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My Holidays Were Never Safe until I Met You | I don’t know how I managed it, but I ended up being the complete antithesis of every member of my biological family, save for my grandmother. When I was a child, I often thought I was adopted; and being mixed race, many others thought I was, too. In appearance and in personality, I was frequently told by strangers that I did not match. As I got older though, it became clear that I was indeed my grandmother’s grandchild.
Every positive part of me I attribute to the petite Austrian woman with a sharp attitude, the sole safe person in my household. She was a perfectionist, loving, kind, and solid in her beliefs, yet surprisingly open minded. Her perfectionism and unrelenting love were highlighted during the holidays.
As a child there was always a dark shroud over my household, thick and looming. I lived with varying levels of terror at all times. Our family holiday traditions brought bits of joy stained with abuse, racism, and ableism, mainly from my grandfather and mother, though as time carried on my siblings became vicious as well . Through it all, my grandmother worked tirelessly and without complaint to make holidays special, and I took pride in helping her as I could. She could be described as a modest immigrant housewife who took it upon herself to raise her underprivileged grandchildren when their parents failed them. But looking back now, she seemed more like an unfettered warrior who saved me every day, if only to bring me a few moments of joy and peace in an unending war inside our small home.
The trauma my family caused through my two decades with them resulted in severe anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Though I left them six years ago, I am still easily startled, I am still untrusting and guarded, and I still have nightmares of my grandfather and mother attacking me. It also caused my memories to be tangled and scattered. Some of the worst parts of my childhood are permanently burned into my mind, while others I can’t recall, thanks to my brain’s attempts to protect me. My memories of holidays, particularly Christmas are the same, tattered from a life lived starkly contrasted from the one I am building now.
Four years ago I met my partner, Eric. After I left my family for the sake of my safety and survival, I had little desire to belong to another one. I had a small group of close friends who I considered my bonded family of choice, but they were all my age. Parents, grandparents, cousins, and the like were something I wanted nothing to do with. Families were messy, families were complicated, and anyone who reminded me of my mother (basically any middle aged white woman) made me instantly uncomfortable.
The first time I met my boyfriend’s parents, I walked into their house and they greeted me with smiles along with an elderly, wiggly Wheaton named Doodle. They seemed nice enough, and I was thrilled about the sweet dog, but I was more concerned about trying to figure out if this guy actually liked me or not. He was reserved and impossible to read, but he was handsome and had a similar sarcastic, dry humor to my own. The rest of that day was spent in his basement, awkwardly but eventually getting to the point where we were snuggling for the first time while watching his favorite romance film: The Big Lebowski (no really, it is a romance film. No one would go that far to get a carpet back unless they were deeply in love with it).
A year later my boyfriend and I were in a solid relationship, not to mention my first healthy relationship. To my surprise, it was also easy to become close with my boyfriend’s mother, a brilliant and bubbly woman who was a lawyer by day and a singer by night. I was never looking for a replacement mother; I was perfectly happy being motherless, as the only alternative I was given proved to be worse. At best, I wanted Eric’s mother to at least tolerate me because they were so close, but his mother warmly welcomed me into their lives. At first, I was suspicious. I told myself she was faking it, or maybe she felt so sorry for me, the disabled, mixed, orphan girl, that she saw me as a charity case. Though I hate to admit it, I believed this for a long time.
When Christmas came around, my boyfriend warned me that in his family, Christmas was not just a holiday, but rather a multi-day event. During the week of Christmas, we had his birthday, a Christmas Eve dinner with extended family, actual Christmas, a second Christmas with other extended family, and a celebration for New Year’s. This was all foreign to me, especially the way they celebrated on Christmas day.
That first year, I got to his parent’s house in the late morning and we were each given overflowing stockings filled with small gifts and candy. I had never even had a stocking before, but I found it charming. Under the massive, real Christmas tree was an impressive pile of presents like I had never seen. We had a large brunch which was made to be completely safe with my allergies and dietary restrictions, then the present opening began. During my childhood, my siblings and I would quickly tear through all the presents in minutes. With Eric’s family, the process was slow and thoughtful. One person got a present, opened it, then chose one for someone else. This was done because his family believed that getting a present yourself was not the best part of the holiday; rather, watching someone else light up when receiving their gift was.
I enjoyed our first Christmas together, but the whole day I found myself waiting for the other shoe to drop. It never did. My boyfriend’s family was just happy to be together, reveling in the giving, the treats, and the expressions of love and appreciation. I was astonished by the peace. I missed my grandmother and her family traditions dearly, but I did not miss that dark shroud that dimmed the glow of the holiday, and that kept me in fear. It was one of the first times I realized the darkness I was raised in was no longer around me, but instead was now only inside me, staining every new and positive experience I had.
Trauma never fully disappears, and the holidays can often aggravate it. Most holidays bring me tears at some point as I miss my grandmother and still struggle to understand the family whose abuse will take a lifetime to cope with.
My grandmother would have loved the holidays I am fortunate enough to celebrate now, and every day I remember that her love and kindness is the reason I have become the person I am. She is also the reason I survived through the darkness long enough to find my way out of it, into a life where the light has never been brighter. | https://medium.com/@vintagespoons/my-holidays-were-never-safe-until-i-met-you-a80fddf8a700 | ['Emee D.'] | 2020-12-27 14:02:36.710000+00:00 | ['Trauma', 'Trauma Recovery', 'Mixed Race', 'Ableism', 'Disability'] |
Solution for Scoped Bean Injection Problem in Spring | By default, Spring beans are singletons. This problem arises “when Prototype Bean injected inside a Singleton Bean” the problem arises when we try to wire beans of different scopes. For example, a prototype bean into a singleton. This is known as the scoped bean injection problem.
Let us look at a simple example when a prototype bean injected inside a singleton bean. Individually when a prototype bean used, every time a new instance is expected and for singleton the same instance.
Singleton Bean always returns the same bean instance no matter where ever it is being referred. In fact, all the beans default scope is a singleton even though the scope of the bean is other than a singleton.
Let’s take an example of Prototype bean and singleton bean.
Singleton Bean
The Bean has an instance counter, which checks the number of instances created for the bean.
Prototype Bean
As in singleton bean prototype bean also has the same instance counter.
A Rest API is exposed and the hashcode of the self bean is sent to the logger to see its hashcode. Let’s check for only prototype bean.
Using @Autowired prototype bean is injected in the rest controller.
Rest API
Please see below for application startup logs
Startup console
One instance of prototype bean is created which is injected from the Rest controller and an instance of a singleton is created which is injected at startup. We will discuss more on this spring life cycle to address this issue.
Let’s hit the API endpoint /test for 5 times
If you observer no new instance of prototype bean is created. Every time the same instance which is created at the start-up is returned.
Problem :
As per the Spring bean life cycle, by default all the bean injections are singleton. No matter whatever the scope is defined to spring beans they will be singleton by default. They will not recreate a new instance in-case of a prototype bean as it used Autowired or constructor injection will be part of the application startup lifecycle.
Solution :
The solution is pretty straightforward to load these different scoped beans on demand and remove them at startup. But if there are any activities that have to perform right after startup also an on-demand injection of these beans is recommended.
There are many ways to load bean dynamically. But I prefer these two.
Loading through Application Context. Loading through @Lookup Method.
The second one is the most preferred
Using Application Context
For this, I have created a simple utility class.
The getBean method is a static method, Any Spring bean can be loaded in any class with this method.
Let’s change the Rest API method
Instead of Autowired, we used BeanUtil class to load prototype bean in API method.
Console output
Now each time a new instance is returned unlike the same one in previous cases.
Don’t confuse : If you the same thing for singleton bean (using BeanUtil), the firstly the bean is checked in container and returns the same instance every time for singleton.
Using Lookup Method
A method annotated with @Lookup tells Spring to return an instance of the method’s return type when we invoke it.
Essentially, Spring will override our annotated method and use our method’s return type and parameters as arguments to BeanFactory#getBean.
@Lookup is useful for:
Injecting a prototype-scoped bean into a singleton bean (similar to Provider)
Injecting dependencies procedurally
Note also that @Lookup is the Java equivalent of the XML element lookup-method.
Modify Rest API like below.
See console below
Other possible Options
Injecting on a prototype method call
There is a possibility is to force Spring to create a new prototype instance when every call on the prototype’s method. To achieve this, you need to modify the prototype bean and set its proxy mode. You can do this by modifying the @Scope annotation as follows
@Service
@Scope(value = ConfigurableBeanFactory.SCOPE_PROTOTYPE,proxyMode = ScopedProxyMode.TARGET_CLASS)
public class PrototypeBean { // ... }
By default, Spring doesn’t create a proxy object for a bean and uses the reference to the real bean when injection occurs. However, when you change the proxy mode, Spring creates and injects a special proxy object instead of the real object. The proxy decides on its own when to create the real object. By setting the proxy mode to ScopedProxyMode.TARGET_CLASS, Spring will create a new instance of the prototype whenever you call its method.
Programmatically configuring constructors also creates a new instance.
Conclusion:
Among the options using the Lookup, the method is the most reliable and perfect solution for these scenarios. @Lookup allows us to inject a dependency procedurally. | https://medium.com/faun/solution-for-scoped-bean-injection-problem-in-spring-91de3c9daa20 | ['Eresh Gorantla'] | 2020-01-21 13:23:10.396000+00:00 | ['Spring Boot', 'Java8', 'Bean Scope', 'Lifecycle Management'] |
Six Healthcare Trends in 2020 | In the ever-changing healthcare industry, hospitals or treatment centers continue to experience an upswing in technology innovation and adoption. Tech innovation in healthcare equates to quick response times and maximum patient satisfaction. At its core, new technology and processes are built to streamline healthcare workflows, ensuring that patient issues are always addressed.
In this post, you will discover six healthcare trends that will make an immediate impact on healthcare in 2020.
1. Rising Use of Artificial Intelligence
At its core, AI helps healthcare providers identify diseases and develop appropriate treatment strategies. Additionally, AI adopts human-specific tasks, streamlining daily healthcare operations and mundane assignments.
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2. The Need for 5G in Healthcare
New healthcare technology requires top network speeds to fulfill their maximum use and value. This is especially true in telemedicine, as it allows physicians to provide exceptional care to patients in remote areas.
Additionally, 5G allows care teams to quickly share large patient files, consisting of medical records or sensitive information. Accordingly, physicians can expedite diagnosis processes and enhance patient treatment.
3. Interoperability and Orchestration
Interoperability between healthcare devices removes delays and enhances clinical operations.
Healthcare devices receive and share patient information in real time. The sharing of information is quick and efficient, allowing healthcare providers to address a patient’s issues promptly.
Connectivity between devices and internal propagation of patient information will continue to be a growing trend in the new decade.
Want to learn more about these trends? Download our latest eBook!
4. The End of Antiquated Pagers
Antiquated pagers are unreliable, insecure and don’t support two-way exchanges. Additionally, pagers lack priority alerting, preventing healthcare providers from knowing the importance of a notification.
5. Ditching Paper Schedules
Digital schedules eliminate the need to have a person check a paper schedule and send out alerts manually.
In 2020, more healthcare organizations will transition from manual scheduling to digitized, intelligent schedules.
6. Live Call Routing Technology
Patients dial just one number to directly connect with their physicians on a live call, discussing their urgent and time-sensitive clinical issues.
In the unlikely case that all healthcare providers don’t answer the call, the patient is then asked to leave a callback number and/or voicemail.
This year will be filled with technology innovation and adoption. Though healthcare organizations can’t fully predict what’s to come in the decade, they can rest assured that these six trends will make an immediate impact in 2020. | https://medium.com/@christopher.gonzalez_15078/six-healthcare-trends-in-2020-c3f436145f78 | ['Christopher A. Gonzalez'] | 2020-04-27 16:20:36.326000+00:00 | ['Healthcare', 'Hospital', 'Pagerduty', 'Pagers', 'Doctors'] |
Bikes, Babes and Beer at the Crusty Demons | Bikes, Babes and Beer at the Crusty Demons
Finding a meaningful connection in a foreign subculture at a failing franchise
Photo by Rudi Strydom on Unsplash
There’s this six-foot electric red-head with tall, thick leather boots and a neck tattoo waiting in line behind us. Her hair colour’s probably from a bottle called ‘Brazen Bitch’ or something. I imagine in a bar she’d be breaking a pool cue over someone’s head for looking at her funny.
I stare straight ahead. We’re waiting to get into a Crusty Demons show we scored tickets for. I feel like the gentry from Downton Abbey attending a cockfight.
At least I’m wearing black.
It almost didn’t go ahead. The wind in Geelong finally dropped under 25kph after a cyclonic few days meaning the show would go ahead that night. Anything over 25kph puts the motocross riders, who spend the night doing acrobatic stunts at risk.
My husband’s mate who works for them is decked out in Crusty Demons merch and a cap from Monster energy drink, three green claw marks down the middle.
Badass.
He’s giving us the dirt on the event.
Despite their full title: Crusty Demons of Dirt, there is a considerable lack of it. Any damage to the beloved Geelong Cats stadium can incur upwards of $2000 for a patch of grass.
Not so badass.
He’s mooched us past security and now we’re strolling around the fresh clipped grass, followed by the eyes of diehard fans who paid VIP rates to be there early, up in the stands.
Two huge inflatable ramps are set up opposite each other with three smaller metallic ramps leading up to them both. The dew is a worry too for the riders landing, someone had already been shipped off in an ambulance that day.
The Crusty Demons franchise has been around since 1994, a ragtag bunch of testosterone jacked men pulling out stunts and pranks like Cirque du Soleil meets Jackass, always with a thumping heavy metal soundtrack. Names like Macka, Maddo, Jacko.
You know, really high-brow kind of stuff.
They’re trying to revive the whole thing with these tours but it hadn’t been a huge success. After the Demons cancelled a show in Sydney after five minutes, disgruntled fans set their Facebook to notify them of updates so they could troll the organisers.
It’s my first night out baby-free courtesy of visiting parents. We could be fly-fishing for all I care, I’m stoked for the freedom. Maybe next time it will be the ballet.
But, here we are, Metallica blasting our ear drums as we check out the site. People spilling into the stadium, every variety of skating/biking subculture, a uniform of black, ripped jeans, dreadlocks, Vans, mirrored sunglasses, lip-rings and silver chains.
A kid near us mentions Harry Potter which dings of cognitive dissonance. I want to cover his mouth and whisper “don’t let them hear you! They eat nerds for breakfast!”
Then there’s Bubba, a hefty guy in overalls who tags along with the Demons, playing up the Southern, dumb American shtick. The butt of all jokes. “I’m old and fat!” he jokes to the VIP fans getting the pre-show tour. I can’t help but feel sorry for him.
Is skewering yourself for fame worth it?
He’s certainly well-known in this circle. Just like the riders we walk past who leave kids breathless, fumbling for jerseys and Sharpies for an autograph. We meet one of the rider’s girlfriend’s in the commentary box, bored, scrolling through Instagram.
As we follow Dave-O around, he’s a someone. Even if it is just in this context. People perking up when he approaches, on the verge of saying something but not sure what. He even signs a few autographs.
The show starts with ARE YOU READY TO GET THIS PARTY STARTED!? And it’s everything you would imagine, there’s flames punctuating each jump, the Crusty babes in their thigh-high boots and air-hostess level makeup doing a slutty version of the Macarena on platforms.
The MC’s are losing their mind over every single scissor kick, Shaolin backflip and Indian air. Everything is superhuman! Elite! Rock solid! Hard hitting!
It’s like they took notes off the Tekken voiceover guys.
They do a great job at hyping the increasingly beer-fuelled crowd shovelling deep-fried chicken in their gobs.
I notice a young guy with his son sitting in front of us. He’s got the full skater uniform on with a silver chain and he’s snapping selfies with his little boy and posting them on Snapchat. He’s opening up this part of his world to his son.
I realise what a completely different experience he must be having from me.
Despite the organisers, the people behind the scenes struggling to pull the show together, there’s just enough magic to make this boy’s night.
I repent of my judginess and enjoy watching the two.
I’m transported back to my Dad’s lap while he plays the piano, same age. A gateway into his world. Doesn’t matter what kind of world, even if this one is booze-filled with scantily clad girls.
I’ll stick to Downton Abbey and ballet for now.
The show ends with all the riders jumping one after the other, the crowd goes wild and everyone pours out buzzing.
Apparently it’s the best show they’d done.
I notice the red-head woman on our way out an give her a smile, grateful to be part of this weird and wonderful world for a night. | https://cherielee-37146.medium.com/bikes-babes-and-beer-73dc1f2a2bc2 | ['Cherie Gilmour'] | 2019-10-16 02:42:07.968000+00:00 | ['Sports', 'Short Story', 'Culture', 'Family', 'Review'] |
Hero. | “It is better to fail honorably than to pass dishonorably”.
This is one of his favorite sayings. One I have never gone by and don’t think I will ever go by. I’ll tell my kids same though. I mean, come on, fail honorably? What’s that? He’s been repeating it since my BECE. I appreciate it anyway.
You know how phones were banned in schools and yet some students would still bring phones because “hard guys”? And we’d use those phones to call home and ask for provisions and money? I had a friend like that. My Dad would usually call him and ask to speak to me.
Now one dawn around 2:30 am, Kofi (name withheld) comes to wake me with his phone. I pick the call sleepily and I hear my Dad’s voice on the other end. “You are always sleeping. You are always sleeping. Your friends (referring to Kofi) are learning at night. You are always sleeping”. I listened to him blast me over the line and gave Kofi’s phone to him. I actually got mad at Kofi because who mines all the days of the week.
Later after we vacated that term, I got home and asked my mum what happened that dawn. She told me about how he was boiling and it was hilarious.
We reopened the next term and my Dad came to visit me. Our school displays all the results of the previous term on the notice board during visiting days. So I took my Dad to watch my results (It really wasn't necessary. My Dad would come to the school and take my results himself when we reopened. Even though the results got posted to each one). I did that to actually show him Kofi’s results. Yeah, Kofi was 52nd and under the red line. That’s why Kofi mines all through the night every day. You didn't hear that from me though. | https://medium.com/@fitzafful/hero-86780c010009 | ['Fitzgerald Afful'] | 2019-06-16 15:30:41.792000+00:00 | ['Family', 'Fathers Day', 'Dads'] |
What hospitality workers need to hear this festive season. | Photo by Jean Estrella on Unsplash
Call 2020 what you like… tempestuous, horrendous, challenging and so on, but I will bet you my salary that hospitality workers have had a tougher time of it than many other industries. In the UK, with the announcement of new restrictions and the possibility of more to come, it looks like things are not going to get any easier.
I might be biased for saying this — correction: I am certainly biased — but I feel that hospitality has been completely and unnecessarily vilified during this pandemic. Countless reports and datasets demonstrate that hospitality venues — as long as they are COVID-secure — spread the virus to fewer people than retail or supermarkets. If the virus spreads faster, then we are the first sector to close and the last one to open and you will never get me to agree with that. Things have gotten so bad that there is a petition circulating to appoint a Minister for Hospitality in the UK government. I’ve signed it, but this will never happen. I can give you my opinion on what should happen, but that’s for another post.
Like many leaders around this time of year, I am putting together a Christmas message for the team. Most years, it’s formulaic; “happy holidays to one and all”, “hope you get some well-earned rest”, “thank you for all you do” and so on. One year, I am ashamed to say that I crowbarred in a line along the lines of “make sure you complete all of your mandatory e-learnings”.
This year, the message has gone right back to the drawing board; what will hopefully be one of the final deviations from the norm in a disruptive and upsetting year for many in my beloved industry:
“Happy holidays”
OK, so this line remains but with an amended meaning. This year, due to closures and restrictions, the reality is that many hospitality workers might actually get some respite this Christmas and New Year. It’s time to wish them well on what might be a rare high season at home. For those who remain at work, be sure to appreciate them, as nothing is quite as lonely as keeping the kitchen or floor going in an empty or near-empty restaurant, café or hotel.
“We’ve got your back”
At this time, the role of leadership to support their team is greater than ever before. What’s more, this support should be flexed and offered in new ways. Outline the ways employees will be able to grow and develop in 2021; after all, this year of reflection will breed a new year of learning.
I also feel that it’s only right to support those who feel that they have run their course with working in hospitality; I wouldn’t blame anyone for wanting to go and see if the grass is greener (I’ll be honest, it probably is). Be open with your team and offer to help them skill up for this move, time off to meet recruiters or assist with interview practice. It would be the most unexpected gesture but would likely be well-received.
“We are here for you” and “Be there for each other”
The levels of financial support afforded to most furloughed workers around the world has been good, but even the most generous countries will see affected employees taking home less than normal. Leading from this, financial worries — often exacerbated at this time of year — will lead to great concerns for many.
Other workers will be isolating this year, or simply spend the holidays alone and outside of their home country. As a leader, empathise with this and encourage workers to reach out to you at any time over the festive season. It costs nothing to keep your work phone on and checking texts or emails regularly, just in case someone needs to talk.
Encourage the team to do the same as well. Maybe some people will not want to talk to their managers. Drive home the importance of understanding that no-one knows how the person next to them is feeling.
“See you soon”
If there’s one thing I am certain of, it’s that the pastimes of travel and eating out will return; looking at the behaviours of people when restrictions are lifted — whether you agree with it or not — affirm that people are desperate to get back on the move. Remind your team of this, whilst assuring them that your business can and will operate safely and within the law.
On a more personal note, simply sharing with you workers that you cannot wait to have them back in the New Year / after lockdown / at an indeterminant point in the near future will reassure them that even in this time of employment insecurity, they have a job to go back to.
“Things will get better”
Acknowledge that 2020 has most likely been perceived by your team as a s**tshow. It has my side; we’ve made sweeping redundancies and the furlough scheme — although very much welcome — has been challenging to administer and has resulted in under and over-payments for some. Put your hands up and acknowledge these moments; after all, no-one will be expecting anyone to execute their role to perfection in disruptive times.
Assure your teams that 2021 will be a year of rebuilding and reconnection — this will not be wishful thinking. Encourage your teams — as much as they can financially and safely afford to — in getting out and support this beleaguered industry.
As my company says, “We’re here to stay”. | https://medium.com/@mike-dalley/what-hospitality-workers-need-to-hear-this-festive-season-5030ec25c7bc | ['Mike Dalley'] | 2020-12-23 09:26:54.513000+00:00 | ['UK', 'Communication', 'Leadership', 'Christmas', 'Covid 19'] |
Getting lost on Memory Lane. A couple of years ago I met up with a… | A couple of years ago I met up with a couple of high school friends and one of them related an anecdote about something that took place in school and that involved me as the protagonist. It must have been quite something for him to remember it in such detail after such a long time. The strange thing is that I could not remember it at all, not even vaguely. Even after he described the incident in detail it still did not ring a bell, and to this day it still doesn’t. This made me wonder what a memory really is, why I seem to ‘forget’ some of them and how many others I must have forgotten.
A similar situation where memories seem to diverge is when you share something out of the ordinary that you have read or seen and no one believes you. Then, weeks, months or even years later, those you shared the information with are suddenly talking about that very thing because they saw it somewhere or heard it from some ‘authority’. Surely they’ll now acknowledge that you were right all along. No such luck! As it turns out, they don’t even remember you ever saying anything like that or mentioning it. You feel frustrated or start doubting yourself and wondering whether you might have indeed just imagined it all. So what gives? Why do we remember the same events differently?
According to a study I once read a memory is not really a memory of the actual event itself, even though it looks and feels that way. What actually happens is that we remember the last memory we had of the event. This implies that when the event is something that happened a long time ago, the memory of it is probably quite different from what actually happened, at least in the details. Memories build upon memories. Like when you whisper a sentence in somebody’s ear and they then have to repeat that sentence to another person. When the last person in the chain speaks the sentence out loud it barely resembles the original wording the first person got to hear. Sometimes even the content of the sentence has completely changed and relates in no way to the original sentence.
So when a memory passes through many minds so to speak or when it passes through one person’s mind more often than through another person’s, it is not surprising that the respective versions of the same event may be quite different indeed. Only in my case, not only was my recollection different, it had apparently vanished altogether. Why then do we remember certain things better than others or do not remember them at all?
What if our memories, just like our perceptions, are filtered through our beliefs? Put differently, the memories we have are determined by the person we have become. Who we are, who we see ourselves to be, colors and determines the memories we have. A successful person will mostly have memories of successes she had in the past and how they have led to her current success. How she always knew she would be successful and still remembers all the details about the ventures she started when she was still very young. She will not remember the many times she tried something but didn’t see it through or didn’t succeed. Vice versa for someone who thinks of himself as an unaccomplished loser. He will ascribe his current predicament to events of his past and he will selectively remember those that confirm his current sense of self-worth. (This also puts into perspective the accurateness and completeness of (auto)biographies.)
In my case, the event in high school does not quite align with who I see myself as today. It is hard to imagine I ever did such a thing or was that kind of person. If our memories are filtered by who we perceive ourselves to be then, in a sense, we can alter the past by changing our beliefs about ourselves. When we strive to become more of who we want to be, the memories we have will change. With our new belief system and new sense of self — new identity — will come a new set of memories. We will see the past in a totally different light. Memories are not fixed, the past is not fixed, it is all happening right here and now, in our minds. Always. If you are not currently in life where you want to be then don’t let the so-called ‘past’ define who you see yourself to be. Remember — no pun intended — that your memories are not (always) what they appear to be.
Another approach to this is to directly change our memories by imagining past events to have unfolded the way we would have wanted them to or the way they would have if we already were the person we want to be. If we can vividly imagine a different past, i.e. that those memories feel like ‘real’ memories, our current belief system has to correspond to those new memories. And when our beliefs change our reality changes.
Now, before you dismiss this as New Age woo-woo, ask yourself what memories actually are. Are they not a collection of thoughts and images created in the here and now? Memories, whether they be ‘real’ or made-up, are always imagined. They always play out in our mind. The past is a mental construct and highly subjective. The past — and the future — has no reality of its own. It is not some external place that we can go and visit. We choose the past that conforms to our self-image. | https://medium.com/@krisdeswerdt/a-trip-down-memory-lane-a3dcf567cb4b | ['Kris De Swerdt'] | 2020-12-28 14:24:39.355000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Memory', 'Belief Systems', 'Personal Development', 'Spirituality'] |
Congress faces a long list of priorities and deadlines | Congress faces a long list of priorities and deadlines
“August recess” or not, September is here, and it arrives with an intense work period on multiple fronts. Government funding, flood insurance, surface transportation, and defense policy programs expire at the end of the month, not to mention the looming debt ceiling debate, infrastructure package, and reconciliation. Federal reserves dry up in just a few weeks. Yet, damage from natural disasters, such as Hurricane Ida and the Caldor Fire, continue to empty the federal coffers, posing a threat to the budget and opportunities for lawmakers to compromise on stopgap funding. The Senate returns to Washington today and is “scheduled” for 13 legislative days. The House has nine days for floor votes in September. All these factors add complexity to an already packed fall agenda.
President Joe Biden recently traveled parts of the country devastated by Hurricane Ida and reiterated the need for Congress to pass the bipartisan infrastructure deal and Build Back Better plan. Biden tied the resiliency measures and support for communities in these proposals to recovery from natural disasters and the impacts of worsening climate change.
Concurrently, congressional committees are marking up sections of the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill containing many of the president’s priorities ranging from education and childcare to climate change. Committees are adhering to a tight September 15 deadline set by Democratic leadership to complete work. Democrats aim to have the package ready by the end of the month, allowing the House to vote on it and the separate bipartisan infrastructure bill negotiated.
The federal fiscal year (FY) also ends on September 30, meaning Congress will need to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government funded. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also indicated in a recent letter to Congress that the Treasury’s “extraordinary measures,” which have allowed the country to avoid defaulting on its debt, would likely be exhausted in October. Default would be unprecedented, and the debt ceiling will require congressional action sooner rather than later. Speaker Pelosi said on Wednesday: “We won’t be putting it in reconciliation.”
Given the many competing deadlines and must-pass priorities, congressional Democrats will have to work at a breakneck pace this fall to enact their agenda and avoid major pitfalls. Here is a snapshot of the issues that will drive the congressional agenda for the remainder of the year.
Infrastructure by Tim Martin and Logan Hollers
After months of negotiating, the Senate passed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which includes over $1 trillion in funding to rebuild the nation’s roads and bridges, freight and passenger rail, mass and public transit, ports and airports, the electric grid, drinking and wastewater systems, and broadband access — all key components of President Biden’s domestic policy platform. The bill, which includes over $550 billion in new spending, would mark the most significant federal infrastructure investment in decades, touching nearly every facet of the American economy and dedicating hundreds of billions of dollars to the maintenance, repair, and replacement of the nation’s aging roads, bridges, and public works facilities. Funding mechanisms include repurposing unused COVID-19 relief funds, expanding eligible uses of state and local funds for coronavirus relief, and incentivizing private sector investment.
The House must still vote on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a source of frustration for some moderates in the Democratic Caucus. The House could vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill by September 27, setting up a delicate balancing act to make headway on the reconciliation package to satisfy progressives who threaten to sink the Senate-passed infrastructure package if reconciliation does not move forward.
Efforts to send the infrastructure package to the president’s desk are buttressed by Congress’s September 30 deadline to reauthorize federal funding for highways, transit, rail, and safety programs. Initially set to expire in 2020, a one-year extension of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015 was tucked inside the short-term continuing resolution last year.
Reconciliation by Noah Kowalski and Logan Hollers
The race is officially on for congressional Democrats to assemble reconciliation legislation to capture many of the remaining investment priorities of Biden’s American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan. After unanticipated delays, the House ultimately passed the budget resolution as part of a rules package by a straight party-line vote 220–212 in mid-August. The resolution gave committees budget allocations and a September 15 deadline to report their pieces of the reconciliation bill back to the House and Senate Budget Committees.
If the House can pass the reconciliation package, expectations are for the Senate to bypass committee markups and bring the legislation straight to the floor where it will be subject to another vote-a-rama process. For a brief overview of how the budget reconciliation process works, please view Invariant’s Reconciliation 101 guide.
While House markups advance, fault lines are emerging in garnering consensus both for topline funding and policy. This month, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal calling for a “strategic pause” to the reconciliation process citing inflation concerns. Senator Manchin also communicated to the White House his willingness to support up to a $1.5 trillion package — significantly lower than the House- and Senate-passed budget of $3.5 trillion. Additionally, diverging health policy preferences will need to be addressed. Some Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), support a massive expansion of Medicare to cover vision, dental, and hearing benefits while other Democrats are concerned these efforts will come at the expense of the Affordable Care Act and leave it vulnerable to future Republican rollbacks.
Leaders Schumer and Pelosi both maintain $3.5 trillion is the topline number, but public posturing over the size of the package is a reminder to leadership that work remains in terms of scope and timing.
This weekend we saw a preview of the Democrats’ proposed payfors, which include increases to the top individual and corporate tax rates, modifications to international tax regimes, and additional funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to step up enforcement on high-income taxpayers.
Debt Ceiling by Carolyn Coda
Congress will soon vote to address the debt ceiling after suspending it for two years in August 2019. Secretary Yellen is urging Congress to act quickly. Last week, she sent another letter to lawmakers warning that without congressional action to raise or suspend the debt ceiling, it is likely the Treasury Department will not be able to pay the government’s bills starting sometime in October.
The debt ceiling, which is a legislative limit on the amount of debt that the U.S. government can take on, can either be raised by a specific dollar amount or be suspended. After the debt ceiling is reached, Treasury has the authority to take “extraordinary measures” to finance its obligations. In years past, extraordinary measures have expanded the timeline for congressional action by a matter of weeks to a few months. Still, due to extensive post-COVID spending, there are concerns about how long that avenue will be available.
This dynamic makes it likely an increase in the debt ceiling will need to be included as part of legislation lawmakers are certain will pass (e.g., bipartisan infrastructure deal, reconciliation package, continuing resolution). To complicate matters, Speaker Pelosi confirmed Democrats will not address the debt ceiling in the reconciliation bill, and Republicans continue to maintain they will not vote for a debt ceiling increase without corresponding cuts in spending.
While Leader Schumer maintains Democrats are looking at “a number of different ways to address the issue,” all indications point toward a showdown between Democrats and Republicans. Congressional Democrats are likely to add a debt ceiling suspension to a government funding bill to pressure Republicans and force their hand.
After facing some delays, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) continues to progress through the House and Senate. The House Armed Services Committee recently wrapped its markup of the measure, reporting out the bill by a 57–2 vote. At the heart of both Senate and House Committee consideration is the topline funding number for the Department of Defense (DOD). During the Senate’s closed-door markup, $25 billion in authorized funding was added to the topline in strong bipartisan fashion. The House followed suit during its markup with an amendment led by Ranking Member Mike Rogers (R-AL) adding $24 billion to the topline, including money for weapons procurement and research, shipbuilding, and over $1 billion for aircraft procurement.
While the plus-up survived committee consideration (by a vote of 42–17), watch for progressive Democrats to wage a battle during House floor consideration, likely the week of September 20. Prior to the House Armed Services Committee’s consideration of the NDAA, two dozen progressive lawmakers sent Chairman Adam Smith (D-WA) a letter urging him against exceeding President Biden’s $715 billion request.
Additionally, the Administration’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan and whether the withdrawal was properly executed was thoroughly debated during the lengthy markup. With the defense bills headed to the House and Senate floors, we should expect the debate on the decision to depart Afghanistan to continue (more below).
Other issues set off fireworks, including critical race theory, DOD’s diversity training, including women in the draft, and transfer of military equipment to local law enforcement entities. These will be issues to watch during House floor consideration and into conference negotiations with the Senate. The final measure is not expected to be completed for the president’s signature until the end of the year.
Appropriations and FY 2022 Funding by Lindley Kratovil Sherer and Noah Kowalski
The House has passed 9 of the 12 discretionary spending bills for FY 2022, leaving only the Commerce-Justice-Science, Defense, and Homeland Security bills to be considered and passed. The Senate continues to delay consideration of many of the spending bills, moving only three (Agriculture, Energy and Water, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs) through the committee markup process so far. Partisan funding battles from the last four years perpetually haunt the process, particularly as they relate to border funding, which continues to hold up consideration of the Homeland Security measure.
Passing a continuing resolution this month gives the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, along with congressional leadership, time to work toward a potential omnibus spending deal. It is expected that the continuing resolution will run through December 10 to keep the government open.
Afghanistan by Nick Mikula
On August 31, the final U.S. military forces departed Afghanistan, ending a two-week-long evacuation from Kabul. According to the Pentagon, some 6,000 Americans were evacuated alongside more than 123,000 people, the majority of whom are Afghans, friends, and allies. The departure marks the end of America’s longest war — two decades that witnessed 2,461 U.S. troops sacrifice their lives and tens of thousands of others injured.
The Biden-Harris Administration has endured significant criticism for how it ended the war from the media, Republicans, Democrats, and even unnamed sources within the intelligence community, State Department, and DOD. This fallout was galvanized by the sacrifice of 13 U.S. service members who died while getting those at risk out. Emotions are running high in Washington, playing out across Capitol Hill. Expect this dynamic to continue into the 2022 midterm elections as Republicans look to pick up seats.
Afghanistan played a significant role in the House Armed Services Committee’s NDAA markup, the first major congressional activity since the August 31 deadline. The markup proceedings, which lasted over 16 hours, produced 28 amendments specific to Afghanistan. These legislative efforts ran the gamut, ranging from prohibiting financial or material support to the Taliban to reports on U.S. equipment left behind to a strategy for preserving the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. Members on both sides of the aisle will continue to seek additional information on the past actions and the strategy going forward, including this week where Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee today and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee tomorrow.
National Flood Insurance by Matt Russell
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) expires on September 30. The Senate did not include an extension of the NFIP in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. A short-term extension of the NFIP is likely to ride with a continuing resolution. Congress passed 16 short-term extensions of the program since 2017 and is likely to take the same approach this year.
Voting Rights by Eric Rosen
Despite repeated attempts by House and Senate Democrats to make progress on legislation to expand access to voting, neither the expansive For the People Act (H.R. 1) nor the recently revised John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 4) has been able to secure the support necessary to advance in the Senate. Narrower than H.R. 1, H.R. 4 responds to a 2013 Supreme Court decision limiting the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) authority to “preclear” state-level voting law changes. The House-passed bill would restore that DOJ authority.
While Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) have signaled their support for provisions like those in H.R. 4, proponents’ inability to secure 60 Senate votes in favor have spurred calls to reform Senate filibuster rules. Senators will face the issue this fall and examine whether to change the chamber’s rules to ensure voting rights legislation can be enacted before the congressional midterm elections in 2022.
Police Reform by Nicole Venable and Maia Hunt Estes
In the wake of Derek Chauvin’s sentencing and Biden’s announcement of a new initiative designed to reduce gun violence, police reform negotiators on the Hill announced a bipartisan “framework” in late June. However, external stakeholders have not seen the details, and concerns remain whether this framework can stand up against increasingly complex politics and garner enough support from activists on the left and conservative law enforcement groups on the right to advance in the fall.
Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), alongside Representative Karen Bass (D-CA) and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC), continue to lead negotiations. Reaching a compromise regarding qualified immunity — the legal doctrine limiting lawsuits against police officers — proved elusive with negotiators recently taking it off the table. Democrats will have to decide whether to pivot to a more incremental approach. This issue is challenged further by soaring crime rates in many cities across the country.
Competition by Eric Rosen
On Capitol Hill, August saw members of the Senate join with some of their House colleagues to introduce bipartisan legislation designed to change the way certain online app stores operate. In the House, Members continued to unpack the Judiciary Committee’s reported package of six “big tech” bills that purport to address alleged anticompetitive conduct revealed in the panel’s October 2020 investigative report into the practices of certain technology companies. While these bills each received bipartisan support in committee, divisions in both the House Democratic Caucus and Republican Conference suggest the proposals may not currently have sufficient support to pass the House.
With Congress debating which, if any, competition policy changes have sufficient votes to be considered by the House or Senate, most of the fall competition action will emanate from the new leadership at the antitrust enforcement agencies. The president’s elevation of Lina Khan, an author of the House Judiciary Committee’s big tech report, to chair the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); his selection of Jonathan Kanter to head the DOJ’s Antitrust Division; and his competition policy executive order signal aggressive enforcement of existing rules and laws going forward.
Expect continued efforts from Members of Congress to highlight a pending lawsuit by the FTC against Facebook (where regulators are challenging the platform’s purchase of WhatsApp and Instagram), as well as the commission’s ongoing investigation into Amazon’s business practices. The Biden-Harris DOJ inherited an antitrust lawsuit against Google. With the trial potentially delayed until 2023, Members and other stakeholders concerned by Google’s business practices will continue to use congressional hearings, proposed legislation, and the media to shine a spotlight on the search giant’s competition record.
China by Sam Love
The Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) is a comprehensive effort to mobilize U.S. economic, scientific, national security, and diplomatic resources to outcompete China in the 21st century. But USICA is the Senate’s preferred approach, and Speaker Pelosi insists that the House play a role in any final deal on China competition legislation. The House passed a narrower scope in the National Science Foundation for the Future Act and a similar energy-focused research bill, the Department of Energy Science for the Future Act, with overwhelming bipartisan majorities.
The White House broadly supports legislative action on China competition issues. Given bipartisan advancement in both chambers and an Administration eager to add to its China competition agenda, expect leaders to find a path forward for a combined package — most likely informally conferenced and included in a larger, end-of-year legislative package like the NDAA. Congress will also continue to prioritize passage of China competition legislation amid government-wide focus on China’s R&D activity and technology development and deployment.
Tax Extenders by Carolyn Coda and Matt Russell
Temporary tax provisions known as “tax extenders” typically expire at the end of each calendar year and are often extended by Congress as part of a larger spending agreement. Some of these temporary tax provisions receive multi-year extensions, while others are renewed annually. Several business tax provisions expire at the end of 2021, including three COVID-19 related provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Act of 2020.
Reconciliation could shift priorities on some of these items should they, or similar provisions, get extended or made permanent in the $3.5 trillion bill.
Traditional tax extenders:
Rum cover over
Computation of adjusted taxable income without regard to any deduction allowable for depreciation, amortization, or depletion
12.5 percent increase in annual low-income housing tax credit authority
COVID-19 related provisions:
Payroll tax credits for COVID-19 sick and family leave
Employee retention and rehiring credit
Prevention of partial termination of employer-sponsored retirement plans
Individual taxes:
Mortgage insurance premium deduction
Health coverage tax credit
Charitable deduction for non-itemizers
Increased income limit for charitable deductions for itemizers
Flexible spending account rollovers, midyear elections, and other flexibilities
The limitation on business interest deductions could also be included in the tax extender debate. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act limited the business interest deduction for tax years beginning in 2018. With the onset of the pandemic, Congress loosened the restrictions for 2019 and 2020 in the CARES Act, but the limitations will resume in 2022 without congressional action. A continuing resolution to fund the government into late fall could loop the tax extender discussion into a potential government spending deal at the end of the year. If FY 2022 spending is passed earlier in the fall, the tax extender debate will likely ride with any last-minute legislation before Congress leaves for the winter holiday recess.
Drug Pricing by Lawren Geer and Annabell McWherter
As more Americans are getting vaccinated, the Administration and policymakers on Capitol Hill are shifting their focus to other health care priorities, such as prescription drug pricing. During a speech on August 12, President Biden outlined his vision for reducing prescription drug prices, which builds on his Build Back Better agenda and recent executive order promoting competition in the American economy. Biden’s plan encourages the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure the expeditious delivery of generic drugs to consumers and to work with states and tribal communities to import prescription drugs safely from Canada. Recognizing that significantly reducing the cost of prescription drugs will likely require congressional action, Biden also called on Congress to pass legislation allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, cap out-of-pocket spending for seniors, and implement an inflation cap for drug companies that would limit excessive price increases on prescription drugs.
As committees work on budget reconciliation, Democrats are hopeful some of these policies will be included in the final budget reconciliation bill. The House Energy and Commerce Committee released its reconciliation proposal last week, which included H.R. 3, the Elijah Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act. The main part of the proposal would allow Medicare to annually negotiate the price of 25 high-cost drugs in the first year of enactment and 50 in each subsequent year. The universe of eligible drugs for negotiation includes any of the 125 on-patent medications accounting for the highest spending in Medicare Part D or the health care system in total or an insulin product. Progressive Members of Congress and advocates successfully added language stating that drugs presumed to reach that threshold upon launch can also be negotiated. The House bill, however, would not begin Medicare negotiation with drug companies until 2025. Also of note, the Energy and Commerce proposal would require drug manufacturers that increase their prices faster than inflation to pay back the excess amount, cap out-of-pocket-costs at $2,000 for Medicare Part D beneficiaries, and block the implementation of the Trump Administration’s rebate rule that would increase premiums for Part D beneficiaries.
Although many Democrats favor using H.R. 3 as the foundation for drug pricing reform, key moderates have voiced concerns and called for bipartisan, bicameral legislation on the issue. While drug pricing remains top of mind and is expected to offset the cost of other pricey reconciliation initiatives, Democrats will have to prioritize competing health care priorities, such as expanding Medicare to include vision, dental, and hearing benefits and filling the Medicaid coverage gap. While the details are still being developed concerning drug pricing reforms, likely changes could encompass: (1) indexing the Part D caps to CPI-U, (2) repealing the Part D rebate rule, as well as (3) Medicare price negotiations with either international or domestic reference pricing.
COVID-19 Action Plan by Lawren Geer
Last week, President Biden released a six-point COVID-19 action plan outlining the Administration’s strategy for responding to the Delta variant and boosting testing and vaccination efforts. The plan included:
Vaccinating the unvaccinated Further protecting the vaccinated Keeping schools safely open Increasing testing and requiring masking Protecting our economic recover Improving care for those with COVID-19.
Notably, Biden’s plan calls on the Department of Labor (DOL) to issue an emergency rule requiring workplaces with over 100 employees to require staff, including all federal workers and contractors, to either be fully vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. The DOL’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is expected to release the rule in the coming weeks and is expected to include a fine of up to $14,000 per violation for businesses that fail to comply. | https://blog.invariantgr.com/congress-faces-a-long-list-of-priorities-and-deadlines-925fa9a326f1 | [] | 2021-09-13 18:41:09.524000+00:00 | ['Reconciliation', 'House Of Representatives', 'Senate', 'Politics', 'Congress'] |
My Internship In Vietnam, With AIESEC. | After Ho Chi Minh City, the project took us to the two most beautiful provinces of Vietnam, Vũng Tàu and Bến Tre. They were the mirror images of Ho Chi Minh City. The crazy hustle of the city was replaced by the peaceful routine of the locals. My time in these 2 places was filled with serenity, and I made the most out of it by unwinding from the all-time high of Ho Chi Minh City.
Our first stop was in Vũng Tàu, also known as the city of beaches. The time we spent there was even better as I got a chance to live with a Vietnamese family. These wonderful people hosted a fellow intern and me for the next 1.5 weeks. The beauty of living in someone’s house was beyond comprehension, I witnessed the real Vietnamese life, their culture, tradition, behavior & religion. The hosts were very kind & humble, they did all they could to provide us a proper stay. I would be eternally grateful to have lived such an experience.
My Host Family in Vũng Tàu
I took every chance to venture off to various beaches and tourist destinations in the city. One of the highlights was when I celebrated my New Year on a beach with a famous Vietnamese singer. He was making the crowd go wild, everyone was on the beach enjoying and partying with their friends and family. Embracing such a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate New Years’ in a different country I was filled with a ton of joy.
After New Years’ we boarded the bus again to visit the beautiful province of Bến Tre. Similar to Vũng Tàu this place was heartwarming. Imagine an isolated countryside village, small shops, a warm breeze, cute little cafes and a laid back life, that was exactly what I lived and felt throughout my time there. For the whole group, this was the best time to relax, unwind and do some souvenir shopping for their families back home. I had a great opportunity to see the local markets and old museums filled with the even more fascinating history of the local town. On the second day, we took a 30-minute boat ride through the Mekong River, along with a river, the water body also acts as a “Floating Market”. It was a really beautiful moment to see hundreds of small boats selling items of all sorts, the whole river was filled with such markets and you have to navigate through them, a very unique experience indeed. | https://medium.com/@mihirnaik93/my-internship-in-vietnam-with-aiesec-636ba7fea439 | ['Mihir Naik'] | 2020-12-18 05:45:27.854000+00:00 | ['Hochiminh City', 'Volunteering', 'Internships', 'Vietnam', 'Aiesec'] |
Ah Bajan Ting: Old Time Village Shop | Ah Bajan Ting: Old Time Village Shop
The Legacy of The Hinkson Shop
By Krystal Penny Bowen
Originally published in The Barbados Advocate
The village shop was one of the three pillars of Barbadian society. Like the church and the school, it was a space for people to bond. It was also an essential service to the development of the community. But, the village shop is slowly dying and it is being replaced by the supermarket and minimart models of business. The village shops which have survived are usually still in their original spots and family-owned.
In the St. Stephen's Hill/Clevedale area, for almost fifty years, Hinkson's shop provided all the basic food supplies to a densely urban community. The Black Rock St.Michael business which opened in the early 1950s sold meat-chicken, salted cod and pigtail, rice, flour, butter (served in paper and sold by the ounce), biscuits (Shirleys and Eclipse) stored in a tin, sweeties, soft drink, and of course, rum.
On Friday, November 13, The Barbados Advocate visited the Hinkson's Shop to chat with owners, Heather Hinkson and her daughter, Sigmanda Hinkson. The grey shop is now bright baby pink and the structure has not changed much since its early days. Sigmanda credits her ten-year-old daughter, Aarys for recommending the new colour scheme for the business. The interior is nostalgic as it has the traditional glass case to display the baked homemade goods. In the family, Sigmanda is the baker and she always ensures the shop has fresh coconut cakes and as it is November, Bajan conkies. She also makes pone, banana bread and sweet bread.
The Start of A Family Business
Heather explained that her father, Monty Hinkson, and mother, Phyllis Hinkson initially managed the shop. She said her father worked for the Transport Board and her mother would open the shop around 8 am to serve the people in the village. It was a team effort, her mother would take a break and her father would come in and assist with the customers' requests. In the household, Heather along with her siblings, Harcourt, Hazel, and cousin, Herbert also helped with the business.
A Change in Distribution
In the early days, items like sugar, flour were delivered in large crocus bags and distributed using a scoop. The shop has a scale where these foods were weighed. Soft drinks were served in a glass bottle. Today, there are plastic containers and bags for items like rice, flour, and sugar, soft drinks all of them now come in plastics or PET bottles but the Hinkson family still has that scale. Unfortunately, it cannot be used since the tray that was used to hold the rice or whatever was being weighed was damaged.
A Mini Museum
Sigmanda said that when the children visit the shop, she and her mother would show them other old fashioned items and how they worked much to their delight. For the older generation who remembers the old-time shop, there is a wooden bench in the corner that holds pleasant memories. Heather said it was a place where people would sit and chat. She explained that in those days, there were no social media and people came to the shop to hear the latest news.
"When you talk to the older folks from the district, they always say, " I remember spending many days on the bench...people still come in and sit down occasionally," said Heather.
Growing and Evolving
With both Monty and Phyllis gone, Heather and her daughter are keeping the Hinkson's legacy alive. But they have plans to help the business grow. They continue to sell the traditional food items and beverages but they are also selling fresh juices and other products which one may not normally see in the village shop. | https://medium.com/@krystalpennybowen/ah-bajan-ting-old-time-village-shop-2b55a69c8715 | ['Krystal Penny Bowen'] | 2020-11-27 10:30:29.329000+00:00 | ['History', 'Women In Business', 'Village Life', 'Barbados Culture', 'Bajan'] |
A Little Bit about Women’s Rights in Indonesia | A Little Bit about Women’s Rights in Indonesia
Maybe some of you think that women are safe in Indonesia, that we are diverse and tolerant people with laws in place to give equality towards women. Some even suggest that we are more accepting than other countries when it comes to women because we are one of the countries to have a female president from 2001–2004. But do women really have equal rights, if the laws are not implemented justly?
Indonesia signed and ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1980, an international treaty made by the United Nations as the bill of rights for women. Which is quite funny considering by 2012 there are about 282 policies in various jurisdictions across Indonesia that are discriminatory against women (the number went up to 421 policies in 2016).
Among those laws, there are 96 that impose criminal sanctions on women through regulations on prostitution and pornography, 60 that contain dress codes and religious standards, and 38 that place restrictions on women’s mobility. For example, in Aceh, they implemented full Sharia law since 1999 and lashed a woman for standing too close to her boyfriend.
Women and girls, especially those from poor and marginalised communities, are prevented from fully exercising their sexual and reproductive rights. There are cruel, inhumane, and degrading practices still in place for women’s bodies, including female genital mutilation, child marriages, and virginity tests if you want to work in some fields. Some local laws even enforce hijabs on women and girls in schools, government offices, and public spaces. There is also a local law that allows police to frisk and detain women who go out at night, just based on intuition or the women looking “slutty” as initial suspicion.
According to the 1974 Marriage Law, the minimum age of marriage for girls is set at 16 years and 19 years for men. Though this law has been updated in 2019 by raising the minimum age to 19 years for women to curb child brides, it’s still not enough and the damage has been done. In 2015, around 62.5 million households included housewives aged between 20 and 24 years, and were married before the age of 18. All because their families are afraid that their daughters wouldn’t find anyone and become spinsters.
On the other side of the spectrum, parents worry their children will commit adultery, especially when they are in relationships. Because of these taboos, the laws won’t stop families from forcing their daughters to marry. There are even families who sell their daughters to older men; as their 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th wife, due to economic factors.
Marital rape is even not a crime under the Indonesian Criminal Code. The Code defined rape, under Article 285, as an act of forced penetration that takes place outside of marriage, between a man and a woman who is not his wife. Yet they deemed RUU PKS (the draft bill concerning the elimination of sexual violence in Indonesia) to be too vague and pro-free sex and has kept it shelved; even dropping it from the priority list in 2020, while the real laws in place leaves so much room for loopholes and other interpretations.
If we were to help people who are being sexually violated, we have to take a video as evidence and it has to include penetration. Otherwise it will not be deemed a sexual offence. And this approach might not even guarantee that the law would proceed to convict the assailant, because the victim will have a chance of being criminalized for spreading content that may be deemed as pornography.
Other ways of obtaining evidence is by having a visum, which is a written report signed by a licensed doctor based on a check-up for victims of sexual, physical, or mental violence. In order to have a visum, victims of assault must report to the police first. However, over 90% of rape cases in Indonesia goes unreported, because they are afraid of being blamed and gaslighted.
There is a revenge porn case in Cirebon at the moment, a local news site covered it and blamed the victim for the video being shared. Despite knowing that the rapist is an 18 year old man and the victim is a 14 year old girl who is still in school.
Not only that, the news site exposed the victim’s name but kept the rapist anonymous by just writing his initials. The news site also reported that the relations between them was consensual because they were in a romantic relationship, even though the Indonesian Criminal Code stated under Article 290 that having any kind of sexual or romantic relations with a minor under 15 years old is a criminal act.
Sadly, society doesn’t care and continues to blame the girl. Some commenters of said news site even asked for the link to the video to “confirm” if it was rape, when in actuality they would use the video to masturbate, knowing fully well she is a 14 year old minor.
But let’s say victims do report to the police, what then? Due to the discriminatory nature of the police force, they have a higher tendency to blame the victim of assault with questions such as “why didn’t you stop him?” or “why did you walk alone at night?”. This hinders sexual assault survivors from having their case pursued. What if they believe the victim? Okay, for the sake of this argument, let’s say the victim’s report got processed. Visum is still not a good method to gather evidence, it might be an invasive procedure and the results are often inconclusive. For example, if the incident happened a while ago; either the DNA of the assailant was unavailable, some bruises would have healed, or some parts of the body that could lead to evidence might be cleaned from taking a shower, etc.
In 2018, a friend of a victim of sexual assault shared a telephone conversation between the victim and her boss, a concrete piece of evidence that her boss harassed her sexually. The Indonesian Supreme Court convicted the victim, Baiq Nuril, because she had recorded the telephone conversation with her boss. They sentenced her to six months in jail for breaking another law, yet left her boss free of any sentences.
Unfortunately, the discrimination towards women doesn’t stop there. Indonesia also has a problem with sex-trafficking, Indonesian and foreign women and minors have been forced into prostitution in brothels and homes and been physically and psychologically abused. By May 2020, it is estimated that approximately 100,000 children and women are trafficked each year in Indonesia — 30 percent are below the age of 18; 43.5 percent of trafficking victims are as young as 14 years old.
Poverty and lack of access to education can be the reason for sex-trafficking. But, it is also due to the weak implementation of the Child Protection Act, especially at the provincial level, the rise of child sex tourism, and girls being forced into prostitution. Yes, there are laws against these crimes, but there is little to no enforcement carried out by the Indonesian government on its legislation to act against widespread sex abuses.
Not to mention, the police received lack of training to punish those who commit crimes against women, as we have learned, making the situation more difficult. The Indonesian government and the police force continue to fail at protecting women, letting the perpetrators continue to profit and grow.
As of today, there weren’t even any legislations for sexual harassment in employment and education. Therefore, there were no criminal penalties for them or civil remedies for the victims. This country let men criminalize women for being, well, alive. Can you imagine? A whole entire gender is punished to be blamed and ignored, when all we need is help.
Why am I saying all of these horrible things? Because I love Indonesia, I was raised in this country, I grew up in this country. I and all of the women living here, should be able to live here.
Someone told me that in order to make a change, you should be able to teach, in order to teach you have to be able to understand, and to understand you have to be able to acknowledge.
So acknowledge this mistake, don’t close your eyes to this matter, don’t look away. Acknowledge that women are still in danger and understand that we need change. Us women love this country, it’s about time this country loves us back. | https://medium.com/@urgeekypoet/are-we-really-safe-as-women-7b27f5b0a044 | [] | 2021-01-23 00:20:11.672000+00:00 | ['Law', 'Discrimination', 'Women', 'Indonesia', 'Sexual Assault Awareness'] |
[C#][LeetCode]21. Merge Two Sorted Lists | 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/bucketlist01/c-leetcode-21-merge-two-sorted-lists-f7542c06565 | [] | 2020-12-06 05:38:18.244000+00:00 | ['Leetcode', 'C Sharp Programming', 'Linklist'] |
Left short-changed: The effects of the gender pay gap in the UK | The importance and meaning behind diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the United Kingdom have grown rapidly over the past few years. As more information comes to light and individuals are better equipped to derive insights, there has been a surge in D&I efforts within companies and even the government itself.
The largest issue still facing the population; however, is the pay gap that adversely affects women. As we approach a new generation with different perspectives and increasingly empowered individuals, the UK needs to take a deep look at how their companies are short-changing 50% of their workforce, seemingly for no apparent reason.
THE CURRENT D&I SCENE IN THE UK
Taken from FT’s study on the gender pay gap in the UK
In September 2020, the Financial Times published a robust analysis of the gender pay gap. The insights were profound and shocking:
In nine out of the seventeen sectors of the UK economy, men earn at least 10% more than their female counterparts
Nine out of ten women work for a company that pays them less than their male colleagues
93% of men work for a company that pays them equal or more than women, compared to only 11% of women
These are just a handful of statistics pulled from various sources of information. And the consequences are stark; a woman is significantly more likely to earn less than a man for the same job under the same conditions with the same qualifications.
Now, this is not unique to the UK. Many countries around the world, many of whom are considered “developed” and “modern”, possess similar characteristics. Yet, the UK workforce has not been as outspoken about the gender pay gap as other countries. In the US, for example, there have been several peaceful protests and workplace walk-outs, highlighting public distaste for the pay gap. This; however, is not common practice in the UK.
ONE EXPLANATION FOR THIS GAP
Taken from IG’s study on female representation in the FTSE100
There are a few different reasons why the gender pay gap in the UK is as wide as it is. One of the critical ones is the lack of diversity in leadership across the country. Out of the FTSE 100 companies, only five boast female CEOs in 2020. That is astonishing, considering that their workforces are approximately split equally between men and women.
The lack of women in senior leadership at firms causes a ripple effect. With inadequate representation at the top, women are unable to receive the same support when asking for considerations and pay increases. Their needs and calls for equality are essentially ignored, creating gaps in both pay, and more importantly, power.
ONE DIVERSIO RECCOMENDATION TO CONSIDER
Some nation-wide surveys have shown that the workforce is evolving. Almost half of the UK workforce believes their employers could do more with regards to D&I.
A possible Diversio sponsored recommendation is establishing a policy that requires training for all executive members. Senior leadership will undergo seminars and workshops that focus on setting a transparent culture and enforcing accountability amongst all members of the respective organization. This will ensure the mitigation of gender-based biases in decision-making, specifically when it comes to compensation.
KEY TAKEAWAY
The key takeaway is directly related to the current compensation culture in the UK. The importance of diversity and inclusion is only going to grow, and unless the UK finds a way to recognize and solve their current problems, they are going to fall behind and be left short-changed.
To learn more about how you can make your workplace more inclusive, visit our website: www.diversio.com | https://medium.com/diversio-blog/left-short-changed-the-effects-of-the-gender-pay-gap-in-the-uk-f2693c907f0 | ['The Diversio Team'] | 2021-02-08 15:30:35.189000+00:00 | ['Women Leadership', 'UK', 'Diversity And Inclusion', 'Women In Business', 'Diversity'] |
Mythopoesis III | Helios astride a chariot.
Scarlet Penny
Speaketh fast, o’ ruby lord,
Ere treasure ‘scape by luckless sin,
Uproot and fly your wandering horde,
To steal the fruit from loins within.
Deliverance, a sum so vast,
As precious age doth trundle by,
Thine carmine fate is writ at last,
To lead us bloodied through the sky.
Dressed in sackcloth, smeared with ash,
A seagirt soul contumely rinsed,
The baptist mouth of lies awash,
Yet sees succour in thine evince.
Pray, and greet them one by one —
Thine scarlet suckle they will not shun.
Hyperion
The sun, a flying cherub shining bright,
To flee from earthly tempest down below,
Will soar to a refulgent upward height,
And find its honeyed marvels to bestow.
Creatures, flesh and green, transcend their fate,
Through starry song and giddy meadow dance,
Beneath the sun’s hot reign o’er earthen gate,
Which guards the heavens from the mortal manse.
Between us lies his son, in conquest born,
Whose words are quick, to every bard’s delight,
This hero of the sun will sound his horn,
And to it brilliant faithfuls make their flight.
Hyperion, a radiance untold,
Shines upon us day-lit treasure gold.
Satyricon
We dance and drape with sultry pagan fawn,
Yet suffer from the dignity of fools,
In captive dreaming man walks through the dawn,
To coax the beauty of these trembling mules.
Luxurious and handsome they may be,
Yet peril haunts their every vaulting stride —
A judgement and a yearning to be free,
They run their slipshod fingers o’er our hide.
In this land where glistening wonder calls,
Upon the patient and the meekly born,
The future lies beyond those crumbling walls,
Where soulful cries find breath amid the scorn.
They laugh and shrug a sinful day away,
Content to live a life beyond dismay.
Nightshade
Oh, serene shade,
Carry me through the night!
Your amethyst pearls,
Beneath a deep green skull,
Plucked from the fibrous branch —
A poison, perfectly construed.
Hemlock, viper —
These are lesser powers.
You deliver us to tranquil beauty,
First among equals,
For all are equal in the dark.
If only the sky would fell its flocks,
Like how the earth sows death in restive spawn —
Alas, the sooty birds take flight,
To feast upon our idle carrion.
Oh, subtle shade,
Deliver me to painless slumber,
Where the oppression of the sun is masked,
By your shroud of purple night.
Take me home,
To before the womb,
When time stood still,
And blood ran black.
I have drank of the Pierian spring —
Now cast me deep into Tyrean shadow.
Brethren
When dost the runt become the boar,
And viper shed its sheath?
These are the living mysteries,
That linger far beneath.
Betwixt the stars and heaven’s glare,
The waxing moon retreats,
And carries with it rushing tides,
Which watery life entreats.
Whither these alien suns abound,
That shine with paltry glow?
In dour jest, the creatures sleep,
And ‘scape their rocks below.
Time, that vexing art we weave,
In life divers’ wills us believe.
Wholeness
What terrors lurk
Behind the deserts of affection —
A desire to be whole?
The world as will,
Divided against itself —
A desire to be whole?
We make our fatal image,
The dead things crawling in our minds,
They exalt our souls
Into the dank below.
The howls of Cerberus,
A dog called ego.
What are those immortal lineaments,
Which chase our view and circumscribe,
Our fertile imaginings?
That is our superego,
The image of the father.
God the father,
Is a ghost all along —
The haunting projection
Of our desire to be whole.
Psychopomp
A pilfered soul from sacred light,
Entombed in wretched fancy’s flight,
Can soar above the endless lie,
For heaven waits beyond the sky.
The dreams of verdant lovers pause
To seize us in their jealous claws,
Bestow a misty fortune found,
To leave us dead things on the ground.
Basilisk
She is the serpent daughter,
Labyrinthine, languid —
That shy creature,
With a spine of black,
Sinking into hellish deep.
Abreast of oceans,
Her jaw agape,
She bites into cresting waves.
Tresses of emerald weeds,
A luxuriant mane,
Trail down her scales.
Elegant mother,
Lithe and beautiful as obsidian,
Slithering through endless wake.
Masterful mistress,
Cunning of the waters,
She is the ancient mother of eels —
Maddened, corrupted,
By a tortured home.
In heavy waters,
Where light will not stay,
She finds a crepuscular manse.
Daughter of the drowned,
Queen of dim-lit death.
Lonely Eye
What do I know,
I, the obscene imitator?
I know the rhythm of words,
Not the beat of life.
Sterility, not fertility.
Stability, not virility.
I but hover
On the pasture of erasure.
A slow, grazing existence.
What lurks behind —
The bucolic nightmare?
Limitless, but lonesome.
The wandering eye,
Is but a vagrant soul,
Living its sad, lusty life.
Don’t live to serve the God
Of other people’s tragedies.
Invent your own heaven.
Friar
Barefoot, broken,
Smug self-deliverance —
Pious fellow,
Obsessed by blood and penance.
He is the shapely wanderer,
With that artful smile —
Breaker of bread,
And bringer of dread.
Flux and fire,
The portents of doom —
Unfriendly catalyst,
Thoughts vagrant, decomposed.
A menagerie of miracles,
Impresario of truths —
He is the unstable sketch,
Of an unfinished man.
Vile, repugnant,
Bound in liminal quotation.
He fears to be seen,
And thus he stands alone.
At once lordship and privy,
The maker of chains,
Slaying the dragon-seed,
Of liberty’s revolution.
Teacher of fragrant souls,
To find cheap beauty,
In the tedious din,
Of divine applause.
Sunken
Asleep he lies,
With black lips closed,
To conceal the sighs,
Of mortal woes.
Beneath the deep,
The cradle lies,
A precious mourn,
O’er ocean cries.
The hallowed march,
Toward the grave,
An infant’s crawl,
Dost cheat the brave.
The soul’s last cry,
A haunted breath,
For want of air,
Dost rest in death.
Winter’s Heart
In the frigid breeze,
Blood runs quick—
The body is anointed,
By crests of snow,
Tossed in furious skies.
The alabaster miles,
Thickets of down,
Bury the last coat of autumn,
And send the world into opaque cold.
The tepid pace,
Of a woman maligned,
Dissolves into winter,
Bearing its frozen heart.
Blinded by the glare,
She stops to smell
The desolate odour,
And rest her eyes.
The silence is loud,
Surrounding her with death.
The season betrays her,
Sending its frosty fist,
To bruise her violet face.
Her skin is torn,
Her beauty shorn.
A sullen flower —
A shiver, and a cower. | https://medium.com/flotsam-perspectives/mythopoesis-iii-17b69edf1968 | ['Gareth Gransaull'] | 2018-12-18 07:20:46.864000+00:00 | ['Philosophy', 'God', 'Poetry', 'Fiction', 'Sonnet'] |
What did I do when my father was dying? | Exactly 119 days ago, on May 15, 2021, my father, a multiple myeloma patient who had undergone six different lines of therapy, found out for the seventh time since relapse that his disease had progressed. This meant that he was dying. And we needed to access the seventh line of therapy so that he could defeat death again. We couldn’t get access to the said therapy in time, and hence he couldn’t survive. I’m going to reflect on what did I do in the next 81 days until August 06, 2021, when he took his last breath:
I had a conversation.
Before I talked to him or my family, I had a conversation with myself. I don’t think I did this very vividly — I feel that more clarity should’ve been achieved on that front, as I now believe this conversation was critical. Mostly pondering on what really is the current situation? What is the most rational way of thinking about the next steps? Where are my limits, if any? What does my father’s presence mean to me? What does death, not his death, but ‘death’ mean in this specific scenario?
I denied
I did NOT accept that he may die. This was particularly a very hard one, but I excelled at it because my father had survived stage 3 multiple myeloma diagnosis, a liver failure, three complete respiratory failures, and six lines of therapy of multiple myeloma. We were so used to hearing the words by the doctors, “It’s the time to take him home and try to make his last days happy”, that we had stopped believing them. So it was relatively easy for me to think that he will not die — it was not a facade or a lie I was telling myself — I genuinely, sincerely believed that this is another one of the hurdles and we shall overcome it, and we will soon be back home and continue to live our happy life very soon. After having had that one-time conversation with myself about the meanings of stuff, I internally denied even that tiny chance of losing him — HE. WILL. LIVE. There is no other possibility. This is very, very difficult and this approach does make it insanely challenging to accept his death later on, but when he’s alive, you’re not even thinking of it.
That being said, this ‘denial’ helped me do things that I would not have done if I had accepted that this was the end. (I shall write more on what exactly I did in another article)
I did NOT believe the doctors.
Oops! Did I just say that? Please don’t use my words without context here. In a severe case of cancer like my father’s, a doctor is the only individual with the knowledge, expertise, and equipment critical to saving his life. I can not fathom ignoring the role that various doctors played in his survival and treatment. But we need to believe that when a doctor says that it is the end, it is probably not the end! I have empirical evidence to prove that from my father’s MM prognosis. I’m not sure how accurate I am when I say this, but it seems like the doctors focus too much on statistics than acknowledging that every individual is unique and a world on their own. It makes sense because they have to treat thousands of patients in their careers, and the system needs to optimise their time as it’s highly likely that we will always have fewer doctors than patients in the world.
It really helped me listen to a doctor just like I would listen to an acquaintance, a colleague, or a friend — not like I would listen to an authority figure whose word is my command. I would then later on either talk to another doctor or use the internet to inform myself more.
It also really helped me here that almost all the time when doctors shared these hard words, we were able to have clear, honest conversations with my dad, who would assure us that he will survive this. This really did all the mental work for me in the past. This last time, he was not fully conscious to say this, which made it significantly harder for me.
I looked for good people and kept them close.
No words can describe how grateful I am to the people who held my hand (figuratively) during those 81 days. Some of them were family & friends, but some were complete strangers who happened to come in contact with me during my search for treatment for papa, especially those who are doctors. We are a part of a very complex social structure, and almost everyone is entangled in their own life so deeply that for them, their problems are bigger than any other problem. This is very normal, and we need to acknowledge this, have empathy and help as much as we can.
By help, I don't mean literally giving something. While I acknowledge that financial support, and advice was very critical during those 81 days but sometimes a phone call would feel like a warm hug, an email would feel like a bright ray of hope in a dark cave and a motivating message on WhatsApp gave strength to carry on.
There are very few people who are kind enough to think that way, and it really helped me to actively identify those people and constantly stay in touch with them about every little idea or thought that I was having. It helped me gain clarity and confidence on the path I was creating for myself in search of treatment, and it felt like I was not walking alone on that path, but someone was holding my hands. I was lucky enough to have a few such people in my journey, but it was worth a million even if I had only one.
I did NOT believe in God’s will.
Oh wow, how do I even start writing about this! I have had hundreds of pieces of advice from friends and family which pretty much went like, “We need to accept God’s will”, “Everything is pre-written, we can’t do much”, “He’s suffering so much, maybe God wants to end his suffering”, “Maybe he did some bad stuff in his past lives, and this is the result of that (a.k.a. karma)”. I think if God is real and God’s will is real, then there’s nothing I can do to change it. If it’s a hoax, which seems to be more likely, then I should listen to these suggestions with one ear and blow them out of my nose in a sarcastic “Hmph!”.
It really helped me to believe that most of what is happening is a result of either my actions, the actions of my family, or the healthcare system including the doctors. At one point, we have to acknowledge that a significant portion of the events is not in our control but simultaneously acting with an assumption that I am in control and when I am not, I will gain control soon — helps make rational decisions, remain sane and think straight.
I looked for alternatives.
I believe that life-saving treatments exist only in modern medicine. That being said, we still need to acknowledge that other treatment options exist and can be very effective. All his cancer-survivor lifetime, my mom and dad consulted ayurvedic and naturopathy practitioners & dieticians, attended yoga retreats, practised pranic soul healing etc. There is no way to quantify these alternative treatments and therapies' role in his survival with cancer. Still, I think we need to stay open-minded and listen to any advice that exists in favour of alternative therapies. Although, I was and am strongly against any therapy that suggested stopping or reducing allopathic treatment.
I acknowledged that the four of us were alone.
It was my mother, my brother and me with my father, 24 X 7. Some people came with their suggestions, concerns, love, care, worry, grief, fear, interest, happiness, amusement, adoration, compassion etc. and then they left. Some people called to express their suggestions, concerns, love, care, worry, grief, fear, interest, happiness, amusement, adoration, compassion etc. and then they hung up. Some people wrote emails, some replied to my emails. Some never replied, some never called. Some wrote messages, some never responded to my messages. Out of these, some suggestions were life-changing, some were BS. On the one hand, it is imperative to identify the contributions of others, but at the end of the day, it was my mother, my brother and me with my father, 24 X 7.
It really helped me acknowledge that the ‘good people’ I had identified had their limits. It was important not to have feelings of possessiveness or big expectations from anyone other than the four of us; as mentioned before, everyone has their own life to live, which is a big and challenging task. Internally acknowledging this resulted in a belief that I had ‘control’ over my actions. These words may sound harsh and ungrateful, but again, these are not to be taken without context. To repeat, I am indebted for life to those who helped.
I believed in the team.
My mother, who seems to have some supernatural powers of bravery, is the epitome of courage and optimism. My brother, who seems to be significantly more intelligent, stronger and smarter than me, is a great example of holding everyone and everything together. On top of all this, I fall short of words when I intend to describe my father's willpower, sacrifice, and strength, who survived 15 painful years of multiple myeloma. The four of us worked as a very effective team, supporting each other at every moment when each day was slightly worse than the previous one.
Believing in this team of four gave me significantly more strength and motivation than I could have possessed by myself.
Not only in these 81 days but during my whole life of almost 29 years, I have counted on this team’s collective strength numerous times. Today, I feel like this highly efficient and effective team doesn’t have a captain anymore… | https://medium.com/@liakatbir/what-did-i-do-when-my-father-was-dying-9fd9a94cfa53 | ['Liakatbir Singh'] | 2021-09-11 07:24:17.797000+00:00 | ['Death And Dying', 'Multiple Myeloma', 'Fatherhood', 'Optimism', 'Cancer'] |
Ethical Frameworks | A coherent philosophy of life needs to provide at least one mode of evaluation that helps determine whether a particular action is good or bad, and whether one action is better or worse than another. To this end, it is enough to propose one coherent ethical framework (even if it may not be the only one) to turn a “religious” doctrine into an ethical one.
Let’s start by examining the existing options.
The Theist Framework
In the theist ethical framework, good things are good because God said they are good, and bad things are bad because God said they are bad. This poses a few problems:
First, there is no evidence that any god has actually said these things. So the entire doctrine stands on faith, and when a person’s faith falters, so does his proclivity to behave ethically. Second, God’s sayings tend to be inconsistent — not only does one religion contradict another, but even the rules within each religion tend to contradict each other. This situation is usually resolved by some degree of interpretation from a religion’s priests or elders, which makes them (and not God) the ultimate source of the doctrine. Since the most popular religious doctrines date back to the iron age, we must therefore accept that in most theist frameworks, priests or elders from the iron age (a period in which stoning and child marriage were still common) would be the arbiters of ethical behavior today. Third, and perhaps most crucially, the vast majority of religions set ethical standards that are nearly impossible for any mortal to live by. Christianity, for instance, requires a level of selflessness and altruism that no one but mother Theresa can possibly attain, and the difference between this standard and what Christians actually do is often used as a tool by which the church maintains power over its sinful believers.
We must conclude, therefore, that “because God said so” is not a good source to derive one’s rules of behavior from.
The Atheist Framework
In the atheist ethical framework, there is no purpose or meaning to any action, and thus there can be no notions of “objectively good” or “objectively bad”.
Some prominent atheists have proposed various scientifically-derived frameworks, such as minimizing the suffering of sentient beings. But I must point out that no level of science can give rise to this framework, unless one views ancient religions (particularly Buddhism) as a scientific axiom of some sort. This framework can only arise if one cherry-picks rules from various theist networks with no objective standard guiding the process.
This is not to say that atheists can’t be moral or ethical. To the extent that an atheist adheres (whether on purpose, or through pure intuition) to the Christian ethical standards, he can be viewed as ethical by Christians; to the extent that an atheist adheres to the Buddhist ethical standard, he can be viewed as ethical by Buddhists; to the extent that he adheres to the Objectivist moral standard, he can be viewed as moral by Objectivists.
But there is no atheist ethical standard than an atheist can adhere to.
Rules-of-Thumb
Even people who do not adhere to any particular ethical framework, still tend to follow several common rules that arose throughout the ages — either through the evolution of humans’ moral sense (e.g. if groups whose members behaved this way had a reproductive advantage over those whose members didn’t), or through the evolution of memes that simply reproduced themselves in the minds of European farmers (whose culture is now dominant throughout the world).
Some common rules you can find in this category are:
Fairness — nothing in religious doctrines mandates the fair division of goods or services between individuals, but people seem to have an innate intuition (confirmed by psychological studies) that dividing things evenly is more fair than dividing things in a skewed way. This is why wealth inequality is viewed as an evil by most people (even though nothing in either religion or science would suggest it must be so). Categorical imperative — in the absence of an objective way to evaluate a particular action, people often turn to a rule that Kant formalized as the categorical imperative, i.e. the assumption that an action is bad if, were all people to perform it, the outcome would be bad for everyone.
There are other popular rules we can examine (equality, dignity, loyalty, etc), but we cannot possibly cover them all in one article. Let’s focus on these first two as an example of how to approach such popular rules of thumb.
First, let’s examine fairness. There are multiple problems with this concept:
It is not well-defined. Some people might argue that an equality of outcome is fair, and anything else is not; some might argue that an equality of opportunity is fair, and anything else is not; and some might argue that only if today’s outcomes compensate for yesterday’s unfair outcomes, can today’s outcomes be considered fair, and any other result would not. Any outcome that is fair by one of these standards will necessarily be unfair by the other two standards. It is not practically attainable regardless of one’s preferred definition. Suppose one’s definition of fairness is equality of opportunity; how can a society guarantee equal opportunity for everyone, when some are born with bad health or poor parents? If we were to try to ameliorate the effect of poor parents, we’d likely require some form of equality of outcome for the parents themselves, to ensure equality of opportunity for their children — but this would all but destroy equality of opportunity for the parents themselves.
Second, let’s examine the categorical imperative. Here I must note that this “rule” leads to obvious errors in both directions:
False positives — suppose that one person is homosexual and only wants to sexually engage with persons of the same sex. Were all people to act the same way, humanity would die out within a single generation; does this mean homosexuality is bad? False negatives — suppose that one person wants to play Russian roulette, i.e. load a 6-shot revolver with one bullet, spin the cylinder, and shoot himself in the head. Were all people to act this way, the outcome for society would be less overpopulation and more resources for everyone who survived; does this mean that Russian roulette is good?
Furthermore, the categorical imperative does not survive the basic notion of an evolutionarily stable strategy. Suppose everyone in society was aggressive; this would be categorically-bad because we’d likely all kill each other. Suppose everyone in society was passive; this would be categorically-bad because we’d likely succumb to the first threat that comes from outside our society. Instead, the stable strategy for every society is to have some people who are passive and some people who are aggressive, and the optimal ratio between these two groups might shift along with the magnitude of external threats facing this society (i.e. societies that face greater external threats tend to have a higher proportion of aggressive individuals).
Note that if we apply the categorical imperative to the question of passivity vs aggressiveness in society, the result will be absurd: in every distribution that leads to a group’s survival, all individuals must be categorically bad.
Similar rules of thumb tend to fail along similar lines. They may serve a purpose as shorthand for making quick decisions, or to determine the likelihood that an action will be good given limited knowledge, but they inevitably fail in a variety of corner cases.
This leads us to consider the need for a new ethical framework. In the next article :) | https://medium.com/@rationaldeist/ethical-frameworks-29886229a76 | ['Yah Weh'] | 2021-04-06 17:13:47.604000+00:00 | ['Philosophy', 'Ethics', 'Religion', 'Morality', 'Atheism'] |
loner /lon·er | \ ˈlō-nər \ | Photo by Zachary Nelson on Unsplash
loner /lon·er | \ ˈlō-nər \
1: one that avoids others: such as
a: a person who is often alone or likes to be alone: someone who usually avoids the company of others is a moody loner who doesn't become chummy with anyone.
— Sam MosesMany rowers will agree that sculling is a sport for loners who relish the more quixotic elements of the sport.— D. C. Churbuck… she found that the image of the scientist as an antisocial loner is a myth …— Warren E. Leary
b: typically solitary animal black bears are loners and usually wander by themselves in search of food.
— Mark CarwardineDespite the fact they are loners, cats do have a well-organized social system based on scent marks and mutual avoidance.— Fiona Sunquist
So answer to the above question is for me: I think, I am. You can be, too. But I found the surprising truth about loneliness;
People who often feel lonely have higher levels of empathy than everyone else
Younger people feel lonelier than older people.
41% of people think loneliness can be positive.
People who feel lonely have social skills that are no better or worse than average
Winter is no lonelier than any other time of year
Photo by Roberto Nickson on Unsplash
So normal is not normal. What is normal anyway? Our world is giving so many opportunities. The point is you can be anything but to be sad. You can find your values on the path you have chosen. Don’t forget that you are unique. The judgement from your around may not be for your best always. Hold just yourself. Labels are the old black. | https://medium.com/@nilayustun/are-you-a-loner-5d8c635b4d02 | ['Nilay Ustun'] | 2020-12-17 19:44:50.100000+00:00 | ['Writer', 'Motivation', 'Médium', 'Loneliness', 'Labels'] |
The three things I learned from therapy | I’m not sure I would’ve gotten personal on therapy, had I not started to work for a mental health company like Talkspace. There’s such a radical openness to asking the quesiton “how’s your mental health?” that it sometimes like we’re living in the future. It’s almost more normal than asking about your weekend.
One of the reasons I wanted to write this is because I want to encourage people to go to therapy — especially, but not limited to, people of color. There are many reasons we don’t end up doing it. Most therapists don’t look like us; it can be prohibitively expensive; there’s a shame/stigma associated with it; and you might not think you “need” it.
But therapy has the potential to set you free. Yes, you. Because it set me free. I remember the first time I walked into my “counselor’s” office. It in May of 2016, on-site at Google’s campus. They offered each employee a fixed number of in-person visits (a policy I stretched to… several visits, over two years). But I remember that first visit so well.
I had a “DNS” blocker on my calendar, and I ran up the stairs of one of the main buildings. I went because I just couldn’t seem to shake off the feeling that something was off and I wanted someone’s unconditional attention to navigate through it. They say it takes some time to break in. And maybe I got lucky, but my first :45 minute session was mind blowing. I was hooked.
I would get to know that same therapist well for the better part of two years — even inviting her to my family’s Diwali celebration. She politely declined, smiling and saying that there were boundaries she had to follow.
My therapist helped me navigate relationships, work, health, and most importantly my journey to acceptance. She trotted me through my insecurities, making me look within at the things I felt least secure about and most ashamed of. And she encouraged me to accept myself. Radically. Which brings me to what I learned from therapy:
Acceptance is really everything. From the moment we’re conscious creatures, we suffer because we hold expectations over the stories of our lives. And those expectations never allow us to be free or present. Growing up, just about every signal told me I needed to be better to be enough for myself. Whenever I felt a voice saying I was inadequate, I didn’t let that sadness sit. I distracted myself with all of the best distractions. And the best distraction of all? Accomplishments. If I could anchor myself to a goal and achieve it: be it a college, a job, a relationship, a half-marathon… then maybe, just maybe, I could be at peace. Of course, that’s not how it works. Therapy helped me see through the myth, and accept that peace and acceptance only happens when you look at the root causes of those voices. Unpack the shame, the narratives, the random stories that play on loop and just say to yourself: “I accept you because… well. You’re, you.” If you haven’t read Tara Brach’s book (“Radical Acceptance”), you should. She blends Buddhist wisdom with her own practice powerfully. Emotions, without an accompanying narrative, can really only last 90 seconds. There’s neuroscience that supports this, but I think the wisdom for me was largely through lived experience. Recently, a friend of mine showed me a video I left on his Facebook wall from 10 years ago. I see a freshman year version of myself — fidgety, and anxiously moving my hands around. And I thought to myself, wow. That guy needed a hug. All of my loved ones were on the other side the country, and I was feeling lonely. I was probably going through other things. But the worst thing I was going through was the feeling that someone like me should only ever feel happy and grateful and optimistic. And that any other emotion didn’t have a home with me. I hadn’t read Rumi, or let myself say out loud that I was struggling. I held onto a narrative that I should only be happy. And I think the ego that thought “I’m better than this feeling” actually made the whole thing worse. How do I know? I experience the same onslaught of sensations, and while sometimes they stay longer than I wish they would, I’m able to watch them go. On my better days, I strip the story and watch the emotions leave. Talking to your inner child helps. Part of the reason I said “learn(ed)” is that I still talk to someone. And I still learn. One of the things my coach made do was sit down with the child version of me and process that kid’s emotion. Treat him like he was my brother, or my child even. It made me realize that the child in me, the one who grew up pretending like he wasn’t processing emotions, was actually deeply aware. Far more intuitive and conscious than the world saw. I think this is why that Mr. Rogers movie resonated so much with people. We all remember what it felt like to be a kid, and not be taken seriously for what we were experiencing in our inner lives. I think loving the child in us is a short-cut to self-acceptance; it’s easier to accept the child. You almost can’t help yourself. So try it. Write a letter to your younger self. Go on a walk and listen to a song you used to love and visualize that kid in you going WILD like it’s the craziest dance party. Play Eifel 65. Play Blink 182. Whatever it is. That child in you needs it. Even if you’re 30.
I hope to keep updating this list as I get older. Because there’s probably more than “three things.” But I made a commitment to myself that soon after starting a job in the mental health arena, I would write about my own experiences. And while I can wait till the perfect time, today feels as good as any. I had a reminder that being a person of color in the mental health arena poses its own challenges. And I wanted to say that if you can get through the barriers to finding a provider you can trust, it’s worth the effort. | https://medium.com/@tarunjg/the-three-things-i-learned-from-going-to-therapy-a3e05c913426 | ['Tarun Galagali'] | 2020-12-12 04:39:00.067000+00:00 | ['Therapy', 'Mental Health', 'People Of Color'] |
How the Happiness of Strangers Can Make Your Day | Travelling is often tiring, navigating your way through a packed airport terminal or train station with your luggage, trying to work out where you need to be whilst you continually watch the clock. And then, when you arrive at your destination, there’s the rush to get out and away from transport, towards the tranquility and excitement of wherever you are visiting.
But have you ever stopped to notice what is going on around you?
Who are all of these people, where might they be going, and where have they come from?
What happens if you slow down for a few seconds and take in your surroundings?
These moments are happening around us all of the time. If only we got out of our heads more often to notice them.
I can remember a friend of mine saying that whenever she travels on the tube in London, she passes the time by imagining who the person opposite her might be – their family, where they live, where they’re travelling to, what job they do.
She never finds out the real answers to any of her questions (heaven forbid someone might talk to a stranger on the tube!) but instead of shutting out the world with her headphones on, she enjoys paying attention to her fellow humans and in the process creates her own short stories that give vibrancy and creativity to her day.
Sometimes a few seconds can change your day.
Witnessing the joy between two people as I walked past them reminded me of the love and hope in this world. Something that I think we all need reminding of at times, particularly with all of the political turmoil that surrounds us.
Witnessing genuine happiness, that comes from love, is reassuring and beautiful.
Taking time to notice gives us perspective too.
It can get you out of your head and open your mind to the world more. I find this helps me to think more clearly about what’s important to me, and on a daily basis it helps me feel more grounded.
Striking up a conversation with a stranger can also be particularly beneficial, as explained in this BBC article:
“…we may often underestimate the positive impact of connecting with others for both our own and others’ wellbeing. For example, having a conversation with a stranger on your way to work may leave you both feeling happier than you would think.”
This might be more tricky when traveling on the tube in London (us Brits are too polite to talk to each other!) but why not give it a go some time? Even just smiling at a stranger can help you (and them) feel happier.
Hugs are also incredibly good for our health — they’re scientifically proven to reduce stress and make us happier— and so witnessing others in an embrace can help us connect to this too. The next time you hug a loved one, remember that you might also be helping those around you feel happier too. | https://medium.com/the-ascent/how-the-happiness-of-strangers-can-make-your-day-fd0c6a13045e | ['Samantha Mccormick'] | 2019-09-26 14:02:58.267000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Awareness', 'Self Improvement', 'Love', 'Happiness'] |
Harvard in Tech Spotlight: Amy Rosenthal, Head of Product at FreeWill | I spoke with Amy Rosenthal, Head of Product at FreeWill, a social venture that makes charitable giving easier than ever with a mission to move $1 trillion into high impact nonprofits.
Amy’s first exposure to product management was through her junior summer internship. She took on a role where she worked closely with sales to better understand customer and prospect needs and then worked closely with engineering to incorporate those insights. She enjoyed the cross functional nature of the role and has stayed in product ever since.
Amy worked at Context Optional (acquired by Adobe), Wayfair, Google, and Justworks prior to joining FreeWill as their first product hire in 2019.
Amy shared her advice for career growth, product leadership, and collaboration.
Optimize for happiness. Too often in our career decisions, we are pulled by societal expectations of what we “should” do whereas what truly matters is whether we enjoy what we are doing, a more meaningful metric that is different for each person. For Amy, when she graduated Harvard, product was not yet the incredibly popular space it is today. In hindsight, she stumbled into the field and stayed not because of societal expectations but rather because she truly enjoyed the work itself.
Share advice whenever you can. Founders and operators at early stage startups frequently face the same set of challenges. Sharing insights from your experiences can be incredibly helpful for others who are entering similar parts of their company building journeys and can save them hours, if not weeks, of work and roadblocks.
Amy and Jenny Xia Spradling, FreeWill’s founder and co-CEO, were both Harvard alums who lived in Currier and graduated a year apart from each other. Amy saw Jenny post on Facebook that FreeWill was looking for their first product hire and interested in hearing people’s advice on how to find and integrate product talent. At the time, Amy was an early product hire at another startup also based in NYC and decided to reach out to share her advice around growing product teams and product processes in early stage startups. The more they brainstormed together, the more Amy realized she was actually personally very interested in the role. These conversations then led to her actually joining the team soon after.
See your team as a product. Product managers are innately very execution oriented people but leading a team of product managers involves a very different skillset. When you are promoted to lead such teams, it is important to first realize and internalize that you will need to quickly learn and exercise a meaningful set of new skills. Instead of continuing to engage in individual contributor work, you need to learn to resource, train, delegate, and empower. Especially at a startup, many of the guidelines or guardrails around responsibilities are not yet written and much of it is developed by you as the leader as you learn and iterate. To this end, see your team as your new product and apply the same interpersonal, collaboration focused mindset to equipping and engaging your team to reach their highest potential.
Collaborate as soon as possible. Oftentimes, our instinct can be to go at it alone or be independent in the initial exploration of a promising idea. But more often than not other team members have valuable and diverse information, experiences, and perspective to help you in ideation and execution. Put yourself out there, reach out to team members, and collaborate as early as possible and sooner than you may think you need to.
Diversify your communication channels. Especially in a remote world, it is crucial to over communicate. Instead of just leveraging one channel, utilize all of them depending on your message and audience. Some team members are most responsive and can more effectively digest communications via email; others may prefer Slack or a Zoom meeting. Be inclusive in your communication style and ensure proper documentation through over communicating and leveraging a range of channels to share your message.
Identify the discrepancies between internal and external stakeholder understandings. When Amy started in each new product role (many at startups in very different industries), she spent a substantial amount of time listening to customers as well as internal team members to better understand their points of alignment and misalignment and dove deep into these latter facets as a starting point for informing product strategy.
Work closely with customer support. At FreeWill, customer support is actually a part of the product team, which Amy has found incredibly valuable. Seeing each customer question, challenge, and message has really helped her better understand and shape the product strategy.
Learn the most valuable things first. When exploring a new field, it can be tempting to immediately dive in, but it is often helpful to first ask others for advice on what to read to better pull the signal out from the noise. Amy has found the Women in Product community very helpful in providing resource recommendations as she has made each industry and role transition. Advice from others who have been there before has helped her prioritize what to read or learn.
Surround yourself with people who challenge you. Looking back, Amy’s favorite part of Harvard was being a part of friend groups and communities with people who had such diverse talents and interests, academically, personally, and professionally. This setting and the friendships that have been created from this richly diverse environment have shaped Amy’s growth mindset ever since. She enjoys, appreciates, and grows from each interaction that challenges her existing beliefs and assumptions and shares new perspectives. | https://medium.com/harvard-in-tech/harvard-in-tech-spotlight-amy-rosenthal-head-of-product-at-freewill-4920dfb78ba1 | ['Jess Li'] | 2020-12-23 13:34:08.190000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Product', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Harvard', 'Social Impact'] |
It’s been a long time since I wrote here! | It’s been a long time since I wrote here!
What a year, huh?!! If last year this time someone would tell us what is going to happen to the world in few months, probably no one would believe.
Too much stress for health of your beloved ones and and yourself. I know many people lost their beloved ones and it sucks 😞
I lost a beloved one too. One I never got a chance to meet… ahhh
In work setup, I was fortunate enough to be able to work from home. However it didn’t reduce any stress or pressure of the work at all! Many days I felt that why I’m doing this? Am I really this stupid I think? Why I can’t be successful? Why others better than me and blah blah blah..
I know almost all of these thoughts aren’t based on true facts. It’s just pressure of the moment that makes you feel that way. But I mean when you are stuck in that moment really hard (sometimes seems impossible to get out). I’m trying to get better in this, to remind myself that nothing more worthy than myself, my health and my peace of mind.
If Anyone LikeMe ever having same feelings even for a second, just wanted to let you know a stranger here cares for you and is sure that you are the Best!! | https://medium.com/@anyonelikemeblog/its-been-a-long-time-since-i-wrote-here-a53b0dc4d365 | ['Anyone Likeme'] | 2020-12-20 08:19:43.890000+00:00 | ['Imposter Syndrome', 'You Are Not Alone', 'You Are The Bestest', 'We Got This', 'Women In Tech'] |
BAT on WazirX + Highest Trader Kaun | Namaste Tribe! We’re listing BAT on WazirX today. 💪
BAT listing schedule for 3rd May (today)
3 PM: BAT Deposits start! You can transfer your BAT to your WazirX account
7PM: BAT Trading starts. You can buy and sell BAT on WazirX
9–11PM: Highest Trader Kaun program
Contest details
The winner(s) will be decided on the basis of two things:
The number of BAT trades during the contest (1 trade = 1 buy or sell order executed) The volume of BAT traded during the contest (Total INR Value of the trade)
Bounty
For the highest number of trades: 2,000 WRX Coins + ₹5,000 worth BAT
of trades: For the highest volume of trades: 2,000 WRX Coins + ₹5,000 worth BAT
of trades: For each of next 3 traders with highest number of trades: 1,500 WRX Coins + ₹1,000 worth BAT
For each of the next 3 traders with highest volume of trades: 1,500 WRX Coins + ₹1,000 worth BAT
Guaranteed Rewards
We also have assured rewards for participants who don’t win any of the above bounty.
Reach 1000 trades and win 1400 WRX
Reach 500 trades and win 750 WRX
Reach 300 trades and win 450 WRX
Reach 100 trades and win 150 WRX
Reach 50 trades and win 75 WRX
Reach 20 trades and win 30 WRX
Note: You can win only one of the above bounty. If you qualify for more than one bounty, the highest bounty will be awarded to you. Winners will be notified via email within 2 business days.
BAT Trivia
Brainchild of the creator of JavaScript and the co-founder of Mozilla and Firefox, Basic Attention Token aims to decentralise digital advertising. BAT improves the efficiency of digital advertising by creating a new token that can be exchanged between publishers, advertisers, and users on the Ethereum Blockchain. The token can be used to obtain a variety of advertising and attention-based services on the Brave platform. The utility of the token is based on user attention, which simply means a person’s focused mental engagement.
Read their whitepaper here.
Trading price (past 24 hrs) : ₹33.65 INR
: ₹33.65 INR Global Market Cap (past 24 hrs) : $507.8M USD
: $507.8M USD Global Trading Volume (past 24 hrs) : $15M USD
: $15M USD All time high : $0.900 USD (~ ₹58.5 INR)
: $0.900 USD (~ ₹58.5 INR) Circulating Supply : 1B BAT
: 1B BAT Total Supply: 1.5B BAT
Flex your fingers and get ready! | https://medium.com/wazirx/bat-on-wazirx-highest-trader-kaun-aa0b3ce70e92 | ['Wazirx Bitcoin Exchange'] | 2018-05-03 06:03:51.938000+00:00 | ['Trading', 'Bitcoin', 'Crypto', 'Bounty Program', 'Basic Attention Token'] |
New AMA interview with a popular Crypto pool fund manager | 🖐 Hey PEP Network fans,
👉 Check out our CEO, Uday Kadirvel, and CSO, Sujith C.R., doing an interview with one of the most popular private crypto pool manager ILYA.
In the video ILYA discusses with us the founding of PEP Network, why it’s needed and useful in today’s world, and more!
➡️ https://youtu.be/3w-EAJMeQIU | https://medium.com/pep-ico/new-ama-interview-with-a-crypto-pool-fund-manager-7037258b0ad7 | ['Sharik Khan'] | 2018-07-04 06:43:00.912000+00:00 | ['Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain', 'ICO', 'Investing', 'Bitcoin'] |
Beginner’s Guide to Cryptocurrency | Starting from the stories related to investors making fortune to the questionable legality of cryptocurrency, there has been quite a buzz around the globe about cryptocurrency for quite some time now. Understanding the concept of cryptocurrencies in depth has always been a tough task. Investing your hard earned money without having a fool-proof knowledge about it is quite a risk if you are planning to test your fate.
While there exist tremendous opportunities in the form of entirely new market, understanding the potential of cryptocurrency is important if you are looking forward to investing in it. So here is Beginner’s 101 on cryptocurrency to help you understand it.
Why Cryptocurrency?
The best way to introduce you to cryptocurrency will be with the reason behind its origin and the problems that it is meant to resolve.
Do you remember the recession period that the global economy suffered from in the late 2000 and early 2010s? One could easily recollect the impact it had on every individual’s life. From market meltdown, many companies being shunned down and 8.8 million jobs being cut; this was the biggest economic disaster that the world faced in almost a century.
This crisis had an impact in Indian market leading to the collapse in stock prices as never before.
The Sensex fell from a closing peak of 20873 on January 2008 to around 8000 in October-November 2008.
Why did this happen?
While the policymakers claimed that several factors would have triggered the crisis, the main and immediate reason behind it was the excessive control and power concentrated among few senior executives of the top US banks who exploited the deregulation of federal policies. It started with subprime(high risk) lending market in the US and ended with the full-blown international banking crisis. Highly renowned “Big Three” (credit rating agencies) came under scrutiny for their role in rewarding “AAA rating” to these sub-prime mortgage bonds which were downgraded to “junk” status by 2010 resulting in loss of hundreds of billions of dollars.
There are downsides to implicitly trusting banks, as the 2008 financial crisis showed ~ Balaji Srinivasan One of the big problems we had during the financial crisis was the intermingling of banks and holding companies and complex securities. ~ Steve Mnuchin
Can this happen again?
The economists say — Yes. And this time it could be worse.
So, don’t you think you trust your banks way too much?
What is the largest financial institution that you trust the most with your monetary exchanges? Most of us will say a bank. But what if your most trusted bank that safeguards your money and related records get hacked?
What if you can make transactions without any dependency on a central authority?
What if it doesn't matter whom you want to transfer money?
Cryptocurrency in nutshell allows you to
“Send money directly to anyone, anytime and anywhere in a complete anonymous manner”
So, What is a Cryptocurrency?
Satoshi Nakamoto introduced a groundbreaking concept of virtual currency known as Bitcoin as the first ever cryptocurrency to the world. Recently, on October 31st, 2017, Bitcoin celebrated its 9-year birthday with its price rising from $1 to around $6383 on its 9th anniversary since origin. Call it electronic cash or digital currency, cryptocurrency is a peer-to-peer money transfer protocol, completely decentralized and secured using cryptography.
Here are a few things that will help you understand cryptocurrency in a better way:
Democratic: Cryptocurrency, being a P2P payment system allows the users to transfer the value without the involvement of any third party. This has been made possible with the use of blockchain technology. We will learn more about it in our upcoming article.
Secure: The whole phenomenon of cryptocurrency relies on encryption using cryptography which makes it secure. The transactions that take place are recorded on a common ledger and linked with previous transactions using blockchains, which can’t be reversed or modified once written and thus, preventing double-spending.
The whole phenomenon of cryptocurrency relies on encryption using cryptography which makes it secure. The transactions that take place are recorded on a common ledger and linked with previous transactions using blockchains, which can’t be reversed or modified once written and thus, preventing double-spending. Global: Since it is completely decentralized and not regulated by a local government, it destroys the boundaries fixed by traditional currencies. This currency could be used in order to make any sort of transaction in any part of the world.
Since it is completely decentralized and not regulated by a local government, it destroys the boundaries fixed by traditional currencies. This currency could be used in order to make any sort of transaction in any part of the world. Anonymous: Cryptocurrency transactions are made on users public address which is nothing but a long alphanumeric string making any sort of identification nearly impossible.
How is cryptocurrency created?
Money creation is a process which is regulated by banks and government. The value of your traditional currency is decided based on several factors such as inflation/deflation, government policies, supply/demand, import/export ratios etc. While in India, RBI and the Government of India has the authority of printing currency notes, similarly, in other countries, the process of money creation and supply is regulated by the banks and the government.
A cryptocurrency is also a form of currency created in electronic format. In the start, the currency is bootstrapped with some amount created by the developers themselves. Once currency starts gaining popularity, exchange mechanisms are built to allow the users to buy it against other currencies which could be either be a fiat currency or another cryptocurrency. As these currencies are driven by mutual consensus, people who are commonly known as “miners” validate the open transactions which are then rewarded with newly created cryptocurrency. Don’t worry if it is feeling too heavy on your brains, we will cover this in more detail in upcoming articles.
Why invest in cryptocurrency market?
According to an estimate, CNBC explains that if you would have invested $1000 in August 2010 in cryptocurrency market, it would have a worth of whopping $50 Million in August 2017.
If this fails to grab your attention, then nothing can.
Since the value of cryptocurrency is decided based on the number of users and miners, the market is ripe when more and more people are looking forward to investing in cryptocurrency market. However, the prices of top cryptocurrencies (like bitcoin, ethereum, ripple, litecoin) are already hitting high, there are many other cryptocurrencies in which you can invest in order to make out most profits.
The market is all set to grow exponentially with new investors showing interest in ‘the next-generation gold’. While the future of international business lies on cryptocurrency, there is no harm in trying your fate in the cryptocurrency market and make exceptionally good returns out of it.
Is Cryptocurrency safe?
Not all the cryptocurrencies are safe. Shocked? Yes, there are many cryptocurrencies in the world, around 1000 to date. Unlike investment avenues, cryptocurrencies are unregulated by any authority. However, the value of cryptocurrency is determined on the basis of several factors. While the stats claim that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoins have shown up to a 750% rise in price in a year, there are currencies that are coming to an end.
It is always advised to do some research before you invest in cryptocurrency trading. For your rescue, we are coming up with a whole set of articles to help you understand cryptocurrencies, in and out.
How to invest?
Exchange platforms: Similar to stock exchange platforms, there are several platforms such as zebpay, unocoin, koinex, bittrex, cex, poloniex and others where you can trade for your traditional currencies like Rupees, US dollars, Euros, etc. in order to receive a cryptocurrency.
Initial Coin Offering(ICOs): Crowd funding has become an accepted form of receiving funding where start-ups are creating their own coins and offer tokens in form of coins. You can invest by purchasing the tokens of a particular start-up venture.
Mining: You can also earn cryptocurrency by mining or micro-tasking without any need to exchange it for your traditional currency. Well, that is quite a bit down the technical road. We will learn about it in our next article.
Cryptocurrency is the next biggest revolution after the ‘dot com’ revolution. It is definitely set to change the world.
Stay tuned for upcoming articles. Follow us on facebook, twitter and join our telegram channel to get early updates.
KoinOK Team
www.koinok.com
Bitcoin and altcoins trading platform
(Registration open for alpha invite) | https://medium.com/koinok/beginners-guide-to-cryptocurrency-70cac106fa7b | ['Team Koinok'] | 2017-12-07 09:21:51.275000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Ethereum', 'Financial Crisis', 'Bitcoin', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
What I experienced during “paternity leave” in an international marriage | Photo by Picsea on Unsplash
Although the world is becoming more globalized, different countries still have different ways of parenting. Today I will introduce a few things I experienced during paternity leave in Japan and Russia.
It’s unusual for dad to take paternity leave in Japan
When I was taking my daughter to the hospital for her regular check-up, to a children’s square where she could play with other babies, or for a walk in the park, I often had this conversation with nurses, other moms, and the neighbors I met:
👩🏻 “Hey, are you off work today?”
🧔🏻 “I’m taking paternity leave now.”
👩🏻 “Really!? What a nice company you are working for! Even dad can take parental leave!”
Certainly, wherever I go, there are moms everywhere and I am the only dad. It seems that there are different reasons for this, such as the company atmosphere and so on. By the way, when I was in Russia, I saw many times dads pushing strollers and talking about parenting and hobbies in the park. It looked really nice.
Japan’s maintenance of a good environment for families with children
When I am going to a shopping mall or a restaurant, I am really glad to have diaper changing space and a nursing room, which is quite common in Japan. On the contrary, it was difficult to find such space in Russia, so I’ve had a hard time there.
But even in such a comfortable country like Japan, I sometimes feel sad because diaper changing space is only in the women’s bathroom and not in the men’s bathroom. Dad wants to change diapers too…
Different ways of parenting in different countries
🚶♂️Going for a walk with a newborn baby
Japan: Don’t take your baby outside too much because she is still very weak! If you want to take a walk, make it only 5–10 minutes.
Russia: Let’s go outside for a couple of hours to make your baby stronger! Mothers and children have more chances to get sick if they stay at home.
🥣 Baby food
Japan: Homemade food is the best! Commercial baby food is not good. Salt is ok but sugar is your enemy (including sugar in fruits)!
Russia: Commercial baby food is totally ok. Your baby should eat fruits every day. Sugar is not that bad, but stay away from salt!
and so on…
It’s interesting that the way of parenting is different in different countries. I’m thinking of picking up good things in both Japan and Russia and will certainly try it.
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
I wanted to participate in childcare when my child was small, and I was happy to be able to do it. I learned a lot of parenting know-how by constantly searching various web sites and talking to people around me. And I was always thinking whether these methods really suit me, my wife and my child. Because it’s hard to continue doing something when you feel that something is wrong. Anyway, I will keep enjoying childcare. | https://medium.com/@1555398769574/what-i-experienced-during-paternity-leave-in-an-international-marriage-435aea106e3d | ['Yasuharu Miura'] | 2019-06-18 15:11:51.915000+00:00 | ['Baby', 'Japan', 'Russia', 'Parenting'] |
A Decision Made | A Decision Made
Photo by Milan Popovic on Unsplash
“I’m coming over.”
The late night text from her surprises me as much as it does realizing I’m in my bed at my parents’, back in Wyoming, back in Michigan, a place as distant in memory as it is in space.
We haven’t talked since the break up, not the first, but the second, we can’t be doing this anymore if we’re not going to be together conversation, real break up. She gave me plenty of chances to reconsider, but I stood by my decision believing it was for the best, for the both of us, for the time being. I knew I could be losing her forever.
I unlock the door quieter than my parents’ snoring and pause to listen, their sound sleep persists.
She smiles softly and I do too. We say nothing laying together on the basement couch in the muted blue glow from the channel guide’s infinite scroll. My head on her shoulder. My arm across her body. Her arm around me and fingers running through my hair. She’s tender and warm.
She holds me like she did our last time together in my apartment, when we knew it didn’t have to be, but was likely our last chance to do so before letting go. When the only thing left to say was goodbye and even though we knew it was coming, we waited as long as we could in silence.
She presents her cheek and neck when I lean in to kiss her. I accept, gentle and soft, conveying I miss her without words. She isn’t mine to kiss anymore and I understand that.
She responds with a pleasant, “mmm” with eyes closed and a blissful smile, like she would anytime I did something sweet and unexpected that melted her heart, a little bit; a memory that breaks my heart to write. She consoles me with kiss on the top of my head and we fall asleep in each other’s arms.
There’s no missed text in the morning, just me missing her when I wake up in my bed, in Nashville, on the side that was hers, and it’s cold. I linger in it before getting up and making it again, like I do every morning. | https://psiloveyou.xyz/a-decision-made-f3e32725581d | [] | 2020-12-18 13:02:10.932000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Breakups', 'Heartbreak', 'Flash Fiction', 'Fiction Friday'] |
Meditations on morality | The universe doesn’t optimize for morality. The moral arc of the universe doesn’t bend toward justice unless we bend it. Even ‘good’ people don’t necessarily optimize for morality, unless they are primed by their environment to look at things through a moral lens. We tend to optimize for whatever we’re focused on. That’s not usually morality — often it’s survival, or something we have been told is equivalent to survival (such as money, miliary dominance, or the relative power of our ethnic or political group). Nevertheless, improving the world (and encouraging others to do so) is worthwhile. The world can’t be fixed but it can be improved. Some improvements are even low-hanging fruit — never performed, because distractions from moral imperatives are so effective. Optimizing for morality is just like optimizing for anything else: if you don’t keep your model updated with new information, you will end up maximizing something else entirely — something that isn’t quite your goal, and that (at the extremes) conflicts with it. Morality is hard to quantify, but ethical systems are not. Each ethical system is an attempt at codifying what constitutes moral behavior. Ethical systems conflict on the margins and in pathological or corner cases. Our familiar moral thought experiments tend to highlight these conflicts, because they are designed to differentiate between systems, as a test of which system is more effective. Nevertheless, ethical systems tend to agree outside of pathological cases — because they are attempts to approximate the behavior of our collectively-evolved internal compass, which basically does generally agree on what is right. Moral lapses tend to occur in a domain in which ethical systems are in agreement about the appropriate behavior. They tend to be caused by optimizing for some goal other than morality (or even adherence with some ethical system). By studying the common features of ethical frameworks, we can determine something about the function of the moral compass. Specifically, every ethical system appears to be a heuristic or set of heuristics about how to scale society beyond the individual or family unit while minimizing damage[1]. So, we can conceive of morality as social scalability. Knowing what we are trying to do — in other words, optimizing for social scalability, rather than trying to minimize a sense of disquiet that itself slowly evolved as a metric for whether or not our behavior scales to a 150-person group, differs between individuals, and cannot be easily quantified — allows us to more easily determine when particular ethical systems are appropriate tools. Even without such explicit optimization, our moral compass is effective when it is used. Normalizing looking at things through a moral lens is one way to make use of the moral compass more widespread. Organized religion once served part of this function: a community would get together, talk about morality, and enforce morality by shunning or criticizing people who performed acts deemed immoral. However, organized religion has vulnerabilities even in this role: despite the flattening created by the protestant reformations, these structures tend to be hierarchical and authoritarian, focusing on codified virtue ethics, and are isolated to a separate conceptual domain of life. Because of the hierarchy, a congregation has a single point of ethical failure: since a single individual controls what is and is not considered a moral lapse, that individual exerts substantial amounts of power over the norms of the group. With multi-level hierarchies (such as in catholicism), a single person in a position of power can effect even greater damage to norms. There are various mechanisms intended as checks on this power (which I attribute, both on the protestant and catholic sides, to the criticisms that led to the reformation), but they are often ineffective. The worst case scenario, when the hierarchy goes wrong, is something like Jonestown or Heaven’s Gate. Because of the emphasis on codified virtue ethics, norms cannot quickly adapt to changes in circumstances. In many cases, the original reasons behind particular rules are forgotten and the rules are applied outside of their intended scope. (For instance, anti-castration rules in the New Testament were intended to distinguish christianity from other, more extreme cults that arose within judaism, many of which required adherents to castrate themselves in order to guarantee celibacy. Such rules have been deployed against transgender people.) It’s easy for virtue ethics to be coopted as political weapons. The conceptual isolation of moral thinking to a particular corner of life makes it possible for people to perform immoral deeds without thinking about the moral implications, despite having a venue in which they are required to employ a moral lens. Such “sunday christians” do not think of themselves as bad people — they simply don’t consider morals outside of church, and therefore are unable to evaluate their own righteousness. The very nature of religious framing produces a vulnerability in the form of various reversals. Religious framing claims that what is good for the society will inevitably be rewarded in the individual. This is not necessarily true. When we contract the time-frame — saying that good deeds are rewarded during life and bad ones punished — we end up with something like the prosperity gospel, which claims that behaviors that materially benefit the individual in the short term are necessarily righteous while those who are suffering are necessarily evil. Since the function of ethical systems is to discourage people from acting in their own short-term self-interest when that interest creates greater damage to society as a whole than the benefits accrued to the individual, a prosperity gospel framing actively inverts this and justifies immorality a priori. Rather than an isolated moral domain, we should encourage people to discuss and enforce moral behavior in their daily lives. When making business decisions, we should ask “is it right” before asking “will it make money”. We may be wrong on both counts, but by asking, we will at least consider the moral dimension — eliminating the low-hanging fruits of obviously-immoral behaviors we engage in because we were focusing too intently on something else. By talking about morality, we remind people to think about things through a moral lens and we give them the mental tools to consider moral issues — tools that necessarily go beyond virtue ethics, and should include utilitarianism, De Bouvoir’s existentialist ethics, and the moral imperative. People who care about doing the right thing will be more effective at it. By holding people accountable for their ethics collectively, we force people who don’t care about doing the right thing to nevertheless behave in ethical ways (or spend effort hiding their ethical lapses). Ultimately, it makes life harder for the people who make life harder for the rest of us. It becomes in even sociopaths’ self-interest to contribute to the greater good.
[1] The following ethical systems can be thought of in terms of scalability of different aspects of life:
Virtue ethics: this set of behaviors tends to be found in healthy and well-functioning societies, so it becomes part of a set of “best practices” for individuals. (Different virtue ethics have different rules, and often mix in hygene-related rules or rules that depend heavily on the structure of the society. Aristotle’s virtue ethics has material that only makes sense in a greek-style society with citizen-soldiers rather than a standing professional army, for instance.)
Kant’s moral imperative: can this behavior scale to an entire population? In other words, could what I am doing now reasonably become a part of a future virtue ethics?
Hedonism: is this action producing any good at all?
Utilitarianism: is this action producing a net gain in the happiness of the society?
De Bouvoir’s existentialist ethics: is this action making the world freer? (In other words: am I ensuring that the expressive potential for other people’s decisions grows?) | https://enkiv2.medium.com/meditations-on-morality-d6d4bb51d9e0 | ['John Ohno'] | 2018-04-01 14:31:01.120000+00:00 | ['Morality', 'Ethics', 'Sociology', 'Philosophy'] |
The Just World Fallacy: Why People Bash Assange And Defend Power | I write a lot about how important it is for political dissidents to research and understand cognitive biases, the large number of well-documented logical glitches in the way human brains process information. I do this because the science of modern propaganda has been in research and development for more than a century, so if public domain psychology is aware of these glitches we can be absolutely certain that the propagandists are as well, and that they are exploiting those glitches currently.
If you don’t cultivate a healthy respect for just how advanced modern propaganda has become, you won’t be able to understand what the propagandists are doing when observing the behaviors of the political/media class, and you’ll almost certainly wind up being fooled by the propaganda machine in various ways yourself.
The fact that people think of themselves as rational creatures, but in reality have many large cognitive vulnerabilities which can and will be exploited to cause them to interpret data in an irrational way, is not some amusing-yet-inconsequential bit of trivia. It’s an absolutely crucial piece of the puzzle in understanding why the world is as messed up as it is, and in figuring out how to fix it. The immense political consequences of this reality extend into every facet of civilization.
For example, have you ever wondered why ordinary people you know in real life often harbor highly negative opinions about Julian Assange, seemingly to no benefit for themselves, even while he’s being viciously persecuted for his truthful publications by some of the most corrupt political forces on the planet? You’ve probably correctly concluded that it’s because they’re propagandized, but have you ever wondered why that propaganda works? Even on some of the more intelligent people you know?
The reason is partly because of a glitch in human cognition known as the just world hypothesis or just world fallacy, which causes us to assume that if bad things are happening to someone, it’s because that person deserves it. Blaming the victim is more psychologically comfortable than seeing that we live in an unjust world where we could very easily become victim ourselves someday, and we select for that comfort over rational analysis.
In the early 1960s a social psychologist named Melvin Lerner discovered that test subjects had a curious tendency to assign blame for an unfortunate event to the victims — even when said event couldn’t logically have been their fault — and to assign positive attributes to people who received good fortune — even if their fortune was due solely to random chance. Lerner theorized that people have an unconscious need to organize their perceptions under the fallacious premise that the world is basically just, where good things tend to happen to good people and bad things tend to happen to bad people. Nothing in a rational analysis of our world tells us that this assumption is in any way true, but tests by Lerner and subsequent social psychologists have backed up his theory that most of us tend to interpret events through the lens of this irrational assumption anyway.
Like other cognitive biases, this one fundamentally boils down to our annoying psychological tendency to select for cognitive ease over cognitive discomfort. It feels more psychologically comfortable to interpret new information in a way that confirms our preexisting opinions, so we get confirmation bias. It feels psychologically comfortable to assume something is true after hearing it repeated many times, so we get the illusory truth effect. It feels more psychologically comfortable to believe we live in a fair world where people get what they deserve than to believe we’re in a chaotic world where many of the most materially prosperous people are also the most depraved and sociopathic, and that we could be next in line to be victimized by them, so we get the just world fallacy.
When news first broke in November of last year that the Trump Justice Department was preparing to charge Julian Assange for 2010 publications by WikiLeaks, establishment Democrats suddenly began babbling about “karma”. These people weren’t Buddhists or Hindus, yet when the Trump administration (who they claim to oppose) began an aggressive assault on the free press (which they claim to support), they began reaching for eastern philosophical concepts which have no evidentiary basis whatsoever in order to justify it. Their irrational belief in a just world was psychologically more comfortable than going against their confirmation bias about the guy who spilled dirt on Queen Hillary, so they selected it. Not because it was more truthful, but because it was more comfortable.
You see this more and more often as facts in evidence make it abundantly clear that the Trump administration’s persecution of Assange pose the greatest threat to the free press in modern history, both among the rank-and-file citizenry and among the political/media class. Countless opinion segments and articles have flooded the mainstream media denying that Assange’s persecution poses a threat to press freedoms, on the basis that Assange is different from the mainstream press in some way.
This isn’t due solely to the fact that these establishment lackeys know they’ll never publish anything which inconveniences power like Assange did (many mainstream journalists sincerely believe that they hold power to account in some way); a lot of it is due to the fact that it’s much more psychologically comfortable to believe that Assange is being savagely persecuted because he deserves it. Believing that Assange is getting what’s coming to him is just plain more psychologically comfortable than believing you’re in an endlessly out-of-control world where bad things happen to good people, and that in fact you live in a world where your own government will torture and imprison a journalist for publishing embarrassing facts about it. And it’s certainly a lot more comfortable than believing you could be next.
The just world fallacy explains so much about what’s going on today. It explains why everyone scrambles to defend their government when it begins victimizing a sovereign nation for refusing to comply with the demands of the powerful. It explains why people have been so easily propagandized into believing that poverty is caused by the laziness of the poor rather than the exploitation of the rich. It explains why people are so quick to justify the censorship of a perceived political enemy on the internet. It explains why any time video footage of a controversial police shooting goes viral, the comments are always flooded with people saying the victim should have known better than to get down on the ground so slowly or reach for his wallet so quickly. It explains why attempts to discuss rape culture are so often bogged down by moronic comments about how its victims should behave. It explains why people justify mass government surveillance claiming that if you’ve got nothing to hide, you’ve got nothing to worry about. Some of these issues are more obvious to those on the left of the partisan divide, and some of them are more obvious to those on the right, but the impulse to create a false sense of safety in yourself is the exact same in all examples.
Even those who are wide awake to what’s going on in the world and don’t fall for any of the victim-blaming dynamics described above still often fall for a victim-blaming illusion of their own: the impulse to blame the propagandized masses for being propagandized, instead of blaming the propagandists. This one is just as deluded as any of the others, and it works for the same reason: it’s just plain more psychologically comfortable to believe that someone is being victimized by the system because of some flaw in the victim.
If we had a just and fair world, creating propaganda would be illegal along with murder, theft, fraud, and every other infraction on an individual’s personal sovereignty. To be clear, I don’t think that trying to make it illegal would work. I believe we need to evolve beyond the manipulations so they no longer affect us, but that requires us to see it as the serious offense that it is. If in the future we are to evolve to see it clearly, propaganda will elicit an instant and aggressive backlash from the collective against the propagandist. But right now it doesn’t, and it’s protected in part by people who believe that the crime of manipulation is outweighed by the crime of being trusting. Deliberately manipulating people for money, power or both is an attack on people’s psychological sovereignty, and until we see it as such then we will never turn our anger where it’s meant to go: on the perpetrators. If we can’t eradicate propaganda then we will never be able to see and understand what’s going on in the world clearly enough to fix it.
In reality, we live in a very unjust world. We live in a world where money is the only real valuing system, and money selects for ruthlessness. Money elevates those who will do what it takes to get ahead, and so money elevates sociopaths. No amount of muddle-headed magical thinking about “karma” is going to make that untrue. There is no grand arbiter in the sky selecting for goodness and badness. We must select good and badness. People must be held to account for their actions by those that observe that those actions are unjust. Great things happen to bad people, and awful things happen to good people, and when culture elevates greed and sociopathy that is only going to get more true until we put an end to it.
It is psychologically comfortable to believe that we live in a just world. It is much less psychologically comfortable to understand that we don’t, and that we never will unless we fight very hard for it. One is an illusion, the other is reality. A preference for reality over comfort is the primary factor which separates those who serve corrupt power from those who speak out against it.
________________
The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for my website, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook, following my antics on Twitter, throwing some money into my hat on Patreon or Paypal, purchasing some of my sweet merchandise, buying my new book Rogue Nation: Psychonautical Adventures With Caitlin Johnstone, or my previous book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, click here. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish or use any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge.
Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 | https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/the-just-world-fallacy-why-people-bash-assange-and-defend-power-33aa587437ad | ['Caitlin Johnstone'] | 2019-07-23 13:01:23.471000+00:00 | ['Julian Assange', 'Media Criticism', 'Propaganda', 'Politics', 'Corruption'] |
How the 3-second rule of design portfolios work | Judging awards is usually a voluntary, non-paid activity experienced designers do as a service to the community and a way for us to discover new inspirations.
Judges at awards are very similar to hiring managers in companies.
We both determine the outcomes of candidates or entrants.
In the award world, it is a matter of winning or losing. In the corporate world, it is a matter of hired or rejected.
Without a doubt, we have heavy responsibilities on our shoulders. As an award judge, I felt even more responsible because most contestants paid hundreds and thousands of dollars to enter.
But the reality is, I have 24 hours in a day, the same amount as anyone else in this world.
Judging awards was not my full-time job, nor would hiring be for a hiring manager.
Judging awards was not my full-time job, nor would hiring be for a hiring manager.
Soon enough, I found myself spending an average of 3 seconds looking at an entry before scoring.
It sounds irresponsible, but to meet the demand of the deadline, this is what it came down to.
In the corporate world, managers experience the same time pressure in their hiring process. Do they want to read more about your case studies? Maybe, but they simply don’t have the time when candidates are in the triple or four digits.
In this increasingly competitive hiring landscape, how can you stand out?
What makes someone want to drop everything they are doing and give your work a good look?
Design Schools Teach Students How To Design, But No One Teaches Them Marketing
Contrary to popular belief, your work doesn’t speak for itself.
Contrary to popular belief, your work doesn’t speak for itself.
The work has to be good, just like a company’s product has to be good in order for their sales team to achieve any long-term results.
Design schools, including college design programs and design bootcamps, do a decent job at teaching students how to design.
The good ones even teach career skills — they host workshops for interview prep, resume writing, portfolio critique etc.
But most of them aren’t teaching one critical skill — marketing.
I have heard from creative types that they hate marketing, again and again. To be honest, I hate it, too.
Marketing is basically getting the word about yourself or your product out there. For introverts, this is a terrifying and exhausting thought.
We just want to do the work well and hope it grows up one day — and somehow the success will come.
We just want to do the work well and hope it grows up one day — and somehow the success will come.
But the world doesn’t work like that.
I learned early in my career that if we don’t know how to market ourselves, our work won’t get the recognition it deserves.
I learned early in my career that if we don’t know how to market ourselves, our work won’t get the recognition it deserves.
Most, if not all, successful people in any field, know marketing — they just didn’t tell you that they do.
Most, if not all, successful people in any field, know marketing — they just didn’t tell you that they do.
They had to know it first to get the word out there. Then they become the boss and can afford to hire Marketing Managers.
Even if you are looking for jobs and not trying to be an entrepreneur, the same principle applies.
You have to think of a way to catch the eyes of busy hiring managers and make them stop — hopefully for more than 3 seconds.
3 Seconds Is A Long Time, If You Hit The Right Points
I know this may be a controversial statement, but even in the 3 second attention span, a lot can be presented.
Let me show you how.
Second 1: Does This Site Look Good?
Second 2: Does This Person Have The Kind of Work I’m Looking For?
Second 3: Does This Person Have An Interesting Story To Tell?
If all three answers turn out to be a yes, then your application just got passed on to the front of the queue.
Now the controversy comes — what about the actual content of your projects? What if you have great, in-depth case studies that show how wonderful of a designer you are?
That, unfortunately, comes next, once you passed the “3-second” test.
That, unfortunately, comes next, once you passed the “3-second” test.
Your wonderful case studies will only get read once the person deems it worthy of their extra few minutes.
If you disappoint them in the next few minutes with subpar work but stunning first impression, of course you will be back to the bottom of the pile.
Now let’s dive into how to make each of the critical 3 seconds count.
Step 1: Know How To Present Your Uniqueness Visually
To present yourself as someone unique, you can’t skip the first impression, which is the visual style of your site.
I know not every kind of designer is a strong visual designer, and they don’t need to be. Design is art-adjacent, but not art.
What’s the solution if visual design isn’t your thing?
Collaboration and additional learning will help. There are 2 approaches you can take here.
Approach 1 is to collaborate with or hire another designer who is strong in this area to help you with your visual design. This of course requires some networking, some luck and some budget.
Approach 2 is to learn it yourself, even if you don’t plan to focus on the visual side of design. You won’t know if you are “cut out for it” if you never tried.
You won’t know if you are “cut out for it” if you never tried.
Step 2: Purposely Curate Your Projects With Your Target Market In Mind
Whether you are working in the corporate world or freelance, you will need to pass this test — do I have projects my prospective employers or clients look for?
Don’t fret if you have no “real-world” experience doing a wide variety of projects. There are ways to compensate for the lack of that and techniques to spin it in your favor.
There are several ways you can compensate for not having years of experience in client projects.
1.Reach out to small business/startups to do a project for them
As a designer-turned-startup founder myself, I have been approached by junior designers who volunteered their time to do projects for my company.
At first, I was thinking — what’s the catch?
Then I realized they were just trying to build their portfolio and do exactly the same thing that I advised my students to do!
When you approach small companies, always let them know your intention first because not everyone is familiar with what designers need to do to build their career.
Once they know there is no “catch”, they will be more receptive to have you worked on something they might need help with.
2. Check out the websites of designers you admire. See what projects they have. Then create those projects yourself.
Companies often look for designers who have done the types of projects they do for their business. As a beginner, you need to know what types of projects are out there, and the best way to do this is to look at the portfolios of established designers.
Create a bulleted list of the types of projects you found.
For example, e-commerce design, dashboard design, mobile UI/UX design, landing page design are just a few possibilities.
As a junior designer, it is great to showcase a variety of projects you are capable of doing.
3. Curate, Focus and Tailor
As you become more specialized, you may want to ask yourself — are there particular industries I am more drawn to? If so, start to curate your portfolio projects more purposefully.
Make your portfolio extremely easy to navigate.
Make your portfolio extremely easy to navigate.
I can’t stress this enough. I have seen so many beautiful portfolios with fancy animation but very confusing navigation.
If I have to scratch my head to find the kind of projects I am looking for, I’d pass.
Step 3: Tell A Good Story And Show Your Personality
A while ago, I wrote an article about the importance of storytelling in your personal branding.
That article became very popular. I think the reason is because we don’t stress enough about storytelling when training designers.
Schools teach storytelling to writers, who indeed need to be good storytellers to succeed in their profession.
Somehow, it wasn’t taught to designers. We focus a lot on technical skills, but when it comes to relating to others, moving our audience, we are clueless.
We focus a lot on technical skills, but when it comes to relating to others, moving our audience, we are clueless.
That’s why we see so many portfolio sites with glorious achievement walls but no story behind it.
Many of them are great looking sites, but at some point, after seeing 500 of them, it gets old.
When I see a site with personality through storytelling, I stop to look at it.
Let me show you an example.
I came across the about page of designer Robin Noguier.
From Robin Noguier
He created a very well-balanced mix of achievement listing, process explanation and most importantly, what kind of a person he is.
It brings a smile to my face when he said:
“Sounding smarter than I actually am in a book by Design Fund 2017” “Playing it cool in front of 950 people at Awwwards Amsterdam 2020” “I’m the guy who always organizes the holiday trips, and I usually send the most messages on my family’s WhatsApp group.” “I always eat standing up because those calories don’t count.” “Unlike the Spice Girls, I think that if you want my future, you shouldn’t forget about my past.”
What a great way to show your personality while humble bragging! It certainly takes some time to finesse the language, but if he hadn’t put in the effort, his site wouldn’t be as interesting.
People like to work with other people who they like as a person.
People like to work with other people who they like as a person.
Instead of trying hard to impress them with a laundry list of achievements in a dry, mechanical way, be yourself and add in that extra spice that you were afraid to sprinkle on your dishes because others might hate it.
Be yourself and add in that extra spice that you were afraid to sprinkle on your dishes because others might hate it.
Create Personalized Design Elements
The last secret sauce to making your personal brand unforgettable is what I called the “personalized design elements”.
What do I mean by that?
Let’s look at some examples.
From Robin Noguier
This is from Robin Noguier again. He created a beautifully fluid and angular scroll navigation for this projects.
Combined with his excellent grasp of typography, color and layout, this “personalized design element” immediately stood out as the type of user experience that is delightful, easy-to-use and intriguing.
From Lara Grinspun
Designer Lara Grinspun created a beautiful collection of morphing shapes as her “personalized design element”. She carried this throughout the site as navigation elements. It immediately constructed a brand image for her — fun, bright and creative.
Designer Aristide Benoist created a magazine-like layout for their portfolio grid. The overall design of the site is very much in the style of fashion magazines. That itself, is the “personalized design element”.
Take A Step Back To Reassess
When you look for your next opportunities, take a step back and reassess if what you are presenting is really hitting the key points of the “3-second rule”.
The fact that most design schools and bootcamps overlook this important part of a designer’s success inspired me to create a fully-individualized program to fill the desperate need to educate the design community on marketing, presentation and storytelling.
I encourage anyone who is looking to succeed in this industry join me in making our work more captivating, more human and not be afraid to show our personalities. | https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/how-the-3-second-rule-of-design-portfolios-work-356e73a16c41 | ['Stella Guan'] | 2021-02-26 23:06:33.060000+00:00 | ['Portfolio', 'Design', 'UX Design', 'Designer', 'Bootcamp'] |
New Features in Statuspal 2.8 | We have been working hard to bring you new and highly requested features, this are the most remarkable in this release:
3rd Party Monitored Services
You are now able to configure your 3rd party monitors to automatically create incidents in your status page when their checks fail.
We provide you with an inbound email per service that you can easily setup as an alert contact email in your 3rd party monitoring check.
To find out more go to our knowledge base.
Twitter Handle & Contact Email
You can now configure a public twitter handle that will be displayed in the footer of your status page, as well as a contact email that will be displayed in the header as well as in the footer.
Status page header with support email contact
Status page footer with twitter & support links
Markdown Support
We now support markdown in the incident updates, so you can get creative and make them look just the way you want.
Maintenances start & end date displaying Improvements
We have improved and made more uniform the way in which we display your maintenance incidents, now they always display the start and end date, in the website as well as in the subscribers emails. | https://medium.com/statuspal/new-features-in-statuspal-2-8-7ad9f90f037 | ['Eduardo Messuti'] | 2019-02-12 11:24:20.907000+00:00 | ['Markdown', 'Twitter', 'Monitoring', 'Status Page', 'SaaS'] |
IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, YOU CAN CREATE IT ✨ DAILY SPARK | IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, YOU CAN CREATE IT ✨ DAILY SPARK Liesbeth Bakker ·Dec 4, 2020
“The first couple of years that we’re making stuff, the stuff that we’re making is not that great. — — What you’re making, is sort of a disappointment to you.”
~Ira Glass
SPARK OF THE DAY
Set your bar high and don’t get discouraged by your own mediocrity… if you can dream it, you can create it!
I wish you a wonderful weekend ✨ | https://medium.com/@lk-bakker/if-you-can-dream-it-you-can-create-it-daily-spark-e711865712dd | ['Liesbeth Bakker'] | 2020-12-04 14:08:06.485000+00:00 | ['Creatives', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Startup', 'Inspiration', 'Founders'] |
America’s Last Emperor: Alcalde | Chapter Two
Note: Chapter One can be found by clicking here.
San Francisco in 1850 courtesy of OpenSFHistory.org
Saturday, November 24th, 1849
Joshua Norton awoke from the first good night’s sleep he’d had in four months, a little startled that he was not swaying to and fro on a boat.
The large bed that he lay in was probably the best he’d ever slept in. The brass headboard came almost up to the top of the dark wainscotting that clad the walls, and what was not covered by wood was painted a deep crimson. Red velvet curtains closed off the room from the light hitting the windows. The small amount of sunbeams leaking in slowly forced consciousness into his brain.
He flipped the covers back and swung his feet over the side, as he thought about all he had to do today. He thought about the alcalde first. The concierge informed him without asking that this was a Spanish word for “mayor”. The alcalde’s office was up in the old post office in Portsmouth Square. They were still building the city hall across the street from the square.
He went to the washbasin in his room and poured a stream of water into it from the pitcher beside it. His shaving kit unpacked from his trunk was a welcome sight. He’d not had the courage to attempt a shave at sea while lurching from side to side with a straight razor. He also had quite a beard going. His ice blue eyes considered his face in the mirror as it had for some thirty years before. His aquiline nose receded into his forehead the same way his forehead receded into his hairline. After a second of consideration, he bent over the washbasin and used his cupped hands to vigorously splash water on the considered face. Rubbing briskly, he got his entire head wet and reached for the lush towel beside the washbasin to pat himself dry. As he combed his hair and beard out, he made a mental note that he should see a barber before seeing the alcalde rather than attempt to tame his four month old hair growth on his own.
As he considered the suit he’d laid out for himself, he thought about banking. He’d have to open a bank account. That might be the first order of business, as a matter of fact. After the haircut, of course. He stepped out of his nightshirt and went about putting on the severe black suit and shirt combination. A shirt unworn for six months was first, starched just as crisply as when he had laid it in the trunk in Cape Town. The socks and garters were next, followed by pulling over pants and fastening suspenders. Over all of this he layered a grey waistcoat. He preferred a cravat and for his first day in San Francisco he chose his favorite cravat, a deep crimson that actually matched the walls and drapes of his hotel room. Finally, after pulling on his shoes he finished the whole thing off with his favorite cutaway morning jacket. They actually fit a bit loose on him after his sea voyage, and this made him think of the real first order of business on a Saturday morning — breakfast.
###
The dining hall of the Jones Hotel was completely full except for a single seat at a table near the rear. Compared to the ship, the dining hall was spacious despite having over fifty people in it at the moment. The color scheme was much the same as the room he had taken upstairs, except there were really no windows to hang drapes on. At the rear of the room was a swinging door that seemed to belch men with plates coming to the tables.
Norton looked about and noticed an interesting thing about the room — there was not a single woman in sight. As it was a respectable hotel, every man was dressed almost the same as Norton. As he walked, he noticed that the plates all held exactly the same food — scrambled eggs, sourdough toast, some kind of mush and a pile of stewed rhubarb.
Norton moved to the table with a vacant seat and introduced himself.
“Gentleman, my name is Joshua Norton. I arrived last night aboard the Genesee, from Cape Town. As this is the only seat left in the room, would it be acceptable for me to take it?”
The men had not gotten their food yet, and stood up to greet him.
“Peter Donohue”, said the first man, offering his hand.
Norton grasped his hand firmly in his right hand, and then used his left hand to cover them both. While covered, he split the four fingers of his right hand into two parts and moved them on either side of the base of Donohue’s palm. There was no reaction as they shook.
“Joseph Eastland,” said the other man. The process was repeated. This time, the proper secret response was forthcoming and Norton knew he had found his people. He made a mental note to ask where the local Freemasons met.
“Peter Robertson”, said the other man.
As Norton offered his hand, he saw that the man must have barely been twenty. He didn’t bother to offer the Masonic handshake.
“Do sit down, Mr. Norton,” said Mr. Eastland. “Mr. Donohue was just regaling us with the tale of the onions.”
“Onions?” he asked.
“Yup,” said Mr. Donohue. “I was in Peru when I heard about the gold strike. I made my way to Panama and found the S.S. Oregon was just coming back with the mail, going round the Horn, and then coming back with the mail for next month. At the same time, I contracted malaria…”
“Good heavens!” said Norton.
“It’s not contagious,” said Donohue.
“But you made it here,” said Norton.
“Yup,” said Donohue. “When they pulled into port they had a busted boiler. I made a thousand dollars fixing it for them — I build metal boats, I’m a blacksmith…”
“A marine engineer”, said Mr. Eastland.
“Whatever, I make things that float from metal,” said Donohue. “Anyhow, I took that money and I bought some onions.”
“That’s a lot of onions,” said Norton.
“They had a lot,” said Donohue. “I paid the cargo fee, and when we pulled into port I found an agent that sold them for a dollar apiece for me.”
“Good heavens!” exclaimed Norton for the second time this conversation.
“I’ll say. I paid a hundred dollars a ton for them. Bought seven tons. Made four thousand a ton.” said Donohue.
Norton felt a little better upon hearing this.
“This bodes well for my line of work,” he said. “I’m an agent, good sirs. I buy things and sell them. In South Africa I owned a chandlery, the contents of which are currently waiting to be unloaded here.”
It was time for the other eyes at the table to widen.
“You’re gonna clean up,” said Donohue, as a man came by with coffee in a pot.
“Now all I need to do is find a bank,” said Norton.
“I can help you with that, sir,” said Eastland.
Norton had no doubt he could.
“I’d be interested to know what you all profess as your profession,” said Norton.
“Well, I actually put an ad out and Mr. Eastland here answered it. He’s my new engineer.”
“Engineer?”
“Yup. You see, my brothers are on their way here but I’ve staked out a plot of land near the new streets they’ve laid out south of Market Street. It’s right on the road to the Mission out by the creek. I’m setting up a foundry to do shipwork. It’s badly needed here, and I have enough money to do it now.”
“And what of you, young Mr. Robertson? What brings you to San Francisco?”
Robertson had been quiet this entire time, and seemed a bit intimidated. He perked up as if a teacher had suddenly asked a question of him unexpectedly, and managed to stammer out a reply.
“Well, you see, I just finished my schooling in Boston last May, so my father told me to go make something of myself. He gave me some money, and bought me a one way steamer ticket. I left in June. I’ve only just arrived last week.”
“What are you looking to do here?” asked Norton.
“Oh, I don’t really know right now. Real estate was what I thought at first, but the land here is expensive, I’d only be able to buy one or two properties.”
Everyone else was a little surprised at this, and on Donohue it showed a lot.
“Don’t go out after dark, kid,” said Donohue, shaking his head.
###
The four men walked together, making their way towards Portsmouth Square, the center of town. Mr. Donohue had been here the longest, since June. He was headed to the alcalde’s office on business anyway and offered to show Norton the way. Times being what they were, the alcalde was working on Saturdays these days. Robertson politely asked if he could tag along and nobody objected.
They walked up California to Montgomery, which Donohue said was currently the main street of the growing town. Norton was astonished by the variety of buildings that were erected. Most of them looked as if they’d been shipped in, the same way the Jones Hotel had been. Some were mere tents. Still others were boats that had been pulled onto land. As they approached an intersection, Norton’s gaze was drawn to a large one in particular. A sign proclaimed it as the HOTEL NIANTIC. A door was crudely hacked in the side, above which someone had painted “REST FOR THE WEARY AND STORAGE FOR TRUNKS.
“Well this is quite a sight,” said Norton. He considered all the abandoned ships in a new light.
“You t’aint seen the half of it,” said Donohue. “I’ve been here since June, that tub came in here in July. The entire crew deserted immediately and headed to the gold fields.”
“Immediately?” asked Norton. “Oh dear. This reminds me, I should check in with my captain and see how that’s going.”
“Do you have a warehouse?” asked Eastland.
“Not as yet,” said Norton. “I need to find some land, but I doubt it will be cheap now. These ships give me ideas. But first, I need to find a newspaper.”
“There’s only one,” said Donohue. “The Alta-California. There used to be two, but the employees all quit and ran off to the gold fields, so some enterprising man bought them both.”
“Ran off to the gold fields. That seems to be a common theme,” muttered Norton.
“Are you gonna run off to the gold fields?” asked Eastland, a small bit of needling in his voice.
“It’s not my profession,” said Norton dryly.
“Come on, the old post office is up this way,” said Donohue. “We’ll see what Alcalde Geary is up to this fine Saturday.”
The four men walked up the wooden sidewalks of Clay Street and found themselves looking upon Portsmouth Square. A small park with pathways in a double cross pattern was the centerpiece, and people of all sorts milled about. While the four men were not the only ones to be dressed in morning jackets, they were not part of a majority. Dusty men with blue denim dungarees seemed to be everywhere, playing games of chance or talking loudly about claims and grubstakes.
At the far south west corner of the park were a group of Chinese men, wearing black or grey jackets with no collars. All of them had long braids that snaked down their backs, and Norton noticed them walk towards the Kearny and Clay street corner of the park. They headed towards a large building on Kearny Street with an open front window and wonderful smells coming from it. A large sign had chinese lettering on it, and under that printed in large block letters MACAO AND WOOSUNG RESTAURANT and “Chinese Food” underneath that.
Donohue noticed Norton’s gaze. “That just opened up. Great food. Goldarn cheap.”
“I’ve never eaten Chinese food,” said Norton.
“Someone at school told me they invented noodles,” said Robertson. Everyone looked at him and he suddenly turned red.
“Well they have good noodles,” said Donohue.
“Here we are,” said Eastland. “There seems to be a line.”
The Alcalde’s office was a small adobe building on the northwest side of the park. Four muddy walls made up the structure, two long and two short in an arrangement that formed a long shed. They held up a slanted roof covered with clay tiles. The door was very large, in keeping with the building’s past as a customs house. There was a sign nailed to the wall next to the door, painted in script.
“OFFICE OF THE ALCALDE
San Francisco, Formerly Yerba Buena”
The line was about ten people deep outside the door. As they walked up, a couple of dusty prospector types walked out and the line advanced a few more feet. After a few seconds, this happened again. And then it happened again less than a few seconds later. They got in line, and after a few seconds it was obvious that the line was constantly growing at the same rate it was shrinking. Within one minute they were inside the door.
The inside of the building looked pretty much the way you would expect from the outside — the walls were plastered mud, and the ceiling was boards that slanted from one side to the other. The area they walked into had a small table with a man in uniform sitting at it. To the side against the wall were ten chairs. Two of them were occupied by the aforementioned dusty prospector types, four were occupied by men in suits. As they walked in, they saw what made the line move so fast.
“Do you have an appointment?” said the uniformed man behind the table.
“No,” said the next person in line.
“We have an appointment in two weeks at two o’clock in the afternoon if you’d like that.”
“Yes, please.”
Names and contact information were exchanged, and the man in line left to bide his time until a fortnight had passed and his appointment rolled around. Norton noticed that there was another door, and this was certainly where the alcalde’s work office was. He obviously had someone in there.
“Do you have an appointment?” said the uniformed man behind the table.
At this moment there seemed to be a commotion just outside the front door. The last man in line out the door turned around, then looked back inside, then ran out the door. The new last person in line heard this and turned around with a confused look on his face. He backed up outside the door, then audibly gasped. Everyone else inside the building was paying attention at this point, as his head popped back in the door.
“Hey! There’s a woman walking down the street!”
With the exception of Norton, Donohue, Eastland, Robertson and the uniformed man behind the table, every man in the small room stood up and made a dash for the door.
The remaining men looked at each other with the exception of Robertson, who looked at the door in confusion.
“That figures,” spat Donohue. “I seen about two women myself since I got here in June. Too many men in this town.”
Norton snorted. “Every moment that cargo sits in the harbor is every moment I am spending money without making any in this town,” he said. “I suspect it may be that women are too expensive in this town as well.”
Everyone collected in laughed loudly at the exact moment the Alcalde walked out with a thin looking man dressed in a ratty suit.
The two men could not have looked less alike. The alcalde was a towering rock of a man, standing well taller than the other man by at least half a foot. Dressed in the uniform of the United States Army, his full beard and stern blue eyes drank in everyone in the room. The other many had a beard as well, but his upper lip was shaved in the manner of the Mennonites from Pennsylvania. His suit, upon closer inspection, was not merely ratty but tattered in places, and he didn’t smell all that great either. The two men seemed rather familiar with each other though, in a stern unsmiling sort of way.
“Geary, there you are!” said Donohue. “Come out to see the woman, have you?”
The alcalde raised his eyebrows. “There’s a woman?”
“Outside, that’s why there’s nobody in here,” said the man at the desk.
Geary huffed. “Well, might as well get you out of the way since you’re here, Donohue.”
The man at the table looked up at Geary. “I haven’t even gotten to him yet,” he said.
“I have an appointment,” said Donohue. “You remember my new engineer, Mr. Eastland.”
“I do indeed,” said Mr. Geary, as he and Eastland shook hands.
“And this is Mr. Norton, from South Africa, Cape Town,” said Donohue.
“Joshua Norton, at your service,” said Norton, offering his hand. He was not surprised to find that Mr. Geary knew all the proper Masonic hand greetings and responses.
“This is Mr. Lick,” said Geary, introducing his messy previous appointment. “Mr. Lick here is one of the foremost landlords in town. We’ve just been having some serious conversations about crime.”
“It’s nice to meet you all,” rasped Mr. Lick in a totally unconvincing tone. He did not offer his hand to anyone.
“Landlord?” asked Norton. “I’m on the hunt for an office.”
Mr. Lick looked him up and down. “I was just about to walk down to the Alta and put some advertisements in.”
“I only just arrived last night,” explained Norton. “I have a great many things to do, but I would love to see whatever space in an actual building you have.”
Lick looked at him for a second and threw back his head in a roar of laughter. “Next thing you know you’ll want a floor too!”
“I’m sorry, is that a problem?” asked Norton.
“We do have buildings with floors in San Francisco,” said Geary. “I’m afraid Mr. Lick finds some odd things funny.”
“I find odd people funny,” said Mr. Lick. “At any rate, I must take my leave of you. Here is my card, Mr. Norton.”
He handed Norton a card that said “JAMES LICK — FINE PIANOS — SALES AND RENTALS — MONTGOMERY AND JACKSON” and said “Goodbye, newcomers!”
“See you next week,” said Geary as Lick walked out the door. “Now what can I do for you Donohue?”
“You remember that lot at First Street and Mission Road I set my tent up on? Me and my brothers are looking to make it official now.”
He ushered Donohue into his office as Eastland caught Norton’s eye.
“We should leave Peter to it,” he said. “We can come back here on your business once we have your business established here. For now I can take you to Naglee.”
###
“The bank is over there, on the ground floor of the Parker House,” said Eastland, pointing across the square at a large boarding house that looked brand new. A sign on the second floor said PARKER HOUSE in large block letters. “They rent the top floors there out for $10,000 a month at the moment. Mostly to professional gamblers.”
Eastland, Norton and Robertson walked east, away from the adobe building in Portsmouth Square towards Kearny Street. What lots didn’t have buildings on them had vigorous construction work happening on them. Eastland pointed towards one lot directly ahead with a building going up on it.
“They’re going to move city hall offices in a month or so to a larger building on the square here. That one probably. The Jenny Lind theater at night, city hall by day.”
“All in good time,” said Norton. “What are they doing about selling land?”
“Well, the alcalde has talked about putting lots up for auction to raise money for the city. They still use spanish measurements here, so each lot is measured in varas. A vara is about 33 inches to you and me. Vara means “rod” in Spanish but it’s not like an English rod. They sell them in fifty vara plots, and four 50 vara plots make one block. They are also selling water plots, that’s cheaper if you can commandeer a vessel to ground on a water plot.”
Norton considered this and all the boats in the harbor.
“This all reminds me, I must see to the goods on board the Genesee. Where can I find a newspaper?”
Eastland pointed across the park. “Over on Pike Street,” he said. “A man just opened a store with newspapers from around the world, they come by sidewheel steamer now.”
“Show me,” said Norton.
#
Norton set the newspaper down on the table next to the chair he sat in. His cigar smouldered in an ashtray on the table, and he picked it up to consider thoughtfully the contents of the newspaper. Night was falling after he’d spent marveling at the wonderful hour that the setting sun turned everything to gold. His balcony at the hotel had a wonderful view, and as he watched the castle on Telegraph Hill a mile away lit up as someone inside lit an oil lamp to swat away the coming darkness.
On the street, things seemed to be getting rowdy. He could hear the noise increasing in the western quarter of the town, four blocks away as the crow flies. A cacophony of pianos for the most part, and a sound as if a crowd was murmuring. A gunshot rang out, then another — he had slept too well his first night to hear them, he imagined. Norton stood up, collected his cigar and newspaper, and walked inside.
He had a lot to do on Monday, and it worried him that he had no message from Captain Keene waiting for him when he got back. He decided to contact the captain himself if he had not heard from him by Monday.
###
Click here for Chapter Three.
New chapters are posted every Monday morning. If you would like to read ahead on my rough drafts, the latest drafts are always on my Patreon Page at https://www.patreon.com/tjcrowley/. You can read it before anyone else for $1. | https://medium.com/@darrenmckeeman/americas-last-emperor-alcalde-2b462de27c73 | ['Darren Mckeeman'] | 2020-12-14 18:19:13.216000+00:00 | ['Emperor Norton', 'San Francisco', 'Fiction', 'Historical Fiction', 'San Francisco History'] |
50 Day Challenge Update: Week 5 | Daily Challenge 1. stretch 2. write 3. meditate 4. promoting my books and blog. An update on how my personal challenge is going.
Photo by Jess Bailey on Unsplash
Week five already. This fifty day challenge is flying by. No big changes from last week to report though the weather turned pretty cold and we’ve gotten snow the last few days here in Nagoya. Not enough to stick around, but every morning we wake up to a nice little dusting.
Daily Stretch
I think that the colder weather will make my daily stretches even more important to prevent any muscles pulls or strains. I’ve noticed that I’m a bit stiffer when I wake up in the morning now. On the days that I have time I’ve been waiting a little longer before I stretch to try and get my body warmed up a little bit first. This seems to help with the stiffness.
2. 500 Words a Day
Still cruising on this one. Getting a little bit faster each time. I was able to get out some publishable work as well. Nothing real long, but at least the quality was good enough to be published. Also, I’ve had a few days where I’ve hit seven hundred, eight hundred, and even one thousand words in a day. Not bad at all.
3. Daily Book Promotions
I had a little bit of luck with the promos last week, I was able to sell about four books. Right now I seem to have the best luck when I make some sort of a personal connection with someone on social media first. Blindly promoting on social media hasn’t produced much lately or in the past, but when someone replies to one of my posts and I reply back sometimes that leads to a book sale. I wish I had more time for that sort of interaction with potential readers. I just don’t have the time to follow up on all the comments I get.
4. Daily Meditation
Not much has really changed here either. I sit for about six minutes or so until I feel that wonderful surge of contentment and my mind is clear and sharp. At that point I generally stop meditating and write so that I can ride that wave for a while and get some words down.
I’ve also come up with a concept for a possible new book. One of my most popular article on Medium (35k reads so far) was about my experiences when I belonged to a Yoga cult. I realized I have enough material to expand that into a book. That is another project I hope to start and complete sometime next year. This is the original article if anyone is interested.
That’s all for this week. I’ll be coasting into the final week here pretty soon. Pretty excited to see that I’ll probably finish this fifty day challenge.
Steve Howard has published flash fiction, short stories, haibun, and creative non-fiction, poetry and haiku in numerous literary journals. His self-published collection of short stories Satori in the Slip Stream, Something Gaijin This Way Comes, and others were released in 2018. His poetry collection Diet of a Piss Poor Poet was released in 2019. Book One of Mystical Meat Machines was released in 2020. He currently teaches English in Japan and is a semi-professional stand up comedian. For a FREE copy of his “Best of 2020” PDF book subscribe to his blog here. | https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/50-day-challenge-update-week-5-c3c38ca53e16 | ['Steve B Howard'] | 2020-12-16 23:53:41.950000+00:00 | ['Challenge', 'Writing', 'Goals', 'Meditation', 'The Partnered Pen'] |
It’s all going to be serverless — the question is “When?” | The preceding 10 years have taught us to embrace the elasticity and manageability of the cloud. Cloud sparked the intoxicatingly powerful notion of being able to have a new server whenever you wanted. Next we learned to please ourselves with higher level platform services: queues, API gateways, authentication and so on. Is Serverless Nirvana next?
Many associate serverless with the current functions-as-a-service products (and understandably so), and being disappointed with those, they discount serverless altogether. That’s too narrow a view.
In this post, I‘ll make a case of how the development of the serverless platforms will change our view in the near future. I’ll divide general-purpose serverless into three waves, and look at how they work together to provide a platform way broader than the functions-as-a-service (FaaS) products.
Defining serverless
The hardware is still there, so being serverless is always a level-of-service abstraction, an illusion created for your benefit. As such, it has two defining characteristics: invisible infrastructure in lieu of configured VM images and invocation-based billing instead of an hourly fee.
It’s not as nebulous as you’d first think — much of the cloud is already serverless. When using fundamental services like AWS S3 or Azure Storage, you pay per GB stored (the cost of the disk you use), per I/O operation (the cost of the compute resources needed for data access) and per bytes transferred (the cost of the network pipe). The servers are there, split between hundreds or thousands of customers, you just don’t think about them.
What makes many developers uneasy is the notion of running your own code serverless — in other words, general-purpose serverless computation.
How do I know my code is going to run? How do I debug and monitor the environment? What’s my strategy for hardening the server?
These are valid gut reactions and questions — these underlying non-functional issues that must be solved before we’re even able to look into the abyss of actually defining a good serverless architecture. Let’s talk about our options.
The event-driven wave
The first piece of serverless compute with broad usage is the functions-as-a-service business: AWS Lambda and Azure Functions. Both services host snippets of code that can be executed on demand. You don’t write applications, you write pieces of applications with event rules that trigger your code when needed. “Run X when I get an HTTP request at /foo”, “Kick off Y when there’s a message on this queue” and that sort of thing.
Functions can be quite simple: Just typing a method or a few to execute a simple task.
You don’t know or care about the server, your code just executes. And now that you’re in the functions-land, you’re billed by fractions of a second, measuring memory and CPU usage. Whether you get one or million invocations a day, it doesn’t matter — you just scale invisibly.
So yes, we’re definitely serverless now. But functions alone are not going to inherit the Earth. Why?
Not all workloads lend themselves to an event-based single-operation triggering model.
Not all code can be cleanly separated from its dependencies, and some dependencies can require quite intensive installation and configuration.
Your development language and/or paradigm may not be supported by the FaaS products.
Migrating an existing application to a functions-as-a-service model is typically complicated enough to be financially impossible.
All these are valid architectural concerns.
Additionally, there are a lot of tooling issues that make FaaS products painful to use for some scenarios. I’m not worried about those — all these products improve at a rapid pace, and the problems of 2016 are… well, so 2016 today. If the tooling problems block you now, you’re likely to get unblocked soon. The question is just “When?”.
The flowchart-driven wave
If you broke up with the functions wave because your workflow simply doesn’t fit the model of small chunks executed by events, you’ve typically hit one of two things: Either your workflow requires more complicated orchestration, or you need to be running continuously — or for a significant period of time, which is kinda the same.
The complicated orchestration was first tackled by products such as Azure Logic Apps and AWS Step Functions, allowing you to draw a flowchart of a long-running workflow. The workflow can invoke your own Functions code, allowing the injection of custom functionality within the framework of straightforward orchestration.
Creating an Azure Logic App to detect updates in CRM and post them onwards. The code required to orchestrate a multi-step asynchronous integration is reduced to actually writing the required steps.
Workflow orchestration products make many complex things easy. Inserting a 24-hour delay into a shopping feedback process? Just add a delay task, and your execution will magically resume a day later. Need to act on somebody mentioning your product on Twitter? A couple of clicks, and you don’t have to think about polling Twitter APIs and reacting on them. The out-of-the-box activities not only ease the pain of orchestration, but also remove the need to write client code for most common services.
While a workflow is well-suited for modeling business processes, it is not a panacea for making all workloads serverless. For example, really complex decision trees are still pretty cumbersome to represent as workflows. Raw code retains its unique expressive potential. Also, the step-count billing model for workflows makes frequent polling and overly granular division of labor costly.
Put shortly, neither Functions nor Workflows properly address the question of continuously running tasks with lots of moving parts. And while this may sound like a fairly limited problem, it is actually huge for one extra reason: almost every application created in the last few decades is designed at least partially as a continuously running task.
Therefore, we need one more tool in our serverless bag of tricks.
The container-driven wave
Container technology landed a few years ago largely with the rise of Docker, and it certainly landed with quite a splash. The containers defined the next generation of the Virtual Machine. And while the initial offerings focused on the Linux space, Windows support is now getting there, and the container orchestration technology (Mesosphere, Kubernetes etc.) are now becoming more mainstream.
The thing about containers isn’t just that it’s replacing VMs with a more lightweight abstraction. It also acts as a general-purpose packaging mechanism for applications. If your Node app needs a particular Nginx configuration, set it up in your container. If your ASP.NET Web Site leverages a background Windows Service, you can layer that into your container image.
“So OK, Jouni, you’re obviously making the case for containers as a software packaging medium, but where does that get us with serverless? Containers are essentially just packaged mini-servers running on a container host, essentially yet another server! Really, they are almost the nemesis of serverless!“
I’m glad you asked. I believe there are two elements the container story needs to get right before it contributes to an serverless platform: serverless hosts and container maintenance.
Hosting your containers without servers
Container clusters are an efficient hosting platform for lots of uses, and containers can really ramp up the workload density when compared to VMs.
But to go serverless, we need to forget about VMs waiting for work. We need invocation-based billing based on detailed consumption measuring.
The first mainstream offering to do this is Azure Container Instances, released for preview in July 2017. What ACI allows us to do is to kick off containers on-demand, without thinking about the infrastructure they’re going to run on. You want to spin off a container instance with one virtual CPU and two gigs of memory?
az container create --name JouniDemo --image myregistry/nginx-based-demo:v2 --cpu 1 --memory 2 --registry
There you go. You’ll be hit with a bill of $0.0025 for invoking the container, plus $0.0000125 per second per GB and core consumed. So running this thing for 10 seconds will set you back $0.002875. If you do it once an hour for a month, you’ll pay $2.07.
So that’s microbilling in action, and it can be quite efficient indeed. You don’t need to have a VM for your batch tasks, and if you need high burst capacity, serverless containers deliver with a latency measured in seconds or less, instead of the considerably longer start-up required for a VM cluster.
But even with a serverless container hosting story in place, we’re still left with the dilemma of containers containing servers — i.e. the “How to get your base images patched” question.
Container maintenance through automation
One of the tenets of serverless is enabling the developer to focus on the business, not the plumbing. Containers are a great tool, but by definition, they come with a technical payload of maintaining the contained environment.
You construct your application by picking an OS base image, layering the needed services on the top and finally injecting your application. When you release a new version, you rebuild your container image and off you go. The thing is, once the base image and dependencies are baked into your image, how are they going to get updated? How is that recent Windows patch or new Linux kernel security fix going to make it into your running application?
Thinking about questions like this is a bit antithetical to the nature of serverless. Routine dependency maintenance is not at the focus of a serverless developer, and hence should be automated.
But the line between routine maintenance and critical decision-making is blurred. For example, a typical web site will only be happy to get its OS updates installed, and will not see adverse effects to that. But where do you draw the line? Should your web server get updated without you knowing? A new Node.js version?
This is a tricky problem, but one that is being looked into. For this discussion, I recommend listening for a few minutes to Microsoft’s Steve Lasker being interviewed on .NET Rocks #1459, starting at about 37 minutes into the recording.
The depth and the details of the possibilities of this thinking are beyond the scope of this post, but imagine yourself in a future where:
Your container ships with an automated test suite that verifies the key functionality of your workload.
The platform around you knows about base OS image update semantics (for example, “Alpine Linux 14.1.5 has a critical security fix”)
The platform is able to test out new patches for you. When a base image update occurs, it can try to rebuild your application image on it, run the test suite and report on the results, proactively.
You may even drive automatic updating with policy-based controls— “When a critical OS update lands, auto-update my running application image as long as no tests marked critical fail”
And suddenly, the server-containing containers seem so much more serverless. We’re not there yet, but this is the path. Containers enable much more complicated workloads than simple code-snippet function frameworks do, and by mitigating the operations-stage side effects of the included dependencies, they become much more business-focused as well.
Everything good now?
The “It’s all going to be serverless” mantra from the title was followed by the When question. It should now be obvious that the answer isn’t “Now”. The platforms still have a lot of holes to plug.
For example, running a container workload 24/7 on Azure Container Instances micro-billing is too expensive; you’ll want a VM host for that. Getting the underlying VM patching totally automated is yet another challenge. Container maintenance automation isn’t there yet. The logging and monitoring parts of FaaS and workflow products have been a constant source of grief for both AWS and Azure developers. And first-class support for Windows containers? Ah yes, that’s still a work in progress.
But the tooling is improving at a rapid rate. Both function-based serverless as well as the workflow products have taken huge leaps ahead in the last year. The container story is still in the works, but there’s ample pressure for all the parties to deliver on it.
Further, the notion of splitting workloads into smaller pieces, microservices, is ingrained in the idea of serverless. To maximally leverage the orchestration capabilities of a serverless framework, there must be something to orchestrate. This is another field where significant development is happening. Services like Azure Event Grid deliver connectivity between elements of the preceding waves, but also between platforms: You could easily glue AWS Lambda and Azure Logic Apps together, while spinning up Container Instances as a reaction to changes in your data warehouse. All of this is more of the same: small, reaction-based, business-focused workloads coming together to solve a larger problem.
Once all of this done, it will enable a huge chunk of even legacy applications to be hosted on a platform with way fewer server-level dependencies. For architects of new cloud-native applications, the serverless microservices platform is going to demand a whole new design mindset.
I expect the next 12 months to make a significant difference here. | https://medium.com/statuscode/its-all-going-to-be-serverless-9e16fe721f36 | ['Jouni Heikniemi'] | 2017-08-22 18:31:31.816000+00:00 | ['Serverless', 'Microsoft', 'Azure', 'Containers', 'Microservices'] |
Courtship Orion Style | With spiritual awareness comes a whole new set of arrows in his quiver to take aim at 5D Love
Photo by Dave Hoefler on Unsplash
We shall proceed with
flirtation by poetry.
Haiku no longer.
Must step it up two notches —
will tanka earn me requite? | https://medium.com/illumination/courtship-orion-style-75dd3cb7fb6d | [] | 2020-12-21 11:48:33.100000+00:00 | ['Courage', 'Tanka', 'Poetry', 'Romantic', 'Love'] |
Be | Be
Or not?
Image by ANThy from Pixabay
We have the innate willingness to be what we are. This sounds simple enough, but is it really? Most animals are more mindful than the average adult. They exist in the eternal present, untroubled by regret or worry. And most animals do not have existential debates with themselves over who they are, why they are, what they mean to other people, what they mean to themselves, and how they should think, feel and act in modern society. Animals are free to be exactly who they are. They don’t make mistakes or have failures because in every moment they are acting in accordance with their essential nature. They exist, and that is enough for them and enough for the world. What is our nature and how do we align ourselves to it? Is that even a worthwhile enterprise? Would that bring us closer to our primitive selves or closer to our true selves, unencumbered by opinion, expectation or bias? I would contend that it is in our nature to reason, to feel, to learn, to play, to explore, to love and to create. In truth, I would say that we are vibrant, boundless beings made up of so many synergizing and conflicting qualities that nailing down what is in our nature is a quixotic quest. I took a shortcut based on my beliefs and my life experience. If it holds water, it means that whenever we are doing these things we are acting congruently with the qualities that make us most human. We are living lives of meaning and purpose. We are answering the question that is never posed to our animal brethren: why?
The more we deviate from our natural state the more fragmented and stressed and chaotic and adrift we feel. We know something feels off, but we can’t pinpoint what that something is. This is when it is beneficial to get back in touch with our emotions and see what they are trying to tell us, because emotions convey just as much information to us as our reasoning mind. In Dialectical Behavior Therapy they call balancing your emotion mind and your reasoning mind, wise mind. We are using our wise mind when we learn from our emotions. At times, the answer to why we feel the way we feel is obvious. We are stressed because we are trying to survive the holidays during the pandemic. We feel fragmented because there are too many things vying for our attention, and we may be neglecting some of the practices that used to help make us feel whole. We may feel chaotic because of all the things going to hell that are out of our control. We may feel adrift because we have limited contact with our loved ones, or we recently left a job or a relationship. In those situations the chain of cause and effect is easy to follow. But then there are the times when we are sad and lonely even when things are going well and we’re in good company.
What is this sadness and this loneliness trying to tell us? What is it motivating us to do? Perhaps we’re keeping our hearts closed and not giving and receiving love. Perhaps we’re not creating anything, and this can apply to creating new hobbies, thought patterns, beliefs or attitudes as equally as writing a novel or baking a pie. We’re creative creatures. We bring dreams to fruition. Isn’t that amazing? We have the power to take an image in our mind’s eye and manifest it into tangible reality. There is a special power in that that cannot be overstated. Or maybe we’re not learning to heal our wounds and we are constantly picking scabs and these scabs become infected and soon we are septic with sadness. Now is the time to learn and to grow. The loneliness may be stemming from the fact that we are unable to be emotionally vulnerable, because of the profundity of our sadness. The two may be tied up in one another. In any case, our emotions are letting us know that we are acting at variance with our nature and when we do this we suffer. And everyone does this. And everyone suffers.
When we were a child we weren’t analyzing and dissecting our every movement, our every reaction, our every thought and feeling. We were being perfectly who we were. Some might say that maturing and taking on responsibility forces one to carefully consider every aspect of their actions, their feelings, their thoughts and their speech. But sometimes we pay too much attention to the arbitrary authority of our own minds. They should not rule us. We should clear out the clutter, minimize the negative ruminations, let go of our fears, worries and resentments and decide what foundational principles we are going to operate under. Know your core beliefs. Know your values. Make yourself unshakeable. This way you have a moral compass with which to navigate even the roughest of life’s seas. We’re no longer children, and we don’t have to pretend to be, but if we can rebalance ourselves in a way that better expresses who we truly are, then we can be perfectly who we are, without guilt, shame or doubt.
The road is long. There will always be setbacks. There will be times when we don’t live up to our own standards or what we imagine society’s standards to be. We will feel less-than. We will feel like we don’t belong. We will feel like we’re not doing enough, like we haven’t earned our seat at the table. You have, I promise you. Simply by having the courage to get up out of bed and face the day you are validating yourself, announcing yourself, proclaiming your inherent worth to the world. Because even though you doubt it at times, you are inherently worthwhile and no one and nothing can ever take that away from you. So I would invite you to be, be perfectly you. | https://medium.com/grab-a-slice/be-b70ee7bb85c3 | ["Timothy O'Neill"] | 2020-12-23 08:05:24.286000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Self', 'Inspiration', 'Nonfiction', 'Mental Health'] |
群衆密度予測に関する論文がIEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L) に採録されました | 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/sinicx/%E7%BE%A4%E8%A1%86%E5%AF%86%E5%BA%A6%E4%BA%88%E6%B8%AC%E3%81%AB%E9%96%A2%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B%E8%AB%96%E6%96%87%E3%81%8Cieee-robotics-and-automation-letters-ra-l-%E3%81%AB%E6%8E%A1%E9%8C%B2%E3%81%95%E3%82%8C%E3%81%BE%E3%81%97%E3%81%9F-794f4041643f | ['Ryo Yonetani'] | 2020-12-21 04:19:29.226000+00:00 | ['Ja', 'Forecasting', 'Autonomous Cars', 'Computer Vision'] |
7 Things The Bible Says About Parenting | We hung this verse in our son’s room before we brought him home from the hospital, and we see it every night as we tuck him in. It’s a great reminder of the calling and responsibility that God has placed on us as his parents.
As parents, we have the primary responsibility of building the foundation of faith for our children. Whether we like it or not, we are painting a picture of faith for our children every day. Every word, every action, and every reaction is a brushstroke. Painting a perfect picture can feel daunting to live out in the day-to-day life of parenting. Whether you are in the middle of sleepless nights with a baby, surviving the challenges of potty training, managing homework and school activities, or turning over the car keys, parenting is a tough job. We must remember that God doesn’t expect us to do this on our own — He loves our children more than we ever could!
Here are two simple ways to point your kids to God.
1. Pray with and for your kids. Every day. To build a foundation of faith for your children, consistent prayer is essential. Pray with and for your kids. Every day. Never stop praying for your kids. Don’t allow their current circumstances to overshadow God’s power. Even if your child is currently running away from God, He is always just a prayer away from them. Prayer can change everything.
2. Don’t do it alone. They say raising kids takes a village. You need people in your life to help point your kids in the right direction. Attend church as a family. Serve in church as a family. Join a small group filled with people you can lean on through the seasons of parenting. We all need community, and it’s crucial for you and your children to have strong, faith-based relationships.
It is never too late to start investing in the faith of your children. It is also never too early to get started. Set the trajectory of faith for your children and start pointing them toward God now.
Todd Dobberstein
YouVersion Product Manager
It was June 2010, and my wife and I were about to have our first child. We were having dinner with my dad, so I decided to ask for some wisdom. I asked my dad to give me the best parenting advice he had from his decades of parenting.
He thought for a minute, and then gave me an analogy I’ll never forget. My dad said that parenting was like a scale — not like the one you weigh yourself on in the bathroom, but like the one you see as a symbol of justice. On one side you have love; on the other you have discipline. Applying either one too often without the other is harmful for your child.
My dad went on to explain that the more love you show to your child, the more they will accept your discipline. And, when you apply more discipline to them, you also need to let them know how much you love them. Too much love without discipline can make a child spoiled, and too much discipline without love can damage a child emotionally and drive them away.
Ever since that night, I’ve often thought about the correlation between correction and love. I believe that parents often feel bad when they discipline their children. It’s definitely not fun to do. It’s hard, but it’s good. So my encouragement to you is to apply appropriate levels of discipline to your child so that they will know you love them and care about them.
Just as we love our kids and need to discipline them, our Heavenly Father loves His children and will discipline them. If you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, then God is your Father. You have been adopted into His family.
Brad Belyeu
YouVersion Engineer
I’m the youngest of two daughters in my family, so my childhood was filled with dolls having tea parties, cooking in our play kitchen, and playing dress-up — all rather calm, well-mannered, and safe activities. Now, as a mother myself with two boys under the age of five, my house looks and sounds nothing like my own childhood. Praying for my children has become a necessary part of my motherhood journey, mainly because of my boys’ energy. As my mother-in-law warned me about life with all boys, I will eventually get to know the nurses at the ER on a first-name basis!
I don’t think I ever would have imagined that just a few years into this adventure I would have already seen my oldest fall on his face (ultimately leading to a root canal) and then, just a year later, fall on his head (resulting in three staples). I also never could have imagined my 10-month-old baby undergoing surgery for a condition he was born with. Each situation has been completely out of my control. There was nothing I could have done to prevent any of those things from happening — a realization which brought me to my knees in prayer for my children.
As a parent, our children are gifts from God to provide for, protect, show the love and grace of Jesus, and prepare for their own journey through life. Neither their daily circumstances nor the overall course of their lives are things we get to decide — or have any control over. And so what do we as parents have left to do at the end of the day, when we’ve poured every ounce of energy into raising kind, respectful, God-honoring children and keeping them healthy and safe? We can take our worries, our doubts, and our unfulfilled expectations to God — grateful that we do not have to be in control.
May we never tire of praying for our children and holding them with open hands through trust and faith in our Creator — who loves our children more than we ever possibly could and is holding them in His all-powerful hands.
Lisa Gray
YouVersion Localization Manager
Parenting is tough, plain and simple. It’s easy for us to fondly reminisce about our kids growing up — how small they used to be and how cute they were, but it is much harder to remember what a blessing they are on a random Tuesday evening when they’re screaming in the corner, or when we’re changing what seems like the thousandth diaper for the day!
But, through the parental stress, 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 can help us see clearly and have fresh perspective through these crazy times.
Always Be Joyful
Don’t despair in those tough moments. Remember that being a parent is a noble and worthy calling, a privilege that God has given us, and one that we will see the fruits of someday, even if it doesn’t feel like it today. Embrace the fact that God gave us this honor.
Never Stop Praying
There is nothing our kids need more than the presence of Christ in their lives. Therefore, the most important thing we can do as parents is to bathe our children in prayer. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to be persistent in prayer throughout the day — even when it feels like everything is spinning around us.
Be Thankful
Being thankful for our kids is easy some days and much harder on others. But on those hard days, remember that you are not alone. When you feel like you’re running on empty, that’s one of the best times to come to God in prayer. Ask Him to renew your joy, and thank Him for your children. He can and will give you the strength, joy, and gratitude you need. And if we learn to lean on God in the tough days of parenting, we can’t help but be thankful for our kids!
Casey Case
YouVersion Support Leader
We all want well-behaved kids, right? Sometimes, what we mean by that is we want our kids to seem well-behaved to others. It might mean no tantrums or horseplay, or it could mean saying “please” and “thank you” at appropriate times. Now that my kids are getting older, I’ve started to wonder if the work I’ve done to make them shine on the outside is making them better on the inside.
In two short years, my oldest daughter will leave for college. I hate to admit it, but I won’t be there to make sure she’s doing everything right. So, I’m doing whatever I can now to make sure she hears my voice in her head later, during those times when she’s struggling to do the right thing. Better still, what if it’s God’s voice she hears? Because He will always be there — even when I can’t be.
The best way to make sure our kids recognize God’s voice is to teach them His Word, but simply reciting it to them — or even teaching them to recite it — won’t be enough. If you want to see your kids transformed by the power of God’s Word, then they need to see it working in you — truly affecting the course of your life and the decisions you make daily. Talk about it around the table. Bring it up in the car. Casually drop it into conversations with others. Help your children see clearly how God’s voice and His Word affect every area of your life.
At the same time, help your kids experience the Bible for themselves by taking on the role of coach. It’s important that they learn to read the Bible and listen to the Holy Spirit on their own. Help them pick out a Bible Plan, and then follow up with questions. Here are a few suggestions of things you could say to start the conversation:
What’s the best thing you’ve read in the Bible this week?
Have you read anything you didn’t understand?
Is there something you read that you want to know more about?
What’s God telling you through what you’ve been reading?
What’s one thing you can change in your life as a result of what you’ve read?
As parents, we’re working alongside the Holy Spirit to teach our kids about God and His kingdom. Trust Him to complete their inner transformation. He loves them more than we ever will.
Michael Martin
YouVersion Web Developer
I was in labor for 60 hours. 60 long, painful, and anxious hours. Some women complain about how long they labored, and others wear that length like a badge of honor. I’d say I’m more the latter because I’m proud of every exhausting moment.
But the pride I felt immediately disappeared the moment my son began crying in the middle of the night, just hours after he was born. “What does this cry mean? Is he hungry? How do I know how much he gets? Does he need something else? Where’s the nurse?!?”
Meeting my son brought me unexplainable gratitude for the gift of his life. But, almost right behind that unsurpassed feeling of gratitude, there came waves of doubt, fear, and incompetence. As a brand-new mom, I felt ill-prepared and unequipped to tackle parenthood.
Truth be told, that feeling hasn’t really disappeared since then. But I fully trust that what the Bible says is true:
If you need wisdom ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. James 1:5
God showed me a new level of His generosity with the gift of a child, and the newness of the season positioned me to humbly ask God for wisdom. He has been so faithful to guide my parenting with His wisdom any time I go to Him with a teachable and surrendered spirit.
I hope you know the resource you have in Christ. He wants to continue pouring His generosity over you in the ways that you parent. He wants — more than you do — for your child to know Him, love Him, serve Him, and be guided by Him. He is wise and generous, and He is so ready to lavish both on you. Are you ready to embrace them?
Go to our generous God and ask for wisdom as you navigate the challenges of parenting. He’s ready to give it to you.
Jessica Penick
YouVersion Content Manager
Several years ago, we stepped into God’s calling to grow our family through foster care and adoption. We knew it would be hard, but we were ready to be the hands and feet of Jesus to families in their time of need. We were ready to change the world. What we didn’t realize was how much God would change our world.
People often tell us how special we are for doing this. But let me tell you a secret: foster parents aren’t special. We are broken; we mess up; we yell, and we definitely don’t have it all together. We are simply people walking in faith and diving into the mess. What is special, however, is what God does when we are obedient.
We have seen God show up time after time in the last few years as a foster family, moving more mountains than we ever remember Him doing before. When we thought there was no hope for relationship with a child’s biological family, God showed up. When we had to say goodbye to some of the kids we’ve fostered, God showed up. When we thought we might not make it another day, God showed up.
This journey has also helped us understand more clearly how God sees us. Just as we welcome children who are hurting into our home, God has welcomed us into his family. He is our Heavenly Father and our defender. He doesn’t care what our problems are, the sins we’ve committed, or where we fall short. If we come to Him, He embraces us like a father, loves us unconditionally, and calls us His daughters and sons.
If you feel inadequate, if you feel like you’re facing impossible circumstances, or even if you’re just not sure what you should do next, I’d encourage you to seek God and jump in. People might think you’re crazy. In fact, I can guarantee they will. But I can also guarantee this: God is already pursuing you. And He has a plan for your life that’s beyond anything you can imagine today.
Taylor Ketron
YouVersion Administrator | https://medium.com/@youversion/7-things-the-bible-says-about-parenting-8ba1d031b8a5 | [] | 2020-12-09 15:16:34.170000+00:00 | ['Parenting', 'Bible Study', 'Christianity', 'Bible', 'Christian'] |
The Keynesian Delusion | In the 1930s a British economist by the name of John Maynard Keynes burst onto the frontlines of economic theory. Something of a revolutionary for his time, he diverged from his classical liberal predecessors (i.e. Hayek, Mises) that had previously dominated the scene. He approved of government interventionist policies and smiled favorably upon central bank monetary planning (something his Austrian counterparts would have surely frowned upon). It is telling that Keynes almost singlehandedly shifted the Western world’s economic persuasions. Was he especially brilliant? Were his theories just unquestionably correct, or so convincing so as to be so quickly latched onto?
It does seem probable that in part his glittering popularity had something to do with how appealing his theories were to the political classes, the academics, and the elites. These cadres were, after all, scrambling for a new economic philosophy in the tumultuous wake of the post-war and Great Depression period. The political landscape was changing, progressively giving way to more socialist-inclined notions. The libertarian-esque principles that emerged from Austria and had reigned in the past were no longer quite so in vogue. In America, the nation’s peoples were grappling with the aftermath of the market crash and were scrounging for an explanation. A new, more fashionable, and vaguely statist liberalism was underway.
Unimpressed with Hoover and embittered that he was partly culpable for the mess helped to lay the foundations for the nation’s election of a fairly left-wing president — FDR — who appeared to approve of, or otherwise lend from, Keynes’ ideas. (Of course, the commonly accepted narrative of the Great Depression was that Herbert Hoover caused it, or was at least unable to stem it off, and that FDR was the hero who courageously stepped in with interventionist politics, activism, and massive spending. To this day, this narrative is used to justify liberal policies and their apparent successes but this translation of events is far too quiet on the possibility that FDR’s Keynesian-esque policies actually extended the Great Depression.)
Keynes believed in the legitimacy of stimulus spending, favored the central bank manipulation of interest rates and money supply (as not only tolerable but necessary), and generally believed that inflation was a utilitarian tool in the government’s toolbox to generate what he called the “wealth effect”. The wealth effect was nothing more than the changing of people’s perceptions of how rich they were in an effort to stimulate demand, and thus consumption, and then more demand, and then more consumption, and so on. That demand could be artificially prodded into being, ferreted out from each individual’s conscience and encouraged was at the core of what Keynes considered made an economy successful. This changing of perceptions occurred mainly via the lowering of interest rates and/or the production of money.
It is my belief that this is false advertising. What is the good in making people believe they are wealthier than they actually are? What is the good in projecting a smooth, smiling image of a falsely wealthy economy? In time, if a spectrum of individual people can all be trained to believe in what Keynes appropriately titled “the wealth effect” then what’s to say that this effect will not unfurl to the entire nation? What do you do if everyone’s been taken in by false advertising? Why are theatrics so lauded and how was this view so academically corroborated? In the modern Western economy, image is everything. ‘Image’ as a concept valuable to economics is perhaps one of Keynes’ largest contributions. And I can’t say that it’s a good one.
The Keynesian notion that the economy can essentially be efficiently ordered by a table of government bureaucrats still reigns supreme. As nice as it would be to imagine there are people as competent and, well, omniscient as that, this is not the case. No one is smart enough or possesses a sufficient amount of information to the degree that would be necessary to plan an economy; it’s much too complicated. They simply don’t have the full grasp of our obscenely large and complex marketplace. Alan Greenspan, fumblingly and reluctantly admitted as much in his famous congressional address. We like to think that central bankers can forecast and plan and predict, but their actions end up as gross estimations at best and all too often turn out to painfully miss the mark. All of this is not very reassuring — that perhaps things are just too complex and large — it is a very psychologically overwhelming view for a great deal of people to contend with, which is probably why, to some degree, government interventionist economic leanings are not only appreciated by the people but are particularly appealing to those at the top. People inherently like control (even if it would destroy them in the end if they gave it up).
This human compulsion to control is part of the reason why governments and central banks historically favor inflation over deflation and why they’re prone to utilizing variations of Keynes’ wealth effect. Feelings of intimidation surround the possibility of deflation because deflation crunches the space with which to manipulate interest rates, putting a squeeze on the power of the elites. There is only so far down you can go before you start veering into that weird, alien territory of negative interest rates which would inconveniently produce a whole host of new problems. Inflation, on the other hand, can be handled one of two ways. 1) printing/creating money in an effort to erode the value of the dollar or 2) shock therapy much like Paul Volcker did in 1979–80 in the form of raising interest rates extraordinarily high. (The latter of which, if I had to guess, simply would not fly in today’s environment.)
As well, the more politicians and central bankers can create a false perception of wealth and in doing so, often cause inflation, the better chance they have of being able to siphon off some of that new money. For example, if business mood is optimistic and demand/consumption seem to be up, pay raises may be in order for employees. Conveniently, a pay raise is something that the government can tax. They cannot do the same if a deflationary environment is in effect. In a deflationary environment, prices decline and as a result, if you have extra money in your pocket, the government can’t touch that, much less tax it.
In any case, the popular Keynesian viewpoint is that inflation is good, expansionary policies are good, and “easy money” is the essential lubrication for an economy. Because such policies prompt people to spend more and to extend their cash out into the economy, the aforementioned “wealth effect” occurs. But usually, this wealth effect is false and isn’t backed by gains in productivity or actual increases in demand untampered by the meddling of central bankers and politicians. You can’t actually create wealth that way by faking that the economy looks rosy. It’s all illusory. It’s ridiculous to think that at some point, we will stumble out of this illusion and into “realist” territory. Any time fiddling with the elasticity of the money supply occurs, false economic signals are the result. Elastic currencies engender false economic signals. Perhaps it’s nothing but a myth that we even need elasticity to our money supply. I’m sure there’s a host of reasons to want it, but do we need it? I’m skeptical.
And so, here’s my final thought: Economics can be more powerful than politics. (Which is probably why Austrian-school proponents were so adamant that political freedom was impossible without economic freedom — an astute observation.) Classically, republicans and democrats differ in the ways in which they would go about spurring economic growth. Democrats suggest stimulus policies and modified government handouts while, on the other side of the aisle, republicans endorse the idea that cutting taxes does the job (because in doing so, the money goes into the pockets of the people and not the into the hands of the government). And both insist that they are diametrically opposed to each other. And yet, I cannot help but think that in today’s environment, both of these options essentially create the same effect.
This may be daring to say, but there is almost little use quarreling over the merits or virtue of either one when, if you look at the long-term, both will be complicit in structuring that illusory wealth effect and distorting economic signals. Why is this so? Cutting taxes in an effort to keep more money in the hands of the people rather than the government is noble and good in theory, but what’s the point when the government presently would need to borrow/create money to fund its bloated self anyways? There is no way in hell, at this point, that we would slash our government expenses to the degree that we would be able to be funded fully with taxes (because currently we borrow money that we would fundamentally never be able to pay back). In practice, therefore, these two approaches basically do the same thing and simply aren’t in touch with economic realism. Our problems are thus, far more structural than we’d like to admit. | https://laurennreiff.medium.com/the-keynesian-delusion-bdec7286a1d4 | ['Lauren Reiff'] | 2019-10-30 14:20:29.507000+00:00 | ['John Maynard Keynes', 'Economics', 'Austrian Economics', 'Finance', 'Central Banking'] |
The Tomb | The Tomb
Image public domain, courtesy of digitalcomicmuseum.com, modified from original.
“Retreat!”
The cries from his now deceased Captain had thrown the entire platoon into a frenzy. Men had scrambled in a vain attempt at preserving their own hides,
and doomed them all in the process. If only they had listened! He knew they had a chance; all the advantages his team had bought with their blood, sweat, and tears. With one simple word everything he had spent the last several months working towards on this god-forsaken planet was tossed aside, including the lives of those he served with.
True, they were outnumbered, outgunned. The measly light-rail rifles they had couldn’t do a thing against the type of machinery the indigenous aliens had. On a planet that seemingly consisted of endless desert, how could they manage to craft such advanced weaponry? Plasma emitters, sonic cannons, grav rockets, and some type of armor that he couldn’t even fathom. Weapons like those were impossibly expensive and rare, even on the home world, so how could they have so much of it here?
“Come on, soldier! Pick up your feet, let’s go!” he roared out at a younger member of his platoon, still green behind the ears and scared out of his wits. That green was shortly replaced with a fine red mist.
Scorch marks exploded all around him; the weapon’s ammunition vaporizing the materials it came into contact with. Shrapnel flew by and his power suit was quickly taking more damage than its energy shield could mitigate. He continued to run past his limits, watching helplessly as he slowly became the sole survivor.
Refuge came in the form of a small inlet into a cave system, and he dashed inside, hoping to lose them in a labyrinthian tunnel system. His hope turned into resignation as he realized his folly. Barely steps into the cave and it was a dead end, charred skeletons decorating the ironic tomb.
He knew he was to die, but he wasn’t ready.
He slumped down against the far wall in exhaustion, and drew his repeater from its holster on his side. His enemies showed no sign of care as they jogged into the caves, one after the other. His aim held true, and one by one they dropped under his volley. A scant few moments later his gun was dry, no batteries to rechamber it with.
He knew he was to die, and now, he was ready.
He took off his full helm, the intake and supply lines snapping from their quick releases and hissing out the pressurized elements. The man drew in a deep, unfiltered breath, ready for whatever. As he awaited his fate, he watched one of the enemy soldiers approach. They, too, removed their visage.
“They didn’t tell us you were human, too.” | https://scifishorts.pub/the-tomb-17246b8f6d6a | ['J. Charles Ramirez'] | 2020-12-21 14:52:24.713000+00:00 | ['Flash Fiction', 'SciFi', 'Sci Fi Fantasy', 'Short Read', 'Quick Reads'] |
Police Use of Force Policy Reform | Police Reform
What do we know about the impact of these reforms?
Written by Andrea M. Headley, Joseph Broadus, Amanda Charbonneau, and Jack Glaser
Photo from Deena Baum | Daily Trojan
In response to the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and in the midst of demonstrations in cities around the country, police use of force policies have again come under intense scrutiny. Prescriptions vary widely for how to reduce reliance on force among police departments, particularly force that is disproportionately directed against people of color. There is new momentum behind efforts to reduce police department budgets and reassign their responsibilities to providers of other social services, including mental health, mediation, and supportive housing. Less far-reaching proposals include banning chokehold and campaigns such as Campaign Zero’s #8cantwait, which focuses on eight specific use of force policy changes advocates compiled through deliberative and collaborative processes pulling from the 21st Century Task Force Recommendations on Police Use of Force, PERF Guiding Principles, and academic research and overall public demands. Advocates argue that these policies could prevent injuries and deaths and hold officers accountable for unnecessary and excessive force.
With these reforms under active consideration and discussion, it is critical that we consider: what do we actually know about use of force policies and the effectiveness of increasing restrictions?
As part of an ongoing project of the Center for Policing Equity’s National Justice Database, we reviewed the relevant literature and formal agency-level policies at eight police departments. One thing is clear: there is great need for more and better policies on use of force and they should be clear, prescriptive, and, ideally, standardized. We describe several more themes that are emerging from our review in detail.
What the Research Tells Us: Use of Force Policies and Outcomes
Peer-reviewed research shows that limiting officer discretion can lead to fewer accidents, fewer wrongful deaths, and reductions in police shootings overall. More recent studies suggest that policy changes focusing on record keeping and supervisory review can reduce weapon stops while increasing police “hit rates,” or the proportion of stops that yield actual evidence of a crime. Further, scholars find that when officers operate under more restrictive policies they use force less readily. More specifically, being very prescriptive about when, how, and why certain types of force (e.g., TASER deployment or OC spray use) are permitted is followed by reductions in frequency of use.
While these studies are promising and demonstrate that certain kinds of policy changes (or the introduction of new policies) can indeed affect officer behavior, they mostly focus on analyzing the impact of policy changes within a select few police departments.
Less peer-reviewed research examines policies across police departments and often focuses on the impact of very specific policies on deadly force. Along these lines, one study shows that requiring officers to file reports for pointing their gun, even when they do not discharge, is associated with lower rates of civilian deaths. However, other studies have found null (or at best weak) results for other policies such as formal rules regarding serving protection orders or the maximum number of hours worked per shift.
A Review of 8 Police Department’s Policy Documents
In a first step toward developing a multi-agency inventory of police department policies, we conducted in-depth reviews of formal policies at eight mid-size and large departments around the country. Considering the Use of Force policies specifically, as well as relevant policies such as those related to mental illness, racial bias, and community outreach, a few themes emerged:
1. Variability. There is substantial variation in the specificity and clarity of department policies. While accreditation bodies and professional associations have developed some “model policies,” and there was some evidence of emerging standardization in some of the departments we review, the level of detail in the policies we reviewed still varied widely, especially on common topics that are targets of reform, such as de-escalation, racial bias and disparities, incident reviews, accountability mechanisms, external reporting mechanisms, and data collection and analyses. Establishing clear state or national standards could reduce arbitrariness and facilitate cross-department evaluation in the service of assessing effectiveness and promoting best practices
2. Community policing. Despite a long-standing, national emphasis on “community policing” and building trust with communities of color, department policies on these goals tend to be vague and underdeveloped. “Community policing” often takes place through informal channels and may not correspond neatly with formal administrative policy, but this informality makes it nearly impossible to assess what practices are actually being carried out when departments describe their approach as “community-oriented.”
3. Basic prohibitions — on behaviors such as chokeholds — are often the clearest and most consistent elements of use of force policies. These bans represent the low-hanging fruit in reforms aimed at reducing force. Provided that enforcement mechanisms are clear, prohibitions should be a first step for departments, advocates, and policymakers.
4. Culture. Department policy is a clear and effective tool for outlining narrow procedures and follow-up steps, but broader cultural shifts — such as embracing a “guardian” rather than a “warrior” mindset — require much deeper investment.
The recurring phrase one comes across relating to this topic of study is some variation of “culture trumps policy.” There are clear limits to the potential for administrative policy alone to shift behavior or undo long-standing relationships of distrust. However, the formal policy can serve as a boundary for officers; as long as meaningful accountability and implementation mechanisms are in place to see that policies are enforced, they can be powerful tools for regulating some problematic behaviors (such as high speed pursuits, or failing to intervene when fellow officers violate policy), which may be otherwise tolerated by the culture within the department.
Efforts are underway in various cities and states to restructure policing — reallocating funds and responsibilities to other social service agencies. However, even if we radically restructure policing in the United States and police focus on a narrower set of activities, there will likely still be situations in which officers use physical force. As such, efforts to develop and implement clear and prescriptive policies, incentives, and accountability mechanisms to promote fair, proportional, and effective use of force will be at least as important in the future. | https://medium.com/3streams/what-do-we-know-about-the-impact-of-police-use-of-force-policies-a042f068125a | ['Andrea M. Headley'] | 2020-08-30 01:46:39.761000+00:00 | ['Public Policy', 'Criminal Justice', 'Police'] |
The Great Cryptocurrency Frenzy has Just Began — What Does this Mean for you? | My friend, who is an electrician, recently asked me whether he should buy Bitcoin or Ethereum
I asked him jokingly if he wanted to invest in Blockchain or not. His reply was that he didn’t know what that was…
In my opinion, the prescipitous rise in valuation of all Cryptocurrencies, in terms of year over year growth, is due to influx of unsophisticated capital into the market. Often, and for the vast majority of these people, they do not understand the underlying innovation which they are supporting.
Wider adoption is critical for it to ever achieve universal acceptance
Coinbase rose to the top of the AppStore charts when the price of coins were challenging all time highs, and the same will happen again. I know correlation doesn’t equal causation but I would bet that Litecoins rise was contingent on it being the lowest coin available to purchase and people not understanding they can purchase fractions of BTC/ETH.
You could take the above as proof of why Cryptocurrency is a bubble
You’d be right but you also couldn’t be further from the truth, and it would cause you to miss out on the explosion of value we are currently experiencing. The reality is that at current prices — when compared to the current utility of what it can be used for — it is a bubble, even now after the tumble from the prices at the turn of the year.
So what are the problems with Participating?
Most people take Bitcoins current value as being indicative of it being impossible to usurp. What it fails to recognise is that the valuations of coins are not dictated by the cost of a single coin. You need to look at the number of coins available and the ‘Market Cap’ of the protocol. I listen to people recommend investing in a coin because it costs a fraction of a $. What they have failed to understand is that all the coins together are worth several Billion dollars.
1 Ripple coin currently costs $0.46 dollars to buy
Psychologically we are predisposed to imagine that this has far more of a runway to grow in comparison to bitcoin. What that fails to recognise is that for Ripple to be worth the same as Bitcoin one Ripple coin would have to equal only $4.00. Ripple is already 1/10th the size of Bitcoin so the upside of your investment in the protocol is probably contrained by that atleast in the short term.
So which coin will win?
I see it from the perspective of social networks or search. Before FB there was Friendster, Myspace etc. Before Google there was Yahoo. What if these initial cryptos are only a precursor to innovation? Personally, I think that is the most likely scenario.
I think that Cryptocurrencies are going to be huge for the future.
They will proliferate through to everything we do and it is likely that they will alleviate the disruption of technology taking jobs by enabling micropayments for things where there is currently too much friction for between people
Ultimately, I think the wider adoptance of the tech is great a great signaler for future prosperity. Unfortunately, what is going to happen is that unsophisticated investors are going to get burnt along the way.
That’s the price of progress.
When you don’t know the underlying technology that underpins the investment you are making, you are in trouble
But those people getting burnt will enable this future economy
Micropayments will offset the job losses broughtby technology through the enablement micropayments for services without the friction of making payment. This will be achieved through smart contracts which instantaneously deduct crypto from the wallets of consumers who use your products or consume your services or content.
That is why this bubble is critical. Mass exposure to crytocurrency provides an opportunity for a new paradigm to emerge. Whether this new form of frictionless exchange, where transactions and turnover of capital occurs at far higher frequency, occurs with Cryto as payment or a new form of Fiat curreny is unclear.
What is clear is that Crypto is currently so far ahead of Fiat currency in terms of utility online it will be almost impossible for it to be caught.
This will eventually give way to electronic taxation
You won’t even have to permit payment from a wallet, you will merely forfeit CPU power which the platform will use to mine cryto and redistribute to the creators.
The same will be true across the internet, for publishers and artists, for developers and bankers. The payment system is likely to be the first means of payment which literally pays people what they are worth based on the utility, value or enjoyment of the things they provide.
Web 1.0 gave rise to internet
Web 2.0 gave rise to the giants who dominate it
Web 3.0 will give rise to distributed networks that take it back
To participate in this world you will require Crypto
Those purchasing now are speculators akin to individuals during the gold rush buying mining picks and rushing to the frontier. But those entrepreneurs paved the way to a brave new world. A lot of them lost fortunes in pursuit of riches, but they acquired the hope to dream while they searched for the means to control their destiny.
For me that distils the essence of Crypto’s purpose
It’s about a reclamation of control in the face of governments imposing economic measure which devalue our money. Quantitative easing following the 2008 financial collapse is the most startling example of this. Governments literally printed money, devaluing every penny we worked to earn while the bankers got away without any punishments for the harm they caused.
Crypto gives an option to avoid that, but also to avoid inflationary epidemics in countries like Venezuela. Right now Crypto might be synonymous with gamblers looking to make a quick buck, but if you look a little closer you will see the real revolution is in the technology which underpins the revolution.
The great cryptocurrency frenzy is just beginning
Are you going to be a casualty or a survivor?
The answer is in whether you educate yourself | https://medium.com/hackernoon/the-great-cryptocurrency-frenzy-has-just-began-what-does-this-mean-for-2018-1e6b17c4c5f5 | ['Chris Herd'] | 2018-06-27 14:13:32.237000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Ethereum', 'Technology', 'Bitcoin'] |
EMX 와 다른 거래소 비교하기, 1편 | in Both Sides of the Table | https://medium.com/tradeemx/emx-%EC%99%80-%EB%8B%A4%EB%A5%B8-%EA%B1%B0%EB%9E%98%EC%86%8C-%EB%B9%84%EA%B5%90%ED%95%98%EA%B8%B0-1%ED%8E%B8-a622441942a8 | ['The Emx Team'] | 2018-07-10 12:56:33.378000+00:00 | ['Trading', 'Crypto', 'Korean', 'Exchange', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
Exploratory Data Analysis: Haberman’s Cancer Survival Dataset | What is Exploratory Data Analysis?
Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) is an approach to analyzing data sets to summarize their main characteristics, often with visual methods. EDA is for seeing what the data can tell us beyond the formal modelling or hypothesis testing task.
It is always a good idea to explore a data set with multiple exploratory techniques, especially when they can be done together for comparison. The goal of exploratory data analysis is to obtain confidence in your data to a point where you’re ready to engage a machine learning algorithm. Another side benefit of EDA is to refine your selection of feature variables that will be used later for machine learning.
Why EDA?
In a hurry to get to the machine learning stage, some data scientists either entirely skip the exploratory process or do a very perfunctory job. This is a mistake with many implications, including generating inaccurate models, generating accurate models but on the wrong data, not creating the right types of variables in data preparation, and using resources inefficiently because of realizing only after generating models that perhaps the data is skewed, or has outliers, or has too many missing values, or finding that some values are inconsistent.
In this blog, we take Haberman’s Cancer Survival Dataset and perform various EDA techniques using python. You can easily download the dataset from Kaggle.
EDA on Haberman’s Cancer Survival Dataset
1. Understanding the dataset
Title: Haberman’s Survival Data
Description: The dataset contains cases from a study that was conducted between 1958 and 1970 at the University of Chicago’s Billings Hospital on the survival of patients who had undergone surgery for breast cancer.
Attribute Information:
Age of patient at the time of operation (numerical)
Patient’s year of operation (year — 1900, numerical)
Number of positive axillary nodes detected (numerical)
Survival status (class attribute) :
1 = the patient survived 5 years or longer
2 = the patient died within 5 years
2. Importing libraries and loading the file
import pandas as pd
import seaborn as sns
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np #reading the csv file
haber = pd.read_csv(“haberman_dataset.csv”)
3. Understanding the data
#Prints the first 5 entries from the csv file
haber.head()
Output:
#prints the number of rows and number of columns
haber.shape
Output: (306, 4)
Observation:
The CSV file contains 306 rows and 4 columns.
#printing the columns
haber.columns
Output: Index([‘age’, ‘year’, ‘nodes’, ‘status’], dtype=’object’)
print(haber.info())
#brief info about the dataset
Output:
<class 'pandas.core.frame.DataFrame'>
RangeIndex: 306 entries, 0 to 305
Data columns (total 4 columns):
age 306 non-null int64
year 306 non-null int64
nodes 306 non-null int64
status 306 non-null int64
dtypes: int64(4)
memory usage: 9.6 KB
Observations:
There are no missing values in this data set. All the columns are of the integer data type. The datatype of the status is an integer, it has to be converted to a categorical datatype In the status column, the value 1 can be mapped to ‘yes’ which means the patient has survived 5 years or longer. And the value 2 can be mapped to ‘no’ which means the patient died within 5 years.
haber[‘status’] = haber[‘status’].map({1:’Yes’, 2:’No’})
haber.head()
#mapping the values of 1 and 2 to yes and no respectively and #printing the first 5 records from the dataset.
Output:
haber.describe()
#describes the dataset
Output:
Observations:
Count : Total number of values present in respective columns. Mean: Mean of all the values present in the respective columns. Std: Standard Deviation of the values present in the respective columns. Min: The minimum value in the column. 25%: Gives the 25th percentile value. 50%: Gives the 50th percentile value. 75%: Gives the 75th percentile value. Max: The maximum value in the column.
haber[“status”].value_counts()
#gives each count of the status type
Output:
Yes 225
No 81
Name: status, dtype: int64
Observations:
The value_counts() function tells how many data points for each class are present. Here, it tells how many patients survived and how many did not survive. Out of 306 patients, 225 patients survived and 81 did not. The dataset is imbalanced.
status_yes = haber[haber[‘status’]==’Yes’]
status_yes.describe()
#status_yes dataframe stores all the records where status is yes
Output:
status_no = haber[haber[‘status’]==’No’]
status_no.describe()
#status_no dataframe stores all the records where status is no
Observations:
The mean age and the year in which the patients got operated are almost similar of both the classes, while the mean of the nodes of both the classes differs by 5 units approximately. The nodes of patients who survived are less when compared to patients who did not survive.
4. Univariate Analysis
The major purpose of the univariate analysis is to describe, summarize and find patterns in the single feature.
4.1 Probability Density Function(PDF)
Probability Density Function (PDF) is the probability that the variable takes a value x. (a smoothed version of the histogram)
Here the height of the bar denotes the percentage of data points under the corresponding group
sns.FacetGrid(haber,hue=’status’,height = 5)\
.map(sns.distplot,”age”)\
. add_legend();
plt.show()
Output:
PDF of Age
Observations:
Major overlapping is observed, which tells us that survival chances are irrespective of a person’s age. Although there is overlapping we can vaguely tell that people whose age is in the range 30–40 are more likely to survive, and 40–60 are less likely to survive. While people whose age is in the range 60–75 have equal chances of surviving and not surviving. Yet, this cannot be our final conclusion. We cannot decide the survival chances of a patient just by considering the age parameter
sns.FacetGrid(haber,hue=’status’,height = 5)\
.map(sns.distplot,”year”)\
. add_legend();
plt.show()
Output:
PDF of Year
Observations:
There is major overlapping observed. This graph only tells how many of the operations were successful and how many weren’t. This cannot be a parameter to decide the patient’s survival chances. However, it can be observed that in the years 1960 and 1965 there were more unsuccessful operations.
sns.FacetGrid(haber,hue=’status’,height = 5)\
.map(sns.distplot,”nodes”)\
. add_legend();
plt.show()
Output:
PDF of Nodes
Observations:
Patients with no nodes or 1 node are more likely to survive. There are very few chances of surviving if there are 25 or more nodes.
4.2 Cumulative Distribution Function(CDF)
The Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) is the probability that the variable takes a value less than or equal to x.
counts1, bin_edges1 = np.histogram(status_yes['nodes'], bins=10, density = True)
pdf1 = counts1/(sum(counts1))
print(pdf1);
print(bin_edges1)
cdf1 = np.cumsum(pdf1)
plt.plot(bin_edges1[1:], pdf1)
plt.plot(bin_edges1[1:], cdf1, label = 'Yes')
plt.xlabel('nodes') print("***********************************************************")
counts2, bin_edges2 = np.histogram(status_no['nodes'], bins=10, density = True)
pdf2 = counts2/(sum(counts2))
print(pdf2);
print(bin_edges2)
cdf2 = np.cumsum(pdf2)
plt.plot(bin_edges2[1:], pdf2)
plt.plot(bin_edges2[1:], cdf2, label = 'No')
plt.xlabel('nodes') plt.legend()
plt.show()
Output:
[0.83555556 0.08 0.02222222 0.02666667 0.01777778 0.00444444
0.00888889 0. 0. 0.00444444]
[ 0. 4.6 9.2 13.8 18.4 23. 27.6 32.2 36.8 41.4 46. ] *************************************************************
[0.56790123 0.14814815 0.13580247 0.04938272 0.07407407 0.
0.01234568 0. 0. 0.01234568]
[ 0. 5.2 10.4 15.6 20.8 26. 31.2 36.4 41.6 46.8 52. ]
CDF of Nodes
Observations:
83.55% of the patients who have survived had nodes in the range of 0–4.6
4.3 Box Plots and Violin Plots
The box extends from the lower to upper quartile values of the data, with a line at the median. The whiskers extend from the box to show the range of the data. Outlier points are those past the end of the whiskers.
Violin plot is the combination of a box plot and probability density function(CDF). | https://towardsdatascience.com/exploratory-data-analysis-habermans-cancer-survival-dataset-c511255d62cb | ['Deepthi A R'] | 2019-09-15 11:01:16.990000+00:00 | ['Haberman', 'Exploratory Data Analysis', 'Data Analysis', 'Data Science', 'Data Visualization'] |
Unmasked by a Pandemic — Why Being Yourself is the Hardest Thing These Days. | The air is heavy with droplets of infection but its clearly not the only thing that is making us sick during the time of the Corona Virus. There are also the droplets of apathy , self obsession , hypocrisy and a smugness that makes itself evident at this time. And it is sickening the very fabric of our society. In these troubled times, there is a burning need to stay relevant at any cost and combat Quarantines and Lockdowns with an over zealous presence on Social media . Perhaps this is the only way one can stay sane and be heard .
Why is everyone trying harder than ever to make their presence felt?
Clearly, the masks we wear are not only to combat a virus but perhaps to combat anonymity and a sense of abandonment as well.
I watched a quiet cousin , I had known all my life as a quiet ,reserved and intensely private individual suddenly get his act together and begin to share a plethora of posts from music to food to books to every other interest of his. There were photographs of everything from a new jacket that he had just pulled out of his closet , to the Creme Brulee he’d tried his hand at making . Songs , recipes , books read ,critiques of Govt policy …they were all par for the course. And then began the slow and painful journey of waiting to see how folks would react and the cringe worthy feeling of being ignored when they didn’t.
There are no clear rulebooks on how to play this game and ambiguity and uncertainty are bound to shadow an action which is in clear contrast to your otherwise reticent personality once the mask has dropped.
For a society that greatly values perception over reality thanks to the allure of digital media, the current pandemic is the final nail in the coffin of authenticity . Maintaining a seemingly robust public persona has become a heady and addictive drug for confident as well as socially awkward folks alike. And the new norms of maintaining social distance also dictate that getting noticed and staying relevant is all that matters as our social landscape is altered beyond our imagination and at breakneck speed.
The pain of being ignored at these times almost outstrips the ill effects of the Virus itself that has forced us to go underground. If you have nothing to say , dont say it . But in the Digital age , this is perceived to be suicidal .
If you DO NOT say something , DO NOT have an opinion and DO NOT share it , you have ceased to exist.
I began to look closer at the few brave souls who still stayed offline , regardless of fading into oblivion. My 96 year old grandmother is one. To her the best part of her day is still the phone call or visit from a loved one. Conversations that happen in real time and not through Facetime or Zoom or any other app. Conversations that are still peppered with loud laughter and end with a physical hug…and even if one isnt able to hug anymore , its the deep comfort in knowing that someone still really cares by the gleam in their eyes and the warmth of their smile.
Is it possible that many of us are welcoming the social distance then to hide our true selves behind the masks of social media? This way noone has to be subjected to the true anxieties and insecurities that plague you everyday. You are always prepped and primed for perfection. Who cares if its isnt real.
Ofcourse the internet has rewarded those who truly want isolation with a perfectly legitimate way to stay distant and yet connected. But its also strangely morphing the way in which we connect and forcing us to project a persona and a situation that is artificial and contrived.
This is not helping us combat our feelings of social isolation . .its just forcing us further apart. After all there’s nothing that makes you feel more alone than the need to pretend to be somebody else all the time.
So it is ok to go offline at times , just doing what you love best — gardening , reading or making that favourite recipe. There’s no burning need to share the times you spend actually doing the things you love and no necessity to constantly seek ratification through sharing .
Infact it could help you to ignore and be ignored by the internet at large whenever you feel the need to connect with noone but yourself. That world will still be there for you when you get back. And in the meantime , think of all the glorious things you will finally pay attention to …the smell of freshly brewed coffee , walks with your dog , painting the fence you never thought you’d get round to , planting a new avocado sapling in your garden. Do it for yourself and know that nobody is watching .
Perhaps someday soon you’ll realize that was the best part.
Divyata Rajaram | https://medium.com/@divyata-rajaram/unmasked-by-a-pandemic-why-being-yourself-is-the-hardest-thing-these-days-a29821f89eca | ['Divyata Rajaram'] | 2020-05-20 03:32:15.730000+00:00 | ['Isolation', 'Human Behavior', 'Society And Culture', 'Psychology', 'Social Media'] |
Top Three Tips for Planners | Photo by gorana b on Unsplash
This post is first published on my personal blog.
When I started my new system, I also changed my perspective on my day-month-year plans. I didn’t know the fundamentals of planning. I always made plans, but I abandoned them after a while. Because I failed to stick to them, and I discouraged myself from making new ones. When I learned these tips, they made my schedule more flexible; everything became organized. I started achieving more than I’ve expected. I also attached to my plan more than ever.
Put a buffer around goals.
The idea of putting a buffer time around the plan is glorious. Let’s say I plan to finish a book in a week. Instead of putting a one-week timeframe in my program, I put around ten days (one and a half-day in the beginning and the end). Many unexpected things can happen in life. And this way, I make my plan adaptable to them. While my goal is still one week, I’m less likely to fail. If I cannot begin reading the book, I still have more time to start. Be flexible.
The idea is changing the plan whenever it is apparent that it will not work out. I plan my days hour by hour, so I have no other option to make my program adaptable to change. I plan my next day hourly before I go to bed. And during the day, I usually cannot stick 100% to my plan. Whenever I see that I’m moving away from my plan, I quickly rearrange it in two-three minutes. This way, I still keep ownership of my day, and I know what I want to do next. Use failure as feedback.
Related to the second tip, whenever I see that my plan is not working out anymore, I try to determine the main reason. Vital signs are always easy to see. I take note of why my plan failed, and I use these signs in my next planning. The feedback is a secret weapon of any working system.
While working on any kind of system, I keep these three things in mind. I try to apply these also to my software projects as well. So, learning these skills is helpful in different aspects of life.
One last thing to keep in mind: you don’t have to plan your days. While planning is working for me, and I quite like it, it may not be a thing for you. There are many happy people without plans. So, if you think planning is not for you, don’t feel forced to do it.
If you plan your days, what are your tips? Send a tweet to me on Twitter. | https://medium.com/@candost/top-three-tips-for-planners-a109310d4b21 | ['Candost Dağdeviren'] | 2020-12-21 15:19:38.871000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Life', 'Planning', 'Tips'] |
What Is Kanye West’s Political Party? | Last week, President Barack Obama introduced Kanye West before his performance at the Democratic National Convention. Obama jokingly referred to Kanye’s presidential run in 2020, going so far to offer him some cheeky advice for his campaign. Kanye West has been to the White House before, and as both he and the President hail from Chicago, this is not the first time support has flowed between the two. Kanye has been invited to multiple White House dinners starting in 2008, and has used his celebrity status to endorse President Obama’s presidential campaigns in the past.
Kanye has also taken selfies with Hillary Clinton in the early months of 2015. Clinton is largely supported by liberal Hollywood, and Kanye’s wife, Kim Kardashian has also been vocal about her support for the only female democratic nominee, going so far as to tweet her support. Overall, when he is vocal on social and political issues, his views seem very…liberal. Remember when Kanye West said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” on national television in 2005, and it sparked a national debate about racism and the response to Katrina? That is a critique you typically only hear from more… left leaning citizens.
But before he performed at the DNC this past week he was also vocal about a different political candidate. The candidate was the ever-unbelievable Ben Carson, one of the fourteen 2016 Republican candidates. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Kanye called the neurosurgeon and 2016 hopeful “the most brilliant guy.”
Carson recently spoke out about the whole “rampant rates of mass shootings and the U.S Government’s inability to regulate who is allowed to own a firearm” ordeal. When discussing the issue on live television in late September, after a school shooting in the Midwest left several dead, he intimated that the Jews of Europe’s experience during the Nazi’s reign of Germany would had been much different if the Jews had guns. This is a completely ridiculous and uneducated statement, but then again, Carson is also a brain surgeon who doesn’t seem to have the capability to conceptualize what an abortion is.
So here’s the issue at hand: What are Kanye West’s political beliefs? When it comes to normal celebrities, in general, no one really cares. But Kanye is continuously politicizing himself, going so far to announce his presidency in 2020 in late August at the 2015 VMA’s. And while the man has given countless interviews on his beliefs, they mostly revolve around his own broad convictions and artistic creation. This would be all fine and dandy if he didn’t involve himself in the world of politics, or did so from a purely social standpoint. It doesn’t appear that Kanye’s self-centered persona allowed him to take the time to research a word that Ben Carson has said before he endorsed the man. This is troubling, to say the least, for someone who demands to be taken seriously in the political world. It’s like Kanye skipped his middle school government class. We know you are a college dropout, but damn Kanye, don’t you know what a two party system is?
Hillary, as soulless and self serving as she is criticized to be, is serving a demographic that believes in gender equality, marriage equality, and much stricter gun control. On the contrary, Ben Carson believes that a woman’s uterus is up for grabs, sort of a “finders keepers” situation. He wants to give everyone a gun, and doesn’t understand why more people don’t “fight back” when in a situation with a mass shooter. These political actions acts as huge juxtaposition… Again — what are Kanye West’s political beliefs?
Sure you could call Kanye a bipartisan celebrity, one who doesn’t align himself with one side but rather supports ideas he believes in. But that is bullshit. Kanye West is lackadaisical in his grabs for more power, and supports whatever looks good at the moment without giving it much further thought. If Kanye West wants to be a celebrity who matters in the political world, he needs to be clear about where he stands, he needs to outline his political beliefs and he needs to abandon the creative abstractism that he somehow thinks excuses him from producing a coherent political stance.
DISCLAIMER: This was written by someone who truly believes Kanye West is a visionary and wants him to continue doing great things. However, if he wants to politicize himself, he needs to get his shit together. (Also, Kanye if you are reading this, I would love to spend my life as North West’s nanny, teacher, and spirit guide.)
[image via] | https://nyulocal.com/what-is-kanye-wests-political-party-c752edfec54b | ['Opheli Garcia Lawler'] | 2016-11-16 21:07:41.237000+00:00 | ['Entertainment', 'Barack Obama', 'Hillary Clinton'] |
Present Tense | Present Tense
A poem about grief and change
Photo by Matt on Unsplash
There is always only this moment
then this, then this, then this.
The present is a tyrant —
ripping the past from my hands
And memories scatter like leaves
now golden
now brown
now mulch.
Now sweetly rotting, feeding the earth
so that new memories can grow.
Yes, the present is a tyrant
who wants me to believe that time
is a straight and narrow line.
But it’s a circle, a spiral, a vortex —
And the past is always returning to me
and nothing
nothing
no — thing
is ever truly lost. | https://medium.com/age-of-empathy/present-tense-8399bccf9dd | ['Ailsa Bristow'] | 2020-11-07 01:13:53.706000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Memories', 'Grief', 'Change', 'Ailsa Bristow'] |
Crypto Can Be Experiencing a Bubble and Still Be Wildly Valuable | Whether or not cryptocurrencies are in a bubble is a question that comes across my twitter timeline on a daily basis at this point. Stories about people taking out mortgages to buy Bitcoin, an iced tea company and a marijuana company announcing the addition of “blockchain” to their names and their stock prices spiking in response, and the fact that joke-coin Dogecoin now has a market cap of over $1B USD all lead to even crypto-fans wondering if there’s a bubble and just how big the bubble is.
Before answering this question, it’s important to understand the assumptions at work in discussions around “bubbles” and what it really means for a sector of the economy or an asset class to experience a bubble. This might be less-important for asset classes that are difficult for a regular Joe on the street to access, like mortgage-backed-securities, but in the case of crypto, whether or not there’s a bubble looms large in the mind of somebody thinking whether or not he should put this week’s beer money into a coin on Coinbase.
Not Quite Like Stocks
Unlike a specific company stock’s price, there’s no “Bitcoin Inc.” or “Ethereum Inc.” that can shut its doors and go out of business if the value of the coin drops and “investors” start looking for the heads of executives. The “investors” don’t even get a say in the same way that major shareholders of a public company do.
Even if Bitcoin, or Bitcoin Cash, or Ethereum, or Litecoin, or any other coin that has teams across the world working on the project were to crash and drop to a few dollars/coin, there really isn’t a central organization that has operating expenses that depend on the ticker price. There are developers all over the world — yes, some of them working at companies — contributing to the projects and to the technologies. Even if a handful of those companies closes, it can still be rational for individual developers and small teams to keep working on the project if adoption means the price would rebound.
(This is ignoring inter-crypto drama about how many devs are working on which coins and how truly distributed those devs are…I’m not interested in that here.)
Still Pretty Young
One of the objections I’ve heard from more technically-savvy skeptics of cryptocurrencies is that we’ve had blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies for nearly a decade now and no normal people use services or apps built on that technology on a regular basis.
But this raises the question: on what timeline?
You can make the case that artificial intelligence is nearly 70 years old and we are only in the last decade starting to use regularly use services centered around that technology.
digitalintelligencetoday.com
The ultra-quick adoption of other consumer technologies clouds our ability to see timelines in what might be a stronger context for lifetime adoption.
theatlantic.com
Venture, Not Value
Even if cryptocurrencies are in a massive bubble right now, how relevant is that question if just a few survive? Naval Ravikant made a useful distinction on twitter recently after a follower asked him about Warren Buffett’s dislike of Bitcoin (the day before I wrote this post, Buffett declared that we are near the peak of the crypto bubble).
A bubble implies that the asset is overvalued compared to its long-term value. Once investors see that, they pull back and there’s a contraction. Given that our timeframe for crypto might be way longer than some discuss and given that crypto doesn’t have an IPO-schedule or a quarterly-earnings expectation to meet, to even talk about it in terms of a bubble doesn’t make much sense to me.
Now, for specific individuals, if you want to make X% return on cryptocurrencies by Y date, then the bubble-talk may make perfect sense. If the market contracts next week and Bitcoin drops to $5,000/coin after you bought at $14,000 and you wanted to cash out in a year, you may be S.O.L.
The most compelling evidence to me for ignoring the “crypto bubble” talk is simple that…
The Internet Had a Bubble and It Is Still Here.
You could think of the Internet as a sector of the economy in 1999, or you could look at specific Internet companies. If you bought Pets.com when it IPO’d at $11/share, you’d be out of all of your money in just a year.
The trajectory of Pets.com between February and November 2000.
If you bought Amazon.com when it IPO’d at $18/share, you’d experience a 72x ROI just 20 years later.
The trajectory of Amazon since 1997.
The comparison between crypto and the Internet is probably the best one I can think of. In 1998, adding “.com” to a company name would make the stock price jump. In 2018, adding “blockchain” to a company name can revive a penny stock. In 1998, the Internet was seen as useful for ordering books or dog food and maybe chatting with friends. In 2018, cryptocurrencies are seen as useful for playing day-trader and making quick payments without a bank. In 1998, there was talk about how the Internet could revolutionize a ton of industries but little to back it up besides some eccentric nerds and their investors. In 2018, there’s talk about how crypto and blockchain technology can uproot industries but little to back it up besides some eccentric nerds and their investors.
Hindsight is 20/20, of course. Lots of investors a lot smarter than me lost money by betting on some .coms that weren’t Amazon or eBay. If I were asked “what’s the AMZN of today in your analogy?” the question would be hard to answer, especially with the foaminess and fog of war out there with get-rich-quick schemes posturing as altcoins and porn-company execs running off with ICO money.
But stop saying that crypto is or isn’t a bubble as if that were to indict it as a total waste of money and energy. You’re reading this on something that was the product of a bubble. | https://medium.com/swlh/crypto-can-be-experiencing-a-bubble-and-still-be-wildly-valuable-9f39d7807254 | ['Zak Slayback'] | 2018-01-12 20:58:11.575000+00:00 | ['Internet', 'Venture Capital', 'Bitcoin', 'Investing', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
Insulting Henry Kissinger | When I was publishing books, I got real comfortable talking with “big names”. And in 2006, I was invited to the 90th birthday party celebration of the incomparable Bernard Lewis. Professor Lewis, who lived to 101, was the world’s leading Islamic and Middle East scholar for all his adulthood. For 50 or 60 years he consulted with every US President, every UK Prime Minister, and Heads of State throughout the Middle East and around the world.
One of Lewis’s best sellers
The two Keynote speakers for the celebration and dinner were then Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
I told you Professor Lewis was a big deal. The Vice President had to fly back to DC right after his speech, but Kissinger stayed for the dinner.
He sat at the head table, where I was seated too.
At the head table were, counting from my left: Bernard Lewis; Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali refugee and author of Heretic: Judith Miller, formerly of the NY Times, who recently had been in jail for 85 days for refusing to tell the government her sources in the Valerie Plame affair; my old friend, Jerry Wind, full professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; and Buntzie Churchill, Bernard’s lady friend.
Kissinger sat to my right. As he sat down I introduced myself, and said: Mr. Kissinger, that was a great speech. He looked around the table with a look that seemed to say: well, that should be obvious to any dolt. I thought, hmmm.
But then an imp in my brain took over. Ever have that happen? You literally do not control what comes out of your mouth. And the imp made me say, in a sarcastic tone: But, you knew that was a great speech already, didn’t you?
The table burst out laughing, and Bernard tapped my left arm and said: good one!
But I stared out into space, stunned and scandalized. What made me say that? What crawled into my brain and made my lips move? Thank god the people at the table genuinely were laughing, not nervously laughing. But I was petrified.
As I look back at the scene over the years, two things seem to make sense: 1. I was miffed that Kissinger would be dismissive, and that pissed off the imp in me; and, 2. the people at the table liked seeing Kissinger ribbed.
But I am glad the imp has stayed more or less silent all these years. . . . nonetheless.
Here’s a man whose imp pops out every once in a while, as did his Dad’s — the oldest son of one of America’s Mount Rushmore country music stars, Marty Haggard (son of Merle). This is a fun look at Marty and his Dad: | https://medium.com/@tcmoore2012/insulting-henry-kissinger-42e1537cc8ad | ['Tim Moore'] | 2020-12-24 18:18:26.918000+00:00 | ['Middle East', 'Politics', 'Country Music', 'History'] |
Grow your brand with digital marketing | In the contemporary world, if a brand can’t keep its socials aligned to the current trends then you’re not in the race! Brands try very hard to build an online presence so that they can attract an audience and make more business online. One of the best ways to go about this is by hiring a media agency that creates your brand stronger digitally. One such upcoming digital marketing agency in Gurgaon is Ants Digital. Services by Ants Digital for speeding the growth of your socials!
ANTS is a brilliant blend of industry veterans, up-and-coming creatives, and digital professionals who have the ability to scale ideas to the point where their effect is increased by a factor of ten. We literally breathe the spirit of our company name because of our mindset.
They use their digital skills to provide brand strategy, content, creativity, experience design, and web-ready solutions for enterprises and brands across a variety of market areas. Some of their digital marketing services are as follows-
Search Engine Optimization- Ants’ technological techniques are supported by compelling user experiences, which help search engines crawl and index their clients’ sites more effectively, enhancing organic results. Our extensive experience in the sector has given us in-depth knowledge of on-page and off-page SEO approaches. Our goal-oriented team of experts conducts in-depth keyword analysis and makes tailored recommendations in response to algorithmic changes. They also produce personalised and compelling content that will encourage searchers to interact with your website across different devices, hence increasing its visibility.
1. Keyword Analysis
2. Content Analysis
3. Technical Analysis
4. Post Project Optimisation
5. Reporting
6. Competitive Analysis Services of SEO
Advanced Search Engine Optimization
As a digital firm, Ants evaluates consumer demands and the intent behind their searches when developing search marketing campaigns. They engage in extensive, in-depth keyword research using our proprietary tools, provide targeting recommendations, and create content that will drive searchers to engage across multiple devices and ultimately convert.
Pay Per Click (PPC)-
Ants Digital assists you in strengthening your internet marketing policies by using a model in which you only pay a fee when your ads are clicked on. They vouch to handle PPC accounts for companies of all sizes, and we work hard to meet and surpass key performance indicator targets that show growth and scale.
PPC, or pay-per-click advertising, is one of the most effective ways to reach your most qualified audience. It gives you an advantage over your competition by allowing you to reach them where they are already looking.
Ants works all day to get those required results to boost your presence online.
Website Development- We create all types of websites that work on every device, from concept to completion. We design websites to meet any company needs, keeping aesthetics, usability, functionality, compatibility, and the user journey in mind.
Services for Website Development
We’ve executed more than 135 projects in a variety of industries. To be able to design a fully working solution, our process-oriented staff must first understand the demands of each organisation. Because we understand that your website is a representation of your business, our designers collaborate closely with the technical team.
Development of the front end
With our technical skills, you can improve your user experience. Give your users a wonderful visual experience with intuitive UI and UX.
Experiential Learning
Users might have more meaningful experiences on a website thanks to the interactive design.
Development of the backend
We aim for an intuitive customer journey rather than just creating applications, servers, and databases.
This is your cue to choose Ants Digital today to change the face of your business and build an impactful brand. | https://medium.com/@antsdigital/grow-your-brand-with-digital-marketing-28534ad4c7d1 | ['Ants Digital'] | 2021-12-23 12:12:55.908000+00:00 | ['Digital Creative Agency', 'Creative Design Company', 'Seo Agency In Gurgaon', 'Digital Marketing Service', 'Digital Marketing Agency'] |
A Response With Feelings Is So Human | Thee Quest-Human Emotions
A Response With Feelings Is So Human
Being different is not being anyone else but “Who You Really Are”
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Thee Quest-Human Emotions
The story above, written by my friend James Finn, shares the Human Feelings of two young men that share friendship. Their feelings for one another are just like any other human beings, that love to be together.
I am Gay yes, and I am Trans, yes, but I am human first and foremost. Thee Quest loves to share stories that help bring people together.
Togetherness, not separation, defines what being human beings is all about, right?
The following is my response to this story. | https://medium.com/theequest/a-response-with-feelings-is-so-human-b3d6c630852e | ['Pierre Trudel'] | 2020-12-16 17:39:43.838000+00:00 | ['Love', 'LGBTQ', 'Thee Quest', 'Humanity', 'Friendship'] |
Your Emotions Are Not Your Own | Whenever you are visited by an emotion, the emotion comes to you as a teacher and a guide. The emotion is guiding you to a part of yourself that needs attention and love. Not “healing” or “fixing” or “getting rid of.” Just attention and love.
These emotional guides often show up in the form of your child self, pulling on your sleeve until you look at them. And when you look at them, when you finally give them the attention they need, the attention you need, they will only ask one question,
“Am I okay?”
You see, this is the only question children are ever really asking. This is the only question your heart has ever really asked.
“Am I okay, Mommy?”
“Is it okay to be feeling the way I feel right now, Daddy?”
Perhaps you had parents that reflected your okay-ness back at you, or perhaps you had parents that implied or explicitly said, “No, you are not okay. It is not okay to feel that way,” or perhaps you had parents that left you with only a resounding silence.
Either way, it is your job to learn how to be your own parent, now. It is your job to turn toward every emotional archetype that pays you a visit and say,
“Yes, love. You are okay. It is okay that you are here right now. Stay as long as you’d like.”
When an emotion pays you a visit, it is an indication that there is a part of you in need of loving attention, nothing more. It does not mean you are faulty or you are going backwards, it means you are being led deeper.
“Deeper into what?” you ask?
Yourself, love.
Yourself.
It’s only all you’ve ever been looking for. | https://medium.com/just-jordin/your-emotions-are-not-your-own-258bf8b90e97 | ['Jordin James'] | 2019-09-11 15:41:42.879000+00:00 | ['Spirituality', 'Life', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology', 'Life Lessons'] |
Planning an International Trip | Going for an international trip can be such an exciting opportunity. However, sufficient planning should be considered to ensure that you don’t miss an element of preparation that may jeopardize your entire trip. Here are some crucial tips to remember when preparing for your international trip.
Research as Much as Possible
Once you settle for your destination country or area, you should endeavor to conduct further research on particular details relating to the area in general. The research should focus on important aspects such as visa requirements, cultural boundaries, general etiquette, and climatic conditions among other areas. This will give you a basic knowledge of how you should prepare and what to carry for your trip.
Determine How Long Your Trip Will Take
Before proceeding further with your preparations for an international trip, you should determine how long your international trip will take. The duration of your travel will help advise you on various other preparatory measures such as how much baggage you need to carry and how much money you need to have. Having a specific travel duration also helps ensure that you are well organized and therefore avoid wastage of resources.
Set a Budget and Itinerary
Your preparation should also focus on establishing a clear budget. The budget should contain a rough outline of how much money you intend to spend on critical areas such as air ticket, accommodation, food, shopping, and other leisure activities. To accompany your budget, you should have an itinerary that outlines how you intend to spend your time abroad. You may want to enlist places that you intend to visit as well as the activities that you intend to engage in to make the most of your trip.
Verify Your Travel Documents
You should also prepare your travel documents, mainly visa and identity cards, well in advance. You should check with the local authorities and embassies of countries you intend to travel to on what their visa requirements are to ensure you fully meet them. Other international traveling arrangements that you need to secure while preparing include booking your air tickets in advance to secure a good discount as well as booking your accommodation on time.
Getting Immunized
The Centers for Disease Control offers guidelines and recommendations on various immunizations that one should get before traveling to certain countries. Such immunization is crucial as it helps prevent the spread of certain diseases such as measles, hepatitis A, typhoid, and rabies among others.
.
.
This article was originally richardrooneymd.info | https://medium.com/@richardrooneymd/planning-an-international-trip-b773775a104a | ['Richard Rooney'] | 2019-04-10 19:54:56.433000+00:00 | ['Richard Rooney Md', 'Vacation', 'Lifestyle', 'Travel', 'Traveling'] |
A Homeschooler’s Best Advice for Homeschooling in a Pandemic | A Homeschooler’s Best Advice for Homeschooling in a Pandemic
Trust me
I homeschooled four kids for about a quarter century and have lived to tell the tale. The tale is long and messy, with twists and turns, ups and downs, like any good tale. There are no real villains (no interesting villains at least) and most characters are minor heroes. Homeschooling is, essentially, parenting and parenting is just life. It’s hard, it can be fun, and it’s usually worth it.
I’ve started essays about why you should homeschool and then realized that the arguments are mine, the decision is personal. It’s a fluid decision with endless flexibility. Homeschool this year, and not next. Homeschool elementary, but not high school. Or vice versa. Homeschool forever, or never. It’s a personal choice — it’s all yours, meant to find the best path for you and your people.
It’s been easy, in this ugly world, to justify not sending kids to school. Guns, bullies, cheating, unhealthy competition. The truth is that there are terrible things about public education in the US, things that fill books already; and there are good things, too, if you get lucky. The same can be said about homeschooling — the poorly homeschooled have likewise written books to scare us away from the project. And there are great rewards there, as well. The landscape of homeschooling is lush and varied, filled with wonders (and terrors) and largely built by you.
But now — the upside down NOW that none of us could have predicted, no matter how closely we’ve watched the national unraveling — school is not even a choice. And it shouldn’t be a choice this fall, either (an opinion, yes, another essay). If you have school-aged kids, you are homeschooling, whatever that means to you. And that’s kind of the beauty, right? You get to decide what that means. Daunting, exhausting, and confusing — maybe. But also: Thrilling, fresh, and full of possibility.
Glass half empty or half full? It’s up to you.
I’ve written a fair amount about this particular adventure, learned a lot in our homeschool, mostly about myself and my kids. To boil it down for those of you forced into it, here is my very best advice:
Relax.
I wish someone had pressed this upon me in the panic days. Breathe. It’s going to be fine, really. School is a construct, a part of the modern world that, in the grand scheme, is fairly new. Leonard da Vinci didn’t go to school, Mozart didn’t go to school. Einstein dropped out. The examples are heartening. As long as you’re kind to them (usually), as long as you love them (always), if you feed them and show them the world, they will be fine.
Give them all of the books, lots of art supplies, go outside. Read to them, cook with them, watch movies, play games. Make things, laugh, dance. LIVE. Little humans learn from the big ones, just as little animals watch the big animals. Model curiosity. Special buildings and structured activities are not necessary and, it can be argued, even destructive. But if those things help you feel better about the process, embrace them. Make a school space, use workbooks, assign essays and projects. Most of us have access to endless resources online. Either way — structure or no — they will be fine.
I know that this is different for everyone. Many of you have to work while homeschooling, most of us are are managing high levels of stress in the current madness. The world is sort of closed at the moment, which makes exploring a challenge. So much sucks, so much, right now. But, if you can, relax. Video games are fine. Daydreaming is excellent. Movies and podcasts, puzzles and microwave pizza bagels are all good. Look at a tree, dig in the dirt, study the dead fly you find on the windowsill. Make tea, grate cheese, paint sneakers. Your little people are learning all the time, even if it’s not visible or quantifiable. Give them space, give yourself space, and love them.
Smile.
It will be fine. | https://medium.com/family-matters-2/a-homeschoolers-best-advice-for-homeschooling-in-a-pandemic-c80887097720 | ['Lisa Renee'] | 2020-07-10 19:31:10.202000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Homeschooling', 'Pandemic', 'Education', 'Parenting'] |
The Difference Between Christian Evangelicalism and Religious Nationalism | Why it’s important to stop confusing the two.
The Christian Evangelical movement in the United States has become a powerful influence on American politics, culture, and media during the past four decades. The earliest proponents of the “Moral Majority” were unabashed and unashamed of their efforts to turn their large and loyal following into a powerful voting bloc. Among these leaders were Jerry Falwell, Sr. and Paul Weyrich, who made no secret of their desire to leverage the power of their numbers into a seat at the political table.
Photo by Robert Koorenny on Unsplash
That seat was gladly granted as it became apparent that the “religious” right could move an electorate — and an election — for or against a candidate. And it wasn’t just for those two. Over the years, seats at the highest levels of civic and political life have been granted to countless others, including James Dobson, Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, Kenneth Copeland, Mike Huckabee and Paula White.
The Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to the adage that, when you mix politics with science you get politics. The same can be said of religion; when the two mix, politics is strengthened, religion is weakened. America is now at the point where it largely uses the term “evangelical” to mean a political party (or subset of one) versus a religious tradition (or subset of one). Sadly, this is not an inaccurate characterization.
What was once a proud symbol of a sincere body of believers (evangelical Christians) has become nothing more than a pitiful pseudonym for a group of would-be standard bearers (religious nationalists).
The National Association of Evangelicals identifies four characteristics that define an evangelical Christian:
1. The belief that a person must be “born-again”
2. A strong commitment to evangelism (soul-winning)
3. Obedience to the Bible as the ultimate authority
4. Salvation through Christ alone.
Accepting this standard, any Christian can be an evangelical Christian, without regard to affiliation with any or no Christian denomination, teachings of a specific church, or race and nationality. Though evangelicalism is largely associated with protestantism, Christian Catholics who believe in these four statements are also evangelical Christians. | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/the-difference-between-christian-evangelicalism-and-religious-nationalism-4ea7cc58f6fd | ['Dr. Dion'] | 2021-03-11 03:24:08.862000+00:00 | ['Evangelism', 'Nationalism', 'Politics', 'Religion', 'White Supremacy'] |
Switzerland and the Best Pasta I Have Ever Had | Finding the best pasta
Remember I said we missed our breakfast at the hotel? We didn’t have lunch or anything. It was almost 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and we ate nothing for the whole day.
We got to the Hotel Ambiance Superior — a lovely place that my wife carefully chosen for our honeymoon — checked in and decided we had to go somewhere to eat.
We left our bags in our room and went to browse the city for some food. A few meters from the hotel, we found it. Pizzeria Roma, a small and cozy pizza place. We got it. We are not very fond of pizza, but we were about to faint.
A nice couple welcomed us and got us a table. The husband was an Italian cook, and his wife, who was in charge of waitering, was a very polite Portuguese woman named Fernanda.
When we said we were from Brazil, she immediately started speaking Portuguese with us. It was such a cool connection.
Brazilian Portuguese is different from Portugal’s, but we were still able to communicate with no embarrassment of misunderstanding each other.
It was a pizza place, but they also had other types of pasta. Let me tell you that meat-sauce spaghetti is my favorite food. Guess what lovely Fernanda offered us? Yes, that’s right. My favorite food in the world.
The author owns the rights to this image.
This is how happy I was. I must have drunk up this beer in a matter of seconds. We could not believe we were in a restaurant in Switzerland.
I love cooking, and as I said before, the food is not the most crucial thing in a meal. Every time someone comes to my house, I try to create the best experience with good music, lighting, smells, and of course, good food.
In Pizzeria Roma, we had it all, and we were also starving, which really helps when trying out some different food.
I still remember the taste of the tomatoes in the sauce dressing that delicious pasta in perfect combination with beer, the best company I could ever ask for in the most beautiful place in the world.
After eating, we went for a walk to get to know the city, but I will talk about it in my next piece.
Stay tuned for some more Switzerland stories. | https://medium.com/the-masterpiece/switzerland-and-the-best-pasta-i-have-ever-had-9064cf63d1d3 | ['Felipe Xavier'] | 2020-12-18 15:17:54.780000+00:00 | ['The Masterpiece', 'Happiness', 'Lifestyle', 'Travel', 'Switzerland'] |
Upload images with your Rails app using Active Storage and Cloudinary | One of the first issues I encountered when deploying my Rails apps to production is that I could no longer store images locally as I was doing in the development environment. For example, if you are using Heroku to deploy your app with Active Storage’s default local storage setup, the images you upload will be stored only temporarily in Heroku’s filesystem.
Luckily, Active Storage supports uploading files to a cloud storage service like Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Microsoft Azure Storage or, like in this case, Cloudinary. Services like Amazon S3 are widely used but they have the inconvenient that, even if you have access to a free quota, you have to fill in your credit card details and get exposed to unexpected charges if you accidentally exceed such quota. As a beginner developer who just wanted to have his personal projects deployed to production, I didn’t like the idea of making a mistake or even being hacked with the consequences of receiving a huge bill for overusing my cloud storage, like that story of a guy who got a bill of $2700.
This is when I learned about Cloudinary. Cloudinary is a cloud storage service that has a free plan which does not require credit card and allows to store up to 25GB of data or 25GB of viewing bandwidth. Moreover, it has a gem that simplifies the integration with any Rails app. This covered all my needs, so I went ahead.
In order to set up Cloudinary in your Rails app, first create a free account on their website. Then, as usual with any other Rails gem, add it to your Gemfile :
gem 'cloudinary'
And run
bundle install
Next step is adding your Cloudinary’s credentials. You can see these if you download the cloudinary.yml file from your Cloudinary dashboard. As with any other credentials, it is good practice to store them in a configuration file out of Git while adding them to your environment variables.
In order to do this, if you are running the app locally, you can use a gem called Figaro. Once installed, Figaro creates a config/application.yml file and adds it to your .gitignore. Therefore, in your config/application.yml, add your credentials as in the example below:
development:
cloud_name: mycloud
api_key: '123456789'
api_secret: qwerty123uiop456
enhance_image_tag: 'true'
static_file_support: 'false' production:
cloud_name: mycloud
api_key: '123456789'
api_secret: qwerty123uiop456
enhance_image_tag: 'true'
static_file_support: 'true' test:
cloud_name: mycloud
api_key: '123456789'
api_secret: qwerty123uiop456
enhance_image_tag: 'true'
static_file_support: 'false'
Then, Figaro will parse this YAML file and load all the values into ENV.
However, when deploying the app to production, you will have to do this in a different way depending on the service you are using. For example, in Heroku you will have to add the credentials to your config vars. You can easily do this from your Heroku dashboard, just remember to write the variable names in upper case (API_KEY, API_SECRET, CLOUD_NAME, etc).
Next is to set up Active Storage to work with Cloudinary. First you will have to declare the service in the config/storage.yml file:
cloudinary:
service: Cloudinary
Then configure Active Storage in the config/environments/production.rb file commenting out the default local setup:
config.active_storage.service = :cloudinary #config.active_storage.service = :local
This will change your production environment setup. If you are going to use Cloudinary in your development and test environments as well, just do the same in the corresponding development.rb and test.rb files.
In order to upload images to a cloud storage service, Active Storage will have to upload directly from the client to the cloud. This functionality is called Direct Uploads and it has to be included in your application’s JavaScript bundle.
If you are using an old version of Rails (5 or below) you will have to do this using the asset pipeline by adding the following line in app/assets/javascripts/application.js :
//= require activestorage
However, this is not relevant to new Rails 6 applications where Webpack is used. Instead you will have to use the npm package including the following line in app/javascript/packs/application.js :
require("@rails/activestorage").start()
Now you are able to upload images using Rails forms like in the example below:
<%= form_for @book do |f| %> <%= f.file_field :cover, class: 'form-control', direct_upload: true %> <%= f.button :submit, class:"button is-dark" %> <% end %>
When displaying images from the cloud, you can still use the image_tag method as usual:
<%= image_tag @book.cover, alt: "#{@book.title}" %>
I hope this helped!
Additional resources: | https://medium.com/@vgmestre/upload-images-with-your-rails-app-using-active-storage-and-cloudinary-ecf31c5ba999 | ['Victor G. Mestre'] | 2020-12-08 09:43:34.295000+00:00 | ['Active Storage', 'Cloudinary', 'Programming', 'Rails', 'Cloud Storage'] |
How to Plan a Birthday Party During the Increasing Covid in Bangalore | How to Plan a Birthday Party During the Increasing Covid in Bangalore
Birthday Celebration Cake | Source: Freepik
As the Covid is on the rise, people have become more scared to go out and celebrate their birthdays or anniversaries. Many people have refused to have a gathering and it’s rightful to do so. But what if you want to celebrate your birthday? Well, there are always ways to have a safer celebration with your loved ones.
If you are in Bangalore, then there are many places where you can celebrate by following all the safety measures. But as the spread is increasing and becoming more and more dangerous, it would be best to have your celebration at home!
At home, you have the freedom to do whatever you want and have fun as much as you want. You wouldn’t have to worry about reaching home early. Also, your friends will be much more comfortable! So now the question arises: how should one plan a birthday party during this harsh time? To help you, here are some of the things that you should look out for-
Set up a Date
Many people decide to celebrate their birthday on a different date. Mostly, this happens because they are busy or have other plans. So, you must set a date for your birthday celebration.
When you set a date, it becomes much easier to plan for other things such as food and invitations. This is why the first step is to set up a date. Also, make sure to set the date near your birthday so that the excitement never goes down. Your friends and family are also excited! So, let them and yourself have some fun! | https://medium.com/@blooming-celebrations/how-to-plan-a-birthday-party-during-the-increasing-covid-in-bangalore-73c9702dcb7 | ['Blooming Celebrations'] | 2021-05-03 06:33:48.928000+00:00 | ['Birthday', 'Birthday Party', 'Bangalore', 'Birthday Idea', 'Covid 19'] |
The US is no longer shy about interfering with Syria in the settlement of the conflict | The US is no longer shy about interfering with Syria in the settlement of the conflict Sardar Mesto Mar 1·2 min read
Until recently, the United States tried to pretend to be an interested party in conducting counterterrorism operations in the Middle East, while acting against groups that Washington itself secretly funded. However, today, American politicians no longer have any hope of fooling anyone with their rhetoric.
Initially, the main purpose of the illegal presence of American troops on Syrian territory was the production of Syrian oil. Now the Joe Biden administration expects to increase its military presence in the region in order to “ undermine the positions of Syrian, Iranian and Russian forces.” Simply put, today the United States openly admits to using its units not only to counter the legitimate authorities of the country it illegally invaded, but also to try to aggravate relations with two of Damascus ‘ closest allies — Tehran and Moscow.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights recently confirmed the arrival of a new coalition convoy of more than 50 vehicles and trucks. A military convoy carrying armored vehicles, logistical equipment and weapons is seen crossing northeastern Syria from the Kurdistan government-controlled region of northern Iraq.
The relocation of troops and the creation of military bases clearly fits into the interventionist thinking of Joe Biden. Indeed, the newly elected head of the United States was very critical of his predecessor’s decision to withdraw American troops from the Middle East region. And, unlike trump, Biden has not made any promises to put an end to “useless wars of America”.
However, the increase in the military contingent is not all the preparations of the Biden administration for war-torn Syria: the Americans plan to build a new base on the border between the Syrian territory and the Kurdish-populated areas of Iraq. And the armed Kurdish formations, in turn, will continue to be the main weapon in the hands of Washington in attempts to prevent the return of peace and stability to the Syrian land.
Thus, the United States is in no hurry to leave Syria. On the contrary, there is progress towards strengthening its existing control over the northern and north-eastern parts of the SAR. According to the Pentagon, this consolidation is necessary in view of the above-mentioned units, which represent a “ destabilizing factor in the north-east of Syria.” This factor hinders Washington’s efforts to stabilize the situation in the region, or their interventionist plans-the answer has long been known. | https://medium.com/@sardarmesto/the-us-is-no-longer-shy-about-interfering-with-syria-in-the-settlement-of-the-conflict-bd3da38e716 | ['Sardar Mesto'] | 2021-03-01 06:06:45.576000+00:00 | ['Syria', 'USA'] |
How Setting Monthly Goals Can Help Streamline Your Life | Each month I’ve started to devote more of my time focusing on little, consistent efforts that can bring more joy, success, and peace of mind into my life.
My thinking is that if I prove to myself that a little concentrated effort can go a long way — a rationale I hit my clients over the head with repeatedly — then a) I’m right, and b) life can be less stressful and more enjoyable. Win-win.
I, like many, have ideas floating around in my head, taking up residence and creating all sorts of unnecessary pressure. If I break down all that stuff — all the shoulds and wants and dreams that are jam-packed in there— and devote a concentrated amount of time and effort to working on only one area, I know the pressure would ease, along with the stress and overwhelm.
The 30-Day Test
30 days is perfect. It’s not too much time to overwhelm you, and it’s enough time to gauge if what you're working towards is even worth it. You may find that things are working out so well, you‘ll want to continue for another 30 days, to see how far you can go. When one area in your life that’s been alluding you begins to run smoothly, you can’t help but feel amazing in that.
I began my first 30-day test in September by committing to getting in 5 workouts a week. (I have a Peloton bike in my garage which eliminates about 99% of my possible excuse-making. And since it’s subjected to the elements — when it’s 30 degrees outside, it’s 30 degrees in the garage — I know I have to build up a mindless habit of working out during the winter months. I’ll need to have the hard-wiring locked in so skipping isn’t an option.)
I also decided to add in 100 bicep curls and 10 push-ups to do after every workout, without fail. Why the hell not? It’s only for 30 days!
Continuous effort — not strength or intelligence — is the key to unlocking our potential. Winston Churchill
My happy results
After logging in a total of 23 days of working out, I racked up 2,300 bicep curls and 230 push-ups.
Poof! Proof that a little can go a long way. Those numbers seemed crazy to me, and I loved it! I wanted more. (This strong addiction was a happy by-product. Turns out I woke up a little happy workout beast that’s been sleeping for years!)
Heading into October, I stuck with the fitness goals. I kept my focus on 5x a week and added in a new 1% effort in the form of 11 push-ups and planks. My goal was to work up to a 2-min plank hold.
To gain a little camaraderie, I shared this with my fitness community in the form of an October Plank Challenge. There were about 35 people who signed up and together we committed to improving a little every day. I can’t tell you how exciting that was!
At month’s end, after another total of 23 days of working out, I got in 253 push-ups and I worked my way up to a 3:30 min plank hold. What?!
Many in the group challenge went past the 2-minute mark as well and someone even made it to 4 minutes!
Amazing what a little concentrated effort, repeated on a regular basis can do.
Now I’m in a steady flow of getting in a workout 5x a week. No more excuse-making, no more entertaining the conversation telling myself I’m not in the mood. I get up and go without fail. It’s part of my routine and I’m now confident that 30-degree weather won’t keep me away. (Buurrrr.)
This month I switched gears to focus on my career. What little thing could I do to that would allow me to learn more, get better, improve or get closer to my goals? I’m trying my hand at running an online small group program for women looking to lose weight and create healthy habits. So far I’m learning tons while helping five women create laser-focus to achieve their goals. Pretty good stuff.
How can you show up every day?
How many hopes and dreams and shoulds do you have floating around in your head? How would you like things to be in your life that aren’t where you want them right now?
You can improve in any area of your life, you just need to create the laser-focus. It’s easier than you think.
What you first need to do is create your list of priorities
What tops your list? Work, family, health, relationships? What do you want to see happen in your life so badly you’re willing to devote a little extra time to over the next month?
It doesn’t have to be a lot of time either. It can be 10 minutes a day or 2 hours a day. Whatever you have the space for, use it to work on this one thing.
Make sure to keep it to one thing. Life is hectic already, and it can begin to feel overwhelming if you feel you have to add another thing to your to-do list. Make sure this thing is top-level and you’re tired of saying you’ll get to it, this is your “once and for all” moment.
And you only begin by giving it 30 days of your time and effort. I have to tell you when you can look back over the month and see what you were able to accomplish in that time, I dare say you’ll feel quite proud of yourself!
Let’s break it down:
Decide which area of your life can you shine a little extra light and love on over the next 30 days.
Write down what a 1% increase in effort looks like for you. Write down all possible options, aiming for at least 10 possibilities. (10 is a great number because I can always quickly dish out 5 or 6 things but then I have to stop and really think for the remaining few. That’s always a good thing for me.)
Tune into your gut and feel which one of those 10 options sparks a little fire in your belly. Which one can you see yourself being able to do with little to no resistance, but would make an impact over 30 days? (It can be something as simple as getting in 8 glasses of water a day, meditating for 2 minutes every day, taking a 10-minute walk or run every morning, working on a passion project that’s been brewing in your head for a long time but has yet to see the light of day.)
Pick your start date and end date. Having a time-frame can lessen any resistance and reduce mental stress.
Keep a log of every day you show up and what tasks you performed. This is the best part because, at month’s end, you get to look back and see plain as day all the time and effort you actually devoted, consistently, to you and your goals. It’s pure magic when you can see what you’ve accomplished.
A Twist
You may find that this thing you’ve always felt you should be doing is not really your thing, after all. You don’t like it, it brings you no joy and now you finally have the wherewithal to let it go, guilt-free.
I find many ‘shoulds’ are put out of their misery when actually given the time to come to life.
A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at. — Bruce Lee
These monthly goals have helped to keep me inspired and working towards the things I’ve always wanted to but never felt I had the time to devote.
Bonus Tip
Every day I have a reminder on my phone that comes up about 4 times a day and it reads, “Today I commit to doing one percent more” and I can’t begin to tell you how many times it reinforces my commitment to myself and my goals.
It sends a simple message to my brain that gets me focused and reminds me, it’s not a full-out effort, it’s just a little more than I would normally do, and for me, that’s the difference-maker! | https://medium.com/project-slim-waistline/how-setting-monthly-goals-can-help-streamline-your-life-8d4863990f7d | ['Am Costanzo'] | 2019-11-18 18:15:44.269000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Fitness', 'Life', 'Personal Development', 'Wellness'] |
The Road to Becoming a Unicorn | The whole process of funding and developing startups has become more widespread because the cost of getting a product to market has dropped so precipitously in the past couple of decades from millions of dollars to typically anywhere from under $20,000 to $500,000.
The funding levels are relatively manageable by investors and the potential returns are huge. Potential. The risks are very high of any return, but the few startups that break out create legendary fortunes. That is why there are startup founders and startup investors.
A startup goes through a series of funding rounds on its journey from founder’s idea, through developing an MVP and customer discover, to finding Product/Market Fit, and scaling up operations and sales.
There are a lot of terms tossed around to describe the various rounds of funding that a startup can potentially receive.
These are the typical rounds encountered in an Angel and Venture-Backed Startup and not all startups receive all these rounds. Most small businesses don’t plan on scaling to become Unicorns and don’t pursue this funding journey.
The following rounds are presented in their evolutionary order relative to the development of a startup.
Sweat Equity
In the beginning of most startups, the founders will work on the idea for free. This is where things start. All the ownership resides with the founders at this point and they figure out how to develop the business concept using their own resources. This is where hustlers and builders push the development of their company forward without outside funding. Like Teddy Roosevelt said: “Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.”
If your idea is compelling enough, you can enlist the talents of others to work for sweat equity. This may take the form of paying a computer coder to help develop an MVP in exchange for stock in the company instead of cash.
Bootstrapping
Bootstrapping is taking early revenues from products and services developed with sweat equity and plowing it back into more development work. There is some outside money from early adopter customers, but not from investors. This is an important milestone because it signals that there is a need for what the company is creating. It is a signal that the founders are resourceful and committed to finding a way forward. This is the kind of grit investors look for in founders.
The 3 Fs
This is usually referred to as: Friends, Family, and Fools but I like to replace the last one with Fans. Once a fledgling startup has developed the concept and identified some preliminary customer interest and has a clearer idea of what the next steps should be then it is time to tap the founders’ personal network. This is risky because raising money from your grandmother or uncle and then throwing in the towel in six months can make for an uncomfortable Thanksgiving get-together. You want to be sure that you are on to something before hitting up loved ones and old college roommates. The first two stages move the idea along and also help develop discipline about how to parsimoniously deploy these precious funds in the most effective and efficient manner.
Here you want to have a plan to get to clear milestones and deliverables that will be inflection points of added value and reduced risk. This plan needs to include a detailed budget of how to get from here to there. An entrepreneur needs to be scrappy and capital efficient.
Self-Funding
This is a select group that has the resources to fund the initial development. A serial entrepreneur who has sold previous startups are in this category. These are founders that want to focus on building an MVP without having the distractions of pitching investors before knowing whether the idea is feasible and customer interest is reasonable there.
These folks also realize that the further along the business is, the higher the valuation for the company and the less equity they need to give up in order to raise capital.
Incubator and Accelerators
Incubators and Accelerators are formal programs that accept startups and put them through a program to help develop their idea and then present the graduates to an investment community during a presentation day.
Founders can get a modest amount of funding from these programs. They also get credibility because they have been scrutinized, vetted and accepted by the incubator program.
Y Combinator is one of the most popular incubators and they have had some great success stories come through their program like Dropbox, Stripe, and Airbnb.
Crowd Funding
Kickstarter, Indiegogo and others have made crowd funding a viable option for taking projects from ideation to execution and prove market validation. These website driven funding sites are attractive because the represent a funding vehicle that is non-dilutive. This means that the money raised is not in exchange for equity (ownership) in the company. Other incentives besides equity are offered such as exclusive access to the founders or early access to the product.
A crowd-funding project can also act as a way to gauge demand and interest in a concept early on.
Angel Investing
This funding round is also called Seed Funding and represents the first professional outside investment. Most founders get their seed round after successfully going through two or three of the early-stage funding strategies discussed above.
Angel investors are individuals who scout for great startup opportunities and generally make a lot of relatively small money investments in early-stage high-risk ventures. They are essentially buying lottery tickets on the character of the founder and the potential upside of a company breaking out into a huge success. They are look to make 100 times their money back if a company “exits” successfully by being acquired or going public.
Angels represent varying degrees of professional investor and they must be convinced of the potential of a startup to really scale and become hugely valuable.
Bridge Funding
The next significant round of funding is the Series A round where a company is funded by Venture Capital firms. But in many situations, founders underestimate how much time and money it will take to reach the milestones they need to achieve in order to warrant VC interest.
This gap between breakeven or profitability, or VC funding, is filled with a Bridge Round. It is designed to get the startup through to the next growth milestone. This follow-on funding round typically comes from the seed investors who are motivated to ante up or see the venture close down and their initial investment evaporate.
Series A
The Series A is the funding round where the company becomes a professionally organized entity: a corporation. Professional venture capital firms who as part of the deal join the board and create proper “governance” do this funding round. Proper governance means that the company is legally incorporated and holds regular board meetings and keeps a detailed record of board resolutions all designed to increase the share price of the company.
Prior to the Series A, founders run the show and answer to no one. Focus is on trying to find product/market fit. After Series A the CEO will spend a significant amount of time (25%) managing the board and the legal requirements of running a corporation.
Series B,C,D etc
These are the follow-on rounds once a company makes the transition to being a professionally managed operating entity.
Cap Table
The cap table is short for the capitalization table. It is the official list of all the shareholders in a company and how much they paid for their shares. The above funding rounds represent the people that make up the cap table.
Exit
This is the event that represents the big payday for early investors and founders. An exit is either an acquisition or an IPO Initial Public Offering. An IPO is where a company gets listed and traded on a stock exchange and sells shares to the general public. IPOs are relatively rare.
The more usual exit is an acquisition where the startup is bought by an established company to add to its portfolio of offering or for some other strategic reason.
The purchase price of the company is split among the various shareholders and the value of their pro rata portion is what determines their return on their original investment. The exit is the end game goal of venture-backed startups. | https://medium.com/mba-asap/the-road-to-becoming-a-unicorn-5e3049f603a1 | ['John Cousins'] | 2018-09-11 21:09:23.355000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Business', 'Finance', 'Venture Capital', 'Startup'] |
Life Without Reverend Moon | by Jen Kiaba
Thirty-thousand feet seems like a good altitude at which to question one’s life. “I am already in motion,” I tell myself. It’s a kind of progress. Shortly after my twentieth birthday I was in progress, between JFK and Heathrow, en route to Oslo.
After takeoff the girl sitting next to me smiled kindly, asking where I was headed. I told her:
“To Norway. To visit my husband.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a stack of glossy women’s magazines, offering me several. They promised hot sex tips, orgasm-inducing positions, and advice on how to find a man to orgasm with. She pointed to a few with a wink. “Maybe you can find something nice in there for your husband.”
Today, almost a decade later, to use the word husband feels wrong; I avoid it. But at the time it was what he said I should call him. “I am your husband!” he would say. The word sounded foreign in my ears; “husband” was supposed to be a word attached to “honoring” and “cherishing,” and whatever else heartfelt marriage vows should entail. But I had not been given the choice to say those vows.
My parents were married, along with two thousand other couples, in Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church at Madison Square Garden on July 1, 1982. I was the first of five children, and we were all raised as members of the Unification Church’s Second Generation, who were thought to be born sinless and of God’s Lineage, through the Blessing marriage ceremony officiated by Rev. Moon. Theologically this meant that Rev. Moon, as the purported Messiah, had created a heavenly lineage through his personal perfection, relationship with God, and marriage with (the much-younger) Hak Ja Han, in 1960.
Growing up, I always had the expectation that Rev. Moon would choose my spouse. In the Unification Church, one didn’t date. Flirtatious interactions with the opposite sex were severely frowned upon, all activities were separated by gender, and we referred to one another as brother and sister in order to emphasize platonic relations. Sex before marriage was absolutely out of the question. The Church had a word for that: falling. To fall was the greatest sin that could be committed, and it could not be undone. To fall was to enter the realm of Satan, to be cut off from God and to wound His already-suffering heart.
Perhaps childhood’s greatest tragedy is what we learn to normalize. In my upbringing, to question what we were taught was to invite Satan and the evil Spirit World into your mind; to fend off evil, one must quiet the questions and dive further into the readings and teachings of Rev. Moon. Some of the most effective brainwashing was what we had been taught to perpetuate upon ourselves.
At 19 I found myself on a terrifying personal precipice. I was seriously considering leaving the Unification Church, but with no means of supporting myself and no safety net outside of the insular church community, the notion was enough to bring me to panicked tears. Yet I didn’t know if I believed Rev. Moon, his world, or his supposed messianic mission. As a reflex, I was ashamed and hated myself for feeling that way.
When word of an administrative opening in the US Second Generation Department reached my family, I was intrigued. What better way was there to understand what this movement was all about than by working for one of the central organizations? So, before making a decision to abandon the culture of my childhood, I climbed into the belly of the beast looking for truth. That’s where I lost my way.
When the Christmas holidays rolled around, I took my miniscule stipend and boarded an Amtrak train home to ponder the nothingness I had found but had not yet accepted. When I arrived home, there was news: after five years of having parents match their children, Rev. Moon was stepping up again, and was going to conduct a matching ceremony for the Second Generation.
My parents sat me down in the bedroom, listing all of the reasons why I should go. Though it was left unspoken, we all knew that at almost 20 years old, my eligibility expiration date was staring me hard in the face. My mother finished with, “If Jesus came to you and said that he had found your perfect spouse, what would you say to him?” She paused for effect. “Now, how much more is Father?”
How could I say no? To refuse was to deny the remotest possibility that this man might be who he said that he was. I simply had not gotten there in my journey. Besides, I told myself, it was just a matching. My match and I would have time to get to know each other before deciding to get married.
My biggest mistake was to assume that I would be allowed to exercise free will.
My mother dropped me off at East Garden, one of the Moon family’s mansion-compounds in Tarrytown, NY, and I entered into the ballroom of the estate with approximately 10 other nervous young people. For the next several hours, one of the Korean leaders proceeded to lecture us on our unworthiness. That’s when I found out that by the time we left, we were all going to be Blessed to someone.
The panic blossomed. I had to leave and began approaching anyone, even strangers, to ask to borrow their cellphones. Repeated calls home, begging my parents to come pick me up, were answered in the negative.
By the end of the day, the ballroom was packed to capacity. Young people from all over the United States, Asia, and Europe had answered Rev. Moon’s call. Late in the evening, Rev. Moon came out to address us through his interpreter. Though I had never heard them from his mouth before, I desperately wanted to hear words of wisdom — or something that rang true — from the man who held my future in his hands.
One phrase stuck out to me in the monotony: “Do you want me to match you tonight?” A thunderous “Yes” answered Rev. Moon’s question, and we were lined up into rows, divided down the middle, and categorized.
I should have left, I tell myself. I should have simply snuck out of the sweltering ballroom, slipped out of the mansion, and found my way through security to get outside of the compound. Even if I had had to follow the train tracks from Tarrytown back home, I should have left. But with no money, no means of communication, and no idea if I would have a home to go back to if I left, I was frozen in place. Besides, I had been trained to obey.
Suddenly Rev. Moon began pointing. A girl, then a boy would stand up, acknowledge each other, bow to Rev. Moon, and then be ushered out to be “processed” by administrators. My breathing was shallow; I tried to quiet my mind and draw upon the things I had been taught.
Absolute faith. Absolute Love. Absolute Obedience.
When Rev. Moon’s finger pointed to me, time stopped. I looked deep into the eyes of the man who had bidden me to rise with his gesture and saw nothing. I was gazing into the eyes of the man who was determining my future, and I had expected to see some sort of timelessness, or to feel as though his eyes were digging into my soul. But he was looking through me, as though his finger had arbitrarily found its way to me in a game of love roulette. I felt suspended over an infinite emptiness.
Then time sped up, his finger jabbed in another direction, then another and another. Three other people stood up, and I had no idea which of the other two men I had been assigned to. One I had met at a summer camp several years ago, but he was looking at someone else. The other man gestured to me and I found myself eye-level with a shrunken and pilled sweatshirt emblazoned with the word “Norway.”
In an instant, I was no longer suspended. A kind of darkness engulfed my mind, the words “game over” ringing in my ears. Afterward, everyone was abuzz with excitement; I desperately looked around to try and find someone whose face mirrored the same panic I was trying to fight. A gesture from above caught my attention. “Norway” was trying to introduce himself to me.
Finally I looked up at the man that Rev. Moon had chosen for me. “Tall” was the only word that came to mind. Over the noise, he tried asking me questions; what they were and how I answered, I forget. Those next hours were a strange blur — alternating between sadness and terror. At one point I borrowed someone’s cellphone and called home. It was 2 a.m. and my mother’s sleepy voice answered. “I’m matched,” I said without emotion. “To a Norwegian. His name is Chris.” Then I hung up.
We were woken up the next morning at 5 a.m. for morning service. I had lain awake all night, clutching my stomach, trying to keep nausea at bay. Chris found me and approached me with a bagel — the first meal I remember receiving in 24 hours. The smell of food made me ill and I politely refused. Despite his best efforts to chat with me and have the “getting to know you” small-talk, I could barely muster words.
Every so often I would sneak away to borrow another cellphone, calling home in tears. But if my parents had refused to budge before, they certainly weren’t going to now that they had a son-in-law waiting in the wings.
The day after Christmas, at the back of that crowded ballroom, I was wearing a wedding dress that didn’t fit, standing next to a tall stranger, and repeating vows in a language I didn’t understand. After the Blessing ceremony, we had official photos taken. As the photographer told us to say “cheese,” I realized that I couldn’t remember how to smile.
I still have that photo. I look like a confused child playing a bizarre game of dress-up; I’m gazing into the camera with a lost expression. Chris is looking away, dressed in an equally ill-fitting tuxedo. The picture would have been funny if it weren’t so sad.
That was how I found myself several months later at 30,000 feet, bound for Norway. To fight the mounting dread of the impending arrival, I immersed myself in the magazines that my neighbor had kindly lent me. It was the first time I had ever picked up any material that encouraged an expression of sexuality, and I felt a delicious bit of rebellion wash over me.
As I pored over the pages, I could feel certain gears shifting as pieces of me unlocked and unwound inside. The women in these pages catapulted me into an exhilarating daydream in which my choices were my own. That daydream left an intense hunger within me.
As a 20-year-old virgin, I wanted to know what it would be like to sleep with a man because you wanted to, or because you loved him, not because you were pressured by your parents and his parents to “start family life.” The idea of sex with Chris made my skin crawl, and I had no idea if I would face pressure from him or his parents when my plane touched down.
Rev. Moon died on September 3, 2012, at the age of 92. His daughter, In Jin Moon, stepped down from her role as leader of the American church a few days later, after having given birth to a child from a three-year affair with a married man. While the church has not been a part of my life for many years now, I’ve watched these recent events and their fallout with interest.
At first, this news of Rev. Moon’s daughter didn’t bother me. Then the leadership began trying to explain away her actions and affair, saying that she “chose love when she had a chance.” How many of us were given the allowance to “choose love when we had the chance”? That was something we were explicitly denied; instead were taught to feel ashamed for our feelings unless they were chosen for us, and then sanctioned by someone with power over us.
Sometimes I wonder where my life would be if I had sat next to someone else on the plane, who offered to let me borrow a copy of The Economist instead. The girl next to me on the plane offered a small form of salvation; in a kind gesture she offered me a glimpse into a world that I had had no idea existed. It was a world in which I did not need to be ashamed of my body and my sexuality. My desires for love were not evil. It was a world that encouraged me to discover who I was, not a world in which I had to break my inner-self down to fit a preconceived notion of goodness and of womanhood. Most important, it was a world that let me take ownership of my future, my free will, my reproduction, and my heart. It was a world that I finally knew I needed to escape to.
And I did. It didn’t happen overnight. It didn’t happen while I was in Norway. It took me almost two years of fighting with Chris, fighting with his parents and my own, before a church divorce was granted. The decision to “break the Blessing” was an agonizing one that took me turning myself inside-out, trying to reform into the kind of person who could love and accept Chris. But finally, I walked away — free but with a proverbial Scarlet “A” branded into my chest, as far as other church members were concerned. Today I am proud of it. It is my battle scar from a fight I am proud to have survived, because I fought my way into this new world.
Jen Kiaba is a photographer living in New York’s Hudson Valley. Her work explores dreams, memory, fantasy, and the realms where all three blend. This is her first personal essay. She and her sister also have a blog about their experiences within the Unification Church. | https://medium.com/the-hairpin/life-without-reverend-moon-7446bdf7010b | ['The Hairpin'] | 2016-06-02 00:30:48.049000+00:00 | ['Religion', 'Jen Kiaba', 'Family'] |
Han’s Cross-Strait Policy: Peace, Prosperity, and “No Politics” | 2020 年 01月 09 日/ Taiwan Insight
Author: Jeremy Huai-Che Chiang
Image credit:高雄市長候選人韓國瑜在公車上的廣告 by 六都春秋 編輯室/Flickr, license CC BY 2.0
In running up to where we are now ahead of the 2020 Taiwan Elections, the Cross-Strait policies of both incumbent Tsai Ing-wen and the main competitor, KMT candidate Kaohsiung City Mayor Han Kuo-yu have shown some clear differences. In contrast with Tsai’s cautious DPP stance, Han’s colorful proposals on Cross-Strait relations has caught the attention of many, drawing staunch support from people who agree with his visions of a “non-political” peace and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait. The political implications of his approach, however, have also caused caution among others.
The Unlikely Outsider Seeks Cross-Strait Prosperity
If someone said that Han Kuo-yu would be KMT’s 2020 presidential candidate three years ago, it would be safe to assume that most people would’ve thought of that as an outright joke. Rising from relative obscurity and a lengthy political exile, Han had only made a comeback to politics in 2013 as the general manager of Taipei Agricultural Products Marketing Corporation (TAPMC). In 2017, he even unsuccessfully ran for the KMT chairmanship. However, 2018 turned out to be a lifechanging year for Han. Not only did he defeat his main rival in the Kaohsiung mayoral race, Chen Chi-mai of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which had held the city since December 1998, he also became a nationally-renowned political figure and a clear favorite for many KMT supporters to run for the 2020 elections. That he finally did when Han defeated his closest challenger, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. former chairman Terry Gou by nearly 20 percent in the KMT’s primary.
Han’s views towards Cross-Strait relations have been relatively consistent prior to becoming the KMT’s 2020 presidential candidate. When running for the KMT chairmanship as a long-shot candidate in 2017, Han stated that both sides of the strait should “place tondu (unification-independence) on two sides, and livelihoods and peace in the center.” Han contended that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to a “close-knit family,” and only through co-existence and co-prosperity can Taiwan’s future development be ensured. “Everything should return back to livelihood issues, no more ideology, and no more flowery slogans,” Han said, while he further stated that anyone who talked about China policies too much should be seen as using ideological stances for personal political gain. He also stressed the importance of balance in Taiwan’s international relations by putting forward a gendered analogy of Taiwan as a beautiful lady, whom he argued should not easily marry with anyone (US, Japan, China) or else risk retaliation by other admirers. These views were further upgraded during the 2018 Kaohsiung mayoral race, when Han positioned himself as a grassroots figure willing to do anything to ensure the city’s rejuvenation and help it citizens “make big money”, and framed Tsai’s tense relations with China as bad economics for the city’s businesses and industries. One of his official slogans “South-South Cooperation” stressed the importance he placed on expanding Kaohsiung’s trade ties with cities in Southern China and Southeast Asia.
Mayor Han’s Cross-Strait Ventures
After becoming the mayor of Kaohsiung, there were two major events which further allowed Han to put forward his views towards Cross-Strait relations. The first one was when Tsai gain points by refuting Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “one country, two systems” message for Taiwan in January 2019, Han offered the “Two Don’t Doubts” as his own diagnosis of the issue. The “Two Don’t Doubts,” as Han stated, meant “don’t doubt the Communist Party’s determination to reclaim Taiwan” and “don’t doubt the determination of the Taiwanese people to pursue democracy and freedom,” while the collusion, compromise and competition between these two notions has been a continuing challenge for all Taiwanese politicians.
The second event which put Han in the spotlight of Cross-Strait relations was his official visit to China in March 2019. Despite positioning the trip as an “economic tour” and claiming to have signed deals worth over 170 million US dollars, Han sparked controversy by becoming the first local Taiwanese administrative chief to set foot in the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong when meeting its director Wang Zhimin. He also met with Liu Jieyi, director of the Chinese State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office during his trip, a meeting in which both he and Liu voiced ardent support for the “1992 Consensus”.
Navigating (with Difficulty) the Presidential Candidacy
After Han formally announced his bid for the presidency in June 1 st, however, his views on Cross-Strait relations have received much elevated scrutiny, as he was now eyeing the role of the country’s President, not the leader of local city who could easily evade tough questions on national security. When the Hong Kong protests broke out in early June, his initial indifferent reaction drew widespread criticism, while Han’s earlier positions towards the “1992 Consensus” continued to take toll on him as the violence in Hong Kong further escalated and continued to tarnish the international image of the “one country, two systems” model. Han was forced to publicly reiterate his objection of the “one country, two systems” Taiwan scenario in mid-June, a move widely seen as motivated by the mounting unpopularity of the notion and an urgent political need to disassociate from it. He further urged Beijing to allow democratic elections and universal suffrage for the Hong Kong’s legislators and chief executive in November, despite also stressing his opposition towards Hong Kong independence to comfort Beijing of his intentions. While these statements were aimed at reassuring the public that Han’s position on Cross-Strait relations was not a betrayal of Taiwan and its autonomy, he has continued to be seen as a China-friendly if not pro-China candidate by many in Taiwan, especially among the younger generation. Allegations that Han’s victory in the 2018 mayoral elections was assisted by cyber operations originating from China also did not help his case.
In October 2019, Han unveiled a Cross-Strait Policy Whitepaper alongside members of his team. He proposed four principles: one, an insistence on the “1992 Consensus, Different Interpretations;” two, a rebuilding of trust across the Taiwan Strait, and a reestablishment of dialogue mechanisms; three, establish a dialogue mechanism between the administration and the opposition to form an internal consensus; four, let Taiwan be an example for the mainland’s democratization. During the October press conference, Han also argued that “the Tsai administration continues to be anti-China and act with hatred towards China, which will only push Cross-Strait relations towards the brink of war; if war breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan will become a battlefield.” But while Han hints at the disastrous effects of war, he also spends lengthy time explaining how tense Cross-Strait relations has caused the decline of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan, affected the export of Taiwanese products to China, and also prohibited Taiwan’s chances of participating in regional economic integration. For Han, it is the DPP that is causing rifts in Cross-Strait relations, not China, which has severely damaged prospects of peace and the economic livelihood of normal Taiwanese citizens. A win-win scenario is still possible and vital in his eyes.
According to a recent interview of Han’s running mate Chang San-cheng by Deutsche Welle, the fact that Beijing has not voiced opposition to them strengthening the linkage between the “1992 Consensus” and “Different Interpretations” in this white paper means that Beijing has not closed doors over this idea yet. Both Han and the KMT have tied their personal fates on the “1992 Consensus,” and can not risk another blunder from Beijing on this notion which could further weaken their already besieged electoral support. However, Beijing does not always think about Taiwan through the prisms of the KMT’s wishes. With a struggling economy and an ongoing trade war, Xi Jinping could always find Taiwan as an easy target to divert domestic attention. Rising Chinese nationalism would almost certainly stand in support of these actions. But an even more difficult challenge would be this: former Vice President Vincent Hsiao (Ma’s first term; 2008–2012) has stated more than once that Cross-Strait economic relations have gradually transitioned from complementary to competition due to the rise of China’s manufacturing and technological power, a view that has been widely supported by Tsai and many other leading political figures. Cross-Strait peace has never guaranteed only economic cooperation and no economic competition. Han, however, has yet to seriously tackle this issue.
Conclusion
The KMT is tied to the idea that peace with China is the only way out for Taiwan, and should be maintained despite its heavy political costs. This has led them to avoid openly refuting Xi’s infringement of the “1992 Consensus” in January 2019, instead placing significant focus on the domestic opinion front against it being associated with Beijing’s framework. For Han and many in the KMT, China is a non-issue, and putting too much constraints on this will only cost Taiwan’s future. Economic ties with China are crucial and necessary.
If Han wins the election, however, how should he further ease existent public anxieties towards his Cross-Strait relation proposals? This question should not be taken lightly, as the 2014 Sunflower Movement has clearly indicated what repercussion it might bring. More answers and actions are needed.
Jeremy Huai-Che Chiang is a Non-Resident Research Associate at the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation and MPhil Candidate at the University of Cambridge, U.K. | https://medium.com/@jeremychiang/hans-cross-strait-policy-peace-prosperity-and-no-politics-91332e0f6aec | ['Jeremy Huai-Che Chiang'] | 2020-01-09 17:03:55.234000+00:00 | ['Taiwan', 'China'] |
What do we know till now about the new strain of covid-19 in the UK? | Credit: Richard Borge
The new strain of SARS-CoV-2 the virus which causes Covid-19 in the UK which has been called VUI 202012/01 is considered 70% more transmissible than the earlier ones according to the figures shared by UK prime minister Boris Johnson.
It has changed the genetic mutation in the spike protein which makes it easier to bind with our cells it carries 14 mutations which include 7 in the spike protein this is a relatively large number compared to the global one.
When was this new strain first discovered?
It was found in September and now it’s nearly 2/3rd of cases in December, mutations are common in the case of the virus but in this case, it is mutating rapidly and affecting the parts that are important to the virus and the ability of the virus to infect cells which makes it easier to spread among humans.
This may have been spread by a patient with lower immune power who couldn’t fight the virus and became the breeding ground for the virus to mutate. There is no evidence as of now that it is more deadly than the earlier ones.
There was a similar variant that was found in South Africa with some of the same genetic mutations but it’s unrelated to this one, but still many countries closed their borders with South Africa.
Has this happened before?
The D614G mutation and A222V of SARS-CoV-2 had been found in Europe in February.
Now the virus is spread across countries like Denmark, Netherlands Australia from the UK.
Earlier UK health secretary Matt Hancock had told that the virus was ‘out of control’ and parts of England will have the highest tier restriction until the vaccine roles out.
How many countries have band travel restrictions from the UK?
More than 50 countries have imposed travel restriction from the UK this includes India, Netherlands, Germany, China, Ireland, France, Belgium etc.
How will it affect Christmas?
25th December in tier 4 of England, you will not be able to meet people indoors unless you live with them or they are part of support bubble, You will be able to make Christmas bubble in tier 1,2,3 cities.
There are different rules for Christmas bubble if you live in Scotland, wales and northern Ireland.
Will the vaccine work?
There is good news that the vaccines will be effective at least for now against this new strain as vaccines train the immune system to attack the different part of the virus even if the part of the spike has been mutated.
But the virus is in the path of vaccine escape where the virus changes so it dodges the effect of the vaccine but the vaccine can also be updated.
source :
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55388846
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus | https://medium.com/@vigneshshenoybg/what-do-we-know-till-now-about-the-new-strain-of-covid-19-in-the-uk-7cd868c9b8 | ['Vignesh Shenoy'] | 2020-12-24 15:39:34.717000+00:00 | ['Covid 19 Crisis', 'Vaccines', 'Coronavirus', 'Covid 19', 'UK'] |
A Tribute To My Wonderful Daddy, Who Died of Cancer | Due to the current situation, I don’t get to write an eulogy. I don’t get to exchange stories with loved ones at a funeral. Nor can I see my friends to have a shoulder to cry on and a cuddle. Self-indulgent perhaps, but I feel the need to share with anyone that has the time and patience to read it, what a wonderful, wonderful person my Dad was.
There are lots of things that I will remember my Dad by.
He was a musician, and as a child, I’d always nod off to the gentle strumming of him playing jazz guitar in his study. It was like a personal lullaby, before he’d stick his head into my room and whisper ‘goodnight, god bless’ like clockwork. Our house was filled with weird and wonderful instruments — a twin necked guitar, a six-string bass, a mandolin, a lute; to the more regular instruments, like the saxophone he bought for £30 in 1968. I took for granted how lucky I was to have a Dad that could teach me music.
His love of music resulted in him becoming a music teacher, which then sparked his interest about how some children learn differently. It prompted a change of career that took him into psychology, and later into the niches of neurofeedback and brain science. Sometimes, friends would pop over and he’d measure their head. He’d often go to sleep wearing flashing goggles that synchronize brain activity. His study is full of mannequin heads marked with coloured pins. The twists and turns in his career combined with his love of learning meant he was a forever student. An academic — you’d need two hands to count all his university qualifications.
He didn’t study for letters he could put next to his name. He was like a living, breathing history book — an encyclopaedia that had an answer to almost everything I asked — both as a child, and as an adult. I felt lucky I could almost always count on him to know something about any given subject and have an interesting opinion. I have no idea how he hoarded so much information in his head.
It’s not just knowledge he stored either. His study was adorned from floor to ceiling with books and ring-binder files, stacked up like Jenga blocks — almost a textured wall paper. I find comfort sitting in his study, surrounded by the chaos he left behind. I’ve found comic books from the 60s, address books from the 70s and Woolworth’s receipts from the early 80s. There’re crystals, fossils, sheet music print outs, newspaper cuttings, magic tricks, scruffy hand-written notes, and letters from charities he supported.
On his desk, there’s a little jar next to the keyboard which had become a laughing point. A couple of years ago when he was in hospital, he asked us to bring him a memory card kept in a jar. To our horror, we found a jar full to the brim of toenail clippings. His justification was that I collected them as a seven-year-old, like some horrible grubby little children do, along with scabs, pencil shavings and other curiosities. He got into the habit of collecting them for me and didn’t stop. I picked up this revolting jar the other day and flicked between tears of sorrow and laughs of joy.
The jar is just one example of how I am surrounded by memories of his kindness. For example, our home is covered in paw print designed blankets for our pets. It reminds me of when we went on holiday to Greece and fell in love with a stray dog. On returning home, he figured out a plan, and got Mum to drive him to the airport in the wee hours so he could get the next flight out to Greece. He found the dog — called Ella — got her checked into a place to quarantine, then six months later he picked her up from France.
He was fun too. In school, he taught a naughty student called Greta, who had a phobia of eyes. He went to the butcher and got a pig’s eye. He wanted to teach her a lesson, so once made her sit at the front desk next to him. He pretended to adjust his contact lenses, but then acted out that he’d accidentally popped out his eyeball, as he swiftly got out the pig’s eye and rolled it towards her where it bounced into her lap. Greta ran out screaming. He loved practical jokes and had an infectious laugh that I already miss.
This last week has been tough, churning up thoughts and emotions that I hadn’t expected. I sit down and gaze out of the window and before I know it, hours have passed where I’ve done nothing but recall memories of him. When I first found out the cancer was terminal, I begun feeling regret and sorrow about milestones I wouldn’t get to share with him. He’ll never see my sister graduate, walk either of us down the aisle, or see any grandchildren that might come — not that that’s ever been important to me. Now he’s gone, although it’s clear I’m fortunate enough to have the most supportive people I could ever imagine around me, one of the people who has loved me unconditionally from the day I was born, has gone. It leaves me feeling lost and less important.
His decline was fast, and the cancer was so aggressive — he described it as Genghis Khan on steroids. It was sad — he still had so much more to give and desperately wanted to stay alive. His ambitious yet optimistic goal was to reach my sister’s 24th birthday. Yet he died just 29 days after her 23rd birthday. Comforting him from this guilt of leaving us behind, especially my sister who is so young to lose her Dad, was heart breaking. In his last days he was too poorly to finish his business — he’d wanted to sort out his clutter, write down what practicalities needed to be done after his passing, write us goodbye notes, and write birthday cards for my sister’s big birthdays he’d miss. On his last day, he apologised that his time had run out. He wasn’t willing to wave a white flag and accept defeat until the very end when it was all too late — he had promised he wouldn’t go down without a fight.
I knew he was dying, but it was still a shock when one moment he was here, the next his chest lay still. I went to check his pulse, only to feel his body had stiffened. We sat with him as he looked like he was sleeping in his chair, waiting for a doctor to confirm his death for six hours. I accept he is gone as I was confronted with it so bluntly. But I still struggle to accept that I won’t ever see him again or hear his voice. Each morning I’ve woken up, and for a second, everything feels fine. Then I remember, and that sting returns that I’m waking up to another day without my Dad, and he’s drifted further away from me into the past. It feels like he is becoming a memory, rather than a real living person as he was just a week ago.
I occasionally become distracted, but then something will bring back the surge of sadness that rises up like a tsunami and takes me out, causing me to crumple to my knees and sob uncontrollably. But through all this sadness, the feeling that I hadn’t anticipated being so strong, is an immense feeling of gratitude. I was lucky to have a Dad that cared so much. Even small things, like getting a cake in a café — he would say, ‘you have what you want, and I’ll have whatever’s left’. When breaking the news to friends — his kindness has come up over and over again. He was a selfless, eccentric, kind-hearted soul who made the best Dad, and I am honoured that he got to be my Dad.
According to the poem, ’Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all’, and this really resonates with me now. His absence has left such a gaping hole, because his presence was so significant. This is such a painful experience, as it reflects how close we were. I am grateful for his guidance, the memories, his ethics, and everything down to his last love-filled text he sent before he became too ill to write.
It’s times like these, that I wish I believed in heaven. And more than anything, I wish heaven had a phone. I just wish I could call him up and tell him one more time how wonderful he was, because he truly was.
Rest In Peace Dad x | https://medium.com/@kirstyw/a-tribute-to-my-wonderful-daddy-who-died-of-cancer-ce6b86b1c068 | ['Kirsty W'] | 2020-11-17 12:01:46.326000+00:00 | ['Grief', 'Dads', 'Parents', 'Cancer', 'Tribute'] |
We make places, places make us | Space creates us. For example, we cannot choose where we are born and raised. The fact that we are the children of a father and mother, and brought up surrounded by certain friends (the social), the town, the country, the time we live in (the society), this all impacts on how the ‘self’ is formed. If someone creates a space, it also means that the space creates someone else’s self.
Space creates us
Marcel shared three perspectives concerning making spaces in his lecture based on the more than 800 conversations that he had across the world. The first was ‘self’, the second was the ‘social’ — concerning people around us — and the third was ‘society’, concerning something more significant than the ‘social’. When we create spaces, we can think of it as a creative activity starting from the self, involving the social, which eventually expands to society, building or taking space allowing or disallowing others to create, hold or find space. However, we can also think in reverse, that spaces create us. For example, we cannot choose where we are born and raised. The fact that we are the children of a father and mother, and brought up surrounded by certain friends (the social), the town, the country, the time we live in (the society), this all impacts on how the ‘self’ is formed. If someone creates a space, it also means that the space creates someone else’s self. And perhaps this movement continues to repeat. If we think like this, making space is not only a creative activity, but also has ethical and political aspects towards people close to us, and the next generation, and onwards to others after them.
Essence of life
Lastly, the question Marcel asked the audience: ‘Is it possible, and what does it take to intentionally create spaces where people find space to create new space?’ It made me think of the concept of ‘reproduction’. By the way, my mind dismissed the word ‘intentionally’. Not only humans, but mammals, in general, have been repeating continuously for generations: we create space within our body for a child to born, and also the child will create space within their body for the next child. We may even say the same thing with creatures that lay an egg and plants. If so, ‘make space for someone else to make space’ might be describing the essence of life, not limited to human beings. | https://medium.com/happyplaces-stories/we-make-places-places-make-us-3b5e6cdd1c22 | ['Marcel Kampman'] | 2020-08-22 09:05:04.325000+00:00 | ['Interview', 'Reflections', 'Human Behavior', 'Stories', 'Philosophy'] |
Constructing Constructive Candor | Feedback is an accepted indicator of continuous improvement and is the topic of many Leadership, HR, and Change Management books. Most would agree that getting feedback is an important accelerant for professional and personal growth. Yet, most people are not good at giving feedback, oscillating between opinionated generalities to premature remediation. This often leaves the receiver with one of two choices, blindly accepting the feedback without critically processing the information internally or seeming defensive in order to provide their own point of view. Both involve the receiver being positioned reactively versus being active in the consequences of their actions and proactive in their improvement.
Recently, @mattbarcomb and I discussed the potential inauthenticity of “the compliment sandwich”. (A “compliment sandwich” is giving positive feedback before and after negative feedback.) This led to up-skilling ‘giving feedback’ so it becomes the capability of ‘giving constructive feedback’. We started with describing the aspects of “positive feedback”, “negative feedback”, and landed on the critical factor — “constructive feedback.”
So, what makes feedback constructive?
While it’s easy to refer to the importance of feedback, providing feedback is hard. Harder yet is providing constructive feedback, which is another reason why it’s rare. To provide constructive feedback, you must slow yourself down to be thoughtful and considered. What results is not only more meaningful effective feedback for the receiver but also enables the provider of feedback professional and personal growth. Making feedback constructive requires internal reflection and critical thought due to consideration and synthesizing of one’s own perspectives, feelings, and biases.
Be Specific and Fact-based . When feedback is given, the receiver needs to connect the facts, the “what’s”, or behavior with the result, or impression. It is useful to substantiate the feedback with specific examples to draw that connection. Avoid generalities. Remember, the receiver of the feedback may not have intended the result or impression, so provide kind candor.
. When feedback is given, the receiver needs to connect the facts, the “what’s”, or behavior with the result, or impression. It is useful to substantiate the feedback with specific examples to draw that connection. Avoid generalities. Remember, the receiver of the feedback may not have intended the result or impression, so provide kind candor. Frame Feedback with Perspective and Context . Given that interactions and actions are the results of many situational variables, it helps to couch specificity with the context and environment. Acknowledging perspective helps frame the situation, which depersonalizes the feedback and focuses on a more systematic approach in which the receiver is but one variable. This allows the receiver to be an active rational participant in the ideas for improvement.
. Given that interactions and actions are the results of many situational variables, it helps to couch specificity with the context and environment. Acknowledging perspective helps frame the situation, which depersonalizes the feedback and focuses on a more systematic approach in which the receiver is but one variable. This allows the receiver to be an active rational participant in the ideas for improvement. Be Involved in the Path Forward. A vital part of feedback is what to do with that feedback. It is likely that improvements will need to be learned. The learning can be accelerated with help, especially from an outside perspective. Ideally, if you are taking the time to provide feedback, you should also be involved in the path forward to improvement. However, in some cases, the person giving feedback might not be able to be involved — either not having time, ability, knowledge, or interest. This falls on the provider to own those limitations.
Constructing constructive feedback is a hard skill to learn. In order to be effective, it requires accounting for who is receiving the feedback and how to set them up for success. Receiving and providing feedback is a learning experience for all involved. In general, learning something new can be difficult. Further, learning in front of others can leave you feeling exposed. But, getting good at constructive feedback is worthwhile; growing leadership skills, connecting you with others, and building a reputation of trustworthiness.
Mastering Constructive Feedback.
Providing feedback can feel awkward and sometimes even hostile. It’s no wonder that many feel dread while learning and practicing constructive feedback. Finding your style comes with practice and patience. In the meantime, here are some tips:
Adopt a Strengths-based Strategy. In the book The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker wrote: “The effective executive builds on strengths — their own strengths, the strengths of superiors, colleagues, subordinates; and on the strengths of the situation.” The discipline of “appreciative inquiry” (created by David Cooperrider) also focuses on strengths as an advantage — “build organizations around what works rather than fix what doesn’t.” Leveraging strengths and minimizing the impact of weaknesses, accelerates improvement (versus trying to get good at weaknesses). At a minimum, acknowledging the constraint of limited time and energy is a worthwhile consideration when discussing growth, improvement, and goals.
In the book The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker wrote: “The effective executive builds on strengths — their own strengths, the strengths of superiors, colleagues, subordinates; and on the strengths of the situation.” The discipline of “appreciative inquiry” (created by David Cooperrider) also focuses on strengths as an advantage — “build organizations around what works rather than fix what doesn’t.” Leveraging strengths and minimizing the impact of weaknesses, accelerates improvement (versus trying to get good at weaknesses). At a minimum, acknowledging the constraint of limited time and energy is a worthwhile consideration when discussing growth, improvement, and goals. Be Humble and Balanced. In many cases, the person who is responsible for providing feedback is not the same person who was involved or present in the originating experience. The responsibility of providing feedback can feel authoritative, especially when you are in a position of authority. Regardless of your role, the purpose of feedback is to help someone eventually be self-sufficient on their own, not blindly follow you. Being honest about your own blindspots can communicate credibility and impartiality while enabling the receiver to critically assess the feedback. Not only does checking your ego go a long way to being a trusted, respected, and reliable source of feedback but also models learning as a process over an expectation of omniscience.
In many cases, the person who is responsible for providing feedback is not the same person who was involved or present in the originating experience. The responsibility of providing feedback can feel authoritative, especially when you are in a position of authority. Regardless of your role, the purpose of feedback is to help someone eventually be self-sufficient on their own, not blindly follow you. Being honest about your own blindspots can communicate credibility and impartiality while enabling the receiver to critically assess the feedback. Not only does checking your ego go a long way to being a trusted, respected, and reliable source of feedback but also models learning as a process over an expectation of omniscience. Servant Leadership. Becoming a leader of people is hard, requiring experience and patience. A good leader balances sincerity and tact. An exceptional leader can do this while empowering others. Many traditional models of leadership promote hierarchy and worse, models of learning where the role of the learner is to receive, file, and store information, regurgitating that information. (Read more about Banks Model of Education.) Further, leaders, coaches, and mentors get valuable information from learners. After all, learning never stops even for experts who have decades of experience. At a minimum, hearing from others with less experience is information about how to better communicate. Learn from the student and master the content.
Be Authentic.
Like any drill or practice, there is a chance of coming across as inauthentic because what you have not yet mastered, you are still learning and it is not yet part of you. (There a great quote by Van Gogh who responded to a friend who criticized his work — “I am always doing what I can’t do yet in order to learn how to do it.”) We’ve discussed that the prevalent mechanisms for feedback aren’t sufficient towards building and accelerating the benefits of a strengths-based strategy — like exceptional individual contribution and subsequent, innovative collaborative work.
Back to the compliment sandwich. Both positive and negative feedback can be constructive and need to be in order to be effective. Classically, negative feedback is useful for understanding what to stop doing or improve on. It is the more common way feedback is expressed, e.g. corporate yearly reviews, traditional sports coaching, parents telling kids to stop doing whatever. However, positive feedback is also useful when it’s done well. It provides context to understand what to continue doing and what you could excel at.
If we agree that the compliment sandwich can be an early method of trying a strengths-based strategy and that we as individuals are learning to execute strengths-based strategies while providing feedback, then yes, there is a risk of coming across as inauthentic. Again, when anyone is learning to do something it can be awkward, coming across inauthentic.
But the compliment sandwich can be done constructively — that is both positive and negative feedback are specific and relevant within the context. In addition to the overarching benefits of strengths-based strategies, the compliment sandwich does two important things that give it an advantage over other forms of feedback:
The receiver has (more) choices. Choices provide options. These options are to focus on accelerating what they are doing well or to focus on minimizing the effects of what is not well. This provides the receiver latitude- control and freedom- which builds confidence, an important ingredient to learning. (“In fact, research has suggested that 40% of people’s happiness comes from the choices they make.”-HBR Oct. 2017) Starts to rewire mindset towards positivity. It’s much The provider of feedback can start to realize the benefits of that positivity. Many studies support increased job satisfaction and quality of life from positive psychology. One way this is done is by increasing the number of positive to negative thoughts — “the magic ratio” of 5:1 positive to negative, from researcher and psychologist Dr. John Gottman.
A compliment sandwich is just a tool that can help you get better at more constructive feedback mechanisms. Learning and mastering anything takes time and practice. And if you believe in the benefits of more positive based personal and professional growth, the compliment sandwich can be a good simple way to learn how to implement positive, rewarding action and can come across sincerely. | https://medium.com/@charlottechangorgdesign/constructing-constructive-candor-fc16521d7b6e | ['Charlotte Chang'] | 2020-12-09 02:06:53.583000+00:00 | ['Authenticity', 'Feedback', 'Culture', 'Leadership Development'] |
6 tips for your UX writing job search | Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash
Interviewing for a UX writing position is hard. Juggling three or more interview situations at the same time is fall-on-the-floor exhausting.
That’s my takeaway after my job search, which lasted about two months. At one point, I balanced 10 interview situations. I entered the process motivated and curious. I left with lessons I’ll carry for years.
By the end of my journey, I noticed growth. I had clarity about what I wanted with my next opportunity. I had more confidence in my ability to speak about my work’s impact.
To begin, think about which two or three projects reveal your impact most effectively.
Of course, no two job searches are the same. We all value different things when charting our paths in life. But to place myself in a better position, I wish I would have grasped a few lessons earlier in my process. Here are six personal takeaways to simplify your UX writing job search:
1. Create a system to stay organized
If you’re juggling more than two situations, your schedule can get tricky. Staying organized is crucial.
I used the Notes app on my phone to make a Kanban board with stages in the process (see it below!). Under each header, I placed a company name. I added, deleted, and moved things based on developments.
If a screening or panel interview was scheduled, I placed the date of the call or video meetings next to the company in parentheses. I also kept my Google Calendar updated. Still, the Kanban board became a convenient way to see everything at a glance.
Frankly, the schedule made me dizzy at times. But this system kept my head above water. I would have been lost without it.
I made a Kanban board to keep organized.
2. Avoid overthinking rejections
I’ve changed how I think about rejections. They happen. Don’t overthink them, and don’t take them personally.
I’m convinced you can do everything “right” and be rejected for factors outside your control.
Someone with more experience might apply. An internal candidate might be promoted. An employee’s friend might be a referral.
Many times, we think we have an even chance to get a job after we apply. But that’s not entirely true. Hiring teams look to fill needs for a given moment, as they should.
You could have rocked each step of the process. But perhaps someone with more experience did just as well, and they were hired. Or maybe the hiring manager had a name in mind all along.
You didn’t do anything wrong. Sometimes, life is about timing.
Here’s a mental trick: Interview for multiple positions instead of placing your hopes in one opportunity. When a rejection comes, it’s not as much of a letdown because you have other options available.
3. Strengthen your portfolio presentation after feedback
Portfolio presentations sound scary, but they can be fun. After each session, think about areas to improve for the next time. I gave three presentations over video calls. I repurposed slides I made for the first situation and tweaked the content for other interviews.
Photo by Dylan Ferreira on Unsplash
To begin, think about which two or three projects reveal your impact most effectively. As I built my slides, I provided background about why we started the project. Then I detailed what I did within a cross-functional team. Finally, I spoke about the result of my work and gave data points when available. The presentation lasted about 45 minutes.
I changed slides based on feedback. For example, I embedded a product video after someone asked to see one. I also placed more emphasis on cross-functional work after learning that was important.
A tip: Keep water close! My voice cracked near the end of a presentation, but I recovered after a few sips.
4. Learn to tell your professional story
Repetition builds confidence. By the end of my process, I was better at telling my story. Before I began this journey, I was never told how to speak about myself. Seems like a basic thing, right?
In time, I learned to emphasize high-impact projects and an ability to work well within cross-functional teams.
Opinions might differ here. But for practice, nothing beats real interviews. The more I talked to recruiters, hiring managers, and other UX people, the better I became at sharing my story.
It helps to think about stories. When speaking, give color that goes beyond your résumé. Smile. Offer context. Share anecdotes. Be passionate. (People like passion!)
Last year, I took quite a few calls after recruiters contacted me. I viewed these situations as practice. Most times, I had little interest in pursuing their positions. But each call built a muscle I used later.
Be proud of your story. No one can tell it better than you.
5. Ask for a compensation range
At some point, you’ll talk salary expectations. I learned not to give a number, even though I had one in mind. Instead, I asked for a compensation range.
You want to do this for a few reasons.
The pay for UX writing jobs varies wildly. In my search, there was a difference of about $60,000 in base salary between the low and high ends of positions I considered. You want to learn what a company might pay. You also want to avoid lowballing yourself based on your current salary, which might be significantly less than what’s offered elsewhere.
Keep in mind the range you’re told can change. If a hiring team likes you, a company might offer more.
Of course, money isn’t everything. Weigh things like opportunity, a company’s trajectory, and how you connect with your potential manager and coworkers.
But when considering salary, place yourself in a favorable position.
6. Leave the process with no regrets
Interviewing can feel like a wicked ride in a tumble dryer. It’s flat-out exhausting, especially if you juggle three or more situations at the same time.
But if you’re true to yourself, you’ll have no regrets.
Be proud of your story. No one can tell it better than you.
Remember this: An interview is a two-way evaluation. Hide nothing. Be yourself. If someone doesn’t like what you show them, their company would have been a poor fit. If you get odd vibes from a hiring manager or potential coworkers, pay attention to those feelings.
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
Like most things in life, this is an imperfect process. Candidates and hiring teams make consequential choices that affect both sides for years based on small snapshots in time. That’s kind of wild. If you’re not genuine in those brief moments, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
Eventually, something will feel right. You’ll know where you’re meant to be. When that moment comes, take time for yourself. Then enter your next chapter with eyes wide open. | https://codewords.tech/6-tips-for-your-ux-writing-job-search-ec63e23d1917 | ['Andrew Astleford'] | 2021-06-08 13:28:04.936000+00:00 | ['Ux Writing', 'Job Search', 'UX', 'Ux Writer', 'Ux Jobs'] |
Tis Freeing | Tis Freeing
It’s been quite the year and I have nothing to show for it. I’m being hard on myself, obviously. I don’t know when I acquired the trait of self-deprecation, but this year has really exacerbated the voice’s tone.
However, one thing I realized is that this voice, possibly Saturnian in its nature, isn't’ fading away. Trying to stamp it out till it’s just a hum isn’t a possibility. Because even then I would hear the monotonous tone in the background, reminding me that its existence will pervade every action I take.
So, instead of whining and cowering, I’m going to embrace the process. My co-worker made it very clear that I’m denying my wisdom and experience for the world. And it’s true. What’s the purpose of a dragon hoarding jewels and riches in his cave? As I sit I begin to notice that I fear losing value. In my belief of myself, I have this odd logic that my mystique is the power I wield. When everyone hears of the jewels guarded by a terrible Reptile there is an urge to face the challenge and obtain a piece for themselves. At least that's the way I see it, for me. Maybe my vision is cloudy and the mirror I peer into needs to be wiped down so I can take notice that I don’t have to think so highly of myself. Although I do notice that at the moment I begin to think less of myself and commit to actions that question my esteem, I get burned.
And I think with all that’s happened this year, 2020 = 4 = 死, I can't be selfish with myself anymore. That’s not to say that I’m just giving myself away…because unfortunately when I don’t feel desirable, wanted, or respected in the way I want it for myself, I then try and put myself into situations that give me a quick boost of superficial confidence. And truth be told, having people tell you that you’re perfect or unique, doesn’t hit the same when it’s someone you know that matters.
2020 hasn’t revealed much, aside from the truth that mysticism pervades everything I step into. However, 2020 has affirmed within my mind's eye that I must stick to the character I’ve been denying myself from becoming. The idea is there, which is the start. But living the character completely means one gains providence in their movements.
I have to trust in the wisdom of my body. And curb the habits of my past that wish to divert steps towards my future. I often make excuses for my actions via the divine. However, I also know the grand design makes me aware of the tests I’m suppose to study and pass. I fail all to often, because of my negligence and sensuous desires.
But today, the belief that I’m on this journey alone is crippled by the fact that I have friends who want to journey with me. Even as introverts, we want the excitement of life and the tenacity to say we’re capable of defying the odds and overcoming whatever bosses challenge our existence.
Today I’m much more open about who I am and where I want to be. And while I do waver between sensible and fantastical, I must hold the truth that my worth is based in myself and extends to those who actively want the best for me.
Today I give you hoes nothing but authenticity.
Today I deem you hoes nothing.
Tomorrow I act in accordance with my phantasy.
And from here on, I set my worth beyond what most can afford.
But that doesn’t mean I won’t share what I have. I’m a greedy bitch, but I’m not stingy. | https://medium.com/@moraystew/tis-freeing-80ea85b6eaec | ['Moray Ill'] | 2020-12-17 14:49:17.191000+00:00 | ['Self-awareness', 'Journal', 'Self Love', 'Blog'] |
Episode28: City or Country? | Hello, welcome back to my blog!
“Which one is the better place to study?”
I believe there are two options for us as students to study which are city and country. In cities, there are many famous universities there, so lots of students go there to study. And a fewer number of students go to country universities. You think “so which one is better?” I will tell you from my perspective!
I think both universities have benefits. For the city universities, I have never experienced studying like that environment so I will talk about what I expect and knowledge from YouTube.
City Benefits
Transportation:
I think students who study in the city, they do not need to use cars to go shopping. They probably use trains or buses. Or maybe walking. I believe that in the city, there are many shops and stores around the campus so that they do not even need to drive cars to go there.
And, they can use public transportation too! How convenient! They can go everywhere by that.
Resume:
What I mean by this is if you go to a famous university, you can write down the name of your university on your resume. If that is famous around the world or in your nation, the company will be surprised and will be looking at you with a full of hope. You do not even need to explain what kind of university and where it is located at. Also, if your GPA is higher than 3.00 at a high rate university, it might be beneficial too I think. Even though it is no benefit in the States, it is in Japan.
Knowledge:
I feel like most of the famous universities have professors who graduated from those universities or other famous universities. Since that, I think they have more knowledge than other professors in the country. So that the quality of the lectures is much better in those universities, I guess.
Country Benefits
Environment:
I think the air is clean and fresh than in the city so that it is great to go for a walk or jog around the campus. If you come to the countryside, there are lots of dark places. That means you can able to see real stars and sometimes shooting stars! That is awesome. I went to see stars once by car with my friends, and I laying down by the road at night. Then I saw lots of stars shining! And I saw several shooting stars too. I think this is possible to do on campus. If you go out at night and laying down on the ground, you will see stars.
Study environment:
Since not many shops and stores are around the campus, that environment makes students do work harder. There is nothing else to do rather than studying so that they can focus on their work. If there are many shops and stores around the campus, I will probably go shopping every day or often than right now. I will spend more money too if there are.
Academic:
My university is a small school so that we do not have huge lecture rooms that you maybe think of. So, we have lectures with small rooms that have only 10–30 seats. That means students and professors are close to each other. I think this is good because if I have some questions to ask, I can ask them easily. It will be hard for a big university. And, I think if you take your major classes, all of your professors in your major will recognize you too even though you aren’t. If you are shy and feel difficult to ask after the class, I think you are good at this kind of school.
I talk about both good points. In my perspective, if you are an exchange student, it is good to go to university in the city. Because you have limited time to experience a foreign country, so I do not want you to waste your time and it is a good opportunity to explore the city. However, if you are a full-time student, you may be like to study at a country university. This is because you can focus on your studies. If you want to travel somewhere, you have time to do that, so you do not need to live in a city (you might get bored).
I hope you learned something before you apply to the university and hope this is a help for you to decide your future!
Thank you for coming and hope to see you in the next episode! | https://medium.com/@mana_hashimoto/episode28-city-or-country-c153d11bc04f | ['Mana Hashimoto'] | 2020-04-23 10:06:11.624000+00:00 | ['United States', 'City And Country', 'University', 'International', 'Tips'] |
The perfect hot chocolate recipe to keep you warm and cozy | This article was originally published on blog.healthtap.com on December 14, 2017.
Nothing feels like the holidays more than curling up in front of the fire with a steaming cup of hot chocolate in hand. Hot chocolate is a staple of this time of year, so we’ve come up with a decadent, indulgent hot chocolate recipe that you can feel great about sipping throughout the holiday season.
Don’t opt for the simple packet of hot chocolate mix in hot water, which is full of sugar, additives, and only a little actual chocolate. Instead, make your own! Not only will it taste much richer and creamier, it will also be much better for you.
This recipe for hot chocolate uses raw cacao powder, which is chocolate in its raw and and purest form. Cacao is known for being a heart healthy superfood due to its incredible concentration of flavonols, a class of antioxidants that are associated with decreasing the risk of heart disease, hypertension, and chronic inflammation. According to Dr. Randy Baker, cacao “also contains mood-enhancing chemicals like phenylethylamine, theobromine, serotonin and anandamide,… and also [aids in] reducing insulin resistance.”
While Dr. Baker mentions that these health benefits of cacao are powerful, he also notes that they can be counteracted by added sugar, which is best to limit. Studies indicate that to derive the optimum health benefits of chocolate, the darker the chocolate the better, so you should aim to choose chocolate that has at least 70% cocoa solids.
This recipe combines both raw cacao and dark chocolate for the ultimate rich cup of hot chocolate. It only takes a few minutes to whip up, so you can be sipping, relaxing, and enjoying the holiday spirit in no time at all.
Decadent Hot Chocolate
What You’ll Need: (serves 2)
2 cups non-dairy milk (we recommend a mix of almond and coconut for some extra creaminess)
2 tbsp raw cacao powder
1.5 oz dark chocolate (70% or above)
1–2 tbsp maple syrup (sweetened to taste)
½ tsp vanilla extract
Combine everything all ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Over medium-low heat, whisk all ingredients together until the chocolate is melted, everything is evenly combined, and the drink is warm. Serve into two mugs, and enjoy. We recommend topping your hot chocolate with a dollop of coconut whipped cream and a sprinkle of cacao nibs to make your drink a little extra festive!
Author: Maggie Harriman | https://medium.com/healthtap/the-perfect-hot-chocolate-recipe-to-keep-you-warm-and-cozy-d81c706700c4 | [] | 2017-12-19 19:28:45.501000+00:00 | ['Chocolate', 'Health', 'Nutrition', 'Holidays', 'Recipe'] |
by Martino Pietropoli | First thing in the morning: a glass of water and a cartoon by The Fluxus.
Follow | https://medium.com/the-fluxus/thursday-the-day-98f42387dd3 | ['Martino Pietropoli'] | 2018-01-18 07:36:40.757000+00:00 | ['Thursday', 'Humor', 'Comics', 'Cartoon', 'Psychology'] |
How the crypto market will be affected by regulation | How the crypto market will be affected by regulation
Since the advent of cryptocurrencies, they quickly gained a reputation as a tool used by criminals to commit illegal activities such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, and terrorist financing.
Allegations that have no reason
As a result, many who may have wanted to become the first adherents of cryptocurrencies avoided them. And many others who actually tried to use or accept crypto found that their Bank accounts were closed as soon as they tried to buy cryptocurrency. Regulators around the world have been slamming the crypto industry with more and more accusations. While we have always known that the allegations about the use of crypto assets for black market purposes are exaggerated, we now have some evidence of how exaggerated they are.
In the financial services industry, there is a suspicious activity report (SAR) that financial companies must file when they suspect any suspicious financial transactions. Since 2013, more than 70,000 cryptocurrency-related SARS have been filed with FINCEN, or about 26 per day. This may seem like a lot, but if you don’t know, more than 12 million SAR were filed with FinCEN in the same period. Thus, cryptocurrency-related SAR accounts for only 0.59% of all SAR applications.
You don’t think that government officials in the early years of bitcoin wrung their hands and moaned that It was just a tool for rampant criminals. This was, as usual, part of an attempt to keep threats to the government’s currency monopoly from becoming too entrenched. As most people understand, using cash and Bank deposits to commit criminal activity is much more common and profitable than using crypts, so in fact, the government’s own product contributes to criminal behavior. Now that we know that cryptocurrencies are not so widely used by criminals, government agencies really have no reason to oppose them. But…
Will the crypto market go into the shadow due to regulation
But as interest in crypto assets began to grow significantly, and the price of Bitcoin actually began to rise, regulators around the world realized the irreversibility of this process. Now they seek to subject cryptocurrency to the same rules as any other financial asset. How will this affect the cryptocurrency market?
Many speculate that eventually there may be a bifurcation in the cryptocurrency markets, when some crypto assets will be traded on “white” exchanges that comply with all government regulations, identify their users and do not allow anonymous trading. Other coins will be traded on “grey” exchanges that adhere to the pseudonymous and quasi-anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies, as they were originally intended. But while some suggest that cryptos traded on these grey exchanges will trade at a discount compared to white exchanges, this is not necessarily the case.
One of the great features of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has been the ability to transfer the store of value across borders and around the world without having to go through the banking system or other intermediaries. This allowed people to easily transfer money or pay for goods and services. But forcing crypto into licensed exchanges that report to governments and adhere to strict financial regulation will undoubtedly weaken some of the free aspects of the crypto ecosystem.
Of course, there are many people who got used to this free atmosphere and will resist attempts to bring the crypto sphere in line with government regulations.
Those who invest in crypto want to draw attention to how tough is the state of crypto regulation. If it is too strict, it risks destroying all innovations in the crypto sphere. But no one wants this to happen, and if no compromise is found, the crypto markets will simply become shady.
Source: https://news.bit.team/how-the-crypto-market-will-be-affected-by-regulation/ | https://medium.com/@bit-team/how-the-crypto-market-will-be-affected-by-regulation-12a30e812cb7 | ['Bit Team'] | 2020-11-14 09:00:58.167000+00:00 | ['Bitteam', 'Blockchain', 'Regulation', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Analytics'] |
Let me neer io ajei 737h3 § | 1. Brush Up on the Basics
Before you can start writing incredible content, you’ll need at least an intermediate understanding of the basic principles of writing.
This doesn’t mean you need to enroll in a prestigious creative writing program at an Ivy league university, but you will need to know the basics of grammar and spelling. Every writer should have a copy of “The Elements of Style” by Strunk and White on their bookshelf, as this small but invaluable book is one of the most comprehensive resources on the correct use of grammar and other helpful topics.
https://10naturmort-v-dush.blogspot.com/2020/12/totalsportekiihf-world-juniors-live.html
For quick and easy online resources, bookmark Grammar Girl and, of course, Merriam Webster.
Improve my writing skills grammar crackers
2. Write Like It’s Your Job
If you want to get better at something, you have to practice — and writing is no exception!
Unfortunately, there are few shortcuts that can transform you into an amazing writer overnight, and even the most talented writers had to learn their craft over a period of many years. It’s admitedly even harder to write while considering SEO and how to drive traffic to your post.
If you want to improve your writing skills, writing on a regular basis will not only diminish your fear of the blank page (or blinking cursor), it will also help you develop a unique style. So, even if nobody reads it, keep writing. Practice makes perfect.
[ Learn how to write better ad copy with our free guide: 10 Tricks to Get the Click ]
3. Read Like It’s Your Job
The best writers are also keen readers, and reading on a regular basis is an easy way to start developing your writing skills. I don’t just mean blog posts, either — diversify your reading material. Expand your horizons to more challenging material than you typically read, and pay attention to sentence structure, word choice, and how the material flows.
Improve my writing skills cat reading book
The more you read, the more likely you are to develop an eye for what makes a piece so effective, and which mistakes to avoid.
4. Find a Writing Partner
If you work at a reasonably sized company, the chances are pretty good that there is at least one other person who is also wondering how to become a better writer. Although writing is typically considered a solitary activity, the best writers know when it’s time to get much-needed feedback on their work.
Talk to your coworkers (or friends) and ask someone if they’d be willing to cast an eye over your work — they may spot mistakes that you overlooked.
Finding a writing partner is also a great way to hold yourself accountable and keep going.
5. Join a Workshop or Take a Night Class
Most people balk at the idea of standing in front of a room full of strangers and baring their soul to the world, but joining a writing workshop can be immensely beneficial — and a lot of fun (if you manage to find a good one).
Improve my writing skills writing workshop
You don’t need to have an unfinished novel hidden away in your desk drawer to join a workshop. These days, content marketing meet-ups and professional development groups are becoming wildly popular. Join one of the many content marketing groups on LinkedIn to meet like-minded writers, or search for writing workshops near you on sites like Meetup. Pick a topic, write something, listen to the feedback of the group, and then revise it. Rinse, repeat.
6. Dissect Writing That You Admire
Most people read the same blogs or sites on a regular basis because the material appeals to them — but fewer people understand why their favorite blogs are so appealing.
Find a handful of recent blog posts you really like, then print them out. Next, just like your high school English teacher did, take a red pen and highlight things you liked: certain sentences, turns of phrase, even entire paragraphs. Examine why you like these elements, and see if there are any common threads in your favored reading material. See how writers take one subject and transition into another. Apply these techniques to your own work.
Let’s take a look at a particularly powerful (and memorable piece) from Copyblogger that serves as a great example of this.
Improve my writing skills copyblogger example
Improve my writing skills copyblogger example 2
Immediately, you’re hooked by Morris’ opening. You can’t not read to see what happens next. The pacing is excellent, it grabs your attention, and best of all, it keeps you reading. This piece was first published back in June, and I still remember it. Read the full post here, and see how Morris masterfully tells the story of a band named Death and how this relates to writing content.
7. Imitate Writers You Admire
Before we go any further, a disclaimer — imitation is not the same as plagiarism. Don’t rip off anyone’s work. Ever.
Just as you probably have a list of blogs you read often, you’ll likely also read the same writers on a regular basis. Identify what it is you enjoy about their work, and see if you can use it to improve your writing skills. Does a writer you like use humor to spice up dry topics? Try it. Do they use pop culture references to make their work entertaining and useful? Try that, too.
When I first started writing, I imitated some of my favorite nonfiction writers and essayists, such as Joan Didion, Truman Capote and Bill Bryson. I also attempted (and failed) to imitate writers such as Dave Eggers and Dan Kennedy, but soon realized that I wasn’t funny enough and gave it up. Over time, I eventually developed my own style, but reading the works of these writers and seeing how they constructed their essays and books was immensely helpful to me as a writer (see tip #3).
8. Remember That Outlines Are Your Friend
The blinking cursor of a blank page is a considerable foe, even for the most experienced writers. Before putting pen to proverbial paper, sketch out an outline of what you plan to write. This will be your battle plan, and it will help you win the war. Very few — and I do mean very few — writers sit down to write anything without a solid plan in mind.
Improve my writing skills outlining with post its
An outline doesn’t have to be complex. A simple framework of which sections should appear in a particular order, along with a few sentences about what each section contains, may be enough. If the topic you’re tackling is a little more complex, your outline might have to be, too — but having an outline before you write is like having a roadmap in the glove box of your car before a road trip. If you start to feel lost, refer back to your outline and get back to kicking ass and taking names.
Let’s take a look at a real example — one of my own outlines:
Introduction
Brief summary of the post
Section 1 — What is Brand Voice?
Paragraph(s) explaining the key principles behind brand voice (style, tone, and messaging)
Examples of each
Section 2 — Developing Brand Voice with Content
Explanations of how to develop brand voice using content (written, visual, video)
Considerations for content producers/marketers to bear in mind when producing content (strategy, goals, overall brand messaging)
Section 3 — Examples of Content That Builds Brand Voice
Several examples (three or four) of content that aligns well with marketing positioning and branding of recognizable brands
Conclusion
Wrap-up
This outline eventually became my recent post about brand voice. I deviated from my initial outline slightly, but the overarching structure was always there to keep me on target.
9. Edit Your Work Ruthlessly
So, you’re writing every day (or regularly, at least), and you’re feeling more confident about your work. Awesome! Now you’re going to become your own harshest critic. | https://medium.com/@unefajfl/let-me-neer-io-ajei-737h3-393cfc338f79 | [] | 2020-12-26 09:49:45.967000+00:00 | ['Coronavirus', 'Covid 19 Crisis', 'Covid 19', 'Mental Health', 'Health'] |
How much left?. If you don’t leave the time to do what… | If you don’t leave the time to do what matters to you, no one else will. I an ever noise and fast moving world, where days, at times seem to carry you along the week without even you noticing.
At least that’s how I’ve been feeling the last couple of days, where no matter how much I try to leave on the side and focus on the important, there’s something that happens to eat my time. Like no matter what I do there’s never enough to be spent on the right things. Why?
I don’t know, but I will keep asking this until I find. because the last thing I want to do, is to continue to be carried by it until there’s nothing left… | https://medium.com/thoughts-on-the-go-journal/taking-the-time-c6fc8558f58d | ['Joseph Emmi'] | 2018-11-14 23:06:08.050000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Mindfulness', 'Life', 'Time', 'Journal'] |
Petr Kellner Bitcoin — Review. “Bitcoin Trader Petr Kellner” Click… | “Bitcoin Trader Petr Kellner” Click Here To Join!
Check out my analysis to see how we compare to other auto-traders in the crypto industry.
Here’s my brief review of my Bitcoin Dealer.
I got together with Bitcoin Trader to keep it quick, and I added $250 to my account because it’s the sum recommended to maximize your earnings ultimately. Today is my sixth day using the software, and I was able to hit $11,000+, but I’m still trying to reach my $21,000 target by the end of the week.
My Honest Analysis of Bitcoin Auto Trader:
Bitcoin Dealer has a super-speed program that exchanges a large number of trades every day. The framework uses the existing business establishment and rapid AI, which gives this program a favorable position over the other systems.
This item has an unfortunate speed of just .07 percent after more than six years of automatic trade. This means you’d have a very low chance of losing your cash, like less than 1% of the probability of misfortune. Take the divider lane!
The machine signal carries out transactions with 163 exchanges in 35 countries, and the amount of trades it is getting to is disconcerting-4 million!
After looking at the association behind this signing scheme, I found that it was on favorable terms. In 2018, this Trading Application earned $723 million in benefits, which was 11 percent more than the Merchant of 2019. A beautiful return.
This year, regardless of how the market sectors are in a state of unrest, this bitcoin merchant has determined that he will start picking up $650 million in benefits amid immense misfortunes on world securities exchanges.
I’ve been wildly looking for some real technique to pick up money online from home for as long as two years. I was looking for a dream that I couldn’t get my all-day pound by working my hours and making shrewd speculations. So when I caught the breeze of the broker robot on my Facebook channel, the thought provoked my curiosity.
How does it work?
You start by opening a record to use Bitcoin Dealer. At the hour of my registration, they provided a record master to walk you through the cycle and “hold your hand” for your first projects. For the calculation to make trades, it needs assets to work with, so I just stacked the base to start with $250. In any case, writing this out of what’s to come, I’m thinking about how much better my earnings would have been if I had started higher. When I stacked the assets, Bitcoin Broker dominated and started to do business for me!
Having used Bitcoin Merchant for a couple of days, I’m very excited about the performance. Bitcoin Broker can consistently trade when the conditions are acceptable, but it is inactive as a general rule. However, I’ve found out on the off chance that you’re only keeping your PC running with the intention that it can do business at whatever point it needs to, you have the best results. So I just let it go and let it get me some cash while I’m resting!
My Score of Bitcoin Trader: 4.75 /5
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“Bitcoin Trader Petr Kellner” | https://medium.com/@kelsihewitt9/petr-kellner-bitcoin-review-a38b9d568982 | ['Kelsi Hewitt'] | 2021-06-22 11:50:07.022000+00:00 | ['Bitcoin Wallet', 'Bitcoin Mining', 'Bitcoin News', 'Bitcoincash', 'Bitcoin'] |
Introduction: The Gray Area | Prachi Yadav
If you’re currently sitting down, you probably consider yourself stationary. You and I both know, though, that we’re on Earth, and Earth is rotating while orbiting the sun. One of the main points in Einstein’s theory of relativity is that the frame of reference in which an observer lies has a tremendous impact on how they observe space and time. Our reference frame convinces us that we’re stationary when really we’re moving, and so is everything else in the universe. Since all objects are moving, there is no absolute reference frame from which to base movement upon.
We as separate observers are each entitled to our perception of space and time, but similar to Einstein’s theory of relativity, everything is subjective. We have several influences that shape our perceptions: parents, friends, religion, experiences, and education, just to name a few. All of our perceptions are valid as observers moving through space and time — as long as we acknowledge our reference frames. With so many observers, 7.9 billion to be exact, there are bound to be variations in perceptions: grey areas. And while I am not scholarly enough to explore the grey areas of the space-time continuum, I would like to begin to explore the grey areas in everyday life.
In this blog, I plan to dissect the grey areas of some personal experiences, social issues, and entertainment, and hence widen my perceptions. Our universe is not black and white, and neither are our morals and values. | https://medium.com/@psy9yd/introduction-the-gray-area-56a719640f8b | ['Prachi Yadav'] | 2021-08-10 12:03:19.168000+00:00 | ['Entertainment', 'Social Issues', 'Perspective', 'Introduction', 'Values'] |
The Connection Between Unemployment and Suicide | Unemployment can be caused by numerous events and circumstances. However, no matter the cause, the outcome for most remains the same. Losing the stability and security that coincides with employment can lead to many adverse effects for people, the gravest being suicide.
The United States is currently dealing with one of its highest rates of unemployment because of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Pew Research Center, the U.S. unemployment rate increased from 3.8% in February to 13.0% by May. With this level of unemployment, it is easy to focus on the greater economic problem for the country as a whole. However, it is equally as important to address the social impact that this rise in unemployment is having on individuals. Moreover, we need to notice the alarming similarities between the effects of unemployment on individuals and risk factors for suicide.
Across research, unemployment is associated with an increased risk for suicide to at least some degree. Various studies list differing statistics regarding the level at which suicide is connected to unemployment rates. Murphy and Athansou’s 1999 meta-analysis found that 14 out of 16 studies showed a significant negative association between unemployment and mental health. It is difficult to directly point to unemployment as the cause of suicide because of the individual and contextual factors that are also at play. | https://medium.com/@paintedbrainmedia/the-connection-between-unemployment-and-suicide-75c43744c9ff | ['Painted Brain'] | 2020-12-13 22:15:16.091000+00:00 | ['Depression', 'Covid 19', 'Suicide'] |
The Enemies of Sleep — Dawn Kingston | Up to 80% of pregnant women experience some kind of sleep disturbance in pregnancy. That means that almost every pregnant woman sleeps less — or less soundly.
While causes of sleep problems can include difficulty breathing restless legs syndrome (e.g., intense leg discomfort when laying down), frequent going-to-the-bathroom, they can also be caused by — and lead to — a whole host of emotional challenges.
Poor Sleep and Emotional Health
In the midst of just trying to cope with feeling continually exhausted, you may not realize the hit that your emotional health takes as a result of poor sleep.
Recent studies show that when pregnant women experience poor sleep patterns, they:
Feel like the quality of their lives is significantly impacted. They don’t enjoy life like they used to, and they enjoy their pregnancy less and less. Are more apt to feel “low,” and may struggle with a low-level sadness that they can’t shake or a more intense depression. Feel stress more intensely and feel less able to cope with daily hassles. Tend to socialize or spend time with friends and supports less, simply because they don’t have the energy. Aren’t as productive. They can’t be as productive at home or work as when they are rested.
The Enemies of Sleep
The solutions seem simple: take naps and go to bed earlier. Excellent advice.
Why don’t we follow that advice?
We feel too busy. We feel too crunched by work and family commitments to take time out to nap when we can or to get to bed earlier. We feel guilty. We self-sacrifice for the sake of doing it all and meeting everyone’s needs — but our own. We don’t realize the short- and long-term impact of sleep deprivation — on ourselves, our productivity, and our relationships. We believe that one day things will turn around and allow us to catch up on our sleep. But, it takes four hours of good sleep to repay the sleep debt from one hour of lost sleep.
Click here to get the guide
Put Your Mask on First
Have you ever questioned the advice given by flight attendants at the start of every single flight: Put your oxygen on first, before you help others?
Of course not! It makes perfect sense!
Yet, mothers begin their self-sacrificing journey in pregnancy in subtle ways like forfeiting sleep for the sake of work and family. Somehow, we equate loss of sleep and well-being with dedication and being a good mother.
But, when we hear women talk about being a good mother, we hear things like:
I want to be there for my child
I want to give them what I didn’t have
I want to teach them
I want the best for them
I want to love and nurture them
None of these fine things can be accomplished when we’re in a dragged out, low energy state. Each of these wonderful desires takes ENERGY and INVESTMENT.
Today, listen to the ancient wisdom that has served many generations before: Love yourself as you love others.
Take time to sleep. It’s a habit that will serve you well as a new parent.
Warmly,
Dr. Dawn Kingston | https://medium.com/@dr.dawnkingston/the-enemies-of-sleep-dawn-kingston-ecf07865f370 | ['Dr. Dawn Kingston'] | 2019-08-22 16:21:40.737000+00:00 | ['Prenatal', 'Maternal Health', 'Baby', 'Sleep', 'Pregnancy'] |
Stranded on the Island of Creative Endeavour | Isolation is necessary for many creative undertakings — but it isn’t sufficient
By Joan Van Tassel
Isolation for creative work is a two-edged sword. Many artistic endeavors require intense concentration and fierce focus. As a writer, once in a hundred times I sit down and toss off brilliant prose without a hitch — but it’s the other ninety-nine times (as is occurring now as I write) that I want to consider.
For me, writing involves four distinct phases: Germination, observation, drafting, and polishing. The first two processes call for an outward orientation — scanning the world to bring in information. The second two, drafting and polishing, require pushing my prose out into the world. (Just for the record, I enjoy observation the most, followed closely by polishing.)
None of the phases require relating to the people around me. Often enough, I experience even friends and family members as interruptions. I know it can be hard to hide and hard on them. As for me, I sometimes feel selfish and guilty. I try to bring others into my process, with mixed results. I listen to their concerns, then I tell them what I’m working on. Sometimes they are interested for a while, a few even hang in throughout the whole process. But I am obsessed, often for years at a time. It wears out the people I love and who love me, so I limit the time I bend the ears of loved ones about my work.
However, isolation from the people is not the same thing as total isolation. I don’t work all the time. I shop, I cook, I work out, I watch entertainment; occasionally, I even hang out. <smile> And I’m not isolated from the world, either. Much of the work demands my active participation in the real world, even when I’m writing fiction.
Here’s how my process works
Germination is finding and shaping an idea. Getting to clarity demands rapid cycles of inner thinking/feeling, enriched and supplemented by outward observation. The accumulation of bits and pieces — a verb here, a color there, a hook in the murk — until I can get to “Yes, this is an idea worth working on.”
So observation plays a role in my process almost from the very start. Once I settle on an idea, though, my observations become more structured. As a writer, I examine perspective (who is relating this story?), settings, sensory details, issues, and ramifications (the ‘so what’ factor). I love this part where I mine my world for observational gold. It’s what I’m best at and I’d love to leave the whole project here — but I can’t.
I need readers to complete my work: I’m thinking about them as I work. Why I need readers I cannot say, but as a child I craved attention, so I suppose it is partly that. Readers also provide the purpose behind my efforts, it’s reason for being. Sometimes I write for myself to understand how I think or feel about a personal decision or experience: Journaling serves those purposes. But writing for myself doesn’t require as much attention to meaning and detail — after all, I know what I mean.
Writing for readers is something else. I hold them in my mind because I want others to see what I saw, to feel what I felt or, conversely, to feel their own feelings under the circumstances I’m conveying. I know that I want them to feel something about an experience I consider worth sharing. All that requires repeated, careful observations of the world, as well as the anticipated reader responses.
Given all that, it isn’t surprising that I spend so much time on research!
Once I’ve formulated a clear idea for a project and carried out enough research, I start writing the first draft. I liken first drafts to laying bricks: word (slather space) word (slather space) word (slather space), and then rearranging the words before the slathers dry. This is mind-breaking, concentrated work that, except for the word count, is more labor than reward. And it does require isolation for several hours at a time. I’m also pretty stressed, so not much of a companion.
But, oooooh, the polishing. Successive revisions to the draft get it closer and closer to a final version, each one clearer and smoother than the previous iteration. I love this last phase the most: gliding, stylin,’ sailing, and soaring in the skies of previously imprecise sentences. Here, I can isolate for a period if the piece is short. For longer projects — more than fifty pages — I make sure to break up the time I spend because it requires flexibility and a certain playfulness.
In general, polishing puts me in a good mood. If deadlines permit, I’m sociable and relaxed, outgoing compared to the keyboard-chained wretch in the drafting phase. I re-connect with the people I care most about, brag about my newly-created child, show snippets of brilliant sentences and phrases, and splash the final name around.
I accept a certain isolation, comforted by the presence of the real world around me at first. Later, the reader provides some company too. To the extent my peeps enter my fictional world as I struggle to bring the characters, cultures, skies, trees, interiors, events, actions, tragedies, and victories of the world I am creating.
Writing isn’t just my job. It’s my calling. Not writing would require that I cut off and impoverish some part of my soul, that I abandon my life purpose. Some people call that isolation. I call it commitment.
If I were in solitary confinement in prison, I would study cement. | https://medium.com/cry-mag/stranded-on-the-island-of-creative-endeavor-809dbd0be4ed | ['Joan Van Tassel'] | 2020-10-25 14:42:20.386000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Creativity', 'Isolation', 'Productivity'] |
Iconic Icons: Designing the World of Windows | Icons of the Future
Fast forward to the era of Windows 10 and the concept of the personal computer (the PC, fondly) means something entirely different than it did three decades ago. It’s estimated that there are four connected devices per person, with that number rising steadily. As designers, this signals to us that modern life is complicated. And as designers for Windows, this signals a need for simplicity at the systems level.
In terms of a system, we can look to the Windows icons as a means of wayfinding. Systems are inherently complex and icons provide simple points of reference. We may not even realize how much we rely on these subtle cues to navigate the OS — our brains are amazing machines that synthesize this information in the background. We rely on that cognitive machinery when we design, helping the mind multitask, organize, and communicate.
This design choreography becomes more critical as technology advances. That’s why we’ve embarked on a multi-year effort across Microsoft’s design teams to redesign our icons: a system within a system. Flat, monochrome icons look great in context of colorful tiles, but as more icon styles enter the ecosystem, this approach needs to evolve. When icons in the taskbar and Start menu are different styles, it creates more cognitive load to scan and find applications. We needed to incorporate more visual cues into the icon design language using our modernized Fluent Design Language. | https://medium.com/microsoft-design/iconic-icons-designing-the-world-of-windows-5e70e25e5416 | ['Christina Koehn'] | 2020-02-20 17:56:01.478000+00:00 | ['Icons', 'Design', 'UX', 'User Experience', 'Microsoft'] |
My Mom Let Her Boyfriend Molest Me for 5 Years | Image by Sandra Koschel
I used to think that perhaps that’s how every child lives. I did not know that it was not at all normal. But somehow I knew that I was not supposed to tell this to anyone.
I was ten years old and he was 25. My mother was not divorced or something but she had a way with men that always used to leave a very strange and bitter taste in my mouth. It was 1995 and in Pakistan children, my age did not know anything about adult relationships.
I never saw my father and mother talk to each other. My mother was beautiful and she used to mock him all the time. He was not so close to us children too. He had a bookshop and he used to leave very early in the morning and come back very late. Ever since I remember, my mom used to have relationships with other men without ever trying to hide it from anyone. Most of our neighbors used to have an idea about it.
This man, we used to call him Uncle came into her life when we shifted into a new neighborhood and he was living next door. My mother was very social, so within a week she got to know that one of the bachelors living next door, was her distant relative. She invited him for dinner and they became very close very fast.
Uncle’s family was in another province and he was living there because of his job. My mother started going to his place more and more frequently. He also started spending all day at our home. He would only go home to sleep. He was nice to us children at first. He used to buy us fruits and candies and cakes, so my younger siblings got quite attached to him. Being the eldest, I knew that something was fishy. I started being irritated all the time and I got beaten for that too by my mom.
She used to beat us for anything at all. After a few days, Uncle too started beating us for small mistakes. I became more and more bitter. I did not know what sex was or how it was done or even the word ‘sex’. One day when my mom was going to Uncle’s place, I asked her not to go. She got very angry and slapping me said, “He is not waiting there for me with his pants down”. It was so vulgar to hear that I felt like something very nasty and ugly had suddenly revealed itself to me. After that, I started imagining their meetings.
That’s when Uncle started touching me and my sister. We were extremely afraid of mom because she used to beat us without mercy. And she was so fond of Uncle that we could not imagine telling her about it. We somehow believed that it was our own fault. We used to be so convinced of being wrong all the time that I remember one day I accidentally dropped a heavy scissor and it broke. I was 100% sure that it was my mistake and I will be beaten. So, I went into the bathroom and ate face cream to die. But still, I was right because mom did beat me till my skin was raw and bleeding. That was the justice system. So Uncle kept touching us and we kept silent about it.
My father knew about Uncle but never talked to him ever. So one-day mom decided that we needed to move to another house where we could share it with Uncle. My father never took any interest in such matters. Mom and Uncle found a house and we shifted there. It had just two rooms so we started living in one room and Uncle took the other one.
After shifting together, mom became bolder than ever and started kissing Uncle in front of us kids. I was 10, my sister was 8, the other sister 5 and my youngest brother was only 3 years old. I tried to find escape in books and studies but it was very hard to not see what was going on.
We kids used to go to school before Uncle left for office. And we used to play outdoors till dusk so mom and Uncle had the house to themselves a lot. One day there was a woman on TV who had big boobs and Uncle said to my mother, “I want yours to be this big”. They both really thought that we will not understand it. Uncle had a single bed in his room and he had bought a TV too so we used to watch TV there sitting on chairs or carpet while mom used to be under his blanket with him in his single bed.
That’s the house where Uncle molested us more and more because we were getting flesh on our bones and we were getting bigger too. I was once sitting in the kitchen when Uncle pulled my trousers back to my thighs and caressing my thighs he said oh my god you are so ready. I did not know what I was ready for, but I somehow never forgot it. He used to touch me all the time. Mom would send me to his room to massage his feet and legs. I don’t know why she would do that. I don’t know how could she let her daughters be molested at such a young age. Perhaps she was blind in love. We had no one to share this with. Once my sister threatened mom that she will tell our granny (mom’s mother) about it. My mother called her a whore and beat the crap out of her. After that, we never tried to rebel. Uncle would force us to touch him too. He forced himself on us in more ways than I can tell.
Uncle started beating us a lot those days. He used to even beat my youngest brother who was just a small child. It pains me even now. Uncle used to beat him in front of his office friends. Uncle would ask him to do circus tricks in front of his mates and if my brother failed to perform, then Uncle would beat him. Mom and uncle used to beat us with everything. Plastic pipes, wires, hangers, sticks, slippers, everything.
This nightmare went on for five years. My father left the house and moved with his older brother. It was in 1998 and I have not met him since then. When Uncle’s family heard the rumors of this affair, they started asking questions. That’s when my mother came up with a scheme to keep Uncle near her forever.
She made her sixteen years old sister fall in love with Uncle and then got them married. My aunt had no idea about anything at all. Now we were all living together and finally, Uncle stopped molesting us. I don’t know if his and my mom’s affair stopped too or not.
My father divorced my mother. Uncle is still married to my aunt and they have four daughters and a son. He has become extremely religious now. unfortunately for me, it was not the end of my bad luck. I had so many more pains in store for me in the future. My life kept kicking me in the guts, but I think I will write about that in another article. | https://medium.com/be-unique/my-mom-let-her-boyfriend-molest-me-for-5-years-82969da4b17c | [] | 2021-01-13 13:15:47.265000+00:00 | ['Child Abuse', 'Trauma', 'Children', 'This Happened To Me', 'Mental Health'] |
The Election Ring Map sneaks into Ken Field’s new “Thematic Mapping” textbook | I’m very pleased to see this refined version of the map out in the world, and I’m curious to hear if this map type sparks any new insights with other people.
For me it’s especially resonant not just as a new look at the regional dynamics of the election, but also because of how it illustrates the acute flaws in the Electoral College itself. The Electoral College is vestigial and archaic in many ways, consisting of a nationwide collection of winner-take-all competitions that depresses turnout and demotivates voters in non-competitive states, resulting in millions of wasted votes that make no difference in the ultimate outcome of the election. A fairer system would use Proportional Representation or a National Popular Vote so that all votes would count equally… but I could talk about that for days and days and it’s a topic for another time.
Anyway, as you can tell, election maps are my jam, and I’m so pleased to be included in Ken’s massive book of so many other fascinating maps. His book will be released next week (August 31st) but you can pre-order the eBook on Amazon right now. | https://hi.stamen.com/the-election-ring-map-sneaks-into-ken-fields-new-thematic-mapping-textbook-c69ee79f1510 | ['Alan Mcconchie'] | 2021-08-26 23:06:17.609000+00:00 | ['Mapping', 'Elections', 'Cartography', 'Data Visualization', 'Electoral College'] |
The list of Twitter’s lost opportunities | I’m often hesitant to criticize big companies or brands. As a corporate guy myself, I know first hand that employees are not stupid, just caught in the corporate structure that makes things take a little longer.
But I lost my patience when it comes to Twitter. The product & various management teams had 11 (!) years to move forward, yet this happened:
The rare case that Wall Street reflects the truth in earnings and mind share
It’s my strong belief that on its current trajectory, either somebody new will come along and eat their lunch or Facebook will dominate the public space, too.
I think all of us die-hard Twitter users want Twitter to succeed — which makes it even more painful to list the chances not taken:
Content (not People) Network
Twitter is already the kind of people network I want to be in: Rather than connecting because of a historically given offline relationship, I can connect to the people I want to talk to. The need to create this community while using Twitter (instead of copying the offline one), makes Twitter harder to use for beginners, but it certainly pays out over time.
Twitter could walk this path further by making it easy to follow topics instead of accounts. Tweet topics would be determined by hashtags or a minimal amount of machine learning.
First of all, this gives a great onboarding experience: If you want to follow the latest Apple news, just subscribe to the Apple topic — no need to know that you have to follow @daringfireball for example. And secondly, this also makes it possible to deconstruct a Twitter profile in its topics: Maybe I like to know what John Gruber has to say about Apple, but not so much about the MLB (sorry, Baseball is very unpopular in Germany).
Instagram Replacement
If Facebook has no shame in copying the working parts of competitors, why should anybody else? Even more so, when the strategy is clearly working.
Back then, when Instagram was just starting, Twitter had the best possible starting point: Everybody knew it, celebrities used it, Twitter hashtags are all over the place, and Twitter handles are one of the first things to set up for a new startup. And how do you tell what’s going on at the moment even shorter than 140 characters? Right, with one picture. In fact, Instagram used Twitter’s Social Graph to skip the cumbersome network building.
What Twitter needed and still needs are options to post engaging content (back then Hipstamatic was the ideal acquisition target).
This brings me to the next point: Why do I know a lot of YouTube/Instagram/Snapchat influencers, but no Twitter influencers? I think Twitter needs to take a page out of Facebook’s playbook and tailor their mobile experience to specific use cases.
With influencer audience new possibilities to monetise arise, too.
Google Reader Successor
As I said, people use Twitter in different use cases. If you follow me, you’ll see that I do a lot of “link blogging” of stuff that is noteworthy in my opinion. Before Twitter I used the Google Reader Share feature. In comparison to this toolset from 2008 (!), todays “workflow” of dealing with incoming news and forwarding the best seems almost barbaric.
The demise of Google Reader and therefore RSS has left a big void. For average users, Facebook’s Instant Articles rushed in — but geeks need more.
Twitter wants to be the medium through which people consume their news. Why was there no option to add RSS feeds to my timeline? Why do I need crude third party picture tools to share a good paragraph til this day?
In a better world, I would see my RSS feeds inside the timeline. Flowreader tries, but it’s a feature Twitter is suited for best.
Live Streaming Focus
On Twitter things are happening in a constant chronological stream of tweets. In that regard Twitter would have been an ideal buyer of Twitch, which just introduced Pulse, their own way towards a full social network.
Additionally the limitation “live only when live in offline world” could be removed with a Playback Reactions feature, described by Ben Thompson:
Miss the Oscars gaffe? Not only can you watch the video, you can read the reactions as they happen, from the people you actually care enough to follow. Or choose any other user on Twitter, and see what they saw as the gaffe happened.
Personal Techmeme
Blog comments are more dead than alive. Therefore the commentary on a specific post has spread (Twitter, Hacker News, Reddit etc.). What I’d like to see is the aggregation of all takes on a certain article. Twitter could easily provide an aggregated view of all takes for a given link. (Try searching for a link on Twitter.) Techmeme tries to do the aggregation part, but is not individualized on my interests. Nuzzel simply counts the number of mentions and discards the individual comment.
Furthermore Twitter could overlay outgoing links with the comments for that specific page. Think of Kindle Highlights for the web. Highly is doing something like this. Twitter could add the option to comment right on that specific site, without ever touching twitter.com.
Social Monitoring & Customer Care
Twitter is still huge and important for brands. Shitstorms are built either on Facebook or Twitter — better see it coming. This is why big companies spent a lot of money on Social Media Monitoring. It’s a dedicated, fast growing space in Online Marketing. Why has Twitter no tool for this job that it can sell?
And related: Twitter, please make sure that companies like Telekom are enabled to give good technical support through your platform. Why haven’t you incorporated tools like GetSatisfaction yet?
People Database
When I want to get to know a person in tech, it’s almost always the best way to start with their Twitter profile page. Instantly I have posting frequency, tone, connections, authority (based on the follower / following ratio).
The thing is, the sidebar with bio and links is treated very poorly. What if we add certain kind of information like job title, skills you think you have and things you are interested in (in hashtag format)? Exactly, we get a barebone, not-so-dusty LinkedIn competitor.
Decentralised Ecosystem
Almost all meaningful additions in Twitter product were done a long time ago — while the Twitter API was still alive. No coincidence at all. The community paired with astounding third-party client development brought hashtags, replies and retweets. Indeed a “Golden Age”.
I understand that decentralised models don’t work for advertising driven business. But I don’t understand why now, in a world where protocols can generate funding via App Coins, this step can’t be reversed.
Characteristic that only Facebook made a foray into Open Graph and Social Plugin infrastructure. | https://ysamjo.medium.com/the-list-of-twitters-lost-opportunities-a28812f727d3 | ['Andreas Stegmann'] | 2018-09-04 09:17:39.360000+00:00 | ['Social Media', 'Rant', 'Facebook', 'Twitter'] |
woman King Henry VIII had no desire for, was the sole queen left standing | photos of King Henry VIII’s wives created by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now
The daughter of two teachers, Becca Saladin has always loved history. Her love of history, paired with her talent as a graphic artist is breathing new interest into centuries-old stories.
It all started with Anne Boleyn
The first book her father read her was a fictionalized version of the Anne Boleyn story. Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s second wife, was a feisty and intelligent woman who quickly became Saladin’s favorite historical figure.
One day, she wondered what Boleyn would look like today. So, she opened Photoshop to see if she could bring her into the future. Pasting together eyes, nose, and mouth, she manipulated them to match Boleyn’s portrait, digitally painting eyelashes and skin color.
When she was done, Boleyn felt like a real person to her. Looking at the photo makes Boleyn’s story feel more horrific and somehow more profound. She could relate to her.
“It’s hard for us to relate to historical figures”, she says, “when all we have to go by is flat portraits wearing outdated period era garments. We don’t connect with them. But they were real people, with real feelings.”
“History isn’t just a series of stories, it was real people with real feelings. I think the work brings people a step closer to that.” — Becca Saladin
public domain photos of King Henry VIII’s wives from Wikipedia, composite created by author
Once Boleyn was completed, she started photoshopping the portraits of King Henry VIII and the other wives and launched an Instagram account for her Royalty Now project. It’s taken off and has over 270 thousand followers.
The accidental king…
photos of King Henry VIII created by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now
A second-born son, Henry was the spare, not the heir. While his elder brother Arthur was being groomed for the throne, Henry studied religion and the arts and wrote music and poetry.
His brother Arthur, heir to the throne, had been betrothed since childhood to Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabella.
Six months after Arthur and Catherine were married, he died of a sudden illness and Henry VIII became heir to the throne. Henry VIII was only 17 years old when he ascended to the throne. He immediately married his brother’s 23-year-old widow.
1. Catherine of Aragon: perfect in every way but one
photo of Catherine of Aragon by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now
Promised to Arthur since childhood, Catherine was raised to be queen. Many historians believe she’s the only woman Henry truly loved. Tiny, delicate, and ladylike, he believed she was perfect in every way — except one.
In their years of marriage, Catherine bore him six children. Three boys, three girls. One after another, each infant died. All but one. The only child that survived infancy was a daughter, who would become Mary I.
As one son died, then a second and third, Henry became obsessed with a male heir. It was her one failing, he said. The inability to give him a son. When his mistress bore him a son that could never be king, that was the final straw.
“Henry viewed her as a model wife in every respect but one… her failure to give him a son” — Tracy Borman, Tudor historian
Henry petitioned the pope for a divorce, but his request was refused. So he broke ties with the Roman Catholic Church, formed the Church of England, and got his divorce.
Catherine was demoted to princess, disallowed to see her daughter, and banished to a distant residence. Henry was free to marry again.
2. Anne Boleyn: “Lord have mercy on me”
photo of Anne Boleyn by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now
With Catherine out of the way, Henry married Anne Boleyn. As feisty and intelligent as she was tiny and feminine, Henry was smitten. Their first child, Elizabeth, was born barely nine months after the wedding.
She was expecting their second child when Henry was injured in a jousting tournament. When news of the accident reached Anne, she collapsed and miscarried, delivering a tiny stillborn son.
Miles away, Catherine of Aragon died the day Boleyn miscarried.
Henry lost interest in Anne after the stillbirth and developed an attraction for her lady-in-waiting, Jane Seymour. Anne was enraged. Not just as his infidelity and indiscretion, but his choice.
Boleyn’s and Seymour’s mothers were cousins and the girls had been raised together for a time. The two women came to blows over Henry and Anne plotted with her sister-in-law to remove Jane from the court.
Desperate to end the marriage, Henry accused Anne of treason and adultery with multiple men including her brother, a charge historians believe was fabricated. She was forced to listen to her brother’s execution the day before her own. The king did not even attend her beheading.
“Oh Lord, have mercy on me. To God I commend my soul!”
— the final words of Anne Boleyn
3. Jane Seymour: a story short and tragic
photo of Jane Seymour by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now
On the day Anne Boleyn was beheaded, Henry announced his engagement to Jane Seymour. They married a few days later.
Seymour’s story is short and tragic. A few months after the wedding, she delivered the male heir King Henry so desperately wanted. Less than two weeks after delivering Edward VI, she died from postpartum complications.
As the only woman to produce the male heir he was so desperate for, she was buried (next to Henry) at Windsor Castle.
4. Anne of Cleves: thanks, but no thanks
photo of Anne of Cleves by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now
Two years after Jane Seymour’s death, the king’s chief minister suggested that a European alliance would be beneficial and suggested that Henry marry one of the sisters of Germany’s Duke of Cleves.
The king dispatched an artist to paint portraits of the women. Upon receiving the portraits, he selected Anne and the marriage was arranged.
When Anne arrived, Henry protested that the portrait did not accurately represent her and tried to halt the wedding. Alas, it was too late. They were married six days later. It was his shortest marriage.
Less than six months later, Henry offered Anne a generous financial settlement in return for agreeing to annul the marriage given that it remained unconsummated. She accepted and lived out her life in peace and financial comfort as the “King’s Sister.”
5. Catherine Howard: A double tragedy
photo of Catherine Howard by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now
She was 15, perhaps 16, and a lady-in-waiting to the undesired Anne of Cleves. He was 49. He proposed. She accepted. Delighted with his young bride, Henry showered her with gifts and called her his “rose without a thorn.”
Catherine Howard gave Henry the youth and vitality he thought he’d lost. After a long honeymoon, they settled into marriage and she became step-mother to Henry’s three children, one of them slightly older than her.
Less than a year later, the rumors of infidelity started. Catherine was sneaking out to meet someone. After an investigation by the archbishop, two of Catherine’s childhood teachers claimed they’d had consensual sexual relationships with the girl, one starting when she was only 12.
Today, we would not call a sexual relationship with a 12 year old consensual. Historian Josephine Wilkinson said, “Catherine was sexually exploited by two men of the household.”
One of the “relationships” continued after her marriage, under fear of exposure. Catherine was afraid he would reveal knowledge of private markings if she didn’t comply. Today, we might call that blackmail.
Henry was furious that she was not a virgin at marriage. She was denied a trial and executed for adultery and treason. She was not yet 18.
Catherine Parr: a full and creepy circle
photo of Catherine Parr by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now
Henry’s last wife was a childhood friend of his first child, and named after his first wife, bringing Henry’s relationships to a full and creepy circle.
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Parr’s mother had been a lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon and named her baby in honor of her queen. Henry’s daughter, Mary Tudor, was only four years younger than Parr and the two were childhood friends.
At age 30, she was thrice married and widowed and in love with Thomas Seymour, brother of Jane Seymour when the King took interest in her. One does not reject the king carelessly. She accepted his proposal. He was 52.
Henry’s last wife was a spirited and educated woman who won some firsts in women’s literary history. Her book, Prayers or Meditations, is the first book to be authored by an English woman under her own name and the first book to be published by a woman in the English language.
During their short marriage, she persuaded Henry to restore his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, to the order of succession to the throne.
Death of a king
Henry VIII died of natural causes, age 55, with Catherine Parr at his side. After his death, she quietly married her true love, Thomas Seymour. Less than a year later she was dead from childbirth complications.
photos of King Henry VIII and wives created by Becca Saladin © Royalty Now
Anne of Cleves, the one woman King Henry VIII had no desire for, was the sole queen left standing. She would become the only queen to be buried with the full pomp and ceremony of a royal funeral at Westminster Abbey, by royal order of his daughter Mary who had ascended to the throne. | https://medium.com/@b0561211348a5/photos-of-king-henry-viiis-wives-created-by-becca-saladin-royalty-now-a03908559571 | [] | 2020-12-27 13:09:27.346000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Sports', 'Social Media', 'News', 'Covid 19'] |
Chinese government agency issues blockchain development roadmap | China’s “blockchain, not crypto” stance continues as one government agency publishes guidelines to accelerate the adoption of token less blockchain solutions.
China’s workplace of the Central computer network Affairs Commission and also the Ministry of trade and data Technology (MIIT) have known four essential application areas for blockchain adoption.
The MIIT’s five-point agenda for blockchain adoption is a component of a document issued on weekday particularization guiding opinions to accelerate the promotion of the rising technology for industrial development.
As antecedently according by Cointelegraph, China’s President Xi Jinping antecedently required rapid blockchain adoption back in October 2019.
Presenting its argument for blockchain adoption, the MIIT document describes the novel technology as “an necessary a part of the new generation of knowledge technology.” in line with the IT ministry, blockchain is among a raft of latest innovations like huge knowledge and computing that area unit vital to China’s continuing progress.
The MIIT document lists the economy, finance, industrial enterprise and public services because the main focus for blockchain development within the country.
According to the MIIT publication, traceability, knowledge sharing and provide chain management area unit a number of the utilization cases for blockchain that might have a considerably positive impact on the important economy.
In the space of finance, the MIIT publication needs the promotion of a larger intersection between blockchain and alternative rising technologies like cloud computing, computing and also the internet.
The MIIT’s proposal for blockchain adoption for public utilities conjointly includes ideas like sensible cities and also the utilization of the novel school in government services. The document leans heavily on the unchangeability of blockchain-based ledgers in rising proof assortment mechanisms in areas like judicial deposit, civil registries and jurisprudence social control activities.
As a part of its biological process goals, the MIIT needs the institution of a minimum of 3 backbone enterprises and blockchain industrial clusters. The document conjointly touches on international collaboration particularly below the aegis of the “Belt and Road” initiative.
The MIIT document, whereas leaning heavily on blockchain adoption, created no mention of crypto or tokens normally. capital of Red China continues to build up its cryptocurrency crushing, with Weibo reportedly banning the accounts of some “virtual currency influencers.” | https://medium.com/@omgfin/chinese-government-agency-issues-blockchain-development-roadmap-4d8e0d1e1b4a | ['Omgfin Exchange'] | 2021-06-08 11:33:59.734000+00:00 | ['China', 'Adoption', 'Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Business'] |
Looking For A Work From Home Desk | A wall-mounted folding study table is a must-have item for your office or study to help keep you focused on your projects or worksheets it can also help you keep a straight posture if combined with a comfortable leading chair not only does it hold paper notes and documents but it can also carry displays like photo frames books a pen collection and much more if you’re the type who wants to keep everything around while working then a foldable study table can also hold your desktop computer or laptop for a more convenient flow of work add up a lampshade to have even better lighting, especially at night.
Wall-mounted Foldable study table are available in the market that yield beauty and elegance most of the folding study table are made from wood construction with wear and tear-resistant for long-term use usually if not entirely constructed with wood they are supported with sturdy steel legs for better weight support stick around as we’ll bring you the top 5 Wall-mounted Foldable study table fit for you whether you need the best of the best or just the most affordable option will give the best items for you if you want to find the prices and more information about the products that mention below you can click the button and now let’s start
INVISIBLE BED Folding Wall Mounted Study Table
Elegant Trendy multi-purpose wall-mountable foldable Examine table, Laptop computer table, Bedside table, Workplace table, Earn a living from home folding study table that saves house. A robust sturdy foldable table in Shiny White coloration may also be used as a marker/scribble board. Use it as a whiteboard. Straightforward to scrub as a result of the shiny floor.Made from high-quality MDF (not simply any Engineered Wooden). Dimensions: 67.5cm X 56cm (26.6 inches X 22 inches) with foldable metal brackets (Colour of brackets MAY VARY from what’s proven within the footage).In a foldable table, the board needs to be robust in order that the folding actions don’t depart any put on and tear on the product. Therefore we use high-quality MDF as a substitute for Particle Board for longer life. Shiny white prime helps in straightforward cleansing and upkeep.
Use this wall-mounted foldable table for research table, laptop computer table, studying table, bedside table, drop leaf table, youngsters table, Kitchen table, work from the house table, workplace table, standing work station or in any manner you want. Our prospects have used this table in a variety of methods and as soon as the consumer is completed, the table simply blends with ANY decor theme. We use premium Ebco foldable brackets (Brackets Colour could fluctuate from what’s proven in footage) which make the table very robust and durable. This foldable table is simple to wall mount and comes with the required fittings.
Pros Sturdy, once fixed. Optimum workspace, have enough space left with one laptop on. Ebco frame. Cons Screws provided by the vendor are of bad quality, you will have to buy new screws. lock release mechanism. Once released, it’s not a soft release and it free falls from the upright position. Absence of curved corners. Check Best Price
BLUEWUD Hemming Folding Wall Mounted Study Table for Home & Office
BLUEWUD hemming wall mounted folding study table is a superb area saver. You should use this desk for consuming, computing, learning, studying, writing, and drawing. This desk is designed to seamlessly mix together with your interiors. It’s mounted to the wall utilizing sturdy wall brackets. It has an understated design aesthetic that adapts to any area. It supplies further working or eating area and folds down out of the best way when not wanted. The brackets are properly hidden when the desk is folded and never in use. It may be mounted on the wall at peak to go well with. E.g. Bar desk peak, or eating desk peak, and even decrease peak to accommodate kids.
Pros The hinges attached are of good quality easy to fold and back Cons There is provision for only two small screws, for attaching the tabletop to the wall mount bracket. Should be a minimum of 4 for better strength. The wall mount bracket reaches only half of the width of the table. Should be a minimum of 2/3rds of the width for better strength. Check Best Price
Madhuran Elara Wooden Folding Wall Mounted Study Cum Laptop Table
Madhuran Elara Research Desk is a really environment-friendly and Fashionable product. It is a perfect product for house managing freaks because it has foldable legs and It might maintain a lot of gadgets. It provides an attention-grabbing wood texture. And its set up is kind of straightforward. It may be used to examine tables, Workshop platforms, Stations in the cafeteria, and many others.Open dimensions:(L) 80 x (B) 53.2 x (H) 31.5 CM,Shut dimensions:(L) 80 x (B) 53.2 x (H) four CM. Manufactured from HDF Engineered Particle Wooden Board pre-laminated makes it’s Sturdy. This product comes with a straightforward setup and the mandatory fittings are already supplied. Comes with the standard of excessive portability. Keep away from direct daylight, direct water splashing. Don’t use harsh chemical compounds or abrasive garments whereas cleansing. Don’t scratch with sharp objects
Pros sturdy good quality large space Cons sharp edges (careful while using) hinges while folding are too dangerous (finger might get scratches) Check Best Price
Captiver Minielara Wall Mounted Folding Study Table Online
Captiver Minielara Research Desk may be very environment friendly and Trendy product. It is a perfect product for house managing freaks because it has foldable legs and possibly maintains quite a few objects. It offers an eye-catching wood texture. And its set up is sort of straightforward. It can be used to examine tables, Workshop platforms, Stations at the cafeteria, and so forth
Open dimensions:(L) 60 x (B) 35 x (H) 31.5 CM,Shut dimensions:(L) 60 x (B) 35 x (H) 4 CM Fabricated from HDF Engineered Particle Wooden Board pre-laminated makes it’s Sturdy. This product comes with a straightforward setup and the mandatory fittings are already offered. Comes with the standard of excessive portability.
Pros It’s a very strong good quality wooden shelf Cons Nothing Much Check Best Price
Consider these things before buying:
Workplace or room area
Trying into how a lot area can your workplace present is the utmost vital function that you need to at all times adhere to. In case your workplace area is small then shopping for the one which comes with a compact measurement and not less than 2 drawers might be simply tremendous as you’ll have to make use of your area in the very best method. Additionally, if the area will not be a constraint then you should buy an L or U-shaped desk the place 2 individuals can sufficiently sit and full the duty with correct focus.
Materials
Search for which form of materials have they used accurately very sturdy and sturdy. Largely, wooden and metals are the supplies which are used for constructing the workplace tables and other people want good high-quality pure wood materials in order that it may be light-weight and compact.
Straightforward to assemble
Once you order it on-line then you can be required to assemble the desk by yourself or else the producer would ship its carpenter to your own home. Some producers would cost for the carpenter’s value or some received’t, some point out that it ought to be finished by your self or an exterior carpenter at your value.
Sturdy
Buy the one which comes with a high-durability choice. Regardless of at what worth you might need to be bought the furnishings however what issues are that if the furnishings or workplace desk is providing you with most sturdiness or not.
Straightforward to scrub
It ought to include simple to scrub choice as to if the cleansing takes time then your maid would have to spend so much of time cleansing it as an alternative of performing different duties. Additionally, learn the directions fastidiously which might be given within the guide as sure workplace tables don’t permit even water wipes to be cleaned.
Looking for a chair Check out | https://medium.com/@dealsmarket/looking-for-a-work-from-home-desk-d7eddfc7aba7 | ['Deals Market'] | 2020-11-23 05:46:23.092000+00:00 | ['Laptop', 'Productivity', 'Work From Home', 'Study', 'Home Decor'] |
I’m Afraid of the Deep South | Having a majority of friends who are white, there’s always been someone I’ve known who’s raved about their vacations going to one of the Southern States, such as South Carolina or Georgia or West Virginia.
They’ve either taken a family trip or went to a bachelorette party or just took a long weekend there. And I’ve heard so many good things about those trips.
But, it’s always from the perspective of a white person.
So, all I think about whenever I’ve heard about those trips is, “But, what would it be like for me?”
“Would people stare at me because I’m not white?”
“Would anyone down there make a racist comment?”
And as much as I’d love to take the leap of faith in testing out the waters for myself and finally paying the South a visit, I still can never shake the fear that it won’t as great of an experience as I’ve heard about from other people.
Instead of the fun trips, I fear of the other stories. The racist encounters. The discrimination. The lack of diversity. The fact that my sister told me about the time she went on a family trip with her friend as a teenager and her relatives couldn’t figure out what kind of Asian she was because they assumed that all Asian people were Chinese. | https://lindseyruns.medium.com/im-afraid-of-the-deep-south-e9d30006b3f7 | ['Lindsey', 'Lazarte'] | 2020-06-26 12:15:52.961000+00:00 | ['Self-awareness', 'Self', 'Diversity', 'Culture', 'America'] |
3 Easy Steps to Ranking high in Google’s search results — blogy life.com | Ranking high in Google’s search results can have a phenomenal impact on the success of your business.
You can either engage the expertise of a Search Engine Optimisation company, or if you have the time.
there are some changes you can make to your website yourself:
1: Keyword Research.
What keywords do you think your customers would type in to search for your products or services?
A keyword can be one word, but multiple keywords or keyword phrases are usually preferred, because they are more specific and more likely to be what your customers are looking for Write down as many as you can think of.
Brainstorm with your team. Think of alternative words. Consider geographical phrases if they are important to your customer . Also, get some ideas from your competitors’ websites. Try to make a list of 20–30 keyword phrases.
In fact, some form of keyword research is still one of the first things SEO professionals at all skill levels do — especially for a new site (or for any site for which they want to improve or expand search rankings).
Choose the two keyword phrases you think would be searched for the most. But also remember, the more competition there is for a keyword, the harder it is to achieve top rankings. If you want to rank high in Google for the keyword “insurance”, you have a very long journey ahead.
So try your best to select two keyword phrases that are the most relevant to you business but that are not vague nor competitive. It’s a good idea to have 2 or 3 words in each phrase.
Once you’ve selected your two best keyword phrases the next step shows you how to make some improvements to your home page to Ranking high in Google’s search results
2: Web Copy.
Web copy refers to all the words or text on your website. Because content is king in the world of search engines, your keyword phrases need to be placed strategically on your webpage to convince Google that your content is highly relevant to those keywords.
The more prominent they are, the better. (Keep in mind that as important as search engines are, customers come first, so make sure your copy also reads well.)
Here’s how you can increase each keyword’s prominence:
Place your keywords in headings, preferably at the beginning of the heading .
. Include keywords towards the top of the page.
Bold or italicise keywords where appropriate.
Instead of having a link to another page that says “Click here to read more “, reword it to include your keywords.
An important tip is to also include these keywords in your HTML “title tag”. Use your content management system to make these changes yourself, or perhaps ask your web developer to do it if you’re unsure how.
Once you have fine-tuned your home page, consider adding new content, such as detailed descriptions of what you offer, FAQs and informative articles about your products and services.
(If you don’t want to write these yourself, they can be located for free on the internet — do a search for “articles directory”).
It’s also good to bear in mind that search engines can only read text, not pictures. Often web developers embed words in images to look better for website visitors or use Flash for animation, but this is a major impediment to search engines.
3: Linking.
Each link from another website to your website (not from your website) is considered by search engines as a vote of popularity for your business and will improve your rankings.
But it is the quality, not quantity, of the links that is crucial. The other websites should be relevant to your industry, and preferably highly regarded themselves.
Ten quality links count far more than 500 links from arbitrary websites. In the same way your personal business network can have a significant impact on the success of your business, so too the online network you build on the internet.
Brainstorm all the relevant websites that could link to you, such as non-competing companies, and industry bodies and organisations.
Write a friendly email to each describing the benefit their visitors would get in knowing about your business, and request them to create a link to your website.
Most people will not respond first time round, so a follow-up phone call is usually required.
How do I monitor my results to Ranking high in Google’s search results ?
Monitor your rankings in Google over the next few months by typing your chosen keywords into the search box, and recording your ranking.
Also look at your hosting reports to understand what search terms your visitors are using to find your website.
The above process can also repeated for each page of your website. Remember to keep updating your content, and continually increase the number of links to your website.
As you see your rankings climb you should see a corresponding increase in web traffic and a substantial increase in sales enquiries.
Be sure to record the source of your customer enquiries, so you can measure the success of your marketing efforts.
Remember, if you measure it, you can improve it.
Read Also :
Facebook Marketing | https://medium.com/@ahmed-yaqout03/3-easy-steps-to-ranking-high-in-googles-search-results-blogy-life-com-523ef04f7304 | ['Ahmed Yaqout'] | 2020-12-14 13:09:03.132000+00:00 | ['Bloglife', 'Digital Marketing', 'Business', 'Internet Marketing', 'PPC Marketing'] |
Playing with dandelions — the ups and downs of participatory network mapping | Over the last few weeks, Kim has had their head deep in networks maps, and below reflects on the uses, and limits of such tools.
At Shared Assets, we often talk about our work helping make the invisible more visible, because land is one of those issues which underpins so much, yet is rarely talked about explicitly or systemically. In recent months, across the country, we’ve also seen the strength and relationships within communities become more visible in incredibly difficult circumstances, for example through the mutual aid networks which sprang up rapidly at the start of lockdown and connected people in new ways.
Being able to visualise and quickly explain to other people the way these often invisible or intangible systems and relationships work can be important, to better understand them or to secure a broader base of support so they can continue into the future. One way we’ve been helping with this in the last month or so has been by supporting the Empowering Places programme, helping them to map the relationships and power within their network of six ‘catalyst organisations’ and hundreds of local, regional and national partners.
In pre-COVID times, we probably would have done this work in person, with lots of markers, flipchart paper and sticky notes. To try and recreate the same participatory process remotely has meant using a combination of online meetings, a short survey, Google Sheets, and Kumu (a network mapping platform). The main aims for the Empowering Places partners were to understand:
What organisations they were connected to, at various geographical scales
What kind of relationships they held, and how strong they were
What degree of positive or negative influence did various organisations have over the catalyst organisations achieving their visions
The result, at a glance, was something like this:
Dandelions? Octopus? Fireworks? You decide!
In brief, multiple levels of colour-coding and sizing indicate the answers to the questions posed above. For example — a large red dot would mean that an organisation has a perceived strong, negative influence over a particular catalyst achieving their goals under the programme, and a thin purple line means a weak funding relationship.
A pretty picture, no doubt — but where do we go from here? This question sparked a lot of discussion when we shared the map with the Empowering Places partners. Is it useful to add further detail into the data in the existing map? Should we add in many more organisations which aren’t currently connected to the partners, to see where the gaps are at a local level? Or is the best thing to do to look closely at the relationships as they stand, and decide which ones might need some more time and effort put into them? These debates will continue over the coming weeks as we finish tidying up the map, and are ultimately for the catalyst organisations to decide. At this stage though, I wanted to reflect on a few key ideas which have come up for me during this process, and which might be helpful to others thinking about embarking on something similar:
A map is only as detailed as the information which goes in
My role in this work was to try and make it as easy as possible to get all the complex relationships held by the catalyst organisations onto paper (or screen in this case). All the partners diligently wrote as many organisation names as they could think of in the survey, and then I converted these to a Google Sheet format which Kumu could understand, and where the partners could fill in more detail on the strength and influence of these relationships. I think we’ve made a good go of this together, but it’s not perfect. Finding ways to illustrate multiple types of relationship, and perceptions of influence by different catalysts of the same organisations proved challenging in Kumu. We also made the decision at the start to keep things at an organisational level, but it’s people which relationships are formed between, and I’m aware that converting rich, often long-standing relationships into numbers will always mean something is lost in translation.
A map is only a snapshot
The map gives a subjective picture of the relationships and organisations at a moment in time. Whether it’s a new funding scheme being announced, or having a difficult phonecall with a partner, these perceptions can change rapidly. That’s fine, so long as it’s recognised, and the map can easily be updated to capture a new situation. More interesting trends might come from looking at a number of these ‘snapshots’ over time to see what has changed, for better or for worse, and might serve as a prompt to refocus energy and attention.
A map is only a tool
As hinted at above, an online network map will never be able to capture all the intricacies of personal relationships, and there has to be a careful balance between putting time into making diagrams which might be useful for strategising, versus actually doing the on the ground work of community organising and relationship building. The Shared Assets team already has a slightly geeky obsession with systems mapping and self-management, and in this remote-working era it’s been all too easy to get drawn in by shiny new online tools to help with these processes, and lose hours in trying to understand how to work them properly. Working with the Empowering Places team was a great learning opportunity for us, and hopefully also for the partners involved, to understand the capabilities of Kumu in showing them the power they hold, and ways this might be built upon, but it’s only the start of the process, as the follow-up questions above showed.
We’ve written before about our role as an infrastructure organisation, and in this work, I was trying to strike the right balance between involving the partners in the methods of network mapping enough so that they could confidently take the tools of the Kumu map and Google Sheet and run with them, but also not wasting their time with some of the more tedious and time-consuming aspects of the data cleaning and organising, so that they can focus on their vital work on the frontline. I hope I got this balance right, but it’s definitely a question I’ll continue to dwell on.
We have more participatory mapping work coming up in the next few months, namely working with Camden and Islington Councils and their constituents to understand how they could collectively use their parks better to improve people’s health. Excitingly, this project will include not only a chance to delve into and map local networks, but also to build community members’ capacity to develop new health-related initiatives in parks, so watch this space for further reflections.
If you are interested in doing participatory social network mapping in your area or for your relationships, you might want to check out this practical guide I drew on from the International Rescue Committee, or feel free to get in touch with us via [email protected], to see how we can help! | https://medium.com/@sharedassets/playing-with-dandelions-the-ups-and-downs-of-participatory-network-mapping-d50f6e8a9369 | ['Shared Assets'] | 2020-10-22 16:49:15.688000+00:00 | ['Network', 'Community', 'Maps', 'Power', 'Participatory Design'] |
Truth | Credit: Author
When I think about my journey through life
I didn’t realize how badly scarred I would be
by what is essentially a singularity in time.
The way that “moment” has coiled and lashed out
time and time again in my life is still something I
don’t quite understand. But I’ve learned to just
keep putting one foot in front of the other…
because what else can I do? It’s the least my kids
deserve.
As you go through life, you accumulate your story
and everything you’ve done in life compounds;
if you make excuses, you’re just lying to yourself.
That’s not something I’m going to do. My kids
deserve better. This is my story and my story
may or may not have a happy ending, but I will
do everything and all I can to make damned sure
my kids have control of what their stories mean.
Truth.
— Matthew S. Spira © 2020 | https://medium.com/matthew-spira/truth-5306394bd114 | ['Matthew Spira'] | 2020-12-14 02:43:22.120000+00:00 | ['Parenting', 'Poem', 'Truth', 'Poetry', 'Love'] |
How much longer can I carry this unspent love? | How much longer can I carry this unspent love?
There is an affinity I keep hidden in the deepest depths of my heart.
When I feel brave I empty that pocket
And let myself feel, let this love free
So that all the particles and the invisible forces
That you have illuminated in me
Make their way across the great divide
And find a way to you.
Until there is no space left
Skin to skin, heart to heart
I am there, once again right beside you
And this time around, I don’t hold anything back
It’s as simple as this.
I reach out to hold your hand
And whisper words that require no reply. | https://medium.com/hellowanderlust/missing-you-ef0bcd69e552 | [] | 2018-02-22 08:16:21.745000+00:00 | ['Love Letters', 'Poetry', 'Relationships', 'Ps I Love You', 'Love'] |
Tonight’s Comic Is About How to Be Hot | More from rstevens Follow
I make cartoons and t-shirts at www.dieselsweeties.com & @rstevens. Send me coffee beans. | https://rstevens.medium.com/tonights-comic-is-about-how-to-be-hot-9383eef333b2 | [] | 2019-07-05 04:07:09.412000+00:00 | ['Comics', 'Self Esteem', 'Friendship'] |
Palindrome Number | Palindrome Number
Problem
Determine whether an integer is a palindrome. An integer is a palindrome when it reads the same backward as forward.
Follow up: Could you solve it without converting the integer to a string?
Example 1:
Input: x = 121
Output: true
Example 2:
Input: x = -121
Output: false
Explanation: From left to right, it reads -121. From right to left, it becomes 121-. Therefore it is not a palindrome.
Example 3:
Input: x = 10
Output: false
Explanation: Reads 01 from right to left. Therefore it is not a palindrome.
Example 4:
Input: x = -101
Output: false
Constraints: | https://medium.com/@soomyung/palindrome-number-26ca395266fb | [] | 2020-12-13 10:28:23.320000+00:00 | ['Leetcode', 'Leetcode Easy', 'Palindrome Number'] |
(Un)expected Visitors 2: Evolving the Candidate Species | [These recent years have been quite interesting especially for scientists and the general public who are into knowing more about astrobiology or the search for alien life. Early this year, the United States (US) Department of Defense released declassified video clips of “unidentified aerial phenomena.” Several months ago, a few scientists mused at the possibility that the interstellar object, Oumuamua, could be an alien spacecraft or a probe. And just a week ago, retired Israeli professor and General Haim Eshed made a controversial claim that a “Galactic Federation” has visited Earth and are, in fact, cooperating with the governments of US and Israel. It appears that we are a bit closer to the “truth” now than ever before. But, is there really substance in any of these claims?
When we think of discovering extraterrestrial life, we often look at it as if we need to either search for life forms on countless planets outside the solar system or catch them visiting our world. This is an Earth-centric way of viewing it, I think. You might ask, is there any other way of looking at it? Yes, one of which is based on the Zoo Hypothesis, proposed by John Ball in the 1970s, which implies that advanced alien civilizations are keeping us — Earth-based organisms — isolated from the rest of intelligent life forms in the universe. It is also used to explain Fermi’s Paradox, floated by Enrico Fermi, which basically asks why is it that we have not seen any aliens when the universe is so old and so vast that life should be found on (many) other planets aside from Earth.
To entertain the slim possibility that sentient beings could be watching us from afar means that we should also consider the fact that advanced civilizations can themselves disappear due to decline or after suffering cataclysmic events, thus leaving us on our own in this part of the universe. It is likewise possible that we had been created based on their likeness and that we had been designed to search for our creators in the end — which explains our extreme level of curiosity. For all we know, we are but a part of an intergalactic experiment and that instructions in our DNA leave us no choice but to make contact with our real ancestors. In other words, future human interstellar explorers could be, in essence, the message (i.e. that replaying evolution works) and the medium (our genome which reveals a lot about Earth’s status and history) for the alien scientists who are expecting our arrival.
Why would an alien civilization experiment on another planet? Maybe they are like us who want to know our origin and purpose in this universe. Maybe they wanted to replay the evolution of life on Earth and confirm the mechanisms behind their kind’s origin on their own planet. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, as they say, and I can only offer possibilities. In the book, Reporter Genome, I provide several points to support this conjecture however small the odds of it happening. I will be publishing its central chapters (Part Two) here and below is the third installment:]
Evolving the Candidate Species
“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”– Carl Sagan
If we are to stand in the shoes — if they have any — of the alien scientists the purpose of their experiment can become clearer. Why should anyone make an evolution experiment on a distant planet? Aside from curiosity, which is a strong driver in itself, we could also be motivated by all the genetic combinations that life on Earth could come up with. If we share the same genetic framework, then such novel genes on Earth could be considered a huge treasure trove for us (the alien civilization) for advancing our own health, medicine and related scientific research. We could be searching for the fountain of youth or looking to propagate species we already lost on our own planet. We also could be waiting for an advanced civilization on Earth to develop unique technologies that we do not have, although this is quite improbable. Highly advanced civilizations capable of zipping around the far reaches of the universe and colonizing other planets should have been able to develop all the technologies that they need.
Nevertheless, alien scientists could learn a lot from any new civilization that they study. Since they should know that evolution is predictable and that they could have accelerated the process, all they have to do is wait for an intelligent species to rise up from all the organisms on Earth. Again, we are assuming here that the experimenters’ civilization is stable and they have extremely long life-spans. As mentioned earlier, a good analogy of the lifespans would be between a microbiologist and his/her bacteria or Caenorhabditis elegans (a worm) samples: the microbiologist as the alien scientist and the bacteria or C. elegans as earthlings. This alien species would have to develop the technology to make deep space travel possible to perform such an experiment.
If the alien scientists were able to start multiple experiments similar to what they have done on Earth, then they can theoretically just expect for any of the candidate species — like a highly intelligent and highly curious civilization such as humans — to reach their planet to confirm that a particular experiment was successful. This could also be the reason why they did not bother to return to Earth and assess how the experiment went. In other words, a failed experiment is not worth another trip to our planet and the failure is quite clear from the nonarrival of a reporter species. The alien scientists only need to have a positive result and that result is a self-reporting specimen to complete their experiment. In the case of planet Earth, that reporter species could be none other than us humans.
We might not know it but we could be on our way to letting the alien scientists know of our existence. Just like the zombie snail discussed previously, humans are wandering around our galactic neighborhood and are thus bound to attract attention. We are exploring our nearby planets and moons, sending probes beyond the solar system and broadcasting signals all around, hoping that advanced civilizations are listening or looking for us.
If this forgotten intergalactic experiment turns out to be true, then it is clear that we are the candidate/reporter species for this planet and we are performing our duty quite well. Since our technological prowess continues to improve in leaps and bounds, we are destined to eventually have the capability for intergalactic travel to finally meet the alien scientists.
Of course, after humans have left Earth or died out, other species could take over and continue the search for extraterrestrial life. That is, if humans failed to do the job. The next intelligent species could come from terrestrial animals, although in what animal species it would be difficult to predict. It could take a long time for another species to reach what humans have already achieved but as long as the alien civilization exists, the experiment continues. The alien scientists can rest assured knowing that evolution is predictable and that life tends to evolve towards intelligent forms.
When humans explore the universe, we would be bringing with us all the advanced hardware and software that run the complex machines and spacecraft that enable our interstellar travel. Aside from these, we would also be carrying with us a wide variety of bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms on our belongings and inside our bodies. Expeditions looking to colonize other planets would also likely have a stash of seeds and live or cryopreserved gametes of livestock for establishing agriculture on prospective refuge planets. Explorers might also bring encyclopedias or databases about Earth and everything on it. In short, we would be transporting a lot of information about our home planet and this is just what the alien scientists need. Based on the clues we might give the aliens, they could determine our species’ origin, as well as the exact location and the current status of our planet.
If they are only after new knowledge or satisfying their curiosity, then aliens knowing about Earth and its resources would not be that catastrophic for humans. However, if the ultimate objective of the alien civilization is to eventually exploit new resources that humans heavily depend on, then it could get complicated for us. Either way, humans making contact with another civilization outside the solar system could invariably lead to our species and our planet being unnecessarily exposed to outsiders. In other words, our space exploration activities could end up in a bioprospecting expedition to Earth by other alien civilizations.
Even if the human explorers are careful enough not to include books and databases in the cargo while looking for alien life, they could still divulge a lot just by presenting themselves to the alien civilization. This is because we are a walking encyclopedia, although we are not talking about our brain contents here. I am referring to a database billions of years old! This database is contained in an organic body capable of replicating itself. We humans are a walking, talking storage of vast information about planet Earth. We are, in a way, Earth’s primary record keepers, as what the following chapters illustrate. | https://medium.com/@prbelvira/un-expected-visitors-2-evolving-the-candidate-species-cfb79930a3ba | ['Paul Rommel Elvira'] | 2020-12-20 00:37:55.666000+00:00 | ['Evolution', 'Alien Experiment', 'Organic Database', 'Human Genome', 'Earth'] |
Pandas ile Veri Manipülasyonu | Churn for Bank Customers(EDA and Models)
Explore and run machine learning code with Kaggle Notebooks | Using data from Churn for Bank Customers | https://medium.com/@naleken/pandas-ile-veri-manip%C3%BClasyonu-8d1ffc75eb36 | ['Ünal Berk Eken'] | 2020-12-19 00:31:36.491000+00:00 | ['Analysis', 'Beginner', 'Pandas Dataframe', 'Pandas', 'Data Science'] |
Great article! | Great article! But even with MFE you are still limited with single framework, otherwise no reusable components, no reusable runtime, no communication between apps at runtime (unless you implement message bus at root app and implement corespondent for each framework). You can implement MFE using iframe, but need to understand performance penalties. | https://medium.com/@oleg_23877/great-article-e3aad8e55e37 | ['Oleg Andreyev'] | 2020-12-19 16:56:31.652000+00:00 | ['Microfrontend', 'Organization', 'Vue', 'React'] |
Growing Your Customer Base by Telling the Right Story | How can you be sure you’re crafting the right message for your digital product? Maybe you have a complex product, or maybe it solves a very specific problem that you can’t draw on personal experiences to relate to. Either way, it can sometimes feel like you’re shooting blindly when you craft the message.
This was a concern of Nick Tippmann, VP of Marketing at Greenlight Guru. Greenlight Guru is a Quality Management Software designed specifically for the medical device industry, and because it solves such a specific problem for users, Nick couldn’t draw on his own experience when crafting the product’s message. Instead, Nick had to use some unique tactics to ensure that he was capitalizing on the marketing opportunity for Greenlight Guru’s unique value proposition.
Nick explained a few lessons that learned as he grew the marketing function at Greenlight Guru this week on the Better Product Podcast. Here are a few of those lessons.
When selling to a hyper-focused market, lean on subject matter experts to make sure you’re crafting the right message.
If you’re a marketer building a product for other marketers, then crafting a message should be easier since you can just pull from your own experience and speak how you’d want to be spoken to. But when you’re selling a specific solution to a hyper-focused market, it is difficult to know if your message will resonate. When that is the case, you have to get out and conduct target market research, talking to real people facing the real problems you’re trying to address.
Nick faced this problem at Greenlight Guru, but luckily for him they had actual medical device engineers and experts on staff, so he didn’t have to travel far for feedback. Nick was constantly interviewing them, getting their inputs, tweaking the message, and learning the lingo to ensure that he was telling the right story and telling it in a way that showed the market that he knew what he was talking about.
Use customers as a guide to your product growth.
There is nothing worse than pouring time, money, and resources into product updates that doesn’t actually provide value for your users. We’ve seen it time and again, where companies will spend their entire budget on a digital solution that their customers never actually wanted in the first place. While you should maintain an overall vision for your product and you should resist the temptation to accommodate outlier feedback, you should be paying attention to overall trends in feedback and, if you continue to hear the similar suggestions from users, that is typically a good sign that this is where you should focus your time and energy.
Greenlight Guru’s founders had always had a vision for their solution to be more than a pre-market quality management software, but it was through conversations with customers that Nick and the rest of the team learned the next gap that their product should fill. This led to the creation of a second product that complemented the value provided through their first product, but to a different persona within their target organization.
This initiated a product messaging refresh to create a cohesive story, because as Nick explains, “We have a story and benefit for product one and we have a story and benefit for product two. But what is this new overarching story and this new overarching value that we’re providing medical device companies? What is that message and what is that story?” By listening to customers and using their feedback as a guide for the next phase of product growth, it opened up the flood gates and really took Greenlight Guru to the next level, providing more comprehensive value to the medical device industry.
If you’re positioning yourself as a thought leader, you need to lean in and deliver on that promise.
Many people like to claim that they are a thought leader, but there is a lot of responsibility that accompanies that title. Thought leaders need to be on the cutting edge of innovation in their industry, and need to actually lead the industry in their educational resources. And with that title comes a level of responsibility for delivering value to your audience.
Greenlight Guru experiences this responsibility as the first quality management software for the medical device industry. While others have subsequently joined the industry, Nick has stayed strong in their quest to remain a thought leader in the industry. Greenlight Guru has relationships with the regulatory bodies to ensure that they are remaining on the cutting edge of industry changes and new expectations, and they disseminate that information to their customers, personally taking the burden of keeping up with changing regulations.
Greenlight Guru has also leaned into the concept of True Quality over just compliance with regulatory standards, and by doing this they have steered the conversation in the medical device industry towards achieving quality over compliance. As Nick explains, “You go to a restaurant, and just because you have a meal that’s compliant with food regulations and there’s no health code violation, it doesn’t mean that’s a high quality meal.” They take this same approach with medical devices.
By doing this, Nick knows that they may turn off some potential customers, but something that Nick has recognized and leaned into is the fact that it’s critical to work with customers that understand the importance of true quality, otherwise they won’t see the value of Greenlight Guru’s solution. | https://medium.com/better-product/growing-your-customer-base-by-telling-the-right-story-7662422d99b2 | [] | 2019-07-02 19:51:45.572000+00:00 | ['Growth', 'Messaging', 'Product Management', 'Podcast', 'Product Marketing'] |
The Spirit of Freedom comes to Coworkings | The Spirit of Freedom comes to Coworkings
How it all started
In the era of the 90s, when the whole world was changing every second, and economic relations were taking on a new form, workspaces for unusual workforce started to appear in Europe.These were entrepreneurs who could not afford expensive office spaces, as well as freelancers who comfortable working outside their home. Such spaces were called “coworking”, which fully matched their nature. They tuned people to work: one could make new acquaintances or just create and plunge into a comfortable atmosphere around. Coworking spaces became havens from which individual entrepreneurs and startups came out. The demand was increasing, since more and more people were inspired to work in a comfortable environment.
The evolution of coworking
Coworking spaces were gaining popularity. To maintain the level of competitiveness, coworking have begun to diversify. Some of them started to focus on developers, providing them with specific working conditions, while others tried to please everyone.
Currently, all coworking spaces are divided into three large groups. The first group includes spaces where workplaces are rented out, you can purchase a subscription or pay by the hour. The second group includes coworking spaces which have been transformed into creative workshops, where master classes are held and handmade products are sold. The third, the so-called “chill” group, relates to “anti-cafe”, where people can just relax or hold talks in informal environment.
What is coworking today?
Good coworking is primarily an activity point. Each successful coworking has earned its fame not only with delicious coffee, but also with educational projects and exciting events. A coworking space is basically a modern office like the one of Google or Microsoft, to where anyone can get access.
Bean bag chairs, tables for playing table football and game consoles help to achieve the goal of creating an informal environment, which drives work and make it more effective.
For startups, they even can register the legal entity in a coworking location.
Why do people go there?
Most people come to coworking for getting a working space and an environment. Visiting a coworking space sets up a working mood. You no longer want to watch your favorite TV series and shows, and it seems people around are all busy with running their own business.
Additionally, you can make new business contacts there. It might happen that your future startup co-founder is standing at the coffee machine.
Coworking is becoming a boiling point where people voluntarily work and, most importantly, they want to do it. They can cooperate, create new wonderful projects, or can build their own case as independent specialists. One thing is important — they all prefer the spirit that prevails in coworking, the spirit of freedom and innovation.
COVID-19 and its consequences
Both coworking spaces and offices were challenged when the global pandemic began. Companies began to send employees to a distant work format, which could contribute to the growth in popularity of coworking spaces, but they, too, were not immune from the pandemic.
At present, every place where a lot of people gather becomes dangerous. Thus, the co-working network WeWork, so popular in the US, was on the verge of bankruptcy in the midst of chaos, when each client became potentially dangerous for another visitor.
However, in the meantime, most of the people sent to home office were inspired by the idea of “remote work”, but many of them still do not like working from home, because there are so many distractions, and not everyone can create a suitable atmosphere for work.
About the future
When the world “recovers” from the pandemic, the coworking environment will undoubtedly grow rapidly, and the popularity of the boxes of business centers will decline drastically. The ability to work in a flexible format is better suited to the format of gig economy, which connects people via chains of transactions, but does not bind them to a specific location.
Now there are a large number of people who do not stand still, but persistently move into the future, and their number is constantly increasing. Due to the growing community of proactive people, point-based and network coworking spaces are getting a wider scope for creativity and implementation of functionality.
Coworking spaces can also start collaborating with freelance platforms. They can provide users of digital conference rooms with real spaces, comfortable furniture and delicious coffee. By setting up a meeting in a task tracker, freelancers and their clients can agree to hold the meeting in a live face-to-face format in a coworking space.
The TPT team believes that the futures of coworking and freelance platforms are tightly interlinked in the world of companies without offices and offices without companies. | https://medium.com/@tpt-blog/the-spirit-of-freedom-comes-to-coworkings-4d2b33fb960d | [] | 2020-12-14 07:42:55.809000+00:00 | ['Coworking', 'Collaboration', 'Freelancing', 'Teamwork', 'Freelance'] |
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