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My New Year’s Resolutions For Everyone Else | My New Year’s Resolutions For Everyone Else
Resolve to heed these in 2020
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash
I’ve made a lot of resolutions and broken them, so why bother? For this year, here are resolutions for all the rest of you.
1. If you start a sentence with “I don’t know how to tell you this” or “I don’t know how to say this,” you’ll end there, both for reasons of morality and accuracy.
2. You will not buzz me into your apartment for half a second so that I end up bouncing off the second door and having to go back and re-buzz. If you do this twice in a row, you’ll move to a castle with a giant door knocker and a pair of ogres to open and close it.
3. You will not use the phrase “the space” in any hiring attempt, unless you work for Elon Musk or NASA. If you’re in publishing and your ad says you need “someone who’s written articles in the [XYZ] space,” and you don’t realize you can just delete “the” and “space” and write “articles about XYZ,” you’ll quit immediately and be replaced by me.
4. You will not post a “cover” of a cool song on YouTube and then it turns out that it’s actually a “drum cover” in which you’re drumming to a record with your thumb and a Sharpie.
5. If I introduce you to your future spouse, you will give me 15 percent of the value of all the wedding gifts, plus pay for airfare to and from the wedding and any future baby showers.
6. You will only put one scary health post about your parents on Facebook per month because it’s depressing. Posts about your pets’ health are ok because they’re cuter.
7. If you have a party and it’s in Brooklyn, you must specify on the invite exactly how many subway stops it is from Manhattan. If it’s a birthday party for yourself and you’re over 20, you have to acknowledge you’re too old for that and have an open bar as a tradeoff for everyone coming to Brooklyn.
8. If you open a coffee shop, grocery store, or clothing shop, you will install an accessible public bathroom. Otherwise you have to go to the McDonald’s on the corner to breastfeed like you tell everybody else.
Photo by Andrea Davis on Unsplash
9. If you don’t acknowledge the sheer narcissism of this list, you can’t be my friend. | https://medium.com/slackjaw/my-new-years-resolutions-for-everyone-else-ca44e082d232 | ['Caren Lissner'] | 2020-01-01 14:46:01.416000+00:00 | ['Humor', 'New Year', 'New Years Resolutions', 'Life', 'Satire'] |
How To Support Restaurants By Cutting Delivery Fees | Make a Difference with Festi: Support the Food Industry by Cutting out Third-Party Ordering Fees
If Uber Eats, Grubhub, or Doordash is your go-to
online ordering platforms, you’re paying more than you should. And you may not be helping restaurants.
As the holidays approach and colder weather minimize outdoor seating options, restaurants brace for thin months ahead. Online ordering for carryout or delivery is a covid-safer way to support the food industry. However, there’s a right and wrong way to help out restaurants during covid.
How much is everyone paying?
Festi realized that third-party apps were charging hefty fees. Festi was born to bring people together through exclusive experiences and opportunities-without huge fees. Festi seamlessly connects chefs and restaurants with patrons — eliminating high costs for the vendor and cutting out extra fees for the customer. We think food order apps should offer good value for the customer and fair compensation for everyone in the food industry.
What’s been going on?
“How much are Grubhb, DoorDash, and Uber Eats really costing you?” Richard Kerr, concludes with his own research sample of 4 restaurants that all 3 platforms were on average 22% more expensive than ordering directly from the restaurant for table service or take out. In fact, these third-party apps embed this convenience surcharge in both higher menu prices and delivery charges, estimated range from 9% and increasing to as high as 51%!
Most restaurants operate with slim margins. One out of six restaurants has closed in the US during the pandemic. That’s 100,000 establishments. The shut-down has hit minority-owned businesses even harder, especially small neighborhood eateries. “The cost of techno-optimized restaurants could be the disappearance of beloved neighborhood eateries,” says Sarah Emerson a writer for OneZero, a medium publication about people and technology. Steve Smith, the spokesperson for a grassroots worker advocacy group, says delivery apps do more to hurt small restaurants than help them.
Adam Fryer, the owner of an eatery in Washington, DC, realized that all the embedded fees had made things worse as he explained in a NACS article. Fryer said, “Within about a week we saw, based on our revenue, our total profit actually decreasing.”
Is there a better way?
Three home meals a day. Seven days a week. Since March 2020. It’s enough to take anyone over the edge. Ordering out a few meals each week is good for your sanity and can mean survival for your local chef.
We came up with an alternative: Use Festi as a platform for chefs to offer prix fixe family meals for pre-order, with delivery to a convenient neighborhood pick-up spot. Think food discovery app, not food delivery app.
You can feel good about using Festi because more of your payment goes directly to the provider. There are no subscription costs or hidden fees. Festi exists to bring people together through exclusive experiences that strengthen the community. We think food order apps should offer good value for the customer and fair compensation for everyone in the food industry.
For the chef vendor, Festi’s end-to-end platform handles everything from payment, notifications, and delivery details with just a few clicks. Chefs post meals, selecting convenient pick-up spots in your neighborhood. The number of available meals is limited by the chef, who can easily increase/close orders at any time with just a few clicks. Payment collection is a snap with the secure payment platform. The messaging option makes it easy for vendors or customers to easily communicate. For added security, pick-up locations are only disclosed when payment is confirmed. Currently, most of the pickup locations are in the DMV area (mostly in Northern Virginia).
See you at pickup.
Check your Festi settings now to follow new chefs and ensure you’re receiving the most up-to-date notifications for chef-offered meals, sides, and desserts. Feel good about supporting your favorite restaurant or chef and know you’re getting an exclusive Festi deal.
What if you want to post something?
Festi invites everyone to the table. For the chef, restaurant, food truck, or aspiring home cooks, Post anything in minutes. Learn how to post something on Festi. If you’re a food provider, make sure you take a look at what we’ve learned in 2020 about what customers want in 2021.
Our Mission
Festi exists to bring people together through exclusive experiences that strengthen the community. From food to fitness, and from arts and music, anyone can share their passion. Order food, offer a meal, book a class or experience, and collect payment. It’s an exclusive marketplace for your community and friends. We want to help you grow and support what you love, whether it’s your local business, hobbyist, entrepreneur, instructor, or artist. | https://medium.com/@ritahppr/how-to-support-restaurants-by-cutting-delivery-fees-b0ef6bd837e5 | ['Rita Ting-Hopper'] | 2020-11-12 17:41:29.496000+00:00 | ['Food', 'Pandemic', 'Chefs', 'Community', 'Restaurant'] |
Globally Autoscaling Web Services with Health Checks | Globally Autoscaling Web Services with Health Checks
Season of Scale
Season of Scale
“Season of Scale” is a blog and video series to help enterprises and developers build scale and resilience into your design patterns. In this series we plan on walking you through some patterns and practices for creating apps that are resilient and scalable, two essential goals of many modern architecture exercises.
In Season 1, we’re covering Infrastructure Automation and High Availability:
In this article I’ll walk you through how to globally scale your web services on Google Cloud.
Check out the video
Review
So far we’ve looked at how Critter Junction was able to launch a new app on Google Cloud. We covered the various compute options Google Cloud has to offer — some including powerful autoscaling capabilities. It really just depends on your language requirements, level of control, access to the OS, and other application characteristics like containerization. Today let’s take a look at how they can enable their apps to gracefully handle peaks and dips in traffic.
Preparation is everything
Critter Junction is becoming very popular with more users than ever. The game is all about playing daily, collecting items and furniture to decorate your house, and interacting with other players.
As we saw in the previous article they chose to run their Layout App on Cloud Run. But, they still chose to migrate some game servers to Compute Engine. As their traffic grew, they were struggling to provision additional instances globally at any given time of the day. This led to overutilized compute and created constant pressure on their operations team. So now they’re looking for an automated way to handle their growing users and maintain performance to keep their users coming back daily. In other words, how can they set up autoscaling instances that check for unhealthy instances and replace them when needed?
Global Load Balancer
The answer is Google Cloud’s global load balancer and managed instance groups to scale and distribute the traffic automatically. This keeps operations team happy and the users satisfied with performance advantages.
Managed instance groups provide features such as autoscaling, autohealing, auto-updating and regional (multiple zone) deployments. To understand this better, let’s step back and understand how a Compute Engine instance is created.
Instance creation
You create a custom image for your application which is then used to create an instance. To make this reusable, you create an instance template. With an instance template, not only can you set up configuration of the VM, but you can also run startup scripts to pull down the latest version of your code when the machine starts up. You can also attach disk templates with all the software dependencies your app requires, or you leave it as an empty shell that gets populated by a CI/CD pipeline. These templates then automate the creation of the Compute Engine instances at scale through managed instance groups.
MIG + Health Check Walkthrough
Let’s see how this works with a simple web app example!
Create firewall rules
In the Google Cloud console, create a firewall rule under VPC networks with the following attributes:
Allow HTTP traffic to the app you’re about to deploy.
to the app you’re about to deploy. Provide a name: default-allow-http
Select a default network.
For Targets, select the specified target tags.
Set the target tag as http-server .
. Set the source filter to IP ranges and provide 0.0.0.0/0 to allow access for all IP addresses.
to allow access for all IP addresses. For ports and protocols select TCP and enter 80 .
and enter . Now click Create.
Create an instance template
Head over to Compute Engine and create an instance template with the following attributes:
Give it a name: instance-template.
Select machine type.
Set boot disk image to Debian9.
Check Allow HTTP traffic.
Under management tab find Automation and add the startup script.
sudo apt update && sudo apt -y install git gunicorn3 python3-pip
git clone https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/python-docs-samples.git
cd python-docs-samples/compute/managed-instances/demo
sudo pip3 install -r requirements.txt
sudo gunicorn3 --bind 0.0.0.0:80 app:app --daemon
This script causes each instance to run a simple web application during startup.
2. Finally click create.
Create and instance using your new template
Now that you have an instance template, you can create an instance group using this template.
Create an instance group on the Compute Engine instance groups page with the following attributes:
Give it a name.
Under location, select multiple zones. This protects you from zonal failures.
This protects you from zonal failures. Select a region and under instance template select the template you just created.
Now set autoscaling mode to Autoscale.
Set the Autoscaling policy to CPU utilization . You can also set policy to HTTP load balancing or monitoring metrics.
. You can also set policy to HTTP load balancing or monitoring metrics. Set the target CPU usage to 60%.
Set the minimum number of instances to 3
It’s recommended that you provision enough instances so that if an entire zone was to go down the remaining instances still meet the minimum number required.
Set the max number of instances to 6 to make sure you don’t incur additional cost.
to make sure you don’t incur additional cost. We will set the cool down period to 120 seconds.
Make sure this number is higher than the time it takes for CPU utilization of the VM to initially stabilize.
Skip setting a health check for now but we’ll cover that in the next article.
2. And click create, then wait for few minutes until all the instances are running
3. Then go to VM instances and click on the external IP of the instance to see the demo web app page.
Traffic load-test
Now that we have it all set up, let’s generate traffic so we can see the autoscaling in action.
Open Cloud Shell.
2. Create a local bash variable using the export PROJECT_ID command.
3. Run this bash script below.
export MACHINES=$(gcloud --project=$PROJECT_ID compute instances list --format="csv(name,networkInterfaces[0].accessConfigs[0].natIP)" | grep "autoscaling-web-app-group")
for i in $MACHINES;
do
NAME=$(echo "$i" | cut -f1 -d,)
IP=$(echo "$i" | cut -f2 -d,)
echo "Simulating high load for instance $NAME"
curl -q -s "http://$IP/startLoad" >/dev/null --retry 2
done
This script increases load which leads to increase in CPU utilization for our demo app. When it reaches the target value of 60% the autoscaling starts increasing the size of our instance group.
4. Now navigate to your monitoring tab in our instance group and you can see the increasing number of instances as the CPU usage is increasing.
You should be able to see the scale down effect by running a similar bash script that decreases the load leading to decrease in CPU utilization. And after a few minutes of stabilization period, the autoscaler prompts to decrease the instance group size which is visible in the monitoring tab.
Use load balancers at each layer
Critter junction has global users. They want the users from Singapore to end up on Asia east web server while the ones in US end up in the US central region.
For this they would use global load balancing which routes traffic to the nearest web server instance. which helps reduce latency and improve performance. From there the internal load balancer distributes the traffic to manage and maintain load across the backend.
These instance groups in different regions autoscale using an HTTP load balancing policy to scale seamlessly regardless of where the traffic is coming from.
Launch day success
Not only was Critter Junction able to automate the scaling of their Compute instances using autoscaling and managed instance groups, they were also able to improve performance by serving traffic from instances closest to their users using the Global Load Balancer.
But there’s one more step to scaling — identifying the instances that are unhealthy, and replacing them automatically! So stay tuned for the next episode where we will cover how Critter junction can set up Autohealing and keep their users happy.
And remember, always be architecting.
Next steps and references: | https://medium.com/google-cloud/globally-autoscaling-web-services-4b650cc6fc49 | ['Stephanie Wong'] | 2020-09-01 23:25:08.253000+00:00 | ['Software Development', 'Scalability', 'Software Engineering', 'Google Cloud Platform', 'Cloud Computing'] |
The Legacy of Herman Cain’s Death | The Legacy of Herman Cain’s Death
Four months have passed, and Republicans already forgot about him. What does this mean for the rest of us?
Herman Cain in 2011. (Source: Eric Thayer / Getty Images file)
The last month of Herman Cain’s life must have been miserable.
The one-time Republican presidential candidate and former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza spent most of that month — 29 days, to be precise — hospitalized. He was on a ventilator, intubated and unconscious. Dying of COVID-19 is a slow, painful process.
It has long been speculated that Cain contracted COVID-19 at a Trump campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma in June, although there is no way to know that for certain. The rally was the first major public gathering during the pandemic since the mass closures in March. Most media outlets had condemned the rally as a potential super-spreader event as soon as the Trump campaign announced it. Cain, a high-risk individual due to a previous battle with stage 4 colon cancer, attended the event regardless and was photographed without a mask.
The first indication that Cain’s life did not matter came from his own Twitter account. He — or possibly his team — tweeted in approval that upcoming Trump rallies would not require masks, a simple measure that probably would have saved his life. In the final hours of his life, someone from his team tweeted from his account about an article detailing public skepticism to a COVID-19 vaccine. Following his death, his account famously tweeted that, “the virus is not as deadly as the mainstream media first made it out to be.” The virus was deadly for Cain, of course.
There is almost an element of Shakespearean tragedy to Cain’s final moments. He was a devoted Trump loyalist, as evidenced by his public support for the president and his rally attendance. He was one of Trump’s few prominent Black supporters. Trump wanted to downplay the virus, which has disproportionately affected the Black population. While their employer’s health was deteriorating, Cain’s team downplayed the virus as well. The team still maintains his Twitter account even after his death, renaming it “The Cain Gang.” It would almost appear as if Cain had not died at all.
It is not just members of Cain’s staff who moved on. Other prominent members of the Republican party expressed their condolences and promptly returned to their positions that extolled reopening businesses and opposing mask mandates. His name was not mentioned at the RNC Convention in August. Trump himself was eager to convince the American public that his indoor rally was safe. In a presidential debate, Trump declared that, in regard to the seriousness with which his campaign takes the pandemic, “We’ve had no negative effect.”
Why revisit this topic, four months after Cain’s death? The United States is entering the largest wave of COVID-19 diagnoses. Deaths will continue to rise in the weeks to come. This is apparently of no concern to GOP leadership. While Trump has continually tweeted conspiracy theories about massive voter fraud, he seems unconcerned about the rising death count. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who previously alleged that Democrats would end COVID-19 restrictions once the election was over, is defiant against any suggestion that people socially distance over the holiday season.
Ultimately, this should not be surprising. Cain was many things in life — a rags-to-riches inspiration story, a CEO, a Tea Party activist, and a presidential candidate who was brought down by adultery and sexual harassment allegations. In death, Cain brought a mirror to the GOP’s apathy during the pandemic. This is the legacy of Cain’s death; Cain, like many Trump supporters, flouted COVID-19 safety precautions on the advice and examples of their leadership. Many, like Cain, have paid and will pay dearly. And the GOP will be unaffected. | https://medium.com/politically-speaking/the-legacy-of-herman-cains-death-a7aa2dc10a6 | ['Jacquie Devigne'] | 2020-11-28 21:50:47.752000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'USA', 'Covid 19', 'Republican Party', 'Trump'] |
Philippine Airlines 24 Hours Cancellation Policy | Philippine Airlines Cancellation Policy
Are you planning to cancel your flight ticket booked with Philippine Airlines? And before you end your flight, passengers are required to know more about the Philippine Airlines cancellation policy. In addition, to help visitors, here are some of the key guidelines of the policy that one should know.
Advertising Policy of Philippine Airlines:
According to the airline’s discount policy, passengers are not allowed to override their online savings. In addition, the termination service only applies to flight tickets booked online or through the airline’s service center. To prevent a leak, passengers are required to notify the aircraft’s security center or to send a valid email to the aircraft. In addition, residents will be paid with termination fees and penalties depending on the nature of the compensation. In addition, refunds will be made to the vehicle in the original form of compensation. In addition, a refund will be given to the police only for the unused portion of the ticket.
So here are the full details about Philippine Airlines ’termination policy. In addition, if the driver has any questions, they can feel free to contact the aircraft maintenance center.
Philippine Airlines Refund Policy
Philippine Airlines has a genuine return policy built for the success of its customers. If you have booked your flight on Philippine Airlines and are looking for a way to get a refund, then you can use the Philippine refund policy provided below:
According to the return policy, if you cancel your flight ticket within 24 hours, then you will receive a full refund of your approval score.
You can decline and request a refund by calling customer service. Alternatively, you can request a refund by sending an email to Philippine Airlines.
If you renew your registration and purchase additional seats or seats, you will not be paid for them.
The airline may have to pay a refund for Philippine Airlines in order to receive the refund. The amount is determined according to the airfare regulations.
You will need to present the credit / debit card used at the time of writing the flight ticket. This is a requirement to receive an airfare.
If you want a refund through the polling station in cash, then the runner’s money will be converted to Philippine Pesos.
However, for polling stations located outside of the Philippines, the refund is provided by a certificate. Refunds will be given to the polling station fund.
Refunds will always be issued for the unused portion of your Philippine flight ticket.
For more details on Philippine Airlines’ refund policy, you can use the Philippine Airlines refund number 1–888–829–0822 to request a refund for your flight ticket.
Philippine Airlines 24 Hour Cancellation Policy
Cancellation is another part and parcel of the trip, so it’s hard to plan your trip. With Philippine Airlines 24 -hour transfer you can request a full refund at no cost. In addition, passengers can change within 24 hours for free.
According to Philippine Airlines flight policy, passengers can receive a full refund on their registration if they ship within 24 hours from the date of purchase.
A 24 -hour refund will be subject to interest and non -refundable fees
Refunds initiated for cancellation of Philippine Airlines tickets will be held in the form of the fee provided at the time of registration.
If a passenger completes a Philippine Airlines flight within 24 hours the flight will be awarded within seven days, in which case the Philippine Airlines transfer fee will be assessed at $ 200.
Philippine Airlines Cancellation Fees
The fare for Philippine Airlines is 200 USD regardless of the flight type or flight plan selected. Execution of Philippine Captain licenses will begin through a ‘safety driver’s license’ where passengers will be required to enter a six -digit registration number and the last name of the passenger. Refunds will be processed within 7–10 business days. | https://medium.com/@ariastark8560/1-888-829-0822-philippine-airlines-24-hours-cancellation-policy-refund-policy-7dd98903140f | ['Aria Stark'] | 2021-03-22 10:35:54.488000+00:00 | ['Philippinesairrefund', 'Philippines', 'Philippines Airways'] |
Building a Predictable Lead Generation Strategy for One of New England’s Top Colleges | Building a Predictable Lead Generation Strategy for One of New England’s Top Colleges Ideometry Follow Oct 20, 2017 · 3 min read
Based in Worcester, MA, Assumption College is one of the top Catholic colleges in New England, boasting over 40 majors for undergrads, and seven programs for graduate students.
The Challenge
Assumption’s marketing team needed new, more predictable streams of quality leads for their MBA and Clinical Counseling Psychology graduate programs. Though they had invested in email marketing, event marketing initiatives, content marketing, and billboards, Assumption had yet to find a way to consistently generate leads for these programs.
At the same time, Assumption was also launching a brand new graduate program — Applied Behavioral Analysis — and wanted to seed the initial class with high-quality candidates.
The Solution
We started via a discovery and research phase, interviewing staff, administrators, current students, and alumni to better understand what differentiates Assumption and their programs in addition to what are the key factors prospective students consider in their decision making process.
Based on our research, we determined that the best way to reach these people were through custom Facebook and SEM campaigns. Our approach to the Facebook and SEM campaigns for all three programs was to build out dozens of viable target audiences and hundreds of unique ads for each program. We like to call this “ad and audience experimentation at scale.” In testing hundreds of creative ad concepts across all of the target audiences, we were able to figure out which messages resonate with which specific audiences.
Once the campaigns were live, we could see which audiences and creative were generating the best results and reallocate the remaining budget to the highest-performing ads. To track our results, we built highly accurate conversion attribution funnels to identify precisely which ads/audiences are responsible for driving each lead.
After a year of running the campaign, and Assumption had a predictable amount of high-quality leads coming in for each program. As we optimized the creative concepts and audiences, we continued to see increases in the number of leads coming in.
Beyond the hundreds of leads that were generated, these campaigns generated over 11+ million impressions, and over thousands of people “liked” or shared the Assumption FB page. The reach and engagement level of our campaign was also been a great push for overall brand awareness and visibility. Additionally, the research we conducted on which audiences responded best to the ads was a great exercise in target realignment, which gave Assumption a better idea of the audiences they should be targeting with all marketing communications.
***
If you liked what you saw here, check out some of the other branding and creative campaigns we’ve done for a major credit union and a tech startup.
Need help generating fresh leads to fill your sales pipeline? Get in touch with us today. | https://medium.com/ideometry/building-a-predictable-lead-generation-strategy-for-one-of-new-englands-top-colleges-f00f98bc5d15 | [] | 2017-10-24 14:45:39.906000+00:00 | ['Higher Education', 'Marketing', 'Digital Marketing', 'Lead Generation', 'Social Media Marketing'] |
A Different Way to Think About Security Tokens: Programmable Regulation | Security tokens are one of the most exciting developments in the crypto-asset space that is forcing us to rethink different aspects of the ecosystem from the technological, socio-political and economical standpoints. Recently, I was confronted with a scenario that made me look at security tokens through the regulatory lens and came out with a few unorthodox ideas that I thought I share with you guys.
If you read the recent wave of blog posts and articles (mine included 😉) about the key benefits of security tokens, you are likely to hear elements such as liquidity and fractional ownership often cited as the main advantages of the new crypto paradigm. In his famous article “The Security Token Thesis” Professor Stephen McKeon from the University of Oregon listed 8 main benefits of security tokens:
1) 24/7 markets
2) Fractional ownership
3) Rapid settlement
4) Reduction in direct costs
5) Increased liquidity and market depth
6) Automated compliance
7) Asset interoperability
8) Expansion of the design space for security contracts
Point #7[Automated Compliance] in Professor’s McKeon list is often ignored in favor of more sexier benefits such as fractional ownership and liquidity. However, in its current nascent state, point #7 might be the most important contribution of security tokens to the crypto asset space. In my recent work, I took the liberty of rename point #7 using another term that take us closer to its practical applicability: programmable regulation. Before we deep dive into the ideas of programmable regulation, let’s demystify some of the key beliefs behind the benefits of security tokens.
Things You Love About Security Tokens that Might Not be True (Just Yet)
With the excitement around security tokens comes a lot of uninformed opinions that paint a distorted picture of the realities of the space. If we want security tokens to succeed, we need to establish the right technological and economical rigor and ignore some of the hype. Liquidity and fractional ownership are two of those overhyped benefits of security tokens that they don’t quite correlate with the current state of the space.
Offering a liquidity channel to investors in alternative illiquid assets might become the greatest benefits of security tokens but is far from being trivial. For starters, liquidity in the security token space is limited at best and I feel many platforms are taking it for granted. One of the things I like about the Securitize platform, is that they seem to be one of the few that have presented a thoughtful and pragmatic approach when comes to liquidity models. Most of the security token offering(STOs) in the space have been undersubscribed and growing up that investor community is not an easy endeavor. Additionally, we need to factor in the company angle. As a private company, do you really want to have thousands of investors that are actively trading your tokens/shares? In the best case scenario, I can tell you that model doesn’t work for all companies as it opens the door to all sorts of gamified governance issues and can become a distraction from the real goals of the business.
Now let’s take fractional ownership. How many people do you think get excited about owning 1% of a Cezanne? Fractional ownership is a super interesting concept but, in my opinion, is more practical when comes to dividend-generating assets such as real estate leases and it might become unpractical in many other cases.
If liquidity and fractional ownership are not slam dunk benefits of security tokens then what is it? Let’s take a look at programmable regulation or as Professor McKeon calls it automated compliance.
Security Tokens as a Regulation Amplifier
Here is main takeaway of this essay and a very simple idea that made me change my perspectives about security tokens:
“Security tokens amplify existing regulatory frameworks into the crypto space and makes them programmable.”
Hopefully the idea didn’t sound completely stupid and you are still here 😉. Let me try to explain. For years, regulators have struggled trying to adapt compliance models from different types of financial products to crypto-assets. Most of those attempts have been futile as crypto-assets don’t behave like traditional financial asset classes; they are programmable, traded simultaneously on multiple exchanges, globally available, they don’t strictly behave like securities nor as commodities and dozens of other unique characteristics. As a result, most financial regulatory models simply don’t apply in the crypto space. We need a bridge that adapts existing regulatory frameworks to the crypto-assets. SECURITY TOKENS IS THAT BRIDGE!
Security tokens are the first type of regulated crypto-asset but its much more than that. Security tokens amplifies existing regulatory frameworks into the crypto space. Using security tokens as a vehicle, many regulatory models across different geographies can be adapted to the crypto world. Even more importantly, security tokens open the door to programmable regulation model.
Programmable Regulation
The notion of programmable regulation is an adaptation of the famous “the code is law” Ethereum mantra for the security token space. Programmable regulation is simply the idea of building regulatory, compliance and governance rules as smart contracts that can run across different blockchains. We are already seeing the first versions of this in basic forms of know-your-customer(KYC) and anti-money-laundering(AML) rules built into the first generation of security token platforms. Although universally adopted, KYC and AML are some of the most basic forms of regulations and definitely insufficient for the mainstream adoption of security tokens. However, programmable regulation allow us to use security tokens as a vehicle to program almost any regulatory model into enforceable smart contracts that can be used by different crypto-products.
Programmable regulation is a very abstract term and it doesn’t translate into a single technological approach. From an initial analysis, we can identify different types of programmable regulation that are relevant in the current generation of security token platforms:
· Token-Based Regulation: A crypto token is the atomic representation of any financial transaction in the crypto-asset space and, consequently, the smallest unit that can be regulated. Embedding regulatory and compliance rules into crypto tokens is certainly the most efficient form of programmable regulation. Harbor pioneered this approach with the introduction of the R-Token standard that has been adopted by other security token platforms.
· Composable-Token Regulation: I struggle to find a better name for this concept ☹ but here is the idea: As concepts such as the Harbor R-Token become more mainstream, we are likely to see variation of R-Tokens that serve as shell tokens to enforce specific types of regulation. For instance, suppose that we have a group of security tokens that represent commercial real estate leases in Manhattan and we would like to trade them in exchanges hosted in the European Union but that requires to be compliant with different regulatory models. In that scenario, we can imagine a Real Estate EU R-Token that aggregates the individual R-Tokens and enforces the EU regulations. This is a great example of programmable regulation.
· Exchange-Based Regulation: Many regulatory rules in security tokens can’t be expressed at the token level as they express more complex rules such as custody models, liquidity terms, etc. Security token exchanges like OpenFinance have the opportunity of creating programmable models that represent these regulatory constructs.
· Party-Based Regulation: A security token platform involves different parties such as issuers, auditors, escrow providers, legal delegates and many others. These parties are also subjected to regulatory models that can be programmed as smart contract. For instance, imagine a smart contract that abstracts the regulatory rules that need to be followed by any law firm within the European Union that is involved in the due diligence of security tokens. The Securitize platform includes the notion of a Compliance Service that sorts of serves that role.
Just as utility tokens and cryptocurrencies have become forms of programmable money, security tokens have the opportunity of becoming vehicles for programmable regulation. In this early days, the idea of programmable regulation can be, arguably, considered the greatest contribution of the security token space. | https://medium.com/coinmonks/a-different-way-to-think-about-security-tokens-programmable-regulation-78f785fbd21a | ['Jesus Rodriguez'] | 2018-07-24 13:54:33.036000+00:00 | ['Cryptocurrency', 'Token Sale', 'Regulation', 'Security Token', 'Blockchain'] |
Superbusty Sabrina | Superbusty Sabrina
photo by author of actual girl in the story
Let me say one thing before I begin: I‘m not one of those guys who goes stark raving mad for a huge set of delicious DDD’s! Yeah, I like big juggs as much as the next guy. But they don’t turn me into a quivering mass of fetal jelly like they do other men. Until I received the pictures of Sabrina in my e-mail box, that is. And then, bam! I was a big jugg man!
The incredible size…the smoothness…the weight. Ah! They just made me drool and throb, and had my heart beating like a hammer in anticipation of getting my grimy paws all over those wonders of nature. Egad! The feminine pulchritude was mind-boggling.
So I called to set up an Escort of the Month feature for Miss Honey. And was I ever glad I did. With all the insecure women in the world sporting those dopey non-hard-on inducing implants, here was finally a girl next door type blessed with 20 pounds of oh so suckable and supple slurpies!
Of course, being the man-about-town that I surely am (not), I didn’t want to wear my heart on my sleeve (so to speak) and jump the girl the moment I walked in the room. So I waited about three seconds before I couldn’t resist but tackle Sabrina to start sucking on those huge melons. Just kidding, guys.
Upon arrival, I was escorted into a small, cozy, and ambiently-lit room where Sabrina met me with a smile and a hug. And can this girl talk with her tits or what. You know…the type of lady who just rubs those big, soft things all over you like she doesn’t even know the havoc she’s wrought inside your pants?!?!
And it was excellent. I have had so many girls hug me hi and bye pressing those man-made softballs against my chest. What a joke next to the real thing. If any girl could get inside my brain and understand how I feel about implants versus real big naturals, they wouldn’t even bother spending two cents on those aberrations.
And the funny thing about Sabrina is that she’s a tit girl! As soon as I eased my rascal into her tightness she began feeling me up…palming my little chest and tweaking the nipples as I stretched her ever so gently.
“Oh mami! Te gusta mis tetas?” I teased her. A smile lit across her face as she continued feeling me up. I kind of lay on my side, curled up and nuzzled her delicious endowment, sucking them gently all while I stayed deep inside her pussy. Sometimes it pays to be a contortionist what with being able to perform both tasks simultaneously. But where there’s a will…there’s a way!
After a few positions etc., the half-hour was up and I blew a nice load deep inside Miss Sabrina. Rather than roll me off and rush me out, Sabrina began massaging my back while I was still on top of her.
Nice touch! I can’t remember the last time a girl did that for me. Amateur or pro! And best of all, while I was talking to the boss, Sabrina came up and buried my face in her juggs.
Yum! The madam had a “what the fuck is going on?” type look on her face. And all I did was treat the girl like she’s actually a human being — and not a receptacle for my unbridled lust. Go figure!
And while I’m at it, here’s a guide to how to handle yourself in a ho house so you can get the best session possible: | https://medium.com/having-sex-with-escorts/superbusty-sabrina-88c4cfb50b8c | ['William', 'Dollar Bill'] | 2020-12-25 15:09:46.233000+00:00 | ['Sex', 'Erotica', 'Sex Workers', 'Education', 'Culture'] |
Тайны следствия 20 сезон 23 серия // смотреть онлайн | An optimist is a man who is chased up a tree by a lion but enjoys the scenery anyway (Walter Winchell) | https://medium.com/@john10697117/%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BD%D1%8B-%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B4%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%8F-20-%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%BE%D0%BD-23-%D1%81%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%8C-%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BD-fd38462b5d35 | [] | 2020-12-27 09:16:10.106000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Belarus'] |
How Project Kooda Found Product-Market Fit During Lockdown | Quick background
We spent the first few months of 2020 running a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for our company, Project Kooda. We’d just developed a platform designed to use an AI-people mix to match high-skill freelancers up with companies that needed them on a contract basis.
Project Kooda Companies page
After releasing this successful MVP, companies were lining up, ready and committed to using our product. We also had freelance-professionals signing up left, right, and centre.
But just two weeks into our public launch in South Africa, a national lockdown was announced, followed by the issuing of a National State of Disaster due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
The breath was totally knocked out of our business. All the verbal commitments we had fell by the wayside. We were left wondering what we should do next. We couldn’t help but think that our business prospects had ended before we’d even had a chance to begin to build something great.
But as all good entrepreneurs do, we chose to find the opportunity present in the crisis before us. We found that the protracted lockdown had a severe impact on the local economy, and many firms responded with waves of retrenchments. This meant two things:
Many highly skilled people were suddenly looking for freelance jobs; and, Many companies had just started looking for ways to keep their businesses operational, despite the gaps left by the retrenchments they had just made.
We soon realised that our product was perfectly suited and adapted to solve the problems firms were facing as a result of the lockdown. We figured that if we simply kept pushing, we’d be soaring once the initial scare of the lockdown died down. It was only set to last a few weeks, after all…
“We need this yesterday!..call us back in 6 months’ time”
A few weeks into the national lockdown, and after spending countless hours meeting with corporates across the country, we did not feel like we were making any significant progress. We were trying to convince businesses that hiring freelancers would not only keep them operational at a fraction of the cost, but it would also provide much-needed relief to the recently unemployed. Most businesses felt the same way we did, and could see the value of our product — but were still unable to commit to it.
But why was this the case?
“decision fatigue refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual after a long session of decision making. It is now understood as one of the causes of irrational trade-offs in decision making.”
- Roy Baumeister, in The Psychology of Irrationality
Roy seems to sum up their reasoning perfectly. Nose-diving sales, retrenchments, restructuring, and salary cuts left decision-makers at companies exhausted and unable to commit to anything — even a product perfectly suited to their situation.
Fair enough, but we knew that we needed to see an uptick in user adoption soon. If we didn’t, the writing would be on the wall for our business.
In an effort to solve our problem, we started listening more intently to our prospective clients. We tried to pay attention to the ‘meta’ of what they were saying. Our thought process was that when a client says, for example, “we’re just too busy”, that shouldn’t be taken as a sign to come back later — it should be taken as a signal that your product is being perceived as something time consuming and complex.
Anybody that has worked in operations knows full-well of the pains of new process creation and rollout. Documentation, training, meetings…nightmare.
Project Kooda regularly cuts lead-times in half, but only after companies have completed their onboarding and received training to use the service. It became clear that the barrier to entry was just too high for teams that were already under capacity and stretched to their limits.
Back to the drawing board
After a sneaky, curfew-breaking emergency meeting at one of our co-founders’ homes, we began workshopping. We decided that we needed to build a new tool that would address all of the issues that we’d picked up on. We resolved that the tool needed to:
Be accessible to small businesses. Lockdown seemed to impact SME’s the worst, our product needed to be financially attainable to them. Have an ultra-low barrier to entry. No more lengthy onboarding processes or long-term commitment. Immediately demonstrate value. Whatever we developed, we wanted to deliver bite-sized value at the point of entry. Keep freelancer experience at the center of our design. How could we claim to have the best freelance experts in SA without treating them as such?
After a grueling two-week sprint, we designed and built Kooda Connect — a subdivision of Project Kooda.
The product allows anyone to instantly book a call with an industry leader to chat about a problem they are facing. Tax, Legal, B-BBEE, Cyber Security, Marketing, and Cloud experts at the fingertips of anybody who needs them, at a fraction of the normal costs associated with that degree of consultancy.
The best part? No sign-up required. Simply find an expert in the field you’re looking for help with, book time in their built-in calendar (which integrates directly with their personal calendar, so you can trust the timeslots), and pay right on the spot via our integrated payment gateway.
So what happens if your session extends beyond advice and requires work to be done? Well, Project Kooda has readily built-in tools to help you manage that full project lifecycle, all in one place, without skipping a beat.
Kooda Connect
With a handful of top local and international freelancers, we launched our product.
Traction
Right after we started talking to companies about Kooda Connect, we realised that we had created something that resonated with them. Bookings started flowing in, and so did the feedback that would help us improve our offering. Companies have reported that our service halves the price of their current consultancy providers and delivers results within days, rather than months. We also saw a massive uptick in the number of freelance contracts being created and managed via Project Kooda, almost all of which started off with a consultancy session on Kooda Connect. Our product finally began to generate revenue and more importantly, deliver on our promise to help freelancers access more reliable work.
On the freelancer side, we wanted to create an experience that was 10 times better than anything available, anywhere else. After speaking to hundreds of Freelancers, we identified that their number one frustration was the need to spend most of their time finding work, with very little time doing the actual work that they enjoy. We couldn’t agree more - and we used this insight to further shape our product design. Validation came when many of our beta freelancers started asking for links to their profiles to send on to prospective clients. Their feedback was that they found it far easier than managing bookings and payments manually. Their time is taken more seriously because we charge for it, which makes them more comfortable with adding value right out the gates (improving the client experience in the process).
Key takeaways
So what were our learnings over the past few months? Since lockdown is more or less over, we’ve removed the tips for dealing with working from home during load-shedding, as well as how to cope with people that aren’t aware that their camera is on during Zoom meetings. I’ve summarised our core learnings below:
Listen to your users’ problems, not their solutions. We’ve all heard it before — ‘it’d be great if it could do this..’ or ‘it’d be SO cool if it could do that…’. We went down the rabbit hole of thinking that if we simply built what companies had asked for, we’d be in the green. This proved to be wrong time and again, and cost us many precious hours at the start of lockdown. The simple truth is, it is your customers’ job to tell you about their problem, and your job to create the solution. Hold your problem and customers tightly, hold on to your solution loosely. We knew the problem existed, and that our solution had faults, but the prospect of re-building was so scary that we had initially considered moving our service to at other markets as a fix. We ultimately decided that we had set out to solve a problem and were damn well going to solve it, and we are very glad that we did. Project Kooda (our original product) is starting to look like a fantastic success. The reason it didn’t work initially was because new concepts require iteration and innovation. That came to us in the form of rethinking the path of entry for companies. Your solution needs to be 10 times better than the original. The source of Kooda’s traction was not our relationships with companies — it came from our top freelancers loving the product so much that they wanted to funnel all of their work through it. A product that changes the game is never just a little bit better than the competition. It has to make people wince at the idea of ever returning to the old way of doing things. Can you imagine going back to sending letters by post now that we’ve got instant messaging and email?
Looking forward
South Africa has a lot of rebuilding to do post-lockdown. We’re working hard to get sustainable work for as many talented freelancers as possible, and to help companies rise back up into stronger, more lean entities. We believe that the best way to take on the challenge ahead is by helping high-skill individuals transition into freelance consulting work, and to help companies form and implement strategies to incorporate freelancers into their workspace.
We’d love to hear about your learnings during lockdown. Please submit them as an email to [email protected] | https://medium.com/swlh/how-project-kooda-found-product-market-fit-during-lockdown-a40dde6dd007 | ['Joshua Minsk'] | 2020-10-12 14:57:20.213000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'South Africa', 'Business', 'Product Market Fit', 'Covid'] |
i think i have an eating disorder | Hi…I made my Medium account a few seconds ago. I heard about it on TikTok. I really just wanted a place to write down my thoughts and feelings anonymously in hopes of someone out there being able to relate to me. In no way am I a professional. I’m just a teen who goes through stuff and has no one to talk to.
I’m 13, yet I’ve already found myself having to deal with multiple mental issues. Recently, one of the biggest problems I’ve faced is my body. I can’t help but have to nit pick every single things that’s wrong with it. I can’t help but feel disgusted when I look in the mirror, compare myself to every girl I see, or feel ashamed when I eat the tiniest thing. I feel like I’m not in control.
The first thing I think about in the morning is food. But not because I’m hungry, but because I’m telling myself over and over, “You can’t eat anything today.” And everyday I listen to that voice. I try and hide it from my parents. The constant excuse of, “I’m not hungry,” is second nature. However, among those words that are trying to tell me not to eat, there are other conflicting voices. Ones telling me, “Just take one bite.” A battle in my head. Do I eat? Do I starve? I want to lose weight. But you’re so hungry. I close the fridge. Open the fridge. Close the pantry. Open the pantry.
Some days the starving voice wins, and I barely eat a full three meals. But most of the time, the voice telling me to eat conquers. But when I listen, I don’t eat just take one bite. I lose control and suddenly I’m eating everything in sight. In those moments all I think is, food food food. But then after, the guilt consumes me. I put down what I was eating. Think for a moment…and suddenly I’m not hungry anymore. I’m now ashamed. Most of the time there are tears and yet another voice tells me how fat and hideous I am.
It’s tiring. It’s so so tiring. I wish that just food could just be food again.
im honestly treating this like my own personal journal | https://medium.com/@misscheddarswap/i-think-i-have-an-eating-disorder-6da95ed550bf | [] | 2020-12-18 18:23:39.468000+00:00 | ['Personal', 'Mental Health', 'Journal', 'Eatingdisorders', 'Teenagers'] |
Crypto Airdrops May 12 | Crypto Airdrops May 12
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OKEx Crypto Signup Bonus
Bonus for Signup OKEx, formerly called OKCoin and known as OKCasino, was the BitMEX of 2015 but has fallen out of favour since. They are now running a similar campaign as Coinbase did to get their signup rates up: If you sign up and buy 100 USD worth of BTC, you get 10 USD bonus.
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New on the crypto trading blog:
🚀 New DISCOUNT CODES in Eternal Black Friday 💭 | https://medium.com/cryptolounge/crypto-airdrops-may-12-6d42a0c2e957 | ['Atnet', 'Airdrops', 'Trading'] | 2020-05-12 05:15:45.626000+00:00 | ['Primedice', 'Airdrop', 'Crypto Airdrop'] |
GDE Journey — Sayak Paul. Highlights about the experiences I… | I am a GDE
GDE Journey — Sayak Paul
Highlights about the experiences I gathered throughout the GDE program in one year.
I first came across the term “Google Developers Expert” (GDE) back in 2018 during DevFest Kolkata where a GDE in Flutter Pawan Kumar gave a talk. After going through the details of the program I got immensely interested to join it. Folks have different reasons to join the program and here are the ones that genuinely inspired me —
Learning and sharing is definitely one of the defining characteristics of my life. It’s a value that got instilled in me during my stint at TCS. The GDE program promotes and encourages this culture to a great extent and even rewards for it.
My feedback to the respective Google product areas (for an ML-GDE this is primarily TensorFlow but it’s also opened to a number of different GCP’s AI-related offerings) could have a real impact on the future development of the products. [ML — Machine Learning]
Mentoring different technology startups to help them bring the most out of technology to solve real-world challenging problems.
Back in 2018 around December, I first applied for the program without knowing that I was not yet at par with the requirements of being a GDE (in Machine Learning). You might be technically very sound in your domain but the most important thing that sets a GDE apart is their community contributions in terms of content, open-source projects, speaking endeavors, etc. A GDE should demonstrate and exercise this part genuinely.
Without depression getting around my way (I am stronger than a mere state of mind) I began working on myself, building my chops, honing in my technical skills, giving back to the communities in different ways. With a lot of courage, I applied again but this time as well, I was not meeting the requirements.
It was only a signal telling me I needed more improvement, more self-retrospection. I tried my best and I am continuing to make myself better and I always will. Remember, I am stronger than any negative state of mind, I needed to work harder not just to crack the program but also to improve myself as a professional and most importantly as a human being.
We are still somewhere around March 2019 and let me fast-forward a bit to May 21, 2019.
May 21, 2019 — I got accepted as an ML-GDE
Finally, I was ready to congratulate myself, thank my parents, and the community members whom I attribute this acceptance to. I am pleased to complete one year in the program today. Saying this journey was a roller-coaster would be an understatement. To this day, I would state the following loud and clear once and for all —
I am thankful and humbled each day to be able to live my passion.
Getting accepted to the program was just a small tip of an iceberg I would say. It’s your actions that define you as a GDE and also separate you clearly. One of my personal goals after being in the program was to grow both technically and socially. Here are a couple of things that I am humbled to enlist to that end —
I am a firm believer in the thought — “Action speaks louder than words!” So, I would just leave a link to my personal website below (it contains the interview series I run, the blog posts I write, the sessions I take and other things) —
Google for Startups is an equity-free program that supports technology-focused startups that are working on solving real-world problems. It provides support by offering GCP credits, providing mentorship across both technical and non-technical domains, and so on. I am quite excited to have engaged myself as a Google for Startups mentor; I got to interact with a number of very intelligent Machine Learning Practitioners and their ways of solving challenging problems made me learn a lot of things in the process. It was also extremely endearing to know a startup enrolled in the program was able to utilize the suggestions I had shared and improve the performance of their Machine Learning models.
Google for Startups was previously known as Launchpad. Spot me if you can in the picture (it’s from Launchpad Accelerator 2019 Batch III).
Explore ML and Build for Digital India Academies and Bootcamps are a very significant highlight from 2019 and 2020 as well. I go to act as a speaker and a mentor for both the programs and most importantly, I got to learn a hell lot of things from amazing students. Be it a cool new model architecture, be it an interesting augmentation technique, be it just about the problem itself, there was so much productivity on the table. It was a glorious learning experience for me to say the least.
Two of the most important highlights for me between 2019 and 2020: Explore ML and Build for Digital India
I have always loved to interact with students, learn from them, and provide my guidance whenever necessary. Google Code-in (GCI) is a program that encourages school students to kickstart their journeys in the beautiful world of open-source technology. I got to participate in the program as a mentor for TensorFlow and provide my guidance to the wonderful school students. It’s safe enough to say that their coding skills and thought process gave me a solid validation check. Please take a look at the following blog post by Rick (a GCI winner for TensorFlow) to know more about the overall GCI experience:
I am excited to mentor GSoC 2020 students for TensorFlow. Apart from all the above-mentioned stuff, my life after May 2019 has been stuffed with code, code-reviews, technical articles, collaborative projects, mentorship, product reviews, sessions, etc. I couldn’t have been happier with all these engagements. Here are some collaborative projects I am absolutely proud to be a part of (in no particular order) —
Throughout the past year, I have been fortunate enough to work with some amazing like-minded people — Alessio from FloydHub, Lavanya from Weights and Biases. One of the most beautiful things that happened to me is definitely PyImageSearch. I am thankful to the team (Adrian, Hoffman, Abhishek, McDuffee, and Zubair) which I get to work with every day.
Taken from here
Sharing my position with the other amazing ML-GDEs like Dipanjan Sarkar, Souradip Chakraborty, Aakash Nain, Akshay Bahadur, Margaret, Aurelien always keeps me inspire and to go beyond my comfort zone. I genuinely thank all of you. Also, these are the people I have always admired even before becoming a GDE.
I have always got benefited from the community and I consider myself to be a byproduct of meaningful community engagement. One very important thing I have learned to respect and adapt while being in the GDE program is empathy towards fellow developers. It got even more significant when I began working at PyImageSearch. To the ones, seeking discussions around the areas of my interest, here’s my pinned Tweet —
Lastly but most importantly, I thank the GDE program itself for providing resources for technical developments (be it in form of GCP Credits, be it in form of opportunities to take part in product reviews, be it in form of exclusive content, and so on), for allowing myself to engage more in meaningful ways. I am going to conclude in the words of Leonardo DiCaprio —
Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted.
Thanks for your time, thanks for reading :) | https://medium.com/google-developer-experts/gde-journey-sayak-paul-531c3a5ac7ec | ['Sayak Paul'] | 2020-10-09 03:12:24.065000+00:00 | ['Tech Communities', 'Machine Learning', 'I Am A Gde', 'Google Developer Expert', 'Communities'] |
From ridiculous to real: how Star Trek portrays pregnancy | For all Star Trek got right over the years in terms of representation and tackling important social issues, there are many areas where the franchise could have done better. One in particular is the portrayal of pregnancy.
Deanna Troi and the ‘mystical pregnancy’ trope
In ‘The Child’, the season two opener of The Next Generation (TNG), ship counsellor Deanna Troi is impregnated with an amorphous alien lifeform because it was curious. In order to understand humanity, it wanted to go through the entire lifecycle: to be born, grow and die. The lifeform, however, never asked permission or consent and the scene in which it flits up the bed sheets into her body is shot and scored like an assault. That she experiences no pain during labour and returns to her pre-partum body almost immediately seems small recompense. The only agency she’s given at all is in deciding to have the baby.
It’s curious that Troi, the most overtly sexualised character in TNG, would be forced into the Virgin Mary role with an immaculate conception. Upon finding out, First Officer William Riker, Troi’s sometimes lover, responds with jealousy, demanding to know who the father is. Security Officer Worf, meanwhile, wants to have the child aborted for the safety of the ship. He and Captain Picard even insist on having armed guards present during the labour itself in what has become an apt, if accidental, metaphor for how women’s bodies and reproductive rights are policed and controlled by men.
Readying the birthing chair
It should come as no surprise that the episode itself was written by two men, a fact that’s clear in how much of the emphasis is on the male characters and how Troi deals — or rather isn’t allowed to deal with — the pregnancy, the birth and the fallout of losing the child. By the end of the episode, the focus has shifted to Wesley Crusher requesting to stay on board the Enterprise while Troi just sits there and smiles. Her pregnancy and child are never once mentioned again though, admittedly, that’s as much to do with the episodic nature of the show. It wouldn’t be until Deep Space Nine’s fourth season, eight years later, that Star Trek ‘s representation of pregnancy would progress.
From one womb to another
Kira Nerys, the Bajoran freedom fighter turned Commander in Deep Space Nine (DS9), spends half of season five pregnant. Except the baby isn’t hers. Following an accident, it was transferred from an injured Keiko O’Brien to her own womb to preserve its life. Okay, so there was a narrative need in this example. The plot line was added after the fact to accommodate Nana Visitor’s real-life pregnancy (fun fact: the father was co-star Alexander Siddig).
Visitor has expressed in interviews that she didn’t want to stand behind tables, wear baggy lab coats and suffer smaller screen time as Gates McFadden had in the fourth season of TNG and Roxann Dawson would go on to in the fourth season of Voyager (but more on B’Elanna later). Therefore, this plot was written into the show and, for once, it isn’t just used as an easy solution or cheap joke. In true Trek fashion, it uses science fiction to explore human issues and drama. What would it be like to have your unborn child transferred into another woman to save its life? It’s a shame that the episode, season four’s ‘Body Parts’, doesn’t spend more time on this with the pregnancy serving only the as the B plot, with many of those scenes framed around the male experience. We see what Miles O’Brien thinks about it all, but not enough of how Keiko and Kira are handling it. They do have one brief scene together and the fact Visitor is actually pregnant adds a reality and gravitas to their interaction.
Kira during her pain-free Bajoran labour
As before, Kira’s labour in ‘The Begotten’ becomes a backdrop, this time to Odo’s elating experience with a baby shapeshifter. In this instance, however, both plots are thematically linked with a kind of mutual understanding reached at the end between Kira and Odo who, in a manner of speaking, has lost a child himself. Kira confesses that she never wanted a baby but after giving the child back to its biological parents, all she wanted to do was to hold him and never let him go. Although it’s revealed that Bajorans have somewhat different physiology to humans, this is a fundamentally human response which gives the episode a poignant ending. Sadly, this falls by the wayside rather than becoming a part of Kira’s ongoing character arc. Part of this undoubtedly lies with the fact that these key episodes were both written by men. In fact, only one episode of the entire run in which Kira is pregnant is written by a woman, and it’s a co-writing story credit at that. Things took a leap forward with Voyage r, a show that had female representation coded into its DNA.
Authentic pregnancy and B’Elanna as Madonna
B’Elanna Torres’ pregnancy is something of a milestone in Star Trek for several reasons, being the first main character to conceive through sex. Though this was a progressive pregnancy by Star Trek standards, there were aspects which were still stuck in the past. Although B’Elanna and Tom’s child wasn’t planned, they were married before the baby was conceived — heaven forbid American audiences be exposed to a child, even one that’s part alien, born out of wedlock. And while the pregnancy wasn’t supernaturally induced or written to cover up real life, one episode’s problem-of-the-week ended up making the unborn child mystical anyway.
That episode, ‘Prophecy’, was one of only three during B’Elanna’s entire pregnancy which was written, if only in part, by a woman. In all cases, the teleplay was co-written by Phyllis Strong who would go on to serve as co-producer on Enterprise. In ‘Prophecy’, the Voyager crew come across more familiar faces in the Delta Quadrant after encountering a crew of Klingons. It turns out that their ancestors set out on a mission to find a child of prophecy one hundred years before. When they see B’Elanna and her brow ridges and the swell of her stomach, they immediately think they’ve discovered the so-called saviour of the Klingon race. In so doing, they deify her unborn child, but their belief also forces B’Elanna into a Madonna role, albeit an angry one — these are still Klingons, after all. As the episode progresses, it’s clear that it’s less about B’Elanna and her pregnancy and more about faith, with the pregnancy used to advance the story of the Klingons.
B’Elanna and her beautiful quarter-Klingon baby, Miral
Across this run of episodes, B’Elanna’s pregnancy becomes part of the patchwork as she continues to fulfil her role as Chief Engineer, save for some food cravings and a larger appetite. In the series finale, she’s convinced that the baby is coming and rushes off with Tom to see the Doctor. But as so often occurs in real life, it’s a false alarm. They’re sent away and told to come back later. It might seem a small thing, but it’s moments like these that ring true to real women and their experiences of pregnancy and labour. Unlike Troi’s and Kira’s labours which were both pain free, the little we see of B’Elanna’s is much closer to reality. Yes, it’s used more for a punchline, but it’s certainly a step up. Unfortunately, the next major character that would fall pregnant chronologically was a real step backwards.
Trip and the misguided nature of male pregnancies
It wasn’t until the fifth iteration of Star Trek, 2001’s Enterprise, that an overt male pregnancy was put front and centre — at least for one episode before it was almost entirely forgotten. It’s by no means a terrible episode and there’s certainly potential in the idea, but the trouble is, it’s all played for laughs.
Trip Tucker, the Chief Engineer aboard Enterprise, is inadvertently impregnated during a seemingly innocuous game aboard an alien vessel. He soon develops a nipple on his wrist, although the episode never actually explains whether the alien young are milk fed. As his own nipples would have sufficed, this is instead played as body horror, and turns breastfeeding into something gross and abhorrent. Coupled with these physical changes are emotional and hormonal shifts that see Trip’s appetite increase and his sense of taste changing. In a rare nuanced moment, he comments that the scrambled egg almost tastes real. Other than that, he’s told he can probably expect to be nauseous in the morning, and he starts seeing the ship as a death trap for little ones in a display of clichéd maternal hysteria.
That’ll need more than a trip to the doctor
We’re informed that this is the first recorded incident in Starfleet history of a male becoming pregnant and, hopefully, it’s the last. There’s still a lot of work to be done in the writer’s room about representing traditional pregnancy and labour before returning to this one.
To boldly go…
In its fifty-plus year history, Star Trek has showcased a myriad of pregnancies, from main characters right through to whales. Excluding The Original Series, a major character falls pregnant in every iteration, even in Discove ry with the Klingon L’Rell. Despite that, the franchise still has a long way to go. Imagine a pregnancy that isn’t played for laughs, that doesn’t take a back seat to the main plot, and one which rings true to real life. Perhaps that’s one spectacle too many. | https://raisingarebel.medium.com/from-ridiculous-to-real-how-star-trek-portrays-pregnancy-4105e55c4959 | ['Raising A Rebel'] | 2019-10-24 16:44:22.706000+00:00 | ['Feminism', 'Star Trek', 'Pregnancy'] |
[ANNOUNCEMENT] Linker Coin 4th Cross Airdrop Collaboration | [ANNOUNCEMENT] Linker Coin 4th Cross Airdrop Collaboration
Linker Coin is back with the second cross-airdrop collaboration news! This time, we have collaborated with three partnering projects and their name will be revealed one by one today!
Followed by the two partnering projects, BITRUST and VRT World, the last project is…
Cryptocurrency business and educational platform, “Taklimakan Network(TKLN)”
“Linker Coin Cross-Airdrop collaboration with BITRUST(BTF), VRT World(VRT), and Taklimakan Network(TKLN)!”
Thank you for your love and interest in Linker Coin and our partnering projects.
See the previous cross-airdrop announcement with Aeron : https://medium.com/linkercoin/linkercoin-cross-airdrop-arn-bdb00af15f8e
Cross-Airdrop Schedule
Week 3, April — Aeron(ARN) / Snapshot : May 7, 2018 12:01 a.m.(GMT+9), Distribution : May 9, 2018
Week 4, April — BITRUST(BTF), VRT World(VRT), Taklimakan Network(TKLN) / will be happening after the listing of BTF in an exchange
Week 2, May — To be revealed
Week 3, May — To be revealed
Week 4, May — To be revealed
•
•
More Airdrops are on its way!
1. BITRUST(BTF)
BITRUST is a blockchain-based insurance service project. The main focus of BITRUST is to launch ‘Blockchain insurance’ in which investors are guaranteed with the value of cryptocurrency that they hold. BITRUST made it possible using the unforgeability and transparency of smart contract.
BITRUST official website : https://bitrust.co.uk/index_ko.html
2. VRT World(VRT)
VRT World as a blockchain VR market platform connects the VR entertainment industry, blockchain technology, developers, and players with each other. VRT World is planning on having VR parks all around the world where players can enjoy VR!
VRT World official website : https://vrt.world/en
3. Taklimakan Network(TKLN)
With Taklimakan, cryptocurrency investors and analysts are able to share information such as trading services, investment pools, analytic articles, cloud prediction service, and many others. All about building a better crypto society!
Taklimakan Network official website : https://taklimakan.io/
Cross-airdrop is only done with partner company’s goodwill.
Therefore, we can’t assure you about information such as date/ amount / posibility of airdrop. Please note that date/ amount / posibility of airdrop can be changed upon partner company’s condition.
[お知らせ]リンカコイン4th Cross AirDropのご案内
“今週クロスエアドロップを３つのパートナー社と共にします。 各パートナー社は、一つずつ公開される予定です”
BitrustとVRT Worldに続いて最後に公開されるパートナー社は！
暗号通貨ビジネス、教育プラットフォーム”Taklimakan Network”です。
リンカコインとクロスエアドロップをする全てのパートナー社に応援願います。
ありがとうございます。
今までのクロスエアドロップお知らせせ:https://blog.naver.com/linkercoin/221255996447
クロスエアドロップスケジュール
4月3週エアドロップ–Aeron(ARN)スナップショットの時点:5月7日00時01分(配分の日程5月9日予定)
4月4週エアドロップ–Bitrust(BTF), VRT Wolrd(VRT),Taklimakan Network -上場の後配分予定
5月2週エアドロップ-?
5月3週エアドロップ-?
5月4週エアドロップ-?
１．BITRUSTとは?
ブロックチェーンを基盤にする保険サービスのプロジェクトでブロックチェーンの透明性及び偽造不可能性とスマートコントラクト
の契約履行保証を通じて暗号通貨の価値を保障できるブロックチェーンの保険を発売するのを目標とします。
Bitrust公式ウェブサイト:https://bitrust.co.uk/index_ko.html
２．VRT Worldとは?
ブロックチェーン基盤VR・マーケットのプラットフォームとして開発者とプレーヤー、ビジネスを連結し、世界各地にVRパークをオープンする予定です。
VRT Worldの公式ウェブサイト:https://vrt.world/en
3. Taklimakan Networkとは?
暗号通貨の投資者とトレーダー、分析者など、お互いのユーザーを相互連結するプラットフォームでトレーディングサービス、投資プール、分析情報、クラウド予測サービスなどを提供する予定です。
Taklimakan Networkの公式ウェブサイト:https://taklimakan.io/
[공지] 링커코인 4th Cross Airdrop 안내
“이번주 크로스 에어드랍 진행 할 3개의 파트너사를 모두 공개합니다”
Bitrust(비트러스트)와 VRT World(브이알티월드)에 이어
마지막으로 공개 될 파트너사는 바로!
암호화폐 비즈니스, 교육 플랫폼 “ Taklimakan Network(타클리마칸 네트워크)” 입니다.
링커코인과 크로스 에어드랍을 진행하는 모든 파트너사에 많은 관심 부탁드립니다.
감사합니다.
크로스 에어드랍 관련 지난 공지 보기 클릭 :
https://blog.naver.com/linkercoin/221255996447
크로스 에어드랍 스케쥴
4월 3주 에어드랍 — Aeron(ARN) 스냅샷 시점 : ５월 ７일 ００시０１분 (분배 일정 5월 9일 예정)
4월 4주 에어드랍 — Bitrust(BTF) ,VRT Wolrd(VRT), Taklimakan Network — 상장 후 배분 예정
5월 2주 에어드랍 — ?
5월 3주 에어드랍 — ?
5월 4주 에어드랍 — ?
1. BITRUST(비트러스트)?
블록체인 기반 보험 서비스 프로젝트로 블록체인의 투명성 및 위조불가능성과 스마트 컨트랙트의 계약 이행 보증을 통해 암호화폐의 가치를 보장할 수 있는 블록체인 보험을 출시 한다는 것을 목표로 합니다.
Bitrust 공식 웹사이트: https://bitrust.co.uk/index_ko.html
2. VRT World(브이알티월드)?
블록체인 기반 VR 마켓 플랫폼으로 개발자와 플레이어, 비즈니스를 연결하며 세계 각지에 VR 파크를 오픈 할 예정 입니다.
VRT World 공식 웹사이트: https://vrt.world/en
3. Taklimakan Network(타클리마칸 네트워크)?
암호화폐 투자자와 트레이더, 분석가 등 서로 다른 사용자를 상호 연결하는 플랫폼으로 이들에게 트레이딩 서비스, 투자풀, 분석정보, 클라우드 예측 서비스 등을 제공 할 예정 입니다.
Taklimakan Network 공식 웹사이트 : https://taklimakan.io/
*크로스에어드랍은 지급주체인 파트너사 호의에 의해 진행되는 이벤트입니다.
*당사는 일시/수량/지급여부를 보장할 수 없다는 점 인지해 주시기 바랍니다.
파트너사(지급자)의 사정에 따라 일시/수량/지급여부가 변경될 수 있습니다. | https://medium.com/linkercoin/announcement-linker-coin-4th-cross-airdrop-collaboration-68fb230d0947 | ['Exnomy X Linkercoin'] | 2018-07-29 07:57:55.867000+00:00 | ['Bitcoin', 'Linkercoin', 'Snapshot', 'Airdrop'] |
5 Benefits Of Sheer Curtains You Should Know | Sheer curtains have become all the rage with fashionistas and home decorators alike. While they may seem like a simple concept, there’s more to sheer curtains than meets the eye. Here are just five of the benefits of sheer curtains:
1) Light Control — Think of sheer curtains as a window dressing for your windows. For a bedroom that needs a little extra shut-eye, simply add a sheer curtain to any window. Not only will it allow you to block out the early morning sun, but it can also take an ordinary window and make it look like a stunning feature.
2) Privacy — In addition to light control, sheer curtains are great for when you want added privacy. If you’re entertaining guests in the living room and would like to maintain some privacy, simply add a sheer curtain across one of your windows for quick and easy privacy.
3) Sun Protection — A lot of curtains out now are designed to protect against sun damage, but sheer curtains can do this job at half the price. Sun damage not only causes fading to your curtains but also damages the furniture too. Sheer curtains are a great way of protecting against sun damage without having to spend out on expensive blinds.
4) Blind Replacement — If you have an older window in your home, sheer curtains are a good alternative for when you need to replace or want to update your blinds. After a few years, even the best blinds will start to fade and become discolored. Sheer curtains can be a cost-effective alternative while still providing you with some of the benefits of blinds.
5) Style — While this may sound like a “no-brainer,” there is no denying that sheer curtains are the perfect way to add style and flair to any room. Whether you choose white sheer curtains or black sheer curtains, they can transform your room into something beautiful. | https://medium.com/@cavin3002/5-benefits-of-sheer-curtains-you-should-know-fdca69a0eb0b | [] | 2021-09-11 11:23:58.534000+00:00 | ['Furniture', 'Sheer Curtains', 'Home Decor', 'Curtains', 'Home Improvement'] |
If I Wasn’t a Writer — I Would Be a Fighter Pilot | This article is in response to a writing challenge posed by Sherry McGuinn answering the question — “What would you be if you weren’t a writer?” This challenge was made within the ILLUMINATION publication, but I am choosing to pull in some of those outside the publication as an extension of Sherry’s challenge. So, if you have no idea why you were tagged in this, or what in the world is going on, that is why.
Without further ado, if I wasn’t a writer, I would be a fighter pilot. But before we get into that story, I need to lead with this one:
Before I was a writer, I was a firefighter.
I spent 26 years in the fire service, two as volunteer then 24 professional full-time years. I worked in a variety of roles including firefighter, fire engine driver, paramedic, fire engine captain, division chief in charge of EMS, assistant chief over a variety of divisions and also interim fire chief. The big boss. Which, in a city fire department is really just a middle manager in the city services, but the title is cool: THE Fire Chief.
I have run into burning buildings many times. Kicked in doors, cut up roofs and walls of buildings with chain saws to ventilate them, bashed in windows, driven really fast with the lights and sirens on, blown the air horn therapeutically at drivers that wouldn’t move over, brought people back to life, watched helplessly while people died in spite of our best efforts, administered Narcan way before anyone even knew what Narcan was, paralyzed people and put a tube in to assist in breathing, stuck needles directly into peoples’ hearts, and lain awake at night at home second-guessing whether there was anything I could have done better to make a difference.
I have been on television and in the newspaper many times. Here we are cutting up some poor family’s very fancy roof after the husband caught it on fire using a propane torch to loosen up old paint under the eaves. We chased the fire around for hours as it smoldered its way through the densely layered cedar shake roof. I am in the red helmet in the ladder truck bucket. | https://medium.com/illumination/if-i-wasnt-a-writer-i-would-be-a-fighter-pilot-112aacf3a21c | ['Timothy Key'] | 2020-04-17 23:48:42.277000+00:00 | ['Leadership', 'Writing', 'Dreams', 'Innovation', 'Self-awareness'] |
The Flow | The Flow
Poem Inspired by my Muse and a 17-minute walk at 2 am under the stars
Photo by Dave Hoefler on Unsplash
Where shall I start? This morning? Last night? Does it matter? Does the structure of the poem about without routine require a beginning and an end?
I didn’t know what it was about when first I was in my idea, pace, think, pace more mode, but then again, inside of course knew
I woke a little after 00:00, very groggy, no, dissociatively foggy as is my norm these days both as I nod off and as I wake, then it’s sixteen after one when I decide to put feet on the floor
shall I break the haze with some HIIT as has smacked so well — Nah, I feel like a walk
I turn north out the door, it’s quite dark, perhaps my friends are behind clouds, but then my eyes adjust and a warm smile engulfs my face as I begin my stroll along Milky Way
My sense of wonderous awe grows with every step, and then POW as I turn south for home, the sky is vast and my friend Orion smiles and I get warmer yet chills
Will wonder never cease, I am not alone — the silhouettes of a herd of deer dart across the road perhaps 40 yds yonder, disappearing into the leafless thicket as suddenly as they had appeared
I am like a tourist looking up at the lights of Time Square the whole way home until I start to listen to the wind talk to me with the chimes on the house up the hill and with the chatter from the crisp brown leaves that somehow on 23.12.20 still cling to their branches despite the firm breeze
At a point in time several hours past from this POV I decided to play tennis for the first time in two years; I called and booked a lesson for 8pm — waiting on the court at 8 minutes after I call the desk “where is the Pro?” “Oh I heard you say court-time. A lesson one books directly with the Pro.” I don’t say, “WTF have you been smoking?”
“Do you have a ball machine…”? and so the flow continued
Idea, pace, think, time to write. MacOS update on iMac has 26 minutes to go. Go get laptop…
What is the central idea about which I am so ready to write? Flow. Go with it. We do not need the structure of routine. That’s what the myopes need. We have the vision to know that we have all the structure we need all the time because we perceive the connection between us and everything — we, the stars, the leaves, the flag on the pole barking from the NW breeze, we are all connected to Source — what more structure could anyone need?
I know from the energy that just pushed through my body almost bringing me to tears that Rama agrees and so proud of me are my creators (flood gates just opened)
YG | https://medium.com/illumination/the-flow-b43ba5f33b7a | ['Yohanan Gregorius'] | 2020-12-23 09:50:11.996000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Spirituality', 'Muse', 'Routine', 'Universe'] |
The First Annual Sjaakolate Competition | The results are in, and our Sjaakoholics are the winners.
When we first took over Sjaak’s, one of the things I was most impressed by (in addition to the quality of the delicious vegan chocolates) was the dedication of our team members. Many of the staff have been at Sjaak’s Organic Chocolates for six, seven, ten, thirteen years. Having worked most of my life in the Bay Area, it is much more common to see people job-hopping and lasting just a couple years before moving on to their next endeavor. It is so heartwarming to see people enjoy their work and take pride in their craft.
To further engage our team, encourage ideas and innovation, and create a fun environment, we decided to hold the first ever Sjaakolate teambuilding and competition.
This past summer, we were fortunate to be able to bring our teams together — from accounting to sales, from shipping and fulfillment to chocolate-makers — to get to know one another. This was an opportunity for longtime employees to meet our newest hires; for people from all levels of the company to put a face to the emails and a story to the hands that lovingly and carefully make our sjaakolate. We invited all staff to submit recipes. They could do whatever they wanted, as long as the recipe was vegan and organic. They could use any existing equipment and ingredients and have a small stipend to purchase ingredients that we did not have in-house, and could select from any of our existing moulds. Our factory manager and head Sjaakolatier, Leo, reviewed all the ideas and gave feedback and advice on how to bring people’s recipes to fruition. And then our sjaakolatiers assembled. We played some icebreakers (how was it possible that amongst a team of a little over twenty people, we had four pairs of shared birthdays?!?), did some teambuilding exercises, unveiled our new packaging designs and ideas for the coming year, and then literally rolled up our sleeves.
We ended up with thirty-four new recipes (some of our chocolate-makers got very excited and submitted more than one recipe) and the next day we had the Great Tasting. We had an esteemed panel of judges comprised of our top brass chocolate makers and packaging supervisor and also gave each team member 3 meeples to vote for their favorite chocolates.
The chocolates were grouped into their different chocolate types and we had everything from new combinations (Sergio’s melk chocolate salted peanut) to tweaks (Finn’s new lavender recipe which will be featured in the upcoming Valentine’s Salted Caramel) to completely new imaginings (Jose’s Choco Mix which originally included pepitos, sunflower seeds, cranberry, orange, limon, salt, and more).
From simple and elegant recipes to complex prepping, ingredients, and layers — our team embraced the challenge and produced remarkable results that we were able to incorporate into our recently updated European, Nuts & Chews, and Truffle assortments. The first place winner was a new truffle added to the Truffle Assortment (Coffee Mint Mojito) and the People’s Choice winner (White Chocolate Lemon Cookie) will be included in our Easter truffle assortment and possibly introduced as a new bar mid-2021.
Despite the immense overconsumption of chocolates in one afternoon, it was a very inspiring and rewarding experience for our team. Especially in today’s climate of limited social gatherings, zoom calls, and the frenzied pace of emails and text messages, it was truly nice to make personal connections and break bread together. We hope you enjoy the sjaakolates that our team created as we have loved sharing them with you. | https://medium.com/@sjaaks/the-first-annual-sjaakolate-competition-3fb4e901517e | ["Sjaak'S Organic Chocolates"] | 2020-12-24 00:16:12.971000+00:00 | ['Vegan', 'Chocolate', 'Organic'] |
❤️ Vicky, loved your investigative journalism!!! | ❤️ Vicky, loved your investigative journalism!!! Followed the Medium recommendation to you and loved what you did with this. You’re the shining star right now!
Covid is the catalyst ~ moving masses worldwide towards questioning everything, all our choices. The hope is that we all emerge better human beings because of this. | https://medium.com/@pockettdessert/%EF%B8%8F-vicky-loved-your-investigative-journalism-5eca84bf7488 | ['Pockett Dessert'] | 2020-12-18 14:44:57.094000+00:00 | ['Writers On Medium', 'Covid-19', 'Culture', 'Life'] |
Configuring PyCharm on Mac and Windows | Configuring PyCharm on Mac and Windows
Originally published at kite.com.
About PyCharm
PyCharm is a fully-featured IDE for the Python language, based on the powerful IntelliJ Idea Java IDE from JetBrains. Not only does PyCharm support an array of enterprise-level features, but it’s also a pleasure to work with. For many curious developers, PyCharm is the next step after learning environments like iPython notebooks, and is a popular choice for full stack application development.
PyCharm leverages management of project environments (VENV), the Python interactive console, Jupyter Notebooks, and even a system terminal emulator to make Python editing user-friendly. Developers with experience in Eclipse or Visual Studio will find PyCharm comfortable and intuitive. The PyCharm IDE focuses exclusively on Python language applications instead of generalizing to a wide array of languages with unnecessary tools.
Many Python coders enjoy the ability to follow declarations of classes and methods as though they were links in a web page, instantly opening relevant source files. Active code inspection highlights potential issues — such as unexpected arguments and unused import statements — which could be using valuable resources, or just taking up space. These inspections may be turned on or off quickly from the settings search bar.
PyCharm Editions and Features
The majority of features are included in PyCharm Community Edition (free), which is an excellent tool for getting started with PyCharm. Most python language use-cases are covered in the community edition. However, there are some advanced features only available in the Professional edition, with a monthly or annual subscription ($8.90 per month as of this blog post).
Critical IntelliJ IDE features are included in the free Community Edition.
Core Features (All Editions)
Both Community and Professional editions allow advanced editing of the Python language. The free Community edition is an excellent tool for working with and understanding Python.
1. Visual Debugging
For single-threaded applications, debugging in the console line-by-line is often the best choice. Code snippets can be executed easily without running the entire file. However, PyCharm offers a smart, visual debugger for multi-threaded applications like Django web apps. Breakpoints are easily set in the source code, and the current values and types of variables are displayed on execution. Switching to a different frame shows the current line, even in an imported module running in another thread.
As the code is executed, graphical buttons and keyboard shortcuts allow the coder to “step into” the code, one line at a time, or resume until the next breakpoint. Frames and contexts are updated based on the current module and thread.
2. Code Inspection, Syntax Highlighting
For many developers, syntax highlighting encompasses the entire purpose of an IDE. Python coders get a high-level view of their code, quickly seeing the difference between class definitions, methods, and data types with Syntax highlighting.
Method and Class definitions stand out, while strings and numerical types are more subtle. IntelliJ has included a variety of color schemes, but the default themes are suitable for most use-cases. In addition, comments utilizing Python’s self-documenting syntax are auto-populated for classes and functions.
PyCharm inspects every definition to check that your code will run in the Python interpreter even before execution.
3. Version Control
PyCharm is compatible with a variety of version control systems (CVS, Git, etc.) that are accessible from the Tools menu. Projects can be updated with the click of a mouse or via customizable shortcuts. Updates may be committed to version control with the click of a button, or with customizable shortcuts as well.
4. Automatic PEP Formatting
Python developers understand the importance of complying with community standards, such as PEP8. Simply by pressing <Control + Alt + L > source code is formatted with standards that are difficult to see in plain text editors, like replacing tab characters with spaces, or adding a specific number of blank lines between comments, class definitions, and functions. Auto-formatting also cleans up python data structures (like deeply nested dictionaries) to make them more readable.
5. Graphical Installation of Python Modules
Most Python projects import packages and modules from the open-source community via the PyPi registry. While the command line is the fastest way to install a known-module, many coders find it convenient to browse the selection from inside the IDE. PyCharm installs and inspects these modules behind the scenes while the developer continues working, with notifications about progress — and even memory usage — in the status bar.
Professional Features (Paid Professional Edition Only)
The most common professional features fall into three categories:
1. Web Development
Web developers who work with Python frameworks like Flask, Pyramid, or Django will benefit the most from PyCharm Professional edition. Stubbed out projects with ready-made run configurations are available out-of-the-box.
2. UML Diagrams
Complex applications can be confusing to navigate, and no two diagramming tools are alike. While Pythonistas rarely shy away from complexity — simplicity and readability are core values for the community. Developers can easily tease apart complicated code structures by right clicking a python file and generating a UML Class diagram.
3. Database Tools
Python is known for being data-friendly, and developers and novices often want to see their data without hunting for third party tools. PyCharm professional allows developers to access table visualizations and inspect data via automatically generated SQL queries. Simply clicking on a database file reveals an array of tools which rival third party SQL database suites, like MySQL Workbench.
Popular Plugins
Although PyCharm is an excellent IDE on its own, third parties have created hundreds of useful enhancements. Developers can install plugins from the settings >> plugins menu (Control + Alt + S). Plugins are created both by IntelliJ to implement features, third party companies, and by the Python community.
1. Grep Console
Grep console highlights console output based on simple regex search patterns. This plug-in will even play custom sounds when a program outputs a specific pattern. For example, Grep Console could play a song when a test-suite passes, or sound an alarm on failure.
2. Kite
Kite is an exciting, AI-driven copilot. Kite detects common expressions, and displays module documentation as you go, inspecting your code and making intelligent suggestions. Although you may configure the Kite plug-in from settings, it is automatically added to PyCharm during the Kite installation process.
3. Github
The Github plug-in places commit, push, and even rollback buttons right on the toolbar, allowing teams on Github to rebase their local code without leaving the IDE. Developers can map keyboard shortcuts to each command, check todo items before a push, and see diff comparisons in the commit pop-up.
4. JSON and CSV Formatting
These two plug-ins highlight JSON syntax and format CSV files in way that is easy on the eyes, clearly identifying rows columns. The JSON plugin reveals formatting issues and errors when saving JSON data to a static file.
Other popular plugins include Docker integration, .ignore (an extremely thorough creation of various ignore files), and IdeaVim (Vim keyboard shortcuts for IntelliJ).
Pycharm Installation on Windows and MacOS
Setting up PyCharm on Windows
Python developers choose PyCharm for Windows due to simplicity and predictability. PyCharm is compatible with any version of Python, and may even be installed before choosing a distribution of the Python interpreter.
Download PyCharm
Open your favorite browser, and head to the Pycharm download section, which will detect your OS. PyCharm is available for both 32 bit and 64 bit machines.
2. Begin the Installation Process
Once your download is complete, navigate to the executable file in the explorer. Run the executable file. The windows installer for PyCharm is straightforward and intuitive.
It is a good idea to associate PyCharm with .py files, especially if PyCharm is the primary Python IDE.
3. Configure PyCharm
Python may be installed before or after PyCharm installation. Usually, Python should be installed in a location that is easy to find, like C:/Python37.
The most important step is pointing PyCharm to your Python distribution. Consult your Python distribution, or search for python.exe in the file explorer. In this case, we see the location of python 3.7. You will not be able to execute Python without first installing a distribution on Windows.
Plug-ins and settings can be changed in the settings menu (File >> Settings).
4. Create a Project and Start Writing Python
When a new project is created, PyCharm will populate the virtual environment, which may take a moment. After the project is created, add a new Python file from a folder’s context menu.
5. Install Plugins from an Open Project
Additional plugins may be installed globally from any project. From an open project, open “Settings” from the File menu (or press Control + Alt + S ). Select “Plugins” from the settings hierarchy on the left, and search for plugins by name. To see third-party plugins, click “Search in Repositories.” Plugins developed by IntelliJ are shown separately from those developed by third parties.
Finally, click “Install.” Menu items and context menus will be automatically updated with commands for your new plugin.
6. Install Python Modules
Python modules may be installed via the built-in terminal using pip, or from project settings, which runs pip behind the scenes. The package browser allows developers to read about packages before installation, and select from the available versions.
Note: Windows users will need to explicitly allow PyCharm to access the internet, so that modules which access data can traverse the firewall.
Setting up PyCharm on MacOS
In this example, we’ll install PyCharm on MacOS (High Sierra). Remember to install a Python distribution. PyCharm will automatically look for local installations of Python.
Download PyCharm
Open Safari or your browser of choice, and head to the Pycharm download section, which will detect your OS.
2. Begin Installation
Once the PyCharm installation files has been downloaded, run the program and follow the instructions. Drag the program into applications, and verify the installation as requested. Select color scheme according to preference. The color scheme may be changed at any time from the “Preferences” menu.
3. Install Featured Plugins During Setup
Some useful plugins are offered during installation. Of these, most users should install Markdown and Bash support. Markdown will allow previewing documentation for Python projects. Vim Keybindings are only helpful for those coming from Vim, while R language is a non-Python language useful in Data Science. These can be installed at any time from “Preferences.”
4. Create a Project and Start Writing Code
Because MacOS ships with Python, PyCharm does not explicitly require pointing to the Python distribution. However, changing distributions will require some configuration. This is shown in the settings dialog under project >> interpreter.
When starting a new project, Pycharm offers the default system environment, or the option to create a Virtual Environment (VENV) specific to the project, which will refer to the local Python installation. MacOS is distributed with Python 2.7, but 3.7 is the latest supported version of Python.
Finally, a new project is created. A fresh python file may be created from the file menu, or by adding a file from a folder’s context menu in the project view.
5. Install Plugins from an Open Project
Additional plugins may be installed globally from any project. From an open project, open “Preferences” from the PyCharm menu (or press ⌘ + , ). Select “Plugins” from the settings hierarchy on the left, and search for plugins by name. To see third-party plugins, click “Search in Repositories.” Plugins developed by IntelliJ are shown separately from those developed by third parties.
Finally, click “Install.” Menu items and context menus will be automatically updated with commands for your new plugin.
6. Install Python Modules
Python modules may be installed via the built-in terminal using pip, or from project settings, which runs pip behind the scenes. The package browser allows developers to read about packages before installation, and to select from the available package versions.
Going Forward
PyCharm is rapidly becoming the de facto IDE for developers who need to focus on business productivity or advanced learning in Python, and spend less time writing print statements to debug their code. Easy to install on both Windows and MacOS via the Java runtime, PyCharm is a powerful tool for creating value with the Python language and community. | https://medium.com/kitepython/configuring-pycharm-on-mac-and-windows-56fe711b4ee5 | ['Aaron Harris'] | 2019-03-06 21:39:34.973000+00:00 | ['Pycharm', 'Python3', 'Learn To Code', 'Programming', 'Python'] |
A Hot New Idea About the Moon | For more than a century, astronomers have debated the question of how the Moon formed. The most popular theory currently en vogue states that, long ago, the Earth was struck by a body roughly the size of Mars, releasing material that entered orbit around our fledgling planet, which cooled to form our planetary companion.
Computer models suggest, however, that such an event would produce a Moon with a composition similar to that of the impactor. However, we know our planetary companion has a makeup much like our home world. A team of astrophysicists in Japan, working with colleagues at Yale University, believe they have solved that dilemma. They found that if the impacting body were solid, while our world were still covered in magma, then the collision would have formed a moon similar to the one we observe today.
The International Space Station (ISS) is seen silhouetted against the Moon. Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
“In our model, about 80% of the moon is made of proto-Earth materials. In most of the previous models, about 80% of the moon is made of the impactor. This is a big difference,” explains Yale geophysicist Shun-ichiro Karato.
Roughly 50 million years after the Earth began to coalesce from a cloud of gas and dust surrounding the Sun, the surface of our world was covered in hot, liquefied rock. When the impactor struck the Earth with a glancing blow, magma on the surface of our world would have heated faster than the solid material of the impacting body, causing the magma to expand in volume as it entered orbit around the Earth.
Computer simulations showing how magma covering the surface of the early Earth could have altered the formation of the Moon. Image credit: Hosono, Karato, Makino & Saitoh
Previously, astronomers and geologists have been forced to devise unconventional scenarios of the impact in order to explain the geology of samples returned from the Moon by the Apollo astronauts. This new finding could explain the observed geology without the need for a complex impact.
“[A] giant, solid impactor hit the proto-Earth while it was covered with a magma ocean, under the conventional collision conditions… [B]ecause of the large difference in shock heating between silicate melts and solids (rocks), a substantial fraction of the ejected, Moon-forming material is derived from the magma ocean,” researchers described in Nature Geoscience.
Initially, the Moon rotated much faster than it does today, as did the Earth. However, because the Moon is not perfectly spherical, bulging slightly at its equator, a torque built up between the pair of bodies, slowing the spin of the Moon like an ice skater slows as she extends her arms during a twirl on the ice. Once the spin of the Moon slowed to the same rate as it took to orbit the Earth, the bulge was in line with our planet, and one face of the lunar surface eternally faced our world.
The Moon as seen by space travelers aboard the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA
“The Earth would be a very different place if the moon did not exist. Not only did the Earth slow down the Moon’s rotation, but the Moon is slowing down the rotation rate of the Earth. Since the moon’s formation, the Earth has been slowing its rotation due to the friction of the tides caused by the moon, and in reaction to this exchange of energy, the moon has been moving farther away from the Earth.,” The Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute explains.
A look at how the Moon evolved over time, following its formation. Credit: NASA Goddard.
“The moon will guide you through the night with her brightness, but she will always dwell in the darkness, in order to be seen.” ― Shannon L. Alder
Still, the Moon lacks some of the volatile ingredients of the Earth, notably potassium, sodium, and copper which are relatively common on our home planet. Understanding these differences between the bodies could prove vital as we search for the complete story of what happened during the formation of our planetary companion.
The next time you look up to the Moon, remember it all may have started in a giant pool of magma. | https://medium.com/the-cosmic-companion/a-hot-new-idea-about-the-moon-fe5a2968ac3c | ['James Maynard'] | 2019-04-29 23:07:26.540000+00:00 | ['Moon', 'Science', 'Space', 'Geology', 'Earth'] |
TGIF… | Greetings from the remote outpost along Wisconsin’s northern border.
TGIF and for the first time in a couple of years we have no snow on the ground here in nearly mid-December. But hey, the Christmas lights are up on the house so we do have that going for us.
The December weather here at the remote outpost has been bearable to get the lights put up and to take care of some last-minute outdoor projects. Next week’s temperatures are forecast to be in the teens.
We’re still having issues with sunset now occurring shortly after 4:00 p.m. Yes, it does get dark early up here. However, in another 10 days, the process begins to reverse itself again.
Reading.
I’ve recently finished two books on Spatial Computing.
And have now begun the following book.
In, The Infinite Retina among other things they wrote:
“Tesla drivers have three options currently for driving.
Drive yourself. Trust your senses.
Let God drive. Trust the Spirit.
Let the car drive. Trust the data.”
They go on to say that we will be increasingly reliant on data for many if not all of our daily life interactions. Given our collective lifestyle over the past nearly year, there are several questions that arise. From whom can we rely on and trust the data we’re being given is accurate? Does the source have a historical track record of providing accurate and competent data? What about the lack of continuity of various data sources? If the data being provided isn’t transparent to us, the end-user how are we to trust any data in the coming years?
Will those of us, critical thinkers become like Galileo? Destined to live out our remaining years under house arrest. Why? For daring to think critically and place our faith in objective and observable real-world data and not to meekly and subserviently accept the subjective infallibility of our local, state, or federal government?
“It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.”
-James Madison | https://medium.com/@paulswansen/tgif-5c89392ebd62 | ['Paul W. Swansen'] | 2020-12-11 22:00:35.285000+00:00 | ['Galileo', 'Tesla', 'Bayfieldwi', 'Spatialcomputing', 'Wisconsin'] |
VPN Coupon Code by Zachar OFF | Nowadays, VPN is becoming more and more useful, no matter where you live and what you do. You might live guarded behind the great firewall of China, or in Germany, you will find its use. Especially now, when global surveillance is becoming a great big thing, and everything has geo-locked content.
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VPN a.k.a Virtual private network works by routing your device’s internet connection through your chosen VPN’s private server instead of your internet service provider (ISP). When data is transmitted to the Internet, it comes from a VPN rather than your computer. Your IP is well hidden behind the VPN so you can breathe a bit more easily if you don’t want people and companies to know what you’re browsing.
In addition to this, VPN also can help you buy cheaper plane tickets and get better deals on car rentals, unblock a lot more content on various streaming sites (for example Netflix), secure you while you browse on public wifi at the airport, you can even use it while gaming to avoid doxxing attempts and many more.
Some helpful features of this particular VPN include:
Killswitch, unlimited connections (that means many devices — one account), a strict no-logs policy, based in British Virgin Islands (so no 14 eyes jurisdiction happening), supports torrenting with P2P servers and has a 24/7 support so can go them with all of your problems.
How can you use this coupon?
One way and a very easy one at that is to simply click on this link that I’m putting right here. It will automatically redirect you to Surfshark’s website where you will be able to put your email in and select which way you want to pay.
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If you want to watch more videos of Zachar OFF click here | https://medium.com/@mariadanz90/vpn-coupon-code-by-zachar-off-d96fe9c2b8db | ['Maria Dan'] | 2020-09-10 13:43:57.266000+00:00 | ['Deal', 'Deals And Discounts', 'Discount', 'VPN', 'Coupon'] |
Using PyFlux To Predict Temperature Data | Using PyFlux To Predict Temperature Data
Probabilistic ARIMA modelling using PyFlux
Source: Photo by Peter-Lomas from Pixabay
PyFlux is a time series library built for Python, which integrates probability modelling with time series analysis.
In this example, let us see how this library can be used to predict temperature patterns for Dublin Airport, Ireland, using monthly data from November 1941 — January 2018.
Here is a short overview of the data:
Source: Jupyter Notebook Output
meant stands for mean temperature, and it is this variable that we are interested in forecasting using PyFlux.
Model Configuration
To configure the ARIMA model within PyFlux, we must specify:
the probability distribution
the autoregressive (AR) term
the moving average (MA) term
Let’s plot a histogram of the mean monthly temperature data:
Source: Jupyter Notebook Output
While no set of data ever perfectly approximates a normal distribution, the shape of the histogram above broadly indicates that the data follows this pattern. In this regard, pf.Normal() will be specified as the distribution when building the model.
The lag drop-off for the partial autocorrelation function will be used to determine the AR term, while the lag drop-off for the autocorrelation function on the differenced series is used to determine the MA term. More information on determination of AR and MA terms can be found here.
Source: Jupyter Notebook Output
From examining the partial autocorrelation function, we can see that the correlation has dropped off at lag 2. In this regard, the AR term in the model is set to 2.
Now, let’s examine the autocorrelation function for the differenced series.
Source: Jupyter Notebook Output
Here, we see that the correlation has dropped off at lag 3. Accordingly, the MA term in the model is set to 3.
Results
Now that the probability distribution, along with the AR and MA terms have been identified, the model can be defined accordingly.
model = pf.ARIMA(data=train, ar=2, ma=3, target='meant', family=pf.Normal())
The maximum likelihood point mass estimate is used to estimate the latent variables, in the same manner as used in the PyFlux documentation:
>>> x = model.fit("MLE")
>>> x.summary() Normal ARIMA(2,0,3)
======================================================= ==================================================
Dependent Variable: meant Method: MLE
Start Date: 4 Log Likelihood: -1552.9713
End Date: 821 AIC: 3119.9426
Number of observations: 818 BIC: 3152.8907
====================================================================
Latent Variable Estimate Std Error z P>|z| 95% C.I.
======================================== ========== ==========
Constant 2.1524 0.0809 26.597 0.0 (1.9938 | 2.311)
AR(1) 1.6733 0.0168 99.6646 0.0 (1.6404 | 1.7063)
AR(2) -0.8992 0.0029 -310.825 0.0 (-0.9048 | -0.8935)
MA(1) -0.6943 0.0466 -14.8874 0.0 (-0.7857 | -0.6029)
MA(2) 0.3329 0.048 6.9348 0.0 (0.2388 | 0.427)
MA(3) 0.0402 0.0547 0.7348 0.4625 (-0.067 | 0.1475)
Normal Scale 1.9222
====================================================================
Now, the model fit and predictions can be plotted:
model.plot_fit(figsize=(15,10))
Source: Jupyter Notebook Output
Source: Jupyter Notebook Output
Source: Jupyter Notebook Output
Given that a seasonal component has not been specified in this model, the probability forecast does seem to pick up the highs and lows in the data quite well. Moreover, the probability forecasts can be of use in predicting extreme weather patterns.
For instance, we see that during lower temperatures in winter, the graph illustrates a mean temperature of about 5°C. However, the probability bounds also illustrate that during particularly cold winters, this could drop to between 0°C and -5°C.
Conversely, the summer months show a mean temperature of 15°C, but this could potentially rise to between 20°C and 25°C during hotter summer months.
Conclusion
In this example, you have seen:
How PyFlux can be used to probabilistically make forecasts using an ARIMA model
Configuration of an ARIMA model within PyFlux
Interpretation of forecasts made using the model
Many thanks for your time, and the relevant code and datasets can be found here.
Disclaimer: This article is written on an “as is” basis and without warranty. It was written with the intention of providing an overview of data science concepts, and should not be interpreted as professional advice. The findings and interpretations in this article are those of the author and are not endorsed by or affiliated with any third parties mentioned in this article.
References | https://towardsdatascience.com/using-pyflux-to-predict-temperature-data-db678221a167 | ['Michael Grogan'] | 2020-12-11 15:04:29.324000+00:00 | ['Bayesian Statistics', 'Machine Learning', 'Data Science', 'Time Series', 'Probability'] |
Here are 33 intriguing realities about Australia which will astonish and entertain. | Here are 33 intriguing realities about Australia which will astonish and entertain. SKS memes Jan 22·5 min read
Home country Here are 33 intriguing realities about Australia which will astonish and entertain.
1. Australia is the 6th biggest country on the planet and the solitary landmass on the planet involved by one country.
2. It is accepted that the Indigenous individuals of Australia, the Aboriginals, have called Australia home for somewhere in the range of 40,000 and 70,000 years.
3. On 18 January 1788, the First Fleet of convicts from Britain showed up at Botany Bay. European Australia was set up at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788. Today, 26 January is commended as Australia Day and empowers Australians to meet up to praise their country and culture with satisfaction.
4. The last shipment of convicts landed in Western Australia in 1868 making the count of shipped convicts of around 162,000 people.
5. Today, Australia has a populace of 23 million individuals with 1 of every 4 Australians having brought into the world abroad. Australia has the world’s most elevated extent of transient pilgrims in a created country.
6. Known for its amazing magnificence, the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland is the biggest living construction. It is the world’s biggest coral reef framework containing more than 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands rambling more than 2,600 kilometers.
7. Australia’s Coat of Arms incorporates an emu and a kangaroo. The reasoning being emu and kangaroo are unequipped for strolling in reverse and can just walk or jump advances. These creatures represent a country that lone pushes ahead.
8. Australians really eat the creatures on their Coat of Arms.
9. Australians allude to the English individuals as Pome. Pome is an abbreviation for Prisoners of Mother England.
10. The Australian Alps or Snowy Mountains get more snow than the Swiss Alps. The Snowy Mountains are in the south east of New South Wales.
11. Australia is the solitary landmass in Earth with no dynamic fountain of liquid magma.
12. The principal Aboriginal Senator was Neville Bonner who was chosen in 1971.
13. In 1902, Commonwealth Franchise Act was passed allowing Australian ladies option to represent government parliament and vote in administrative decisions.
14. Nonetheless, it was not until 1921 that the principal lady entered the Australian Parliament. Edith Cowan was chosen as the main lady to an Australian Parliament.
15. It required a lot more years until we saw the primary female Prime Minister. In 2010, Julia Gillard turned into the main lady Prime Minister of Australia.
16. In 1856, Australia was the primary nation to present the idea of 8 hour working day. On 21 April 1856, history was made when an eight hour day was brought into the structure exchanges Melbourne after an extensive battle between building dealers and project workers. This accomplishment acquired Australia the standing of a ‘workingman’s heaven’.
17. The Coathanger or the Sydney Harbor Bridge is the biggest and largest steel-curve Bridge. This scaffold is 48.8 meters (151.3 feet) wide and as indicated by the Guinness Book of Records is the most stretched out long range Bridge on the planet.
18. Six of the main ten deadliest snakes on the planet can be found in Australia.
19. The Sydney Funnel-web creepy crawly is viewed as the deadliest bug in Earth. This creepy crawly is the lone types of the bug family which has killed individuals inside 2 hours.
20. Adelaide’s fascinating Botanic Garden has the biggest and most seasoned glasshouses in the Southern half of the globe.
21. Perth has the most elevated per capita number of independent tycoons in any city on the planet.
22. Melbourne’s tramway framework is the biggest external the European landmass and the fourth biggest in the whole world. It extends along 244 kilometers (152 miles) of track and has 450 cable cars.
23. During World War I, the Victorian Parliament passed the Temporary Restriction of Hours Bill which made it necessary for public houses to quit selling liquor at six o’clock. Consequently, all the bars in Melbourne shut their entryways at 6 pm. This broadly got known as the 6 O’clock Swill implying the very late surge before the bars shut. This boycott was lifted in 1966.
24. Lords Park in Perth is one of the biggest and most lovely downtown stops on the planet.
25. Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, is otherwise called the opal capital of Australia.
26. Victoria really has a public occasion to stamp a pony race, the Melbourne Cup. The Melbourne Cup was first disagreement 1861 is as yet held each year on the main Tuesday in November. The Melbourne Cup is hailed as “the race that stops a country”.
27. In 2011, the Economist positioned Australians as the world’s greatest speculators per capita, with an expected expenditure of what might be compared to $1208.75 per individual in the year 2010.
28. Melbourne has the biggest Greek populace on the planet, outside Greece.
29. At the hour of the European settlement, around 250 dialects were spoken by the Aboriginals. Today, around 50 of these dialects are effectively spoken.
30. Today, Australians communicate in more than 200 dialects. The most widely recognized dialects close to English are Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Mandarin, Arabic and Vietnamese.
31. Australia is home to 15 Nobel Laureates, which is the most noteworthy number per head of populace of any country on the planet.
32. Throughout the entire existence of Nobel Prize, the most youthful ever Nobel Laureate is Lawrence Bragg, of Adelaide. He was just 25 years of age when he got the phenomenal honor of a Nobel Prize for Physics with his dad William Bragg in 1915.
33. Victoria is hailed as the Garden State, with nurseries and parks rambling more than 480 hectares. This is the biggest extent of open spaces anyplace in Earth. | https://medium.com/@sksmemes/here-are-33-intriguing-realities-about-australia-which-will-astonish-and-entertain-9983ebe4972 | ['Sks Memes'] | 2021-01-22 11:47:56.991000+00:00 | ['Blogging', 'Facts', 'Australia', 'Country', 'Blog'] |
Jeff Bezos Is the World’s Most Dangerous Politician | Jeff Bezos Is the World’s Most Dangerous Politician
Six Ways to Get Rich
A few years ago, I read a book about how to become a billionaire. The author analyzed the Forbes 400 and discovered that there were essentially only a handful of ways that every single person on the list became extremely wealthy.
The first and most popular way is to inherit money and avoid taxation. Think: the Waltons, the Basses, the Koch brothers, the Barclays. Other ways included conglomerating an industry, monopolizing a technology, exploiting a natural resource or vulnerable population, and engaging in cronyism — manipulating government and the judiciary to extract advantageous personal systemic benefits.
If this list seems sad and depressing, you’re not alone. While ideally most of us would like to live in a compassionate meritocracy where the best and brightest reap the greatest rewards without leaving the masses to languish, the facts are incredibly clear: you have to leverage an advantage and hurt others in order to control extreme wealth. Extreme wealth is simply never merited.
And it’s always been this way: John D. Rockefeller’s Cleveland refinery was on its way to bankruptcy until he extracted his illegal railway kickbacks. Nikola Telsa got absolutely screwed by Thomas Edison. Andrew Carnegie literally murdered his employees for asking for a pay-raise.
So which strategy did Bezos use?
Jeff Bezos has used almost all of these wealth-amassing strategies to some extent, except inheritance, (His parents, who are still alive, gave him $245,573 to help start the company.)
Many fanboys believe Bezos is rich because of Amazon’s “innovative business model,” but they couldn’t be any further from the truth. In reality, Jeff Bezos has become one of the world’s largest hoarders of extreme wealth because he was the first person in online tech to fully weaponize financialization in order to destroy his competition and decimate democracy.
The cold hard fact is that Amazon wasn’t and isn’t significantly better than all the other online shops of the past and present, he just had access to more capital, and the discipline to use it to strangle them all to death and then leverage their position to extract additional gains from the commons.
It’s a model that many tech companies are now using to devastating effect.
How to monopolize an industry
Jeff Bezos was the first person to really perfect the insidious art of financialization. The lethal gambit is simple:
Find a way to “disrupt” an industry of real producers. (IE Amazon went after book retailers, Uber/Lyft went after taxi drivers, Airbnb went after house owners, Facebook went after content creators, etc.) Create an attractive site/app, drive a massive wedge between suppliers and customers, then charge a fat broker’s fee to re-introduce them. Build a huge amount of media hype to attract colossal amounts of debt and private equity across several rounds of funding. Rather than paying a dividend to shareholders, use their original investment and their annual profits to strengthen your team and strangle your competition. Make sure the story of your rapid expansion overshadows your mounting losses. Once you’ve destroyed the competition and have finally started to turn a profit, use the money to swallow up-and-coming competitors and coerce democracy to extract advantages that small companies can’t get.
This is exactly what Amazon did. For 58 quarters — 14 years from its IPO — Amazon lost money year-on-year in a bid to destroy real businesses.
Another example of an extremely predatory company is Airbnb. They lost $135 million in 2015, $136 million in 2016, $70 million in 2017, $16 million in 2018, $674 million in 2019, and $696 million in 2020, with total cumulative losses since 2008 totaling $2.8 billion.
In previous generations, such a dismal record would make a company worthless, with investors avoiding it at all costs. In today’s fairy tale/nightmare of destructive financialization — paired with huge amounts of hype and publicity — Airbnb is seen as a brilliant and important investment, with stock speculators assigning them an initial public market “value” of nearly $100 billion. In Amazon’s case, it’s now “worth” $1.5+ trillion.
Amazon and Airbnb aren’t anomalies. Lyft lost $1 billion the year before it went public and is now “worth” $15+ billion. According to one IPO specialist, “In 2018, 81% of U.S. companies were unprofitable in the year leading up to their public offerings.”
To be clear, these aren’t ground-breaking companies with brilliant original patents on world-changing inventions. They’re marginally better innovations with a metric ton of debt and private equity to crush all comers.
John D. Rockefeller was the first to do what Jeff Bezos has now perfected:
“One of his favored methods was to give competitors “a good sweating.” A good sweating consisted in lowering prices in selected markets to such an extent that all competitors either went broke, sold out to Standard Oil or otherwise agreed to abide by the rules set forth by Standard Oil, i.e. John D. Rockefeller.”
If this sounds like a giant, anti-meritocratic unethical fraud, it’s because it is.
And it only gets worse from there
Now that Amazon is a public company, Bezos doesn’t have as much access to an ongoing war chest of new funding with which to shatter lesser-capitalized companies. But his unethical options are many:
He can continue acquiring profitable companies like Whole Foods, IMDB, Zappos, Goodreads, Audible, and dozens of others and use their cash to fund his endless expansion. He can continue to degrade civil society by evading taxation and offshoring huge amounts of company revenue. (Amazon is now considered the worst in the world.) He can pull an Elon Musk and continually dilute shareholder stakes through multiple rounds of stock-splitting and secondary offerings.
But that’s not enough for Jeff Bezos.
Despite already controlling a vast amount of the online retail market, and the grocery world, and web services — Amazon has run the CIA’s servers for years — Bezos has shifted to a very old, but new-to-him strategy:
Cronyism.
Greatness
Ida Tarbell, the courageous female journalist in the early 1900s, was sick and tired of watching John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil monopoly shred apart thousands of small businesses, crush competitors with financialization, secure illegal advantages, evade taxation, amass immoral amounts of personal wealth at the expense of labor and the masses, and undermine democracy by lobbying politicians and running their own puppets in every judgeship, senate seat, and congressional position. Tarbell decided to drag his shadowy company into the light.
Rockefeller’s attack on democracy was legendary: senators beholden to Rockefeller lobbied the President to lease them drilling rights on Osage Indian lands. Rockefeller helped his business partner Johnson Camden get elected to the Senate; the man then quit the company but kept his stock. Rockefeller helped get Senator Payne elected, even though his son was Standard Oil’s treasurer.
In the end, it took Ida Tarbell scathing exposé and Teddy Roosevelt’s people-first administration to start the decade-long process of unwinding Rockefeller’s sprawling monopoly.
Like Rockefeller, Jeff Bezos knows how to use politics to destroy his competition, wrest power from the public, beat the courts, rent politicians, and slowly but surely destroy democracy on a scale Rockefeller never could have imagined:
And Bezos is just getting started. Amazon’s numbers are still growing exponentially.
Ida Tarbell, to her credit, acknowledged Rockefeller’s genius where it was due. She stated clearly that the Standard Oil Company was legitimately great, but that it was also illegitimately great.
The same can be said of Amazon.
Amazon is legitimately great. It is also illegitimately great.
What is Jeff Bezos?
At first, he was a brilliant innovator.
And then he became a successful capitalist.
And then he became a predator corporatist.
And now he has become an anti-democratic statesman.
Jeff Bezos is, undeniably, the world’s most dangerous politician. Why? Because, like John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, Jeff Bezos’s Amazon has set a foul template for those who follow.
When you look at the big picture, you see that corporatism now runs the world. So-called “democracies” have been corporate-captured, the majority of legislatures and statehouses and court benched occupied with the well-funded puppet politicians of the corporate state. No one does it better than Big Tech, and Bezos is king of the sector. Bezos perfected the art of financialization as a way to ruin competition in the Internet age, and now he is doing to democracy what Rockefeller attempted in his day. And hundreds of other companies are happily following suit.
Jeff Bezos built an interesting company, but then he crossed a line — went over to the dark side if you will — when he decided to engage in menace economics and democratic destruction.
When Will Jeff Bezos Stop?
Saint Augustine said that the human heart can only fully be satisfied by one thing aside from God himself: everything. All the sex, all the money, all the power, all the glory, all the possessions. All of it. Nothing short of everything could ever fully satiate the human heart. We are wired for more.
Sadly, people like Jeff Bezos simply will not stop until they are stopped.
There are only three ways to break the power of politicians like Jeff Bezos
The first way is to legislate change. This was a nearly impossible task in Rockefeller’s day, and it took independent-minded Thor-like politicians like Roosevelt and Taft to shatter the monopoly. Let’s not pretend there’s a mainline leader in the Democrat or Republican party who cares half as much for democracy today. Teddy famously returned a check from Standard Oil for $100,000. By contrast, the Donald was backed by 99 billionaires, and Joe Biden is backed by 131. The partisan system simply will not save us this time around — Joe Biden seems like a very kind man, but he is clearly a corporate shill. Until America wakes up and finds a way to vote in a third party leader who will remove corporate money from politics, this avenue is effectively closed.
The second option — and it should never be an option — is violent insurrection. In Rockefeller’s day, out-of-work oilmen lit his refineries on fire, blew up his oil depots, derailed his oil cars, and attempted to bomb the gigantic mansions of his board members. Violence, of course, is not an option today — not only is it deeply immoral, but corporate elites control the police, military, and surveillance apparatus and will continue to use them to violent effect when uprisings start.
The third option — which is almost certain to fail — is to defund predator companies themselves. This is extremely hard to do when they’re the only option because they’ve bankrupted or bought out all the other brands. The reality is that most of us are co-conspirators in the rise of Jeff Bezos and oligarchs like him, in the same way that earlier Americans had to warm their houses with Standard Oil because Rockefeller controlled 90% of the market. This is why the future needs to be local. Perhaps the only thing that can depose the global corporatocracy is sustained radical mass economic resistance, including:
The widespread use of cryptocurrency.
The mass adoption of cooperative business models.
A global boycott of predator companies.
State and city-level laws that protect individuals, small businesses, and local democracy from the assaults of multinational conglomerates.
A mass tax strike.
In all likelihood, we may have already reached escape velocity — there may very well be no way to stop Jeff Bezos and the corporatocracy from destroying democracy and consuming the planet. In fact, that’s almost certainly part of Jeff Bezos’s long-term master plan.
But one thing is for certain: if companies like Amazon and politicians like Jeff Bezos use capital and technology to bankrupt billions of workers, there may be no force on earth that can protect them from the fury to come. Snakes tend to bite when there’s a boot on their neck.
Our first step is to help the world understand how dangerous Jeff Bezos and his class have become. Only when we’re aware of the problem can we change our global trajectory.
As Bezos’s own newspaper says: Democracy dies in darkness. This is true — and he should know it — because he’s the one with the knife to its throat.
But the opposite is also true…
Corruption dies in the light. | https://survivingtomorrow.org/jeff-bezos-is-the-worlds-most-dangerous-politician-61991bc4f516 | ['Jared A. Brock'] | 2021-07-19 12:07:10.293000+00:00 | ['Democracy', 'Future', 'Technology', 'Amazon', 'Corruption'] |
Master Your Emotions With These 3 Tricks | Master Your Emotions With These 3 Tricks
Photo by Michael Dam on Unsplash
Emotional intelligence has become very important to get successful, especially in leadership roles. If you are required to convince others to do a certain task, you can not let your emotions come in the way. But actually, you can’t deny your emotions.
So you need to know which strengths to turn to, how to approach your weak points, and how to direct your conversation so that the impact you have on others makes them respond constructively.
Following are three tricks that you can use to increase your emotional intelligence.
Re-evaluate your signs
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
If you have noticed, then you must know how it feels like when you are nervous, your heart starts beating quickly, your stomach starts paining a little, right?
Well, most people negatively interpret stress, they associate these physical changes with emotional anxiety, like stress, but is that really true?
Suppose you are sitting for a test, what do you feel happening within your body? The same which we discussed above, your heart starts beating quickly, your stomach starts paining a little, right? And at this stage, you start thinking that you are nervous, you are stressed.
Now, what happens when you are on a roller coaster ride or while watching a horror movie? The same things happen, right? So, what about now? Do you still associate these feelings with nervousness or stress? No, you are excited and not nervous.
The problem is, we have wired ourselves in such an obscure way. If we start associating our feelings with positive things like the ones we discussed with excitement, things can go too different, you gain more confidence, your motivation level spikes up, and you can perform at your best.
A study has proven this too, where psychology researchers divided a group of students into two and were made to take a test, where the first group was left as it is, while the second group was suggested to re-evaluate their emotions and guess what, the second group performed much better than the first group while having almost similar intelligence level to the students of the first group.
Know your emotion
Photo by Tengyart on Unsplash
An emotionally intelligent person can differentiate one emotion from the other. For example, how joy is different from satisfaction and how anger is different from jealousy.
They understand a broad spectrum of emotions, and all by the virtue of their emotional vocabulary.
Emotional vocabulary can be called the language used to describe how you feel, like sadness, depression, anger, joy, stress, etc. A vast majority of people know only two emotions, they are either feeling good or feeling bad. But, what about all the other emotions that are classified further?
If you’ll have a weak emotional vocabulary, you won’t know how you’re feeling, and neither can you express your feeling in the right way. And to improve how you express your feeling, you must expand your emotional vocabulary by distinguishing different emotions by going to the heart of the problem.
Every emotion has some unique characteristics, and many emotions differ in small but significant ways, so they need to be recognized individually.
When you get precise with your emotion, you understand your feeling better, and as a result, can regulate it too. You may control the negative feelings that cause you pain and cherish the positive feelings that can set you inspired. So take your time, and explore your feelings, maybe you learn some new emotions.
Experience new things
Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash
How come, do you know the emotions you know? By experience, right? Experience teaches you new things by exposing you to the unknown. You’ll never know what the world has to offer if you just stay in your comfort zone.
There are a ton of perspectives and lifestyles in the world, and the more you understand different lifestyles and opinions, the wider your perspective will become. That’s the reason for many travelers being emotionally intelligent, their experiences open up a new world for others.
Even if you can’t travel, you can collect new experiences by reading books, watching movies, learning new languages, trying new foods, and in many other ways.
Experience creates understanding, which in turn creates empathy. You’ll get to know why others react in the way they do. Empathy lies at the root of emotional intelligence, but you need perspective to understand others.
According to a study, experiences, especially those in nature impacts your mental state by reducing negative activity in your mind. These experiences create a positive state of mind allowing you to escape the toxicity.
So to increase your emotional intelligence, step out of your comfort zone, and explore new things fearlessly. There’s a whole new world out there waiting for you to get understood. | https://medium.com/@ankitd136/master-your-emotions-with-these-3-tricks-1c27127b7ced | ['Ankit Das'] | 2020-12-05 10:40:52.416000+00:00 | ['Emotions', 'Emotional Intelligence', 'Productivity', 'Personal Growth', 'Self-awareness'] |
Why I Write My Truth | I recently wrote of a thirty-day challenge I would be undertaking, a plan to try and cover every situation with Christ-like love. I will readily admit it’s an area of my life I struggle with. But I felt ready. I knew God had been calling me to do this and I thought, how hard could it be? I can avoid certain people who already annoy me, and worst case, I’ll bite my tongue. I told you I had work to do.
Cut to later that afternoon. I’m picking my children up from school and my son gets in the car, scabbed, bloodied and haphazardly covered in clumsy band-aids. For roughly the third time that week, he’d had an encounter with his frienemy/bully. I’d already been in contact with the teacher and school principal, yet nobody had seen fit to call and notify me. Instead, his teacher had given him the band-aids and that was the end of it.
Livid doesn’t describe my mood adequately. Suffice it to say I was anything but, Christ-like love.
Which is why I hadn’t written a follow-up. I couldn't share my failures in Christ because what if I hindered someone's walk? In a time when people are just looking for an excuse to mock God or negate his power, I didn’t want to be the reason someone doubted. But then I remembered the grace of his message and it occurred to me: His Love, His Grace; It’s neverending. As long as we keep getting up and trying, as long as we’re repenting and moving forward, his grace is sufficient. Not an endless well of free-passes, but sufficient.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” — 2Corinthians 12:19 NIV
We have to walk through this life with our eyes forward, not looking to the left or the right but firmly on him. Because he loves us and doesn’t expect perfection, just that we earnestly seek him.
When I failed, I could have given up. But doing so would not have brought about any glory to the kingdom of God, only the enemy. There are some who choose to be very conservative in their message. Very religious. Concerned about an image they too easily discount some, including only those who look qualified. God did not come for the qualified. He qualifies the called. I’m called. He’s qualifying me. Excuse me while I get this right; but in the meantime, I’ll continue sharing all of my ugliness, and all my beauty. I’ll continue to share all of my truths. It is for the hurting and afflicted that God came for and for a time, I was among them. I pray it’s those who are touched by my truth. | https://medium.com/faith-steps/why-i-write-my-truth-b5eb1e8af667 | ['Cameo Contreras'] | 2020-03-02 20:43:52.506000+00:00 | ['Christianity', 'Writing Life', 'Religion', 'Life', 'Love'] |
Executing Raw Sql Queries using Entity Framework Core and returns to Generic Data Model ! | Executing Raw Sql Queries using Entity Framework Core and returns result to Generic Data Model !
Türkçesi burada..
As it is known, in raw sql queries such as executing stored procedures with entity framework core (versions such as core 3.0, core 3.1 and Core Net 5.0), the result types must be defined as DbSet, that means we will either have an entity class as the database table and our query will return that type, or, in our DbContext or we will need to define our own model as DbSet in another dbcontext that we derived from it. Yes, this is a way, but since you think it is an unnecessary one, you searched for this article.
In this article, we will make the Execute Raw SQL command generic, and we will return to our model classes in the return type we want.
While doing this, in our example, we will create our -db first- entity classes with scaffold command, then derive another db context from it, and again derive a generic db context from it. And we will implement all of these on the data access layer, we will never infect the repository layer.
First, when we create our entity base from the database with dotnet ef core, we first create our dbsets and db context like this,
Yes as you can see, this is our main entity dbcontext.
Now, I will derive one more entity context from this, I can actually derive a generic context directly, but if I do, I cannot override the onConfiguring method to build db context with the connection string from appsettings, which is a another article topic (* I will put a link here after I write that article)
Our derived AppDbContext looks like this,
As you can see here, yes we can write our custom dbsets, some of developers prefer this solution, but that’s not the point of our article and we don’t want to do it that way !
We will create a solution by creating a generic dbset (generic entities).
Ok, let’s continue.
We will create a generic dbcontext from our derived AppDbContext, again by inheriting it.
We created our generic dbcontext, and defined only one generic type dbset for it, namely entities for a generic nomenclature.
Ok, now is the time to use this.
Let’s execute a stored procedure using fromRawSql method , and return the result to the model (DTO etc.).
#1 For example, let’s code a method that retrieve products , and collect them into tProduct DTO class , using generic db context ;
public static List<tProduct> GetProducts(string pcode)
{
var result = new List<tProduct>();
using (var ctx = new GenericContext<tProduct>(_appDbContext.Database.GetConnectionString()))
{
result = ctx.Entities.FromSqlRaw<tProduct>(“select , exec etc… your query here “)
.Where(p => p.Code == pcode).ToList();
}
return result;
}
Great ! Even if we code an extension that executes a stored procedure, it will be even better, good idea..
#2 Example , let’s write an extension method to execute procedures on dbcontext,
It looks so good, let’s make a test for the generic raw sql extension method ,
Yes, we easily used the extension method we wrote for the base DbContext class in Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore, so now we can easily get the result to the desired dto object, here dto model is LoginResult, it is not an entity or any DbSet, good job !
Enjoy code ! | https://medium.com/@mcuslu/executing-raw-sql-queries-using-entity-framework-core-and-returns-to-generic-data-model-534356b1c2b3 | ['Mucahid Uslu'] | 2020-12-20 12:30:30.334000+00:00 | ['Entity Framework Core', 'Net5', 'Generic Programming', 'Stored Procedure', 'Sql'] |
Covid-19 in the Middle East: situation report for week ending 22 August | ALGERIA
Algeria’s outbreak peaked towards the end of July when more than 600 new cases were being recorded each day. Since then the trend has been downwards, with new cases averaging 429 a day during the past week according to official figures.
Restrictions imposed in 29 of Algeria’s 58 wilayas (administrative districts) were eased last week but there is still a night curfew (11pm to 6am) and face masks must be worn outdoors.
Large mosques (1,000-plus capacity) have been alllowed to open throughout the country but worshippers must bring their own prayer mats and wear face masks. Congregational prayers on Fridays are still banned.
About 4,025 medical staff have been infected with Covid-19 in Algeria and 69 of them have died, according to the government’s scientific committee. These figures are a lot higher than those previously given by the health minister.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Algeria
Confirmed cases: 40,667
New cases in past week: 3,003
Active cases: 10,662
Deaths: 1,418
Tests carried out: (unknown)
BAHRAIN
Bahrain has more than 26,000 known cases per million inhabitants. This makes it the world’s third most infected country after Qatar and French Guiana. However, Bahrain is also one of the world leaders in Covid-19 testing. So far, almost 60% of its 1.7 million population have been tested.
The daily total of new cases fluctuates but Bahrain’s epidemic appears to be subsiding gradually. The number of people reported to be currently infected is around 3,300 compared with 5,700 at the peak in mid-June.
Cafes and restaurants remain closed but the authorities have announced plans for a phased reopening in September.
Bahrain no longer requires people arriving in the country to isolate themselves. In recent tests only 0.2% of new arrivals were found to carry the virus.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Bahrain
Confirmed cases: 48,661
New cases in past week: 2,609
Active cases: 3,314
Deaths: 181
Tests carried out: 1 million
EGYPT
New Covid-19 cases in Egypt over the last three months. Seven-day rolling average, day by day.
New cases peaked in June and have been falling sharply during the past few weeks, according to official figures. This week’s average was 123 cases a day compared with almost 1,600 at the peak.
Although Egypt’s official figures have often been viewed with suspicion there is other evidence that its outbreak is subsiding. For example, the health ministry has been closing down some of its temporary isolation facilities.
Egypt has been anxious to revive its economically important tourism sector and in July it began reopening its seaside resorts for foreign visitors. These resorts — in South Sinai, the Red Sea and Marsa Matrouh on the Mediterranean coast — have been isolated from the rest of the country to reduce the risk of infections spreading. Foreigners flying directly to the resorts don’t need to be tested for Covid-19 but they will need a test if they wish to leave the resort and visit other parts of the country. Foreigners arriving in other parts of the country must have tested negative during the 72 hours before travelling and will not be allowed to visit the resorts.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Egypt
Confirmed cases: 97,148
New cases in past week: 928
Active cases: 27,599
Deaths: 5,231
Tests carried out: 135,000
IRAN
Iran was the first country in the region to be seriously affected by the virus and its epidemic shows no sign of abating. Government figures show an initial wave of infections which peaked at the end of March. It subsided during April, briefly dipping below 1,000 new cases per day but then rose to a new peak in the first week of June.
New cases this week averaged 2,206 a day — virtually unchanged from the previous week.
Iran continues to report more coronavirus-related deaths than any other country in the region. A further 1,045 deaths have been recorded during the past week.
Confirmed cases: 354,7645
New cases in past week: 15,939
Active cases: 28,522
Deaths: 20,376
Tests carried out: 3 million
IRAQ
Iraq is currently recording more new infections than any other country in the region. New cases this week averaged more than 4,000 a day and Wednesday’s total of 4,576 cases was the highest since the outbreak began. Worse still, Iraq’s official figures are widely believed to understate the scale of the epidemic. Many cases go unreported because of social stigma. Compliance with preventive measures appears to be low and health services are inadequate.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Iraq
Confirmed cases: 197,085
New cases in past week: 28,795
Active cases: 50,356
Deaths: 6,283
Tests carried out: 1.4 million
ISRAEL
After coming close to bringing the epidemic under control, Israel has been hit by a second wave much larger than the first. The first wave peaked at around 600 new cases a day in early April. Efforts to control it were intially successful and by the second half of May new cases had dropped to about 15 a day.
However, the virus surged back when lockdown restrictions were lifted and by the end of July new cases were averaging almost 1,800 a day. The second wave now appears to have peaked but the number of new cases remains high, averaging 1,377 a day this week.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Israel
Confirmed cases: 100,716
New cases in past week: 9,636
Active cases: 22,122
Deaths: 809
Tests carried out: 2.2 million
JORDAN
Until a couple of weeks ago Jordan appeared to be the most successful Arab country in controlling the virus. Although it continued to intercept new cases among people arriving from abroad, transmission within the country had virtually ceased. Since then, however, there has been a spate of locally-occurring cases and they now account for most of the newly-detected infections.
The recent problems began with an outbreak at the Jaber-Nasib crossing point on the border with Syria where at least nine employees were diagnosed with the virus (see news report). This led to further infections among their contacts in various other places.
Buildings in several cities have been sealed off but but tracing contacts and ensuring compliance with quarantine is proving a formidable task. One of the people who tested positive for the virus this week is said to have come into contact with 170 people and visited 35 different places all over the country.
At a news conference on Friday health minister Saad Jaber said the main reason for the increase in infections is non-compliance with preventive measures at border crossings. Employees had broken the rules to meet for tea, coffee and tomato stir-fry, he added. Even people who had tested positive were shaking hands and hosting large gatherings.
New measures may be imposed in the light of developments over the next few days. These could include a one-day lockdown on Fridays, extending curfew hours and temporarily closing schools, mosques, churches, parks and gathering places.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Jordan
Confirmed cases: 1,532
New cases in past week: 203
Active cases: 259
Deaths: 11
Tests carried out: 728,000
KUWAIT
New infections peaked in late May at just over 1,000 cases a day. The numbers have dropped back substantially since then and this week’s average was 583 a day.
The government has announced that the night curfew will be lifted on August 30. Restrictions on large gatherings such as weddings and funerals will continue.
As a result of the economic downturn caused by the pandemic and low oil prices Kuwait is planning to expel 360,000 foreigners though as yet there is no timetable for their departure.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Kuwait
Confirmed cases: 79,269
New cases in past week: 4,084
Active cases: 7,494
Deaths: 511
Tests carried out: 581,000
LEBANON
Political and economic turmoil, plus the devastating explosion in Beirut on August 4, have diverted attention from the coronavirus. Although Lebanon’s outbreak is still relatively small, infections have surged during the past month. New cases this week averaged 505 a day — about three times as many as at the end of July.
A new partial lockdown began on Friday and is due to last two weeks. However, there are doubts about how well it will be observed or enforced (see news report).
For more information see: Covid-19 in Lebanon
Confirmed cases: 11,580
New cases in past week: 3,535
Active cases: 8,260
Deaths: 116
Tests carried out: 451,000
LIBYA
Libya is in its ninth year of internal conflict. The UN-backed Government of National Unity in Tripoli is challenged by Field Marshall Haftar’s forces based in the east of the country. There are also numerous militias. This leaves the country ill-equipped to cope with a major epidemic.
Growing levels of insecurity, political fragmentation and weak governance have led to a deterioration of basic services, particularly in the health system. At least 27 health facilities have been damaged or closed by fighting and some have been attacked directly. There are 870,000 people — refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons — who the UN regards as especially vulnerable.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes the coronavirus situation in Libya as “clusters of cases” — in other words, a series of local outbreaks rather than a generalised epidemic. Sebha, Tripoli, Zliten, Misrata, Ashshatti, Ubari, Traghen, Janzour and Khoms are said to be particular hotspots.
Testing is very limited and the number of confirmed infections is still relatively small but growing fast. Half of the known cases were recorded this month.
Investigations by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) have concluded that most infections are the result of people not practising social distancing. The Libya Herald reports that most people do not wear masks in public. It adds: “Many still spend the weekend with their parents/relatives, attend funerals, baby-parties, and weddings. And although function halls have been forced to shut down, many are holding events for hundreds in open locations such as farms.”
The authorities in Tripoli have responded by announcing series of penalty charges, including fines of 250 dinars ($180) for not wearing a face mask on public transport and 500 dinars (plus temporary closure) for businesses that fail to enforce mask-wearing.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Libya
Confirmed cases: 10,121
New cases in past week: 2,794
Active cases: 8,888
Deaths: 180
Tests carried out: 91,000
MOROCCO
New Covid-19 cases in Morocco over the last three months. Seven-day rolling average, day by day.
Coronavirus infections have been rising sharply in Morocco over the last few weeks, with a record 1,776 new cases reported on Sunday.
This is a major setback since early June when a strict lockdown had reduced new cases to around 40 a day. Local health experts attribute the reversal mainly to the “rushed” way restrictions were lifted (see news report).
There are scattered outbreaks around the country which could grow rapidly if not monitored closely. Containing these depends heavily on the effectiveness of contact-tracing — which is being hampered by delays in testing. Once someone has been diagnosed with Covid-19, it usually takes a week or more to trace all their contacts — by which time the virus may have spread further.
Delays in testing are also being blamed for causing avoidable deaths, because people with serious symptoms are often not receiving treatment until it is too late.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Morocco
Confirmed cases: 49,247
New cases in past week: 10,006
Active cases: 14,239
Deaths: 817
Tests carried out: 1.7 million
OMAN
Infections peaked in mid-July with just under 1,600 cases a day and are now on a downward path. New cases averaged 147 a day this week — a substantial drop to levels not seen since early May.
This week the authorities issued a long list of rules for people visiting restaurants and cafes.
More than 600 medical staff in Oman have been infected with Covid-19 since the outbreak began, according to the government.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Oman
Confirmed cases: 83,769
New cases in past week: 1,026
Active cases: 4,774
Deaths: 609
Tests carried out: 309,000
PALESTINE
Palestine, like Israel, is in the midst of a wave of new infections. Hebron is the most seriously affected area, with 10,832 confirmed cases — almost half the total.
New cases this week averaged 477 a day — a small increase on the previous week.
Many of the infections are attributed to people ignoring the rules for social distancing, which the authorities have difficulty enforcing. The health ministry says more than 30% of cases are the result of Palestinians travelling to and from work in Israel which is in the second wave of its epidemic.
Fears of a major outbreak in Gaza have not materialised. Most of the known cases there appear to have been due to contacts with Egypt.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Palestine
Confirmed cases: 24,398 (West Bank 16,293, Gaza 117, East Jerusalem 7,988)
New cases in past week: 3,342
Active cases: 8,993
Deaths: 135
Tests carried out: 214,000
QATAR
In population terms Qatar has more known cases than any other country — 41,000 per million inhabitants. Migrant workers have been disproportionately affected. Qatar’s epidemic reached a peak in the first week of June but infections have fallen since then. New cases this week averaged 278 a day — well below the peak of more than 1,800 a day.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Qatar
Confirmed cases: 116,481
New cases in past week: 1,949
Active cases: 3,072
Deaths: 193
Tests carried out: 577,000
SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia has the largest number of recorded cases among the Arab countries. New infections reached an initial peak in the fourth week of May, then dropped back slightly before rising to a higher peak in the third week of June. Since then, though, there has been a substantial improvement.
Numbers of new cases are still large. This week they averaged 1,326 a day — a small drop since the previous week and about 3,000 a day below the June peak. The kingdom currently has fewer than 25,000 active cases compared with more than 63,000 at the peak.
Migrant workers have been disproportionately affected but the authorities have also complained about non-compliance with precautionary measures by Saudi citizens.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Saudi Arabia
Confirmed cases: 305,186
New cases in past week: 9,284
Active cases: 24,539
Deaths: 3,580
Tests carried out: 4.5 million
SUDAN
The coronavirus struck Sudan in the midst of a political transition following a popular uprising against the regime of President Bashir and the country is ill-equipped to cope with a major epidemic. Testing is very limited and official figures don’t reflect the full scale of the outbreak.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Sudan
Confirmed cases: 12,623
New cases in past week: 461
Active cases: 5,335
Deaths: 812
Tests carried out: (unknown)
SYRIA
According to official figures Syria’s outbreak is still small, with just over 2,000 cases reported in areas controlled by the Assad regime. Even so, that is twice as many as two weeks ago.
Official announcements rarely give any details and this lack of transparency fuels suspicions that many cases are being concealed. There is also some evidence that people with Covid-19 symptoms are reluctant to contact the authorities.
Anecdotal evidence suggests community transmission of the virus is now widespread and one study indicates there may be tens of thousands of unreported cases.
Fears have been raised about north-western and north-eastern parts of the country which are outside the regime’s control. Millions of displaced people are living in those areas and health services are often rudimentary. So far, 225 cases have been confirmed in the north-east and 54 in the north-west according to Syria in Context, a subscription website.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Syria
The following figures relate to regime-controlled areas only:
Confirmed cases: 2,073
New cases in past week: 558
Active cases: 1,515
Deaths: 83
Tests carried out: (unknown)
TUNISIA
New Covid-19 cases in Tunisia over the last three months. Seven-day rolling average, day by day.
Tunisia’s outbreak remains small, with fewer than 3,000 infections recorded so far. New cases are growing rapidly though. This week they averaged 101 a day, compared with only 35 in the previous week.
In June, Tunisia appeared to be almost free of the virus and began promoting itself as a safe holiday destination. Tourists were to be allowed in with just a simple temperature check.
On Wednesday, however, the authorities announced that people arriving in the country must present evidence of a negative RT-PCR test result. This applies to everyone, including those arriving from low-risk countries.
A controversial LGBT+ film festival, originally due to have been held in Tunis last March, has now been postponed for a second time because of the Covid-19 outbreak. The first such festival was held in secret in 2018 because of local opposition.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Tunisia
Confirmed cases: 2,607
New cases in past week: 704
Active cases: 1,123
Deaths: 64
Tests carried out: 119,000
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
The UAE’s epidemic peaked in the last week of May when new infections were running at more than 900 a day. Numbers of new cases are now considerably lower, though this week’s average of 339 a day is the highest for a month.
The UAE has carried out more tests per head of population than any other Arab country and ranks tenth worldwide in terms of levels of testing.
For more information see: Covid-19 in the UAE
Confirmed cases: 66,193
New cases in past week: 2,374
Active cases: 7,527
Deaths: 370
Tests carried out: 6.3 million
YEMEN
Because of the ongoing war, Yemen already faced a humanitarian crisis before the coronavirus arrived. Millions are malnourished and vulnerable to disease, and health services are inadequate. Official figures grossly understate the severity of the epidemic. Cholera is also prevalent.
For more information see: Covid-19 in Yemen
Confirmed cases: 1,910
New cases in past week: 48
Active cases: 306
Deaths: 543
Tests carried out: (unknown) | https://brian-whit.medium.com/covid-19-in-the-middle-east-situation-report-for-week-ending-22-august-3551aa6af577 | ['Brian Whitaker'] | 2020-08-23 07:15:25.167000+00:00 | ['Coronavirus', 'Middle East', 'Covid 19'] |
Optimize BigQuery costs with Flex Slots | (Update 5/13/2020: Code now uses the Reservations client libraries)
Google Cloud recently added Flex Slots as a new pricing option for BigQuery. Users on Flat Rate commitments no longer pay for queries by bytes scanned and instead pay for reserved compute resources; and using Flex Slots commitments, users can now cancel the reservation anytime after 60 seconds. At $20/500 slot-hours, billed per second, Flex Slots can offer significant cost savings for On-Demand customers whose query sizes exceed 1TiB.
In this article I will show you how your applications can run an hour’s worth of queries on a 500 slot reservation for the same price as a single 4TiB on-demand query (currently priced at $5/TiB), using the Reservations APIs. Equivalent functionality is also available in the Reservations UI.
Admin Project Setup
The recommended best practice for BigQuery Reservations is to maintain a dedicated project for administering the reservations. In this guide, this project will be called the “admin project”.
In order to create reservations, your user will need the bigquery.resourceAdmin role on a project and an available quota of at least 500 Reservation API slots.
User Project Setup
The BigQuery “user project”, will need to be created. To make things simple, your user should have the bigquery.admin role in the user project, allowing you to attach reservations and run queries.
From cloud shell set to your user project.
$gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding $DEVSHELL_PROJECT_ID member='user:[email protected]' role='roles/bigquery.admin'
Testing Behavior in a Notebook
To show the APIs, I am going to be using a Colaboratory (Colab) notebook which will allow you to run Python in your browser. (Another option, as demonstrated in BigQuery quickstart documentation, would be to use an authenticated Python client.)
Configure the Colab environment, and start with the New Notebook option when prompted.
Enter this code in the initial cell.
You will need to replace #’YOUR_ADMIN_PROJECT’ and #’YOUR_USER_PROJECT’ with the projects you created earlier.
Hint: Press Shift-Enter to execute the code in the cell.
The colab project is now logged in as your user, with a base project set to your user project.
You will now create a series of single-purpose functions to demonstrate the Flex Slots feature.
First, create the run_query function which will, by default, estimate the size of the sample query. To execute the query set the dry_run flag to False.
When called, you will see that run_query estimates approximately 3.2TiB scanned or over $15 to run with on-demand pricing.
Now, create a reservations client.
Next, create the function to purchase a Commitment. Commitments are the mechanism to buy slots. Flex commitment purchases are charged in increments of 500 slot hours for $20; this equates to ~33¢ / slot-minute. Customers wishing faster queries or more concurrency can increase their slot commitment.
Now, create a function to create a Reservation. Reservations create a named allocation of slots, and are necessary to assign slots to a project.
Next, create a function to create Assignments. Assignments assign reservations to Organizations, Folders, or Projects. This function assigns the reservation created in the admin project to the user project.
Finally, create a cleanup function. The slot commitment can not be deleted until it’s 60 seconds commitment, end time has been reached; a simple retry is used until the resource can be deleted.
Now that all of the utility functions have been created, you will put everything together and observe the results. Creating the commitment below will charge your project for the 5–10 minute it is expected to run.
Note: as of the time of this writing, the BigQuery Reservations API will indicate the slot assignment is active, before it is ready. The script includes a 3 minute wait to allow time for the reservation to attach. You can get a snack now if you’d like while you wait.
Confirming Query Reservations
Reservation name and query prefix highlighted in red
You can see the query statistics, nicely formatted in the BigQuery Query History tab within the BigQuery Console. The Reservation name will be indicated with a property for queries that used the reserved slots.
Interpreting the Results
Near-linear performance gains as slots are increased
60% to 80% cost savings with Flex Slots
The charts compare the query times and costs of on-demand runs, soft capped at 2000 slots, with runs at increments of 500 slots up to 2000. It’s important to remember that Flex Slots customers will also pay for idle time and those costs can add up quickly for larger reservations. However, even padded with three minutes of idle time, Flex Slots cost 60% to 80% less than the cost of on-demand pricing for this tutorial’s large example query. | https://medium.com/google-cloud/optimize-bigquery-costs-with-flex-slots-e06ec5e4aa90 | ['Patrick Dunn'] | 2020-05-13 22:00:49.336000+00:00 | ['Cost', 'Bigquery'] |
Stablecoins: The Free Market as Ultimate Decentralizing Force | In this article I am going to propose the following:
Most stablecoin projects like basis.io, carbon.money, and fragments look at decentralization only within the context of their respective, isolated network; I propose that decentralization can also be achieved by the market as a whole because of competition (looking at it at the macro level). Competition is at the heart of Bitcoin security in the form of proof-of-work mining: by competing for rewards, miners are the linchpin of Bitcoin security. However, this mining competition is part of the same network (“network” here is used in the sense of “network effect”). I propose that inter-network competition can work as a decentralizing effect in the case of stablecoins.
Having more stablecoin projects is therefore good.
First, a few definitions:
Stablecoins are a class of cryptocurrencies that are designed to have stable value in time. The Quantity Theory of Money as a formula seems to suggest that price levels with respect to a stablecoin can be controlled through an algorithm.
Price level means the price of a basket of goods in the market, expressed in stablecoin units. In monetary economics, the price level is always a time-relative measure, and stability is defined as price level P1 at t1 being almost equal to P2 at t2, with negligible variance.
Free Market means a market that has minimal government controls. It does not mean the absence of rules, and it does not mean the total absence of government. Government is necessary to protect property rights and to enforce contracts. Most cryptocurrency intellectuals believe that smart contracts are self-enforceable, and that is true; however, not all human activity can be specified in smart contract code. Government is therefore necessary.
Problem and Solutions
The fundamental problem of decentralization in stablecoins is that the price level of goods with respect to a stablecoin is external data that cannot be available to a price-stabilization algorithm. In other words, one cannot write a program with price level as input because this input is available only from outside the blockchain, and this data can only be obtained in a centralized manner.
We can collect the price level data in an automated way, and add it to transaction data in the blockchain. Every transaction data would then contain not just the source address, destination address, and amount; but also a name for a commodity (say “rice”) and location (where the transaction occurred). We can account for the fact that there are different strains of rice (there is cheap rice, and expensive rice). There is no universal standard for classification and naming of the different kinds of rice, but this is a separate issue.
Why is location important? Comparison of price levels should only be with respect to time: we want to remove the effects of product quality and transaction location. Transaction location is important because water, for example, can have a different price in a desert compared to its price near a river. However, location may not be relevant also, like in the case of the source location being different from the destination location (a remote transaction).
Catastrophic events can also introduce errors in the price level. For example, a typhoon in South-East Asia can drastically affect price levels in an island in the Philippines. We want to minimize this effect because it is temporary. (Incidentally, the usual way for governments to reduce “price gouging” in a disaster area is by controlling the price, which has a very deleterious effect in the market in the affected area. Instead, if we allowed prices to increase in the affected area, competing stablecoin companies would see this as a great opportunity and would send their stablecoin money to the disaster victims. The goods in high demand would then naturally get to the disaster area, even without government and other help.)
All of these data problems can be resolved, but the fundamental problem remains: these additional data can be manipulated and may not be accurate. These data are not essential in confirming transactions, and are therefore optional. Being optional means being open to manipulation.
Several other proposals have been made to make this price level data available to an algorithm in a decentralized manner. Buterin has proposed using Schelling points for incentivized external input, and Robert Sams has proposed that maybe a limited view of the price level from within the blockchain (like transaction cost) would be enough to extrapolate from. These solutions have their respective issues.
Free Market Competition
Rather than use incentives at the point of data entry of the price level (as in Buterin’s SchellingCoin proposal), why not simply allow incentives for those who start and maintain a stablecoin? Each stablecoin can then use varying algorithms and means to achieve stability; and the more stable your stablecoin is, the more market you gain. The resulting overall macro-economic system would then be decentralized, because of competition. What if two stablecoin companies merge, wouldn’t that tend to centralize things? Two stablecoin companies may want to merge, but it may not make sense. It would be like merging the ecosystems of Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox. The network effect here is product-specific and not amenable to merging.
Free market competition as a decentralizing effect also promises to fix the perennial problem of boom and bust cycles, which has been a characteristic of every fiat regime.
How?
There are monetary economists (see George Selgin, for example) who theorize that central banks are one primary cause of boom and bust cycles. According to this theory, boom and bust cycles did not occur prior to the existence of central banks. Central banks, being a monopoly in their respective markets, are indeed “central” and are not in competition with any other business entity. They almost always claim to be independent of the government that hosts them, but a central bank is an ideal arrangement for politicians: it’s easy enough to extract money from the central bank without directly taxing the people; plus if something goes wrong, the politician (and the central bank) can always blame somebody else. Central planning is the key activity of central banks — because central banking is basically a socialist arrangement in the midst of a capitalist system. Boom and bust cycles occur because there is only one currency to absorb the shock of economic storms.
With a free market of stablecoins, money becomes heterogeneous and decentralized. There is not one kind of money but several currencies, competing with each other, like bank notes of old, prior to the existence of central banks. People can exchange a stablecoin for another. People can compare prices in different currencies. Some stores will be equipped to accept any stablecoin, but some will accept only one. People can accept their salary in any one stablecoin, but can easily convert to another to go shopping. More importantly, when an economic storm occurs, a stablecoin company or two may not survive, but damage would be limited and the people would be fine. The surviving stablecoin companies would compete for users of the stablecoin that failed, and those users would pick the best deal they can get. Boom and bust cycles would become a thing of the past.
If you agree with the premise, please clap.
About myself
I started Pure Money Technology last year. We are a startup with no capital as yet, but we retain ambitions to introduce our own stablecoin. We believe that, before a stablecoin company can talk about stability, it first has to establish its stablecoin. Current projects like Basis, Carbon, and Fragments have elaborate mechanisms for keeping the value of their stablecoin very stable; but without a market, none of these mechanisms would work. It’s like putting the cart before the horse. We believe that there should be a different stability mechanism for each stage of a stablecoin’s growth. Only a central bank can have a ready, huge market from the get go (like the ECB for the Euro), but stablecoins have to start from a non-existent market. | https://medium.com/coinmonks/stablecoins-the-free-market-as-ultimate-decentralizing-force-c2c13f29ad7f | ['Carlos Tapang'] | 2018-06-21 11:41:41.485000+00:00 | ['Stablecoin', 'Free Market', 'Market', 'Bitcoin'] |
WeiDex Exchange — Connect Wallet. Hello, weiDex Community | Hello, weiDex Community
On the weiDex platform, there are several methods to choose how to connect your wallet. In this article, we will show you which are these methods and how you can use them.
Let’s begin!
1. The first way of connecting the wallet is with “Private Key”
If you want to use the “Private Key” method you should know that it is not a recommended way to access your wallet because it is not safe to enter your private key on websites. Another good thing you should know it is that weiDex doesn’t store your private key. And finally, you are going to use your private key on your own risk.
2. Next option is the “Brain Wallet” connection.
In case you go for this option you should know that anyone who can guess your username and password can steal your funds. So if you consider relying on safety we don’t recommend this method.
Let’s continue.
3. The third method is “Metamask”.
We recommend you to use this method because its safety is balanced. By balanced we mean the “Metamask” method is not as safe as Trezor or Ledger Nano S but it is not as vulnerable as Private Key, Brain Wallet or Keystore File either. This is a browser extension which you can add to your browser. If you are going to use “Metamask” method click on “Connect” and you will get a Metamask Notification where you can type your password or import your phrase. In case you forget your password you can enter your phrase which is given to you when you make a new wallet.
4. The fourth method is “Keystore File”.
Another recommendation from the weiDex team. This is one more method which is on your own risk because your file can be stolen easily if somebody has access to your computer.
5. The final two methods are “Trezor” and “Ledger Nano S”. In case you are all about the security, these are the connection methods which are most recommended.
They are not a browser extension neither computer file which you can save on your computer. They are a physical device which you can buy on their websites. Unfortunately the method “Ledger Nano S” is currently supported by Chrome only.
Trezor: https://trezor.io/
Ledger Nano S: https://shop.ledger.com/products/ledger-nano-s
If you need more information you can find us on:
Website: https://weidex.market
Exchange: https://app.weidex.market/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/weiDexExchange
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weiDexExchange/
Telegram: https://t.me/weidex
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weidex_market/
NB! Decentralized exchanges are based on smart contracts where the assets are held. You and only you can withdraw your tokens at any time. That means we cannot refund your tokens if you lose your password or if your phrase or private key have been stolen.
You are responsible for every move you make! | https://medium.com/weidex/weidex-exchange-connect-wallet-f6861fcefe9c | [] | 2019-07-02 12:52:03.689000+00:00 | ['Decentralized Exchange', 'Ethereum', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
For the Love of the Game. | I love baseball. Everything about it, really. I have always had this affinity for the game. However, there was a time when I walked away from it. In the early 1990’s when the strike occurred, it left a bad impression, and I walked away. I was 17 at the time and I do not think I returned to baseball until I was around 28 or 29. Ten or eleven years, I was away from the sport. Now do not get the idea that I was a fantastic player. I was not. In fact, just the opposite. I was horrible. Beyond horrible in fact. But just like any other little kid, I dreamed of being the star. Hitting the homerun in the bottom of the 9th to win the game. Yeah, that never happened.
I came back to baseball when my oldest son started playing around the age of six. I have watched him play over the course of ten years until he gave it up. I watched my second oldest son play the game for about three or four years until he gave it up. He has no interest in it. My daughter plays on a Miracle League team. It is a team for “handicapped” individuals. Then there is my youngest. He has been playing for five years and is on a travel team. He seems to love to play the game, and has some talent. I get to help coach instead of watch from the bleachers. I love it.
There is something about the baseball field that just makes a man feel alive! Sure, it can be hot as hell, dry as the desert, or long as the wait at Walmart on Christmas, but it is worth it! To see the smiles on the kids’ faces and know that they really enjoy the game is the most fulfilling and satisfying aspect for me. It reminds me of what I used to think of the players in the early years of the game. Those players who played not for money, but for the love of the game. Sure money was involved, it always is, but LOVE of the game…that is what makes players worth watching!
Baseball has always been America’s pastime. I think it always will be. Nothing brings people together like baseball. Sure there are other sports that unite people, but there is something about the game. Something that makes a grown man turn into a little kid again. It is almost magical. Step into any stadium, and I promise that you will feel the energy from over a hundred years ago flow through your body. The legends that built the sport, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio, and countless others, have never left the field. Their spirit continues on in this great game. The Boys of Summer will always be on the field!
For the love of the game. That is what it is really about is it not? When the little kid sees a movie like the Sandlot and wants to play baseball, heaven smiles down. The next time your kid wants to play catch or play the game, take time and relive your childhood. Better yet, give your kid some great memories that he or she will cherish for life. After all, it is for the love of the game. | https://medium.com/@CLINTPARKS/for-the-love-of-the-game-c4370ddda507 | [] | 2021-08-16 21:47:35.909000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Summer', 'Baseball', 'Memories', 'Life Lessons'] |
Your Political Discourse Needs A Safe-Word | Artwork by Matt Pettigrew at Digital Absurdist
Political discourse between consenting adults can be exotic and deeply satisfying; however, for newcomers to politics, it is best to talk with your partner about a safe-word before engaging in discourse.
Political safe-words let your partner know when the discourse is getting too rough or weird. Saying your safe-word in the middle of a discourse lets your partner know when to stop, or when to go back to regular, vanilla political discourse such as gentle back and forth between center-left and center-right positions.
Choosing the right safe-word is crucial. If you choose a word that is too commonly used in everyday politics, such as “Nazi,” “Stalinist,” “Hitler,” or “Crypto-Anarchist,” your partner may not realize that things have gotten too intense. In fact, using those everyday, common words may actually encourage your partner to discourse even harder, resulting in even more intense polarization than you bargained for.
For that reason, it’s best to choose uncommon safe-words like “Compromise,” “Humility,” and “Self-Reflection,” so that your partner can easily identify that something is definitely not right. To ensure partners don’t overlook genuine distress, some people advocate for using safe-phrases instead of safe-words, such as “I hadn’t thought of that before,” or “I recognize the validity of your side and will seek to better understand your ideas in the spirit of friendship.” Even the most chaotic and rigorous of discourses would be brought to a halt if such a safe-phrase was uttered.
Have you spoken to your partner about a political safe word?
Equipped with a solid safe-word or phrase, the world of political discourse is now open to you, more than any other time in history. Whereas our grandparents would have been socially shunned for openly discussing Universal Basic Income or Techno-Libertarianism, people these days are increasingly free to casually try discourse with a political partner, or multiple partners in what is known as a “political forum.”
Newcomers to this space are often tempted to explore the exotic world of role-playing, where one can masquerade online as a Post-Capitalism Anarchist while living day-to-day as a mid-manager at a car insurance company. With niche political discourses proliferating online, you can role-play just about anything these days from Bourgeois-Proletariat Marxist fantasies to Secular Liberalism-Populist Theocracy conflicts, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Poly-politicalism has a history in various religious traditions, where people experiment with supporting many seemingly competing stances at once. You could support Unregulated Campaign Finance while simultaneously entertaining Anti-Corruption positions, but maintaining multiple conflicting ideas may prove difficult. Whatever the case, it’s always best to research what you’re getting into before you engage, otherwise, you might find yourself in a chatroom being whipped by multiple strangers, while shouting safe-words to no avail.
Although the variety and sheer quantity of political discourses available may seem exciting at first, it is important to recognize that it can become overwhelming if precautions are not taken. And as always, please remember to talk to your kids about how to practice safe political discourse, otherwise, someone online will do it for you. | https://medium.com/slackjaw/your-political-discourse-needs-a-safe-word-b11e201614ca | ['Matthew Pettigrew'] | 2020-09-07 14:11:01.340000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Humor', 'Elections', 'Polarization', 'Satire'] |
How to switch to a new hardware wallet in case of losing the card | How to switch to a new hardware wallet in case of losing the card eSignus Jan 29, 2020·5 min read
There is a critical rule that every cryptocurrency user has to keep in mind: “If you don’t control your keys, you don’t control your money”. The worst nightmare for a crypto assets owner is losing his private keys. This is why those who care about the security of their investment prefer to store their keys in a hardware wallet, keeping them safe from theft.
A widely extended option is to keep the cryptocurrencies in exchange, for being an easier system to use. However, these platforms provide a false perception of security, since they do not ensure the safeguarding of the assets they hold, are more vulnerable to malicious attacks and do not take responsibility in case of theft or fraud.
The latest developments in hardware wallets approach the user experience between different types of platforms, ensuring that the security of the assets is not compromised. But is this security real and sustainable? In the last year, aesthetic but impractical solutions have proliferated, which actually consists of paper wallets with beautiful designs, such as engraving keys on metal or using engraved characters to store them. These solutions are at the contrary extreme: high security but zero ease of use.
HASHWallet brings together the security of a paper wallet with the ease of an exchange with custody service. In this article, we will show how to recover our accounts even in case of losing the hardware wallet, and the simplicity of this process.
How to recover your HASHWallet if you have lost the device
Losing a hard wallet is a critical moment since it contains your private keys and therefore access to all your funds. As a HASHWallet user, you will enjoy a simple and effective recovery process. All you have to do is purchase a new device, and then follow these steps:
Step 1: Run the App and prepare it to set up the new HASHWallet with the lost device account.
Run the App and prepare it to set up the new with the lost device account. Step 2 : Initialize your new hardware wallet. During the configuration process, you must choose the option to recover existing keys instead of creating new ones.
: Initialize your new hardware wallet. During the configuration process, you must choose the option to recover existing keys instead of creating new ones. Step 3 : Once your new HASHWallet links to the App, it will request to login to eSignus Vault or into the key storage service you have chosen. At this point, the App works as a gateway between the hardware wallet and the custody service.
After selecting which HASHWallet you want to recover, the Recovery Key will be sent to the new device.
: Once your new HASHWallet links to the App, it will request to login to eSignus Vault or into the key storage service you have chosen. At this point, the App works as a gateway between the hardware wallet and the custody service. After selecting which HASHWallet you want to recover, the Recovery Key will be sent to the new device. Step 4: Bring the HASHWallet close to the Smart Seed Card. The Recovery Seed data will then be transferred to the new hard wallet.
The cryptoprocessor will do the rest, and the new device will store again your keys. A simple and agile way to recover your wallets, without typing lots of keywords in an impossible keyboard or repeating the data entry by mistakes. All you need is your Smart Seed Card and your access to the eSignus Vault.
But what processes take place inside the smart card to make this possible?
The internal process of wallet recovery
The cryptoprocessor of the smart card combines the Recovery Key and the Recovery Seed using an algorithm to create the original seed that was randomly generated the first time. This seed is the origin of the private keys of each of the wallets that we had active. But how does HASHWallet know which wallets we had active?
The answer lies in the information stored in the App, which consists of the currencies associated with these wallets as well as their generation sequence numbers. Through this system, we can manage as many wallets per currency as we need.
A more extraordinary situation would be losing both the card and the App access at the same time. In this case, you would have to download the App again, enter your eSignus Vault access and follow the same steps described above. The only exception is that you would not know the coins related to each wallet and their sequence numbers, so you will have to introduce the coins and select the wallets with funds that the system displays.
What can I do if I lose my Smart Seed Cards?
In this case, it is necessary to generate the Recovery Seed and Recovery Key again; these are removed from HASHWallet when the device is first initialized, and cannot be replicated since those were created through a random process that is impossible to replicate.
Smart Seed Cards contain the Recovery Seed. HASHWallet is delivered with two Seed Cards so you can store them separately to reduce the risk of loss. But even if you can’ t access them, there is also a recovery method:
Step 1: Purchase a new set of Smart Seed Cards.
Purchase a new set of Smart Seed Cards. Step 2: Connect to eSignus Vault using your card fingerprint sensor.
Connect to eSignus Vault using your card fingerprint sensor. Step 3: Write your new Smart Seed Cards with the new data that has been generated again based on the Recovery Key.
With this simple process, you will have recovered your Seed Cards.
What if I forget my App access?
This process is equivalent to changing your smartphone or signing up for a new device. In these cases, it works as a new App. To link it, you must activate your smart card and authorize the link from the App with your fingerprint.
And if I lose my eSignus Vault passwords?
To access eSignus Vault, you need to know the username and password you specified when activating your first HASHWallet. In case you lose your smart card and forget the access to eSignus Vault, you won’t be able to recover your wallets. Therefore, you must save these access keys properly.
To avoid the loss of this access, eSignus Vault will suggest monthly access to the custody service with your keys. This way, in case you lose your access you will be able to recover it as long as you still have your card. | https://medium.com/@esignus/how-to-switch-to-a-new-hardware-wallet-in-case-of-losing-the-card-a668d16e7574 | [] | 2020-02-25 19:21:19.029000+00:00 | ['Ethereum Wallet', 'Proof Of Keys', 'Hardware Wallet', 'Bitcoin Wallet', 'Blockchain Startup'] |
What is ALT Tag?. ALT tags are nothing but an HTML… | Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash
ALT tags are nothing but an HTML attribute. Which stands for alternative text. ALT tags are used to describe the image or what the image is representing. One of the main purposes of ALT tags is for the benefit of visually impaired users who use screen readers when browsing.
Search engines only “see” the text on web pages, and use the underlying HTML structure to determine relevance. Large images or dynamic Flash animation mean nothing to search engines, but the actual text on your pages does. Adding alternative text to photos is first and foremost a principle of web accessibility.
While search engine image recognition technology has vastly improved over the years and now it is capable to read images, But still can’t “see” the images on a website page as we can, so it’s not wise to leave the interpretation solely in their hands. If they don’t understand or get it wrong, it’s possible you could either rank for unintended keywords or miss out on ranking altogether.
Simple Example of Alt tag :
<img src=“pie.jpg” alt=“steak and ale pie”>
Do alt tags still matter?
Yes. they certainly do. Below, we take a look at why, and how you should take advantage of them.
Alt text improves accessibility: Millions of people are visually-impaired, and lots of uses screen readers to consume online content. Images without alt text increasing problems for screen readers because there’s no way to communicate the content of the image to the user. Image SEO: Using alt text on your images can make for a better user experience, but it may also help earn you both explicit and implicit SEO benefits. Along with implementing image title and file naming best practices, including alt text, may also contribute to image SEO. It can help to improve your rank in Google Images: Google Images is the world’s second-largest search engine. It’s responsible for 20.45% of all online searches, putting it ahead of YouTube, Bing, and other search engines combined. Alt text serves as anchor text for image links: In case the image is used as a link, the alt text is used as the anchor text.
Tips for writing good alt text
Always write an Alt tag that describes the image as specifically as possible. Do not include “this is image is for..”, “image of,” “picture of,” etc. in your alt text. It is not necessary. Keep your alt text short. Always try to write its text between 100 to 130 characters. Do not stuff unneeded keywords in your alt tag. Always use a keyword that is only related to your specific image.
Examples of Alt Text
Let’s make sure we understand what works and what doesn’t with a few examples.
Photo by Alora Griffiths on Unsplash
Bad: <img src=”exercise.png” alt=”this is image is for exercise”> Okay: <img src=”exercise.png” alt=”women exercise”> Good: <img src=”exercise.png” alt=”women doing exercise”> Best: <img src=”exercise.png” alt=”women doing weight lifting exercise”>
Photo by Nadine Shaabana on Unsplash
Bad: <img src=”gaming.png” alt=”this is image is for gaming”> Okay: <img src=”gaming.png” alt=”gaming remote”> Good: <img src=”gaming.png” alt=”gaming remote in hand”> Best: <img src=”gaming.png” alt=”red gaming remote in hand”>
Conclusion
Optimizing Alt text is important and very useful for SEO purposes are well as screen readers, but it’s not the be-and-end-all of image SEO. | https://medium.com/@naushiljain/what-are-alt-tags-98f12340a73e | ['Naushil Jain'] | 2020-12-11 18:37:31.016000+00:00 | ['SEO', 'Performance', 'Alt Tags', 'Search Engines', 'Optimization'] |
Meditations on Transgender Spirituality | Gift, Sacrifice, and the Soul
The movement for the rights, recognition, and liberties of queer people has been well underway for about 50 years as of this writing (2018), and has thus far secured impressive social gains and rights for queer people of all persuasions. Despite periodic setbacks, the movement continues to build, both in scope and in geography. As the movement builds, queer people have gained the ability to live openly authentic lives, increasingly integrated with the society that surrounds us. Society benefits as well, its collective consciousness expanding and developing in the areas of gender and sexuality.
This movement has been almost entirely secular and political in nature. Having inherited a culture steeped in shame and fear with regards to sexuality, and because spiritual institutions have been the primary sources and enforcers of those norms, queer people have naturally gravitated toward secular society. The political struggle to reckon with queer rights has tended to pit a religious right against a secular left, and this pattern of conservative religious movements opposing secular queer movements can be seen throughout the world. At best, queer people may find acceptance into the community of a progressive religious institution, but find that it offers little or no spiritual context for the queer experience of sexuality and gender. One’s queerness is not addressed. It can be difficult for queer people to find resonance with a spiritual tradition that ignores the most fundamental aspects of our humanity. It is not satisfying to settle for mere non-oppression.
Why should this be the case all around the world? It’s easy for queer people to get the impression that spirituality has no place for and no understanding of them. The impulse arises to reject every spiritual inclination and commit oneself to a secular worldview and existence. A convincing argument can be made, however, that the sexually conservative attitudes prevalent in most world religions today are an artifact of the world patriarchal movement that began about 4500 years ago. At that moment in human history, Bronze Age technological advancements made it possible to wage war on an imperial scale for the first time. The earliest example I’ve identified of this kind of conquest can be traced to Sargon of Akkad, the legendary king of Akkad who conquered and ruled over Sumer, the cradle of human civilization, ca. 2300 BCE.
This set the stage the stage for world conquest. Groups of ambitious men were now able to access the advanced weaponry of the time and wage imperial warfare. For thousands of years, networks of farming cultures and trading communities had flourished and spread throughout the world, and these were now ripe for the taking. Indo-European and Semitic warrior tribes conquered almost every existing culture group between Europe and India during the thousand years following the time of Sargon. Since then, the Great War of the Ages has never ceased; patriarchal warfare has long been the establishing principle of power and rulership in every region of the Earth.
The ascendance of patriarchal power throughout the world was accompanied by the ascendance of patriarchal religious forms, and this is relevant to the queer experience of religion in the current age. This essay will focus specifically on transgender spirituality, but will sometimes reference the broader category of queer spirituality. One bleeds over into the other. Divergence in sexual orientation is defined in terms of gender: the act of sex does not define a queer person, the gender of the participant does. As such, same-sex loving can be understood as a form of gender divergence, and transgender spirituality is the spirituality of gender divergence. Beyond the margins of world patriarchal religions, one finds spiritual-cultural systems inclusive of gender-divergent people, such as with the Hijra in India, the Fa’afafine and Mahu in the Pacific Islands, and Two-Spirit traditions in the Americas. In addition, the indigenous roots of cultures from every corner of the globe seem to have a common grounding in animism and shamanic spiritual practices. One element of shamanic practice found throughout the world is the phenomenon of gender divergence in the shamans themselves.
One may also find elements of transgender spirituality on the margins of the patriarchal religions. One of my favorite myths related to transgender spirituality relates back to the previous reference point of Sumer and Akkad. The culture forms of writing, mathematics, astronomy, and calendric systems are generally considered the hallmarks of what we call civilization, and these were all first developed in Sumer, humanity’s earliest civilization. Like the surrounding cultures later conquered by warring patriarchs, Sumer’s religious life was centered around the figure of the Goddess. For most early agricultural societies, the Goddess was revered in recognition of the feminine power to produce and sustain life, equivalent to the power of the Earth itself to do the same. Even today, we are familiar with the concept of Mother Earth. The primary Sumerian Goddess was Inanna, and in her worship we find one of the oldest historical references to transgender people in spiritual life.
This ancient myth involves the descent of Inanna into the underworld to comfort her sister, Ereshkigal, the underworld queen, mourning for her deceased husband. When Inanna did not return, her father Enki created two devotees to journey in quest for her retrieval: a kurgarra and galatur, beings of ambiguous gender. They used empathy as the primary tool to secure Inanna’s release from Ereshkigal in what has been referred to as “the first psychotherapy session.” Specifically, they used the therapeutic practice of mirroring, encountering Ereshkigal in deep grief and mourning for the death of her husband. As she wailed and moaned, they would repeat back her cries to her, such as “Oh my inside!” and “Oh my outside!” She offered them a reward for their compassion, and they asked for Inanna’s return.
This is the mythological origin story of Inanna’s transgender priestesses, who served in her temples in daily Sumerian life. In much of the scholarship regarding these figures, they are referred to as men and as priests, but this is likely a case of misgendering. They were described as performing the social duties of women, dressing as women, and performing ritual castration on themselves (the closest thing a trans woman could get to hormone therapy before the advent of modern medicine). Since they are no longer with us, we are unable to ask them whether they would like to be referred to as men or women, or as something else. Having chosen to live as women in every way available to them, even to the point of castration (as many trans women do today), I believe it is most respectful for us to consider them women.
Goddess worship was the dominant religious form of the Neolithic Age, and she was known by various names throughout the ancient world. One of the oldest of these Goddesses was Cybele, who originated in the region now known as Turkey. She may have provided the original template for Goddess worship that later spread throughout Europe and the Middle East. Cybele was known as the Magna Mater (Great Mother) in Rome, where her worship was adopted as state religion at the time of the Punic Wars, lasting for 600 years until forbidden by the Christian Emperor Theodosius. Her consort was the castrated Attis, and the Gallae, transgender priestesses equivalent to those of Inanna, served in her temples alongside their cisgender priestess counterparts. As the myth of Inanna’s rescue illustrates, these priestesses were healers, known for their empathy; they cared for wounded soldiers, raised abandoned infants, and bestowed blessings through sacred sexual rites.
As mentioned earlier, patriarchy imposed by imperial warfare began with the conquest of Sumer by Sargon of Akkad. In the Akkadian language, Inanna was rendered as Ishtar, and Ishtar’s transgender priestesses were not kurgarra and galatur, they were called assinnu. The myth of Ishtar’s rescue was also slightly changed from the Sumerian myth of Inanna. Ishtar’s father did not create two devotees, but one assinnu named Asushunamir, and instead of an emphasis on empathy, Asushunamir wins Ereshkigal over through her beauty and calming presence. But in the Akkadian myth, Ereshkigal does not simply release Ishtar without penalty. Instead, she curses Asushunamir and all assinnu to be treated with scorn and rejection by others in society. This seems to be the oldest instance of what we would call “trans panic” today: when a cisgender person lashes out in cruelty to harm the transgender person they are attracted to.
Because of the way this transgender myth was altered, I speculate that Akkadian society was uneasy with gender divergence in a way Sumerian society was not. Here, myth can be understood in terms of societal projection. The Akkadian conquest of Sumer was the first example of a great patriarchal society conquering a great Goddess-centered society. In a society built around planting, the organizing principle of all life is the Goddess power of bringing forth sustenance from the Earth. Ritual sex is performed with her priestesses in celebration of the life-giving power. It is easy to imagine that in a sex-positive society, positive attitudes would be likelier to prevail around gender divergence and queer sexuality. These could be seen as welcomed additional flavors of sexuality and gender expression, all in celebration of the Goddess. She is equivalent to the natural world, and hers are the blessings of food, life, and sexual pleasure. Although I do not know what level of queer positivity existed in such societies, the available evidence seems to suggest a general trend from greater acceptance and inclusion to greater discomfort and exclusion as the patriarchal forms took stronger hold.
Ereshkigal’s curse of the assinnu recalls Yahweh’s curse of all women through Eve in the Book of Genesis. In both cases, the curse adheres to generations of assinnu and women who had nothing to do with the actions of Asushunamir or Eve. Scholarship has established a link to the myth of Eve and the Garden to the earlier Sumerian myth of Inanna and her garden of bliss. Inanna is never thrown out of the garden in this myth, and the serpent is the consort of the Goddess, not her corrupter. With the myth of Yahweh, we see a different approach to the same mythological symbols: women are cursed, and serpents along with them. We see man and woman thrown out of the garden; its gates are sealed, guarded by two cherubim. Yahweh is acting as a tyrant — the appropriate God for a patriarchal, warrior people. As patriarchal cultures became more established and powerful, we see each of them enshrine such a male warrior god atop their pantheon: Zeus, Jupiter, Indra, Yahweh — all of them fighters — all of them dwell in the sky, not the earth. They hurl thunderbolts or other violent punishments from the heavens to enforce their rule.
This makes sense when considering the perspective of a warrior people. They do not worship the Goddess above all else. Others toil on the earth to produce food. Warriors raid in and take by force what farmers have produced, what the Goddess has produced. Not only do they take by force, they remain among the conquered people as their rulers. They are a noble class, elevated above the common folk. They keep their bloodline separate and hand down power to their descendants. And they owe it all to the sword. Symbolically, a weapon in masculine hands has supplanted the life-giving feminine power as the strongest force in human affairs. Patriarchy is more than the rule of men over women, it is also the rule of men over other men. It is the rule of the strongest warrior and leader of men, held up as the epitome of realized masculinity. God, the strongest male of all, rules over everyone.
The construct of such a system leads naturally to oppression of women. Symbolically, just as the warrior people have conquered the planting people and rule over their land and bounty, so a man is encouraged to take possession of a woman and rule over her masterfully. Sex represents the power of the Goddess, and it is no longer celebrated but looked on as a source of shame and weakness. Warriors must be disciplined. Who would want to go fight in a war if he could stay at home with the Goddess and feast on food and sex in peace? The Goddess becomes a temptation to be resisted. Surrender to her and the power of conquest and rule will be lost. Patriarchal myths reflect this by blaming female figures such as Eve or Pandora for bringing evil into the world. A transgender person (especially a trans woman) represents an absolute refutation of the masculine ideal, and the curse imposed on the assinnu can also be understood as a response against this threat.
This patriarchal interpretation offers an explanation of why prevailing religious traditions today seem to have no place for queer people, even though past traditions did. These religions have failed queer people, and it’s up to us develop new mythologies and spiritualities that serve us. We can begin by reviewing other existing myths and systems to discern common threads to weave from. In addition to the association of trans people with healing, nurturing, and sexual roles in the Goddess traditions, shamanic traditions worldwide have frequently been linked with expressions of gender divergence. There is tremendous variance among the vast array of shamanic cultures, but generally speaking, a shaman can be of any gender and works as a healer. Their domain is the world of spirits, souls, visions, dreams, and archetypes; they exist on the threshold between these worlds, passing back and forth in the liminal zone, and facilitating soul retrieval processes for the afflicted. To evoke the animal archetypes and spirits, many shamans will dress as and imitate the animal powers. Gender norms, sexuality, and mannerisms can also be worked with in this way. There are accounts of shamanic cultures in which shamans will swap genders for a year as part of their training and practice, as well as accounts of shamans who transition permanently. In short, shamans of various cultures can be all over the map in terms of gender and sexuality, and this is generally regarded as an asset to their healing work across the threshold of the material and spirit worlds.
This theme of crossing the threshold between two worlds is a natural fit for the transgender experience, particularly in reference to healing, sexuality, and prophecy. The Greek myth of Tiresias is an example of this. As the story goes, Tiresias was taking a walk when he saw two snakes copulating; he struck the snakes with his staff, bursting through the pairs of opposites, and in that moment was transformed into a woman. Seven years later, Tiresias returned to the same spot to undo the spell, observed the snakes copulating again, and was transformed back to a man by leaving the snakes alone this time. His experience on both sides of the sex divide prompted Hera and Zeus to approach Tiresias in settling a dispute: whether men or women enjoy more pleasure in sex. Tiresias answered that women enjoy sex nine times as much as men do. Hera had been arguing that men enjoy sex more than women, so she struck Tiresias blind for contradicting her. Zeus, on the other hand, rewarded Tiresias for agreeing with him, bestowing him with the gift of foresight. Tiresias was made able to interpret birdsong, and the birds were oracles of the future to any who could hear their language.
Tiresias essentially lived as a transgender man during his seven years in a woman’s body. Like transgender men, he desired the body of a man, and completed the transition back to male form when he successfully reversed the spell that made his body female. Having transitioned back and forth, living as both sexes, Tiresias had an experience beyond that of even the most powerful gods. In particular, Tiresias had sexual knowledge desired by the gods but not possessed by them. Later, Tiresias gains the gift of prophecy by the ability to translate birdsong. Very similar to shamanic figures, Tiresias crosses the thresholds of gender; he gains knowledge beyond that of the gods, and he communes with the animal powers to access even greater hidden knowledge.
The gender crossing is an opportunity for increased knowledge because it is the most direct form of empathy possible: having the actual experience of the other. This kind of empathy can bring the kind of knowledge even gods will envy, as Tiresias learned. It is also instrumental in the ability to heal, as seen with the transgender priestesses of Cybele, Inanna, and other Goddesses, as well as with shamanic journeyers through the spirit realm. The power of empathy inherent in a gender transition is also seen in the Chinese myth of Quan Yin, the Goddess of compassion. Originally incarnated as the male bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokitesvara of Buddhist mythology, he burst into ten thousand pieces because his form was incapable of containing the level of compassion he sought to extend to all beings. He reincarnated in female form as Quan Yin, and in this form, she found herself able to fully extend her infinite compassion, which she continues to do to this day.
Another important form of transgender mythology is found in hermetic and alchemical traditions. They employ the symbol of the androgyne to represent the transcendence of the pairs of opposites. Alternately termed the hermaphrodite, the androgyne body possesses the primary and secondary sex characteristics of both men and women. The goal of Alchemy was the pursuit of enlightenment or transcendence, and this goal was communicated through the use of esoteric symbols. For instance, the familiar quest of alchemists — attempting to turn ordinary metal to gold — was actually a metaphor for the transformation of the soul. The golden soul is immortal, eternal, outside of time, outside the pairs of opposites. Male and female are within the pairs of opposites. So are past and future, rising and falling, life and death, this and that. In crossing the threshold of gender, one must cross that point in time when the flip happens. In that instant, one has experienced the transcendent realm of nonduality. The goal of alchemy is to stay there. This particular myth speaks directly to the nonbinary experience of gender, or the intersex experience of the body, and the value of such perspectives.
Drawing from these mystery traditions, the traditional major arcana of the tarot deck ends with the card called The World. It depicts the figure of the androgyne, twirling two phallic wands and dancing inside a vaginal wreath. The vagina is the portal by which we enter the world at birth, a reference back to Goddess mythology. In the case of The World tarot card, another threshold moment is referenced, this time at the end of the journey. With the benefit of wisdom gained through completion, one recognizes that death is simply another birth, another portal. We leave as the androgyne, having transcended sex and gender, beyond the thresholds, beyond the pairs of opposites. Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden for eating from the tree of pairs of opposites (Good and Evil), but the gate of return to the garden has actually been open all along. To pass through it and reunite with bliss, we merely need to release the pairs of opposites in our own consciousness. Transgender and intersex people have some experience in this area — relevant to anyone who would like to get back to paradise someday.
Keeping the androgyne in mind as a representation of completed transcendence to a non-dual state directs us to a transcendent reading of God as depicted in the early pages of Genesis. Far surpassing the persona of Yahweh, sky and warrior god, this is God as the ultimate symbol for that which is beyond symbols, form beyond form, beyond existence and nonexistence, and beyond gender. Rabbi Mark Sameth wrote a fascinating article entitled “Is God Transgender?” that explores numerous instances of gender divergence in the language choices of the original Hebrew Genesis text. As a Hebrew scholar, Sameth suggests that “Yahweh” is probably an inaccurate rendering of YHWH, but that God’s name may have been transcribed backwards to conceal a message: written backwards as HW/HY (pronounced Hu/Hi), the name translates as “He/She” in ancient Hebrew. Perhaps the mystery of God’s unpronounceable name was constructed as a code, pointing to an androgyne identity. This may have been considered the ideal metaphor to point to the transcendent mystery of the divine (that ultimately cannot even be pointed to). The creation of Adam and Eve in God’s image, male and female, is another clue that points in the direction of bi-gender, or nonbinary divinity.
Today, trans people are rarely seen as reflections of divine gender divergence. The transcendent spiritual paths active in the culture today seem to actually run counter to the trans experience. Buddhist teachings advocate for the release of struggle, the surrender of desire and fear as the necessary elements on the path to nirvanic release. Other non-dual offerings echo the Buddhist teachings, such as Eckhart Tolle’s call to the present moment and disidentification with mind. We are urged to let go of the struggle, let go of our desires, and relax into the present-moment field of the now. But a trans person who has not transitioned finds the field of now intolerable. The long road to gender congruence — socially, physically, and psychologically — is often an arduous, painful road of struggle. Is this a signal that the trans identity is a delusion? Are trans identities merely disruptive functions of mind-identification to be dismissed rather than integrated? Non-dual teachings are silent to trans people seeking to reconcile this contradiction. Absent any guidance, the trans person must choose between accepting some level of identification with form, or foreclosing on their transgender identity.
We have lovely transgender myths from cultures throughout history, all over the world. They would be of great benefit to trans people today if they were taught and recognized more widely. Transgender people need a mythology that can communicate their own importance and value to the psyche. As popular spiritual frameworks fail in this task, trans people are pitched back into the secular world. Seeking clarity in the offerings of secular wisdom, depth psychology appears to be a promising avenue at first glance. When I embarked on my own training as a psychotherapist, I was intuitively drawn to Jungian frameworks, thirsty for a psychology that spoke with authority regarding the realm of dreams, visions, art, symbol, and myth. Carl Jung provided a basic set of tools and concepts useful in approaching the intersection of psyche, spirit, and symbol. For those of us inspired by artistic revelation, spiritual transformation, and contemplation of the great mystery of existence, his work uncovers a rich vein: the territory of the inner life and the shamanic realms, rendered in psychological terminology.
Although fascinated and nourished by Jung’s conceptual framework, I observed a weak link in his approach to two of the most significant archetypes of the human psyche: that of male and female, or animus and anima in the language of his system. It unsurprising that Jung presented these in terms of heterosexual and cisgender normativity given the context of his time. In the originally construed framework, one is considered to have a shadow archetype in the unconscious mind of one’s own gender. The shadow consists of all the parts of oneself that have been denied, suppressed, or disowned. Even deeper in the unconscious psyche dwells an archetype of the opposite gender: for women this archetype is supposed to be a male animus, and for men it is a female anima. The anima or animus is a container for one’s deepest attachment wounds, sexual desires, impulses toward romantic love, and longings for partnered union, melded together in the nebulous form of the mysterious other.
Without revision, this framework leaves queer people out in the cold. For instance, a lesbian will look inward and find a shadow self of her own gender, but will also find a female anima archetype associated with sex, love and union. What of her male archetype? Some have used the Jungian framework to pathologize queer people, holding that a gay or lesbian experience is the result of a failure to properly integrate one’s anima or animus. Applied to trans people, it can be used to dismiss the transgender experience as over-identification with the anima or animus, a different kind of failure to integrate. Nonbinary trans people, and bi- or pansexual people are also explained away in terms of varying manifestations of shadow and anima/animus integration failures.
Jung developed his theories in the early 20th century, a time when queer people were almost universally pathologized in the field of psychology (homosexuality was not removed from the list of mental disorders until 1973; transgender people were not de-pathologized until 2013). It is understandable that Jung’s theoretical framework was aligned with prevailing attitudes toward queer people. His system can be rehabilitated by understanding that different archetypical relationships of shadow, sexuality, and gender exist for queer people than for straight people. Although Jung only presented a cis-hetero framework, it is not necessary to draw the conclusion that queer identities are therefore pathological. This is the approach many modern Jungians have taken. From a queer perspective, this approach is analogous to the offerings of progressive churches: A tightly wound and developed structure of ritual and symbol exists for straight people, but not for queer people. Although queer people will no longer be excluded, the myth system as provided lacks developed forms to integrate and validate queer experiences into the wholeness of humanity.
The next available refuge in the secular world is the field of mythological studies. This field bridges the gap between the psychology of symbol and archetype, established religious forms, and spiritual principles communicated through story and narrative. Much of the history and insight represented in this essay is derived from my own familiarity with the works of Joseph Campbell, who made it his life’s work to survey and integrate the various mythologies he encountered: the great religions of civilization, indigenous spiritual systems, Jungian depth psychology, works of artistry, and legends of heroic quests. Although instances can be found in which Campbell offers recognition of the queer experience in his work, there are also instances in which the queer experience is dismissed or pathologized. At times, Campbell was able to acknowledge the reality and validity of queer sexuality and gender expression in past cultures and mythological systems. At other times, Campbell would dismiss the queer experience as a pathological failure of integration, using the Jungian framework I outlined above.
Like Jung, Campbell was a product of his time, and I presume that like Jung, significant social conditioning and pressures to exclude queer identities led to the creation of blind spots he never addressed. These blind spots overlook key aspects of his own teachings. For instance, Campbell emphasizes that a ritual is an enactment of a myth. The ritual of gender transition, for those called to that path, can therefore be viewed as a transformative ritual of initiation that carries one across the threshold of pairs of opposites. For nonbinary trans people, the transition reorients one’s consciousness to reside in the liminal space of the threshold itself. For some, the ritual of letting the old self go and stepping into the new self is so extreme, it can only be described in terms of death and rebirth. This evokes the myth of resurrection, among the oldest and most deeply resonant of mythological themes.
For trans people who utilize surgeries or hormone treatment as a component of their transition, the initiatory rite is quite dramatic and intense. It is a deeper, more total initiation than almost any available in Western society, impoverished as we have become in rites and initiations. It is also an incredibly difficult initiation to emerge from. Unlike rituals that some cultures have used to initiate boys into manhood, such as circumcision, there is no society on the other side of a gender transition ritual, waiting to embrace the initiate. The transgender seeker undertakes an intensely disruptive and grueling set of rites, only to emerge in a silent culture. There is no set of honored social roles to adopt, no mentors to offer guidance on the path. Gender transition requires a psychological and moral strength beyond what most in society are ever called upon to summon. How disappointing to find that after such an ordeal, such a sacrifice, society has little to no interest in learning from the transgender initiate — no interest in the wisdom gained in the journey across the gender boundary, transcending the pairs of opposites, dying to the old self and reborn to the new. Instead, the initiate is simply left hoping that society will not actively violate their rights or banish them from social life.
Just as Jungian systems contain the very elements needed to repair and surpass Jung’s own blind spots regarding queer people, such elements are also found within Campbell’s work. In particular, the transgender initiation is supported and informed by the most famous of Campbell’s teachings: that of the Hero’s Journey, the Grail Quest, the Left-Hand Path, the Call to Adventure — to follow one’s bliss. In Campbell’s interpretation, the Grail represents the truth of one’s own heart, contrary to the arbitrary and prescribed rules of the social order. Foreclosing on one’s truth in deference to society’s demands leads to the Wasteland. As Campbell instructs, the Grail journey begins alone, in the heart of the dark forest, “where there is no way or path.” Paths are formed by others; they are someone else’s path. The Heroic Path, the Left-Hand Path, is recognized by the absence of a path. In this way, Campbell’s blind spots regarding trans people can be viewed as a gift of sorts. Trans people today are called upon to tread a path where there is no path. Campbell admonishes us not to follow gurus if we wish to answer the Call to Adventure. This means letting go of Campbell as a guru — letting go of Jung as a guru. Teachers can provide us with clues and pointers as we navigate our path, but the journey finally calls upon us to access the courage of our own hearts, to pass into the unknown alone and unguided.
The contradictions and dead-ends encountered by trans people in spiritual quest can inform such a journey. So can a study of transgender archetypes referenced by other cultures, past and present. An integration of these factors suggests that transgender spirituality may serve an important function largely neglected in spiritual discourse today: illuminating the soul as an integral spiritual principle. Non-dual teachings often overlook the individual soul, largely referring to it in terms of something to be gotten rid of. The individual soul might be described as a collection of karmic pain we are tasked with dissolving. When the karma dissolves, the individual soul dissolves also, resulting in blissful union with the great soul that is no soul, the one self that is no self. The soul might also be described as a mere mental projection: a concept created by mind-identification. Once attachment to mind is released, the illusion of the individual soul fades away. Dualistic traditions such as mainstream Christianity, on the other hand, seem to regard the soul as a vehicle of obedience to a received system of ethics. Adherence to this system is good, and leads to Heaven. Disobedience is evil, and leads to Hell. The soul is not a free agent, despite lip service given to free will. Once the soul drifts into the presence of its imposed orientation, there it remains, in bliss or agony, presumably forever.
The transgender experience can bring one into a different kind of relationship and understanding of the soul. It is true that plenty of transgender people live their entire lives untouched by spiritual concerns, satisfied in the choice to live and die in a secular relationship to life. Others will be irrevocably changed by the spiritual dimensions of their journey. Along that journey, many trans people may wrestle with this question of “Why? Why should I have this transgender experience? Where does it come from? What good is it? What on Earth, exactly, is going on here?” Biological research has dipped its toes into transgender waters, speculating that trans identities may be the result of genetic variation or hormonal influences on brain development in the womb. If this kind of research bears fruit in the future, it will be a helpful tool in the ongoing struggle to secure rights and acceptance for trans people in secular society. But for the spiritually inclined, these kinds of explanations may seem lacking. Most trans people who have undergone hormone treatment have experienced a cognitive and emotional shift as a result of the changes to neurological functioning this induces — but the transgender identity existed before the introduction of hormones, it remains in place after the advent of hormones, and also remains if the hormones are withdrawn. There is an intuitive sense that something deeper is at work than the brain or the mind.
Gender transition is a mysterious business. It is exceedingly difficult find words to describe how one is aware of one’s transgender identity. One might say something like “I just know,” or “something feels wrong” (or right), or “I feel it in my bones, my body, my heart. It just is.” Growing up transgender is usually a very confusing experience. The people in your life assume you are a certain way that is different from how you are. They seem absolutely sure in their conception of you, just as you are sure they don’t understand or know you at all. Whether the realization comes early or late, at some point you put the pieces together and identify what others are getting wrong about you — yet they vociferously insist that you are the one who doesn’t understand yourself, that they cannot be mistaken. Like the soul itself, one’s transgender identity is unseen, argued about, impossible to pin down, disbelieved, neglected, disputed, and ignored. There are many ways to conceive and understand both gender identity and the soul. One potentially useful understanding of these matters is that gender identity — whether male or female, stable or fluid, agender, bigender, or nonbinary — is a quality inherent to the soul itself.
This perspective is informed by the relationship between transgender spirituality and the threshold experiences of transcending the pairs of opposites: shamanic crossings between death and rebirth, male and female, matter and spirit. Seen in this light, the soul exists in the liminal space between undifferentiated non-dual Consciousness and the individual forms of physical matter, body, and mind. The soul partakes of both without being either fully. The soul is the truth of one’s heart: the Grail itself. The Call to Adventure is the calling of the soul. It may be that the soul calls one to a journey of ego dissolution — and ultimately, the dissolution of the soul itself — merged fully into the bliss of non-dual union with the All. The soul may also call one to adhere to a received system of good and evil, Heaven and Hell. Or it may be that the soul calls one on a different kind of adventure: a quest of wandering and discovery — a journey across the threshold barriers, through the realms of spirit and dream — a quest to manifest the soul itself as a presence in the material world. The quest of gender transition may be seen as this kind of adventure. For those attuned to the realms of mystery traversed during such adventures, certain potentials may be evoked: gifts of healing, artistry, prophecy, sacred sexuality, shamanic wisdom, empathy, and mythic understanding .
Above all, the journey of transgender spirituality is likely to evoke compassion. By way of metaphor, the infinite compassion of Avalokitesvara made possible an even greater compassion in Quan Yin. Avalokitesvara’s compassion for all beings is a function of the empathic understanding of seeing the other in oneself, and oneself in the other. Compassion for the other is compassion for oneself, and vice versa. His self-compassion was strong enough to recognize a self within him that longed to spring into being. For Quan Yin to be born, he had to sacrifice himself. Quan Yin was born from the compassion of ultimate sacrifice, and this enabled her to completely extend her infinite compassion to the world. In compassion, she recognized her former self’s gift of death so she could live. In self-compassion, she accepted this gift, knowing it was only possible through the death of the other. The circle of compassion for self and the other repeats infinitely — in one lies the other, in the other lies the one. This is the soul’s compassion through gender transition. It is the compassion of self-sacrifice — of both offering and receiving the gift. | https://raellekaia.medium.com/meditations-on-transgender-spirituality-52d96cd9f2f9 | ['Raelle Kaia'] | 2020-12-27 11:15:32.315000+00:00 | ['Spirituality', 'Transgender', 'Religion', 'Mythology', 'Soul'] |
As Trump once again takes credit for a Dow Jones all-time high, we must remember that the stock… | As Trump once again takes credit for a Dow Jones all-time high, we must remember that the stock market isn’t the economy.
The tweet hereunder, by former Secretary of Labour Robert Reich, highlights the discrepancies in stock ownership between the richest and the bottom 50%.
Pushing the math just a little further reveals just how shocking the reality is.
The overall capitalisation of the US stock market sits at about 36 trillion dollars (that’s 36,000,000,000,000). The current US population is around 328 million people.
The richest 1% (3.28 million people) own $18 trillions worth of stocks. That’s $5.5 million each on average.
The bottom 50% (164 million people) own $252 billions worth of stocks. That’s an average of $1,536.59.
The stock market is not the economy, indeed. | https://medium.com/@ncarteron/as-trump-once-again-takes-credit-for-a-dow-jones-all-time-high-we-must-remember-that-the-stock-a1bb2122a30e | ['Nicolas Carteron'] | 2020-12-17 19:25:27.193000+00:00 | ['Wealth', 'Politics', 'Economics', 'Society', 'Inequality'] |
Skyfall: Film Review | Alongside Django Unchained and The Avengers, Skyfall is my favourite film of 2012. It’s action-packed, riveting and brilliantly tense.
(This review is spoiler free)
The James Bond franchise has been a key part of the film industry for over half a century. Since 1962, people have flocked to cinemas to enjoy the antics of the cruel, murderous MI6 agent.
2008 was an eventful year. Most of the world went into recession, Barack Obama became the first African-American president, and Quantum of Solace was released. For some, it was the latter event that was the most disheartening.
After Craig’s first run as 007, back in 2006, a lot of people were surprised how good he was. Myself included. Casino Royale, to this date, remains one of the greatest Bond films of all time. So when the next Bond film was announced, the world went into high-alert. Quantum of Solace generated quite the bit of anticipation.
And it didn’t quite hold up. So, in a way, Skyfall is a sort of redemption.
The fight sequence at the beginning was near-perfect. M is forced to make an incredibly difficult decision, under immense pressure, and we see the effects of said decision, despite her efforts to hide them. Skyfall showed us the emotional toll that Bond’s line of work takes on people. Underneath all the bravado, the badassery, the heroics, there’s an emotionally hurt person — and Skyfall unleashed that person.
His delicate relationship with M was manifest in this film. One one hand, there’s a professional relationship, with M as Bond’s superior, but there’s an emotional undertone as well. Bond sees M as a sort of mother figure, though he’d be hard pressed to admit it.
Craig’s chemistry with fellow cast members was a contributing factor to this film’s success. Moneypenny, Q, and even Silva all gave beautifully grounded, exceptional performances — with Moneypenny’s charisma and charm, Q’s giddy geekiness and Siva’s mesmerising, almost uncanny exuberance.
And while we’re on the topic of Silva, let me take the time to praise this unique, wonderfully executed villain.
From his first appearance, Silva had me in a trance-like state every time he appeared on-screen. I don’t quite know why. Maybe it was his eloquent, odd, almost sexual-charisma, contrasted with his eccentric love for violence. Or maybe it was Bardem’s ferocious prowess as an actor — stealing the show in every scene, utterly blowing the other actors out of the water. He’s got a fertile talent that’s almost unmatched throughout Hollywood.
Every single fight scene was fluid and well-choreographed. The one at the end, in particular. The soundtrack was mysterious, perfectly chosen to show Bond’s journey, both a physical one, and a psychological one.
Skyfall is the Bond franchise at it’s peak. It’s captivating, tragic, hilarious and enthralling all at the same time. (Oh, and I loved Q. He was easily one of the best characters in this film. But I’m risking carpal tunnel after all this writing, so I’ll end the answer here.)
Rating: 8/10
Recommendation: A exceptionally crafted cinematic experience. One of the best in the franchise. | https://medium.com/@swahbirnyunga/skyfall-film-review-b990dd735d73 | ['Swahbir Nyunga'] | 2020-12-14 18:38:21.558000+00:00 | ['Film Reviews', 'Skyfall', '2012', 'James Bond'] |
A Little Observation of Life | Hey i am Shivam and I am not a good storyteller but when its come up to my life, this topic seems pretty precious to me, till now how I’m getting younger n younger it looks adventures to me I feel some strong vibes from my soul he just say go explore this world kindness the world is full of human are like canvas colors, see how bright their nature could be.
Life is an important value it before, it slips out from your hand’s cause everything is going so fast.
Humans are in a race of his presumption, which mean this race never gonna get complete.
Peoples are busy with technology which part is good we are getting innovative and all those knowledgable stuff.
Do you ever get that question in your mind that this technology could harm me if yes so how?
And answer gonna be simple there always both things come together advantages and disadvantages with everything either its technology or something else.
Security is also an important part of our life we usually do think about it but all, I know we must take some actions for it cause a human could not be present at all places so, what technology got for us CCTV surveillance systems easiest way to get our house and workplace secure.
We can operate your security device through your smartphones or any of other devices with the help of internet. | https://medium.com/@ss875489/a-little-observation-of-life-abb19684e046 | ['Shivam Sharma'] | 2019-02-06 08:44:23.322000+00:00 | ['Security Camera', 'Life Lessons'] |
Otis — Culture is the New Asset. Part curator, part gallery, part… | Part curator, part gallery, part exchange — one big vision to allow anyone and everyone to own a piece of culture.
I have been involved in the art world for over 25 years — as a student of art history, a collector, and the spouse of a gallery owner. Over time, it has been astonishing to witness the growth of the industry and the price appreciation of some artwork. While I love the art itself, the industry remains broken in many respects. Emerging artists are hard to discover, art buying is intimidating for many, and art as an investable asset is only available to a small group of global investors due to price levels. Enter Otis.
When I met Otis founder and CEO Michael Karnjanaprakorn, he painted a future vision of a more democratized art world: a world where people can learn about art in a less intimidating way, invest in emerging artists they grow to love, and catalyze the creation of a new asset class. Maveron is excited to join Union Square Ventures, NextView Ventures, and Kindred Ventures in backing Otis in its $11M Series A round that closed last month.
At Maveron, we believe creating iconic consumer brands happens with a founder like Michael — someone who is non-normal, thinks differently, and operates with a relentless drive and equal humility. Raised by a Korean mother and Thai father, Michael grew up in Newport News, Virginia. Michael displayed a keen interest in academics, enjoyed reading, and was incredibly creative. He cared about social justice from an early age, participating in charitable activities — the more unusual examples of which were convincing poker players to donate their earnings to worthy causes and volunteering in New Orleans for a year post Katrina. Fast forward to Skillshare, the first company Michael founded. There he blended his entrepreneurial chops with his passion for democratizing education. Today, Skillshare is the largest learning platform for creatives worldwide, with eight million students taking 25,000 classes taught by 8,000 experts.
Michael’s personal and entrepreneurial business experience convinced us he was ideally suited to lead Otis — where he has shifted from democratizing education to democratizing access to cultural assets by allowing people to buy and sell shares in art, sneakers, and other collectibles. Today it works like this:
Otis purchases high-quality assets and then issues shares through an SEC-approved offering. Through weekly drops, it offers fractional ownership starting at $25 per share to its users, accompanied by institutional grade due diligence to help members make informed decisions. Assets are put on display at public spaces all over the world.
Maveron has observed art becoming increasingly accepted as an asset class, with certain categories appreciating faster than equities in the last 25 years. Buying and selling well-recognized artwork remains an opaque and behind-the-scenes process, whereas the audience interested in art and culture has never been broader, more diverse, and engaged. The next generation of art buyers wants more transparency and a lower entry point for participation.
In addition to art, I’ve always been fascinated by Wall Street as I grew up in Manhattan and spent the first part of my career there as an investment banker. When I heard about Otis I was very intrigued by the idea of securitizing art. My colleague Natalie Dillon, who discovered Otis, brings an additional perspective as a millennial participating in the birth and growth of social media. Natalie has witnessed artists commanding audiences on social media that greatly outpace gallery audiences, contributing to a new cohort of art and cultural enthusiasts — those who have historically been left out of the art world. Together we acknowledge that artists and art itself is changing. It is no longer a colorful Matisse, but the Supremes skateboard that younger generations are clamoring over. It is notorious graffiti artist Banksy to renowned fashion designer Virgil Abloh to contemporary Japanese artist Takashi Murakami featured on a Kanye West album cover who are now being featured in the most exclusive galleries in the world. However, the very fans who have popularized these artists and who are helping create this new fanatical subculture within contemporary culture and art, are themselves unable to truly participate in the wealth creation of these artists until now. Otis provides a means for everyone to participate in that journey.
Importantly, the very base that these artists are speaking to — digitally savvy and culturally attuned millennials — are twice as likely compared to any other age group to view art as a financial asset. Their views around ownership are radically different than past generations, they value access over ownership, and they see tangible goods like sneakers as real investments with real returns.
All of us at Maveron are thrilled to partner with Michael and the Otis team as they democratize art and culture. Learn more about Otis here.
— Dan Levitan | https://medium.com/@maveron/otis-culture-is-the-new-asset-85e26df71244 | [] | 2019-12-09 23:11:48.088000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Consumer', 'Venture Capital', 'Founders', 'Art'] |
🐣 From zero to research — An introduction to Meta-learning | The backward pass (“backprop”) is a key step when we train a neural net. Since the computations performed by the neural network and the loss are differentiable functions [3], we can compute the gradient that should be applied to each parameter of the neural net to reduce the difference between the label currently predicted by the neural net and the real/target label (this difference is measured by the loss function). After the backpropagation comes the optimizer which computes updated parameters for the model. This is where training a neural net becomes more of an art than a science as there are so many possible optimizers and optimization settings (hyper-parameters).
Let’s represent our single training step in a more compact way
The training image is now a 🐈 and the label indicating that the picture represents a cat is a 🔺. Large △s are our neural net with ■ parameters and gradients. The loss function is the L-box and the optimizer the O-box.
The learning process then simply consists in repeatedly applying the optimization step until we converge to good parameters for our neural net.
3 steps of a neural net training process where the neural net (large △s) is trained to classify dogs/cats images.
Let’s turn to meta-learning
The idea of meta-learning is to learn the learning process.
There are several ways to implement meta-learning [4] but the two I want to describe here are about learning a learning process that resemble the one we’ve just seen.
In our training process, there are two things in particular we can learn:
the initial parameters of the neural net (blue ■) and
of the neural net (blue ■) and the parameters of the optimizer (pink ★).
I will describe a combination of the two cases but each case is also very interesting on its own and can lead to simplifications, speedups and sound theoretical results [5].
So now, we have two modules to train:
What I will call the model (M) which is our previous neural net. It can now be seen as a low-level network. It is sometimes called an optimizee or a learner. The weights of the model are the ■ on the drawings.
which is our previous neural net. It can now be seen as a low-level network. It is sometimes called an optimizee or a learner. The weights of the are the ■ on the drawings. The optimizer (O) or meta-learner is a higher-level model which is updating the weights of the lower-level network (the model). The weights of the optimizer are the ★ on the drawings.
How do we learn these meta-parameters?
Well it turns out we can back-propagate a meta-loss gradient along the training process itself, back to the initial weights of the model and/or to the parameters of the optimizer [6].
We now have two, nested, training processes: the meta-training process of the optimizer/meta-learner in which the (meta-)forward pass includes several training steps of the model (with forward, backward and optimization steps as we saw previously).
Let’s take a look at the meta-training step:
A meta-training step (training the optimizer O) comprising with 3 steps of training the model M)
Here, a single step of meta-training process is represented horizontally. It includes two steps of training process of the model (vertically in the meta-forward and meta-backward boxes). The training process of the model is exactly the same training process that we’ve just seen.
As we can see, the input of the meta-forward pass is a list of examples/labels (or a list of batches) that are used successively during the model training pass.
The input of a meta-training step is a list of examples (🐈, 🐕) with associated labels (🔺,🔻)
Now what meta-loss can we use to train the meta-learner? In the case of the model training we could simply compare the model prediction to the target label to get an error signal.
In the case of the meta-learner, we would like a meta-loss that is indicative of how well the meta-learner is performing its task: training the model.
One possibility is then to compute the loss of the model on some training data, the lower the loss, the better the training was. We can compute a meta-loss at the end or even just combine the losses of the model that we already compute during the training (e.g. by summing them).
We also need a meta-optimizer to update the weights of the optimizer. Here it starts to get very meta as we could use another meta-learner to optimize the meta-learner and so on, but in the end we will need a hand-defined optimizer like SGD or ADAM (it can’t be turtles all the way down).
There are a few important remarks regarding the implementation that we can as well discuss now:
Second-order derivatives : back propagating the meta-loss through the model’s gradients involves computing derivatives of derivative, i.e. second derivatives (when the green ▲ passes through the green ■ on the meta-backward pass of our last animation). We can compute that in modern frameworks like Tensorflow or PyTorch but in practice we often drop the second derivatives and only back propagate though the model weights (the yellow ■ of the meta-backward pass) to reduce the complexity.
: back propagating the meta-loss through the model’s gradients involves computing derivatives of derivative, i.e. second derivatives (when the green ▲ passes through the green ■ on the meta-backward pass of our last animation). We can compute that in modern frameworks like Tensorflow or PyTorch but in practice we often drop the second derivatives and only back propagate though the model weights (the yellow ■ of the meta-backward pass) to reduce the complexity. Coordinate sharing: a recent deep-learning model can have a very large number of parameters (easily around 30–200 millions in NLP). With current GPU memory, it is not possible to have such a number of parameters as separate inputs to the optimizer. What we often do is called coordinate-sharing [7], it means we design the optimizer for a single parameter of the model and duplicate it for all parameters (i.e. share it’s weights along the input dimension associated to the model parameters). This way the number of parameters of the meta-learner is not a function of the number of parameters of the model. When the meta-learner is a network with a memory like an RNN, we can still allow to have a separate hidden state for each model parameters to keep separate memories of the evolution of each model parameter.
Meta-learning in PyTorch 🔥
Let’s try some code to see how this looks in practice.
So we have a model with a set of weights that we want to train and use for two tasks:
during the meta-forward pass : we use our model to compute gradients (from the loss) that are feed as inputs to the optimizer to update the model parameters, and
: we use our model to compute gradients (from the loss) that are feed as inputs to the optimizer to update the model parameters, and during the meta-backward pass: we use our model as a path for back propagating the gradients of the optimizer’s parameters (computed from the meta-loss).
The easiest way to do that in PyTorch is to have two duplicate modules that represent the model, one for each task. Let’s call forward model the module responsible for storing the model gradients used during the meta-forward pass and backward model the module responsible for keeping parameters as a continuous path for back propagating the optimizer gradients during the meta-backward pass.
The two modules will share their Tensors to avoid duplicating memory (tensors are the real meat in memory) but will keep separate Variables to cleanly separate the gradients of the model and the gradients used for the meta-learner.
A simple meta-learner class in PyTorch
Sharing Tensors in PyTorch is rather straight-forward: we just need to update the pointers in the Variable class to point to the same Tensors. One difficulty comes when our model is already a memory optimized model like an AWD-LSTM or AWD-QRNN model with shared Tensors (input and output embeddings). Then we need to be careful to keep the right pointers when we update the model parameters of the two modules.
One way to do that is to set a simple helper that will handle the task of looping through the parameters, send back all needed information to update the Parameters pointers (and not only the Tensors) and keep shared parameters synced. Here is such a function:
Using this function, we can plug any model and loop over the model parameters in our meta-learner in a clean way [8].
Now let’s draft a simple meta-learner class. Our optimizer is a module that will take as inputs during the forward pass, the forward model (with gradients) and the backward model, will loop over their parameters to update the backward model parameter in a way that allows meta-gradients to back propagate (by updating Parameters pointers and not only Tensors).
We can now train this optimizer as we saw in the first part. Here is a simple gist that illustrate the meta-training process that we have been describing:
Avoid memory blow-up — Hidden State Memorization
Sometimes we want to learn an optimizer that can operate on very large models with several tens of millions of parameters and at the same time we would like to unroll the meta-training over a large number of steps to get good quality gradients [9] like we did in our work.
In practice, it means we want to include a long training process during the meta-forward pass, with many time-steps, and we’ll have to keep in memory the parameters (yellow ■) and gradients (green ■) data for each step that are used for the meta-backward pass.
How can we do that without blowing up our GPU’s memory?
One way is to trade some memory for computation by using gradient checkpointing, also called hidden state memorization [10]. In our case gradient checkpointing consists in slicing the meta-forward and meta-backward passes in segments that we compute successively.
A good introduction to gradient checkpointing is given in the nice blog post of Yaroslav Bulatov of OpenAI. If you are interested in this, you should go and check it:
This post is already quite long so I won’t include a full gist of gradient checkpointing code. I’ll rather forward you to the nice PyTorch implementation of TSHadley and the current active work to include gradient checkpointing natively in PyTorch.
Other approaches in Meta-learning 🐣
There are two other trends of research in meta-learning that I hadn’t time to cover but which are also very promising. I’ll just give you a few pointers so you can go check that for your-self now that you know the general idea:
Recurrent networks : We have built upon the standard training process of neural nets. An alternative is to consider the succession of task as a sequential series of input and build a recurrent model that can ingest and build a representation of this sequence for a new task. In this case we typically have a single training process with a recurrent network with memory or attention. This approach also gives good results, in particular when the embeddings are adequately designed for the task. A good example is the recent SNAIL paper.
: We have built upon the standard training process of neural nets. An alternative is to consider the succession of task as a sequential series of input and build a recurrent model that can ingest and build a representation of this sequence for a new task. In this case we typically have a single training process with a recurrent network with memory or attention. This approach also gives good results, in particular when the embeddings are adequately designed for the task. A good example is the recent SNAIL paper. Reinforcement learning: The computation made by the optimizer during the meta-forward pass is very similar to the computation of a recurrent network: repeatedly apply the same parameters on a sequence of inputs (the succession of weights and gradients of the model during the learning). In practice this means we meet a usual issue with recurrent nets: the models have trouble returning to a safe path when they make errors as they are not trained to recover from training errors and the models have difficulties generalizing to longer sequences than the ones used during the meta-training. To tackle these issues, one can turn to reinforcement learning approaches where the model learn an action policy associated to a current state of training.
Meta-learning in Natural Language Processing 🗣
There is an interesting parallel between meta-learning and neural net models used in Natural Language Processing (NLP) like recurrent neural networks (RNN) that we have just started mentioning in the previous paragraph:
A meta-learner optimizing a neural net model behaves similarly to a recurrent neural network.
Like an RNN, the meta-learner ingests a series of parameters and gradients of the model during training, as an input sequence, and compute a sequential output (the series of updated model parameters) from this input sequence.
We develop this analogy in our paper and study how a meta-learner can be used to implement a medium-term memory in a neural net language model: the meta-learner learns to encode a medium-term memory in the weights of a standard RNN like a LSTM (in addition to the way short-term memories are conventionally encoded in the hidden state of the LSTM).
Our meta-learning language model has a hierarchy of memories with 3 levels, from bottom to top: a standard LSTM, a meta-learner updating the weights of the LSTM to store medium term memories and a long-term static memory.
We discovered that the meta-learning language model could be trained to encode memory of recent inputs, like the beginning of a Wikipedia article, that will be useful to predict the end of an article.
The curves indicate how good the model is at predicting the words of a Wikipedia article given the beginning (A, …, H are successive Wikipedia articles), colored words indicate the same for single words, blue is better, red is worse. As the model reads through an article, it learns from the beginning and become better at predicting the end (for more details see our paper).
Well I guess now you are ready to have a look at our paper for more details on this story.
This concludes my introduction to Meta-Learning. Congratulation for reaching the end of this long post!
I hope you liked it!
Don’t forget to give us a few claps 👏 if you want more content like that! | https://medium.com/huggingface/from-zero-to-research-an-introduction-to-meta-learning-8e16e677f78a | ['Thomas Wolf'] | 2020-09-02 14:16:11.229000+00:00 | ['NLP', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Machine Learning', 'Meta Learning', 'Deep Learning'] |
How do I SEO My Website? | Copywriters International | Congratulations on creating a wonderful website! Now you are ready to welcome visitors in their droves. However, what if no one finds your website? How will they ever know what you are offering? How do I SEO my website?
The first thing you want with your website is to rank on Google’s top pages (and other search engines). With millions of websites out there, how do you ensure your website ranks first on search engines? That’s precisely where search engine optimization (SEO) kicks in.
SEO helps your website earn organic or unpaid traffic, which is the bread and butter of any website. While SEO is not as easy as flicking a switch, the good news is you can create an SEO strategy that will have your website soaring into Google’s first pages. If you’ve been wondering how to SEO your website, read on as we tell you how to go about it.
Pick the right URL
Your website/domain name is the address that searchers will type in their search bar to find your website. It is the first thing visitors see when they visit your website. Think of it as a huge sale sign at your favorite store’s window.
A URL is also the first thing Google bots will check to have an idea of your website’s content and how to rank it. Therefore, it is imperative to get a clean URL with no page ID, special characters, double letters, hyphens, etc.
Your domain name should also contain your business name and at least a keyword related to your business. Be creative with your keywords by combining them with other words to make your domain name unique.
Create killer titles and explanations for different pages
The next step in figuring out how to SEO your website is picking unique titles and descriptions for every page. These should be short texts that clearly describe what your website is offering. Preferably, they should have a keyword or two thrown in as well.
You see that short phrase under your mouse pointer when you hover over a random tab on your browser? That’s the title. Granted, you can’t see the description, but search engines use the two essential elements to determine how your website is ranked.
Once your website comes up in a search, the titles and descriptions will help searchers decide if your website is offering a solution to their query.
Make use of anchor texts
An anchor text is the text on a hyperlink that visitors of your website click on to be directed to another text on your website or to another site. As you develop content for your site, think of where you can put these anchor texts. Efficient anchor texts should help your visitors quickly find the information they are looking for.
The anchor text should also include keywords/phrases relevant to your business or whatever your website is offering. If, for instance, you sell sportswear, the text ‘check out our latest collection of quality sportswear’ on your homepage can include a link to your online store selling sportswear.
Anchor texts significantly boost your SEO. However, keep in mind that Google can flag too many anchor texts that add little value to your readers.
Accurately describe images
While search engines can perfectly figure out the texts on your site, they are not primed to crawl images. They need an “alt text” to figure out what is in your website’s images/graphics. An “alt text” is a short description, ideally a few words, of each image on any site. An effective alt text should concisely describe what is in the images.
Additionally, you should try to throw in a few keywords or your business name into the text. However, you can skip the alt text if the image in question is related to design or has nothing to do with the content on display.
Optimize your title tags
Make sure that every page on your website has a title and relevant subtitles. Using the appropriate title hierarchy helps search engines understand your content, which will significantly boost your SEO ranking.
Your page’s title should be H1 and must include the right keywords. Also, you shouldn’t have more than one H1 on your page. This should be followed by H2 and H3, which correspond to your text’s headings and subheadings, respectively. This gives your text structure, making it much easier for search engine bots to figure out your text and its relevance to the search query. We hope this text has answered the ‘How do I SEO My Website’ question. All the best with your website!
If this has been valuable, make sure you check out our other blogs as well | https://medium.com/@copywritersinternational/how-do-i-seo-my-website-copywriters-international-32097c7e53fc | ['Maini Homer'] | 2020-12-29 07:02:36.542000+00:00 | ['Website', 'SEO', 'Blog'] |
Affordable Web Development in UAE, Customized Website and Online Presence, Perfonec | Web design is defined as the means of connecting the business with the targeted audiences and the possible customers. Web design creates an idea of the brand in the virtual market. Sometimes the importance of web design has overlooked that impact on the overall marketing performance. All such strategies are well known by the web design company who adopt the best techniques for designing a business website!
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Or Email us at [email protected] or [email protected] | https://medium.com/@perfonecuae/affordable-web-development-in-uae-customized-website-and-online-presence-perfonec-f59ab6a2fbc4 | ['Perfonec Computers Llc'] | 2019-04-11 09:09:22.645000+00:00 | ['Online Presence', 'Website Design', 'Webdesigning', 'Web Hosting', 'Web Development'] |
Powering Digital Economies With A Blockchain Consensus Operating System | Powering Digital Economies With A Blockchain Consensus Operating System Visualmodo Follow Dec 17 · 5 min read
When we look ahead and try to envisage what the future global economy will look like, there’s no doubt that we can learn a lot from the innovation on blockchain and digital economies.
Decentralized Finance, or DeFi, is a good example. This increasingly important trend within the blockchain community is demonstrating how decentralized applications, or DApps, can automate interactions and value transfers that could be replicated across entire economies. For this to occur, blockchain technology needs to be adopted en masse. This seems a long way off right now but I believe Central Bank Digital Currencies or CBDC will be the catalyst for change.
With these digital currencies in place, governments can drive the mass adoption of blockchain technology for the benefit of society as a whole. However, for this to happen, we must first recognize that existing blockchains were not designed for governments and realize that an entirely new blockchain consensus operating system is needed to power digital economies.
Blockchain’s progress shows what is possible
Over a decade ago, Bitcoin introduced us to the possibility of exchanging value in a totally decentralized and peer to peer manner. This technological innovation not only solved the double-spend problem that had plagued the exchange of digital assets but also opened up the potential disintermediation of middlemen in all manner of transactions.
This progress was then built upon by Ethereum and other second-generation networks, which wanted to extend the power of blockchain beyond Bitcoin into a whole range of programmable applications. These dApps would utilize smart contracts to enable peer to peer interactions between individuals across all manner of transactions. The world envisioned by advocates of this second wave is one where any entity could transact on an open, public blockchain with any other entity and neither party would need to know who the other one was, as the code would act as the law governing their relationship.
Digital Economies Blockchain: Growing DeFi
To some extent, this vision has been realized, and the most obvious example of how is in the growing DeFi movement. Now, developers have built a whole host of dApps, mainly on the Ethereum network, to replicate traditional, centralized financial services. As a result, DeFi enthusiasts are combining innovative new saving, lending, and trading services to generate returns on their income via ‘yield farming’.
This is certainly an interesting trend to follow and it may be true that some of the hottest DeFi services right now will establish themselves as household names in the future. But before I go too far with the hyperbole, it’s worth asking — are you a yield farmer? Are your friends and family? So, great usage of digital economies and blockchain.
What I’m getting at is the question of whether these innovations are a widespread social phenomenon or just the fancy of a few financial and technology enthusiasts. It seems clear to me that the latter is true and that the only realistic assessment of the current situation is that blockchain has failed to achieve mass adoption.
Governments and businesses already use blockchain
Before going into the detail about what must occur to really spark mass adoption though. It would be remiss of me to ignore that blockchain is in use by governments and businesses.
In fact, while CBDC is a relatively new phenomenon. Some governments have deployed blockchain technology in production since as far back as 2012. The standout example of this is Estonia. A small Baltic state that has the digital state secured by the blockchain. The Estonian government receives a string of cyber attacks in 2007. In addition, ever since has become a leading light for the digital government. With 99% of government services available as e-services. In terms of blockchain, the government has the technology to power healthcare. Business, property, courts, and other types of registries.
Digital Economies Blockchain Business Usage
As well as governments, many businesses have also chosen to utilize blockchain technology. A recent report from Deloitte stated that nearly 40% of respondents have blockchain in production, while 55% said they see it as a top strategic priority. These adoption levels are up by a handful of standout examples too. JP Morgan has developed the Quorum platform in conjunction with Microsoft. So, shipping giant Maersk has collaborated with IBM on the TradeLens platform.
As with the earlier DeFi examples though, government and business involvement in blockchain still have a long way to go. Furthermore, you only have to ask around your friends and family to see that blockchain technology. More generally hasn’t really entered our daily lives.
The reality is that people don’t understand the power of this technology. Or the benefits it can bring to society as a whole. I believe that part of the reason for this is that the existing systems do not reflect the societal structures. So, we all recognize. For mass adoption to occur, this will need to change.
Blockchain will power CBDC in digital economies
One of the most important things to understand about the CBDC trend is that it will appear. By governments and central bankers. Who wants the CBDC to be used within regulated, digital economies.
For this to happen though, blockchain technology will need to adapt to allow governments to have more control. The L3COS system does exactly this. It utilizes a unique triple layer consensus mechanism that allows governments to operate supernodes at the top layer. While businesses and individuals interact within the second and third layers in a decentralized manner.
Many proponents of existing public blockchains will reject this out of hand. Because it goes against the permissionless and anonymous ideals they uphold above all else. However, a blockchain consensus operating system that is by governments is actually. So, what most people will recognize as reflecting societal norms. After all, when we elect our governments to protect us and help us prosper. Finally, why shouldn’t we have a single blockchain consensus operating system? That allows them to do the same for a digital economy? | https://medium.com/visualmodo/powering-digital-economies-with-a-blockchain-consensus-operating-system-3d471d78f0b7 | [] | 2020-12-17 02:35:27.443000+00:00 | ['Economies', 'Blockchain Development', 'Digital', 'Blockchain Technology', 'Os'] |
Recently Divorced Families with Young Children: How to Survive The Holidays | The holiday season comes with mixed feelings for many. On one hand, we love to see Christmas lights, the changing weather, and the buzz of holiday cheer that is in the air, and on the other hand, the holiday season is often a painful time for many that can be filled with stress, feelings of overwhelm, and painful interactions with family.
To make matters more difficult, some families are recently separated, recently divorced or are currently in the middle of a divorce. For these families, the holiday season can feel like a cruel joke. There is no joy, and little tolerance for Christmas Caroler’s. If surviving the holidays feels like an impossible task, take a look at these 4 aspects of the holidays season for practical thoughts on how to make the best out of a tough situation.
How to Talk with Our Children
Naturally, you’re concerned about your kids this holiday season. Will they be OK? What should I tell them? What if they’re sad? What if I’m sad? Here is a guidepost for best ways to talk with your children during this time.
Be sure to talk with your kids this holiday season. Many parents feel they are protecting their kids by sheltering them from the difficult conversations around the divorce, where Christmas will be, and what the holidays will look like. Your children are more intuitive than you think, and probably know what’s going on anyway, so consider being open and explicitly honest with them about what they can expect this season. They probably already know anyway. Fundamentally, kids really just need to know that they’re going to be OK. And although it’s very difficult to see your children potentially suffer during these hard conversations, avoiding them all together could mean more dire consequences later.
When it comes to sharing time with you ex, which house to visit on which day, etc. etc., it’s in your child’s best interest for you to NOT fight about any of these things in front of them. Consider taking these battles behind closed doors with your ex. Fighting about these things in front of your children will only make them feel guilty, anxious, and will erode their sense of stability. Chances are you’re angry and resentful toward your ex. That’s 100% normal and acceptable. However, please keep in mind that your child loves your ex just as much as you, and character assassinations of your ex will come back to haunt you when your child grows older and is able to remember and recognize which parent took the “high road” and which parent took the “low road”. Even if your ex is a horrible human, keep those opinions to yourself this holiday season.
Caring For Yourself
The holiday season is going to be hard. Period. Let’s face this certain reality and prepare ourselves for the emotional rollercoaster that we’re going to ride this holiday season. I say this so people navigating a new divorce give themselves the permission to have a hard time — it’s supposed to be hard. Going through a divorce is considered the 2nd most difficult trauma, only second to the death of a child. Sadly, in our culture, we’re implicitly told we should be “moving on”, and “cheering up”. This is nonsense and will only prolong your inevitable grieving process. Being in therapy or counseling uring this time can be essential.
Taking care of ourselves means that we give ourselves permission to say “No” to too many holiday obligations to avoid holiday stress and burnout. Be mindful not to push yourself into holiday overdrive.
Taking care of ourselves means that we reach out to trusted friends, family, or therapist to let them know that we’ll need a lot this season. Being proactive with our support systems is very important.
Keep in mind that your children will be taking their emotional cues from you; if you’re not taking care of yourself and falling apart, they will feel overwhelmed too.
Taking care of ourselves means that we can celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas on any day we want. There is no rule that says we can’t do Christmas on 12/27. If you’re not with your kids on the actual holiday date this year, don’t let it steal your holiday joy.
Taking care of ourselves means giving ourselves permission to cry when we need to. Sometimes, this is the biggest gift we can give ourselves.
What Do We Do About Gifts
A recent poll said that 4 out of 5 Americans wished the holidays were simpler. I agree, but you would never imagine that by seeing the ads for Black Friday or driving by the mall during the holiday season. Although many newly divorced parents with young children are going to be tempted to buy extravagant gifts this holiday season, I want you to reconsider.
Chances are you’re living with more confined financial means due to the divorce, and it’s important to honor and respect your new reality. Another study said that many Americans were still paying off holiday extravagances into November the following year. Many parents are tempted to out-Santa each other in an attempt to buy their children’s love. This never works and only causes more friction between the parents, which gets filtered down to the children. When it comes to buying gifts for your children, make sure their unconditional gifts. If you’re uncomfortable letting your children leave the gift you bought them at your ex’s house, then don’t give it to them. Your children have the right to decide where they want to leave their gifts. If not, it’s a conditional gift that will only cause more frustration and conflict. Your kids don’t need a lot of stuff, they really just need you to love them, and for you to be nice to your ex; it helps their world feel safer. That is the best gift you could ever give your children.
What Are the Holidays All About Anyway?
The holiday season is a time of reflection for many people, and for newly divorced families, this is as important as ever. So often in life, it is our painful experiences that shape us more fully into the people we’re supposed to be, and for many people, navigating a divorce is the painful, life-changing crucible that opens up many new windows of opportunities.
For families in this difficult life-transition, we get to decide in a fresh new way what we want the holiday season to look like. We’re no longer tied down to stale, dogmatic, meaningless traditions. We can decide which traditions we want to keep, and which ones we want to shed. We also have a new opportunity to think creatively about which new traditions we may want to begin. Instead of just “going through the motions”, consider incorporating changes into the holiday season that are more meaningful to you.
As painful as the divorce is, it does not change the true meaning of the holidays, which you have an inherent birthright to participate in fully. This is not being Pollyannaish, or delusionally optimistic. This is an important truth to remember. This year, use your pain to self-reflect on the meaning of it all, and to contemplate the joys and riches that are at the core of the holiday season. It is certainly OK to feel sad, and to feel hurt, and to feel lonely. And while experiencing all of these crazy-making emotions, you and your children also have the right to re-center and rediscover the true meaning of this special time of year.
My heart is with you this holiday season.
If you have any questions or want to learn more, please click here. | https://medium.com/@quentinhafner/recently-divorced-families-with-young-children-how-to-survive-the-holidays-d6072ce39325 | ['Quentin Hafner'] | 2020-12-14 13:06:41.004000+00:00 | ['Divorce', 'Holidays', 'Relationships'] |
Instant Traffic in your Website | nowadays i am going to exhibit you how to get site visitors to your internet site for free the use of the techniques that i’m going to exhibit you these days you can get somewhere from 100 to 300 each day traffic to your internet site and if you do not have a internet site you can get that traffic to your touchdown web page to your affiliate hyperlinks to your ecom shop and distinctly tons somewhere else you want so what is the site visitors supply the place does all of this free site visitors come from this visitors source
is wordpress.com i have in no way earlier than proven how to make use of this effective aid to pressure one hundred free organic visitors to your internet site to your weblog to your ecom save so this is what i am going to show you nowadays and wordpress.com is a complete universe of blogs i assume about perhaps 50 of all blogs in the world use wordpress as their running a blog platform so a lot of the web sites that you see each single day which include my internet site i run on the wordpress platform now what you probable do not comprehend is that most of the posts on these websites get fed into this wordpress.com um type of blogosphere or this surroundings the place a lot of
human beings cease up discovering every other’s content material via wordpress i’m going to exhibit you the entire procedure step by step later on in this video however first i choose to make certain that you apprehend the strength of this and how this in reality works so after you register on wordpress.com i am going to exhibit you how in just a 2d you will be in a position to get get right of entry to to this reader and if you furnace up this reader you can see you can in reality find out a range of matters and you can function searches as nicely so let’s say you have a weblog devoted to canine coaching so you would type in some thing like canine coaching into the search bar and you will see how many weblog posts from high authority web sites with a lot of engagement are being shared right here on wordpress.com and in this video i am going to exhibit you how you can faucet into all of this visitors that views all of these posts every single day on wordpress.com and how you can get very applicable very focused excessive quality traffic to your internet site you will see there are loads of these with a lot of remarks and a lot of likes and the way that all of these posts get fed into being viewable through the reader in wordpress.com is due to the fact wordpress web sites are kind of linked to wordpress.com in the heritage okay so this wordpress.com reader is form of like uh nearly like a fb for bloggers you know that’s that is how human beings who are fascinated in a unique subject matter quit up discovering uh each other’s content material they stop up subscribing to each other’s feed on wordpress.com and this is exactly how you can you can get get entry to to all of these humans who are fascinated in this unique topic let’s say this put up right here three errors are made as a first time canine proprietor now if i open this up and i scroll down you will see there is a lot of engagement a lot of remarks and um we can anytime uh i go away a remark or i interact or like with these posts uh human beings who have subscribed to these weblog posts they will get notifications that someone has brought a remark or somebody has subscribed they will come lower back into this wordpress.com submit and i will get a risk to actually get these humans onto my profile onto my hyperlink onto my weblog onto my e-com shop so it’s very very effective there is a lot of visitors on wordpress.com so now i am going to exhibit you step by step precisely how we can do this if you are new to my channel my title is greg kononenko on this channel i put up everyday tutorials associated to running a blog how to get free site visitors and how to make cash with affiliate marketing make certain to click on subscribe simply under this video and additionally allow all notifications so you never omit my future movies thank you let’s get into the video so the first step of what you want to do is get an account at gravitar.com head over to gravitar.com and then click on here to create your very own gravita this button and go in advance and register your account fill out all of your records your cutting-edge electronic mail tackle it can be a gmail account or an address it truly is linked to your contemporary website then you will additionally want to pick out a username you can see right here that i get error messages but this is due to the fact i already have an account on gravitate.com ultimately you will want to add your password and then click on create your account after your gravitate.com account is created you can also be introduced with a display that will instantaneous you for various improvements to buy domains and so on do no longer do this so huge warning do no longer purchase any of the upgrades you do not want them simply supply it about three to 5 minutes and take a look at your electronic mail you will get an e mail that appears comparable to this it will say prompt and then anything your um chosen username was and you will want to click on right here to verify now this will entire the introduction of your account so do no longer purchase any improvements simply wait for this email take a look at your junk mail or your promo folders till this email in reality comes via step two will be to log into your new gravatar account and replace it make certain that it is all up to date i am right here logged into my gravatar account and right here you need to have a excellent photograph if you do not have an photo currently then go beforehand and add a new photograph and choose it to be linked to your account and then head over to my profile and beneath my profile make certain that you’ve got your identify your show title your region and most importantly what you prefer to do is go into websites and you will desire to hyperlink the internet site or any hyperlink somewhere the place you prefer to ship traffic you will choose to add that into your gravatar.com account so right here you can see that i’ve acquired my blog caffeinatedblogger.com however if you simply have a free wordpress hosted weblog so some thing like greg’s website dot wordpress.com which is totally free for you to get then you can add that right here now so you can add a wordpress.com internet site or you can add any different internet site that you prefer you can see there is an choice right here to to add your e-commerce store for instance if you opt for to ship all of this traffic to your e-commerce keep you can do that you can add your touchdown web page fairly a lot any link that you per chance desire so go in advance and add that this is the place all the visitors is going to be heading to as soon as you begin imposing this method in my instance i am simply going to go away it like this due to the fact i favor all of the site visitors to go to my caffeinatedblogger.com weblog step number three is to log into wordpress.com and check your settings and add your internet site there as well i’m right here now logged into my wordpress.com account so this is the place you want to go wordpress.com then in the pinnacle proper click on right here on to my profile and make positive that the internet site the place you want to ship the site visitors to is additionally cited right here on this web page as nicely at the backside so proper now under my profile i’ve received the internet site the place i choose the visitors to go which is caffeinatedblogger.com but if you desire to have a distinctive hyperlink then let me simply scroll up right here so below profile hyperlinks you’ve got this alternative to add so you can without a doubt add a wordpress website online or you can add the url this is the url the place as soon as once more you desire the traffic to go so simply come right here make certain that it is correctly set up and you can add any url the place you prefer to ship the visitors to in some of my previous video i’ve proven you how to get um how to how to construct a free hosted wordpress.com internet site so if that’s what you have if you have my internet site dot wordpress.comtypedomain you can add that over here so you can go add a new web page and you can begin a company new internet site or add it over there as nicely so now that all of that setup is entire i am going to exhibit you two special approaches to really get the traffic from this setup the first approach is manual approach and in the 2d technique in a later part of this video i am additionally going to exhibit you a way to automate this so that it is a lot faster and it simply runs for you even whilst you are sleeping so this first technique the guide technique works like this interior your wordpress.com account you will want to click on reader so this alternative over here and then go to search and then kind in anything that is associated to your area of interest so for instance if my area of interest is affiliate advertising and marketing then i am going to kind in affiliate advertising and i am going to be looking for posts that ideally have a excessive amount of engagement so for instance a desirable one here would be something that has over 10 or 20 comments and your intention now is to begin interacting with these posts with these authors and with everyone who has left remarks or who may be viewing these posts so this first one right here excellent affiliate advertising structures the humans who have preferred this post so they’ve delivered it to their favorites they are an outstanding target audience for my weblog so people who are fascinated in affiliate advertising and marketing who are analyzing this records i choose them to get onto my weblog i prefer them to click on my affiliate hyperlinks i desire them to purchase my merchandise i favor them to join my listing k this works in any area of interest if you’re in a dog area of interest so you would begin typing in terms that are comparable to uh or associated to the canine niche so how to instruct your canine how to end your dog barking canine education pointers these types of searches and it is it is the identical in each area of interest and what you choose to do is you choose
to begin interacting so uh if i assume that this is a applicable post for me then i am going to observe k so that’s what you must be doing as nicely and then edit to favorites so simply click on this superstar now this is going to ship a notification to the author of this publish that uh greconanko the caffeinated blogger has simply accompanied and has just starred your your publish so anybody else who is additionally following this k like this they will additionally get a notification when you put a remark onto that weblog so you prefer to additionally start doing remarks as properly so i am going to comply with and like a bunch of them ok and then what we’re also going to be doing is we want to go in right here and we want to begin interacting with the submit so you want to scroll down right here and you prefer to go away a remark so you can see there are a ton of comments they’re all actual feedback they’re no longer simply spam ok there is no person spamming absolutely everyone and you will favor to add your remark over right here so just examine the put up make certain that the remark that you leave is considerate it is no longer spammy some thing like oh notable submit you comprehend that might not work simply try to add a little bit of um true facts or you be aware of be useful one way or the other perhaps perhaps comment to any individual else now the energy of this is going to be that you are going to get publicity to anyone else who sees this put up in t
he future and if they’re involved in your profile name so for instance right here intelligence discovery you comprehend if i am involved in what brian has got to say or this man or woman has obtained to say then i uh the site visitors will be clicking your profile link and every of these names seem to be at this each of these names is clickable k every of these names is clickable and your identify when you leave your remark is going to be clickable as nicely so this way you are going to be getting site visitors from every person who appears via the feedback and clicks on your profile hyperlink any other tremendous effective thing is that due to the fact all of the human beings who interacted with this put up they will be getting notifications when you post a manufacturer new submit on your web page now that’s very very effective due to the fact like you can see for instance this man or woman right here kelly who runs this middle me weblog she has 7457 followers now these followers ok they will be seeing notifications anytime kelly makes a manufacturer new publish on her blog they will get notifications and um all of these followers are going to be probable to take a look at out their weblog submit which additionally will develop your traffic long time period as nicely and how does this traffic genuinely get onto your internet site nicely you remember that we set up all of these hyperlinks simply earlier than so for instance if any person needs to locate out more about this individual maximus they will click on on this hyperlink and that will
take them to the area see maxim is the indeed.wordpress.com so they’ve acquired a weblog hosted on the wordpress.com platform so it’s a free weblog and this is precisely why i mentioned previously that you want to make positive that your sites are set up efficaciously so you want to to do that in your profile k and in your profile at the bottom right here the place it says profile hyperlinks make sure that you’ve got obtained this set up efficiently this will determine the place your clicks will certainly go and if you do not have the web page right here then simply click add and add the place you choose that visitors to go and if for any motive you are having troubles including the blog on your very own area into wordpress.com then a answer for that is to deploy jetpack plugin activated and then as soon as you spark off it you will be capable to join into your wordpressaccount.com from inside the jetpack plugin jetpack plugin will simply stroll you via and that will help you join your account so the guide steps to pressure visitors the use of this technique as a recap are each day you have to log in and have interaction so comply with all the centered posts remark on them and favorite them in return you will begin building a loyal following base and your visitors will go up you may additionally get instant advantage from it due to the fact all of the humans that get notifications thru the wordpress.com blogosphere they will be going to check your profile out and that will suggest that the visitors will begin touchdown onto your website people
will begin shopping for opting into a listing etc every time you publish new content material on your website anyone who is following you will certainly get notifications and they will begin seeing your internet site thru a number wordpress.com stores and kind of avenues that wordpress.com shows that content material you can additionally outsource this as nicely so you can employ a digital assistant if you like to do this each day login and interaction
as i noted beforehand on in this video there is truly a way to automate this whole method so that you can get a software program that will actually do all of this for you it will log in it will observe it will remark and it will it will put these stars so it will favourite the content material and that will create absolutely fingers off traffic for you even if you by no means log in again it will certainly permit you to proceed getting traffic to your internet site it truly is absolutely targeted and you comprehend it will purchase it will decide into your email lists if you favor to take a look at out the software that can do that for you routinely the link is in the description under and now i am going to exhibit you how this works so this is the software
i have acknowledged this software program for a variety of years now and i comprehend that the builders of this software are very very passionate they’ve got a lot of testimonials and a lot of experience in supporting the customers of this software program actually get the site visitors and you can see that the headline here as soon as you click on on the hyperlink in the
description beneath says limitless free purchaser visitors on autopilot in any area of interest all day each day so this is a utterly automated software program for set and forget about visitors 24 7. you can in reality get the outcomes from the software program get the traffic results identical day i am going to exhibit you some proof a little bit down beneath it is 100 free visitors so the software program does cost 27 or 37 relying which sketch you want and it is now not a month-to-month cost it is a one of route so you simply pay as soon as and you’ve obtained the software program perpetually k and it will get free site visitors for you continuously and it has been working for a wide variety of years there are a lot of truly completely happy clients as properly and sure this works in any area of interest and you can you can do this with in any area of interest you can develop your listing you can
get sales you can get commissions and you can also earnings except paid advertisements you do not want facebook ads for this you don’t want to spend any cash to simply do this i am simply going to zoom in there are a lot of testimonials that you may see on the income web page as nicely you can see the site visitors sign is doing its element so right here are the
notifications right here from jonathan and there are humans who are starting to observe his profile and beginning to observe his posts as nicely you can see right here great results for my marketing campaign so right here are visitors ok so there are over a thousand site visitors to in simply one of the days right here there is greater proof there is so lots on the income web page you can see this equal individual alexander uh first stated he’s getting site visitors and then it in the end started converting their traffic into the income the key element of direction is how precisely does this software work and it works in simply
these steps truely so once you’ve got bought the software program you will log in and join your profile and your websites then you will inform the software program you can see here what area of interest and key phrases you choose the free traffic for so it is what i used to be displaying you before which we’re doing manually what are the the sort of the the key phrases that you choose to goal okay whether it is affiliate advertising and marketing or canine training or getting ready for interviews it in reality works in
any niche and as soon as you spec specify the area of interest and the key phrases then the software program will routinely get you the free centered traffic and it will convert them into leads and income on your internet site so when you click on the hyperlink in the description under after you get the software program you will see an interface that looks like this and after you logged in you will want to create a new account for your weblog so for instance caffeinated blogger or dogtrainingguide.com some thing the title is that you’ve chosen for your account then you will just want to join your wordpress.com website online to the traffic sketch account like this then you will want to add tags so tags are these key phrases in this instance it is affiliate advertising and marketing hints amazon friends running a blog sequence share a mobile affiliate marketing anything the key phrases the principal keywords are for your area of interest and for your internet site after that you press this button right here that says run and the software program will go beforehand and begin doing its work for you in
case you are questioning about the charge the charge is going to be 27 if you just want to run one internet site on site visitors zion so you can join up to one website there is a theme builder and a top class wordpress theme covered there is additionally coaching on how to monetize your website and if you favor to have a license which has 5 websites and permits you to get visitors to 5 different websites then the fee is 37. now each of these expenses are one-time expenses so this is now not monthly it’s no longer habitual it is no longer each year it is simply
27 bucks as soon as or 37 bucks as soon as as nicely and the 37 bundle of direction is higher cost per website but it lets in you to join 5 websites instead of simply one internet site the cool element of direction is that visitors signal additionally does come with 100 unconditional no questions requested guarantee so if you are for anything purpose no longer completely satisfied within the 30 days they will refine your cash as nicely so it is i assume it is definitely really worth giving it a go if you do not experience like you are getting adequate traffic from this you can constantly simply get a refund however if it’s working for you then fantastic it capacity that you can proceed getting site visitors for many months and many years to come simply for that little one-time rate so if you do desire to take a look at it out then the link is in the description beneath thank you so much for gazing right here are a couple of movies right here at the pinnacle of the display screen that i propose for you to watch subsequent if you choose to research greater about how to pressure site visitors to your internet site if you are not but a subscriber then subscribe to my channel just below thanks once more and i will see in the subsequent video | https://medium.com/@fh4you/instant-traffic-in-your-website-9a91a29e1914 | ['Himanshu Banker'] | 2020-12-20 05:31:04.936000+00:00 | ['Seo Tips', 'Web', 'Seo Services', 'Traffic', 'SEO'] |
Crypto Community Spotlight: Alex Saunders! | What is the Huobi Crypto Community Spotlight?
Huobi will provide a quick overview of influencers in the crypto space to help bring a quick recap of who they are and what they are doing in the community. We also want to give thanks to people making crypto what it is today and building it with us!
Find out more about Huobi by visiting: www.huobi.com
Now, our first spotlight is about Alex Saunders from Australia!
Hi Alex, What are your current thoughts about ETH 2.0 and DeFi?
As far as technology goes, many projects now have working products, users, revenue & an exciting roadmap that is starting to increase awareness. But right now many DeFi projects have a similar level of excitement to the ICO boom. We’ve seen 1000%, 5000% or more price appreciation in the past 6–12 months. Whenever that happens it always worries me. So while I’m very bullish on Ethereum & DeFi capturing a market share of traditional finance or CeFi in the coming years, I’m certainly cautious about the price in the short term. We’ve had half a dozen or more 1000% picks from our research for our followers. Recently I told them it’s time to take some profits & look elsewhere…
Can you tell our community about yourself?
I have been immersed in cryptocurrency since discovering Bitcoin in 2012. I have a unique investment style that combines fundamental analysis, technical analysis, and market sentiment as key drivers in decision making. My passion lead me to leave my successful career as a head Pharmacist in 2017, to start Nugget’s News.
I established the brand through a loyal following on my educational YouTube channel and my crypto community discussion group. I started being a trusted voice in the Australian crypto community, conducting many speaking engagements to spread the word of crypto and helped to accelerate blockchain start-ups by applying my years of experience and wisdom.
How would you describe your life outside of crypto?
I am a husband and dad to a 1yo baby boy & a 60kg Bernese mountain dog!
Louie got a bitcoin on the day he was born in 2019. So I coined the term HODLer before toddler.
What is your main passion right now in crypto?
I produce Nugget’s News, a beginner-level cryptocurrency educational content for enthusiasts and investors as well as those interested in financial markets. My content is tailored and distributed to our 100,000-plus followers across YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms.
Where can people connect with you?
Thanks, Alex for everything you do for the crypto space.
As always we want to invite everyone to get more educated in the crypto space. Feel free to give him a follow and us as well at HuobiGlobal .
Clap this medium post and retweet the tweet on Twitter if you want more spotlights on different communities within crypto.
Thanks for reading — see you next time!
Risk Reminder:
1. Trading in digital assets comes with high risks due to huge price fluctuations. Users should be fully aware of the risks associated with digital asset trading and make prudent trading decisions.
2. Huobi Global’s announcements and information do not constitute investment advice, and Huobi will not bear responsibility or provide compensation for direct or indirect losses arising from trading decisions whilst relying on this information. | https://medium.com/huobi-global/crypto-community-spotlight-alex-saunders-3594b272e29e | ['Huobi Global'] | 2020-07-15 23:55:04.214000+00:00 | ['Defi', 'Cefi', 'Alexsaunders', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain'] |
法國頭號重犯匿藏香港 | A columnist in political development in Greater China region, technology and gadgets, media industry, parenting and other interesting topics. | https://medium.com/@frederickyeung-59743/%E6%B3%95%E5%9C%8B%E9%A0%AD%E8%99%9F%E9%87%8D%E7%8A%AF%E5%8C%BF%E8%97%8F%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF-c3b6fda36803 | ['C Y S'] | 2020-12-21 04:38:39.808000+00:00 | ['Government', 'Hong Kong', 'China', 'France'] |
My Neighborhood is Gentrifying Again: Part 6 | Photo By Author
Social Issues
About two weeks after I began to write this series, the mural pictured in the photograph appeared underneath a train trestle a few blocks north of my home. I do not know who created it or why. If I were to guess, I would suggest it was initiated by a housing activist as a form of protest against the changing landscape. (If anyone in Chicago reads this and knows who created this, please let me know).
Then someone pointed out to me the mural could be read as an advertisement. I had not seen it that way, but gentrification is driven by capitalist market forces. One of the causes of gentrification is speculative buying. This happens when a buyer purchases a home because they believe neighborhood property values will increase, leading to increased equity and personal gain. This person thought a realtor could have created the mural to attract prospective homeowners. A simple statement on a mural highlights the complexities of gentrification.
I have not been unaware that construction of affordable housing has its own unique challenges. It is practically impossible to build affordable housing in the United States without the use of tax credits, federal funding, grants, or other development incentives.¹ When we bought our first property, my perspective on the difficulty level of an individual contribution to a potential solution was somewhat simplistic.
Our property is a three-flat, which has been a form of affordable housing in Chicago for generations. These multi-unit buildings are oversized single family homes split into small apartments. In gentrifying neighborhoods, multi-unit properties are at high risk of being de-converted into single family buildings, if not torn down to be replaced with a more modern luxury single family home. I had lived in rental apartments in multi-unit buildings for over a decade and appreciated how affordable my prior private landlords kept the rent. When we decided to purchase our first home, we thought we might be able to do the same for someone else.
Like many multi-unit properties in Chicago, our building is over one hundred years old. In the past four years of ownership, we have paid for an expensive major electrical issue, multiple furnace replacements, sewer system issues, and other costly repairs. As the property values in the neighborhood have increased, so have property taxes. There are costs to maintaining an old building.
When we had a tenant vacancy, we quickly learned that the moderately priced rent was unaffordable for residents who were actually from the immediate neighborhood. And we had more interest than expected from young professionals with good credit, stable income, and a roommate with which they could split rent. Our unit was a financial stretch for anyone who wanted to stay in the neighborhood, but a bargain for those who could live almost anywhere they wanted.
Despite this, we have been able to preserve our rental unit’s relative affordability thus far. Our current tenant was forced to move from her home of thirty years when her landlord sold the building, a story we found all too common among prospective renters. We hope we can continue to maintain a well-kept, moderately affordable unit. But even though our objectives were counter to the process of gentrification, our entrance was part of a broader sociological reality over which we did not have control.
The book Gentrifier explains “The gentrifier is a social, political, and economic actor…While economics has traditionally overprivileged choice, critical sociology must not respond to this error by failing to interrogate individual choice. Indeed, gentrification does not occur because middle class people decide to be gentrifiers. But deeming all things structural allows middle-class residents to ignore their own agency.”² Gentrification is a systemic issue, but this does not absolve us of an examination of individual participation. When we are middle class and we move into a neighborhood undergoing an acceleration in development, we must identify ourselves as gentrifiers.
Personal relationship to place and community is consequential in urban neighborhoods experiencing gentrification. When the economic principle of utility maximization is exercised in the home-buying decision, we find new residents moving into a community because they can get larger, nicer space for their purchase dollars.
The people already there have the potential to turn our addresses into our communities, rather than merely the location we park our cars at night. But our neighbors are not part of the calculation when a housing decision is fully economically driven. We see this show up in a variety of ways; like when new residents rally to block affordable housing, complain about loud music from a late night family celebration, or call the city when a neighbor violates a building code rather than lending a helping hand. Even when intentions began well, new residents are not always willing to accept an unfamiliar socio-cultural dynamic.
Merely being physically present in a place does not connect a person to the location. Relationships do. It is now possible to live our lives completely isolated from geographic neighbors, even though we share public space with them. And yet, place experienced with others can give us personal identity and common ground on which to unite. Long-time residents in formerly disinvested neighborhoods understand this. They sit on their front porches, while new residents gather with friends in their backyards, out of sight from neighbors.
The expansion of community that technology affords, especially for those of upwardly mobile potential, is not without repercussion. When we have someone nearby to call in a time of crisis, we gain a sense of emotional stability. When we share with those around us, we begin to belong to our place. Global networks are too broad to be meaningful; our impact is where we are present. A luxury home cannot substitute for relationships, even for the wealthiest among us. Yet our collective decisions still prioritize one over the other. Space does not belong to any individual person; it belongs to all of us.
This concludes the current series on gentrification.
Read Parts 1–5
¹https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/how-affordable-housing-gets-built
²Schlichtman, John Joe, Jason Patch, and Marc Lamont Hill. Gentrifier. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017. | https://medium.com/@profoundhopeindustries/my-neighborhood-is-gentrifying-again-part-6-d7e3aca03e55 | ['Sarah Hope Marshall'] | 2021-02-12 00:02:22.248000+00:00 | ['Cities', 'Diversity', 'Housing', 'Social Issues', 'Economy'] |
Drawing Race | Our country — and the world — is talking about race in deep ways that we never have before. I lived through the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s, and while the movement brought us far in understanding and change, it is nothing like what we are learning now. We have a very long way to go yet, politically and culturally. But on the state level and soon on the national level, we are passing legislation for change. Institutions are making positive decisions such as removing racist symbols, statues, flags and practices. As a people, we are talking. These are good steps. They need to continue, along with protests, for a long time before we are done.
These drawings were done in the last week as I thought about what has been going on. The murder of George Floyd is only the latest of many such horrible deaths at the hands of police; I drew about the pain of losing a brother, the children about whom we have to worry, the protests of blacks and whites. The drawing below is about the burden of racism that our country unfairly puts on black citizens, a burden that I, a white person, do not have to carry, but should.
Every day, I draw a different image live on Instagram and Twitter and talk about what I sense is going on, what the issues are, how I am impacted personally and dialogue with those who join me.
Drawings are about communication, emotion and the sharing of ideas. | https://lizadonnelly.medium.com/drawing-race-1642112f4016 | ['Liza Donnelly'] | 2020-06-13 18:52:09.487000+00:00 | ['George Floyd', 'Politics', 'Equality', 'Protest', 'Race'] |
Women Safety at Risk!!! | Women Safety at Risk!!!
INDIA — The land of Goddesses. Indians worship the goddesses with utmost devotion and go back home to their daughter, mother, wife, and friends forgetting that the one they worshiped resides within these women.
Violence towards women has risen several times in India as women at any point of life are more exposed. Earlier, women were confined to the four walls of the houses and after globalization, took the ability and resources to stand equal to men in all industries. Women are now taxi drivers day or night, as well as top company owners.
It is great to see how the mindset of society has changed and how women as politicians, friends, and spouses have been accommodated in all facets of life. However, the way of thought has not shifted to the point it can.
This narrow thought of the few is the reason why women go out and work as a domestication method. The same way of thinking regards men as higher than women.
The man-dominated culture uses guns against women today as women are walking shoulder by shoulder, eve tearing, robbery, house abusive abuse, and matrimonial rape. This is one of the key reasons why violence is rising and the protection of women in India is a problem.
Despite the regulatory reforms and the attempts to ensure a healthy climate, legislation has not been able to protect women’s haven in this region. It has not been criminalized, particularly for the most vulnerable, for harassment and acid attacks and expanded concepts of abuse, justice, and recourse for survivors The reform legislation has not given punishment sooner or easier. In reality, it only added to the reaction of the women who report.
The fact that women feel vulnerable and unprotected not only on empty streets and parking areas but also in their own homes is a tragic reflection of our culture. Youth lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha was assaulted and killed in a position that ought to be safest — her own bedroom by her watchman! The case of Pallavi shaken the girls’ bravest confidence.
Following the horrible news, a friend in trouble asked, “Does that mean that nobody can trust us? “ Yeah, yes, it seems like that, but I hate to say it. Better safe… or worse than sorry. How does one woman guarantee their own protection as jobs and lifestyle determine women have to drive alone, live on their own, and travel alone? I believe that planning for the worst is necessary.
However dire it may sound, only steps against the worst will be used to protect yourself. Many of the girls have not been caught. Please remember the most insecure times in which you can conquer them and defend yourself from them. Confide the feminine impulses in people and circumstances.
Be vigilant and mindful of the initial signs of risk in your climate. Step into a busy area if anyone looks like he’s trailing you. To escort you back, call your mate or relative. Watch for someone who lurks around or a single guy in your car parked next to you when you enter or get out of your car. If you’re suspicious, run back to safety. Don’t look lost, do walk proudly. Criminals have been seen to strike at abandoned, terrifying women. I read a cop’s advice, saying that while the attacker has a pistol, try to get away; he can only get hit by 4 in a hundred chances! Feed the speed dial to the number of the police control room or 100. Often have a speed dial friend or relative. Have a pepper spray available in weak spots. Sprinkle it in an assailant’s sight. Healthy substitutes include a perfume bottle or hairspray.
Shilpi Jain, counsel for the Supreme Court, advises individual women to practice the methods of self-defense and apply for licentiate handguns and to keep up with neighbours and call a police patrol at the very first trouble sign. “The law shows you can attack anyone in self-defense, even if you must not hurt them as much as you need.” Collegiality could be your undoing. Never open a stranger’s door while alone or stop in a deserted place to support someone. Instead, please call the police. If you are a mechanic or plumber, ask a neighbour or acquaintance for work. Door keys in positions that are evident can never be left. Don’t drop them at the front door until inside. That’s Pallavi’s error. Dress properly, if needed. Clothing that might look suitable in a bar would look daunting in a deserted area alone. Know we live in a world of strong distinctions — of havens and the uncultured, the learned and the untrained. Flashing riches or flesh, or perceiving your favor freely, is an equilibrium and a dilemma! | https://medium.com/@vineethvasu25/women-safety-at-risk-ea49f81c4a24 | [] | 2020-12-15 09:58:41.645000+00:00 | ['Womens Rights', 'Safety'] |
The Blogle Story | Here at Blogle, we are passionate about all things copy. We’ve been writing copy for websites for years, and we love what we do. Whether it’s an established blog, a brand-new website, or something different entirely, our team of freelance copywriter experts are here to help. Our mantra at Blogle is simplicity. We like things to be no fuss, no frills, just powerful copy that works.
The Blogle Story
I am Lucy, and I’m the creator behind Blogle. I’m a qualified marketing professional who has worked as a freelance copywriter for many years. I’ve worked on thousands of copywriting projects, from monthly blogs posts to full website branding. From global organisations to small start-ups, I’ve worked alongside teams of all shapes and sizes. My passion for content marketing led me to start Blogle.
I believe copywriting doesn’t have to be complicated. Far too often, I see content marketers confusing business owners with endless jargon, and blog writing websites with lengthy briefing processes. It’s my view that all the SEO, algorithm and strategy stuff is for me to worry about, not you (that being said, I’m more than happy to geek out about these things with you, if that’s what you want!). At Blogle, I want to keep the process of buying website copy, blog posts, or any other content, as simple and easy as possible. I’m here so you don’t have to worry about the hard work, that’s why we are your content people.
I work with a tight-knit team of freelance copywriters to provide high quality, engaging copy for all Blogle clients. There are endless benefits to working with freelancers as opposed to inhouse teams. One of the most significant reasons I choose to work with freelancers is because I get to team up with the very best talent from all across the world. Every single project that the Blogle team works on is managed and quality checked by me. When you chose to work with Blogle for your website copy, you can guarantee that your copy has had my seal of approval. | https://medium.com/@blogle/the-blogle-story-3071996bcb9b | [] | 2021-01-22 14:04:18.560000+00:00 | ['Content Marketing', 'Content Writing', 'Copywriting', 'Copywriter', 'Content Strategy'] |
From the VC’s corner (27): Manage relations or go bust! | Illustration by Móni Munguia
As founder and CEO of an early-stage, VC-backed company, one of your key responsibilities is to manage the relations with your investor(s); not only with the major ones (lead investors), but also with that individual looking like a white dude with a beard drooling over the company’s potential to provide him with cash upon a future liquidity event (and yeah, you took his pre-seed money.)
Just as fundraising, managing relations takes time. Time well spent, as you need a well-functioning founders-investors team. When you generate success, everybody celebrates and it’s only smiles. However, when in crisis and critical situations, you (the founders) get what you sowed when you’ve picked your party round investors. Weathering the storm requires communicating in an open, honest and direct manner. Needless to say, hiding critical info or making things look better do not help.
While the process of due diligence has already created a detailed understanding between the parties, a mutual understanding is key to a long-lasting relationship. Apart from the monthly updates (on a set of KPIs) and regular board meetings, you may invite investors to join your office from time to time and participate in some of your daily routines. It’s even better if you grant investors access to a BI dashboard so they check (some of) your company’s KPIs real-time. All experienced investors have their own perspective on how to collaborate with founders; some don’t even want to get involved as frequently as others. Ask for their expectations in this respect.
Even when no financing round is in preparation, I recommend keeping potential investors (you’ve met and had some chemistry with) up to date regularly — easier if sending a quarterly update newsletter or when participating at regular startup events. Potential investors always look for markers of motivation / indications of motivation and passion, people who have shown conviction about something, including by blogging or showing evidence on GitHub. Additionally, demonstrate traction for your product / service. Partnerships, podcasts, newsletters, events, content marketing, etc., all have to convert into customers.
Ask yourself: how do we build a community / team that gives back? How do we start educating the customers while being as inclusive as possible? Giving opinions, thoughts, being real, speaking them in a way that resonates. Managing relations matters.
Definitely, founders work many hours, so take care of yourselves and be bullish to prioritize your time (Cat Noone’s time design.) This requires self-discipline.
If it’s the first time you pitch your startup to a large group of investors, avoid making mistakes so naive and embarrassing that nobody in the audience / panel wants to consider investing. “You need to be very articulate about your business model and the problems you’re trying to solve. And you need to be very articulate about how you’re going to solve them,” says Jean-Charles Samuelian, cofounder and CEO of Alan, a dynamic French healthtech (health insurance) startup with a distinct culture. And as soon as you set a communication bridge, manage the storytelling and capitalize on the moment.
Try to practice your storytelling, hire an exec coach, do drink a good amount of caffeine and always enjoy some workout at the gym!
My today’s preferred: Judy — prepare for what you can’t predict. “That last part — the educational content — is what Judy hopes will separate it from the competition; the company can help you prepare for emergencies depending on where you live in the world. If you go to the company’s website, there’s a nifty little tool that lets you enter your zip code to understand the natural disasters that could occur in your area, such as earthquakes, fires, floods and hurricanes. You can then download a corresponding plan to understand how to better prepare for unpredictable emergencies.” | https://medium.com/@ciprianghetau/from-the-vcs-corner-27-manage-relations-or-go-bust-3957864ac7ea | ['Ciprian Ghetau'] | 2020-02-07 10:57:34.128000+00:00 | ['Startup Lessons', 'Executive Coaching', 'Founder Stories', 'Relationships', 'Entrepreneurship'] |
What do I mean by ‘Travel like a local’? | Why, why do I need to travel like a local? Why can’t I travel as a tourist?
Well you can, if you want to. Then why did you click on this article?
When you travel how locals travel in that place, you can travel cheaper and experience more. You can learn more by immersing yourself in an environment.
1. Transport
Use similar transport systems locals use while they’re commuting.
There might be special apps that locals use daily for their commute.
For example, when you’re in Mumbai, travel by local train and an app to navigate is m-Indicator. If you’re in Delhi, use metro! It goes everywhere. Super fast and super cheap.
2. Accommodation
Use hostels instead of hotels, you will make friends and you can then travel with them. I had an amazing experience staying in Zostel Rishikesh while we were there for some adventure travel.
Have you heard of an app called CouchSurfing? It lets you stay with locals for nothing. And you will end up getting a richer experience.
If you want privacy and don’t want to stay in hotels (little compromise) I would recommend AirBnB.
3. Language
I know English is a universal language but at least learn a few terms of the local language so you can communicate better with the locals.
Like hello, good morning, how are you, please, thank you, can I have a cup of coffee, how much does it cost, where’s the toilet, what’s your recommendation, etc.. No seriously, et cetera.
Duolingo will surely help you with it!
4. Food
I don’t get people who travel to another country and eat the same food they eat every day at their home. And there are some travel agencies that offer these things.
The other day, I saw in a newspaper “Indian meals available if you don’t want to eat local food.”
What! why would you even do that?
What’s the catch if you are traveling to a place and not eating their food. Local food is like the soul of that place. Eat what locals eat, they’re probably eating it because it suits the climate you are in and it’s cheaper. | https://medium.com/emphasis/what-do-i-mean-by-travel-like-a-local-90bbb3cba8b | ['Snehal Wagh'] | 2018-07-18 13:00:37.424000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'Tourism', 'Indian Food', 'Local', 'Transport'] |
Old School New Body — 5 Steps To Looking 10 Years Younger | Old School New Body — 5 Steps To Looking 10 Years Younger
Did you know that once you hit 40 years of age, whether you’re a man or a woman, your body starts aging FASTER than normal? Studies have shown that without the proper nutrients and exercise, your body will age about 6 months EXTRA for every year that passes. Think about that! If you are 40, that means by the time you hit 44 you will LOOK and FEEL 48. And by the time you reach 60, you will LOOK and FEEL 70 YEARS OLD! We see this every day… just look around you.
Did you know that 90% of people over the age of 35 lose enough muscle every year to burn off an additional 4 pounds of body fat? That means you not only lose the only thing on your body that creates shape, tone, and strength — you also gain more fat every year, even if your calories stay the same.
Did you know that all of this is reversible at any age? That there are specific ways to move, eat, and think that tell your brain to STOP this rapid aging process… and even SLOW IT DOWN to the point where you’re aging less than a year for every year? That means you can look younger at 40 than you do at 35… or if you’re like Becky and I, younger at 50+ than we did at 40!
This is not fantasy talk. This does not require a boatload of anti-aging drugs, supplements, or gimmicks. And, this works for anyone, male or female, and works at any age. 35, 45, 55, 65, 75… you name it. The biology is exactly the same.
My years as editor-in-chief at Iron Man Magazine have allowed me to peer into the secret routines of the anti-aging experts. Over the years, both Becky and I have picked up SO many tips, tricks, and strategies that have allowed us to literally reverse the aging process, at least from a cellular level. That means our body’s look, feel, and MOVE younger than our chronological age.
We’ve taught this System to countless men and women over the years, and it always begins with these 5 key principles you must apply in order to STOP the rapid onset of aging that’s going on right now, reverse it, and begin “aging backwards” by restoring your body’s natural youth hormones.
That said, we have to warn you: What you are about to hear may go against all the conventional diet and exercise advice you’ve been hearing. That’s because the world has, to be utterly frank, gone soft! “Core training”, hot yoga, spin classes, tai chí all of these are just fine, but they won’t slow your aging, and they certainly will never shape your muscles or burn off stubborn body fat. No way!
These 5 steps reveal the things you absolutely MUST AVOID if you want to slow the aging process, reclaim your health, and achieve your ideal body.
>>>LEARN MORE CLICK HERE<<< | https://medium.com/@IHM2/old-school-new-body-5-steps-to-looking-10-years-younger-b2cf270ccc8e | [] | 2021-12-27 12:12:27.723000+00:00 | ['Weight Loss Tips', 'Weight Loss', 'Weightloss Foods', 'Weightloss Recipe'] |
WWII Mythology Tour: Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain | WWII Mythology Tour: Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain
From Blitz to Brexit, Churchill to BoJo’s Cake Mix: have it and eat it too!
The Common Thread in All Nations’ Mythologized War Stories
Great Britain is the fourth stop on our WWII myth demolition tour, after WWII east vs west, Italy and the Netherlands. A common thread links all the stops on our tour: a narcissistic nationalism that evades uncomfortable, evidence-based truths. These threaten victimology if the nation was defeated and occupied, or an emotionally satisfying glorious victory if it was on the winning side. The latter is the keystone of national ego in WWII’s victors: the UK, the USA and the former USSR. For example, this populist t-shirt version of WWII:
Commemorating mythologized glorious victories defines backward-looking, nostalgist national identity that fuels contemporary anti-cosmopolitan nationalist populism. Without the fuel of fake history MAGA-style populism can’t take off.
Reality denial begins with the mythologized history that fueled the UK’s delusional blitz and Dunkirk-fed Brexit, America First and neo-confederate Trumpism, Putin’s revanchist nationalism and the separatist war in eastern Ukraine. Nations, like individual psychotherapy patients, can remain stuck in the Einsteinian definition of insanity — deceiving themselves with the same story over and over again and expecting a better result. Nations, even more than individuals, remain possessed by scripted mythology that prevents looking in the mirror of their defeats shorn of mythologized victimology and their victories without the glorification that feeds populist paranoia and fantasy.
Reflective, collective emotional intelligence is not part of the business model of building the scaled up imaginary communities of unrelated strangers we call nations. The cost? Just ask any hungry German or Japanese in bombed-out Berlin or Tokyo in 1946 whether indulging in ego-feeding stab in the back or Bushido fantasies was worth the price paid (if you think education is expensive, try ignorance).
Each country on our WWII Mythology Tour has paid for its own mix of hubris, delusional self-deception and evasion of uncomfortable truths. The bill, when it comes due, is paid differently in each. The USSR and the UK won the war and lost the peace economically and geopolitically. The Germans, Italians and Japanese lost the war and full sovereignty, but won the peace economically. Germany’s eastern European allies — Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia — lost all three. The USA won all three, but confused picking low-hanging postwar geopolitical and economic fruit and cold war victory with permanent global dominance. The result was a grievance and nostalgia driven MAGA epidemic that proved Sinclair Lewis to be prophetic: “when fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” (https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/mar/12/viral-image/sinclair-lewis-might-have-liked-quote-about-fascis/)
Confronted with the cost of two forever wars, a disillusioned post-crash America revived Lindbergh’s pro-Nazi isolationist America First slogan, the 20th century geopolitical equivalent of a Confederate slaveholder’s statue.
Most of the stops on our WWII Mythology Demolition Tour involve nations confronting the costs of empire-building. Nazism’s Lebensraum and Italian fascism’s neo-Roman imperial fantasies involved European imperialism’s white supremacist ideology boomeranging back onto Europe through Europe’s late arrivals to the empire-building game, at the cost of tens of millions of lives.
Mythological History Rerun as Farce
Have your cake and eat it too Brexit was born from delusion based on fictionalized history. Since the Brits voted for Brexit and BoJo dreams of reincarnating the Churchill of WWII, it’s worth putting this patient’s mythologizing of WWII on the couch of historical evidence. Dunkirk as a victory and the Battle of Britain in which plucky RAF pilots stood alone against Nazi Germany, are etched into modern British identity. They are modern Britain’s Iliad, with Churchill its Odysseus, as the Britain of the 1950s and 1960s lost an empire and struggled to find a role beyond junior power as America’s cold war island aircraft carrier. So it’s no surprise that the fake history cliche addled mind of Nigel Farage invoked the “blitz spirit” and “Dunkirk spirit” in the runup to the Brexit vote:
“It often seems that Nigel Farage is fighting the Second World War in his head. In the 2016 referendum he campaigned for British withdrawal from the European Union on a battle bus out of which boomed the march from the Second World War blockbuster The Great Escape. The following year found him thrilling to the film Dunkirk. For Farage, the near-disaster of the British military evacuation from northern France in May 1940 was a story to inspire the heroic new evacuation that is Brexit.” (https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/little-england-little-blitz-britain/ )
The EU a tougher opponent than the Luftwaffe? (https://www.private-eye.co.uk/covers/cover-1449)
The Tory imperialist Churchill deployed the English language as a weapon in a democratic people’s war with his “blood, toil, tears and sweat and never surrender” speeches, which convey that he and his entire government were as determined to fight the Nazis in the spring and summer of 1940 as the Japanese were to fight the Americans five summers later. Through Edward R. Murrow’s “This is London” reporting in the desperate summer and autumn of 1940, Americans bought into in real time the myth of a leader who never contemplated negotiation and a populace united behind Churchill in its determination to resist the Nazi onslaught.
All Behind You Winston (https://winstonchurchill.hillsdale.edu/behind-winston-roger-hermiston/)
Christopher Nolan, the director of “Dunkirk”, said so himself:
“Dunkirk is something that you grow up with as a British person. The telling of the story that you get is simplistic and mythical in a way, almost like a fairy tale.”(https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/12/08/the-churchillian-myths-of-1940/)
First the fictional fairy tale version of Britain’s survival summarized in Ponting’s 1940: Myth and Reality in this sequence:
The prewar British empire was a strong world power brought down only by a craven policy of appeasement and failure to rearm. “Popular discontent…swept Churchill into the premiership as the war leader acclaimed by all. The old policy of appeasement and…weakness disappeared under Churchill’s inspiring leadership.” (1940, Myth and Reality, Clive Ponting,1990, page 2) Churchill immediately faced French collapse caused by the overwhelming numerical and technological superiority of German blitzkrieg warfare. “The British Army, let down by the French and betrayed by the Belgians, fought its way back to the coast, where it was evacuated by a fleet of small boats from the beaches of Dunkirk.” (Ponting, page 2) “Alone, the British government, refusing even to entertain the possibility of peace with Germany, decided to fight on to final victory.” “Facing a determined threat to invade Britain, brilliant direction of the RAF defeated a German air force that held all the advantages…” “Morale in Britain remained high, as the country, united as never before and inspired by Churchill’s regular radio broadcasts, was guided by a benevolent government…. “The Blitz, one of the heaviest bombing campaigns ever mounted, began when Hitler started the policy of bombing major cities.” “Churchill, working closely with his friend President Roosevelt and taking advantage of the strong identity of interest between Britain and the US, brought the Americans to the brink of entering the war.” “By the end of 1940, Britain was still a great power and firmly established on the road to victory.” (all 10 points: Ponting, page 2)
Here’s a condensed versions of this chivalric Lord of the Rings style fairy tale, by Christopher Hitchens:
“In the fateful spring and early summer of 1940 the people of Britain clustered around their wireless sets to hear defiant and uplifting oratory from their new Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. On May 13, having just assumed the burden of office from a weak and cowardly Neville Chamberlain, Churchill promised a regime of “blood, toil, tears and sweat.” On June 4, after the evacuation of the defeated British army from Dunkirk, he pledged, “We shall fight on the beaches.” On June 18 he proclaimed that even if the British Empire were to last for a thousand years, this would be remembered as its “finest hour.” Over the course of the ensuing months Britain alone defied the vast conquering appetites of Hitlerism and, though greatly outclassed in the air, repelled the Luftwaffe’s assault with a handful of gallant fighter pilots. This chivalric engagement — “The Battle of Britain” — thwarted Nazi schemes for an invasion of the island fortress and was thus a hinge event in the great global conflict we now call World War II.” (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/04/the-medals-of-his-defeats/306061/)
None of this is true. It is, as Dolan said, a fairy tale fit for the big screen, but not real history. What follows is the evidence-based record that refutes each of these ten myths:
Myth #1: Britain the Mighty Global Empire
versus reality:
Empire as Over-leveraged Subprime Real Estate
Britain confronted the high cost of empire-building when its policy planners understood after 1914, and again in the 1930s, that simultaneous defense of its homeland, its French ally, and its Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Indian and Southeast Asian dominions were far beyond the empire’s military and financial resources. Britain’s empire was the geopolitical version of a subprime mortgaged real estate business kept afloat by a fictitious rating agency facade — and its policymakers knew it. Before 1914 British wealth had been deployed for overseas investment, not domestic industry. WWI presented the bill that came due, with Britain responsible from September 1915 onward for the American purchases made by allies Russia and Italy as well as its own. Only by transferring gold to the US, selling British-owned securities in US companies and raising dollar-denominated loans in the US, made more costly by a falling pound and rising interest rates, could Britain pay for the war effort. Forty percent of Britain’s war effort was financed in the US, which also supplied key industrial inputs:
“It was only the ability of the Allies to import shell and shell steel from neutral America…that averted the decisive victory of the enemy”(Official history of munitions production, Ponting, page 31).
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Reginald McKenna, warned that
“by next June (1917), or earlier, the President of the American Republic will be in a position, if he wishes, to dictate his own terms to us.”…”Our resources available for payments in America are exhausted. Unless the US government can meet in full our expenses in the US…the whole fabric of the alliance will collapse.”(Ponting, page 15)
By the spring of 1917 Britain had less than three weeks of gold in the US and less than eight weeks worth in the UK. Only American entry into the war saved the Allies from negotiating a compromise peace with Germany. The US government’s War Industries Board dictated what resources would go to which ally. (Ponting, page 16).
Britain’s debt had multiplied by nearly twelve times and interest on it consumed 40% of its budget. The finance of empire maintenance was now a strategic liability, like a sovereign that had extended deposit insurance to banks many times the size of its GDP. Britain’s alliance with Japan, signed in 1902, had been a low cost linchpin of imperial defense of the empire’s Indian and Pacific ocean possessions. But its American creditors insisted on ending it and Britain complied in signing the major powers’ naval arms limitation treaty. But in return Britain obtained no American commitment to help defend Australia, New Zealand, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong and India in return for limiting the size of the Royal Navy.
But a heavily indebted Britain had no choice but to cut defense spending, which the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Winston Churchill, did from 1925–29 under a rolling assumption of no major war for ten years. Japan’s aggression in Manchuria in 1931 and Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 led the cabinet’s Defense Requirements Committee to scrap this assumption only in November 1933. The DRC then had to perform imperial defense triage: which threats and their potential targets would have priority. The navy prioritized Japan, the army India and the RAF Europe, which would be a prime theater for the independent bomber force it wanted. The DRC adopted an essentially defensive policy in 1934 that put European continental defense by a British army of just five divisions far down in priority compared to building a naval base in Singapore and a bomber force to deter Germany. A defense review in November 1937 told Prime Minister Chamberlain that
“our Army should be organized to defend this country and the Empire, that to organize it with a military prepossession in favour of a Continental commitment is wrong….Our fourth objective, which can only be provided for after the other objectives have been carried out, should be cooperation in the defence of the territories of any allies we may have in war.” (Ponting, page 23).
Britain’s mythologized version of WWII before Pearl Harbor denies this geopolitical, industrial and financial reality that the architects of Britain’s defense understood all too well: for a bankrupt, overstretched empire all-in continental defense with its French and Belgian allies was impossible.
Myth 2: From Chamberlain to Churchill = From Appeasement to “We Shall Never Surrender”
vs reality
Phony War Peace Feelers & the 3 Day Wobble in May
Eden, Chamberlain, Churchill and the rest of the British establishment all agreed on one thing in May 1940: negotiate a peace if Germany offered reasonable terms and don’t take the risk of fighting on if further combat would worsen those terms. Churchill’s memoirs of the war attempt to obscure this fact. His six volume memoir of WWII fed the myth that accepting a French proposal to use Mussolini to mediate an unappetizing peace with Germany was never on the table:
“”Future generations may deem it noteworthy that the supreme question of whether or not we should fight on alone never found a place on the War Cabinet agenda. We were much too busy to waste time on such unreal, academic issues”. (https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/three-days-in-may-trafalgar-studios-1-london-6258133.html)
Clive Ponting’s “1940, Myth and Reality”, points out that government papers are available for research thirty years after the events. The papers about British peace feelers to Germany through Italy were closed until well into the 21st century (Ponting, 1990, page 97). Ponting shows a very different Churchill in 1937 in writing about Hitler:
“Winston Churchill was readying his book Great Contemporaries for the press. It was August 1937. In it was his article on Hitler, written a few years earlier. “Those who have met Herr Hitler face to face in public business or on social terms,” he said, “have found a highly competent, cool, well-informed functionary with an agreeable manner, a disarming smile, and few have been unaffected by a subtle personal magnetism.” Despite the arming of Germany and the hounding of the Jews, “we may yet live to see Hitler a gentler figure in a happier age,” Churchill wrote. He was doubtful, though.” (https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/12/08/the-churchillian-myths-of-1940/
Meanwhile, whose Churchillian words are these?:
“”We are a solid and united nation which would rather go down to ruin than admit the domination of the Nazis … If the enemy does try to invade this country we will fight him in the air and on the sea; we will fight him on the beaches with every weapon we have. He may manage here and there to make a breakthrough: if he does we will fight him on every road, in every village, and in every house, until he or we are utterly destroyed.” (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/04/the-medals-of-his-defeats/306061/
Neville Chamberlain’s. As an ex-prof, I know plagiarism when I see it.
During the Phony War between Poland’s defeat and the German invasion of Norway and Denmark on April 9, 1940 many in the British establishment, rogue Tory Churchill included, engaged in wishful thinking that economic pressure could bring about Hitler’s replacement by a more “moderate” leader and that the war would end by spring. That Goering, contacted through the Swedish businessman Dahlerus, was viewed as just such a figure shows how deluded the British establishment was (Ponting, page 98).
The pro-German American ambassador in London, Joseph Kennedy, reported in October 1939 that “Churchill was talking about accepting an armistice with Germany if offered reasonable terms.” So was Sir Basil Liddell-Hart, who, when asked in March 1940 what Britain should do, responded, “come to the best possible terms as soon as possible….we have no chance of avoiding defeat” (Ponting, page 99).
The entire British establishment expected the war to end with an armistice and a negotiated peace, like WWI. None wanted the collapse of Germany, viewed as a bulwark against Bolshevism, viewed as the real threat, especially after Stalin launched the invasion of Finland on November 30, 1939. Australian Prime Minister Menzies called Churchill “a menace and publicity seeker” and said “Britain should make peace with Germany before real war made the terms too stiff and combine together against the real enemy: Bolshevism.”(Ponting, page 100).
Churchill was certainly no steel-eyed prophet of military reality. He was as deluded as the appeasement wing of the British establishment, echoing in January 1940 Anthony Eden’s view that “Herr Hitler has lost the initiative”: “Hitler has already lost his best chance.” There is simply no daylight between Churchill’s view and Chamberlain’s April 1940 view that “Hitler has missed the bus.” (Ponting, page 44)
Myth 3: Germany, the Inevitable Invincible Blitzkrieg
Germany’s military superiority and victorious blitzkrieg, was a partially random event unconnected to superior war materiel. First the materiel…
“The German army which faced the Allies in 1940 was in a poor state. Only 5% of its strength was in armored panzer divisions, and 90% of the tanks in those divisions were obsolete training models dating from the early 1930s or taken over from the Czech army in 1939. Only the modern Panzer Mark III and IV matched Allied models and Germany produced just 45 Mark IVs in 1939….The German army used 2.7 million horses, twice as many as in WWI. The standard rifle was based on an 1898 design.” (Ponting, page 79)
The Allies had 4200 tanks to Germany’s 2800, 11500 artillery vs 7700 and more men: 3.7 million vs 2.7 million (Cook, Armor page 8). Only four infantry divisions were motorized so they could carry out integrated operations with the panzers.
Pilot Hoenmann Makes a Random Wrong Turn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechelen_incident The plans Major Reinberger failed to burn after the crash
A chance crash on January 10, 1940 of a German plane in Vucht, Belgium in which the officer passenger carried Germany’s war plans. The result: changing the existing plan was imperative: “A note in General Jodl’s diary on 12 January summed up what he had said to Hitler: ‘If the enemy is in possession of all the files, situation catastrophic!’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechelen_incident)
“Results: In the short term no damage appeared to have been done but it has been argued that in the longer term the consequences of this incident were disastrous for Belgium and France. When the real invasion came, on 10 May 1940, the Germans had fundamentally changed their strategy and this change resulted in the swift Fall of France, whereas arguably even a partial German victory would have been far from certain if the original plan had been followed.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechelen_incident)
Despite the debate about whether the Mechelen Incident really shifted German plans, the weight of evidence shows that Hitler pivoted to Manstein’s more concentrated Ardennes attack strategy:
“Jodl recorded on 13 February that Hitler concurred, referring to the Mechelen Incident: “We should then attack in the direction of Sedan,” Hitler told Jodl. “The enemy is not expecting us to attack there. The documents held by the Luftwaffe officers who crash landed have convinced the enemy that we only intend to take over the Dutch and Belgian coasts.” Within days of this discussion Hitler had personally talked to Von Manstein and the Führer had given it the green light. The plan that had caused so much mayhem when it was captured by the Belgians in 1940 was replaced.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechelen_incident)
Human nature resists the influence of luck and randomness in large event outcomes. This is one case in which a random event undermines the myth of inevitable German victory. No plane crash = no blitzkrieg breakthrough at Sedan.
Myth 4.1: Small Boats Rescue vs the Real Rescuers
Actually, the German army didn’t actually interfere much with the evacuation nor was there much fighting in Dunkirk itself. “German naval activity off Dunkirk had been non-existent” before May 28 (https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2019/08/06/german-naval-activity-off-dunkirk-1940/), while the sinking of 31 ships on June 1 did not prevent the evacuation of 64429 troops. The small craft lionized in the movie and in British wartime myth rescued only 18575 out of the 338600 evacuated troops, 125000 of whom were French (https://www.jstor.org/stable/25764582?seq=1). Many of the French troops rescued were later reembarked to France’s west coast to continue the fight and then tragically lost to the war effort within 3–4 weeks. The real rescuers were the French army troops who defended Dunkirk. In the entire campaign of 1940 the French lost 120000 killed and missing vs about 11000 for the British. The French army fielded 88 divisions vs Britain’s 9. It was the French that rescued the British more than vice versa.
The small boats of movie mythology ignores the presence of the French navy in the evacuation and the key role played by French troops who fought to protect the operation on Dunkirk’s perimeter:
“During the late afternoon of 1 June, the French naval vessels off Dunkirk once again came in for severe punishment; at 1600 Stukas fell on a convoy of French auxiliaries, sinking three of them — Denis Papin, Venus and Moussaillon — within five minutes….Admiral Ramsay planned to lift as many men as possible in a single operation on the night of 1/2 June. It had originally been planned to complete the evacuation on this night, but this was no longer feasible; there could be no question of abandoning the French troops who had fought so hard on the perimeter, and through whom the British had passed on their way to the beaches. Ramsay therefore decided to concentrate all available ships after dark in the Dunkirk and Malo areas, from where the maximum lift might be obtained. For this purpose he had at his disposal some 60 ships, together with the many small craft still involved in the operation; the French could provide ten ships and about 120 fishing craft.”
Had the British Army been “let down by the French collapse”, the evacuation of 64429 troops on June 1 would never have happened, and Operation Dynamo’s logistical mastermind, Admiral Bertram Ramsay knew it.
Myth 4.2: Britain Let Down by the French Collapse
It was not the French army alone that collapsed while Britain fought a committed battle against Germany. In fact Britain withdrew most of the RAF from the battle to fight another day, while the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) in northern France amounted to just nine divisions, less than the Dutch army and 1/10 of French strength of 88 divisions, raised from a population smaller than Britain’s. This confirmed “French suspicions that Britain expected its allies to bear the brunt of the fighting and made for strained relations even before the events of May 1940.” (Ponting, page )
The French understood that the impetus for appeasement and the “peace in our time” Munich agreement surrendering the Czech Sudetenland to Germany did not originate only from Chamberlain. His Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden’s complaint to his PM shows how deeply appeasement was embedded within the British military:
“what the Chiefs of Staff would really like to do is to reorientate our whole foreign policy and to clamber on the bandwagon with the dictators, even though that process meant parting company with France and estranging our relations with the United States.” (Ponting, page 26)
There was no daylight between this view and Chamberlain’s that “in the absence of any powerful ally….we must adjust our foreign policy to our circumstances.” (ibid). But by removing the Czech deterrent to Germany’s east, France’s strategic position was weakened by an appeasement policy shaped by Britain choosing air, naval and imperial over continental defense. Britain had agreed to assist France in the event of a German attack, but not to commit any land forces. When the French made it clear that any meaningful alliance required Britain to commit a land force, the government agreed to four divisions in January 1939. After Germany occupied what remained of Czechoslovakia in March, the government doubled that without consulting the army. (Ponting, page 29). For this western alliance any equivalent to NATO’s Article Five was an incomplete and ad hoc work in progress.
When French Prime Minister Paul Reynaud phoned Churchill on May 16 to ask for ten fighter squadrons to save the battle for France, saying “London has to be defended right here”…Churchill made it clear that in the last resort the British could manage without the French…” (Ponting, page 85, 87)
In fact Churchill had a realistic view of Britain’s military commitment to war on the continent, which he omitted from his own memoirs: “Of course if one side fights and the other does not, the war is apt to become somewhat unequal.” (Ponting, page 89). Churchill rejected two more French appeals for support after Dunkirk: “We should recognize that whereas the present land battle was of great importance, it would not be decisive one way or the other for Great Britain.” (Ponting, page 88). The British general Pownall, Lord Gort’s chief of staff, expressed the same idea in saltier language: “we don’t care a bugger what happens to the Belgians.” (Ponting, page 90).
This view wasn’t far from Churchill’s view of the French, written on the 18th, a full week before British commander Lord Gort’s May 25 decision to abandon the counterattack at Arras, withdraw to Dunkirk and evacuate the BEF:
“The Chiefs of Staff must consider whether it would not be well to send only half the so-called armoured division to France. One must always be prepared for the fact that the French may be offered very advantageous terms of peace, and the whole weight be thrown on us.” (Lukacs, Five Days in London, page 18)
The Anglo-French alliance was a kind of prisoner’s dilemma, in which each side had an overwhelming incentive to pull out first. But the incentives were as asymmetrical as the contributions of each to the alliance and war effort. On May 25, during the stalled Arras counterattack from the north by the British and the French from the south against the German flanks:
The previous night Reynaud had telegraphed to Churchill that the British army “was no longer conforming to General Weygand’s plan and has withdrawn toward the Channel ports.” Churchill had answered, ‘We have every reason to believe that Gort is still persevering in his southward move.” This was not so. Two British divisions were withdrawing from Arras. Churchill knew that the ‘Weygand plan,” the joint Franco-British counterattack, amounted to nothing: ‘“Nothing in the movement of the B.E.F. of which we are aware can be any excuse for the abandonment of the strong pressure of your northward move across the Somme, which we trust will develop.” There was no such pressure, strong or weak, and Churchill must have known that develop it would not.’” (Lukacs, Five Days in London, page 97)
Churchill’s own words validated French suspicions:
“He would not be at all surprised if a peace offer was made to the French, having regard to their weak position and to the likelihood of an attack on France by Italy. If France went out of the war, she must, however, make it a condition that our Army was allowed to leave France intact, and to take away its munitions, and that the soil of France was not used for an attack on England. Further, France must retain her Fleet. If an offer were made on these terms, he [the prime minister] would accept it, and he thought that we could hold out in this country once we had got our Army back from France.” (Lukacs, Five Days, page 97).
Churchill clearly understood that Calais was far more important to Britain’s survival than the tentative counterattack at Arras: “: “Defence of Calais to the utmost is of the highest importance to our country and our Army.” (Lukacs, Five Days, page 97) and:
“Calais was the crux. Many other causes might have prevented the deliverance of Dunkirk, but it is certain that the three days gained by the defence of Calais enabled Gravelines waterline to be held, and that without this, even in spite of Hitler’s vacillations and Rundstedt’s orders, all would have been cut off and lost.” (Churchill quoted in Dunkirk: Retreat to Victory, Julian Thompson, page 172.
German blitzkrieg warfare reversed the usual Roman imperial strategy of dividet et imperam, divide and conquer. In May 1940 conquest sowed division, mistrust and a rats’ race to get off the sinking allied ship, a race Churchill was determined to have Britain win to guarantee its survival. In doing so, Churchill implemented a longstanding policy that ranked defense of its empire and aerial defense of its island above continental defense in its hierarchy of strategic needs.
Myth 5: “We Shall Never Surrender”
vs reality:
Churchill’s Back Door Deal Exploration
The play “Three Days in May", burst the fairy tale bubble shown in the “Dunkirk” and “Darkest Hour” movies. They show a very different Churchill in the minutes of his nine cabinet meetings with Neville Chamberlain, Lord Halifax and the unity government’s Labour ministers Clement Atlee and Arthur Greenwood. Halifax wanted to pursue a French proposal to have Italy mediate a negotiated peace with Germany that would surrender Gibraltar, Malta and Suez to the Germans.
The “Three Days in May” play I saw in London in 2011 shows a guilt-ridden Chamberlain standing more firmly against negotiation with Germany than a briefly wobbling Churchill who appears to take Lord Halifax’s mediation proposal seriously. Churchill needed to keep both his Foreign Secretary Halifax and Chamberlain, leader of the Conservative Party, in his cabinet to stay in power. Dividet et imperam, divide and conquer, was the only viable strategy. The play shows how Churchill, the master manipulator, pulled it off by initially taking Halifax’s Mussolini mediation strategy seriously:
“This play demonstrates how it was that the old appeaser, Chamberlain, ended up playing such a pivotal role in supporting Churchill’s insistence that “nations which went down fighting rose again, but those which surrendered tamely were finished.” (https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1000142405297020425750 4577150713958230118)
In other words, Churchill needed Chamberlain to shoot down Halifax’s mediation proposal and corner him into not resigning and bringing down the Tory-Labour war cabinet with Britain’s survival at stake.
But the play, based in part on Churchill secretary Jock Colville’s diaries, shows just three of the nine cabinet meetings from May 26–28 held just as the Dunkirk evacuation began and “omits the crucial detail that Churchill hastily summoned a secret meeting of all his party’s ministers to get their stamp of approval on fighting to the bitter end.” (https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/nov/03/three-days-in-may-review
This full cabinet meeting, from which Churchill could bring back full support for fighting on to the five man War Cabinet, that shot down Halifax’s Mussolini mediation proposal and consolidated Churchill’s precarious position.
Whatever Churchill felt about Britain fighting on alone, he could not do so with only Labour ministers supporting this decision. Unless Churchill had the full support of all the Conservative cabinet ministers, the popular will to fight on could not be reflected in the government. Chamberlain was still the leader of the Conservative Party. Churchill had to cajole him into rejecting Halifax’s Mussolini mediation proposal without Chamberlain admitting that appeasement at Munich in 1938 had been a mistake. To square this circle, Churchill had to trade redemption for a dying Chamberlain to get his support for a Tory version of a People’s War. The hinge in Churchill’s May 1940 Hinge of Fate moment was far more rickety and fraught with risk to Churchill’s weak political hand than Churchill or British WWII mythology would ever admit.
Chris Nolan’s, BoJo’s and Farage’s fairy tale also omit that Churchill was prepared to cede part of Britain’s empire to Germany if Hitler were to offer reasonable peace terms. The idea of continuing the war in the hope of rescue by America didn’t take hold until July 1940 (Ponting, page 96)
And those stirring speeches in which Churchill marshalled the English language as a weapon in a people’s war?
“The three crucial broadcasts were made not by Churchill but by an actor hired to impersonate him. Norman Shelley, who played Winnie-the-Pooh for the BBC’s Children’s Hour, ventriloquized Churchill for history and fooled millions of listeners. Perhaps Churchill was too much incapacitated by drink to deliver the speeches himself.” (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/ 2002/04/the-medals-of-his-defeats/306061/)
Myth 6: Plucky Britain Fights On Alone to Stop An Imminent German Invasion
https://imgur.com/gallery/Dmzm2 RAF stops a German invasion
http://poisonpage.blogspot.com/2011/03/world-war-in-cartoons-by-illingworth.html British lion foils German invasion whose planning was always ambivalent and never more than theoretical
Reality: Germany, a Reluctant, Ambivalent Enemy
Hitler and his staff generals were astonished by the speed of the Sedan breakthrough and advance to the Channel. Hitler “was nervous and worried” and “during the days of his army’s most rapid advances — the 17th and 18th — kept warning his generals against the dangers of a British-French counterattack, which never came.” (Five Days in London, May 1940, John Lukacs, 1997, page 16). But Hitler had other matters on his mind. On May 21 he told General Franz Halder, “we are seeking contact with England on the basis of a division of the world.” (Lukacs, Five Days, page 16). Hitler also shared the view of much of the British establishment that Churchill would not last long, that he was “widely distrusted as a man of unstable temperament, unsound judgement and rhetorical (and also alcoholic) excess…little better than an ungentlemanly, almost declassé adventurer.” (Lukacs, Five Days, page 21). Hitler quite reasonably expected that he could soon do a better deal with Lord Halifax, the successor preferred by Chamberlain, King George and most Tories of the British establishment (Lukacs, Five Days, page 12–13)
Other material limitations led Hitler to refrain from annihilating the BEF with Guderian’s and Rommel’s panzers and opt out of the completely unforeseen opportunity for a cross-channel invasion. The Germans’ amphibious capability was so deficient they had to requisition canal barges to be towed by tugs across the channel. They had had difficulties even in the Meuse River crossings in May, which General Guderian had called “a miracle”, and had resulted from the improvised decisions taken by lower level commanders disobeying orders on the spot:
“The attack in the 10th Panzer Division sector did not begin nearly as well….The aerial bombardment against the French guns had little effect. Artillery fire destroyed a considerable portion of the boats that were to cross the 10th Panzer Division. For a while the division considered withdrawing the attack….(The German Breakthrough at Sedan, Armor, Sept-Oct 2004, Sam Cook, JFK Special Warfare School, pages 9, 12)
The source of the surprise breakthrough that stunned all sides:
“Were it not for the remarkable small unit actions and combined arms integration at the lowest levels, the bridgehead at Sedan could easily have achieved only local success instead of a dramatic breakthrough.” (Cook, Armor, 2004, page12)
As stunned as their opponents by instant success in the Battle of France, the Germans had made no plans to invade Britain. German military planners certainly had no enthusiasm for such an amphibious operation, and had precious little time to plan it before the onset of autumn weather. Their first memorandum on such an operation, written at the end of June 1940, stated:
“A landing in England, therefore, should not have as its objective the military defeat of England….but rather to give the coup de grace…An invasion must nonetheless be prepared in all details as a last resort.” (Ponting,page 124)
Clearly invasion would come only if Hitler could not conclude a peace with Britain. From June 23 to July 11 Hitler and his generals held no meetings about invasion. Hitler felt he had no quarrel with the British and their empire. He thought along the same lines as the appeasing British establishment: wait for the other side to see sense and then do a deal on reasonable terms in order to deal with the real threat: the USSR. One of his generals wrote on July 13:
“The Fuhrer is most preoccupied with the question of why England does not want to step on the path to peace. Like us, he sees the answer to the question in the hopes which England puts upon Russia.He therefore reckons to have to force England to make peace. But he does not like it very much. Reason: if we smash England militarily, the British Empire will collapse. Germany will not benefit from this. With German blood we would obtain something whose beneficiaries would only be Japan, America and others.” (Ponting, page 124)
On July 16 Hitler’s directive to his generals showed his ambivalence, instructing them “to prepare for, and if necessary to carry out, an invasion.” On July 21 admitted that an invasion would be “very hazardous” and that he would try other ways to bring Britain to ask for peace. As his army and navy fought over different invasion plans Hitler showed little interest, unlike his micromanagement of the invasion of France and the Low Countries. Only 60% of the canal barges and 25% of the tugs had been assembled by September 11. The navy, which had suffered heavy losses in the Norway campaign, had just nine warships, no aircraft carriers and a few torpedo boats (Ponting, page 125).
He showed “more interest in attacking eastwards and asked for the first plans to be drawn up for an attack on the Soviet Union.” (Ponting, page 125)
The Britain alone against Germany fairy tale makes sense only if its global empire that included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, the Suez Canal and Middle Eastern and Malayan oil fields are not counted.
Myth 7: A United People “All Behind You Winston”
We’ll start Myth Seven at the elite level and work our way down, like driving in a Rolls Royce to the smelly overcrowded tube station Churchill entered for his only lifetime ride on public transit. First, adjectives used to describe Churchill by various pillars of the British establishment:
“highly gifted, but undeniable cad….shameless cadger and incorrigible scrounger” (Viscountess Nancy Astor, 1st woman MP)
“a delightful rogue who lacked political judgement…unscrupulous, unreliable and unattractively ambitious…half breed….mongrel” (Lukacs, Five Days, page 21)
“an almost universal expectation that Churchill’s ministry was going to be short-lived.” (The Holy Fox: The Life of Lord Halifax, Andrew Roberts, page 203)
“God help the country…which commits its existence to the hands of a dictator whose past achievements, even though inspired by a certain amount of imagination, have never achieved success….whether the wise old elephants (Halifax, Chamberlain) will ever be able to hold the rogue elephant, I doubt.” (Viscount Samuel Hoare, Lukacs, Five Days, page 23)
“Great as are (Churchill’s) uses…he is also a real danger, always tempted by the objective, never counting his resources to see if the objective is attainable.” (General Henry Pownall, Lukacs, Five Days, page 24)
General Pownall again, on the proposed May 20 counterattack on Amiens: “a scandalous (i.e. Winstonized) plan.” On May 24:
“How does he think we are to collect eight divisions and attack as he suggests…an attack like this to be staged involving three nationalities at an hour’s notice…the man is mad.” (Lukacs, Five Days, page 24)
“Defeatism in London among the richer classes.” (Oliver Harvey, Baron Harvey of Tasburgh, diplomat) Lukacs, Five Days, page 19)
“At the moment it looks like the greatest military disaster in all history.” — General Edmond Ironside (Lukacs, Five Days, page 18)
At the popular level, the Mass Observation survey organization’s largely female volunteers followed the pulse of popular feeling through interviews. Angus Calder’s “The People’s War: Britain, 1939–1945” portrays a story very different from a people united against the German blitz. Evacuation brought two different countries that barely knew each other into awkward contact:
“in this area of suburban Essex that an influential local dignitary, confronted with the idea that the homeless should be compulsorily billeted there, said flatly, ‘I will not have these people billeted on our people’. Even now, when the need for evacuation was obvious enough, some of the well to-do people of the suburbs and countryside still revealed the bleak class hatred which had underlain the first response to evacuation a year before.” (Calder, 1969, page 196)
“Anti-semitism persisted, and was inflamed to some extent when better-off Jews (like better-off Gentiles) bought their way out of London. Fascists still scrawled ‘This is a Jewish War’ on some of the walls which still stood, and anti-semitic feeling in the shelters was always a problem.” (page 197)
The percentage of London’s population that sheltered in fetid tube stations was far less than mythology suggests:
“Early in the blitz, some enterprising Londoners discovered the existence of a fine set of caves in the sandy hills at Chislehurst in Kent. These were ancient workings, pleasant, airy and equable in temperature. Families took over individual caves and set up homes — sometimes with double beds, armchairs and tables. Special trains were run from London every night, and the caves eventually came to have their own barber’s shop, concerts and church services. Several thousand people might dwell there in great safety.”
“The first ‘Shelter Census’, early that month, suggested that in the central area only 9 per cent slept in public shelters; 4 per cent in the underground railway system (though some accounts of the blitz make it sound as if almost everyone took to the tubes); and 27 per cent in domestic shelters. In the outer suburbs, these proportions were even lower.”
Mass evacuation of urban working class children entailed mass mutual incomprehension:
“Billetors were often appalled by the incomprehension with which evacuees confronted knives, forks, hot meals and green vegetables. They learnt to their horror that in the slums mothers would hand their children a slab of bread and margarine for supper, which they would eat standing up, or would send them out for a bag of chips. Such children, it turned out, might never have slept in a bed. Anxious hostesses tiptoeing in to visit their charges on the first night assumed they had fled until they found them sleeping on the floor under the bed. (‘The country is a funny place,’ one child remarked. ‘They never tell you you can’t have no more to eat, and under the bed is wasted.’ In the worst quarters of the cities, the absence of tap water often made it impossible to cook vegetables; overcrowding meant that children shared beds with their parents and siblings, or did without; bread and margarine was often all that families could afford. And poverty, of course, was responsible for the appalling clothes in which many children arrived, and for the frequent absence of any change of clothing.” (Calder, page 48)
Evacuation of children and sometimes mothers from cities expected to be targets of German bombing:
“exposed the inadequacy of Britain’s social services, both in town and country. It offered experimental proof that the poor were hideously poor, in the southeast as well as in Nineteenth-century Britain. It thrust a better standard of living in front of small townschildren, and a far worse one against the noses of middle-class householders.” (Calder, page 36)
And introduced two mutually uncomprehending nations to each other:
“Oliver Lyttelton, who would, within a few months, become a leading member of Churchill’s Government, had volunteered to put up ten evacuees in his spacious country house, and received thirty-one. ‘I got a shock,’ he writes. ‘I had little dreamt that English children could be so completely ignorant of the simplest rules of hygiene, and that they would regard the floors and carpets as suitable places upon which to relieve themselves.’ If sophisticated public men were surprised, the average middle-class householder was stupefied. The state of the children was such that the school had to be fumigated after the reception. Except for a small number the children were filthy, and in this district we have never seen so many verminous children lacking any knowledge of clean and hygienic habits. Furthermore, it appeared they were un-bathed for months. One child was suffering from scabies and the majority had it in their hair and the others had dirty septic sores all over their bodies. Their clothing was in a deplorable condition, some of the children being literally sewn into their ragged little garments…..It throws light on the Glasgow tenements, where one broken-down lavatory might be shared (or ignored) by thirty people, and it was the cleanest families who refused to use the communal closets” (Calder, page 45–47)
Churchill exemplified British ruling class ignorance of ordinary Britons’ lives. “Mrs Churchill once said to her husband’s doctor, ‘You probably don’t realize, Charles, that he knows nothing of the life of ordinary people. He’s never been in a bus and only once on the Underground.’ (Calder, page 111)
This class apartheid Britain would begin to pass into history after the war, when ordinary people voted Churchill and the Tories out to get the NHS and welfare state Britain they had fought for.
Myth 8: The Blitz and the Battle of Britain
vs reality
Luftwaffe’s Errant London Bombing
The Blitz myth shows how humans are fooled by randomness….and Edward R. Murrow’s This Is London reporting. Hitler had ordered that London was off limits to bombing and in his attack order of August 5 had specifically vetoed “terror bombing” (Ponting, page 132). Hermann Göring’s general order, issued on 30 June 1940, stated:
“The war against England is to be restricted to destructive attacks against industry and air force targets which have weak defensive forces. … The most thorough study of the target concerned, that is vital points of the target, is a pre-requisite for success. It is also stressed that every effort should be made to avoid unnecessary loss of life amongst the civilian population.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_bombing_during_World_War_II#:~:text=Germany's%20first%20strikes%20were%20not,less%20than%20one%20a%20month.
On August 24, 1940 off course home-bound German planes accidentally bombed the City of London’s financial district. Churchill then ordered the RAF to bomb Berlin, with the first raid carried out on August 25: “Little damage was done, but one bomb killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.” (https://www.historynet.com/target-berlin-the-first-air-raid-on-the-german-capital.htm). The August 25 raid targeted Tempelhof airfield and the Siemens factories in Siemenstadt, but their inaccuracy caused the Germans to see them as indiscriminate, which enraged Hitler. He then ordered that the ‘night piracy’ of the British be punished by a concentrated night offensive, especially London. On September 4 Hitler said in a public speech that:
“The other night the English had bombed Berlin. So be it. But this is a game at which two can play. When the British Air Force drops 2000 or 3000 or 4000 kg of bombs, then we will drop 150 000, 180 000, 230 000, 300 000, 400 000 kg on a single night. When they declare they will attack our cities in great measure, we will eradicate their cities. The hour will come when one of us will break — and it will not be National Socialist Germany!” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_bombing_during_World_War_II#:~:text=Germany's%20first%20strikes%20were%20not,less%20than%20one%20a%20month.) This strategic shift saved the RAF’s airfields and radar installations and committed the Luftwaffe, which had no strategic bomber force, to a policy of daylight bombing of cities against an intact defense and with no clear strategic goal in place. Was the new policy supposed to prepare for the invasion of Britain, destroy British military industries and the RAF or get Britain to sue for peace?
The myth of Luftwaffe superiority
In Hitler’s system of divide and conquer bureaucratic darwinism, Germany’s air force was the private fiefdom of Hermann Goering, a political, not a military choice. From its inception it was built to support army operations, not as an independent force for strategic bombing. It had only twin engined medium bombers that could carry only light bomb loads, no equivalent to Britain’s Lancaster bombers or American B-17s. The Luftwaffe’s strategic misdirection was partially random, partially due to Goering’s incompetence:
“Goering’s first chief of staff, Generalleutnant Walther Wever, was a big advocate of the Ural (strategic) bomber program, but when he died in a flying accident in 1936, support for the strategic bomber program began to dwindle rapidly under Goering’s influence. Under pressure from Goering, Albert Kesselring, Wever’s replacement, opted for a medium, all-purpose, twin-engine tactical bomber. Erhard Milch, who strongly supported Goering’s conceptions, was instrumental in the Luftwaffe’s future. Milch believed that the German industry (in terms of raw materials and production capacity) could only produce 1,000 four-engine heavy bombers per year, but many times that number of twin-engine bombers. In spring of 1937, just when the Luftwaffe’s own Technical Office had passed the Ju-89 and Do-19 heavy bomber models as ready for testing, Goering ordered a halt to all work on the four-engine strategic bomber program.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_bombing_during_World_War_II#:~:text=Germany's%20first%20strikes%20were%20not,less%20than%20one%20a%20month)
Germany’s missing strategic bomber (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ural_bomber)
“”Well, those inferior heavy bombers of the other side are doing a wonderful job of wrecking Germany from end to end,” was his acid-tongued response.” — Hermann Goering, 1943 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ural_bomber)
German fighters had limited range and could escort bombers over southeast England for only 25 minutes. German bombers over other British cities would be unescorted. As the home team, Britain could also recover bailed out pilots and damaged aircraft, while Germany would lose both.
Germany had more total aircraft, but Britain’s newly created Ministry of Aircraft Production, headed by press baron Lord Beaverbrook, raised British aircraft production to two and a half times that of Germany. Beaverbrook raised aircraft production from 2729 in the first 1/3 of 1940 to 4576 in the second 1/3 of the year. Actual output was 50% above planned levels (Ponting, page 129). His unorthodox move fast and break things crisis management style made him Britain’s answer to American Liberty Ship-a-day builder Henry Kaiser and overcame RAF inertia. Examples of hidebound RAF inertia:
There were 9000 pilots for 5000 aircraft, but the RAF complained constantly of pilot shortages. But 30% of trained pilots were in office jobs and 20% trainers. Despite this the RAF turned out 300 aircraft/week vs 200 pilots. “The near fatal shortage of pilots during the Battle of Britain was a situation entirely of the RAF’s making.” (Ponting, page 130–31) The RAF kept the peacetime squadron system in which redeploying pilots where needed involved moving the entire squadron — crews, aircraft, spare parts — which entailed a one week delay before the squadron could become operational again (Ponting, page 131). The Spitfire was the best fighter against German Messerschmidt fighters. But the RAF practiced no form of yield management to move them where needed. Fighter Group 11 in the southeast bore the brunt of the German assault, but 70% of its planes were Hurricanes. Less than 1/3 of Britain’s best planes were operating in the most important sector. Groups 11 and 12 (the Midlands) had useless Blenheims, while short of Spitfires (Ponting, page 131)
Only 15% of British pilots ever shot down a German aircraft. September 15, 1940 is celebrated as Battle of Britain Day, on which the RAF at the time claimed 185 downed German aircraft. The real number, confirmed later: 60.
In the end the best squadron in the Battle of Britain was….the Polish squadron 303. Its commander Jan Zumbach shot down 12 German planes. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Zumbach). The RAF’s Polish and Czech pilots’ daredevil combat style changed the RAF just as Jackie Robinson transformed major league baseball:
“Polish fighter pilots quickly built up a reputation for “daredevil and suicidal behavior” in aerial combat. These Spitfire and Hurricane jockeys were so consumed by their mission and their incredible hatred of their Axis foe, that they would often deliberately put themselves near the edge of death just to inflict damage. Instead of breaking away from the fight once their magazines ran dry or their guns jammed, Polish pilots would continue attacking, using their aircraft as battering rams and their propellers as buzzsaws. Lest they let their enemies escape, these pilots literally flew their fighters into German bombers repeatedly until their prey fell out of the sky. If that didn’t work, they would also fly close to the wings or tails of enemy aircraft in order to use their propellers as impromptu saws, chewing off control surfaces until the aircraft crashed. And if push came to shove (also literally), Polish pilots were also known to maneuver their fighters above German planes, making contact and forcing them downwards either into the ground or the waters of the English Channel. At this point, they could only really be described as either certifiably insane or downright courageous, or some combination of the two. RAF commanders were appalled at the antics of these volunteer pilots, but quickly understood their zealousness for the fight when it was discovered that German military personnel were issued a “kill-on-sight” order for all Polish pilots captured during the WWII.” (https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/these-ww2-polish-pilots-were-either-certifiably-insane-downright-courageous-or-a-bit-of-both/)
https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/these-ww2-polish-pilots-were-either-certifiably-insane-downright-courageous-or-a-bit-of-both/ The ladies loved them, Allied pilots respected them and German pilots feared them.
In other words, the plucky fight on alone “owe so much to so few” British exceptionalism of Churchill’s speeches was, substantially, Polish and Czech in origin. Like Guderian in the Wehrmacht, the Polish RAF squadrons were disruptive startups within an ossified tradition and caste-bound guild. Goering’s Luftwaffe had no equivalent and lost the Battle of Britain because Germany’s only disruptive order-flouting startup was on the ground. Eventually, even
“Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, who once was so reluctant to allow Polish pilots into battle, summarised their contribution in probably the most telling way: ‘Had it not been for the magnificent work of the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcome of battle would have been the same’.” (https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-polish-pilots-who-flew-in-the-battle-of-britain)
But the RAF “came perilously close to losing the Battle of Britain through stubborn adherence to tradition and hidebound procedures even at a time of supreme national emergency”, but was saved by a random German navigational error, Wever’s random 1936 plane crash and Beaverbrook’s and Zumbach’s RAF-disrupting startups. (Ponting, page 137)
Myth 9: UK-US “Identity of Interest”, Franklin and Winston Friendship
The intimate friendship portrayed in Jon Meacham’s book Franklin and Winston came much later. Before 1940 FDR and Churchill had met only once, nearly 20 years before. FDR despised empires and Britain’s was the largest in world history. Churchill was an unapologetic imperialist, as was Anthony Eden, who, as Foreign Secretary, wrote to Chamberlain described Japan’s invasion of China as “‘upstart’ nations encroaching upon “white race” preserves.” (Ponting, page 25). Hardly an expression of the Four Freedoms war aims that FDR envisioned.
As early as May 15, 1940 Churchill envisioned the fall of France and had warned Roosevelt:
“I trust you realise, Mr. President, that the voice and the force of a United States may count for nothing if they are withheld too long. You may have a completely subjugated, Nazified Europe established with astonishing swiftness, and the weight may be more than we can bear.” (Lukacs, Five Days, page 72–73)
Churchill wrote back two days after FDR’s reply, on May 19: “We are determined to persevere to the very end…if American assistance is to play any part, it must be available soon….” (ibid). And again on May 21, explicitly mentioning the ultimate strategic nightmare for the US: the possible surrender of the British fleet as the price of peace with Germany:
“you must not be blind to the fact that the sole remaining bargaining counter with Germany would be the fleet….Excuse me, Mr. President, putting this nightmare bluntly….I could not answer for my successors who in utter despair and helplessness might have to accommodate themselves to the German will.” (Lukas, Five Days, page 73)
The “identity of interest” and “special relationship” would arrive only after America had consummated at least the financial dissolution of the British empire through Lend Lease. FDR clearly viewed Anglo-French defeat as an opportunity to dismantle the British empire. On May 24, 1940 he asked Canada to:
“press Churchill to send the British fleet across the Atlantic, the sooner the better — that is, before Hitler’s peace terms could include the surrender of the fleet. Roosevelt added that Churchill should not be told of the American origin of the proposal. Roosevelt had come to realize that Britain may have to sue for peace — that is, surrender.” (Lukacs, Five Days, page 76)
vs
Reality: The Ponzi Finance of Fighting Alone
Lend Lease: bailing out bankrupt empire (https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/churchill/wc-hour.html)
On June 18, 1941, three days before Britain would no longer be alone in the fight against Germany, Goebbels wrote in his diary about Churchill, “were it not for him, this war would have ended long ago.” (Blood,Toil, Tears and Sweat, John Lukacs, page 11). True, but why?
The myth of plucky Britain that fought on alone against Germany assumes that Britain had the resources to do so. Britain had the world’s largest navy and produced more combat aircraft than Germany in 1939. Nevertheless, by August 22, 1940 Churchill’s Chancellor the Exchequer told him that without American aid Britain would be financially incapable of continuing the war.
Though facing imminent bankruptcy, Britain was hardly alone. It had the support of a vast overseas empire that included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, the Suez canal and Middle Eastern oil fields. But the empire did not have American steel and machine tool manufacturing capacity essential for producing materiel to fight on.
Yet the first land-based defeat of an Axis power came not from a far from alone Britain, but from….Greece against an Italian invasion. Greece turning back Italy and the antifascist, pro-western coup in Yugoslavia on March 27, 1941 triggered a German-led invasion of both countries on April 6.
Myth 10: Britain, the Independent Great Power
Reality: Germany and Britain, Parallels in Ponzi War Finance
In January 1939 Hitler’s central banker, Hjalmar Schacht, had told the Fuhrer that the Reich would soon exhaust its reserves of hard currency needed to purchase raw materials essential for war production — copper, oil, rubber, cobalt, silver, aluminum (Hitler’s Secret Bankers, Adam LeBor, 2000). Schacht reading Hitler the financial riot act drove the decision to seize the rest of Czechoslovakia at the end of March and the Fuhrer’s war launch calendar. Having built a regime that was a Ponzi scheme of military Keynesianism, Hitler, his Nazi cronies and the Wehrmacht now faced a use it or lose it choice. On August 22, 1940 Churchill received a similar warning from his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kingsley Wood in a
“Most Secret 7 page paper…entitled “Gold and Exchange Resources. The number of copies was highly restricted and even the ministers present had to surrender their papers before leaving the meeting. It was perhaps the most sombre and devastating paper ever taken by a British cabinet: it forecast Britain’s imminent financial collapse and inability to continue the war.” (Ponting, page 7)
Britain faced the same kind of industrial input shortages combined with the non-convertible currency problem that Schacht had confronted Hitler with in January 1939. In fact Chamberlain’s ministers had been informed of the problem since about the same time as Schacht’s warning to Hitler:
“The background to the paper had been familiar to ministers for more than a year….British industry was incapable of producing the range and quantity of armaments required to win the war. Even those items that could be manufactured domestically were heavily dependent on imports of raw materials and products such as steel. Most of these imports came from the US and had to be paid for either in gold or in dollars.” (Ponting, page 7)
Under the American Neutrality Act Britain could not raise loans to pay for its orders. Even if Britain sold its huge investments in the empire and Latin America, they would not yield dollars, and were therefore irrelevant. On August 22 Wood’s report proclaimed that the day of reckoning at the end of 1940, when Britain would exhaust its dollar reserves, was rapidly approaching, hastened by the need to replace the huge mass of equipment lost in France. And American help would certainly not arrive before the November election.
There was gold held in India and South Africa (about 130 million GBP), by European governments in exile (about 350 million GBP) and 200 million GBP held in Canada by the Vichy France government, which could be seized illegally. Britain was, in essence, in the position of an unemployed debtor with a subprime mortgage on an underwater (negative equity) house whose only recourse to raise funds was the pawn shop:
“Even if all these (gold) resources were somehow made available they could put off the evil hour only for a few months….Britain would still face the same dilemma of choosing between dependence on the United States or peace with Germany. The last resort would be to requisition all gold objects, including wedding rings, in Britain. At most this would raise 20 million GBP….If the military position should unexpectedly deteriorate, we should have to pledge everything we had for the sake of victory, giving the United States, if necessary, a lien on any and every part of British industry.” (Ponting, page 10)
Since Britain no longer had the resources to continue the war, its status as an independent power was finished. Its fate would be decided on America’s presidential yacht, where Franklin Roosevelt dreamed up the Lend Lease program that saved Britain, deploying his rhetorical gift for explaining complex ideas in terms the average American could understand:
“”Suppose my neighbor’s home catches fire, and I have a length of garden hose four or five hundred feet away. If he can take my garden hose and connect it up with his hydrant, I may help him to put out his fire…I don’t say to him before that operation, “Neighbor, my garden hose cost me $15; you have to pay me $15 for it.”… I don’t want $15 — I want my garden hose back after the fire is over. “ (http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/odlendls.html)
FDR’s first class temperament, in Oliver Wendell Holmes description, rescued Britain from war-ending bankruptcy.
_____________________________________________
Conclusion: Fake History Fuels Phony Populism
William Faulkner’s aphorism that “the past isn’t dead, it’s not even past” perfectly distills how fake history drives the post-imperial senility of the UK’s Battle of Britain Brexit run aground on fishing rights. Without the fuel of the fake fairy tale fantasy version of Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain, BoJo’s bubble of have cake and eat it too magical thinking on rules-free single market access deflates.
This fairy tale fake history of Britain’s WWII is certainly less virulent than the American edition of fake history that fuels xenophobic national populism: Trump shouting America First, Lindbergh’s pro-Nazi isolationist slogan, while waging a neo-confederate statue defense campaign to succeed Jefferson Davis. Fake history mythologized by nationalism is like the Hotel California, you can check out, but you can never leave.
The next room in the British branch of the Fake History Hotel we’ll open: the myth of Britain’s island apart exceptionalism. This populist myth, a prime driver of Bojo’s Blitzed Battle of Britain Brexit, assumes that the British people were fundamentally different and apart from the collaborationist German-occupied continentals across the channel. The myth collapses under the weight of the evidence in the one part of Britain the Germans occupied, the Channel Islands.
_________________________________________________________
References:
Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat, John Lukacs, 2008
Five Days in London, John Lukacs, 1997
1940: Myth and Reality, Clive Ponting, 1990
The Holy Fox: The Life of Lord Halifax, Andrew Roberts, 2004
The People’s War: Britain, 1939–1945, Angus Calder, 1969
The German Breakthrough at Sedan, Armor, Sept-Oct 2004, Sam Cook, JFK Special Warfare School
The Churchillian Myths of 1940, Louis Proyect: https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/12/08/the-churchillian-myths-of-1940/
Times Literary Supplement: https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/little-england-little-blitz-britain/
The Guardian, January 24, 2004: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jan/24/germany.race
The Medals of His Defeats: Our author takes the Great Man down a peg or two — and still finds that Churchill was a great man, The Atlantic Monthly, Christopher Hitchens, April 2002,
We are the Mighty, These WW2 Polish pilots were either certifiably insane, downright courageous — or a bit of both, January 28, 2019, Ian d’Costa: https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/these-ww2-polish-pilots-were-either-certifiably-insane-downright-courageous-or-a-bit-of-both/
Jan Zumbach Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Zumbach
Strategic Bombing During World War Two: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_bombing_during_World_War_II
Mechelen Incident Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechelen_incident
Historynet: https://www.historynet.com/target-berlin-the-first-air-raid-on-the-german-capital.htm
True or False, Graham Stewart, January 11, 2012: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204257504577150713958230118
Dunkirk and the Popular Memory of Britain at War, 1940–58, Penny Summerfield, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 45, №4 (OCTOBER 2010), pp. 788–811 (24 pages), Published By: Sage Publications, Ltd. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25764582
Imperial War Museum: https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-polish-pilots-who-flew-in-the-battle-of-britain
German Naval Activity Off Dunkirk, 1940: https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2019/08/06/german-naval-activity-off-dunkirk-1940/
Major General Julian Thompson, Dunkirk: Retreat to Victory (New York: Arcade Publishing, 2011) 172.
Dunkirk Evacuation, Jennifer Rosenberg, July 28, 2017 https://www.thoughtco.com/dunkirk-evacuation-british-army-1779311 | https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/wwii-mythology-tour-dunkirk-and-the-battle-of-britain-b00b172d150a | ['Lester Golden'] | 2020-12-23 20:51:47.682000+00:00 | ['World War II', 'Politics', 'Europe', 'History', 'Britain'] |
How Will Hunter Biden’s Legal Troubles Affect Joe Biden’s Presidency? | So how does this affect his father’s cabinet?
The most important thing to bear in mind is that no evidence has been found that Joe Biden had anything to do with his son’s business activities. Yes, Hunter traded on his father’s name and position as Vice President in his dealings with foreign entities but that does not mean that his father was in any way involved.
Joe Biden has been filling his cabinet with people that he has known and worked with for years. The concern is that if he chooses for attorney general someone that is close to him, it could be perceived as a conflict of interest.
After all, wouldn’t you be tempted to go easy on the son of an old friend? Especially a friend who is president and has appointed you to one of the most prestigious jobs in his administration?
Some Republicans have gone so far as to suggest that a Special Counsel be appointed to head the investigation into Biden’s son to ensure there will be no favoritism.
With or without a Special Counsel, if the investigation does not end up with criminal charges and Hunter is declared innocent of any wrongdoing, in the eyes of many people, the DOJ will have a lot of explaining to do about how it arrived at that conclusion.
We have become so accustomed to Trump directing the DOJ, that it will be difficult to switch gears to an administration that respects the independence of the Attorney General and Justice Department.
Many people will remain suspicious that Biden had something to do with dropping the investigation into his son.
Starting off his presidency with his son under investigation shouldn’t affect how Biden functions as president. Previous presidents have had relatives run afoul of the law with no significant impact on those presidents’ abilities to do their jobs.
As long as Biden makes good on his promise of independence for the DOJ, the investigation into his son should have no effect on his presidency. | https://medium.com/politically-speaking/how-will-hunter-bidens-legal-troubles-affect-joe-biden-s-presidency-2ada31fbe06a | ['Caren White'] | 2020-12-14 12:02:01.230000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Government', 'Biden', 'Attorney General', 'Department Of Justice'] |
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Chpter Integrated System (CIS) | Integration | In most financial institutions, the debt appraisal process is thoroughly decentralised. Consider the financial forecasting process for example, existing workflows result in prolonged deliveries due to a heavy reliance on traditional inputs such as pen and paper, spreadsheets and word documents which are laborious and time consuming.
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Golang Testing with TDD | Coverage and Refactoring in Go Tests
For the next function, we’d like to test and create the function OddOrEven() that accepts an integer and tells if it is an odd or even integer.
Initially, we wanted to check if the function accepts an integer like 45 , the function returns the string "45 is an odd number" :
Like the first function we had, we’ll create a function with the same signature in starter.go to remove the syntax error and run the test:
A quick run of go test will provide the error:
To minimally satisfy the test requirement, we probably can just pass a string "45 is an odd number" but let’s make it more dynamic and use the input.
This would make the test pass. But if we have another test item for an even number,
the test would fail:
We can use existing functions like the modulo math.Mod() and just need a bit of conversion since math.Mod() requires float64 as an input. We can see the following results to a modified function:
It satisfies the previous two items ( 45 and 42 ), but can it satisfy 0 ?
It does! Thinking about the test case, we also have negative values in integers. So, let’s try negative numbers this time like -45 .
Noticed that the test failed when we thought we almost had it. For this module, return value is -1 instead of 1 . So you can already see some parallelism to real-life use cases that could make your supposedly-very-reliable function to still potentially fail with some edge cases. So, we modified the test to:
We’ll also test that for a negative even number like -42 and it works.
Subtests and refactoring
When we’re testing a function, there may be instances where we want to group the test items into meaningful subcategories. For example, for a more complicated function, we may want to have a subtest for the happy path, another subtest for an edge-case and maybe another subtest for error-handling.
In our example, we may want to create subgroups for non-negative cases and negative cases. Golang still allows us to do these subtests and it’s also a good way to reuse input values.
This also makes it easier to read the test cases. In our example, we don’t have common values that we can refactor for the simple usecase, but we can group the test items to easily see that the created function can work for both non-negative and negative integers like so:
It’s also easy to understand and see a summary of the test when we run go test -v as they’re grouped together.
Coverage
Speaking of creating a summary for the test, it’s also important to ensure that the conditions we mentioned the function that will actually be tested. A coverage to the desired output like coverage.out is simply:
go test -v -coverprofile coverage.out
We can also create an html formatted document by running a command similar to:
go tool cover -html=coverage.out -o coverage.html
Currently, we have 100% coverage!
Suppose that we did not check the even integers and only checked the odd integers, we may only get a coverage of 80% (if we include the SayHello() testing).
Just note that a line coverage of 100% does not automatically mean there are no additional tests needed. If we removed all the negative subtests, the coverage would still show 100% coverage but we have not tested the case when math.Mod(float64(num), 2) == -1 . So yes, a 100% coverage is definitely a good goal but there’s more to line coverage that we’ll need.
Because we have followed the TDD approach, coverage will not be much of an issue for us! We are making sure that we are “covering” all the processes in our function since we created the tests first even before proceeding to create the function. We’re building the function incrementally while achieving almost 100% coverage in each step. Even during the times where we partially created the test, we have almost 100% coverage! Who wouldn’t want that, right? This is just one of the ways that we can benefit from TDD. Oh, and I also like that the tests using the TDD approach create a handy and automatically updated documentation for that package/module.
Advanced Testing Modules
For the third function in starter.go , I intentionally did not follow the TDD approach as my main purpose here is to demonstrate how we can leverage advanced testing modules.
Now for example, we just wanted to quickly create a health check if a page could be loaded. For us to easily accomplish this task, we can make use of the http package in golang with import "net/http" . We can simply create a health check like:
Now, how do we plan to check this http call? We can leverage the included testing library using import "net/http/httptest" . It’s not just important to do the line coverage here but to simulate the http behaviour. We can create our mock writer and request using httptest.NewRequest() and httptest.NewRecorder() . And after running our CheckHealth() function, we should expect that the body contains the "health check passed" like what has been written in the CheckHealth() function. | https://medium.com/@williaminfante/golang-testing-with-tdd-e548d8be776 | ['William Infante'] | 2021-05-07 23:54:00.003000+00:00 | ['Golang', 'Test Driven Development', 'Go', 'Tdd', 'Testify'] |
Développer la participation citoyenne avec WAP Cycla Conseil | News about peer learning and learning innovations. We help people in organizations to connect to their peers and learn from each other.
Follow | https://medium.com/wearepeers/wap-utilis%C3%A9-pour-la-d%C3%A9mocratie-participative-entre-citoyens-ae721848bb73 | ['Diane Lenne'] | 2020-01-03 10:40:19.885000+00:00 | ['City Living', 'Citoyen', 'Peer To Peer', 'Democracy'] |
Every special needs dog is possible to have a wonderful quality of life. | Volunteer Helping Special Needs Dogs/ 3D printing beginner
Dogs with special needs are unbelievably adaptable, regardless of their limitations. They are loving and can bring happiness to their owners’ lives. Sadly, many special needs animals can’t find a suitable home and face a much greater risk of being put down because of their particular needs. That’s where Amy and many rescue groups want to step in.
Amy Jo Martin is an elderly attorney in Wilkes County, North Carolina. She is self-employed and has been involved in dog rescue for over 25 years. In the beginning, she adopted big dogs with her roommate, then moved to adopt only senior dogs because she realized many of them could not find suitable homes due to them being “too old”. Amy’s first adopted dog is a tripod German Shepherd named Nick. His adapting to being three-legged removed Amy’s concerns in handling the dogs that need special care and inspired her to adopt different special needs dogs.
Here are the dogs that have been adopted by Amy
Little Jett is one of the cute dogs. He was only 1.7 pounds and had neurological issues and rear leg deformities when he was adopted. Amy and her roommate have been struggled to find mobility equipment to assist this little guy with his gait. They tested 3 or 4 different brands that made small carts online but found none fit Jett’s tiny body. “That’s when I realized how helpful a 3d printer would be. Last Christmas, my family bought me my first 3d printer (Anycubic Mega S…which I LOVE), and after a little trial and error, I made Jett a quad wheelchair, granted, it wasn’t fancy or “pretty”, but it worked for him — and that’s what mattered. ‘’ Said Amy.
How did the 3d print wheelchair benefit this kind of puppy with an underdeveloped leg (for instance, a puppy born without a paw and a shorter leg)?
“A properly fitted 3d printed wheelchair could help a puppy learn how to walk normally on all four legs and would assist the puppy with its gait as well as bone and soft tissue development. In addition, the 3d printed wheelchair is inexpensive to make, can be replaced with a larger one as the puppy grows. Once the puppy gets to full-grown size, the owner can invest in a professionally-made prosthetic. ‘’ Said Amy.
The 3d printed wheelchair helped Jett master walking on his rear knees (which also helps with his sense of balance), and he is pretty fast when moving across the room to play with his siblings.
The other medical issue of Jett is that he has a cerebellar disorder — meaning the portion of his brain that involves his coordination and sense of balance wasn’t fully developed prior to birth. It leads her to walk very “wonky.” In addition, Chihuahuas often have open fontanels (“soft spots” on the skull), making it dangerous if they fall and bump their head on the unprotected part of their skulls. Add a “wonky” walk and balance issues to that, and you have a dog that bumps his head a lot. So Jett needed a helmet to protect his head when he was learning to walk.
After finding nothing about the helmet online, Amy planned to make one by her newly received Anycubic Vyper 3d Printer. It’s an FDM 3D printer that features fast and reliable automatic bed-levelling, roomy print volume and provides a beginner-friendly experience. So it could make Amy handle her prints very well in a short time. She made two different types of helmets for Jett.
Original design by Brucho design studio based in Honduras
‘’Just like a leg prosthetic, if a puppy is growing, it will need a helmet that can be inexpensively replaced as its head grows. Once the pup is full-grown, then the owner can have a helmet made by a professional.’’ Said Amy. Using a 3d printer made her realize she could more than adopt the special needs dogs. So she wanted to loan out her extra dog wheelchairs to people who need them for the short term. Thus help others who are in the same situation as she with Jett.
‘’I would love to see others get interested in 3d printing. You don’t have to be a young person….you don’t have to have a lot of computer experience….you don’t have to be a male….you just need a desire to help. I would love to have more people like me get a group together (much like the now-disbanded group called The CAP Project) to help special animals with mobility items. I would love to learn from people who have more knowledge than I do. I would love to have people offering to help create STLs that can be used in non-profit ways. I would love 3d printer companies to take an interest in people who are using their printers to help others (filament is always needed). Anycubic has been so wonderful to me! Through my new Facebook friend, Rebecca Clark, Anycubic has just sent me 2 brand new Vyper printers to help me make these items. I am so very grateful and excited to see how many animals I can help with these printers! And finally, I would love for more people to understand that just because an animal has mobility or medical issue, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a wonderful quality of life.’’ Said, Amy
She also advised the people interested in adopting the special needs dogs. You can click here to check more details. If you are not ready to adopt, you could also talk to the rescues and see if you could foster them.
Here are the groups that you could connect with:
Lovey Loaves Special Needs Rescue — website: http://www.loveyloaves.org
Canine Castaways, Inc. — website: http://www.caninecastaways.org
Mutt Misfits Animal Rescue — website: http://www.muttmisfits.com
Perfectly Imperfect Pets Rescue — website: http://www.pipsrescue.org
Amy’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PeacefulHeart | https://medium.com/@Carin.lee/every-special-needs-dog-is-possible-to-have-a-wonderful-quality-of-life-13159611a052 | ['Carin Lee'] | 2021-12-29 13:58:00.387000+00:00 | ['3D Printing', 'Anycubic', 'Dog Rescue'] |
Shortforms Testing | Shortforms Testing. Is The Initial Setup Causing Bizarre Behaviours?
Photo by Jordan Whitfield on Unsplash
When making shortform posts, I made the experience that some posts behave as the help tools and articles describe it. Others have their own life and look differently.
So, I was suspicious if the initial setup of the post determines the look it appears later. Changes after that might not have any effect.
This one here got a picture after the initial setup without pictures was published.
The author’s home page view resulted like shown below.
So far, everything is following the descriptions.
My next test was to change the formatting of the first sentence using the quotation mark icon. This change altered the text displayed on the picture and used the sentence following the first paragraph as the label text.
Interestingly, this result appeared only once. Now the text on the picture is gone and the post displays in full.
I’ll keep you posted. | https://medium.com/@michaelknackfuss/shortforms-testing-956eb691ba8b | ['Michael Knackfuss'] | 2020-12-26 21:33:50.299000+00:00 | ['UX Design', 'Visual Design', 'Technology', 'Software Engineering', 'Culture'] |
Fee Structure | We take issue with the way that contractors are currently hired. Traditional fee structures fail to answer the following questions:
How do contractors know/decide how much to charge? How can companies trust unknown individuals and organisations? How can uncertainties about the project be overcome?
These uncertainties lead to a whole host of problems associated with contract work. No one wants to hire a company for 6 months without knowing if they can do the job, how long the job will take, how useful the output will be, and if they are receiving a fair price for the work.
We propose a new way of working.
Our fee structure ensures our incentives are aligned to deliver the most value possible for you while at the same time building trust and ensuring we receive equitable compensation for this value. This is achieved via two mechanisms: value-based fees and trust-based fees.
Value-based Fees
We charge depending on how much value a successful project would add to your company. This is different for every project and can only be determined after an in-depth discussion. We aim to operate with a ratio of at least 10:1 value-added vs. fee charged.
This ensures our incentives are properly aligned to adding as much value as possible to your company.
Trust-building Fees
We work in 5-day cycles with payment only being received at the end of each cycle and on the condition that we were deemed to add sufficient value over the previous 5 days.
At the end of each of these 5 days, you decide whether we have added enough value and you pay us if the answer to that question is yes and don’t if it’s no. So, if you hire us but don’t feel like we can do the job adequately after the first 5 days, no problem. We receive no payment and we part ways amicably. If you feel that the project is no longer a priority? That’s fine, stop paying us and we can both move on to a different one. Still feel as though the project is not finished? Simply continue to pay us and we will continue to work with you.
After 5 days, we present our work and you decide to pay us or not. If we are paid, we proceed with the project and work another 5 days. It’s that simple.
This has several advantages: | https://medium.com/@haydn-martin/fee-structure-6fc68be00aee | ['Haydn Martin'] | 2020-12-18 11:00:01.376000+00:00 | ['Consulting', 'Independent Contractor', 'Fintech', 'Trust', 'Value Based Pricing'] |
6 ways to furnish your home better with budget constraints | Furnishing a home involves various factors including budget expenditures as the foremost one. So planning to furnish the interiors and outdoors involve a bit of exercise and strategy to sort out things properly.
You can find the relevant information on following some key aspects for purchasing furnishings on an affordable budget through this article with Discount Codes. In this article, let’s take a look at the 6 best ways that work out better for your home.
Basic Needs Come First
Prioritize all the products and make a list. Prepare the needs list first and include the wants later. This helps reduce your budget and if you really have more affordability, you may land in with all the goods. Kitchen table, chairs, beds, couches are the most common requirements for any home.
Pay Attention To Seasonal Sales
Furniture Deals seriously help you run through the budget constraints while furnishing your home. Users find few overloaded stock that’s not completely sold at comparatively lower prices while you may be wondering at how the seasonal sales happen.
Store Credit Cards Can Be Helpful
The perfect use of paying credit in time with 0% interest can be really helpful while the stores themselves help you in providing such zero interest credit cards. But the tricky part lies when you are not paying the credit amount in time. Then the whole amount that’s billed over the furnishings would be charged with an interest.
Plan Perfectly
Keep a close watch on all the spaces at the home you purchase or want to walk-in. Never let a misplacement or shortage of furnishings break the beauty of your home. Plan accordingly and especially in a way that the products including beds, and sofa chairs fit right into the spaces.
Prefer Secondhand Goods
It’s not possible to afford higher prices for furnishing your home and particularly with all families. So furnishing your home at affordable cost with Sofa Deals and other existing offers is a possibility. This of course happens most of the time when you have no objection towards purchasing the second hand goods.
Fix Home Decoration Budget
Beyond going with the lighting & decoration part, an average affordable family can go with the limited styling to the home while the affluent families can go well ahead. Of course decorating a new home is every one’s wish. So, a plan and fixing of a certain budget for decoration and lights is much possible with the Lighting Deals. | https://medium.com/@voouchercodesuk/6-ways-to-furnish-your-home-better-with-budget-constraints-aa7ee3218c93 | [] | 2021-11-22 20:04:10.135000+00:00 | ['Furniture', 'Shopping', 'Furniture Design'] |
A Forlorn Escape from the Yesterdays | “What time of the day is it?” Her frail mumble was heard nowhere in that abandoned room. She moved the messy hair on her face just to stare into the pitch darkness that gave no signs of escape. As she fumbled for her phone, she knocked down the leftover sip of vodka which was poured the day before. When she finally managed to fetch her phone, it was dead long back.
The migraine was paralyzing her. Passing out after that extra drink was not uninvited, but a whole day’s sleep had dehydrated her soul. She struggled to rise from the floor but failed. “He was right. Closing the window panes with papers has got nothing to do with shutting off people from life,” she smirked. “Saying that he was gone forever. He was not just my husband; he was the only one whom I was in contact with.”
After many failed attempts, she finally caught hold of her drawing stand and rose. She moved the black curtains just to stare into the plastered windows that looked like someone’s failed attempt to fix her shattered life with broken pieces of advice. The eeriness, born out of her imperfection, saw a ray of light leaking in through the uneven patch on the window panes.
“I don’t want to live with anyone. I don’t want to marry!” She could see herself screaming at her parents a year ago but was forced to marry Sandeep. Now, they are all gone, leaving behind her and her innate notion to shut people from life.
She switched on the lights. The yellow rays fell bluntly over the half-eaten food, ordered a few days ago, the broken glass and the spilt vodka, an unwashed plate and some forbidden pieces of art. The massive incomplete canvas which was half-painted red disturbed her. She searched for the leftover paint but realised it has all dried up.
She dragged herself into the balcony where the bright light pestered her for a while. She ran her fingers through the dusty rails, disturbed, and caught sight of a shawl lying on her balcony. “Must have flown from the top floor!” She slowly picked it up and brought it close to her nose, closed her eyes and took a deep breath… “Ahhh! Human smell!”
The uncle in the opposite flat still didn’t seem to give up. With the lit cigar, his whistle was a clear hook-up call, but she ignored. Suddenly, her heartbeat rose to see the trash van. She was nervous. She saw them load the saggy black sack into the van. “It was as thick as how I wanted,” she recalled the smell of Sandeep’s blood. “But the canvas is still incomplete,” she murmured.
The whistle from the other side was strong enough to interrupt her from caressing the abandoned cactus. Having fixed something, she decided to give a cold-blooded smile this time and the cactus got crushed in her palm, leaving behind no signs of hope. | https://medium.com/@aiswaryaravi09/a-forlorn-escape-from-the-yesterdays-bc71b87d1da6 | ['Aiswarya Ravi'] | 2020-12-11 14:27:06.488000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Depression', 'Crime', 'Thriller', 'Suspense'] |
How is Bet On Chart going to utilize blockchain? | In our previous article we have attempted to uncover the difficulties of establishing a decentralized crypto bookmaker with the existing technologies. We found that the only probable solution is to set up smart contracts to accept pre-play bets on a limited set of sports events. There’s no sophisticated logic, the speed is subpar, and it’s more like a university project, rather than a full-fledged business plan.
Does it mean that Blockchain and betting don’t mix?
Not necessarily. Blockchain is an advanced technology capable of revolutionizing the world, but it doesn’t work like magic on anything it is applied to. It’s in the early stages now, and implementing it does not not always mean utilizing the technology to the fullest. In many cases it leads to a partial relinquishment of the whole decentralization idea.
As a team behind BetOnChart we’re aiming at delivering a 100% working service, that will be massively popular and financially successful, without changing our imperfect world too drastically. In order for a business to make money, it has to earn client’s trust. A client must be assured that everything is in accordance with the rules: that there is enough filling in the cake, that safety bags would save your life at the right moment, and that an adult channel subscription will be activated strictly at 23:59. With a bookmaker it’s enough to give people choice and pay the winnings in time. Let’s assume that several other bookmakers are already doing that.
How are we going to stick out and conquer our share of the market?
BetOnChart is a unique betting platform with a different approach to the whole concept of sports bets. The centerpiece of our platform is a chart that users place their bets on. Our chart (which will be covered in detail in the next article) is both a blessing and a curse, let us explain why. At regular bookmakers users place bets on undisputable and defined event outcomes, such as a goal, a red card, or a penalty. At BetOnChart all these events are integrated into the chart, and not everyone understands how the system works, attacking the chart in case of a loss. Some are dissatisfied with how the chart can swing at the last moment, or barely reach the bet. As experienced FOREX trading platform developers, we are used to such kind of reaction to the loss of money, people tend to be hostile toward the things they do not fully understand.
That’s the reason why we decided to utilize a decentralized and open blockchain database. We’re solving the issue of transparency of our business and its components by giving the users an opportunity to see things clearly and understand how the game works, openly and honestly. Without this, our concept would be crushed down under the pressure of angry customers, who would just blame everything on the system and abandon the platform. Only by making all the data freely accessible can we earn the users’ trust.
The blockchain implementation will take 3 stages:
Stage 1. Temporary Ethereum blockchain integration
We’re issuing an ERC-20 utility token called CHART, which will serve as an in-game currency. The blockchain involvement will be limited to account replenishments and token withdrawals. In the first case Gas is paid by a user, in the second one, by the system. All the operations within the platform, which include token exchange, bets, payouts, free bets, etc. will not be utilizing blockchain.
Stage 2. Plasma extension incorporation
Plasma technology is an Ethereum network extension, similar to Lightning. It allows to process thousands of transactions simultaneously with minimum delays and nearly free of charge, while maintaining a high level of security. Plasma is basically a blockchain within a blockchain, where transactions are stored and validated on different levels.
In order to store all the chart points and bets in real time, with the help of Plasma technology, we’re going to create our own child chain. The child chain will consist of a masternode, which will be verifying and recording transactions, and at least 2 independent nodes ensuring consensus (PoS) and checking the transaction log.
With that kind of architecture we’ll achieve instant blockchain recording, which will solve the bookmaker transparency problem. Everyone will be able to see in real time what the one and only version of truth looks like.
This child blockchain runs on top of a root blockchain (e.g. Ethereum) and from the root blockchain’s perspective, is only seeing periodic commitments with the tokens bonded in the contract for enforcement of the Proof-of-Stake consensus rules and business logic of the blockchain.
The independent node owners will be awarded CHARTs for their services.
What will be stored in the child chain?
Information on all the points of all the charts. <point hash, game ID, value> Information on all the bets in the singleplayer mode.<bet hash, game ID, bet parameters (direction, size, currency, timeframe, payout> Information on all the bets in the multiplayer mode.<bet hash, game ID, bet parameters (direction, size, currency, timeframe> Information on all the payouts. <bet hash, currency, payout> Information on all the bets that are cancelled, faulty or closed prematurely.
The user ID disclosure is not implied, but users will be able to see bet history in their accounts. The blockchain recording will be carried out only through the back end of the platform \ masternode and all the messages will be signed with our private key. This will eliminate the threat of certain attacks, such as front running as no mempool is involved. Everyone will be able to freely review the data stored in the blockchain.
At this stage we will create a partly decentralized blockchain structure with further decentralization according to our future plans.
Stage 3. Utilizing our own EVM within the child chain.
Inside the Masternode we will run our own EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) for the smart contracts with almost zero Gas costs, Gas will be paid only for the top-level Ethereum blockchain validation. This will allow us to exchange data between 3rd party sources and blockchain instantly (ex. read \ write external odds) as well as to execute smart contracts’ logic of any complexity. It is planned to develop chief smart contracts for every type of sports (football, basketball, rugby, etc.) as well as subsidiary contracts for the multiplayer games. Singleplayer games smart contracts is the next step.
Summing up, we’d like to affirm our stand once more. We are going to utilize blockchain to the fullest in order to store and validate the entire betting history, while providing transparency and public availability. We believe that this will become a solution to one of the most important challenges for any business venturing into the open market, which is earning the client’s trust. | https://medium.com/betonchart/how-is-bet-on-chart-going-to-utilize-blockchain-9087a9f8a67d | [] | 2018-06-22 09:09:04.854000+00:00 | ['Football', 'Betting', 'ICO', 'Betonchart', 'Blockchain'] |
40 Ideas — How Many are Concerned About the Loss of Cognitive Ability | What to do? Force yourself to use your brain more.
If you answered… “Yes, I am concerned about it. Go ahead and read.
“There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.” ~ William Shakespeare
The important thing you can do is to break your routine to maximize your cognitive potential.
New experiences benefit your brain.
Because it needs new things to grow.
Anything that makes you very comfortable is not really good for your brain development.
If what you do is too easy for you to do, and doesn’t challenge you… it doesn’t change you.
Illustration by René Descartes of how the brain implements a reflex response.
The more you pick up a new skill, learn to use a new software program, new apps, new ways to make your art, or study a new subject, the stronger your mind becomes.
The mental muscles you should be exercising frequently are Creativity. Focus. Logic. Strategy.
Things you can do:
1 — Break your routine. If you take shower in the morning, instead take in the evening.
2 — Sign up to use a new Internet platform.
3 — Create a new website or reinvent the one you already have.
4 — Start a passion project, something you want to do because you love…a craft work, write in another subject, make a new form of art.
5 — Take a class online. Anything on skillshare, for example.
6 — Share your work on different social media.
7 — Take a different route when going for a walk. Look to the sky. Pay attention to the noises around you.
8 — Set a new goal, make a new plan.
9 — Read a book in a subject you don’t usually read about.
10 — Begin a new side gig.
11 — Take a long walk and use the time to think, or to take pictures.
12 — Change your sleep routine. Wake up or go to bed earlier or later.
13 — Answer a question on Quora, or in a Facebook group.
14 — Learn to play pans or piano. Whatever you imagine and want.
15 — Switch up your playlists if you have one.
16 — Do a different art project, using different surfaces, different tools, different colors, and sizes.
17 — Read differently. Read a paperback book and read a book on your device.
18 — Don’t ask for help, figure it out! Go ask Google or Siri or other AI assistant or go to Youtube to learn how to do that.
19 — Exercise for 10 minutes longer or more than normal you do.
20 — Give someone you know a great compliment.
21 — Learn a new word in another language or your native one. Expand your vocabulary.
22 — Try out to create a new kind of podcast.
23 — Try out a new way to make a video. And upload to different platforms.
24 — Figure out what you’re scared of… and do it anyway.
25 — Read more articles than you normally go for, from a different writer.
26 —Take a break to improve your focus.
27 — Help somebody without being asked.
28 — Zoom a friend instead of text or vice versa.
29 — Watch a TED talk every day for a week. Broaden your mind!
30 — Reach out to a mentor and ask for advice.
31 — Express gratitude.
32 — Switch around your morning activities.
33 — Spend at least 15 minutes reading something that is unrelated to your things.
34 — Take a productive pause and go for a walk in the woods.
35 — Keep a notebook handy and write about your daily experiences.
36 — Embrace doodling. I used to make a doodle on an index card while riding in the subway, or while sipping coffee in a Starbucks but not anymore.
37 — Take a class you’ve always been curious about.
38 — Bike, walk or use patins to get around.
39 — Use your spare time for self-investment.
40 — Create and find new activities that improve your mind and body.
Staying sharp has great long-term benefits for you.
Trade your time and effort now for increased knowledge and your results can improve how you think.
Andreas Vesalius’ Fabrica, published in 1543. It shows the base of the human brain, including optic chiasma, cerebellum, olfactory bulbs…
Andreas Vesalius’ Fabrica, published in 1543. Digital colored by RegiaArt.
The brain is a monstrous, beautiful mess. Its billions of nerve cells — called neurons — lie in a tangled web that displays cognitive powers far exceeding any of the silicon machines we have built to mimic it. ~William Allman
Conclusion.
The idea is that you need to move, and change, and try and read and learn, and create, to maximize your cognitive potential.
Thank you and have a Happy New Year. Stay safe.
This story is related to a post by my friend Petronio V. on a WhatsApp group. Thank you!
December 24, 2020 | https://medium.com/@regia-marinho/40-ideas-how-many-are-concerned-about-the-loss-of-cognitive-ability-ca9f21653b78 | ['Regia Marinho'] | 2020-12-27 21:26:02.670000+00:00 | ['Ideas', 'Inspiration', 'How To', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology'] |
On Loving And Hating Christmas | When I was a little boy, I used to sit in front of our Christmas tree at night. I just watched it mounting above me while I was mesmerized by it. I inhaled the sweet smell of pine that filled me up with excitement and festiveness. Like every kid, I truly believed that Christmas was magical: delicious food, awesome presents, cheesy 90s music, Home Alone, and family time. As Andy Williams sang, it was indeed “the most wonderful time of the year.”
Then one day, my dad left my mom, and Christmas was ruined forever — I thought.
After that happened, Christmas sucked. I lost faith in “family” as a concept. I turned into a cynical and ungrateful teenager who just wanted to be left alone, visit his friends, and watch movies till late at night.
Schmoozing with relatives I barely saw all year was annoying and irritating. Not that I haven’t loved them anymore, but I was forced to do it when I wanted to be anywhere else in the world.
I figure that I’m not alone with that feeling, huh? Raise your hand if you felt the same way. Did you raise it? I can’t see it, dummy. This is an online platform, not a video call. Now, where was I?
I hated when people tried to control me: telling me what to do and where to be. So, I rebelled against parental love and care. I was mean to people who wanted to share more time with me. When I had to attend family gatherings, I didn’t even put on a fake smile. I just went, ate, answered a few questions, and left. A shrink would tell me that I was resenting my parents for getting separated. Maybe that’d be closer to the truth than not.
Balancing between two families that used to be one feels like a war zone. You’re there, stuck in the middle like a spy who is instructed to give a report on the latest rumors and ongoing relationships.
I was looking for any escapes. I’ve found solace being amongst friends who also struggled with their families. Most of them understood me because they came from broken families, too. They were surrounded by negligent parents who didn’t pay child care, moved to another country, or had a second family.
I can tell you, Christmas stops being fun when parents share joint custody, and they have to negotiate when to have their kid over during the holidays.
Meals become mandatory, and balancing between two families that used to be one feels like a war zone. You’re there, stuck in the middle like a spy who is instructed to give a report on the latest rumors and ongoing relationships. You’re trying to survive psychological warfare with no training. So, you just learn as you go; what you can and cannot say.
I left that war eight years ago when I moved to London. My mission ended, I served my time, and I was discharged. My wish had come true. I spent my last eight Christmases without seeing my family in person. It was my decision, and I never second-guessed it.
I enjoyed having a pass to avoid the holidays at the end of every year. But, I also aged, and getting older made me far more sentimental than I’d like to be. I mean, Christmas is still a capitalist, mandatory, selfish holiday that’s getting more and more exploited every time. But, after eight years of my voluntary exile, I began to miss it sometimes.
Now, it reminds me that time is slipping through my fingers faster than I’d like. Now, I wonder: how many Christmases do I have left when I still have grandparents to visit and wish happy holidays? How many years do I have to give presents to mom and dad? Someone told me recently that there is a limit to certain things and events you get to do in a lifetime. Celebrating holidays with family is one of them, I guess.
Unconditional love is a wonderful concept, but without being patient, understanding, and agreeable, the “ship of relation” will sink fast.
I have also been told that I’m lucky to have grandparents who are still alive and parents who support me lovingly. All of that is true, no objections, your honor. But, I must say that maintaining a healthy relationship with your parents doesn’t just depend on luck. There is work to be done, too, from both parties. Unconditional love is a wonderful concept, but without being patient, understanding, and agreeable, the “ship of relation” will sink fast. Resentment is like a torpedo, so don’t wait until it blows you up. | https://medium.com/vulnerable-man/on-loving-and-hating-christmas-c91c4e988f39 | ['Akos Peterbencze'] | 2020-12-28 12:43:50.212000+00:00 | ['Divorce', 'Relationships', 'Self', 'Family', 'Christmas'] |
Without Poetry | Without poetry
I might walk the earth
just once,
knowing you
solely as this you
forgetting our travels together
through worlds
only recognizable
before dawn
when the moon
is nearly full,
when we were similar lovers
and our fires met
not to ignite ancient memories
but to clear the way
to create a path
to burn the walls
our future selves will build
when we have forgotten
the poetry of Us. | https://medium.com/the-scene-heard/without-poetry-1ffceefc86e7 | ['Jen Smat'] | 2018-02-07 19:11:34.150000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Thesceneandheard', 'Poetry On Medium', 'Love', 'Creative Writing'] |
Love. | We got the baby at 6 months old. He smelled like someone else’s house — spicy and foreign. It was strange to hold him in my arms, like I was doing something I had no right to be doing. I didn’t know then.
I didn’t know that we would have him for 20 months. I didn’t know that I would love him more than almost anyone. I didn’t know that being his Mama would be one of the best parts of my life. I didn’t know that in 2 days, I would be rushing him to the hospital with a 102 degree fever, or that in a few months he would require surgery. I didn’t know that I wouldn’t even mind staying up all night with him, or “sleeping” on the janky hospital couch for two nights.
He loved to dance, even at 6 months. He couldn’t sit or roll over, but if you set him down and turned on some music, he would wiggle and wiggle. He delighted in music. Later, when he could walk, we would have daily dance parties with whichever of his musical toys he saw first. If a song ended while we were driving, he would immediately say “More?” before the next song had a chance to start.
I did know that he would leave. I knew that his biological parents wanted him, loved him, showed up to every visit. I knew that eventually, the plan was for him to return to them. I knew that even though they had a long way to go, the system favors biology and I also knew that in many cases, that was the right way to go. I knew that I didn’t want to steal someone’s child if they would be able to be a safe family for him.
When we accepted the boy, we were told that it would be 1–2 months and then he would return home to his biological family. Then, 2 months later, we were told the same thing. Then, a year later, we were told that adoption was the main goal. Then, 2 months later, we were told he would be returning home within 90 days. 90 days later, here we are. Transition day. The day we’ve been preparing for, celebrating, dreading.
The day is fraught with ambivalence. We are proud to celebrate a success story. We support the transition because this family can be truly redeemed. We are overjoyed that our son gets to maintain his family culture and his bloodline. We are relieved that he will be loved and cared for.
But we are brokenhearted. We are gutted. We are destroyed. Our family is experiencing a reverse-pregnancy; preparing for a huge transition, feeling the anxiety and anticipation of being one family member fewer. Will we be able to look at his bedroom once he no longer occupies it? What will it be like to be a parent with no child? What will our marriage look like; our home?
We took in a baby who loved to dance and was light as a feather, dainty as a bird. In almost two years, he transformed and he remained exactly who he was. He never grew large and was in the bottom 50% for height and weight. He never ate very much at a time, unless it was pizza. He danced and he danced and he danced. He grew to love cars and trucks and soft blankets. He learned to play outside and get dirty. He learned how to pick the ripe blueberries instead of the ones that were still white. He learned how to say “home” when we pulled into our driveway. He called us Mama and Dadda. And we loved him.
Today, we pulled out of our driveway for the last time as a family of 3. My husband sobbed as he said to our boy “say ‘bye home!’” because that was the routine. “Say ‘bye trucks!’ ‘Bye dog!’”
The horrible anticipation hung heavy and dark all day. It was sticky and gross. I just wanted to go back to bed. But we drove to the park where we had met our son’s other family 3 times a week for the last 20 months. We got there early, got a doughnut. We played. We sat. We ate.
I could feel my stomach turn as I looked for their car. They aren’t the enemy. They have done admirably and, by all accounts, are safe to care for (all of) our son. But there is absolutely no part of me that wants to hand my child over to them. I arrived at this park a mama and I would rather eat glass than leave any other way.
But it’s not up to me.
When they do arrive, we pack their car full of our boy’s things which have littered our living room, blasting it with color, filling it with painful tripping hazards, noise, and joy. We say goodbye to our baby. We leave.
The 21 minute drive home takes four and a half years. I have time to contemplate time and all eternity. I can feel the job description of Mama being amputated from me in a mad surgical experiment, but my nervous system hasn’t caught up. There is no pain yet, only a gaping wound with ragged edges, sinking into the vacuous void where my heart used to be. I feel empty, like a rotted out fruit. The ocean of my emotions has drawn away from the shore, and I can see the tsunami in the distance, but it is completely detached from me as I examine the fish flopping on the jagged rocks.
I hear my husband gasp and sob next to me, driving us safely home despite his heart disintegrating and floating away into the wind. I am aware of him shattering and crumbling, but I can’t help. I am a wraith, a ghost, a dry leaf shuddering on the desert sand.
“He’s gone,” he says, quietly, trying to make sense of what just happened to us, trying to make it real. It doesn’t work. Our world is chaos and there is no way to make it real yet.
When someone has a baby, there is always something they discover. “It’s like I can’t remember my life before the baby was born.” I discovered that it remains that way, even when the baby is gone. What do I do now? I’ll wake up and think “Oh, I woke up before him, I have a few minutes before I need to…oh.” I have an internal alarm that goes off at 11:15 — naptime. I can always feel when it’s 6:30 because that’s bedtime. I can always hear when a baby is crying, even down the street. What do you do with all of the time you have left over, now that you’re babyless?
I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t know if we will be able to heal enough to open our home to another baby. I don’t know if circumstances will allow us to see the boy we love more than anything. I don’t know if a situation will arise where we need to bring him back into our home. I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know…
But here’s what I do know. I know that our boy is worth this. I will pay this price for that boy even if it means grieving for the rest of my life. Even if I never see him again. Every second I spend missing him, worrying about him, crying over him is covered by a hundred times that of joy, of memories, of fullness. I would do it again and again, even knowing the pain of loss, and I know my husband would, too. He is worth it. Love is worth it. | https://medium.com/@gorton.jenelle/love-4d80e4ee0182 | ['Jenelle Ashmore'] | 2019-09-05 03:15:35.375000+00:00 | ['Foster Care', 'Love', 'Parenting', 'Grief And Loss', 'Life'] |
Development Tech stack for Cross-platform app | The various tech stacks in use for cross-platform app development are advantageous and can’t be waved aside. They are paramount to mobile development.
Today, every product owner or anyone out there can agree that there is a humongous number of apps that were futuristic or just ideas of fantasy some time ago. Alongside, the growth of technical feasibility, superior programming languages, modern development tools has helped us to achieve super mobile apps.
As a result of more technical feasibility, product owners need to know how the tech stacks present today have enabled applications to become maintainable, scalable, and committed to all the functional requirements or the business value they were created for. Thus, it will allow them to apply this knowledge in their respective projects.
However, there is an important pointer for the choice of any tech stack as it is highly dependent on the choice of the development approach. Likewise, the choice of an approach is also based on requirements, the needs of target users, team expertise, and capacity.
The most preferable approach is Native app development. However, for some apps, other approaches are more reasonable. Let’s take a closer look at the cross-platform approaches and the most popular applicable technologies.
Technology Stacks for Cross-Platform Development
There are several options of frameworks that can be used for cross-platform app development. We will take a look at the most relative ones such as:
Titanium
Titanium SDK, through the use of JavaScript, empowers developers to build cross-platform mobile applications that bridge native, hybrid, and web with a single code base. Firstly, as an open-source with thousands of API, Titanium is very instrumental in delivering rapt user experience faster if compared to the orthodox native platform.
Similarly, according to Wikipedia an estimated 10% of all mobile phones globally use an app developed with Titanium. Its community of developers contributes frequently to make it more enhanced to serve cross-platform development. Advantageously, independent developers, software vendors, and other partners can create modules for extending the Titanium SDK with mobile interface controls, leverage native platform APIs, and access 3rd party services.
Advantages of Titanium:
• It works across all platforms
• Availability of over 5,000 APIs
• Live reloading feature
• Available client-side marketplace modules and cloud-based services
• It has very large community support.
React Native
React Native is another widely used open-source app building tool, based on JavaScript. Originating in Facebook, React Native was developed to make apps that would run on multiple platforms such as Android, iOS, yet, the user interface is native on any OS. Some examples are the likes of mobile apps for Instagram, Facebook, and Skype.
As a plus, React Native has various tools for debugging and packaging that conserves app development time. It also has a highly functional approach as regards user interfaces with the ability for developers to see how the functions of source code work in real-time on their screens. As a result, this simplifies making a user interface and achieving a flawless user experience.
Advantages of React Native include:
• High performance and speed like native apps
• Compatible with 3rd-party plugins
• Live reloading feature
• Fluid and well responsive UI
• Good development environment
• Not prone to bugs
• Speedy debugging of code
Xamarin
Xamarin can be considered as one of the main and highly-rated tech used to build cross-platform apps. Notably, developers have the alternative of writing or rewriting the code in other languages such as C, C#, and .Net frameworks, making it a match and fit for products and technologies made by Microsoft.
Lastly, Xamarin also enhances a UI toolkit for cross-platforming that compiles codes, irrespective of the native interface.
Other Xamarin’s advantages include:
• Fewer bugs
• High performance
• Support for MVC and MVVM patterns of design
• The same user interface as native
• Automatic test by TestCloud
• Common app logic
• Self component store
• Large community support
Technology Stacks for Hybrid App Development
Alternative tech stacks for hybrid apps include Apache Cordova, Ionic, Sencha Touch. Our highlight will be on these technologies as they are the most prominent.
Apache Cordova
This technology was rebranded as PhoneGap after being owned by Adobe Systems in 2011. It is now known as an open-source software called Apache Cordova. Practically, it is a hybrid development framework for mobile applications, but it also works as a web-based framework.
Combining Apache Cordova with likewise technologies like JavaScript, CSS, and HTML are used for cross-platform app development. However, PhoneGap allows app developers to use numerous other libraries and frameworks, including Knockout.js, AngularJS, and jQuery.
Apache Cordova is compatible with IDEs that support any of the toolsets of iOS and Android like Xcode or Android Studio. Unfortunately, the resulting apps are slower when processing large data sets, and not a good fit for using third-party libraries for access to graphic, compared to native apps. Also, there are some native device APIs that are not yet supported by Apache Cordova.
Advantages of Apache Cordova:
•Effective for back-end
•Open to HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript developers
•Works on all platforms
Sencha Touch 2
Sencha Touch 2 is the most effective mobile development framework that combines the features of multiple technologies like ExtJS, JavaScript, and HTML. Moreover, it’s ideal for developing dynamic applications that can work on Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, and the rest.
Many developers recommend Sencha Touch 2 for very complex hybrid apps, especially with the need for an interactive UI. Additionally, it is compatible with many other popular IDEs directly or sometimes with the use of a plugin.
Advantages of Sencha Touch 2:
•Fast and responsive hardware acceleration
•Lots of widgets and easy to use APIs
•Effective data management
•Reliable security
•Works on multi-platforms
Ionic
Based on the AngularJS and Cordova, Ionic, like the others, is an open-source and a 100% free framework. It is characterized by the ability to enable hybrid apps to not only look but work like a native app. It is simple to learn and write, and it is well supported by a large developer community.
In reality, Ionic helps web developers in building, testing, and deploying cross-platform mobile apps pretty fast. Similarly, it combines JavaScript, CSS with HTML, and several plugins and extensions from third parties. However, there is a strong dependence on plugins for advanced features.
Advantages of Ionic are:
• Fast development and reusable code
• Supports robust development
• Availability of numerous plugins
Technology Stack for Rapid Mobile App Development (RMAD)
The next focus is on the Rapid Mobile App Development approach. It can be applied with several development platforms, examples are Alpha Software, MobileFrame, and MobileSmith. They all possess the no-code and low-code options.
Alpha Software
Alpha software enables the development and deployment of different mobile enterprise applications. Comparatively, it is one of the RMAD platforms that involve the use of low-code. Cross-platform apps built on Alpha work even when the user is not connected to the internet.
Advantages of Alpha Software:
•Secure
• Works online and offline
• Good backend data integration
• modern and responsive user interface
• Works on various platforms
MobileFrame
MobileFrame can be handy for developing, testing, and deploying cross-platform apps without coding. This RMAD platform allows the developer to make an enterprise mobile app and create the accompanying UI. Lastly, it can be used to develop both web and mobile applications.
Advantages of MobileFrame:
•Works on all platforms including web
• Code-free development
• Scalable server options
• Works online and offline
MobileSmith
MobileSmith enables the employment of coded modules known as AppBlocks. The AppBlocks are customizable and reusable for other new projects. Likewise, MobileSmith works well with iOS and Android OS.
Advantages of MobileSmith :
Little experience as a developer is need
Reusable components
Works cross-platform
Low cost of production
The Way Forward
There is always a need to improve user engagement and satisfaction as the mobile app market constantly expands, and as it further provides smart mobile solutions. It is a good insight for product owners to take advantage of the current mobile app development stacks and the rewards they offer.
The headway into creating a top-notch mobile app is to select the most complementing tech stack. It is equally important that an intelligent choice will influence the stability and usability of any app. After all said and done, from all the trending technologies you should pick a development stack that suits the aim and purpose of your project perfectly. As a result, this will give you dominance and a good market share. | https://medium.com/itwis/development-tech-stack-for-cross-platform-app-31b78666d437 | ['Ayo Oladele'] | 2020-09-17 08:51:59.073000+00:00 | ['Mobile App Development', 'Software Development', 'Project Management', 'Tech', 'Cross Platform'] |
PROCASTINATION’S RELATION TO LAWS OF MOTION (PART 2) | Source: Lumen Learning
ACCELERATION BEATS PROCRASTINATION (SUBPART 1)
Hello guys what is up! Remember about Newtonian law of motion? If you haven’t checked it out, make sure you see my first post about the relation of procrastination to the law of motion.
Link: https://medium.com/@yustinus.halim24/procastinations-relation-to-first-law-of-motion-part-1-700639b78155
If you have seen it, good! Let us continue our discussion about Newtonian’s law of motion, shall we? We are going to talk about Newtonian’s second law of motion! Before we deep dive into the second law, I wanted to tell something important regarding to the discussion ahead.
Not many (no popular) books that I found so far are discussing this topic thoroughly about how to apply the second law of motion to productivity. Because second law can only operate on two conditions, with the conclusion that, the sum of all force occurred is unbalanced. First condition: The person choose not to procrastinate. Second condition: If the person’s willpower and or discipline to act is stronger than the person’s doubt, and or, any other forces with the opposite direction. The third law is also not discussed widely on its application to productivity. Let me discuss it with you both of these laws. We will discuss the third law on other Medium posts!
I will also divide the law of acceleration into multiple subparts so that the complexity of the information provided is not too high in one post. I promise myself to mainly, keep my article 3–5 minutes read ever since I started posting on Medium. Not only because I liked to see articles that are easy to read. But it is also because, I wanted to create the challenge for us writers, starting from myself to apply complex theory easily into practice. And keeping the article concise at all times.
This first subpart will talk mainly about how to understand the law of acceleration (or second law of Newtonian motion).
According to multiple websites (source will be referenced below), the second law of Newtonian motion states:
1. “The acceleration of an object is dependent upon two variables: force acting upon the object and the mass of the object. The acceleration of an object depends directly on the force acting upon the object, and inversely upon the mass of the object.
2. “As the force acting upon an object increases, the acceleration of the object increases. As the mass of an object increases, the acceleration of the object decreases.”
3. “The net force is the sum of all the forces acting on the mass.”
From these 3 points, let us focus on the position of force and acceleration inside the equation. Let us start from the first point using the last sentence. Now, because the last sentence is long, we are easy to misinterpret. In order to gain clearer understanding, let us break the last sentence into two parts.
1st point:
1st part: The acceleration of an object depends directly on the force acting upon the object.
2nd part: And (the force is) inversely upon the mass of the object.
Focus on these bold letters. Depends directly means the force and the acceleration has positive correlation (probably ≤1, if you have studied a little bit of statistics). Inversely upon means the force has the opposite position with the mass of an object (can also be applied to humans). Hence, the mass directly has negative correlation with force.
2nd point, broken down into 2 parts:
1st part: As the force acting upon an object increases, the acceleration of the object increases
2nd part: As the mass of an object increases, the acceleration of the object decreases.
2nd point are reinforcing the idea of the first point through the word increasing and decreasing. Let us reinforce the idea of correlation here. 1st part of 2nd point stated that force and acceleration has positive correlation. 2nd part of 2nd point stated that mass has negative correlation with acceleration. Hence, mass has negative correlation with force and acceleration. In other words, force and acceleration has mutual relationship, while mass do not have mutual relationship to both of them.
Wait, we still have the 3rd point, right? Yeah, we do! Now, let me bring out the 3rd point here. “The net force is the sum of all the forces acting on the mass.” This means, we should not just use any type of force into the equation. We should only use net force. Net force takes into account that force is a vector. Different directions of force will be cancelled out.
The equation will be F net = a * m (or m*a, with no difference of result) and a = F net/m. With F net = net (sum of all) force, a = acceleration and m = mass. Why does mass become a denominator of force? Because mass directly inverses upon the force on an object. Hence when the 2nd point showed up, mass is already below force, when it was made into an equation by the 3rd point. One more, where is acceleration represented in the 3rd point? It is represented inside the word acting. Acting in this case is a verb, it means taking action, in a specified way. The force specify the direction of the action. If the net force of the object is going right, the net acceleration CAN ONLY go right. I use net acceleration to give a better illustration, because acceleration is also a vector.
This is the final form of the equation:
F net = a net * m, a net = F net/m.
Acceleration and force are vectors, mass is scalar. Vector means it has magnitude and directions. While scalar means, it has no direction, only magnitude.
Give a response below for constructive feedback and criticisms! Type your response below if you are familiar with vector and scalar. Type your response if you understand the concept of correlation here!
Source:
1. https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/Lesson-3/Newton-s-Second-Law
2.https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/Lesson-2/Determining-the-Net-Force
3. https://www.reference.com/science/newton-s-second-law-1494c36e2dba6cc2
4. http://www.aaronswansonpt.com/basic-biomechanics-newtons-laws-of-motion/
5. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/4-3-newtons-second-law-of-motion-concept-of-a-system/ | https://medium.com/@yustinus.halim24/procastinations-relation-to-laws-of-motion-part-2-591242d4ab82 | ['Yustinus Halim'] | 2019-09-03 03:24:55.662000+00:00 | ['Physics', 'Productivity', 'Law Of Acceleration', 'Newton', 'Procrastination'] |
Service Design, UX & CX in HR | A lot of articles are being written and shared about how HR has lost its meaning and need to reinvent itself to justify its existing in the modern organisation. To some degree, I agree with this statement. Too many HR departments still sit behind closed doors and only deal with administrative tasks and payroll and don’t deal with creating “real” value for the employees and employers. Many of the traditional HR administrative tasks can now be taken over by digital solutions anyway. But what is real value in an HR perspective? In my view the potential value HR can bring to the organisation is;
The creation and implementation of supportive structures and processes that enhance employees ability to thrive and evolve in their job hence creating innovation, motivation and growth, Creating an organisation that attracts and retain the right qualifications and skills required to fulfil the organisations vision and mission, Creating a management structure and capabilities that supports the daily operation and implements the organisational values
Not to say that the above is only an HR responsibility but, it is HR responsibility to lead the way and coach senior management in order to build a sustainable organisation which is able to constantly evolve and adjust to its surroundings.
SD, CX, & UX
Let’s start by defining Service Design — Wikipedia defines “Service design as the activity of planning and organising people, infrastructure, communication and material components of a service in order to improve its quality and the interaction between the Service Provider and the customers. Service design may function as a way to inform changes to an existing service or create a new service entirely.”
Customer experience (CX) refers to a customer’s experience with a company or brand, at all touch-points. By touch-point I refer to any way by which a customer interact with the brand, such as when purchasing or using a product or through seeing commercials featuring it. CX design focuses on enhancing and improving the customers experience in all those touch-points.
User Experience Design (UX) is the design of a single touch-point/product between the customer and company. It is the process of creating a product that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. This involves the design of the entire process of acquiring and integrating the product with the user.
All the above are guided by a human-centred approach putting the user in focus as well as engaging with and involving them in the actual design process. These principles of participation ensures that the end product/service/process are designed with the end user in focus and not dominated by the designers/stakeholders own perception of reality.
Employees as Users
If we apply a SD and CX approach we can view the employee as a user of the organisations and look at the entire employee life cycle from initial contact between organisation and employee when the employee first becomes aware of the company (Employer Branding) to the recruitment process and on-boarding, to development and training, to promotion or resignation/layoff. By doing this we can analyse all the touch-points between employee and organisation (both front and back) and create an employee Journey Map and Service Blueprint which helps visualise the actual touch-points and experiences from the employee perspective. By applying principles of UX we can design single touch-points in that employee journey to enhance and improve the experience and help develop greater employee satisfaction and motivation.
The “old” Business Model for many organisations is “Client/Customer” first which mean that the internal process comes second after the customer focused processes. This often means that the customer experience gets prioritised over employee experience. More and more organisations are turning this business model upside/down and putting their employees experience as a high priority. When you focus on the employee experience, an not only your customers, you are one step closer to creating an environment where employees are more motivated and engaged, which mean they will (in most cases) automatically put your clients/customers first and create exceptional experiences for them. By integrating a human-centred approach such as Service Design we can ensure (for the most parts) that we are actually designing for the employees and not only for the clients/customers. We can use the approach to ensure that both the Business Needs, Employee Needs, as well as Customer Needs are met and satisfied. It can help tying together human, physical, and digital interactions and create an experience that meets the functional and emotional needs of the user/customer/employee and help open up new challenges and opportunities to differentiate, grow loyalty, and create business value.
Would love to hear your thoughts on the topic. | https://medium.com/@henriksen_mn/service-design-ux-cx-in-hr-94cf0bc64a7 | ['Morten Henriksen'] | 2019-05-30 00:25:53.039000+00:00 | ['Design Thinking', 'Human Resources', 'Employee Engagement', 'User Experience', 'Service Design'] |
Online Courses | IT Professional Certification Course | LearnInbox | LearnInbox, the world's #1 online coding & project certification course provider and offers the best practical IT coding skills and live project training class | https://medium.com/@info-43341/online-courses-it-professional-certification-course-learninbox-967123e9786 | [] | 2020-12-15 08:17:09.293000+00:00 | ['Coding', 'Learninbox', 'Writing Services', 'Projects', 'Online Classes'] |
Punk London, 1977: Thrilling Photos of a Subversive Era | These were just kids that were joining in with the punks, rather than punks themselves. They were walking up and down the King’s Road. There were going to be fights between them and the rock & rollers and bikers. In actuality, it never happened. It was written up in the newspapers and there was quite a heavy police presence. There was a lot of punks and punk hangers-on. A few arrests were made, but I don’t think there was ever any fighting. It was all posturing. You can see somebody being arrested. The photo of the four friends walking down King’s Road is from that same day. One of those guys is Gary Holton in the white dotted coat. He died some time ago, but he was an actor and a singer in a band called the Heavy Metal Kids. They weren’t really punk either, but they came up in the time of punk as well.
It was a terrible miserable wet day, and I think it was a day that everybody thought was going to be a big punch up between the new punks and the mods or the bikers. But it never was, it was just something dreamed up by the media. It was a lot of punks and an assortment of young people just walking up and down in the rain all day. In these kind of social situations and moral panics, there seldom are any fights. Sometimes a big group of people would chase a group of others, but there was never usually more than that. Ever since the police were called out a bit in the 60s and early 70s after the riots at the carnival in Notting Hill, they would police these things quite heavily, following the groups of people up and down the road, forcing them to leave. | https://medium.com/cuepoint/punk-london-1977-thrilling-photos-of-a-subversive-era-2fa2728d9df6 | ['Derek Ridgers'] | 2016-06-06 20:34:57.924000+00:00 | ['Rock', 'Music', 'The Bookshelf'] |
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By Queen’s Children
This is the Queen's Children Publication weekly Newsletter. We publish stories under any form about the Sacred Feminine and the feminine side of women and men. Celebrating Life and diversity. Take a look | https://medium.com/queen-s-children/question-867b071c7afb | ['Sean Zhai'] | 2020-11-23 08:01:03.743000+00:00 | ['Literatura', 'Poetry', 'Nature', 'Art', 'Questions'] |
Scrum: A Brief History of a Long-Lived Hype | Scrum has been around for a while, they say. The Scrum Guide holds the definition of Scrum, they say. The first, official version of the Scrum Guide was released in February 2010. So, how was Scrum defined before 2010 then? How did its definition evolve before and after 2010 and become the framework that we know today? What else happened along the road to the way that Scrum is defined and represented?
In the paper “Scrum: A Brief History of a Long-Lived Hype” I have described what changed to the definition and representation of Scrum over time, before and after the creation of the Scrum Guide. It shows how Scrum evolved into the framework that we know today since its first formal introduction in 1995. Because a touch of historical awareness is more than helpful in understanding Scrum and caring for the future of Scrum.
I looked for sources that are not just credible in terms of authorship but also offer regular enough check points. In the end, the sources I used for describing the evolutions of the definition of Scrum are:
The paper “SCRUM Software Development Process” by Ken Schwaber (1995, 1996)
The paper “SCRUM: An extension pattern language for hyperproductive software development” by Mike Beedle, Martine Devos, Yonat Sharon, Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland (1999)
The book “Agile Software Development with Scrum” by Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle (2002)
The book “Agile Project Management with Scrum” by Ken Schwaber (2004)
The book “The Enterprise and Scrum” by Ken Schwaber (2007)
“The Scrum Guide” by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland (2009, 2010)
“The Scrum Guide” by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland (2011, 2013, 2016, 2017)
“The Scrum Guide” by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland (2020)
For every source I have described the same three topics to show what Scrum consisted of at the time (regardless the different terms used), what the ‘definition’ of Scrum was at the time:
Roles, responsibilities, accountabilities Controls, deliverables, artifacts Phases, meetings, time-boxes, events
For every source I have included a graphical representation of Scrum or of a Sprint that was either taken from the source directly, either from an alternative source of the same period.
Finally, I have shared my thoughts and observations on the changes to the definition of Scrum for every source. Obviously, they represent what I deem noticeable. They hold no judgement, directly nor indirectly.
To complete the paper I have listed some important landmarks in the history of Scrum and included some personal musings on the topic of “ Scrum and the Desire for Universal Truths” (and what the Scrum Guide was not created for).
I hope you will enjoy reading the paper. I hope it will help you grow a deeper understanding of Scrum. I hope it will help you shape your Scrum to get the most from it. I hope it will help you create better products with Scrum while humanizing your workplace.
Take care
Gunther Verheyen
independent Scrum Caretaker | https://medium.com/@ullizee/scrum-a-brief-history-of-a-long-lived-hype-fb0739f98744 | ['Gunther Verheyen'] | 2020-12-18 09:21:41.921000+00:00 | ['Scrum', 'Scrum Guide', 'History', 'Definition'] |
Let’s Fight it Together! | “Awareness is the First Step”
DriveU is committed to providing you with awesome drivers whenever and wherever you need. In our pursuit to keep our service at par, we strongly encourage that all of our drivers wear face masks and to consistently use hand sanitizers to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). We have trained our drivers, and will continually inform them of the best practices to maintain hygiene at all times for the best interest of their own health and the health of those around them.
Being India’s №1 driver services platform with a vast reach across major metros, we are equally responsible to proactively spread awareness for the well being of all stakeholders — car owners, drivers and employees. This blog is not intended to provoke panic, but to share useful information and resources to aid our customers and driver-partners. Aside from prevention efforts of facemasks and hand sanitizer, here are other important measures that we’ve informed our drivers to take:
Immediately seek medical consultation and inform the DriveU team if any symptoms are noticed. Discontinue a drive, even mid-way, if symptoms are noticed. We will provide a replacement driver and earnings won’t be affected. If a customer is showing symptoms, discontinue the drive immediately, and inform DriveU team, our driver earnings or customer fare will not be affected.
What are we dealing with here?
As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), COVID-19 is caused by a virus called coronavirus. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhoea.
These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually. Some people become infected but don’t develop any symptoms and don’t feel unwell.
Most people (about 80%) recover from the disease without needing special treatment.
Spreads from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales.
Droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch it by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
People can also catch it if they breathe in droplets from a person with COVID-19 who coughs out or exhales droplets.
Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. If you think a surface may be infected, clean it with a simple disinfectant to kill the virus and protect yourself and others. Clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. Avoid touching your eyes, mouth, or nose.
If the symptoms are becoming severe with breathing issues, the person should immediately call the health department or see the nearest doctor with their recent journey details and people they have been in touch with.
Medication:
There is no evidence that current medicine can prevent or cure the disease. WHO does not recommend self-medication with any medicines, including antibiotics, as a prevention or cure for COVID-19.
Wear a mask or not?
Only wear a mask if you are ill with COVID-19 symptoms (especially coughing) or looking after someone who may have COVID-19. A disposable face mask can only be used once.
The most effective ways to protect yourself and others against COVID-19 are to
Frequently clean your hands.
Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth.
Avoid sneezing or coughing on your hands.
Cover your cough/sneeze with the bend of the elbow or tissue.
Maintain a distance of at least 2 meters from people who are coughing or sneezing.
Stay away from latest COVID-19 hotspots (cities or local areas where COVID-19 is spreading widely)
“An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.”
Important links and resources:
WHO (Q&A on Coronavirus) https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India http://www.mohfw.gov.in/
National Helpline (As per MoHFW, GOI) | https://blog.driveu.in/lets-fight-it-together-d9973dea9aff | ['Raman Kumar'] | 2020-03-12 12:30:21.137000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'News', 'Awareness', 'Responsibility', 'Prevention'] |
What is customer acquisition cost? | What is customer acquisition cost?
Hello there my name is Martin Henley, this is the what the series and in this episode number 12 we are answering the questions what is customer acquisition cost and is this the metric that will blow the minds of your future clients?
In addressing the question what is customer acquisition cost there are six things that we will be sharing with you. We are going to give you a definition of customer acquisition cost; we’re going to think about why customer acquisition cost is so important; how you calculate customer acquisition cost; what your customer acquisition cost should look like; when to use customer acquisition cost and what happens to your customer acquisition cost over time.
Let’s go Alex.
Did we find a definition of customer acquisition cost?
If we are going to understand customer acquisition cost we are going to need a definition and we found one at insideintercom.com and what they tell us is that customer acquisition cost is “the best approximation of total cost of acquiring a new customer.”
You will remember from video number two what is marketing? that if you are proactively marketing you are effectively in the business of buying customers with your time, your energy and your money so the customer acquisition cost according to insideintercom.com is the approximation of what that cost is. I love this definition apart from the approximation part, why are we approximating? let’s do the work and understand exactly what your customer acquisition cost is.
Why is customer acquisition cost important?
Now you understand what customer acquisition cost is you might be asking yourselves why is this so important?
There are essentially four reasons why customer acquisition cost is so important.
The first is about your bottom line; if you are spending money on acquiring customers, which you are if you are proactively marketing in your business, then that will clearly have an effect on your profitability. If you are spending too much to acquire customers then your profitability will be lower than it needs to be.
The second reason is what forentrepreneur.com call a startup killer. What they tell us is that even if you have a great product, in a great market and your targeting is right — if you have underestimated your cost of customer acquisition your profitability won’t be where you expect it to be — you could go out of business.
The third reason is about understandability. This is video 12 in this series and what we have communicated so far is that whilst people don’t really understand marketing, everybody can understand customer acquisition cost. Explain this to your bosses, your clients, even if they don’t understand what marketing is or why marketing is so valuable, they can definitely understand that you are in the business of buying customers for them and if you can buy customers more cost-effectively that will improve their profitability. Everybody can understand customer acquisition cost.
The fourth reason that you want to be thinking about cost of customer acquisition is because this this data is available to you. You might not get the profitability from your clients, you might not get the overall turnover but you should know exactly how much you’re spending on acquiring these customers and how many customers are acquired and with that information you can do this calculation all by yourself.
How do you calculate customer acquisition cost?
Hopefully you’re hearing me and you’re thinking yet this sounds very important, I would love to understand what my cost of customer acquisition is — how do I calculate cost of customer acquisition. It sounds complicated but in truth you could do this on the back of a cigarette packet. All you need to do is take all of your sales and marketing costs; all of the marketing salaries; all of the sales salaries; all of the money you spend on advertising; on cars; on computers; on subscriptions — the email subscriptions, social media subscriptions; all of the money that you spend on creative; on developing websites and ad campaigns; all of your time; all of your energy; all of the money you spend on renting space for these people to sit in; and all of the money that you spend on agencies and you divide that by the total number of customers that you have acquired in that period.
So whilst Inside Intercom are telling us that this customer acquisition cost is an approximation, it might be an approximation in the first instance, as you go forward you want to get more and more accurate with these figures. In the first instance you could ask a prospective customer or boss in a second how much are you spending on sales? how much you spending on marketing? how many customers are you generating in a year? OK, so your cost of customer acquisition is likely to be X.
However, because you are sharp you’re now telling me but this isn’t perfect because some of this money that I spend on sales and marketing marketing goes on retaining customers so it’s not about new customer acquisition. That’s absolutely fine, that is exactly what you should be doing but in the first instance this calculation will give you the best approximation of what your cost of customer acquisition is.
What should your cost of customer acquisition look like?
Now you have calculated your cost of customer acquisition you are probably a little bit shocked and you probably need to have a sit-down. You might be thinking thinking my cost of customer acquisition is X but is that a good cost of customer acquisition or is that a bad cost of customer acquisition?
We were thinking the same thing so we went out and we looked for what a cost of customer acquisition should look like. We found this example at Klipfolio who tell us that an ideal LTV that’s lifetime value versus cost of customer acquisition should be three to one. That is the value of a customer should be three times more than the cost of acquiring that customer. What they’re saying is that if you spend one dollar on acquiring a customer you should get three dollars back. Now you might need to have a sit-down because what essentially Klipfolio are telling us is that the ideal the ideal cost of customer acquisition is a third of your turnover, 33%. So if you are selling at a margin of 20% and it’s costing you 33% of your turnover to acquire a customer you are effectively losing 13% every time you sell something. The more effective your sales are the more effective your marketing are the quicker you will go out of business!
This is why forentrepreneur.com describe customer acquisition cost as a start-up killer and this is why I’m telling you that the cost of acquiring customers will affect your bottom line. If you aren’t calculating your cost of customer acquisition, and it’s 33%, there is a very good chance that you are going out of business.
Personally I think this is high so we looked into it further and went to CMOSurvey.org who do a survey every year to see how much people are spending on marketing. They found that the average is 11.1% that businesses spend, of their turnover, on marketing. Interestingly Gartner did a similar survey of the top 500 and they found that the top 500 are spending 13% of their total turnover on marketing which is 20% more than the average.
What’s interesting about these survey results is that this is only the marketing cost, this doesn’t include the entirety of the marketing and the sales costs. I can tell you for sure that your sales budget could easily be twice your marketing budget which gets you to this 33%.
So if you aren’t calculating your cost of customer acquisition you need to start doing that right now because it could be that you are selling yourself out of business.
When should you use customer acquisition cost?
Which brings us then to point number five and point number five is the question when should you use customer acquisition cost. I like to use this is if I am pitching a new client, heaven forbid I have to sit in an interview ever again for a job, but if I’m pitching for a new client I will ask them what is your cost of customer acquisition and they will go blank. They won’t know what I’m talking about but in one minute I can explain to them if you engage me I will be in the business of buying customers for you and the more efficiently, the more cost-effectively, we can buy those customers then the better your marketing will be and the more profitable your business will be.
Like I say, you can do this calculation on the back of a cigarette packet so if you ask somebody in an interview or a pitch — what do you spend on sales? what do you spend on marketing? how many new customers are you generating? you can give them a great approximation right off the bat that most likely their cost of customer acquisition is 33% of what they’re doing. 33% of all their energy is going into acquiring new customers. If when I pitch them and say tell them that I will be here to make their customer acquisition more a cost-effective, and their business more profitable they understand and that typically will get me the job.
So if I were you I would use cost of customer acquisition in interviews and in pitches to get new clients. Once you’re with the client what you need to do is you need to track this weekly and monthly and annually now you will know that the actual costs of a business are only really allocated at the end of the year so you will only have the actual number once a year but every week you can be record reporting to your clients to your bosses and you can say our cost of customer acquisition is here this is the metric that you use to win clients and jobs and keep clients and jobs
What happens to customer acquisition cost over time?
Which brings us then to point number six which is the question; what happens to customer acquisition costs over time? Well the good news for you is once you’ve won this job or this client what will happen to the cost of customer acquisition is immediately it will go down because there is always waste in the existing sales and marketing. There is money that is being wasted on salaries, on advertising, on cars and computers, on subscriptions, there is undoubtably waste. Once you start looking at this and start driving efficiency, immediately your cost of customer acquisition will go down.
Over the long term it’s reported that your cost of customer acquisition is likely to go up. This kind of makes sense if you’re running PPC campaigns then maybe your cost per click will go up over time, maybe once you exhaust some of the market other customers are going to be harder to come by and the cost of customer acquisition will go up. However, as long as you can demonstrate, whatever happens, that you are in the business of acquiring customers profitably then you will keep those jobs and you will keep those clients.
Did we define customer acquisition cost effectively?
If you are still with us well done. You now know exactly what customer acquisition cost is; you know why customer acquisition cost is so important; you know how to calculate your cost of customer acquisition; you know what a good cost of customer acquisition looks like; you know when to use cost of customer acquisition and you know what is likely to happen to your cost of customer acquisition over time.
What should you do if you have found this interesting or useful?
If you have found this interesting or useful be sure to check out video number thirteen what is customer lifetime value?
If you’ve enjoyed this video please take a second to like, share, subscribe, maybe comment, maybe there’s a piece of marketing jargon that you would like to see defined in this fashion. If you found it really interesting or useful then why not head across to the Effective Marketing Company blog and subscribe there and you will get this marketing jargon, bullshit busting goodness in your inbox every single day.
We are done here Alex.
Martin Henley
Martin has built a reputation for having a no nonsense approach to sales and marketing and for motivating audiences with his wit, energy, enthusiasm and his own brand of audience participation. Martin’s original content is based on his very current experience of running effective marketing initiatives for his customers and the feedback from Effective Marketing’s successful and popular marketing workshops. | https://medium.com/plus-marketing/what-is-customer-acquisition-cost-2b1907b9cf55 | ['Martin Henley'] | 2020-11-30 09:13:17.583000+00:00 | ['Marketing Definitions', 'Marketing', 'Customer Acquisition Cost', 'Wtf', 'Business Success'] |
Pain | 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/heart-revolution/pain-e514ac5b342e | ['Vinitha Dileep'] | 2020-12-17 02:57:52.594000+00:00 | ['Pain', 'Life', 'Poetry On Medium', 'Poetry', 'Micropoetry'] |
Yeah, I Thought Life Coaching Was Bullsh*t Too | Yeah, I Thought Life Coaching Was Bullsh*t Too
Until I Got Certified To Do It.
It grew on me. The idea of life coaching. But when I first heard about it as a profession, I called bullsh*t. Maybe it was because, at the time, I was unaware of any regulatory agencies so I figured any Tom, Richard, or Mary could call themselves a life coach. I wasn’t wrong.
But over the years, things changed. I opened my mind to the possibility that there lies real help in between therapy and business coaching. I used to think, who needs a coach for life? Um, literally everyone I f*cking know in the entire world and everyone they know and all of their cousins. And their cousins’ cousins. Fact.
It doesn’t mean everyone should feverishly search for a life coach right now, but do we really know anyone who wouldn’t benefit from someone who can help you get from where you are to where you want to be? We all think we can do it ourselves, but the proof that we can’t is basically all of humankind.
Life coaching is undergoing an explosive phase right now. I guess I hopped on the bandwagon (or rocketship) at the wrong time, but it fell into my lap.
I like to learn things. I like to add things to my repertoire. I had been thinking about life coaching and knew a few people who were doing it. I was a real estate coach and also served in an advisory capacity in several jobs I held in the past. Seemed kind of up my alley.
Then Jeff Barton, who I met here on Medium (this is also where we realized we were basically brothers), said he was thinking of taking a life coaching certification with the company co-founded by The Angry Therapist called Team JRNI. Yeah dude, let’s do it together. And off we went into the land of the unknown. To become life coaches.
The Bullsh*t Was About Ego
I would never need a life coach. I have my sh*t together. What kind of people would seek help getting their life to where they want it? Smart people. I wasn’t being smart. I was feeding my ego another flank steak. I had been to therapy. I had worked with a real estate coach who helped explode my business. I knew coaching, as a thing, worked. But there I was calling it bullsh*t.
“Anyone can do it, therefore I am too good to do it”, was the bullsh*t coming from me. Seriously, I stunk. I was like that baby at the two-year old’s birthday party sauntering around with a very low hanging diaper in the back and not because he likes low riders. Because he was packing some serious weight from active defecation. Picture. Me.
Fortunately, I was at a time in my life where I was actively reading, watching, and listening to everything I could get my hands on. And many of these life lessons wrapped inside a book, article, TED Talks, or podcast were opening my closed mind to the possibility that everyone, every single person, could benefit from someone who can see past their bullsh*t. And coming to this revelation meant I was starting to see past mine.
Photo by Laurenz Kleinheider on Unsplash
The Biggest Lesson I Learned
There are a lot of them. Plenty I’m still learning. But one thing that stands out to me is the concept of holding space. In life coaching it’s used so much as a term, it’s basically like the surname Smith , but it really resonates with me. Can you hold space for someone? It’s a lot harder than you think, especially given the annoyance of modern technology.
The reason holding space is so important in life coaching is because we aren’t there to give you advice. We are there to help you give yourself advice. We are a facilitator. A conduit. We are there to pull the best back out of you from wherever you buried it. And holding space is just like it sounds. Being completely present for someone else.
Think of the norm. You are talking to someone and they are looking around. Looking at their phone. They interrupt you to tell you all about what happened to them even though they just asked about you six seconds prior. They can’t keep still. You can see the mental checklist they are working in their head while you tell them something important. It’s maddening. That’s not holding space.
Do you remember what it feels like to have someone hold space for you? Looking you in the eye. Allowing for silence. Lacking judgment. Think of someone putting their arms out and actually holding the space around you, for you. So nothing can penetrate it. It’s yours. When someone can do it for you, it can be magical. To be truly heard and felt in a single moment.
20 Weeks Later
Yes, 20 weeks. This wasn’t a weekend certification with Uncle Herbie in the conference room at Motel 6 or on that weird website that also sold goldfish in bulk. 20 weeks of intense learning with a variety of fantastic instructors. To be honest, it was a lot. More than I thought it would be in terms of the work. But also so much more than I thought it would be in terms of the impact and realization. Remember, I thought this whole thing was bullsh*t not that long ago.
I finished the course with a newfound appreciation for life coaches. Because the ones that were instructors in my cohort were f*cking ballers. They got it. They got what I didn’t earlier. They understood how to help someone else get their life going back in the direction it was supposed to. And not from a robotic manual. Because life coaches, more than many professions, thrive by incorporating their unique personality into their business.
It’s not competitive because of that. We all come to the table with past careers and unique experiences. An odd toolbox full of the most important things that happened to us, as well as the minutia that we almost forgot about. Until someone said something that touched a nerve and we knew that we had something to offer.
I’m proud of finishing the course. 20 weeks later I walked away certified as a life coach. And now it’s my turn to explain why it’s not bullsh*t to the rest of the world who still thinks it is. How am I doing? | https://medium.com/jrni/yeah-i-thought-life-coaching-was-bullsh-t-too-2a6f9e6bd60a | ['Jonathan Greene'] | 2019-08-27 16:12:10.377000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Purpose And Calling', 'Personal Development', 'Life Coaching', 'Life Coach'] |
Introduction to AntV | Visit this article on Observable so you can read it interactively!
AntV is an technology brand for data visualization. It contains multiple open source JavaScript libraries to support visualization needs in various fields, including statistical charts, graph visualization, geospatial visualization and even automatic chart recommendation and generation.
Tested by huge data business in Ant Financial Services Group and Alibaba Group, it can guarantee various data analysis scenarios.
This notebook will introduce the capabilities of AntV in various aspects and show you related demos.
To follow the latest updates of AntV: ✩ Star the repos you are interested in on GitHub.
Statistical Charts
AntV supports basic statistical charts with the libraries named G2, G2Plot, F2, and AVA. Feel confused? Don’t worry! We can walk through them quickly.
G2 — 📊 Visualization Grammars for Statistical Charts
G2 is a JavaScript library that implements the Grammar of Graphics (Yes, this is the origin of the name “G2”). These grammars divide graphics into specifications with mappings between data and visual variables, such as color, shape or length.
Here is a very simple demo: A bar chart by G2.
For example, here is an advanced implementation:
To learn more about G2, visit its website to see more demos, or star its GitHub repo.
However, the grammars seem very hard to get started… if you are not a visualization expert. So, we have a “plan B” for wider users.
G2Plot — 📈 A Configurable Library Based on G2
For beginners, forget about the grammars, configs (or options) are more friendly.
With G2Plot,
choose a chart type (Pie, Bar, Line, Rose, etc.) set the configs
then you are all done.
Take a look at this example: a basic rose chart.
To learn more about G2Plot, visit its website to see more demos and tutorials, or star its GitHub repo.
To use G2Plot, you don’t have to worry about the grammars, but you still have to learn some “taxonomy”. What chart type to use for a given dataset? What’s the difference between stacked and grouped bar charts?
To help you stay away from these problems in some cases, we have an “AI” for you!
Automatically Recommend & Generate Charts
What if… you just drop your dataset and tell what you want to know, and someone draws the graphics for you!
Try this: (import the function autoChart from AVA/ChartAdvisor first)
autoChart(container, data, options);
💍 ONE LINE TO RULE THEM ALL !!!
AVA — 🤖 A Framework for Automated Visual Analytics
AVA is a framework and a solution for more convenient visual analytics. It recommends visualization instances by understanding the given dataset and analysis needs.
Check the following dynamic chart:
AVA is still in the lab and there is a long todo list. Any contribution is welcome!
To learn more about AVA, visit and star its GitHub repo.
Statistical Charts on Mobile
Well, sometimes we develop charts on mobile devices. There is a library for optimized Fast and Flexible experience on mobile — F2.
F2 — 📱An Elegant Interactive Charting Library for Mobile
The following demo illustrates everything.
To learn more about F2, visit its website to see more demos, or star its GitHub repo.
Graphs
How about visualizing relations? Those nodes and links in the graph theory?
G6 — 🖇️ A Graph Visualization Library
If you have ever heard about 6 degrees of separation, that’s why this Graph library was named G6.
Let’s see a simple demo:
Nodes, links, layout, force, … Nailed it in one library!
Looking for more advanced and customized example? Here it is:
To learn more about G6, visit its website to see more demos and tutorials, or star its GitHub repo.
Graph Edit
Wait, maybe you want to DRAW a graph, not to represent one? The tool you are looking for is a graph editor.
X6 — 🛠️ A JavaScript Graph Editing Engine
Similarly with G6, but this one is for making graph editor.
Try this playground: (on Observable)
Drag and Drop
Select
Pan and Zoom
Keyboard Shortcuts:
delete: ⌫
undo: ^ctrl/⌘cmd + Z
redo: ^ctrl/⌘cmd + ⇧shift + Z
X6 is still in the lab. Any contribution is welcome!
To learn more about X6, visit and star its GitHub repo.
Geographical Visualization
Maps! Of course there are.
L7 — 🌎 WebGL-powered Geospatial Visualization Framework
L7 relies on Mapbox GL or AMap to render basemaps. It supports the illustration of large-scale maps.
Check this: | https://medium.com/antv/introduction-to-antv-af599f4e7e22 | ['Neo Wang'] | 2020-03-20 10:39:32.820000+00:00 | ['Github', 'Charts', 'JavaScript', 'Front End Development', 'Data Visualization'] |
Lies about Statistics | As an applied scientist, understanding and use of statistics properly is essential. Unfortunately, statistics is the most misunderstood and least developed skill in the populace. This is amazing to me because all children under the age of five are natural statisticians, more specifically they learn using stochastic processes.
Stay with me. A stochastic isn’t bad because sounds scary word, it’s your friend, embrace it. But what is it? Let’s use a simple analogy.
A child drops a spoon while eating. The parent picks it up and gives it back to the child. A younger child repeats this process more times than an older child. The child is performing an experiment using a stochastic process. In other words, the child is using statistics to determine how likely a spoon will hit the ground when dropped. (Basically testing gravity). Gravity is pretty unforgiving, so the child learns dropping a spoon will ALWAYS hit the ground (i.e., the outcome is 100% certain). 100% certain is another phrase for 100% probability an attempt will have the same outcome. This is the basis of statistics and a stochastic process. After this is learned, performing the experiment may be amusing, but does not provide anymore knowledge, to the child moves on to another experiment. Usually, something that will test the boundaries of a parent’s patience.
Almost all college students need to pass the dreaded statistics course, even liberal arts majors (who try to avoid science in favor of art and humanities — something that does not require math). The best statistics teacher I knew in college was my political science professor. After passing the course, almost all students continue to avoid the subject. This is because it is highly technical and difficult to do properly. The key here is properly.
The core reason statistics are synonymous with lies is because doing statistics properly is hard. Studies that are wrong are published all the time. This re-iterates the belief that statistics is bullshit. Bad statistics are worse than bullshit, they are usually dangerous. Testing a vaccine is ALL about statistics. Almost all the statisticians I know work crunch numbers for drug research. Releasing a vaccine without doing proper research (i.e., the probability of the vaccine working or killing someone is as close to 0% as possible) is pretty important.
It’s sad to say that some really smart people making important decisions are bad at statistics. They first step in any study is determining if the data is valid. This is accomplished using the “run test”. It basically determines if the data comes from a repeatable process where each point is collected under the same conditions. This is where the problem occurs. Conditions change. Unless the conditions are locked down, it’s not possible to determine the probability of a cause having an effect. For anything more other than dropping a spoon, controlling conditions is hard. It’s even harder when trying to determine cause and effect when the process used to collect the data is unknown.
Public officials are not required to use statistics to make decisions. This has a direct effect on public welfare. The wide variation in how directives in response to COVID-19 outbreaks is making this clear. In reality, determining the cause of an outbreak is the only way to determine if changing behavior will have an effect on the outcome. The US strategy to urge self quarantine and take away ALL opportunities for infection is basically killing a fly with a cannonball. This is because experiments to determine cause are not or cannot be performed in a manner that allows statistics to be valid. Without using this scientific method, we are left to trust the wisdom of our leaders and governors.
Wisdom is a funny thing. It only works when the conditions that led to a belief are valid for the context in which the wisdom is used. For instance, restricting the occupancy of a restaurant effects the mortality rate of COVID-19. This may be true in some instances, but to what degree depends on conditions. Some governors of localities (i.e., mayors) have measured the infection rates traced back to restaurant visits. At least one calculated at 1.5% infection rate, basically it is 98.5% UNLIKELY that an infection occurs from a restaurant visit. Should restrictions be placed on restaurants across the board if this is true? If conditions across the board are the same, NO. If conditions across the board are NOT the same, YES.
It is pretty widely known that a single person who does not wear a mask properly or at all, infects a large area. It is best to restrict the movements of this “polluter” to contain the pathogen. In a sit down restaurant with good practices, people don’t move around much. In a fast food restaurant with self service, people move around a lot. They are more likely to be in a hurry and less likely to be “polluters”. So, maybe restricting self service restaurants is warranted but sit down restaurants is not.
How do we know? Performing experiments would tell us. Let’s say we have two restaurants in the same type of community with staff trained in the same manner. Say the restaurants have the same owner. Let’s also say the restaurant has surveillance that records activity. Data can be gathered to determine the likelihood of “polluting” activities. This data can be analyzed statistically to determine cause and effect. One restaurant could impose a stricter policy, say 25% occupancy vs. another at 50% occupancy. If the data indicates the policy is being followed, the opportunity for pollution can be calculated to a reasonable degree of certainty. Guidelines and directives can therefore be more detailed and more effective, without completely shutting down entire sub-economies, like the restaurant industry.
OK, so maybe this is hard, but it is necessary. It will remain necessary until inoculations are ubiquitous enough to make the probability of infection too low for concern. Say 1 in a million infections per month across the US. This is possible. It took decades to eliminate polio and measles through inoculations (after development of an effective vaccine). But it took a couple of years to eradicate malaria in the area around the Panama Canal during construction. (A massive force killing mosquitoes was employed and breeding grounds were found and destroyed relentlessly.)
The notion that you can make statistics say whenever you want is only true for BAD statistics. Obtaining GOOD statistics is hard and distinguishing between GOOD and BAD statistics is also hard. So, yeah, you can make BAD statistics say whatever you want. However, to make a GOOD decision requires a GOOD statistical study with high probably from a trusted (i.e., tested/competent) source essential. If the study results in a probability of a specific cause having a specific effect that matches the conditions being controlled by a decision, the result is predicable. It is rarely possible to do this, therefore GOOD statistics are very hard to come by.
That being said, giving up on trying to get GOOD statistics as the basis of decisions MUST not be abandoned. If anything, more education on statistics is needed. We are tested periodically to determine if we have the skill to drive. Having a test for making decisions based on good statistics seems like a good idea, but unlikely to occur. A good leader will take the time to appreciate this skill and surround themselves with people who provide good statistics and detect when the conditions under which they are employed are valid. This requires the leader to listen before AND AFTER a policy is made and deployed. A good statistician will be vocal about the validity of the policy given what effect it actually has and bring new recommendations to the leader’s attention. A good leader will change the policy and recognize that conditions in the real world may or may not be the same as those used to calculate the statistics. When conditions are not the same, better statistics must be calculated and policies adjusted. If done properly the matter will be resolved as quickly as possible. | https://medium.com/out-of-your-mind/lies-about-statistics-6b59e3f6e7aa | ['Joe Bologna'] | 2020-11-08 14:45:49.831000+00:00 | ['Society'] |
A cultural shift enables the full ML lifecycle | A guide to MLOps for data scientists: Part 4
Originally posted on Kaskada’s “Machine Learning Insights” blog here.
Photo by Jonatan Pie on Unsplash
In parts 1, 2 and 3 of this series, we covered the ML lifecycle, discussed how to select tools to instrument the ML lifecycle and provided an example to update your processes to enable people to adopt MLOps at your company. While your tools should bring data scientists into the production loop for shipping and maintaining ML, the MLOps mindset involves bringing data scientists in early to share the responsibility with engineering and maintain accurate online features. This brings us to the last part, a culture shift that will enable the full MLOps lifecycle.
Culture, generally, is made up of more than just what you do, but also how and why you do it. It encompasses the values, beliefs, underlying assumptions, attitudes and behaviors that are shared by your company. Changing your culture is more than just writing out what you’re going to change, it’s the resulting behavior that comes from the written and unwritten changes.
An MLOps culture is all about a shared understanding between data scientists and ops/data engineers — and shared responsibility for the machine learning models they build. That means increasing transparency, communication and collaboration across development, IT/Operations, and “the business.” You’ll know you’ve succeeded when your teams have started treating ML models as products, with owners and stakeholders feeling empowered along the way, and more of your models are making it to production — faster.
Productizing ML Models
For each model you’re deploying, your entire org should treat each like a product. Decide what you are *jointly* working toward your engineering, product, and revenue counterparts. To do this, you’ll have to write out goals and requirements as well as the business or customer-facing outcomes you intend to create. Instead of generic goals, like better accuracy and precision or arbitrarily faster deployment, tie your goal to what makes your features, model and code into a product.
Building products includes things like finding product-market fit, gathering customer feedback, and measuring the intended and unintended outcomes. For a ML model you often have more than one outcome you need to measure, the first includes accuracy of your predictions towards the business outcome and the second is the disparate impact on privileged and underprivileged groups.
Set goals by answering questions specific to what you’re building for customers. Let’s say you are trying to predict credit card fraud, answers to some common questions might look like:
What product promises have you made? Typical product promises you might make, like these from Chase , would be “We monitor your account 24/7 using sophisticated real time fraud monitoring and can text, email or call you if there’s any unusual activity on your account.” and “With our Zero Liability Protection you won’t be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information.”
Typical product promises you might make, like these from , would be “We monitor your account 24/7 using sophisticated real time fraud monitoring and can text, email or call you if there’s any unusual activity on your account.” and “With our Zero Liability Protection you won’t be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information.” How fast is fast for your application? Typically, fast looks like predicting fraud as a purchase is being made and denying it before the charge is is approved and contacting the customer with enough time for them to approve it before they walk away from the register
Typically, fast looks like predicting fraud as a purchase is being made and denying it before the charge is is approved and contacting the customer with enough time for them to approve it before they walk away from the register How accurate do the models need to be? In this case a bad impact of a false positive might be that I can’t buy necessary medications, food, or gas. But a false negative means that the bank could lose money by approving a transaction that is later marked as fraud by the customer or by the bank after using a series of transactions to flag potential fraud.
In this case a bad impact of a false positive might be that I can’t buy necessary medications, food, or gas. But a false negative means that the bank could lose money by approving a transaction that is later marked as fraud by the customer or by the bank after using a series of transactions to flag potential fraud. How often do the behavioral patterns you are trying to measure change?
Credit card fraud patterns change seasonally, annually based on promotions and cost of living increases, as well as based on events. Events are much less predictable like the pandemic, predicted hurricanes, outcomes of an election.
The evolution of technology can also change the likelihood of fraud. When the chip and pin was introduced the theory was that in most cases fraud wasn’t possible when using a chip, but this is no longer the case.
What groups benefit from your model and what groups are disadvantaged? Depending on the choices I make in feature engineering for these predictions, different groups may be disadvantaged more than others. We would need to measure disparate impact to know for sure.
As you can tell from the example above, this will be an iterative process. For any product, what’s the impact of false positive and negative predictions on the subjects of the prediction and the business? Then decide specifically how you will measure and surface these metrics directly to all teams, where they can find them in their workflows. And enable those teams to make hypotheses of what they can do to improve the goals, and iteratively test them out.
For more reading on enabling product driven hypotheses, one of my favorite product books offers a framework for creating products and services grounded in behavioral science. It includes a section on how to do an ethical check and measure if your impact matches your intended outcome — and what to do when it doesn’t.
This subtle culture shift will allow you and your data science team to row in the same direction as the rest of your company. Allowing for you to make a business case for adding new features to your models, iteratively improve deployed models and prioritize ML pipeline debt with other teams. At the end of the day (or cycle) you’ll be able to see the impact of your work and validate that the models you’re shipping have met the business goals set in your initial hypothesis. | https://charnaparkey.medium.com/a-cultural-shift-enables-the-full-ml-lifecycle-4486fb5f3fbf | ['Charna Parkey'] | 2020-11-16 23:06:37.644000+00:00 | ['Culture', 'Machine Learning', 'Mlops', 'Data Science'] |
In service to Life & to those who are in service to Life | Image Source
In service to Life & to those who are in service to Life
A conversation between Ruth Andrade and Daniel Wahl
On May 22nd, 2020 I had a chance to catch up with my friend Ruth Andrade who is one of the most inspiring collaborators I have had the pleasure of cocreating projects with in the last few years.
Ruth works for Lush, a group of animal rights and planetary regeneration activists that created a global cosmetics company to fund excellent projects and positive change in the world. Or at least that is how I have come to see Lush since engaging with them through scouting the potential for a regenerative almond growing project on Mallorca and the Lush Springprize for social and ecological regeneration initially and other work since.
To say that Ruth works for Lush is like mistaking the fruit body of a mushroom for the mycelial network that brought it forth. Ruth is one of the arch weavers catalysing effective collaboration between highly skilled and experienced permaculture, agroforestry, and regenerative agriculture practitioners and sociocracy, peace and social change activists on the one hand, and visionary business people and the emerging global regeneration and ecosystems restoration networks and initiatives, as well as, attempts to get them funded on the other hand.
So you can imagine that we had a wonderful conversation.
I start off by asking Ruth to tell her story. She shares how growing up in Brazil with an older sister who was a biologist and ecologist, while being in the Sao Paulo Punk/Hardcore scene, shaped her. “I am too punk to be a proper hippy and too hippy to be a proper punk.”
This took us into a discussion about a nuanced definition of anarchism and the importance of creating subsidiarity based systems of governance. A systemic biomimicry approach to redesigning the human presence and impact on Earth will have to follow life’s scale-linking nested wholeness.
Ruth reflects on how Murray Bookchin’s work influenced her thinking and how she keeps coming back to being in service to life. Ruth stresses that we are truly in an existential emergency as in what is emerging is our new human presence as a species who really owns its role and responsibility as part of life.
We explore the need for valuing our diversity and working in the same direction despite and in celebration of all our differences of opinion and perspectives or positions in these nested systems, but aligned in the shared understanding that we need to change now and co-create a different way of being truly human as the Earth.
We speak about the ego-eco-seva framing of understanding the potential that arises from accepting that life happens in the polarity and creative tension of being for one self and being as part of a larger whole, and that the potential can be manifest in service to life.
Ruth tells her story of how she came to work for Lush, and how she organised an ‘introduction to permaculture’ for the Lush leadership and slowly helped to work all the way along the supply chain to work with producers of their raw ingredient directly.
We speak about the weaving that Ruth and her late partner Paulo Mellett did between communities of local producers, the Global Ecovillage Network, the Ecovillage Design Education programme at Sieben Linden in Germany and beginning to work on a regenerative supply chain and production practices for Lush.
We speak about the issue how big is too big not to fail (to be regenerative)? … and how inspired business leaders whether at Patagonia or Lush can actually learn the lesson of subsidiarity and decentralisation and redundancy and resilience building into their business within the context of the degenerative global economy.
Ruth speaks about the need to explore governance and ownership very deeply as enabling regeneration and creating patterns aligned with how life creates conditions conducive to live will require profound changes in those field.
00:36 … being the private sector partner for local regenerators
00:40 “we belong to the land, the land does not belong to us” …
00:42 … ownership, rights and responsibility … and the need for education along with redistribution
00:47 … walking towards utopia while accepting we will never get there
00:51 … having the privilege we have to have this conversation … how can we really be in service to the underprivileged?
00:54 … lessons from working with indigenous tribes in Colombia from speaking with Martin von Hildebrand … the double edge of technology
01:00 … resourcing those who do the job on the ground … the work of the
01:05 … facing reality head on with the coming pandemics and humanitarian emergencies
01:06 … the story of the evolution from and idea that grew out of working with the Lush Spring Prize to the recently launched Regenerosity platform
01:09 Ruth explaining where Regenerosity is now … and the vision for how it will develop into a way or resourcing those who are working on the front line of regeneration and ecosystems restoration.
Here is the recording of the conversation:
More: Leaving the world lusher — by Ruth Andrade
Tribute to Paulo Mellett:
An earlier conversation Ruth and I had at the Lush Springprize:
Daniel Christian Wahl — Catalyzing transformative innovation in the face of converging crises, advising on regenerative whole systems design, regenerative leadership, and education for regenerative development and bioregional regeneration.
Author of the internationally acclaimed book Designing Regenerative Cultures
Twitter: @DrDCWahl
Medium: Blog with more than 280 articles
Facebook: RegenerativeCultures and Ecological Consciousness
Please consider supporting my ongoing work: | https://medium.com/activate-the-future/in-service-to-life-to-those-who-are-in-service-to-life-c6a6b2f9d6fb | ['Daniel Christian Wahl'] | 2020-07-20 06:06:18.016000+00:00 | ['Ecosystem Restoration', 'Business', 'Regenerative Development', 'Sustainability', 'Climate Change'] |
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Watch China Uncensored here | https://medium.com/@fhenderson491/surfshark-coupon-code-by-china-uncensored-get-the-vpn-5b122cc432d0 | ['Freddie Henderson'] | 2019-07-03 06:55:38.173000+00:00 | ['China', 'Discount', 'Coupon', 'Privacy', 'VPN'] |
The Social Psychology of Dehumanizing Attitudes and Behaviors: Theoretical evidence to explain gang stalking and electronic targeted assaults | The Social Psychology of Dehumanizing Attitudes and Behaviors: Theoretical evidence to explain gang stalking and electronic targeted assaults Karen Barna Apr 25·5 min read
The maze, thus, seems to symbolize our human limited perspective, our entanglement in the world of the senses and desires, our getting lost, taking the “wrong” path, occasionally feeling lost and desperate. The labyrinth would stand for the spiritual path of circling the Centre. Neither, it seems, can exist without the other. Spiritual heights will not be reached without the entanglements of the flesh.
“From within, the view is extremely restricted and confusing, while from above one discovers a supreme artistry and order.”
This paper explains through a psycho-social lens how individuals can be used as third-party proxies in the phenomenon known as gang stalking and electronic targeted assault. By analyzing the social-cognitive process known as “mechanistic dehumanization” in addition to a possessed form of sadism known as “everyday sadism” as part of a new personality profile known as the “Dark Tetrad.”
The social psychology of dehumanizing attitudes and behaviors towards others is rooted in culturally determined and learned beliefs surrounding another’s individual identity. Some dehumanizing behavior is displayed as disrespect, condescension, and neglect toward others (Christoff, 2014). There are several negative consequences associated with dehumanization and this paper address theoretical social-psychological aspects in research-based evidence of what has been termed everyday sadism and everyday dehumanizations which are contributing to the phenomenon of gang stalking and electronic targeted assaults.
Dehumanization was primarily believed to be part of extreme ethnic or racial intergroup conflict. New research evidence has brought to light this is no longer necessary for dehumanization to occur. Similar to everyday sadism, dehumanization can occur as part of everyday practice based on one’s personality profile (Buckels, Jones, & Paulhus, 2013). That is to say, dehumanization appears to be an everyday social phenomenon rooted in everyday social-cognitive processes of some human beings (Haslam, 2006). Since there are two ways dehumanization can occur, first the denied human characteristics thereby in essence grouping certain individuals with animals, also called “animalistic dehumanization.” The second social-cognitive process is termed “mechanistic dehumanization” in which humans are likened to objects or automata and denied human qualities like warmth, human emotion, and individuality (Haslam, 2006). My personal experiences in dealing with others have found a large portion of evidence in my social environment when opinions deviate from the majority rule and the majority rule is incapable of navigating the difference perceived. As a result, this blocked or diked human relatedness causes a second social-cognitive phenomenon known as “mechanistic dehumanization” and is extensively discussed as being part of the technology of advancing medicine and sexual objectification in which people are perceived as inert and instrumental tools, as a means to an end in advancing one’s goals and interests of their own.
Often perceived as “mild dehumanization” it is often considered an innocent and inconsequential part of behavioral patterns. However, the evidence does not support this ideology of it being an innocent by-product of human interaction. Mild dehumanization that appears subtle, innocent, and inconsequential can range from subtle forms of disrespect, condescension, neglect, social ostracism, and other relational slights. Gangstalking and electronic targeted assaults may be perceived by its perpetrators as a form of innocent, inconsequential, “mild dehumanization” but it goes beyond mild and crosses over to high conflict physical assaults.
Overwhelming evidence tells us dehumanization of others can lead to long-term psychological sequelae (Sheridan, James, & Roth, 2020). Research also tells us dehumanization of others can lead to increased aggressive social behavior such as bullying as well as increased forms of anti-sociality such as hostile avoidance and social rejection. These behaviors are then accompanied by attitudes of reduced human worth by those who are being targeted. They are therefore judged less worthy of protection from harm.
Everyday interpersonal maltreatments can leave its victims feeling degraded, invalidated, or demoralized. There has been extensive research into dehumanization’s negative consequences. When people are mechanistically dehumanized, as when people are gang stalked and electronically targeted with assaults or sexually assaulted and beaten, they are being used as objects or automata, containers for violent aggression and advancing human progress. They can enter into “cognitively deconstructed” states that become emotionally numbing, accompanied by reduced clarity of thought, and cognitive inflexibility, with an absence of meaningful exchange. Experiencing this form of dehumanization leads to pervasive feelings of sadness and anger challenging one’s coping skills. Since one of the goals of dehumanization is “status-reducing” interpersonal maltreatments such as being treated as incompetent, fat, ugly, lower-class, embarrassing, unintelligent, unsophisticated in the goal of degrading another’s image. This in turn can lead to feelings of shame and guilt by those being targeted.
As such, dehumanizing maltreatments eventually lead to one’s detrimental well-being. Psychological well-being requires basic psycho-social needs to be met. These include autonomy, competence, and human relatedness as well as a standard for the continuation of self-care. Dehumanizing maltreatments lead to impaired ability to satisfy individual needs and directly contribute to depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders such as alcohol use disorder. As such, dehumanization maltreatments are not considered “innocent” or “inconsequential” by-products of social interaction as a “social phenomenon” common to human communication. Dehumanization maltreatment poses a real hazard to other’s well-being as well as their cognitive psycho-social development. Dehumanization maltreatment leads to depression. Depression can lead to suicide. It can also lead to anxiety and anxiety can lead to anxiety-related disorders.
Since an aspect to dehumanizing maltreatment is the character trait known as sadism, a research study investigating the phenomenon of what has been termed “everyday sadism” to reveal a new personality configuration termed the “Dark Tetrad” of personality. Originally termed the “Dark Triad” which refers to the personality configuration composed of three character traits found within a specific personality type; Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. The new Dark Tetrad includes four traits instead of three; Machiavellianism, sadism, narcissism, and psychopathy. The researchers conducted a study investigating individual’s willingness to take part in a bug-killing paradigm. Sadists volunteered at greater rates than did non-sadists. In the second study, researchers investigated the willingness of individuals to harm an innocent victim. When aggression was easy, sadism and Dark Triad measures predicted unprovoked aggression. However, only sadists were willing to work for the opportunity to hurt an innocent person. In both studies, sadism emerged as an independent predictor of behavior reflecting an appetite for cruelty. Together, these findings support the construct validity of everyday sadism and its incorporation into a new personality paradigm (Buckels, Jones, & Paulhus, 2013).
“The task thus becomes to track the patterned ways that violence seeks to name as violent that which resists it, and how the violent character of a legal regime is exposed as it forcibly quells dissent, punishes workers who refuse the exploitative terms of contracts, sequesters minorities, imprisons its critics, and expels its potential rivals.” ~Judith Butler, The Force of Nonviolence: An ethico-political bind
Source:
Buckels, E., Jones, D., & Paulhus, D. (2013). Behavioral Confirmation of Everyday Sadism. Psychological Science, 24(11), 2201–2209.
Butler, Judith. (2020). The Force of Nonviolence: An ethico-political bind. New York. Verso Publishing.
Christoff, K. (2014). Dehumanization in organizational settings: some scientific and ethical considerations. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8,
Halsam, N. (2006). Dehumanization: an integrative review. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Rev. 10, 252–264. doi: 10.1207/s15327957pspr1003_4
Johnson, L., Plouffe, R., & Saklofske, D. (2019). Subclinical Sadism and the Dark Triad. Journal of Individual Differences, 40(3), 127–133.
Krick, A., Tresp, S., Vatter, M., Ludwig, A., Wihlenda, M., & Rettenberger, M. (2016). The Relationships Between the Dark Triad, the Moral Judgment Level, and the Students’ Disciplinary Choice. Journal of Individual Differences, 37(1), 24–30.
Lyons, M., & Jonason, P. (2015). Dark Triad, Tramps, and Thieves. Journal of Individual Differences, 36(4), 215–220.
Sheridan, L., James, D., & Roth, J. (2020). The Phenomenology of Group Stalking (‘Gang-Stalking’): A Content Analysis of Subjective Experiences. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(7), | https://medium.com/@proclivitysprinciplewisdom/the-social-psychology-of-dehumanizing-attitudes-and-behaviors-theoretical-evidence-to-explain-457b72f72177 | ['Karen Barna'] | 2021-04-26 12:19:25.939000+00:00 | ['Sadism', 'Personality', 'Social Psychology', 'Targeted Individuals', 'Dark Tetrad'] |
Multilable classification in sklearn | Multilable classification predict the multiple classes for the input. Like in image object detection you will have multiple objects that you want to identify. In simple classification you will predict number in MNIST data set ( example ) in this you will predict multiple numbers in image ( example )
Data
Data is from kaggle you can download it from here.
import pandas as pd train_df = pd.read_csv('./train_features.csv')
test_df = pd.read_csv('./test_features.csv')
y_train = pd.read_csv('./train_targets_scored.csv')
Then we will convert categorical variables to respective class codes.To do that we will first merge train and test data. So classes in both set get same corresponding categorical value.
grouped_df = pd.concat([train_df,test_df],axis=0)
grouped_df =grouped_df.drop(['sig_id'],axis=1)
converting
grouped_df['cp_type'] = grouped_df['cp_type'].astype('category')
grouped_df['cp_type'] = grouped_df['cp_type'].cat.codes grouped_df['cp_dose'] = grouped_df['cp_dose'].astype('category')
grouped_df['cp_dose'] = grouped_df['cp_dose'].cat.codes
Split train test set
x_train = grouped_df[:23814]
x_test = grouped_df[23814:]
y_train = y_train.drop(['sig_id'],axis=1)
not doing validation set because it just a simple example
Modeling
from sklearn.svm import LinearSVC
from sklearn.multiclass import OneVsRestClassifier svc = LinearSVC(max_iter=1500)
now come the new thing
OneVsRestClassifier :-
Now for each class it will build model for each class and it is trained as binary classification for that class. And in end it will predict 0 or 1 for each class .
clf = OneVsRestClassifier(svc)
clf.fit(x_train,y_train)
And we will have array of 0 and 1 and for every 1 we will output corresponding class to it.
Drawbacks:
As it create new model for each class so it will take huge amount of time to train the model | https://medium.com/@rajanlagah/multilable-classification-in-sklearn-507fd3c7452c | ['Rajan Lagah'] | 2020-12-16 19:42:11.513000+00:00 | ['Sklearn', 'Machine Learning', 'Classification'] |
BEING AND INTROVERT | BEING AND INTROVERT
Let’s go on a trip!” You would hear my mom say one evening.
“Somewhere we can trek!” Claps my sister.
“A museum this time, maybe?” I would say softly.
. Of course, democracy does not feel that good after all when you are supporting a clearly minor group. Voting and speeches done, and we are somehow already climbing a snow clad mountain. As they are skipping ahead like there’s a treasure hidden in their name, I am busy trying to get rid of the mud off my shoes and random thorns off my socks and hair.
Of course, the museums and parks are visited from the bucket list at times, but when you see the bored and ‘why am I even here’ look on their faces, you would just wish you were trekking, destroying more pairs of shoes. And hair. And energy. And sanity. The thing with extroverted parents, you know, is that they just get younger with time. They wanna drive till they cannot, they wanna play tennis till they cannot, and of course, go try weird activities till they realize that they were, in fact, very weird.
The worst thing about being an introvert, is the pressure inflicted upon us to be an extrovert. Introverts, back me up on this, you have to, don’t tell me you haven’t felt like this or gone through this even once.
“How can you sit and read all day?”
“Go out and socialize a bit, that’s good for you!”
“You are literally so quiet!”
“Look at those girls singing and dancing like there’s no tomorrow, go join them! It is okay to go crazy for a night!”
“You know, you shall soon have arthritis.”
Okay, so all the extroverts reading this, cut us introverts some slack. Growing up with an extroverted family was extremely painful at times and fascinating during other times. I exhausted myself to the point where I thought I was no longer capable of walking, like ever. I enjoyed the trek and road trips and the partying, to be vividly honest; but being alone with me in my room gave me true feeling of myself. It gave me strength, almost the same kind extroverts get after attending parties and making new friends. No amount of group chattering can ever equate an hour of reading to me. And about being quiet, I don’t think anyone really cares what I ate last weekend and how much I enjoyed my vacation and how orange ceilings bother me. About dancing and singing, let me enlighten you, there is indeed a tomorrow, where you will be down with headaches.
. Socially awkward? Scared of talking to people? Nah. Small talk just irritates us, I despise small talk, though I guess I have mastered it, considering 90% of the people around me are extroverts. The thing with all these small talks is that they are so forced and practiced, you sometimes do not even bother to listen to what the other person had replied, knowing the answer was practiced, too. You cannot have not ignored a reply saying they are really great when asked how they were doing, right? I mean come on, you didn’t really expect them to really tell you that they aren’t doing well, given your awkward smiles and enthusiasm that does not seem genuine enough. This could be us, or someone talking to us. Oh wait, let me put it in a better way. This is us, and this is someone talking to us.
Do I hate people? Nope. Nada. I love my family and friends dearly, but I would choose a night out with them any day over going out with a ton of people. I prefer talking about movies and books and dogs and hopeless romance over a sore throat. The thrill extroverts get by waking up with a tired body, feeling they are living their lives, is almost the same peace and contentment us introverts get with a couple of old friends and hot chocolate. Extroverts, you guys getting unrested on asked to sit calmly all by yourself, the feeling that you are being disrupted and nobody wants you is really funny; just like us trying to understand and relate all the stuff you guys find so astounding.
I remember waking up and feeling at times, ‘Yeah, today I am going to socialize the way they do. I am going to talk loud, laugh, and coke, have lots of coke. It wasn’t difficult for me, really. Introverts would agree. Socializing isn’t too difficult for us when we want to do so: the exhaustion and the lack of a serene mind is painful. The feeling of not finding ‘me’ is painful. Something more painful than that? Yes. to resist the urge of not punching that overly extroverted person always says, “You have to admit, it was fun and would pick partying anytime over reading or cooking after yesterday.” Ah man, that self-control agony is real.
As of school, remember, how extrovertly activities were always pushed? Groups being made for projects when we could all clearly do a better job alone? The thing is, in school, I barely got a chance to embrace myself, to realize what I really enjoy. Just like most introverts, I grew up in society where introversion is treated like an illness that has to cured, no matter what. To many, introversion meant failure at career and at life, even. Most freedom fighters like Martin Luther King Jr. were introverts. Entrepreneurs like Warren Buffet and Stephen Gary Wozniak are introverts.
Well, guess our worlds shall never settle, and that’s okay, life gets boring without drama and imbecile debates, anyway. Humanity is anyway a lot nicer to watch when you guys crush over every other person who is out of your league while we devote our hearts to fictional characters. After all, there is no value to mountains without the ocean! | https://medium.com/@mulgesiya/lets-go-on-a-trip-you-would-hear-my-mom-say-one-evening-5dfbb769b0da | ['Siya Mulge'] | 2020-11-21 17:36:58.704000+00:00 | ['Nonfiction', 'Creative Non Fiction', 'Narrative', 'Narrative Nonfiction', 'Creative Writing'] |
The Need for Air Purification in Local High Risk Spaces such as Doctors & Dentist Surgeries | The-Need-For-Air-Purification-in-Local-High-Risk-Spaces
The Need for Air Purification in Local High Risk Spaces such as Doctors & Dentist Surgeries Airius Europe Oct 19, 2020·6 min read
HOW LOCAL HIGH RISK SPACES SUCH AS DOCTORS & DENTIST SURGERIES NEED AIR PURIFICATION FOLLOWING COVID19
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the need for domestic and public spaces to be clean and safe has been emphasised. When trying to protect patients against viruses and bacteria, it is crucial that the environment around them is kept germ free and healthy.
The Covid19 crisis has only served to underline the importance of this, and with the potential of the virus being present in aerosol form in communal areas, people are thinking more and more about the usefulness of air purifiers.
When used correctly, air purifiers help to reduce the number of airborne contaminants in any confined space, and this can include viruses. Whilst there is no firm understanding, as yet, of how or if this may be useful in protecting specifically against COVID-19, it is understood that certain air purification systems, specifically those using PHI technology, are tried and tested as being effective against similar viruses (such as SARS) and will by extrapolation be likely to help the fight against coronavirus transmission.
For many, high risk spaces such as doctors and dentist surgeries are top of the list of their concerns — as they provide a higher opportunity for viruses to thrive than others. In 2011, Paul Feuerstein, DMD, wrote an article entitled “In the air tonight”, which discussed solutions for indoor air quality improvement, specifically with regards to the harmful effects of indoor air quality in dental offices.
This article looked at air purifiers as a way to provide a healthier space for medical settings such as these, and his findings have later been expanded upon by other researchers, proving that they are an essential element of a healthy space.
SOURCES OF AIR CONTAMINATION IN DENTAL AND DOCTORS SURGERIES
Alongside the regular airborne contaminants found in any indoor space, including allergens, bacteria and pet dander, there are a number of more specific sources of air contamination to contend with in dentist and doctor surgeries. These include:
BIOAEROSOLS
Instruments used in medical and dental settings create hazardous bioaerosols — essentially an airborne collection of biological materials. Things like saliva and blood on these instruments contain microbes that can remain suspended in the air for up to six hours, creating a toxic cloud that spans from the floor to up to around six feet in height.
PATIENTS
Sick patients are one of the more obvious ways that infectious illnesses can spread in enclosed areas. Infectious droplets exhaled, coughed, or sneezed out by an infected person can travel up to 160 feet within the room, and can then travel up to 10 stories through the building via an air conditioning system.
CHEMICALS
Medical and dental settings tend to have higher concentrations of harmful chemicals present in the local air space. This is due to a variety of reasons, and included chemicals such as:
Disinfectants necessary to keep these spaces clean
Mercury used in blood pressure gauges, thermometers and dental amalgam
Phthalates found in IV bags and tubing
Methyl methacrylate used to make polymer, useful for dentures and other prostheses
DUST
Dust is an issue for all indoor spaces, and one of the main pollutants removed by air purifiers. Dental surgeries and laboratories have a bigger issue with dust than most other spaces, as the grinding of materials creates a heavy concentrations of fine white dust.
NOSOCOMIAL INFECTIONS
Nosocomial infections are found in patients under the medical care of a hospital or other medical care facility (such as a doctor’s surgery), that were not present at the time of admission. These infections are a major concern for any medical setting, as they strike patients who are already vulnerable, meaning that the outcome can be very serious.
According to the World Health Organisation, of every 100 hospitalized patients at any given time, 7 in developed and 10 in developing countries will acquire at least one health care-associated infection.
These may be contracted at any time during:
Admission
Operation
Discharge
The most common infections include pneumonia and gastroenteritis, but also include very serious infections such as MRSA.
HOW CAN AIR PURIFICATION HELP?
Different types of air purifiers work in different ways, but they all work towards the common goal of removing as many airborne pollutants from the atmosphere as possible, improving the quality of the air and ensuring that patients and visitors are protected from noxious compounds and pathogens.
This is not only useful for patients and visitors, but also for the doctors, dentists and other medical personnel working within the setting, as these people tend to be the most at risk, working continuously in the affected space.
FINDING THE RIGHT PURIFICATION SYSTEM
Finding an air purification system that protects all of the patients, staff and visitors within doctors and dentists surgeries in an effective way is no easy task, but the consequences for not doing so can be severe.
Things that must be taken into account when purchasing an air purification system for a medical setting include:
FILTRATION
The air purifier needs to be able to remove the excess of air pollutants within a dental or doctors office. This doesn’t only include things like dust, mould and odours, but also bioaerosols, bacteria and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Standard filtration systems are not ideal here, as they simply trap bacteria and viruses — the system should be able to kill the contaminants it comes into contact with, using something like UV-C light.
AIR FLOW CAPACITY
The high footfall within these settings, coupled with the excess contaminants, means that the air purifier needs to be able to completely clean the air within a room in a short space of time.
The amount of air that moves through a purification system is measured as cubic feet per minute (CFM). It is suggested that units in these settings have enough CFM to turn over the indoor air once every 30 minutes.
NOISE
All air purifiers make a little noise, as the air passes through the filtration system. However, a noisy system can be distracting for those working, and stressful for patients. A noisy system may lead to staff turning the unit down in order to appease visitors and staff, which will reduce the efficacy of the system. A good air purifier for these types of settings will be below 50dB. For comparison, human speech is, on average, around 60dB.
AIR RE-ENERGISATION
Ionic air purifiers have a benefit over standard filter systems as they are thought to re-energise the air as it passes through the filter. Re-energisation of indoor air has been thought to provide cognitive benefits including higher alertness and decreased drowsiness.
AIRIUS PUREAIR
The Airius PureAir series is a great example of a system that would work well in a medical or dental setting, as it uses the latest PHI (Photohydroionization) Cell technology to remove and neutralise a range of airborne contaminants in any indoor setting.
The PHI Cell emits ‘Ionised Hydroperoxides’, which is the naturally occurring cleaning agent that is responsible for the ‘fresh air’ smell after thunderstorms. Fans circulate air quickly, quietly and effectively, leading to 24 hour clean air in any space.
The Hydroperoxides not only neutralise chemical and biological threats in the atmosphere, they also are dispersed onto surfaces where their impart a similar disinfecting action.
Their value is such that ASHRAE (The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) strongly recommend their installation to control the spread of viral and bacterial diseases in buildings.
To find out about our range of PHI fans and how they can help you then please get in touch with us by calling on 01202 554 200 or sending us an email to [email protected]
Find Out More
See the original article here — https://www.airius.co.uk/all-resources/the-need-for-air-purification-in-doctors-dentists-surgeries/ | https://medium.com/@Airius/the-need-for-air-purification-in-local-high-risk-spaces-such-as-doctors-dentist-surgeries-5b7dc67706ff | ['Airius Europe'] | 2020-10-19 13:40:12.526000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Coronavirus', 'Dentistry', 'Air Purifier', 'Doctors'] |
How Much Should a Professional Resume Writing Service Cost?--Is It Worth It to Hire One? | Your resume is often the first impression that potential employers see, besides them checking out your LinkedIn profile or some other social media presence.
When considering hiring a professional resume writing service, be sure to do your homework and research that company or individual writer.
Find reviews on any resume writing company, such as on TrustPilot or SiteJabber and read any 1- or 2-star reviews. That will tell you the truth about what you are likely to get from them and will give some information about resume prices from what other people are saying in the reviews.
Your best bet is getting the best resume created that helps you present your best self. You need a resume that is visually appealing, easy to read, informative, and highlights what you bring to the table with your credentials, experience, passion and work ethic, to name a few things.
How much should a professional resume cost?
While you should consider the price of a professional resume an investment that could reap the rewards of a steady income, a raise and/or paid benefits, you still want to be sure that you are not being overcharged.
On the other hand, you also should not expect to have the best job done for you, in terms of getting a good resume that gets interviews, by only wanting to pay as little as possible.
Oftentimes, people looking to find a job seek out resume writing services because maybe their writing skills are not as good as they would like.
Or, maybe they just don’t have the patience to write resumes on their own. This leaves the question of — how much should one pay for a professional resume?
There are many resume writing services online to choose from, and the average cost of a non-executive, professional resume package is about $200-$300.
But what you will find is this is the average because the price range for a resume and resume packages is very wide, which is anywhere from $49 to $1000+.
So how much money should you spend to get a quality resume without breaking your bank?
The answer?
Well, it depends on your current career level and whether you are targeting a senior- or executive-level position or not.
A good price range for a professional resume is $100-$700, depending on whether it is an entry level, mid-career, or executive resume.
You will find, however, that some resume services charge upwards of $700 just for the resume alone, not including any package deals. And you will find that some charge well into the $1000s for resume packages.
What you decide to pay is up to you, but your decision should be based on your due diligence and research because not all resume writing services are equal, no matter what the cost.
Understand also that just because a resume writing company has had hundreds or thousands of customers, does not mean that you will get a quality resume package, responsive service and a good turnaround time. And, just because the service costs more does not mean these things either.
The old saying, “You get what you pay for,” is not necessarily so, in either direction, because you can get an excellent resume without paying exorbitant amounts of money.
Do your research!
Believe negative reviews! Believe them even if there are hundreds or thousands of “good” reviews. Real people give warnings about bad experiences.
What justifies resume prices of $100 to $700?
This may seem like a lot, but you must remember that writing resumes and cover letters and performing other services, such as revamping LinkedIn profiles, is not an easy job.
A good deal of time goes into labor, and time is worth compensation, just like you get paid at your job. You could expect an hourly rate range for a resume writer to be $45-$85 an hour, on average.
And then there’s research, critical thought, creative writing, editing and rewriting of some of your existing content, and of course consulting with you and keeping you informed through email and phone communications.
A resume writer spends between 4–8 hours (on average) to deliver your finalized resume, cover letter and/or LinkedIn profile modification.
Let’s break down time spent producing just the resume.
Receiving order, looking over documents and sending out introductory email: 15–20 minutes
Initial phone consultation: 20–30 minutes
Continuous contact, making and responding to client phone calls and emails, over the duration of the order process: 1–2 hours
Studying and assessing current resume and other documents and online researching the field of interest to find job descriptions to pull keywords from: 30–45 minutes
Time spent on critical thought, original writing and rewriting, creativity, content creation, and formatting to deliver the 1st draft: 2–3 hours
1st draft phone consultation to discuss: 20–30 minutes
Editing the resume at least once or twice before a finalized resume is produced: 30–45 minutes
Contact to confirm final version (via phone or email): 15 minutes
Keep in mind that the time estimates above are only for the resume, not including the cover letter and LinkedIn profile makeover, which can be another 1–2 hours of work.
So, how much money one should pay to get a professional resume written is $100 to $700, ranging from entry level to executive.
But be sure this is money spent with a reputable resume writing service that is transparent on the website, has adequate contact information and one that is responsive to your calls and emails.
And remember, the cost of a professional resume is an investment that will be recouped many times over from getting paid on your new job and the benefits that come along with it.
Originally posted on Quora.com | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/how-much-should-a-professional-resume-writing-service-cost-is-it-worth-it-to-hire-one-9c1e5f6dbfda | ['Audrey Malone'] | 2020-12-30 05:05:17.143000+00:00 | ['Advice', 'Resume', 'Business', 'Job Search', 'Job Hunting'] |
Men Deserve to be Emotional, Too | Photo by Aiony Haust on Unsplash
I’m not saying that men aren’t emotional. I’m saying that they are — naturally so, humanly so — but society shames them for being so. But with “toxic masculinity” being more addressed on social platforms, there’s a start for positive change with how we treat men and the reexamination of what it means to be “tough” and “masculine.”
To be masculine itself is not toxic, and there is no one set, all-encompassing definition of “masculinity.” But the construction of what constitutes “masculinity” by society is dangerous and depriving.
It is extremely human for people to be emotional. It is extremely human, cathartic, and necessary for people to be expressive of their emotions, whether those feelings are “moderate” or “extreme,” positive or negative, good or bad.
It’s human to be vulnerable. And it’s brave to allow that vulnerability to be on display.
Why does society teach the opposite? What was it that made people start to believe that feelings are shameful, and things to be hidden — especially for men? That pretending like they don’t exist somehow makes you stronger? Or that depriving yourself of them somehow makes you tough?
How did running away from your problems be made to look “strong” while confronting them was made to look “weak”?
Confrontation — being able to do it, even with yourself, is something to be proud of. Being real with yourself, and being real in front of others, is something to be applauded and celebrated. This is especially the case in a world where people are so obsessed with looks and things at the surface-level — things that are convenient and refuse to take the effort of going deeper and being intimate.
It saddens me to see the way people avoid their emotions or block them, or block them and control them from going deeper in the way that they would, should go naturally. By depriving someone — whether it’s someone else or yourself — of the deep level of feelings, you’re depriving one of their humanity.
And that’s what society is doing — has been doing — to boys and men, with their expectations for them to “be tough,” to not “cry like a girl” and to not be”too sensitive” and “weak.”
Of course, much of the feelings that are frowned upon from being expressed are the negative ones of sadness and anger — things that take energy to deal with and can be emotionally draining. Feelings can be scary.
But they’re also so freaking beautiful.
They’re necessary for enriching your life. To experience the good extremes to the greatest possible extent, it’s also important to experience feelings of the lowest, darkest types.
Romantic love, for instance, it so freaking beautiful.
Do you ever stop to think about how amazing it is that it even exists? It brings feelings of inexplicible pleasure and happiness that makes you feel like you’re going to burst and fly off like a balloon because you can’t stay on the ground, trying to contain all that joy. But those good feelings of love come at a price — they come with the fear of losing that love, with the fear of losing the person you love.
But those fears, those “negatives” — they make the positives all the more worthwhile, more special. Even the price, with the way it drains and suffocates, is freeing and lively.
With the shaming of men for having feeling and being emotional comes the shaming of being “feminine.” Society ridicules a man’s masculinity for shedding tears, for being head over heels for a woman. For wanting to settle down instead of playing the field, for wanting to be fiercely loyal to one single woman that they love.
Yet, these roles are expected for women, and are attributed to a woman’s femininity. If a man is determined to commit to one lover, he’s made fun of. If a woman decides to play to field and would rather not commit, she’s called gendered slurs like “slut” and “wh**e.” As someone who is “female” and expected to be “feminine” and is made the butt of jokes for exhibiting “masculine” traits. Femininity is frowned upon in both cases — whether it’s women or men reflecting them.
At the end of the day, being “feminine” is associated with subjugation and shame. Why does society do that?
To feminize feelings is to feminize being human — and that’s not fair. Being human should be recognized for what is it is — being human, regardless of gender. Being emotional, being vulnerable, being passionate — craving love, craving affection, experiencing the clutches of loneliness and wanting to be freed from it.
The desires of humanity do not discriminate among gender.
The genderization of the humanity that is the expression of emotions and feelings comes at high costs for men’s mental health as it does for the validation for women.
Invaliding a man’s strength and masculinity as a result of viewing them as emotional creatures is also invalidating women as rational beings for being emotional. Being “emotional” and being “rational” are not mutually exclusive. They are both essential elements of being human, and in fact, one complements the other. For instance, someone’s feelings about a career decision can help them make a rational decision about whether or not they should take that career. If it doesn’t make them happy, but another one does, they would know by their feelings not to take the former.
Emotions and feelings aren’t just abstract objects of uselessness. Not only do they actually help with making rational choices, but they also are valuable and priceless on their own.
They give a reason for us to live.
What reason would we have to live if we didn’t feel?
If we didn’t experience love and desires?
What would be the whole point of living at all if we couldn’t feel — be — alive?
When boys and men are taught that they’re not “supposed” to feel — they’re being taught that they’re not allowed to be alive. They’re only taught to live in ways that are limited.
We can’t keep allowing society to rob men of their humanity. We cannot be okay with societal expectations that rob men of their quality of life.
And simultaneously, by fighting these absurd expectations that praise the suppression of men’s humanity, we are fighting the notion that separates rationality from femininity. We are fighting the notion that emotions and feelings are exclusively reserved for women and girls.
Don’t ever tell little boys that they need to be tough and not “cry like a girl” when they’re hurting. Don’t make fun of a guy for being a “p***y” when he doesn’t feel comfortable with doing something. When you make statements like these, you’re shaming people for being human. You’re shaming people for hurting, and that in itself should anger you.
And by shaming boys and men in these ways, in which you’re attributing their shame to being feminine, in attacking their masculinity — you’re shaming and degrading women.
Imagine what a beautiful world the place would be if people were more comfortable with confronting their emotions and being honest with each other and with themselves. Imagine how much more beautiful relationships would be if people were more willing to be vulnerable with their loved ones, and weren’t putting up such a front to upholding images for the sake of pleasing society with its stupid, dehumanizing, disgustingly constructed expectations and myths about masculinity versus femininity.
Men and women both deserve to feel comfortable in their humanity. They deserve to feel and know that is okay — that it is good — to be unapologetically human. Vulnerability is sexy in anyone. | https://medium.com/@snswrites/men-deserve-to-be-emotional-too-3e5d3ec3d15e | ['Samantha Nasreen Shamim'] | 2020-12-02 20:12:53.405000+00:00 | ['Vulnerability', 'Mental Health', 'Gender'] |
Afghanistan: saving lives in one of the world’s deadliest conflict zones | Amanullah, a 32-year-old welder, worked in his shop near the Afghan capital Kabul when the neighbourhood suddenly rattled with automatic gunfire. People ran for cover as government troops engaged in heavy clashes with Taliban fighters in the streets outside.
“Bullets were flying everywhere,” Amanullah, who like most Afghans uses only one name, recalls. “Then someone fired a rocket that landed just outside my shop.”
Sakhi, Emergency Head Nurse, examines Amanhullah’s ex-rays showing shrapnel damage. ©European Union, 2020 (photographer: Peter Biro)
Amanullah was thrown backwards by the blast, hitting his head on a concrete wall. He woke up in the hospital four days later. The explosion had ripped off his right leg above the knee and sent jagged pieces of hot metal into various part of his body.
“When I woke up, I was wondering where I was,” he says, straining to speak due to damage by shrapnel to his lungs. “Then I looked down and my right leg was gone.”
Amputations are carried out only when it is lifesaving and absolutely necessary, but in a country dependent on manual labour and agriculture, the loss of a limb often means the loss of a livelihood as well.
“I worry a bit about the future,” Amanullah, a father of four, says.
A long-lasting conflict
Ordinary Afghans like Amanullah have long borne the brunt of fighting in a country that after more than 40 years remains one of the world’s deadliest conflict zones. Almost 6,000 Afghan civilians were killed or injured in the armed conflict, from 1 January to 30 September 2020, according to the latest report of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). September 2020 marks a 39% increase in the number of civilian casualties in comparison to the same period last year.
The toll has been consistent over the past six years, putting the total number of casualties in the past decade to over 100,000 people. The Afghan conflict remains the deadliest in the world for children. Child casualties were 31% of all civilian casualties in the first nine months of 2020, women 13%.
A patient is cared for by a nurse at Emergency’s facility in Kabul. The 35-year-old was carrying food along a secluded path near Kabul when he stepped in a land mine. He will require weeks of rehabilitation to be able to walk on the prosthetic leg. ©European Union, 2020 (photographer: Peter Biro)
Amanullah is now being treated in the surgical facility of an EU-supported aid group Emergency in Kabul, housed in a former kindergarten built by the Soviets. Emergency, based in Italy, opened its first surgical centre in Afghanistan in 1999, during the war between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. The centre, with 120 beds, treats war victims from across Afghanistan and has seen has seen an increasing flow of civilian patients suffering from serious injuries as a result of war.
The US and the Taliban recently signed an agreement that could result in American troops leaving the country. However, the Taliban has continued its offensive operations against the Afghan government. Meanwhile, the staff at Emergency remain on a 24-hour standby to deal with the next suicide attack or roadside bombing, which often results in a high number of killed and injured.
“We see an average of over 400 patients per month,” says Sakhi, Emergency’s head nurse. “But when a suicide bombing or other large attack occur, we are of course flooded with patients requiring immediate life-saving treatment.”
Dealing with mass tragedies
In 2018, when an ambulance loaded with explosives detonated near a crowd of police in the centre of Kabul, Emergency’s facility received over 130 wounded patients in one instance, brought to the front gates in cars, taxis and the back of pickup trucks.
“In mass events, the injured are taken to a triage station by the main gate, where we prioritise the wounded,” says Dejan Panic, Emergency’s Programme Coordinator in Afghanistan. “They are then taken to our three operation theatres, where they are treated by highly experienced staff specialised in trauma surgery.”
Outside the wards, patients in wheelchairs relish the first rays of the spring sun and in the hospital’s rehabilitation room, a young man practices walking with a new artificial leg, his hands gripping rails running along a ramp for support.
One of the facilities where many patients relax with a relative in the hospital garden. ©European Union, 2020 (photographer: Peter Biro)
Violations of International Humanitarian Law abound amongst all parties to the conflict. In the first nine months of 2020, UNAMA verified a total of 52 attacks on medical missions and 45 attacks against education facilities.
In an adjacent room lies Parwiz, 13. Just two days earlier, he was collecting firewood in a small village in the eastern province of Logar when he found what he recognised as a landmine in the undergrowth. As he lifted it to throw it away, the device exploded, sending shrapnel into his abdomen.
“We’ve removed all of it and the accident could have been much worse,” says Sakhi. “We expect him to fully recover.”
In 2019, over 40% of casualties were caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), planted by anti-government forces, including the Taliban and Islamic State. According to the UN, 885 people were killed by IEDs, with nearly 3,500 injured. Last year also saw record-high levels of civilian casualties from airstrikes, mostly carried out by international military forces, with more than 1,000 killed and injured.
The side effects of conflict
As health facilities continue to report record-high admission levels of conflict-related trauma cases, the EU has stepped up its humanitarian support for emergency treatment and related psychological assistance to include nearly 5,000 people each month.
“Treating war trauma has become one of the EU’s largest priorities in Afghanistan,” says Luigi Pandolfi, who oversees the EU’s humanitarian programs in the country. “We spend almost 30% of our overall budget to equip healthcare facilities with trauma care capacity.”
Pandolfi says that the EU’s and its humanitarian partners have been able to provide these critical services not only in large urban centres but also in remote and conflict-affected areas.
Ali Sajad, 17, is learning how to walk again after a bullet damaged his bones and muscles in the upper leg. ©European Union, 2020 (photographer: Peter Biro)
Healthcare in all forms is badly needed across the country. A staggering 10 million Afghans — over a quarter of the population — lack regular and sustained access to basic health services. Specialised care, such as treating trauma patients and rehabilitating amputees, is even rarer in government-run hospitals and clinics. To ease the burden on the strained Afghan healthcare system, the EU is also supporting the training of nurses and other healthcare staff in first aid, mass casualty management and basic life support.
“We have increasingly seen patients suffering from serious trauma arriving in the hospital properly bandaged, on spinal boards and stabilized,” says Dejan Panic. “Training is literally saving lives.” | https://europeancommission.medium.com/afghanistan-saving-lives-in-one-of-the-worlds-deadliest-conflict-zones-8e9bf736f4f2 | ['European Commission'] | 2020-11-23 08:33:41.802000+00:00 | ['Humanitarian', 'European Union', 'Afghanistan', 'Conflict', 'European Commission'] |
A Tale Of Two Abortions | It was in late April when my husband and I joined a club that has far too many members: we lost what we had dreamed would be our first child.
We learned the news while my sister was visiting me in Nairobi, Kenya. The three of us went in to hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time, filled with happy anticipation. I had honestly not even considered the option that we would be met with literal radio silence, as my pregnancy symptoms had been raging and I felt healthy. And though I had been reading books and articles about pregnancy, and though many of my friends have been pregnant, I didn’t know much about miscarriage.
Tears streamed down my face, unimpeded, as we learned that I had a silent miscarriage. “What do you mean?” I remember asking in an unnaturally high-pitched voice. My fetus, already so loved, had in fact stopped developing two weeks prior. My body had not realized this, and had continued producing the hCG pregnancy hormone, causing me to believe otherwise.
I wailed, loudly. A woman in the waiting room held me by the arms and told me that God will always provide. I tore away from her. We got smoothies. We drove to the OB-GYN office in a daze.
I had read that up to 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. In the waiting room, my sister even showed me a passage from Michelle Obama’s autobiography in which she talks about her own miscarriage and pregnancy struggles. But somehow, I never really thought it could happen to me.
At the OB-GYN office, my doctor said lots of words at me that didn’t filter through. Apparently, she talked through the three options for the actual miscarriage. I could try “expectant management,” meaning that I could wait for the fetus to pass on its own. That could take over a month, given my high hCG levels, and I would have no control over the timing or my environment. I could do a surgical abortion, commonly known as a D&C (dilation and curettage), which would require anesthesia and a trip to the hospital.
Finally, I could do a medical abortion at home, which my doctor recommended for my case. I vaguely remember her opening a medical textbook to tell me how to do it and what the risks were. She solemnly sent out for mifepristone and misoprostol, “just in case” I decided to go that route. We paid the receptionist 2,500 shillings for the drugs, or about $25; she would be able to legally procure them with a doctor’s note confirming my “nonviable pregnancy” (abortion is illegal in Kenya in most cases, though the drugs are available to aid with natural miscarriages like mine).
Reading the words “nonviable pregnancy” stung my eyes. This was not how I expected the morning to go. | https://brightthemag.com/a-tale-of-two-abortions-miscarriage-reproductive-health-8742b6d6b730 | ['Sarika Bansal'] | 2019-07-22 12:49:33.417000+00:00 | ['Essay', 'Miscarriage', 'Pregnancy', 'Health', 'Women'] |
What I learned falling off my bike in the middle of the road. | I once fell off my bike in the middle of Market Street. My front wheel got caught in the streetcar railing.
I fell somewhere here a few years ago (apparently they got cars off Market St. which is pretty cool!)
Thankfully, there wasn’t a streetcar or any cars immediately behind me. I got up and moved to the side, shaken but not seriously hurt. My colleague who was riding with me at the time rode back after a few minutes and asked if I was alright. I said I was, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to ride to our destination.
Then he said something that’s still stuck with me to this day. He said that if I don’t ride now, I will never ride on the road again — or it will become much more difficult. Because the memory of the fear would set into my bones.
I got on my bike after he said that and we went on to our destination. I rode on my bike around SF throughout the rest of that summer.
Don’t stop doing something just because you failed or got frightened once doing it.
This is especially true if you want to continue doing the thing. (I suppose if you jump off that plane for that skydiving experience one time, it matters less).
I almost didn’t write this today because last night I had a bad experience while writing it.
There was the guilt of leaving the writing to the last thing in my day. The knowledge that it’s not well-written. I feel uninspired and unqualified.
This may be familiar to you: you ‘need’ to do something. You push it back because you don’t really know how to tackle it, until the deadline comes and you finally force yourself to face it.
It’s called procrastination and most people are familiar with it.
But then this story popped up and I decided to write it. If I let the negative feelings overpower me tonight, then I will likely not write tomorrow either.
And guess what? Writing this tonight was a good experience. I have rewritten the last remembered feeling/state of writing from negative to easy and positive.
Nice. | https://medium.com/@karenblog/what-i-learned-falling-off-my-bike-in-the-middle-of-the-road-d2297ef8c66f | ['Karen Ling'] | 2020-04-04 18:59:38.375000+00:00 | ['Personal', 'Life', 'Self Improvement', 'Creativity', 'Procrastination'] |
Open Staking, Binance/WazirX Campaigns, April Updates | “April is the cruelest month” T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland
🚀final staking testnet w/ 1000 nodes & 320 validators w/ gitcoin & ankr
🤓EPoS economics tests, libp2p revamp for fast blocks & against dark arts
👩👩👧👦delegator campaign with binance, WazirX India listing, #1 on coincodecap
💥new website https://harmony.one with stronger branding and narratives
The intention of Harmony has always been to become fully decentralized. A team from all over the planet collaborating on an open platform, borderless and censorship resistant. We never expected it to happen in April 2020. But so it has. The novel coronavirus has impacted business everywhere and we are no exception. We say goodbye to our office, we embrace distributed teams and we look forward to launching Open Staking on mainnet as a fully decentralized operation.
It’s fair to say progress has been slower than we would have liked as we complete the phases of our Pangaea open staking testnet program. This is partly due to engineering being forced to work remotely but also simply due to caution. April was marked by several high profile hacks with dForce alone relieved of $25 million dollars worth of assets exploiting well-known vulnerabilities. If ever there was a time to tread carefully and test to exhaustion, this is it. Building a secure, sharded blockchain presents many challenges for which there is no playbook and there are few best practices yet.
Nonetheless, the Eng team has delivered above and beyond all expectations this month. Number 1 project on coincodecap for several weeks, keeping company with the likes of Libra, Ethereum and Filecoin. Heavy-hitters with many multiples of our operating budget. RJ and his team have worked tirelessly, around the clock, fixing bugs, restarting the network, iterating constantly. Our extended community P-Ops deserve a special mention for providing support, feedback and assistance to new validators throughout this extended testing phase. We are incredibly grateful for your skill and tireless commitment to building the Harmony network.
One of the undoubted highlights of q1 2020 has been the emergence of Edgar Aroutiounian as a leading engineering voice. Both externally, via his forthright and passionate Twitter feed, and internally, shipping 6,500 lines of code in a single month, he has become an invaluable teammate and the embodiment of the team’s commitment to excellence. It’s hard to do justice to his work refining the codebase, trimming dead code, reducing overhead and shoring up vulnerabilities but we are incredibly proud to have him on the team.
EPoS Validation
Harmony’s unique consensus mechanism, Effective Proof-of-Stake lowers the barrier for smaller token holders to participate in the network and at the tail end of April we finally saw it in operation. The results were exactly as we’d anticipated. Delegators voted with their feet, moving to where the returns were the best, mitigating stake centralization and creating a dynamic, fair environment for everyone. Visit https://staking.harmony.one/ to go deeper or follow the discussion.
Engineering
The team has been focused on shipping the phases of the Pangaea Open Staking Testnet. During April we moved from P1 to P3 and launched our Stake Heist hackathon on Gitcoin to expose vulnerabilities and battle test the network before mainnet launch. Watch my AMA with Gitcoin to gain more insight into our thinking for the months ahead.
Auto-node tool for dramatically faster running, monitoring, and managing of Harmony node and validators
P2P optimization for faster blocks
Optimized efficiency of staking logics and leader signature collection
Defense against P2P spamming at view change and database level
Developer walk-throughs — Matt has begun delivering a series of films to demonstrate the ease of deploying smart contracts and building dApps on Harmony
The next big ENG milestone? Full implementation of Open Staking on mainnet.
Business
https://harmony.one has been updated to be a more flexible, evolving website that can grow as we do. Learn more about staking on Harmony, our upcoming milestones and our technical highlights.
New Economic model — Our tokenomics were given a significant overhaul to better balance issuance and tx fees and mitigate dilution. The model can now be reduced to a simple sentence: Issuance plus transaction fees is set to 441m per year. Learn more about the rationale and specifics in our recent series of films.
Partnership with Ankr bears fruit — Ankr’s cloud service provides a clean, simple method for anyone to run a validator node on the testnet. With 2 months free and a simple one-click deployment method this significantly lowered the barrier to entry for less technical community members. Huge thanks to Ankr for being so responsive.
320 unique validators and 600 total on OSTN — we reached our target for p3 of engaging 320 external validators and we plan to onboard more as we prep for mainnet.
WazirXIndia listing — India remains a key territory for Harmony and launching on Wazirx is the first step in broadening access and furthering our goals in the sub continent. Watch: Harmony in India
Community
Delegator’s welcome — P3 saw the very welcome addition of delegators to our testnet through an incentivized competition with Binance where rewards earned are converted to real mainnet tokens. A first chance to see EPoS in action and gain crucial feedback in improving the staking dashboard and UX. As ever, the goal is to reduce centralization across the board.
Staking4All tools — this amazing staking partner continues to wow us with bots that significantly improve the user experience for validators. The Validator Bot can be found on Telegram as @HarmonyOne_ValidatorBot and provides real-time feedback on the status of your node and the network.
Another of our core supporters Chainnode Tech has just released a Staking Manager bot that can be accessed here: @HarmonyStakingMngBot and you can read up further on how to set it up via their handy guide. These community-built tools are invaluable in building the foundation of our ecosystem.
How Do I Get Involved?
Start testing Harmony staking as a validator. We are providing 1:1 setup service in this group https://t.me/PangaeaVolunteers. All you have to do is join, we’ll walk you through the rest!
What’s Next?
Open Staking on Mainnet. This is the validation of our network and the proof that EPoS is a viable take on PoS. It’s also the starter’s gun for building meaningful adoption. While it might be tempting to look at other projects and be dazzled by “partnership announcements”, we have poured every resource into ensuring the technical foundations are tested and secure. Now we are ready to ramp up development of our ecosystem through developer grants, Defi Middleware such as stablecoins, oracles and portals and to attack the cross-fi opportunity we identified last year.
We’re often asked what problem we are solving with Harmony. Fundamentally, it’s trust. Trust in governments, media and institutions may never be restored. Decentralized public networks provide a genuine solution but we’ve only just begun scratching the surface of what that looks like in terms of finance, automation and algorithmically directed societies. Over the next few months we will be articulating the Harmony vision and mission in starker terms.
A post Corona world is one in which blockchain has a chance to cement its place as a legitimate mainstream technology. This is Day One for Harmony. The rest was merely the prologue. | https://medium.com/harmony-one/open-staking-binance-wazirx-campaigns-april-updates-6bf21cc34707 | ['Stephen Tse'] | 2020-05-05 01:37:36.874000+00:00 | ['Proof Of Stake', 'Delegation', 'Staking', 'News', 'Staking Rewards'] |
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