiff also limits movement and the person can move in a sub-form. This suboptimal movement can also cause pain and injury. Excluding these specific areas can reduce this pain. It always feels good to have less pain!
If performed properly, active stretching can also increase the active range of motion, allowing you to move and perform better in life and in the gym.Stretches feel good and tighten muscles and / or fascia to reduce pain. This is due to increasing the length of the muscle / fascia and reducing tightness in a particular area.When you boil it, stretching will increase your performance, reduce the risk of injury and reduce pain. All three will increase the quality of life of the person, which will make it look terrible!
4.Stretching releases endorphins
When we do physical activities in our body, especially the pituitary gland releases endorphins. Stretching is one of the many activities that release endorphins. Endorphins act as neurotransmitters and their composition is similar to that of morphine.When we experience this, our bodies respond by releasing endorphins that relieve the painful eating sensation and can activate the state of pleasure. When we pull, we apply this situation very lightly and, in that way,, when we feel a pleasant feeling while pulling.
5.Stretching produces endorphins.
Stretching feels good on many levels. At the macro level, like other exercises, stretching sessions cause the brain to produce endorphins that are chemically similar to opiates and which stimulate the brain’s pleasure centers.At the microscopic level, the simple action of stretching stimulates the nerve endings in the muscle to indicate that the muscle is moving properly, which is the opposite of reading pain when there is hypertrophy.The muscles must be stretched to normal endurance and limits and the pleasurable sensation is the body’s way of ensuring that the movement is repeated.
6.Stretching can have a positive effect on your day while you sleep.
If you like most people, you start the day by sitting in bed, stretching your head and your arms over the ship. What most people don’t know is that it’s called a pandiculation and it plays an important role in rebuilding your muscles after sleeping overnight in this condition and releasing blood flow, because before you wake up, your heart rate is at its lowest level. Think of the morning stretch in the form of your body cup of coffee, it has been proven to relieve you of your organs, stress. This perfect view of the loose muscles has increased blood flow, and good feelings are the best way to start the day.Here are some other ways to help you during the day:
Reduces stress
Prolonged stress can cause many unwanted reactions in your body, including anxiety, fatigue and stress. Stretching throughout the day has been shown to reduce stress, and is a great tool for combating anxiety and depression when combined with breathing techniques. Are You Super Stressed? How About A Thai Massage?
Reduces pain and inertia
Static stretching has been described by medical professionals as a way to reduce or eliminate excessive muscle tension and discomfort throughout the body. When done properly every day it reduces inertia, reduces pain levels and reduces the frequency of muscle cramps.
Improving mental and physical health
Regularly P.N.F. Stretching, static stretching, and stretching on mind and body topics like Karma yoga can help lower blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing rate. Resistance of the body’s physiological responses to stress and muscle strain.
Reduce the chances of injuries
The more flexible you are at the movement of your limbs and major body parts, the harder it is to push yourself too hard during a workout if you fall, or accidentally put your body in an awkward position. It helps to increase the uncontrolled movement of the major joints of the body including key areas like hip, shoulder, knee and neck.
7.Stretching relieves nerve pressure and improves circulation.
Nerves pass through the muscles to get to those parts of the body that are far away from the spine. When muscles and ligaments are tight, they tighten, constrict, and inflame tight nerves, resulting in inflammation of the nerves and infected areas.
When you stretch, you release undue pressure on that nerve and thus feel a feeling of “stiffness and pain”. In addition, the blood vessels pass through tight areas, destroying new blood and nutrients through those areas. Stretching allows new blood to increase blood circulation to those areas so they can get oxygen and nutrients.
Stretching looks great for many reasons
On a personal level, like someone who has been practicing and teaching yoga for almost 20 years, yoga helped me learn to experience my body again. Yoga brought me to my knees towards the eating disorder, numbing all emotions and inner connection.Slow mindfulness is a way of holding hands and telling you to live with all your emotions, no matter how big or small. Sit with them, and breathe. I believe that stretching feels great because when you are present with what is going on in the body, it will no longer be the enemy. | https://medium.com/@seopragnesh/why-does-stretching-feel-so-good-by-ourblogpost-2b37c17c95f9 | ['Pragnesh P'] | 2020-12-26 04:45:53.818000+00:00 | ['Stress', 'Fitness', 'Health', 'Tips'] |
SAVER’S CREDIT CAN HELP YOU SAVE FOR RETIREMENT | Article Highlights:
Benefits
Eligible Taxpayers
Rules for Students, Dependents of Others and Individuals Under the Age of 18
Due Date for Contributions
Check here to find our services. Link
or visit: https://www.taxallianceconsulting.com/services
Low- and moderate-income workers can take steps to save for retirement and earn a special tax credit.
The saver’s credit, also called the retirement savings credit, helps offset part of the first $2,000 workers voluntarily contribute to traditional or Roth individual retirement arrangements (IRAs), SIMPLE IRAs, SEPs, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans for employees of public schools and certain tax-exempt organizations, 457 plans for state or local government employees, and the Thrift Savings Plan for federal employees. The saver’s credit is available in addition to any other tax savings that apply as a result of contributing to retirement plans.
Credits for 2020 and 2021 are determined from the tables shown below and are based upon both filing status and income (AGI).
Modified AGI is determined without regard to the foreign earned income exclusion (also applies to US possessions) and foreign housing exclusion or deduction.
Like other tax credits, the saver’s credit can increase a taxpayer’s refund or reduce the tax owed. Though the maximum saver’s credit is $1,000 ($2,000 for married couples if both spouses contribute to a plan), taxpayers are cautioned that it is often much less and, due in part to the impact of other deductions and credits, and may in fact be zero for some taxpayers.
The amount of a taxpayer’s saver’s credit is based on his or her filing status, adjusted gross income, tax liability, and amount contributed to qualifying retirement programs.
Example — Eric and Heather, ages 32 and 30, are married and filing a joint return. In 2020, Eric contributed $3,000 through his 401(k) plan at work, and Heather contributed $500 to her IRA account. Their modified AGI for 2020 was $40,000. The credit is computed as follows:
Eric’s 401(k) contribution was $3,000, but only the first $2,000 can be used $2,000
Heather’s IRA contribution was $500, so it can all be used……………………………. 500
Total qualifying contributions…………………………………………………………………………… $2,500
Credit percentage for a joint return with AGI of $40,000 from the table………. X.20
Saver’s credit………………………………………………………………………………………………….. $500
This example illustrates how the credit phases out for higher-AGI taxpayers. In this example, the couple’s AGI of $40,000 limits the credit to 20% of their qualifying contributions. Had their AGI been $39,500 or less, their credit percentage would have been 50% of their qualified contributions, for a credit of $1,250.
The saver’s credit supplements the other tax benefits available to people who set money aside for retirement. Generally, except for Roth IRA contributions, workers’ contributions to retirement plans are tax-deductible, either in the form of a deduction on their tax return (traditional IRAs and certain self-employed retirement plans) or through a reduction of wages that would otherwise be taxable (such as pre-tax contributions to a 401(k), 403(b), etc.). So, in addition to the saver’s credit, contributions to retirement plans provide a tax deduction for traditional IRAs or income reductions for certain other plans, which lowers an individual’s tax before the credit is applied. The credit itself can only be used to reduce taxes (income and alternative minimum taxes only) to zero, and any amount in excess of a taxpayer’s tax liability is lost.
Other special rules that apply to the saver’s credit include the following:
• Eligible taxpayers must be at least 18 years of age.
• Anyone claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return cannot take the credit.
• A full-time student cannot take the credit. A person enrolled as a full-time student during any part of five calendar months during the year is considered a full-time student.
The credit is provided to encourage taxpayers to save for retirement. To prevent taxpayers from taking distributions from existing retirement savings and re-depositing them to claim the credit, qualifying retirement contributions used to figure the credit are reduced by any retirement plan distributions taken during a “testing period.” The testing period includes the prior two tax years, the current year, and the subsequent tax year before the due date (including extensions) for filing the taxpayer’s return for the tax year of the credit.
As you can see, qualifying for and using this credit involves following a complicated set of rules, but the credit can be very beneficial. If you are not sure you can afford to fund your retirement plan, contributions to an IRA or a self-employed retirement plan (SEP) can be made after the close of the year, allowing you time to determine the tax benefit of the saver’s credit and your overall tax refund before you make a contribution to one of those plans. For example, IRA contributions for 2020 can be made up to April 15, 2021, while SEP contributions can be made until October 15, 2021, if your return is on an extension.
If you have questions about how this tax benefit might apply in your situation, please give this office a call.
If you have any questions related to these issues, please give this office a call(818–434–3997)
You can check our services here at https://www.taxallianceconsulting.com/services
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<iframe src=”https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d3301.5174000091874!2d-118.26165758487784!3d34.158686980577116!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x80c2c1d30f5049f5%3A0x3b5638abd1ae22d1!2sTax%20Alliance%20Consulting!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1608932082684!5m2!1sen!2sus" width=”600" height=”450" frameborder=”0" style=”border:0;” allowfullscreen=”” aria-hidden=”false” tabindex=”0"></iframe> | https://medium.com/@taxallianceconsulting/savers-credit-can-help-you-save-for-retirement-ad4d28f59fc7 | ['Tax Alliance Consulting'] | 2020-12-25 21:36:49.246000+00:00 | ['Accountant', 'Tax Help', 'Taxes', 'Accounting'] |
How Gamers Improve Performance With Water | Hydration is one aspect of nutrition that is often ignored. In reality, it is likely to have the most significant impact on our health and performance, especially when it comes to cognitive function.
Water is essential to life — the body is 50–75% water. Under normal conditions, body water loss is ~2500 ml per day (1). The 2500ml of water is replaced by drinking fluid (1500 ml), eating food (750 ml) and metabolic processes (250 ml) (1).
Water weight can fluctuate depending on body carbohydrate stores and sodium intake (2). One gram of carbohydrate stores 2.7 grams of water, so ~400g of carbohydrates will increase body weight by ~ 1 kilogram (3).
Adequate hydration is one of the most critical aspects of the diet — drinking enough liquids to keep the body’s fluid levels topped up helps ensure that all bodily functions can occur as expected. Hydration requirements are highly individual and are dependent upon sweat rate, sweat sodium content, body weight, body temperature, the intensity of exercise and ambient environmental temperature.
The goal of optimal hydration for exercising individuals is to prevent 2–3% body mass loss, which can cause hypernatremia or a 2% gain in body mass which may cause hyponatraemia.
Hydration is essential for athletes because failure to hydrate before exercise reduces work completed during exercise performance. Excessive dehydration seems to impair exercise performance, and responses to dehydration are highly individual (4).
For esports athletes, the focus of hydration is likely centred around boosting cognition.
A meta-analysis of 33 studies, including 413 participants examining the influence of hydration and cognition, found some interesting data that supports promoting optimal hydration for cognition (5). The authors found that more than 2% dehydration was correlated with significant impairments in motor coordination, executive function, and attention (5). Alongside this, a couple of other studies also demonstrated that dehydration leading to a 2% reduction in body mass decreases alertness and induces fatigue (6).
Some studies are even suggesting that smaller amounts of dehydration (1–2% body mass loss) and tiny amounts (0.22% body mass loss) impact cognition (6,7). Furthermore, even the sensation of thirst may negatively affect cognition (6). We must also be careful not to drink too much because although drinking water improves cognition in thirsty individuals, it impairs cognition in not thirsty individuals (8).
An individual’s requirements for water vary depending on body size, lifestyle, and environmental conditions. However, as a blanket recommendation, you should start consuming an ample volume of liquids throughout the day, usually 2.5L to 3.0L.
However, you can adjust your water intake based on how you feel. Don’t wait until you feel thirsty or your mouth gets dry; this is already a sign that you are not well hydrated! Focus on mainly drinking water and tea throughout the day and avoid consuming high quantities of sugary drinks.
If you must, go for the zero-calorie options as these are an excellent way to reduce the sugar content in your diet.
If you are looking for a recommendation specific to your body weight, a good starting place would be to multiply your body weight in kg by 33(ml). Which would mean a 70 kg person requires 2310 ml (2.3 L).
Some top tips for staying hydrated
- Aim for between 2–3 litres a day as a starting point.
- Consume fruit and veg throughout the day.
- Try to stick to water. Some energy drinks and coffee have other ingredients, such as caffeine, which may disrupt sleep.
Observe the colour of your urine (darker means you need to drink more water).
If you’re interested in improving your nutrition and gaming performance, check out my virtual 6-week nutrition coaching programme 🚀
References:
1) Johnson J. Fluids and Electrolytes Demystified. New York: McGraw-Hill Education; 2018.
2) Bortz WM, Wroldson AR, Morris PA, Issekutz Jr BE. Fat, carbohydrate, salt, and weight loss. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1967;20:1104–12.
3) Olsson KE, Saltin B. Variation in total body water with muscle glycogen changes in man. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica. 1970 Sep;80(1):11–8.
4) Maughan RJ. Impact of mild dehydration on wellness and on exercise performance. European journal of clinical nutrition. 2003 Dec;57(2):S19–23.
5) Wittbrodt MT, Millard-Stafford M. Dehydration impairs cognitive performance: a meta-analysis. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2018 Nov 1;50(11):2360–8.
6) Benton D, Young HA. Do small differences in hydration status affect mood and mental performance?. Nutrition reviews. 2015 Sep 1;73(suppl_2):83–96.
7) Riebl SK, Davy BM. The hydration equation: Update on water balance and cognitive performance. ACSM’s health & fitness journal. 2013 Nov;17(6):21.
8) Rogers PJ, Kainth A, Smit HJ. A drink of water can improve or impair mental performance depending on small differences in thirst. Appetite. 2001 Feb. | https://medium.com/@gamrnutritionuk/how-gamers-improve-performance-with-water-198f1bcfb51e | ['Alfie Gordon'] | 2021-11-26 10:33:31.253000+00:00 | ['Hydration', 'Gaming', 'Esport', 'Esports Market', 'Esports News'] |
Apex Legends tips and tricks, that i use while regularly playing it | Apex Legends has experienced a surge in interest over the past few months. Millions of players are flocking to EA’s battle royale game, and it’s easy to see why. As a quality free-to-play game, Apex Legends sells itself, but beyond that, it offers a few interesting twists on the battle royale format. Looting and shooting is still at the core of Apex Legends, but you’ll need more than that to make it to the winner’s circle. Here are the best tips and tricks for getting started in Apex Legends.
Choose a legend
Apex Legends has 14 playable characters to choose from. Each legend has a passive, tactical, and ultimate ability. Besides those perks, all legends play the same. They move at the same speed and can pick up and use the same gear. Just know that no matter who you pick, you can still make it to the end of a match, so we suggest taking each legend for a spin to see which abilities click with you.
For instance, if you like to go in guns blazing, Bangalore or Wraith might be good for you. If you’re a cautious battle royale player, Bloodhound and Gibraltar are good choices. If you play the healer role in other games, Lifeline might work for you.
Stay with the Jumpmaster
Like other battle royale games, Apex Legends begins with the drop. One player in your team of three is designated as the Jumpmaster. The other two can suggest locations to head toward, but at the end of the day, the Jumpmaster chooses the location and the angle at which you head there. Sometimes you may strongly disagree with the spot. Maybe it’s a barren area unlikely to have gear. Or, maybe you can see other teams heading in the same direction. It happens.
But avoid the temptation of separating from your team, which you can do at any time during the descent. Splitting up is a recipe for an early demise. Not only is an organized squad likely to take you out earlier, but you’ll also be too far away for your teammates to revive you.
Don’t land in the exact same spot, though. You don’t want to run behind one of your teammates as they pick up all of the gear in a particular area. Once you’re close to the ground, break for an unoccupied building or loot area and build your loadout solo, always sticking relatively close to the rest of your team. That will give you the best chance of finding decent loot, while also ensuring you’re not left alone.
Stick together and use your abilities
After you’ve picked up some initial loot, stick together as a team. Apex Legends doesn’t emphasize teamwork as much as Overwatch, but certain Legends fill the holes left by others. A roster of Bangalore, Gibraltar, and Lifelife offers a nice balance of offense, defense, and support, but you can get creative, too. Loba can point your team toward better loot, while Pathfinder can quickly scout new areas. No matter the Legends that comprise your team find how they work best together, and implement that strategy.
That usually comes down to using your Legend’s abilities early and often. Once you choose a Legend, learn their abilities inside and out. It’s pretty easy to recognize when you need to call in Lifeline’s D.O.C. Heal Drone, for example, but learning the right time to deploy Revenant’s Death Totem is something that only comes with practice.
Pick items and weapons carefully
Unlike Call of Duty: Warzone, ammunition takes up a backpack slot. You only have eight slots to start, so it’s easy to fill those by picking up different types of ammunition, grenades, and health/shield replenishers. You can add another six slots on top of that if you find other backpacks around the map, so always keep an eye out for them.
When you first drop, it’s fine to pick up everything you see. But after you grab a weapon or two, take a gander at your backpack. Chances are you’ll have some incompatible ammunition. It’s up to you, but we recommend shedding the ammo that you cannot currently use.
When you come across new guns, you’ll almost always find the ammunition it uses either right next to it or close by. It’s a waste to lug around unusable ammo, especially when you can use those precious slots on attachments and all important consumables.
Learn the season’s map
Each new season of Apex Legends brings map changes. Depending on the season and if you’re playing ranked or not, you’ll have access to World’s Edge and Kings Canyon. Between seasons, the maps stay mostly the same. However, Respawn regularly swaps locations and adds new points of interest at the start of each season. Simply learning the best places to land and loot is half the battle.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to how you tackle the map, though. High-tier loot areas are almost always highly contested, while low-tier loot areas often don’t offer enough gear to outfit a whole team. No matter if you’re playing with friends or with randoms online, you’ll want to discuss a rough strategy about how your team will move through the map. You don’t have to go too deep, but being on the same page about passageways to other areas and when your team plans on hitting high-tier areas will give you an advantage.
Craft missing gear
Season 6 introduced crafting to Apex Legends, and it helps a lot in rounding out your build. You shouldn’t look at crafting as a replacement for looting — it’s a supplement to looting. Use the Replicator crafting stations to pick up extra ammo and outfit your guns with better parts. If you have a specific type of weapon you need — Rampart has faster reloads and increased magazine capacity with LMGs, for example — you can buy a new weapon. Still, it’s best not to rely on Replicators for new guns.
Otherwise, be aware of Replicator locations for any fallen teammates. If you get the chance to revive them, your team can help them craft new gear rather than pick through scraps.
No matter what you’re using the Replicator for, you want to get in and out as fast as possible. The crafting mechanic is very powerful, but it comes with a lot of risk. While you’re scraping together new items, you’re in the open, allowing any astute players nearby to easily earn a party wipe. Before even entering the crafting screen, scout the nearby areas and have a plan about what you’re going to craft. That’ll give you the best chance to pick up some new items unscathed.
Don’t worry too much about the ring at first
Like other battle royale games, the playable area gradually shrinks throughout the match. You shouldn’t worry too much about this until the late game, though. Once the timer for each round hits zero, a new timer starts that tells you when the ring will start shrinking. In short, you have a lot of time to avoid the closing ring. Pay more attention to the persistent threat: Other teams. You have to be really trying to die by the ring.
On the flip side of this, it’s sometimes smart to post up just inside the ring as it’s closing. You might see a team or two scrambling to get in that can be easy prey.
Heal out of harm’s way
Healing takes time. Whether you’re replenishing shields or health with consumables, you need to not be interrupted. Don’t heal out in the open during a firefight. You’re better off fleeing the scene entirely or trying to take out enemies with low health than trying to heal when under pressure.
Make use of the ping system
The most novel system in Apex Legends is undoubtedly its contextual ping system. It facilitates nonverbal communication and makes playing without a mic very doable. When you see an enemy, mark them with the ping system to tell your teammates their location. Even if you think they saw the enemy too, it never hurts to place the mark.
When you find gear that you aren’t going to pick up, mark it. Your character will vocally call out the gear so your teammates can see if it’s something they could use. When you want to explore an area or head in a certain direction? Tell your teammates by placing a marker. Using the ping system often, even excessively, can go a long way toward surviving.
Grab yellow gear
There are five pieces of yellow legendary gear in Apex Legends. Their stats are identical to the purple (rare) versions of that item, but they have perks that can be very helpful. If you see a yellow piece of gear, grab it no matter what. Here’s what they do.
Backpack: Consumable usage time is cut in half
Consumable usage time is cut in half Helmet: Faster regeneration on tactical and ultimate abilities
Faster regeneration on tactical and ultimate abilities Armor: Shields replenish from finishers
Shields replenish from finishers Knockout Shield: Lets you self-revive one time when knocked down
Lets you self-revive one time when knocked down Digital Threat Scope: Highlights enemies red
Be careful when reviving teammates
Just like using personal health and shield items, reviving teammates who have fallen can be risky. Hopefully, your teammate will crawl to a safe position to help you out, but you should wait till the coast is clear before going in for the revival. It’s very easy to get killed while reviving a teammate, and that won’t help you or your fallen comrade.
With that said, sometimes your teammate will have to bleed out due to the situation. If that happens, you can still bring them back to life by recovering their banner within 90 seconds. Again, be careful recovering the banner and then hoof it to the nearest beacon to bring your buddy back to life.
What you need to know about movement
Apex Legends has zero fall damage, so do not worry about jumping off buildings, cliffs, bridges, whatever. You cannot get hurt. Speaking of movement, get to know the crouching slide. It helps you move quicker down slopes and even when going down small inclines.
You can also climb a short distance by holding the jump button. This lets you scale walls and climb to the second story of buildings or rooftops. Lastly, when running, consider holstering your weapon. You run faster without a weapon equipped.
Perpetual motion
“Camping” doesn’t come up much in multiplayer shooters nowadays, and that’s a good thing. Like other battle royale games, staying in a single spot in Apex Legends is a sure way to die (if the ring doesn’t get you, other teams will). You want to keep moving in the early game, picking off opposing teams as you find them and piecing together a loadout in the process.
Once there are only a handful of teams left, securing a position and protecting it can be helpful. If you don’t want to think of it as camping, call it a “tactical advantage.” Staying in a single spot in the late game allows your team to properly deploy any traps and set up a good defense. What you want to avoid is running around the small area inside the ring, unless your team is really good. Even if your aggression pays off with a few kills, there’s probably an enemy sniper somewhere waiting for an open shot. Don’t give them one.
Attachments make the gun
Apex Legends has a great variety of guns available, from pistols to SMGs to LMGs to assault rifles, with something to please every type of player. However, none of these guns are incredibly easy to use (unless you are shooting at point-blank range) without a sight. If you have two weapons, one with an attachment and another without, it’s almost always preferable to use the one with the sight. After all, that’s how it would be in the real world.
There are ways to make weapons more capable, though. A few optional add-ons to enhance your gameplay are barrel stabilizers, extended mags, and hop-ups. Hop-ups do a number of different things. For example, a Precision Choke on the Peacekeeper shotgun gives you a tighter spread over time, whereas a Selectfire Receiver attached to a Prowler enables full-auto firing mode.
Make sure to remember that attachments aren’t universal — each one works with a specific gun or gun selection. So when you find attachments, pay close attention to what weapon(s) they work with, since an attachment that doesn’t match the weapons you have isn’t going to help out much. The more accessories your gun has, the easier it will be to win firefights.
Of course, if winning isn’t necessarily your goal, feel free to rush in, whatever gun you want blazing. Whether you win or lose, Apex Legends is definitely worth a few hours of your time.
That’s all for today folks…. Peace out..
My username in Apex Legends: Apollo432 | https://medium.com/@apollo432/apex-legends-tips-and-tricks-that-i-use-while-regularly-playing-it-cd2164581bcb | ['Shashwata Koley'] | 2020-12-25 02:39:43.797000+00:00 | ['Games', 'PC', 'Android', 'Windows 10', 'Gaming'] |
Do People Not Understand What Regulating Crypto Will Mean? | I’m a bit agitated as I review the news about the Blockchain Innovation Act, and the Digital Taxonomy Act (both part of the update to the Consumer Safety Technolgy Act) moving forward. There are a multitude of crypto and especially XRP fanboys that seem to think this somehow equates with XRP becoming the official US currency, or else will push it’s price through the stratosphere. I can’t speculate on price — whatever happens to prices will likely affect many digital currencies, not just XRP. And not necessarily in a positive way. I do not think these bills will have a positive impact on crypto beyond possibly wider consumer adoption.
To clarify — I do not in any way work for any crypto exchange or financial institution, nor do I have any channel or other internet presence that advises and/or tries to excite people about the prospects of cryptocurrency. I simply do not have a horse in this race. I’m not bearish or bullish on anything — I’m just a consumer that enjoys the ability to use crpto from time to time myself.
As for XRP becoming the official US currency, I can tell you that will be very unlikely to happen. As for a world reserve currency? I think in the near future we will see multiple countries’ currencies, and possibly some digital assets, being kept as reserves around the world, pending how the US economy holds up.
The US has been exploring the creation of its own digital currency (Digital Dollar) for several years now. You can find white papers by entities such as the IMF or the BIS going back to at least 2015 exploring the idea of transitioning to a digital currency away from cash. In fact, all of the separate pieces needed are coming into place for the US to transition to a Digital Dollar, as well as the the governing authorities to be able to safely manager all it entails in cross-border payments, and more.
From the many documents I’ve read, I see almost no reason to believe that this “Digital Dollar” will be based on Blockchain — though it will likely be using DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology). These ledgers will be kept at the US Central Bank locations, and posibly various member banks (i.e., the big commercial banks). Your actual “Digital Dollar Wallet” account will be held directly at the Federal Reserve.
I know this a lot to take in — I will discuss this all in MUCH more detail in my next few articles, and I hope they will be useful in understanding it all.
The Digital Dollar will likely not be a cryptocurrency, just a digital asset representing dollars. Also it will be centrally managed by Big Daddy Fed — our fatherly central bank.
The plan thus far is to unveil a new CBDC, (which is a Central Bank Digital Currency), to be used at first, in tandem with the US dollar, and with plans to ultimately fully transition to the digital currency by placing rules, taxes, etc on physical paper money, or offering discounts or other incentives to use the new Digital Dollar.
These latest bills, in my opinion, are simply preemptively ensuring that the government will have enough control over Bitcoin and other cryptos to make them less attractive when the US Digital Dollar CBDC arrives. They do not want unncesary competition upon entering the digital currency space, or want people fleeing to, or temporarily utilizing Bitcoin or other crypto in place of the Digital Dollar, once it is implemented.
Regulation means that they will absolutely take away the anonymity of Bitcoin.
Although it is very possible that small, person to person (P2P) transactions in crytpo may not require full identification — but virtually everything else likely will. You can’t have “fraud protection” if you don’t know the parties involved — I’d hope that would be obvious, but apparently not.
If you know anything about banking and financial regulations, you already know that there are KYC (Know Your Customer), AML (Anti-Money Laundering), and CTF (Combatting Terrorism Finance) laws which must be abided by for money to travel over any payment rail that’s part of the main US financial network.
Any official recognition of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, or other digital assets, will be no different. The government has already been working on proof of concept for Smart Contracts to travel over the recently upgraded “SWIFT gpi” network successfully. So sure, you might be happy that crypto is regulated so it can become more mainstream— but you are losing almost all of the key benefits that crypto provides - Decentralization and anonymity — two of its core reasons for being invented in the first place.
This will effectively result in a centralized layer to integrate with the current financial system, and all upstream and downstream user data will end up being required for transmission over the network.
There are multiple private consortiums and organizations that have already been partnering with the OCC and other governmental entities to create what is likely to become the basis for our Digital Dollar. Hyperledger and the Digital Dollar Project are among them, and it is far more likely in my opinion that one of these would become the basis for the next official US currency (under the name of the government of the United States of course), rather than XRP, Bitcoin, or even USD Coin.
Speaking of the OCC, this excerpt from a letter regarding bank’s being able to hold crypto in custody for customers should be somewhat concerning:
“Therefore, a bank “holding” digital currencies on behalf of a customer is actually taking possession of the cryptographic access keys to that unit of cryptocurrency”
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, I really do, because I love cryto and the whole concept behind decentralization — but I don’t see this as any reason to get overly excited about digital currency — we are going to have that soon enough in the US as our official currency anyway, and these Acts are simply going to lay the foundation to regulate Bitcoin away from the benefits that it now enjoys, under the guise of “fraud protection”. That is what these bills are about.
I’m currently in the process of writing several articles related to the Digital Dollar and its many implications — I just felt this was important to publish right now. The other articles I’m writing are not simply going to be venting, they are well researched. Some links are below, with coming soon — stay tuned. | https://medium.com/swlh/do-people-not-understand-what-regulating-crypto-will-mean-efaa4c4955e9 | ['Justin Honse'] | 2020-10-21 19:30:08.706000+00:00 | ['Economy', 'Bitcoin', 'Anonymity', 'Regulation', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
Optimising your Cloud Infrastructure Spending | The Cloud Engagement Hub blog, here on Medium, talks a lot about different technologies and techniques used by organisations on their respective cloud journeys. Containerisation is clearly the strategic choice that many clients are making, though the reality is that a lot of workloads that you want to move to cloud are complex and many will be best suited to lift as virtual machines (VMs) for the time being. If this applies to you, be very aware: if you don’t change how you manage these VMs, it will cost you much more than it does now. The following article will talk about the patterns you should adopt, and the automation required to change the way you work. Without these “new ways of working”, cloud is never cheaper.
Let us start by revisiting our journey map in Figure 1. The modernisation approaches we are talking about in this article are the top two of those in blue; namely “Virtual > Virtual” and “Physical > Virtual”.
Figure 1 Cloud Application Modernisation Journey Map
Before we dive into the details, let’s dispel some myths. Most client journeys start with the consumption of IaaS services despite the fact that more value is realised in the application space than down in the infrastructure. One of the simple reasons for this is that enterprises spend more on application development and maintenance (ADM) than infrastructure — on average approximately $1.50 spend on ADM for every $1 on infrastructure.
Secondly, although there is a significant move towards containers and containerisation — see here and here for some related content — many organisations are still consuming virtual machines as their primary cloud infrastructure platform. They expect to see cost savings with this “lift-n-shift” approach; rehosting existing applications to cloud-based VMs with minimal architectural changes; but all too frequently, savings fail to materialise. Even though containerisation has a higher implementation cost, the ROI it provides is higher (310%) than the lift-n-shift approach (250%). But that theoretical lift-n-shift ROI depends upon you changing the way you work. It’s all about doing things differently.
That said, even though there is more value to be realised from the application space and through containerisation, there are still many things that can be done to optimise infrastructure spending. So, what are those patterns that can be used to better optimise your infrastructure spend?
Note: throughout this article, example prices are shown (in US dollars) to illustrate the points being made and to quantify potential savings. Though correct at the time of writing, prices change frequently and so these are not able to be guaranteed as correct in the future.
Pattern 1: “Turn it off!”
If your cloud is costing you more than your on-premises infrastructure to do the same thing, then chances are, you’re running it in the same way. Let’s face it, in many cases, cloud is only cheaper when you turn it off. If I create VMs in a cloud and leave them running for years as I might have done on-premises, then it’s almost always going to cost more. Which brings us neatly to the ability to suspend or hibernate a virtual machine. This allows you to temporarily stop using a VM while keeping it intact and without the need to re-provision or reconfigure it. It can be booted up again and you don’t pay for the time it’s not being used. Well, not quite true. It’s always important to understand what you stop paying for and what you will continue to be charged while it’s suspended (typically storage and maybe network addresses). There may be minimum usage charges or limitations on whether a VM can indeed be suspended at all and for how long. Remember also that suspended images are not patched or updated while suspended.
For systems supporting office hours working, use hourly billing and suspend these overnight. If the system has minimal configuration above the standard image or if the configuration activity is automated, it may prove more cost-effective to delete these resources and recreate them the following day.
The relative cost effects can be seen below. We use for this example, an hourly priced VM with SAN storage which costs $0.14/hr
Table 1. Cost effects of suspension and deletion of VMs when not used
You can see from this that suspending the VM saves 53% compared to just leaving it running. Deleting it saves 76%. Because you are always paying for the storage, a small VM with a lot of storage may not save you as much when suspended as in this example.
Pattern 2: “Right-size” your VMs
There is an oft-quoted statistic that the majority of x86 systems running within an enterprise are less than 5% utilised. Note that this is not the same as physical server utilisation. The use of virtualisation has tended to drive up average server utilisation as systems are consolidated onto the same physical hardware, but even here, average server utilisation is unlikely to be above 50%. The move to cloud provides an opportunity to “right-size” both your physical and virtual server fleet and reduce the amount of wasted resource and hence, cost.
If we consider a number of different VM sizes, we might see a range that looks like this:
Table 2. Cost effects of different VM sizes
If I have the equivalent of an X-Large server today and this is less than 50% utilised, as would be likely the case based on industry metrics, I should be able to right-size the physical server when moving to the cloud. I could similarly right-size an on-premises VM. This would allow me to reduce costs by about 50%. If I have servers which are less than 25% utilised, then these savings are of the order of 75%.
Doing this well requires you to have a good understanding of not only how the existing VMs or physical servers are being used, but also the constraining factor(s) for the workload. Most cloud providers offer a range of profiles that are optimised for particular workload needs (computation or memory) in addition to a more typical “balanced” option. The relative costs of different VM profiles for the same compute performance can be seen here:
Table 3. Cost effects of different VM profiles
While we can see the potential to save here, many organisations seemingly struggle with both the ‘t-shirt’ sizing approach and standardisation in general because again it’s different to what they did before. There are experts in many organisations whose role seems to be to exactly size a server to meet a specific application need. Selecting processors, memory, storage, even specific network adapters to precisely fit. In those IT shops where it took weeks or months to procure a physical server, this might have had some merit. Also, companies where there was no sharing of resources or budgets between teams wanted to get this choice just right. But cloud just isn’t like this. If I get my sizing wrong, I simply delete the ‘incorrect’ server and provision a ‘better’ one. If that isn’t perfect, I can repeat the process until I get it optimally sized for my workload’s needs. And it doesn’t take weeks or months to do this, rather minutes! The ‘t-shirt’ sizing approach frequently means that it’s never going to be perfect, but it’s good enough. Automation and ruthless standardisation are key to making this work well — but that is bugbear for another article.
There are other levers that we can pull to further optimise our VM costs. The first of these is to use the right technology generation for your workload needs. Most organisations have some technical debt and see cloud as a way to reduce this by selecting the latest technologies available in the service catalog. The question you need to be asking though is, at what cost? Consider the following example of a bare metal server. In this example, a dual processor / 16 cores device with memory, storage etc remaining the same:
Table 4. Cost effects of different processor generations
Obviously, the latest generation processor on this list has a clock speed almost twice as fast as the earlier generation ones, but if you don’t need, or your applications cannot take advantage of this, then there is potential for a 40% cost saving by not taking this latest device.
Datacentre location can also have an impact too due to the different taxation regimes operating in different countries. Below are the monthly costs for similarly configured VMs in a number of different countries:
Table 5. Cost effects of cloud datacentre location
You may not have the ability to choose the datacentre in which your workloads can run for regulatory or policy reasons, but if you can, it is worth checking the price differential between different locations. As we can see from this example, up to a 20% price differential across different datacentre locations might not be uncommon.
Some IT departments have a good understanding of the utilisation of their existing physical and virtual servers, but many don’t. If you’re in the latter category, figuring out the correct size of a new cloud resource may be problematic. Remember the point above that this doesn’t have to be perfect and you can always remove and re-deploy. The key here is to monitor the new system for a while and then decide whether action is needed. It is all too easy to over-estimate the resource needs or err on the safe side and go larger than you might need. If you then forget about this and hence leave it oversized, you’ll be paying more in the long run. There are many ways to measure resource consumption. The key point here is to actually do it and then decide, based on real data, whether the VM should be resized or not. In most clouds, compute resources double between t-shirt sizes: 2 vCPUs — 4 vCPUs — 8 vCPUs etc. The same is true for memory: 4GB — 8GB — 16GB. If you find your VMs are less than 50% utilised, then downsizing is likely to be possible. And if you do get it wrong, you can always go back again with minimal effort.
Pattern 3: Make use of transient (spot priced) VMs
Transient or spot priced VMs make use of unused cloud capacity and are offered at a lower (spot) price compared to a normal VM. The available capacity will vary based on where you want to provision the resources, the time of day, day of the week etc. As their name suggests however, the downside is that access to these resources is not guaranteed, they typically have no SLAs associated with them and they can be reclaimed by the cloud at very short notice. There may also be limits on how many spot instances you have access to at any one time.
Because they can be interrupted at any time, or indeed may not be able to be provisioned due to a lack of capacity, spot instances are most often used for workloads that can be interrupted or where there are less stringent “time to result” requirements. These are typically, but not uniquely, non-production workloads such as development and testing, but batch processing and also high-performance computation are also good candidates.
If you have workloads that can take advantage of them, the savings can be considerable as shown below:
Table 6. Cost effects of spot pricing on different VM sizes
Some clouds offer options to control when spot priced VMs are reclaimed based on price thresholds. This gives you better budgetary control
As with “right-sizing”, if you don’t have a particular VM size or locality requirement you may be able to find even cheaper options by shopping around. The key here is to understand which workloads you run may be suitable to run on spot priced VMs.
Consider a compute intensive workload that an organisation runs at the end of each week. It is highly variable in nature, based upon the business completed, and can require 30% additional capacity to complete for a busy week. Let us assume for the basis of this example that this may take 8 hours to run on 100 nodes (VMs). If we assume that this is managed by a workload scheduler which can resubmit units of work on ‘failed’ compute nodes, we can see the implications here:
Table 8. Cost effects of spot pricing on different weekly usage profiles.
If there is no deadline by which time a result needs to be calculated, you could solely use spot instances and realise savings in the range of 70% however it has to be stressed that not every workload can take advantage of these spot-prices so choose carefully.
Pattern 4: Reserve capacity for things that run 24x7
Spot price instance availability isn’t guaranteed. If you need to guarantee access to VM resources at some later date, enter the “reserved instance”. This guarantees you capacity and by making a longer-term commitment to the cloud platform, you will see lower unit prices. The longer the commitment, the greater the discount.
Reserved instances usually have restrictions or limitations, so you need to understand what you are getting into here. These restrictions might include not being available for every option in the service catalog and limits on the number of reservations you can make. Reservations typically don’t renew automatically so you need to keep on top of when the term ends so that you don’t suddenly find yourself without capacity when you need it or faced with a monthly bill larger than you were expecting.
Remember that you are reserving capacity and that if you don’t use that reservation, you are still paying for it as opposed to the Pay-As-You-Go model where you wouldn’t be. Often your cancellation options are limited, and you may have to pay some penalty (a cancellation fee) to get out of the commitment you previously made.
While the discounted price arising from the longer commitment, may look attractive you need to be sure that you can utilise them effectively. For predictable workloads running all the time, it makes sense to use reserved instances. Where there is variable usage or a lack of predictability, the case is much less clear and the savings you might make by using normal PAYG instances and turning them off when they are unused likely outweighs the reserved instance discounted price. You need to have a good view of your past and future utilisation to make the best choice.
To give some comparison of the “commitment effect” here let us consider what this might mean in practice:
Table 9. Cost effects of increased commitment to the cloud platform
Again, the savings realised through this approach can be considerable, but only where you are able to fully utilise the capacity you have reserved. Even if you are getting a lower unit price, you still run the risk of wasting money if you can’t.
A further ‘flavour’ of increased commitment available in some cloud platforms is the “Dedicated Host”. These are virtualised, single-tenant, dedicated servers into which your VMs can be placed. Mostly, these tend to be used to get isolation from other cloud users, whether that is for security reasons or to avoid ‘noisy neighbour’ problems. They do however also offer financial benefit because the monthly cost of the entire physical server is usually lower than purchasing the same capacity in standard VMs.
Table 10. Cost effects of dedicated servers vs standard VMs
As you can see, the percentage saving in this example is quite low. Some dedicated host offerings also allow you to control resource overcommitment allowing greater savings to be realised by putting more VMs onto the server. As with any “commitment” offering, you need to be sure that you can actually take full advantage of it or you will be wasting money if not.
The key role of automation
Automation and standardisation are fundamental to making these four patterns work well. When dealing with clients, concerns are often expressed about what happens if you forget to turn off VMs at the end of a day or over a weekend. Automation that takes this off your hands and operates according to policies is thus key.
Creation, configuration and deletion of VMs needs to be fully automated. Whether you are using Terraform, Ansible, Spinnaker or many of the other offerings in this space, doesn’t matter. The key thing is that human intervention is not required for any of these tasks. These automation capabilities then need the ability to be activated either at specific times (e.g. the end of the working day) or when other conditions are true (e.g. there are no users using a particular service).
This then brings us neatly to talk about the use of autoscaling. Rather than pre-configuring a pool of servers to support a workload, consider using autoscaling functionality provided by the cloud to dynamically allocate and deallocate resources as your workload demands change over time. While adding instances as more load is placed on your applications and services may be helpful, more interesting here is the removal of instances as load subsides. This removes unnecessary resources and hence reduces your costs. When working well, this ensures that you don’t have more resources provisioned than you need to, to support business workload requirements. Plus, you don’t need to forget about turning things off as the cloud platform will do it for you. Typically, you set minimum and maximum numbers of VMs to control your costs within autoscaling environments fall within known (pre-determined) limits. For autoscaling to work, however, your application needs to be able to support it — typically stateless or with state held outside of the application itself.
For the most part, we have been looking at individual VMs or systems, however many systems have complex interactions with others. Your automation capabilities need to handle these cases too. Treating these as an ‘environment’ rather than a ‘server’ is one way to do this. Again, there are many tools out there that can be used to create complete DevTest environments from scratch with all of the tooling that is needed.
The combination of these patterns, automated and deployed into the running environment allows us to drive potentially significant cost benefits, as the following example demonstrates.
Bringing it all together
Consider a global organisation running approximately 9300 applications across 50,000 servers in their own datacentres.
About 400 of these applications are out of scope for this exercise. These are either “desktop” applications running on a standalone device or applications supporting telecommunications. The remainder are what we might term “exotic” in that they run on about 7000 servers (Mainframe, various Unix flavours, Tandem etc). While there is surely potential for a Unix to Linux migration as part of any journey to cloud, we will ignore these applications for the time being though, as we can see from Figure 1 above, they all have a role to play here.
So, let us apply our patterns to this remaining population of about 8900 applications. Of these, 6250 are “production” applications. The other 2650 (approx. 30%) are used for development, test and other non-production use. These are potential targets for suspension or turning off when not in use, but this is not all. Of the 6250 production applications, 1550 (approx. 25%) are only used “9-to-5” so are also potential suspension / turn off targets. Thus, 4200 applications (47%) of the total population are hence potentially able to be turned off or suspended for the majority of any 24-hour period. If we assume that 50% can be suspended and the remainder turned off when not used, we can see from applying Pattern 1 that there is potential to save ~64% of the hosting costs for these applications.
Pattern 2 (right-sizing) is another area where significant benefits should be possible. Traditional x86 servers are frequently under-utilised so migrating workloads to smaller virtual servers gives the potential for reducing costs. If we don’t have actual utilisation data, we might choose to err on the side of caution and estimate 40% of the server population to be under-utilised. Half of this 40% could be reduced in size by 50%. Of the remaining 20%, half can be reduced by 25% and half by 75%.
For the Development & Test population (2650 applications), it may be possible to use spot-priced instances (Pattern 3) for some of these. Even if we assume that only 30% of this can be provided this way, there is another potential to drive further savings here.
Pattern 4 is the use of longer-term commitments to drive down the cost of those machines which are required to be on and available all the time. To keep the sums easy, let’s assume that all of our “7x24 applications” should have a longer term (in this case 3 year) commitment which reduces costs by another 60% for this population.
The results of applying these different optimisations can be seen in the chart below:
Figure 2. Potential impacts of infrastructure optimisation approaches
In this article, we’ve looked at potential ways to optimise infrastructure spending within the cloud at the pure IaaS level. There are many other business benefits realisable through a journey to cloud such as technical debt reduction and the reduction of maintenance costs. We’ve also not considered the potential upside of decommissioning old applications and the infrastructure that they run on in this. Though, as stated at the beginning, there is more financial benefit to be realised by containerising applications rather than undertaking a lift-n-shift to the cloud, this is still the journey that most organisations are on. The next step for these companies is to start to realise the potential cost benefits that cloud promised, but maybe they have yet to realise. Part of this comes down to changing the way that you work, and by adopting the patterns described above, I would hope to have shown a few pointers to show you how to do this. | https://medium.com/cloud-engagement-hub/optimising-your-cloud-infrastructure-spending-9f54aa4a1c96 | ['John Easton'] | 2020-12-21 12:03:19.886000+00:00 | ['Cloud Infrastructure', 'Iaas', 'Cloud Migration', 'Cloud', 'Cloud Technology'] |
If you do what you did, you get …. | If you do what you did, you get ….
… what you got.
This is a well-known quote. The intention is to let you see that you need to do something different in order to get a different result.
The bushfires in Australia, the tension in the Middle East (especially between US and Iran) and growth of mental illness are just a few indicators that we need radical change.
Our track record on transformation has been rather poor. Mostly because we don’t really want to change ourselves, and our habits.
Yes, we want others to change, but for example we won’t change our own food, our drinks, and exercise regime.
We want to use renewable energies, yet we keep on subsidizing fossil fuels. We want people to be healthy, but we still allow sugar to be added to most of the food. We want innovation, but a employee who comes up with a game changing idea is often silenced.
The ‘good’ thing about the pain that many communities are experiencing is that people are really more open to radical change. Radical change requires new ways of thinking and behaving. That is what outliers have been doing for ages.
The real change is that this urgency for change is now also been seen at the very heart of our society. Downing Street 10 symbolizes this in the UK.
It was a pleasant surprise to read the blog from the Chief Advisor of the Prime Minister. In his blog he writes that “We want to hire an unusual set of people with different skills and backgrounds to work in Downing Street with the best officials”.
That is very encouraging as when change starts at the core, it will be very likely that change will spread out everywhere.
Extraordinarians will no longer be seen as a pain in the ass, but as facilitators of change.
How does that make you feel? Are you an Extraordinarian? | https://medium.com/@arnold.beekes/if-you-do-what-you-did-you-get-debc6c915461 | ['Arnold Beekes'] | 2020-01-14 13:16:12.503000+00:00 | ['UK Politics', 'Skills', 'Transformation', 'Change', 'Uniqueness'] |
Surrounded | Written by
Almost famous cartoonist who laughs at her own jokes and hopes you will, too. | https://marcialiss17.medium.com/surrounded-2acf80ae08c2 | [] | 2020-06-26 12:42:08.166000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Life', 'Covid', 'Cartoon', 'Comics'] |
Generic Methods in Rust: How Exonum Shifted from Iron to Actix-web | The Rust ecosystem is still growing. As a result, new libraries with improved functionality are frequently released into the developer community, while older libraries become obsolete. When we initially designed Exonum, we used the Iron web-framework. We’ve now decided to shift the Exonum platform to the actix-web framework.
In this article, we describe how we ported the Exonum framework to actix-web using generic programming.
Exonum on Iron
In the Exonum platform, the Iron framework was used without any abstractions. We installed handlers for certain resources and obtained request parameters by parsing URLs using auxiliary methods; the result was returned simply in the form of a string.
The process looked (approximately) like the following:
In addition, we used some middleware plugins in the form of CORS headers. We used mount to merge all the handlers into a single API.
Our Decision to Shift Away from Iron
Iron was a good library, with plenty of plugins. However, it was written in the days when such projects as futures and tokio did not exist.
The architecture of Iron involves synchronous requests processing, which can be easily affected by a large number of simultaneously open connections. To be scalable, Iron needed to become asynchronous, which would involve rethinking and rewriting the whole framework. As a result, we’ve seen a gradual departure from using Iron by software engineers.
Why We Chose Actix-Web
Actix-web is a popular framework that ranks high on TechEmpower benchmarks. It has an active developer community, unlike Iron, and it has a well-designed API and high-quality implementation based on the actix actor framework. Requests are processed asynchronously by the thread pool; if request processing panics, the actor is automatically restarted.
Previously, concerns were raised that actix-web contained a lot of unsafe code. However, the amount of unsafe code was significantly reduced when the framework was rewritten in a safe programming language — Rust. Bitfury’s engineers have reviewed this code themselves and feel confident in its long-term stability.
For the Exonum framework, shifting to actix solved the issue of operation stability. The Iron framework could fail if there were a large number of connections. We have also found that the actix-web API is simpler, more productive and more unified. We are confident that users and developers will have an easier time using the Exonum programming interface, which can now operate faster thanks to the actix-web design.
What We Require from a Web Framework
During this process we realized it was important for us not to simply shift frameworks, but to also devise a new API architecture independent of any specific web framework. Such architecture would allow for creating handlers, with little to no concern about web specifics, and transferring them to any backend. This conception can be implemented by writing a frontend that would apply basic types and traits.
To understand what this frontend needs to look like, let’s define what any HTTP API really is:
· Requests are made exclusively by clients; the server only responds to them (the server does not initiate requests).
· Requests either read data or change data.
· As a result of the request processing, the server returns a response, which contains the required data, in case of success; or information about the error, in case of failure.
If we are to analyze all the abstraction layers, it turns out that any HTTP request is just a function call:
Everything else can be considered an extension of this basic entity. Thus, in order to be independent from a specific implementation of a web framework, we need to write handlers in a style similar to the example above.
Trait `Endpoint` for Generic Processing of HTTP-requests
The most simple and straightforward approach would be declaring the `Endpoint` trait, which describes the implementations of specific requests:
Now we need to implement this handler in a specific framework. For example, in actix-web it looks like the following:
We can use structures for passing request parameters through the context. Actix-web can automatically deserialize parameters using serde. For example, a=15&b=hello is deserialized into a structure like this one:
This deserialization functionality agrees well with the associated type Request from the `Endpoint` trait.
Next, lets devise an adapter which wraps a specific implementation of `Endpoint` into a RequestHandler for actix-web. Pay attention to the fact that while doing so, the information on Request and Response types disappears. This technique is called type erasure — it transforms static dispatching into a dynamic one.
At this stage, it would be enough just to add handlers for POST requests, as we have created a trait that is independent from the implementation details. However, we found that this solution was not quite advanced enough.
The Drawbacks of the `Endpoint` Trait
A large amount of auxiliary code is generated when a handler is written:
Ideally, we need to be able to pass a simple closure as a handler, thus significantly reducing the amount of syntactic noise.
Below we will discuss how this can be done.
Light Immersion into Generic Programming
We need to add the ability to automatically generate an adapter that implements the `Endpoint` trait with the correct associated types. The input will consist only of a closure with an HTTP request handler.
Arguments and the result of the closure can have different types, so we have to work with methods overloading here. Rust does not support overloading directly but allows it to be emulated using the `Into` and `From` traits.
In addition, the returned type of the closure value does not have to match the returned value of the `Endpoint` implementation. To manipulate this type, it must be extracted from the type of the received closure.
Fetching Types from the `Fn` Trait
In Rust, each closure has its own unique type, which cannot be explicitly indicated in the program. For manipulations with closures, we use the `Fn` trait. The trait contains the signature of the function with the types of the arguments and of the returned value, however, retrieving these elements separately is not easily done.
The main idea is to use an auxiliary structure of the following form:
We have to use PhantomData, since Rust requires that all the generic parameters are indicated in the definition of the structure. However, the type of closure or function F itself is not a generic one (although it implements a generic `Fn` trait). The type parameters A and B are not used in it directly.
It is this restriction of the Rust type system that precludes us from applying a simpler strategy by implementing the `Endpoint` trait directly for closures:
In the case above, the compiler returns an error:
The auxiliary structure SimpleExtractor makes it possible to describe the conversion of `From`. This conversion allows us to save any function and extract the types of its arguments:
The following code compiles successfully:
Specialization and Marker Types
Now we have a function with explicitly parameterized argument types, which can be used instead of the `Endpoint` trait. For example, we can easily implement the conversion from SimpleExtractor into RequestHandler. Still, this is not a complete solution. We need to somehow distinguish between the handlers for GET and POST requests at the type level (and between synchronous and asynchronous handlers). In this task, marker types come to our aid.
Firstly, let’s rewrite SimpleExtractor so that it can distinguish between synchronous and asynchronous results. At the same time, we will implement the `From` trait for each of the cases. Note that traits can be implemented for specific variants of generic structures.
Now we need to declare the structure which will combine the request handler with its name and type:
Next, we declare several empty structures that will act as marker types. Markers will allow us to implement for each handler their own code to convert the handler into the previously described RequestHandler.
Now we can define four different implementations of the `From` trait for all combinations of template parameters R and K (the returned value of the handler and the type of the request).
Facade for the Backend
The final step is to devise a facade that would accept closures and add them into the corresponding backend. In the given case, we have a single backend — actix-web. However, there is the potential of additional implementation behind the façade. For example: a generator of Swagger specifications.
Note how the types of the request parameters, the type of the request result, and the synchrony/asynchrony of the handler are derived automatically from its signature. Additionally, we need to explicitly specify the name and type of the request.
Drawbacks of the Approach
The approach described above, despite being quite effective, has its drawbacks. In particular, endpoint and endpoint_mut methods should consider the implementation peculiarities of specific backends. This restriction prevents us from adding backends on the go, though this functionality is rarely required.
Another issue is that we cannot define the specialization of a handler without additional arguments. In other words, if we write the following code, it will not be compiled as it is in conflict with the existing generic implementation:
As a result, requests that do not have any parameters must still accept the JSON string null, which is deserialized into (). This problem could be solved by specialization in C ++ style, but for now it is available only in the nightly version of the compiler and it is not clear when it will become a stable feature.
Similarly, the type of the returned value cannot be specialized. Even if the request does not imply a certain type of the returned value, it will still pass JSON with null.
Decoding the URL query in GET requests also imposes some unobvious restrictions on the type of parameters, but this issue relates rather to the peculiarities of the serde-urlencoded implementation.
Conclusion
As described above, we have implemented an improved API, which allows for a simple and clear creation of handlers, without the need to worry about web specifics. These handlers can work with any backend or even with several backends simultaneously. | https://medium.com/meetbitfury/generic-methods-in-rust-how-exonum-shifted-from-iron-to-actix-web-7a2752171388 | [] | 2018-11-21 15:38:40.148000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Rust', 'Exonum', 'Programming'] |
Dreamscapes: The Defector’s Betrayal, Part II | (Read Part I here.)
I’m in the back of the van, which is on autopilot because I’m a terrible driver. I can’t seem to find Jeff anywhere. I am struck with a painful feeling of loneliness. This journey has been so frightening: not only have I lost my boyfriend, but I seem to have lost my cousin, too. The front seats are covered in jackets, and my heart leaps faintly, hoping that my cousin might be under there. It falls just as quickly when I conclude that it is only a pile of jackets. Suddenly I am driven to dig a little deeper and I realize that he is under them, fast asleep! My heart flares with joy and a rejuvenated strength for our mission.
I begin to search the back of the van for weapons. I feel around on the walls, and press until I hear a click. A long panel opens, and inside is Han Solo’s blaster and a random lightsaber with a very long hilt. I use my powers to shorten it, and decide to test it out, even though we are still inside the van. I back up as close to the front seats as I can, and press the on button. A sizzling red blade appears at once, spanning the entire length of the van. I smile, wondering what the car behind us must be thinking. I turn it off and open the panel on the other side. I find another blaster and another lightsaber. I wake Jeff up and excitedly show him my finds, and hand him a blaster and saber. At this point, I realize that the autopilot has gone haywire, because we are facing the wrong way on the road, and the van isn’t braking when it’s supposed to. Other cars honk at us as we almost hit several of them. I scramble to the front and try desperately to brake. We skid for quite a length, and then finally stop.
Suddenly, Jeff and I are separated. I end up outside a tall, corporate looking building. I’m suddenly aware that I will soon be going into battle against the evil vampires, and their commander is a single man. I know nothing about him other than he is overweight and looks like he’s in his mid-50’s. I walk into the building, my blaster in my pants pocket and my saber in my hoodie pocket. I see a woman in her late 30’s behind the counter, talking to a customer, and I know at once that she is who I have been looking for. I walk up to her and try to interrupt. “Are you Emily? From Dorrington? I must speak with you.” She seemingly ignores me, continuing to talk to her customer, but as I walk away I try to push into her mind. ‘I need your help. Please. Meet me outside in a minute,’ I think desperately as I walk through the door and keep watch through the glass walls. I am relieved when, moments later, she excuses herself to her boss and I see her walking towards the door.
Once outside, she begins to give me battle advice. I show her my saber and blaster, but she says, “Don’t use those to defend yourself.”
I look at her incredulously. “How else am I supposed to, then?”
“You have your powers,” she says. “You are strong. You can rely on them.”
I wave my hands to lift a big object off the ground. A random passerby is struck with awe and I say, “It’s cool dude, don’t worry.” He is flabbergasted but goes on his way. Both Emily and I wave our hands to erase it from his memory, and we see him scratch his head and continue walking. I go to hug Emily, but she backs away.
“I don’t do that shit. Good luck,” she says, as she walks back into the building.
I walk through the parking lot and I know. I know they’re coming. I look down the road and I see a group of apes and I wonder if they are part of the army. I climb up a tiny tree that the actor Michael Angarano has also climbed. We exchange pleasantries, and I tell him that he looks like my boyfriend Andrew. I kind of wish that he would make out with me. I tell him that I am scared, and at that very moment, the battle starts.
The sky is full of dark green helicopters. I shoot energy out of my hand and one comes crashing down towards me. When it lands, I can see that it is only a toy. I fly up to the sky and begin taking the others down. I am suddenly back on the ground again, and there are rows and rows of people, like a parade, and they are each carrying a wide variety of objects. I am trying to use my powers to smash them and take them out, but it is strenuous, and I am starting to regret taking Emily’s advice.
Some of the people laugh at my strained attempts. I zoom over their heads and through a few rooms filled with mannequins wearing hideous clothing. I announce that they are ugly, wave my hand, and the clothes simply disappear. The next room has mannequins wearing beautiful vintage clothing, and I declare that I will not be destroying those. The people in charge of the room breathe a sigh of relief.
I’m still searching for the head of the army. I suddenly see a black van driving erratically and I fly after it as it swerves through some underground tunnels. I see a red glow through the windows of the van, and I grow excited because it might just be the glow of a lightsaber. ‘It should be blue, though,’ I think, and as if on cue the red turns blue as the van slams through a pair of double doors. I hear the van crash to a halt, and then Jeff runs out through the doors, his blue saber blazing.
“JEFF!!!” I cry.
He yells, “AISLIN!” and we embrace. “I am here to fight with you!” he announces. I’m skeptical for a moment, and I chidingly ask him if he can use the Force. He shoots out his hand and wrenches a light off the wall without touching it, and I no longer have any reservations.
“You should hide your weapons in your clothes for now,” I say, and he sticks his blaster in his pants pocket, as I magic a long front pocket onto his blue sweater for his saber. My saber is still in my hoodie — I am saving it for my fight with the final boss.
Suddenly, a vampire shows up and I try to shoot him with my blaster. I never have luck with guns, and this instance is no exception. I decide to pick him up, and I slam his head against the door and on the ground. It is gruesome, but I successfully kill him. I find myself inside a recessed hole in the wall several feet up from the floor when the head of the army and a young woman turn the corner. I go to attack, but the man throws a large, clear box that lands next to me. Horror fills me as I gaze at what’s inside. I can see the back of an incredibly lifelike doll made to look like an adolescent boy. Hands trembling, I turn it over, and I gasp as I see that it is a younger version of my boyfriend. The doll says, in a barely audible, robotic voice, “I. Am. David.” Somehow his name has changed.
I ask in a shaky voice, “Are…are you alive somewhere?”
He replies, “Yes.”
I am filled with a sudden blaze of hope, and I leap out of the hole, finally ready to kill the man responsible for this circus of horror. | https://medium.com/monadnock-underground/dreamscapes-the-defectors-betrayal-part-ii-f2002d886c2d | ['Aislin Booth'] | 2019-06-10 13:26:25.173000+00:00 | ['Adventure', 'Vampires', 'Dream Interpretation', 'Dreams', 'Short Story'] |
My Uncle and the Hidden Tragedy of WWII | I fondly recall my Mom speaking of her favorite brother Joseph, nicknamed Lefty. My Mom, one of six children, lost her mother when she was three, and her elder siblings helped raise her.
But my Mom did not have many years with Lefty. Despite being blind in one eye, Joseph Henry Frank enlisted in the military in 1942. Similar to many other young men at the time, he was eager to fight for his country.
The last time my Mom saw her brother was when he left for training. Stationed in the UK as a US Army quartermaster, he would often write to his little sister.
Image: Author
I recall my Mom saying that one day they stopped receiving letters from Lefty—then they received notification that he was missing in action.
Image: Author
In August, they received notification that he was killed in action. Four years later, another communication came, revealing nothing of how he died.
Image: Author
He would receive a Purple Heart for dying in the line of duty, sacrificing his life for our freedom. My mother held onto that medal, along with memories of her beloved brother.
Image: Author
My Mom passed away in 1999, the last of her siblings. Searching for my roots, I became curious about my ancestors and spent a good part of my days on a quest for knowledge.
One day my attention turned to my Uncle Joseph. How did he die, and why did he receive a Purple Heart? I sent a request to obtain his military records.
The more I read, the more the circumstances didn’t make sense. There were no major battles of any kind, around the English Channel, on or around that date. How did a quartermaster, blind in one eye, get killed in the line of duty?
I began to dig further, even using the service “Just Ask” to find out if there was a battle in the area around the UK on that date.
I received a swift and surprising reply—the day of my Uncle’s death coincided with Operation Tiger.
The Hidden Tragedy of Operation Tiger
In 1944, the US and Allied Forces were in preparation to invade Nazi-held Western Europe. Exercises for the invasion were of the utmost secrecy. In the days without drones, internet, and other cyber-surveillance, a large-scale military exercise was underway. The exercises were nicknamed Operation Tiger or Exercise Tiger.
It was 1944. The shores of southern England, so similar to the beaches of Normandy, were filled with thousands of Allied soldiers and ships. Simulations began, with ships landing onto a mock war zone. Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower watched the exercises, which were not going as planned. All were hoping for a better day on April 28.
Instead, the unthinkable happened. A flotilla of eight landing ships caught the attention of Germany’s “fast boats,” small and equipped with torpedoes, which soon began firing on the Americans.
The crew on the boats were startled by the gunfire. In another sad twist of fate, British forces monitoring the seas were operating on a different radio frequency and could not communicate with the Americans. The flotilla’s main escort had returned to port for repairs, and the fleet was protected only by a 200-foot corvette.
The ships were hit by fire, burned, and sank. Survivors threw themselves into the frigid waters of Lyme Bay. Reports vary on how many perished that day, from 846 to approximately 1,000. These brave young men sank with the ships, drowned, or succumbed to hypothermia. Among them was my Uncle Joseph, on LST 531.
Fears of letting the Germans know about the upcoming invasion caused an intense need for secrecy, and the disaster was not made public. Survivors were threatened with court-martial if they spoke to anyone about the tragedy.
Operation Tiger prepared the Allies for D-Day, which led to the end of the War in Europe. And while the US military publicly acknowledged the losses from Operation Tiger in the following months, the tragedy remains a little known event. The families of those lost servicemen were not notified, and knew nothing of the magnitude of their sacrifice.
In my Uncle’s military file there was no mention of Operation Tiger. His death, along with so many others, would remain shrouded in mystery — until Ken Smalls came along. | https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/my-uncle-and-the-hidden-tragedy-of-wwii-f68f13bdc6d0 | ['Evamarie Augustine'] | 2020-11-23 21:16:59.832000+00:00 | ['D Day', 'History', 'War', 'World War II', 'Normandy'] |
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