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Supercharge Your Immune System with these 6 Essential Nutrients! | Our diet and lifestyle plays an important role in developing as well as strengthening our immune system. Every immune system is different. Some might be functioning effectively while others might need some help due to disturbances in some external or internal factors¹. Which is why, it is important for you to keep your body energized & healthy with the right kind of foods so that the tiny soldiers in your body get the required nourishment they need.
Boosting our immune system has never felt more important than now. A well-balanced diet day after day helps to avoid any nutritional deficiencies and will pay off the results in the long run.
(For a quick list of key takeaways, check towards the end)
Here are 6 key nutrients that will help to strengthen your WBCs and improve the body’s ability to fight against infections!
1. Vitamin C: You probably by now know that Vitamin C is linked to boosting your immunity. Vitamin C helps to boost the production of antibodies and acts as an antioxidant. Antioxidants help to fight against free radicals in the body and prevent any damage to the immune system.
1–2 servings (1 serving = 100 g) of vitamin C rich foods will help to support good health. Foods such as lemons, oranges, kiwi, broccoli, cauliflower, tomato, papaya, strawberry, amla or Indian gooseberry and bell peppers are excellent sources of vitamin C.
2. Vitamin D: Recent research² studies have shown that regular consumption of vitamin D helps to boost the immune system by decreasing the production of pro-inflammatory compounds in the body. It has also shown to lessen the risk of developing a viral infection including respiratory tract infections.
Some foods like salmon, mackerel, egg yolks, mushrooms and foods fortified with vitamin D are food sources. It is best to get yourself at least 20 mins natural sunlight in order to amp up your vitamin D levels. However, people with darker skin tones need to spend more time in the sun, preferably 30–35 mins to reap the benefits as melanin decreases the production of vitamin D. In case you are deficient, taking a supplementation under the guidance of your physician or nutritionist would be helpful.
3. Zinc: Zinc helps in boosting the production of WBCs in the body. Even a mild zinc deficiency can result in a weak immunity. Studies³ also suggest that zinc helps to control any inflammation in the body by tapping breaks on the immune system.
Whole grains, nuts & seeds, lean meat like chicken, turkey and beans & legumes are some food sources that are abundant in zinc.
4. Vitamin B12: Vitamin B12 also supports the production of WBCs in the body. It also helps to promote the growth of healthy gut-bacteria which help to boost the immune system by warding off harmful pathogens in the intestine. Animal products like chicken, fish, eggs, seafood and milk & milk products are rich sources of vitamin B12. However, it is advised to take a supplementation in case you are deficient.
5. Omega-3 fatty acids: Omega 3 fatty acids help in fighting inflammation in the body and also helps to keep a track of your immunity. Research⁴ has shown that omega -3 fatty acids can help reduce the risks of auto-immune disorders like Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Foods like almonds, walnuts, chia seeds, flax seeds and oily fishes like salmon, tuna, sardines or mackerel are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids and must be consumed at least 2–3 times a week.
6. Protein: Protein is known as the body building food. It is essential for synthesis of cells as well as antibodies for a better immune function. People who are protein deficient are often more susceptible to infections. Hence it is ideal to include protein rich foods in your main meals or snacks. Some protein rich foods include eggs, chicken, fish, nuts & seeds, pulses and legumes, soya chunks, tofu, milk & milk products like curd, buttermilk, cheese, paneer etc.
In-a-nutshell,
Diet and lifestyle factors play an important role in strengthening our immune system. A diet rich in whole foods helps prevent any sort of nutritional deficiencies which may result in a weak immunity. Regular consumption of foods rich in vitamin C, zinc, vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12 and protein will help to improve the body’s ability to fight against infections over time.
Links & References: | https://medium.com/diet-nutrition/supercharge-your-immune-system-with-these-6-essential-nutrients-b982b35ccea8 | ['Nutritionist Vasundhara Agrawal'] | 2020-04-30 05:32:18.469000+00:00 | ['Health Foods', 'Immunity Boosters', 'Immunity', 'Healthy Lifestyle', 'Immune System'] |
For the 25+ years working in corporate, I’ve always tried to keep a very clear line between work… | For the 25+ years working in corporate, I’ve always tried to keep a very clear line between work and home life. I would often stay to 8, 9, or even 10pm at the office to “finish” work so that I could leave the stress behind and be 100% present for my family. Working from home this year blurred that line completely. My son got to see me stressed on more than one occasion. It’s definitely been a learning experience. | https://medium.com/@stpchg/for-the-25-years-working-in-corporate-ive-always-tried-to-keep-a-very-clear-line-between-work-57418d08a34f | ['Brian Wright'] | 2020-12-25 19:02:43.906000+00:00 | ['Work Life Balance', 'Covid 19', 'Working From Home'] |
5 Simple Ways to Create Work/Life Harmony | Develop a time abundance versus a time scarcity mindset.
This is critical to implementing the To-YOU list. Let’s say you have scheduled a tennis lesson or an art lesson on your calendar. When the day comes, your inner critic will tell you that you don’t have time for it. How can you spend time doing that when you have so much work to do? I am sure you are familiar with this voice.
What is the first thing you think about when you wake up? Is it ‘I have too much to do, how am I going to get it all done?’. This is the time scarcity mindset.
To permit yourself to take action when your dedicated slot comes up, you need to develop the mindset of time abundance. It’s not that you have unlimited hours available; it’s changing your belief that you don’t have time for these kinds of activities or even primary self-care like exercise and mindfulness.
Remind yourself that you have more than enough time available, and by investing time into these activities, you are creating more space for yourself. Spending thirty minutes on something that energises you boosts your productivity and catapults your state from stress and overwhelm into calm confidence.
Self-care is self-leadership. By making more space for yourself, you can achieve more, not less. How can you show up powerfully when you are tired and full of resentment? By adopting the time abundance mindset, and you will create harmony in your life. | https://medium.com/a-little-bit-better/5-simple-ways-to-create-work-life-harmony-82404c310a63 | ['Lori Milner'] | 2021-06-17 13:34:47.005000+00:00 | ['Work', 'Mental Health', 'Covid 19', 'Personal Development', 'Inspiration'] |
Tsevet Lohamim: Becoming Who You Imagined | Tsevet Lohamim is the premier pre-army program for (mostly) foreign kids looking to enlist in the IDF. For most, it is so much more.
“Would you shut up for a minute while I finish talking?!”
It was 30 minutes past noon on an unbelievably hot July day when I had these words yelled at me. Standing in the middle of a parking lot by the beach, I had barely just completed a 4+ hour tortuous workout when I realized that I was seeing the same blurry instructor 3 times in front of me. I raised my hand, and in my broken immigrant Hebrew asked:
“Efshar, lishtot maim?” Can I have some water?
This 4+ hour torture was part of Tsevet Lohamim, a pre-army program designed primarily to give foreign kids (or olim as we are affectionately known in Israel) the tools to join the IDF.
Having just immigrated from California barely over a month ago, I was used to driving delivery shifts all day and drinking beer at night. Not having my ass handed to me in over 100 degrees Fahrenheit heat.
“Qui audet adipiscitur. Who dares, wins.” — British Special Air Service Motto
I had immigrated with the intent to join the IDF. Not out of any particular zionist desire — I’d grown up going to public school and my only real connection to Judaism was my mother telling me that I was Jewish because she was.
Nor was I there out of a strong feeling to defend freedom in the Middle East or fight terrorism around the globe.
In truth, my real desire for being there was a sense of adventure. I’d always been drawn to the military, and I dreaded the idea of being on my deathbed in 60 or 70 years looking back on my life wondering why I never became a soldier.
After finishing college and hearing stories from friends about how boring being a US soldier or marine in Iraq and Afghanistan was, and coming off the heels of the 2014 Gaza war, I decided that Israel was the place to be.
At 23 years old I hated the thought of my life being so predictable. Grow-up, college, job, marriage, kids, mortgage, retirement, death. So, I packed my bags and now found myself on the verge of heatstroke and dehydration, standing on a beach parking lot 15 minutes outside of Tel Aviv.
The First Session
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!” ― Hunter S. Thompson
I always imagined myself being the badass warrior, turns out there’s a reason why most people aren’t.
The path to it is long and arduous. It’s a physical, spiritual, and psychological challenge that tests individuals in ways that society doesn’t. It forces you to come face to face with yourself, to either fail or succeed in a way that is impossible to conceal. It is a path where the stakes are literally life and death, and where excuses in any form are unacceptable.
So how do you take someone between the ages of 18–24 and turn them into someone who thinks like that? That’s where Tsevet Lohamim steps in.
Founded in 2010 by an actual badass (since he still works in top-level security we’ll just call him “B”) Tsevet Lohamim’s mission was to take those spoiled Jewish kids, the ones whose mothers doted on them and whose fathers bought them everything they wanted, and turn them into something the Israeli military could actually use.
I happened to discover the program by chance, at a rooftop party of all places, only a month after I moved to Israel.
My first session was on a Tuesday, at a park next to the Port of Tel Aviv. The man running that particular training, Eric, was a take-no-bullshit kind of guy who didn’t mind being direct and rude if necessary. Me being the hothead I was, talked back. I was warned by several trainees to check myself or risk getting thrown out of the program. I rolled my eyes at them.
The second session started on Friday morning. The beach was 15 minutes north of Tel Aviv, in front of an upper-middle-class neighborhood, and guarded by cliffs and dunes that would eventually become dotted with our sweat, blood, and sometimes tears.
It was a 2-hour journey for me to get there — done by walking, train ride, bus, and walking again. I showed up late, running to a group standing in what is known as a chet. A military formation that looks like the Hebrew letter ח.
That was the first time I met B. I apologized for my lateness, explaining that it was harder to find the place than I imagined. He told me to fall in and the fun began.
Everything was done at breakneck speed. We sprinted up and down hills. Ran into the water and then rolled around in the sand. We did pushups until our arms shook like branches in a storm and situps until we felt sick.
At one point we all lay on our backs in a row. The person at the end would get up and run across everyone’s stomachs and lay down at the opposite end. Then the next person would go. We did this until we reached a certain point, then we back in the opposite direction.
At one point I was crawling, apparently not to B’s satisfaction. As a “corrective measure,” I had my head forced into the sand while B shoved fistfuls of sand down my pants. “Keep going!” everyone shouted. Giving up was not an option.
There were two girls in the session. My goal was to simply keep up with them — something that wasn’t always achieved.
By the end of the session we were told to grab a sandbag, race up a hill, sprint back down, and head into the water while someone tried to stop up us. I remember 2 things from that exercise:
One kid got his nose bloodied while trying to fight off the guy to get into the water, but kept going anyway. B praised this effort, and the kid showed off his bloody nose as a badge of honor. When it was my turn, I hurled myself at the guy trying to stop me (who was built like a linebacker) and all I got as a reward was him saying, “Dude, you’re not even trying.” The next thing I knew I was lying facedown in the sand with B yelling at me to get back up.
The Reflection
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
After the session was over and I’d finally had some water I went and sat on the sand facing the beach. There was shade only a couple of dozen meters away, but I was so exhausted that the thought of carrying my bag there seemed like an insurmountable task.
Right then, sitting on the beach, I had a thought: I can’t do this. The IDF was just too hard. Now I would be forced to go back to the US as a failure. I simply wasn’t cut out for this sort of life.
At that point, I was at the lowest of the low. I actually, and I don’t know how to say this in any other way, briefly considered just swimming out into the middle of the ocean. I knew I was too exhausted to tread water for long, and I’d drown.
I know, that’s dark, and I doubt I would’ve made it past the surf even if I actually wanted to do that. Instead, I dragged myself to the shade and fell asleep for 2 hours. When I woke up I could barely move a muscle. Still, I had to hustle back to the train station or risk taking a $100 cab home since Shabbat was closing in.
That night, I dreamt that I was swimming in an endless sea of water. At one point, I saw a rock appear. Standing on that rock was my mother, with her arm outstretched towards me. Just as I was about to grab her hand I was aggressively pulled underwater. I woke up with a yell, and noticed that I had my arm outstretched.
The Transformation
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ― Winston S. Churchill
This point in the Hero’s Journey is known as “crossing the threshold.” It is after the main character has met his mentor and is now ready to begin his mission.
My mission at this point was a simple one: don’t give up.
I began attending regular Tsevet Lohamim sessions. My next Friday was with Eric. Only this time, I didn’t talk balk to the guy.
Instead, I did all the exercises I was told to without complaining. At one point I even did more rounds or intervals than everyone else. When asked how I did that, I simply said, “I just didn’t stop.”
From then on I got better and better as time went on. It was never easy. My shoulders were bruised from carrying a loaded stretcher up and down hills. We even did a session where we stayed up all night, something Israelis call a “layla lavan.” It literally translates to “white night,” since you never close your eyes and sleep so your eyes are always seeing something.
I remember that as we carried a stretcher through Tel Aviv during one of these “white nights” the people sitting at the bars cheered us along. It was an amazing feeling, being a part of something that society openly appreciated and rooted for.
At the end of the day, that’s what Tsevet Lohamim was about, not giving up. Giving yourself to something bigger than just you. I could go on for hours about Tsevet. The workouts, the pushups we did on our knuckles until they became hard and calloused. The way my body changed and transformed from soft and doughy to something lean and capable.
But what it really was, what it is today, is a transformation in mentality. 6 years after that first session, after I finished my army service, got married, and started to live that traditional life that I always feared, we had a sending off for B.
He was going to Texas, to be a security advisor and actually start making real money for training people the way he trained us. During the speeches mixed with tequila shots, B said something that stuck with me:
“Tsevet Lohamim isn’t just a training organization. It brought together a group of people with a very specific mindset. People who value hard work, and character. People who are willing to give themselves to a greater cause. In every unit, you have — when trouble strikes — people who throw down their weapons and run away. This group was to build a group of people who would not do that. Instead, it was for those are ready to sacrifice themselves for others.”
I know that most people reading this, especially in today’s political climate, will have trouble understanding B and his methods. Today’s society generally revolves solely around the individual. Capitalism demands competition, and thus people live life in a zero-sum game. Living for something other than yourself and your family can make it harder to profit. And as we all know, profit equals survival.
Today I’m still involved in Tsevet Lohamim, now as a trainer instead of a trainee. No, I don’t shove sand down people’s pants, or make them do knuckle pushups, but I do make it my mission to push them a little further than they thought they could.
For me, watching the next generation transform from “normal” kids into determined, purposeful individuals fills me with pride and satisfaction. Beyond just service to a country, Tsevet gives something to the world that I think is sorely missed.
People with character. People who are willing to do things for others.
For me, I can’t imagine a better reason to do anything. | https://medium.com/@meletdillon/tsevet-lohamim-becoming-who-you-imagined-61a365c44502 | ['Dillon Melet'] | 2021-09-11 19:58:38.572000+00:00 | ['Military', 'Idf', 'Improvement', 'Israel', 'Mission'] |
The Human DeFi Hæck Winners Announcement | We are proud to present the HumanDefiHaeck winning teams in the following 8 categories:
⚡️ The Best DeFi Solution: æLink
A powerful, open-source implementation in a product enabling all Bitcoin-based currencies to transfer value to the æternity Blockchain, thereby bridging old school blockchain technologies to enjoy æternity Daepps and all other functionalities.
“I believe everyone over here won today because the knowledge you are gathering is more important than the award itself”, said Martin during the HumanDeFi Winners Announcement Session
Link to Project details here | Creator: Martin Kuvandzhiev
⚡️ Best Superhero.com new feature: Decentralized Insurance on æternity Blockchain
An open-source project integrating a decentralized insurance marketplace on æternity blockchains social media platform Superhero.com. It allows buying policies, perform escrow services, and use it as an investment tool to earn money.
“Thanks to the Aeternity team for inspiring me to build and put something to this Haeckathon..I found support and comfort ”, said Jeevanjot while explaining the Best Superhero.com new feature!
Link to Project details here | Creator: Jeevanjot Singh
⚡️ Superhero Community award: Superchat
An open-source DeFi chat app embedded on the Superhero.com for connecting with familiar ones, to send and receive AE tokens. Current features being worked on include adding group functionalities to enable a user to send and save tokens alongside messages to members of that group.
Link to Project details here | Creators: Emmanuel Joseph, Yinka Adedokun, Amaka Ubaka, Moyinoluwa Fesobi, Oluwatosin Ayeni and team
“Personally I still want to get a hang of the state channel technology, there are lot of things that you can do with state channels‘‘, highlighted Superchat’s team during the Winners Session
⚡️ The Best use of AE technology, most performant Sophia Smart Contract: AeonNet
A convergent and coherent clearing house powered by Aeternity time locked token contracts. It uses Hash Time Locks implemented through the time stamping transactions in a Blockchain, additionally, implementing a non-fungible token standard for time token monetization.
Link to Project details here | Creator: Gokul Alex
⚡️ The Best Prototype: Carbonland Trust
Carbonland Trust creates a tokenized carbon credit and forest conservation program that is opening access to the CO2 marketplace for everyone. It offers token holders an easy way to offset CO2, while offering landowners financial incentive to manage and conserve forest land.
“Thank you very much for seeing potential in Carbonland Trust; I look forward to continuing on our project, and see how we can potentially use Carbonland Trust and æternity blockchain to preserve millions of acres of forests and sequester CO2”, said Boone while receiving the award on behalf of the team.
Link to Project details here | Creator: Luca Capra, Boone Bergsma
⚡️ The Most Impactful Project: Superhero for Charitable causes
An interface embedded on the Superhero platform that will allow users to directly donate using smart contracts, to charitable causes that are registered on the Superhero platform. Organizations can claim their donations simply by registering their chain name on Superhero.
Link to Project details here | Creator: Jeremiah Joseph, Sadick Mghase
“In our regions we have seen donations being misused by people but using Superhero we believe this can end the problem”, explained Jeremiah while introducing the winning idea.
⚡️ The Coolest Stuff: Blinkit
An IoT device based around Arduino that can connect and interact with the æternity blockchain rendering a plethora of services like displaying prices and price on changes of the æternity token, Showing number of transactions on the blockchain, digital signage gateway for payments and a user-friendly multi device web interface amongst others.
Link to Project details here | Creator: Techtek
⚡️⚡️ The Best Mentor: Marco Walz
Always putting myself in the perspective of the users. Love doing Scrum (the right way) and push me and my team to new limits. Passionate about new technologies and inventions that will make our all lives better and more comfortable — it’s a short introduction to amazing work, energy and mentorship skills which Marco brought to the HumanDeFiHaeck!
If you’ve missed the Award Ceremony, you can watch it now, and hear the reactions of each winning team:
Judge Milen Radkov, CEO of Hack.bg and a recent inductee in the Forbes ’30 under 30’ title, expressed his joy in reviewing such inspiring projects, and urged each and every recipient to evolve these prototypes and realize them on the æternity mainnet in the future.
The panel of Judges boasted of an all-round composition of stalwarts within the blockchain community.
The Story Behind 💬
On the 22nd October 2020, æternity developement team brought together a community of enterprising, innovative, technologically proficient haeckers and proposed a challenge to deliver human-centric financial services over its network. Subsequently, dispatching the development of its open-Source social media platform Superhero.com to the community. This was also an entry point to start developing on the æternity blockchain. As a result, the Haeckathon included in its agenda, a strong educational component to highlight the advantages of æternity protocol to its archetypal compatibility with DeFi solutions.
Embedded oracles, unlimited scalability, low transaction fees and a user-friendly programming language for developing smart contracts are just some of the features that make æternity an ethical and technically competent protocol, especially for building DeFi solutions.
Besides providing developers with essential tools and resources to build on æternity, the Haeckathon purposefully facilitated design thinking techniques to ensure a market-centric development of solutions. To further alleviate this process, accomplished experts and long-time collaborators b4H ‘ Blockchain 4 Humanity’ led three different design thinking and team building webinars to guide participants towards the holistic development of meaningful solutions.
Over the initial days of skill-building activities and creating think tanks, a total of 10 webinars were conducted. These sessions were conducted over a live stream and have garnered 1.7k+ views so far. A recommendation for anyone and everyone interested in getting started with development on æternity. The complete playlist including webinars are available on YouTube, linked here.
æternity development team hopes this haeckathon has been an enriching experience for all the participants and vouches to continue this approach to continually support and grow our community to build the next generation of decentralized applications on top of æternity.
This is a great opportunity to thank @hack , b4H, CryptoTask, SmartCredit.io, Jelly, Piixpay, EthicHub, Nym, mentors, judges and media friends for supporting HumanDeFi!
After 5 weeks of team building, ideation, learning and coding, we are really content with the outcome of the haeck and have already started building agendas for the next one!
See you in the next haeck!!!
#LetskeepBUIDLing #StæyTuned | https://blog.aeternity.com/the-human-defi-h%C3%A6ck-winners-announcement-ca1777f374e6 | ['Æternity Blockchain'] | 2020-12-21 11:52:34.353000+00:00 | ['Aeternity', 'Blockchain', 'Hackathons', 'Æternity', 'Defi'] |
A New Injustice, Pt. 3 | Leopoldo had been a good if not great writer who became nothing more than a politics addict, first in the hyperbolic sense and then in a very real one. The less he could idealize things on paper, the more he felt the need to idealize things in his own life. He one time characterized the city of Guanajuato to Itzap as being, like her, one of the only objects of his true affections, a statement that echoed briefly through her head while descending from her apartment to the centro, seeing the slaggy arrangements of multicolored concrete cubes melting like bits of coffeeshop-poster psychedelia toward the valley floor, tiny lithe birds sliding in fast little arcs across slick red domes. She was dressed almost like she were going out for a night of dancing instead of this remanded “discussion,” flowy white blouse printed with thick blue vertical stripes and black jeans, face vaguely scrunched, impatient to get where she was going, wide-set and sharp-edged eyes making space for a long, columnar nose.
People preferred to think of the city as halfway stuck in time, navigating encapsulated and unmolested through the dimensional folds, destined to witness sun-death in more or less its present form. The truth, though, was that the flow of modernity had long ago broken its banks and flooded the ancient streets, increasingly inundated with forlorn poor and rootless caribes from every bygone island nation, newspaper kiosks silently shrieking of this nationalist military alliance here, that evaporating natural resource there, headlines that the people were made to feel somehow a little guilty to be interested in at all. Current history, for a city of fossilized aesthetic beauty, was too distressing, too unwieldy, and simply not poetic enough. In such a rarified environment, taking a stand on any issue save for the preservation of culture felt unnecessary, even crudely political.
This was one explanation why, despite Leo’s political aims being theoretically well-suited for a city like Guanajuato, he was viewed by his colleagues at the university (who, if anything, were suspiciously apolitical, so much that they had essentially rolled over for the new reactionary government — which also happened to be the controlling financial interest of the school — and had conveniently forgotten the need to practice, or even just teach, dissent) as an obsessive type of person destined for nothing but trouble with authority.
Itzap could see it from both sides. She could understand his work as being necessary, maybe even noble, but the unpleasant truth was he could indeed tire those around him, including her, with his relentless politicization of everything, and his romantic nature led him to go too far, so that when he encountered those who were skeptical of him he fought back by making overly bold displays of his convictions. More than anything, though, she missed the artist in him, his old quaint but admirable manner of rejecting and critiquing a hypermodern world losing track of its humanity.
Clave Azul was a bar that catered to older intellectuals and communists-at-heart, a low-lit, quiet place except for when alcohol-fueled debates became contentious, the interior composed of several small chambers with stone walls and rough wood furniture and framed portraits of famous leftists. She found him in the backmost room, empty except for him, sitting at their regular corner table over a goldbanded bottle of Bohemia, mouthing the words to a Jorge Negrete song that was playing with eyes closed and a Chesterfield chuffing madly in his fingers. He sensed her come in and put down the cigarette, standing to kiss her hello (just barely a bit shorter than she was) with an uncharacteristic look of seriousness that failed to put her at ease. His features were handsome but seamed and well-worn, and he still had all his hair. What made him seem younger than he was wasn’t his looks but his physicality. A smoker for decades, his voice was deep, damaged, melancholy. They settled in across from one another.
“So?” she said. “What the fuck?”
He failed to contain an amused smirk, reaching for the nub of cigarette he’d left balanced on the ashtray.
“Amor,” he said (his whole nonchalant air irritating her greatly), “you know more than anyone how I feel about this — ”
“Exactly. I thought I knew, but now it turns out you were lying to me the whole time, or agreeing with me for some other reason, maybe because it was just convenient for you, maybe just because all you wanted was to fuck — ”
“ — but,” he continued, “this is different, it just feels different. When you told me you were pregnant I felt happy, and that’s the last thing I thought I would feel. It’s impossible to explain, but the more I think about it, the more I think we should have this baby.”
She was left staring before breaking into a long — seconds long — mournful groan. She was still in the middle of it when Martin came to the table to take her drink order.
“Esteee… something for you, Itzap?”
“Dios,” she breathed, “yes, please. I’ll have a — ” She stopped, remembering all over again, and suddenly the tortured groan returned.
Leo ordered for her. “Maybe just a Fresca, Martin, gracias.” He turned to her. “Itzap, please…”
“I just want to know,” she said, “how for two whole years your opinion was always the same — it would be immoral to bring a new life into this collapsing world, you would never because it would distract from your work — and now all of a sudden you’re this different person. I mean, I trusted you to let you know I was pregnant. If I’d known, I probably wouldn’t have even…”
Leo mined another cigarette from the carton with a sigh. “I’m sorry. I’m not telling you what to do, just how I feel. If you decide to get rid of it, I’ll understand.”
“But it wouldn’t be what you’d choose.”
His face turned almost apologetic. “No. I’m prepared to love this baby.”
“Leo, this isn’t funny. You say you’re not telling me what to do, but it feels like you’re pressuring me. Do you get that?”
He nodded. “I know. It’s not fair. I’m not trying to be fair. If I was being fair I would agree with you.”
“Fuck, Leo. What about Patricia?”
He turned grave. “I’ve thought about that. If you decide to have the baby, I’ll divorce her. Even if you don’t want to be with me.”
This exploded in Itzap’s mind into a trillion potentialities. She felt sickened by a twinge of excitement at the idea of having Leo all to herself, an option that had never been on the table as a matter of practicality, but even so she had quietly wondered about it for a long time now. The excitement gave way to disbelief, tangled realizations: she would be destroying Leo’s wife’s marriage, and then she would be stuck with him, a man twice her age, raising a child, she would have to break up with Toño, admit to her parents what had been going on all this time…
“Itzap, what’s wrong?”
No, it was too much. She needed her feet on solid ground.
“Something else,” she said, “how does this whole idea of having a baby suddenly fit with your politics?”
“My politics haven’t changed,” he said, straightening in his chair.
“But your opinion of having a baby has.”
The question seemed difficult for him. He took the time to finally light his cigarette.
“No answer?”
“I don’t know,” he forced out, staring into the rising smoke. “I’m a pessimist. I never really think about it that way, but I guess it’s the truth. Look, could you turn your phone off?”
She gave him a confused look, but did as he asked.
“It’s off.”
He leaned toward her and said quietly, “The thing is, you don’t become an arms trafficker if you’re an optimist. And you especially don’t become one if your goal is to be a family man. You do it because you’re scared shitless, or because you hate — all the way into your soul — the people who want to rule in your name. I stand by what I’ve said in the past. Who would want to bring an innocent life into this dying, authoritarian, bigoted world? Maybe only someone too stupid or too stubborn to know the difference, but why should I assume that someone isn’t me? That’s one of the problems with politics, it’s all about fear. You can end up afraid of your own shadow.”
“So you figured, ‘Why the hell not?’”
“Can you please stop being so cynical? Look, all I can do is defend a feeling, and how I felt when you told me you were pregnant was happy. Believe me, I was as surprised as you are. There are certain luxuries I try not to afford myself, and hope is one of them. But I’ve been strict with myself too long and maybe I forgot how to pay attention to my heart.”
“Don’t throw emotions at me like they were revelations,” she said.
“Fine. But there’s no question in my mind that I love you, and for what it’s worth, I would love our child. If I couldn’t give it the best, I would settle for what’s possible. And maybe this is what sustains my political convictions, more than just pure commitment to a cause. I — ”
He went quiet as Martin came back in carrying the bottle of Fresca. He took a rag and wiped the condensation from the glass before wrenching the cap off with a hiss and setting it on the table, blind to the silence and tension.
“Algo más, chicos?”
“Estamos bien, Martin, gracias.”
“Provecho.”
He left them looking at each other.
“It’s a beautiful speech, Leo,” she said, “but right now I can’t trust a beautiful speech.”
He took offense. “Carajo, Itzap. This isn’t a performance! Is that what you think of me?”
“Please. You know I think highly of you. But my feelings haven’t changed.”
“You’re worried about money.”
“Not money. It’s just… Look, if I was any good at this I would’ve come out of your course a writer. I’m not going to try to validate my reasons, and I don’t have to. Just know, you might have all these justifications for why you want a baby, but I only have one justification for why I don’t.”
“Which is?”
She was about to answer but saw Leo’s focus switch to something behind her. She turned in her chair. Toño stood barely a meter from their table.
He made no move, his face wild, burning.
“You’re pregnant?” he said shakily.
“Toño. How did you know we were here?”
He lifted his shirt, pulled a black .32 revolver from his waistband and aimed it at Leopoldo.
“No!”
“Toño!” Itzap shot up from her chair.
He retreated a half-step, turning his aim on her.
She faced him. “Put the fucking gun down.”
“I should fucking kill you,” voice trembling, eyes wet. “You fucking lied to me.”
“Grow up.”
He menaced her with the gun, trying to remind her who was supposed to be in control.
She looked past the revolver. “Do it, then.”
“Stop!” Leo shouted.
“Do it. You fucking coward.”
A tear streaked down his face. He smashed her across the face with the gun. She stumbled backward, came into contact with her chair and toppled to the ground.
Leo stood. “Hijo de puta madre!”
Itzap writhed beside the overturned chair.
Toño’s face melted to horror, humiliation. He looked at Leopoldo, something beyond fear shimmering in his eyes. He put the gun to his own head.
Martin turned the corner, taking hold of the hand with the pistol. Leo rushed forward and tackled Toño full force, taking both of them to the ground and leaving Martin holding the gun.
Itzap staggered to her feet, cheekbone deeply gashed. The lower half of her face was masked in blood. She was screaming something distorted by unsteady vocal chords.
Martin and Leopoldo hauled Toño off the ground. He had gone catatonic, no longer putting up any resistance. They dragged him toward the front of the bar.
Itzap could follow only a short distance, vision foggy and head light, still screaming.
“Let him do it! Let him fucking shoot me!”
She collapsed.
—
“Hola, Señorita Escobedo. Are you ready to hold her?”
Her baby had been cleaned up, clothed in a pink onesie and a soft white cap. Itzap felt deadened, hair still damp with the sweat.
The mushy brown face squirmed a bit as it was transferred into her arms but quickly settled, desperate to be held by her. Tiny white mittens latched weakly onto her collarbone. Little lips smacked, showing a curve of pink tongue, eyes shut tight against bright hospital lights.
Itzap had never seen anything more innocent, more radiant. She cried quietly.
I will spend my whole life justifying what I’ve done to you. | https://medium.com/@bramble_52354/a-new-injustice-pt-3-991b1ce8dbe5 | ['Steven T. Bramble'] | 2020-12-10 20:44:44.215000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Abortion', 'Relationships', 'Ethics And Morals', 'México'] |
Tesla smartphone: What would an Elon Musk-inspired Model P phone look like? | Tesla smartphone: What would an Elon Musk-inspired Model P phone look like?
Dutch-based industrial designer Martin Hajek shows what a Tesla smartphone might look like if Elon Musk ever decided to create a connected device for his electric cars. Shivanshudagar Dec 25, 2020·1 min read
Elon Musk is known as a problematic visionary; he has gone through the previous twenty years accomplishing the unimaginable and without any assistance changing the car and space businesses.
Musk has never freely remarked on his aim to get into the soaked cell phone producing business. In any case, envision imagine a scenario in which he declared his next undertaking was to make the ideal cell phone that centers around structure and capacity.
Architect Martin Hajek has concocted what can be best portrayed as a brief look at what a Tesla cell phone may resemble if Musk ever chosen to make an associated gadget for his electric vehicles. | https://medium.com/@shivanshudagar999/tesla-smartphone-what-would-an-elon-musk-inspired-model-p-phone-look-like-6d3180cd5973 | [] | 2020-12-25 21:00:55.365000+00:00 | ['Elon Musk', 'Smartphones', 'Tesla', 'Mobile', 'Technology'] |
How to design a logo: A step-by-step guide for absolute beginners. | Step 1: Client Discovery
A logo is quite literally the face of a brand. Firstly, you have to understand what the brand is aiming to achieve and what its business goals are. To be more elaborate, you have to embody the spirit of the brand. To do this you have to sit down with your clients and ask what exactly they are looking for because they can help you understand what kind of impression the brand is striving for.
Jolt down all the requirements on a piece of paper and on another piece of paper try to write down certain keywords or adjectives that come to your mind whilst thinking about the brand for which you’re trying to design the logo. This technique is known as Mind-Mapping. There are other techniques as well, but I find mind mapping to be the most effective of all.
At the end of this step, you should have your own well-informed take on the brand. This initial step will set the foundation for upcoming steps, it helps you to understand the core personality of the brand.
If you are just getting started and you are wondering how to get your first client, I will definitely cover that topic in a separate article.
Step 2: Find inspiration
Now, they are a lot of ways to do this but in my opinion, the best to start is by researching the industry. For example: if you’re designing a coffee brand, start by looking for other coffee brand logos and figure out what techniques or color combinations are being presently used, and ask yourself what can you do differently that can set you apart because the last thing you want to be is another brick in the wall.
Inspiration Resources
Need a good place to start? I suggest you can choose any one of these sites :
Behance: Behance is a platform developed by Adobe and it's great for finding complete projects, most of these projects will include a roadmap and a style guide to explain their process.
Behance is a platform developed by Adobe and it's great for finding complete projects, most of these projects will include a roadmap and a style guide to explain their process. Dribbble: Dribbble is a good resource to connect with other fellow designers and ask for feedback. Also, a great place to get unique design elements.
Dribbble is a good resource to connect with other fellow designers and ask for feedback. Also, a great place to get unique design elements. Pinterest: This might sound obvious, but Pinterest is a go-to online platform for design inspiration. Its search engine allows you to browse through all of the web to including Behance and Dribbble.
This might sound obvious, but Pinterest is a go-to online platform for design inspiration. Its search engine allows you to browse through all of the web to including Behance and Dribbble. Instagram and other social media: There is more to Instagram than sharing pictures with your friends and family. Instagram is a great website for design inspiration. You should follow other designers, using their work to expand your personal/professional taste.
Note: The point of all of this is to surround yourselves with examples of great design and designers. Exploring some sources of design inspiration could bring out the creative spark. It’s no secret that the creative industry can drain you of ideas, but I’ve found that creativity is like a muscle. If you don’t use it, it gets weaker. Also, this helps you to make informed decisions about your own designs.
Step 3: Start Sketching
Original sketches of some of the most popular logos.
By far the most important part of the process and rather an overwhelming one also. Now I cant stress on this point enough that you don’t have to be good at drawing to be a good designer. You can learn the basics about sketching from any of the tutorials that are out there. The act of sketching can alone get your creative juices flowing. It helps you to bring your ideas to life and the discovery and research performed come in handy at this time.
The goal of sketching is to bridge the gap between an idea and the creation of design, so that the blank canvas is no more blank when you head over to vectorise your logo in illustrator.
Now that you have a clear idea about the spirit of the brand and are feeling inspired. It is time to bring out the big guns — paper and pencil. There are now a lot of things you can choose from like different types of typography and shapes. Sketching a variety of ideas makes you see what works and what doesn’t. You can help yourself by asking yourself these questions :
What type of logo will best suit the brand (7 types of logos)? On which platform the logo will be used? (Website icons, signs, and banners, product packaging, social media profiles and banners, business cards, etc) Who is your target audience? What sets your company apart from your competitor?
After all this, it’s time to put your hands to work and start sketching!!
Note: Sketch a bunch of logo ideas and just before you think you’re ready to narrow down your choices, sketch some more. You might surprise yourself with something you like better. If you’re having a dilemma between what to keep in your final design and what to discard, show your significant other, your friends or your clients. New, fresh ideas come from the unlikeliest of sources. So, never hesitate to ask for a feedback.
Step 4: Choosing a color palette
Color represents different types of complex emotions. Our brain perceives every color differently and you can add this to your advantage while choosing your palette. Color represents the kind of message you want to send to your audience, hence, choose wisely. This in itself is a very big topic to cover in a single article. So, I will write a detailed article sometime in near future. Until then you can use this as your reference. They’ve done a marvelous job in explaining all key concepts there is to know about colors.
Step 5: Bringing your design to life.
Now that you’re done with everything it’s time to vectorize your sketches. I personally use Adobe Illustrator as it is the most popular one in the business but there are others as well, choose anyone you like.
In this step, while designing your logo you have a chance to experiment with your design, play around with the color, shapes, and typography and see what looks the best.
Once you’re done with your first draft, show around and ask for feedback. Feedback helps a lot as you’re because you’re now able to see your design from a fresh set of eyes. No matter how perfect you think your designs are there is always room for improvement.
An Example
Here is a quick example of my logo progression from my recent project. I have journaled my entire design process in the form of a video (here).
Parting Thoughts…
With all this in mind, I want to say that everyone has a unique approach to designing logos and I have mine too. I’ve tried to articulate every detail that my design process entails. For businesses, logos are like their tinder profile picture, it will help them attract more customers, which will make them know more about you. So whether you’re making this for personal use, or for a client of yours, try to tell a story that will resonate with everyone.
All love. | https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/how-to-design-a-logo-a-step-by-step-guide-for-absolute-beginners-37a43e1e928d | ['Shantanu Kumar'] | 2021-05-14 17:19:58.138000+00:00 | ['Design Process', 'Design', 'Design Thinking', 'Logo', 'Resources'] |
VC: High Dimensional PCA and Kernel PCA | This post assumes you already know what PCA is. If you don’t please check my previous post.
n < p case (High dimensional PCA)
If the feature space is bigger than the number of data points, our rank is determined by n-1 because it is centred by the mean. Therefore, the degree of freedom is reduced, we can calculate the last one by the previous n-1 data points because of the mean.
We will use one fact to efficiently calculate the high dimensional PCA. All eigenvectors of S are in the span of z(the centred vector of the original data).
The proof of z span u.
This proof starts with the eigenvalue decomposition of the scatter matrix. We can think of the inner product of S and u as the sum of vector inner products. We got u is some scalar product of z. The scalar coefficient consists of eigenvalue, eigenvector, and z transpose. We can reduce the computation with this fact from p x p eigenvalue problem to n x n eigenvalue problem.
This process the calculation down to just eigenvalue decomposition of the K matrix.
We start with the eigenvalue decomposition of the scatter matrix S and it becomes the eigenvalue decomposition of matrix K because its vector product is different, it is from the different index of the vectors. We assume the eigenvector of S is normalized and we easily calculate the alpha, this is what we want to get. The alpha is the coefficient of z spanning u.
This is from u*u transpose = 1.
Alpha can be calculated with this equation
The dot product of u will be 1 and we can calculate the alpha with this fact as you can see above. The eigenvalue of K must be plus because we are going to use the square root.
The final equation. this is a simple equation to calculate.
We change the p x p calculation into n x n, this means we change the subjects of eigenvalue decomposition from the scatter matrix to the K matrix.
Kernel PCA
Make a high-dimensional data and PCA on that space.
The purpose of Kernel PCA is to overcome the limitation of PCA, it only considers the variation from a linear relationship. To preserve the nonlinear structure when we apply PCA on our data needs to use the kernel trick. The core idea is it nonlinearly maps to a higher-dimensional feature space, apply PCA there.
Kernel Trick
To apply PCA in feature space, we do not explicitly need the feature map, only a nonlinear kernel function is needed. Here are widely used examples:
Example of Kernels
Unfortunately, we need centering when we apply PCA. In this case, we easily apply the previous method (just subtracting the mean) because it is a non-linear relationship.
We are trying to get the matrix K like the normal PCA.
If we get the matrix K centered, then it is easy to calculate the alpha, the coefficient of z(the centered original data points). As you can see above, we can get centered K from just normal K and there is a more easy way to calculate the centered K because we know the centered K consists of normal K.
The centered matrix can be calculated with H and normal K.
The proof to calculate the above equation is easy and we will skip this and the algorithm is the same with previous PCA because we know the centered K.
Algorithm
Input: features and kernel function
Output: Embedded value
k is the kernel and it is centered and it is normalized by D
Compute kernel matrix K. Compute centered K by HKH. Compute spectral decomposition centered K = UΛU.transpose, sort the eigenvalue and eigenvectors in decreasing order of eigenvalues We select the desired dimension and D is the squared root of Λ only including desired dimensions.
You can compare this result and the result above. Actually, it is really similar to each other.
Advantages
Better reflects nonlinear structures. Given suitable kernels, can be applied to more abstract objects or to unfold manifolds.
Disadvantages
Less interpretable because principal modes are no longer a fixed combination of input variables Unlike with linear PCA, it is not easy to find a vector that corresponds to given Kernel PCA coordinates.
Example
The sensitivity plot [Reverter et al., 2012]
The graph is from Kernel PCA of gene expression data and the kernel is RBF kernel. The arrow indicates how much each point is changed when the single gene’s expression changes. As you can see, T-cell changes a lot but another cell dose not change much.
Actual data
This can be detected in other experiments. Therefore, Kernel PCA can represent its data well.
The next post will be MDS and ISOMAP.
This post is published on 9/5/2020.
This post is edited on 9/8/2020. | https://medium.com/swlh/vc-high-dimensional-pca-and-kernel-pca-415ef47e2d15 | [] | 2020-09-08 19:38:54.771000+00:00 | ['Visualization', 'Data Science', 'Bioinformatics', 'Principal Component', 'Dimensionality Reduction'] |
My Year of Writing During COVID | Magic Water in Poland
The train to Krakow is wide and sturdy. We have paid for first class, have our own compartment for the price of a… | https://medium.com/@danielle.baldock.writer/my-year-of-writing-during-covid-e1ca3da5c37 | ['Danielle Baldock - Writer'] | 2020-12-18 20:36:18.160000+00:00 | ['Covid-19', 'Microfiction', 'Flash Fiction', 'Fiction', 'Writing'] |
Staying D.R.Y With Before_Action | A popular mantra when learning Ruby is to be D.R.Y(Don’t Repeat Yourself), we do this in order to avoid looking like our friend Clint Eastwood up above. When building up a Rails application, you find yourself repeating code statements often; especially in your model controllers. Let’s take a look at a few CRUD actions in a controller for a post model within a blog application :
As you can see, we are already repeating ourselves in the actions ‘show’, ‘edit’, ‘update’, and ‘destroy’ in the very first line of each action . In each of these methods we are calling:
@post = Post.find(params[:id]
to acquire a post instance. To D.R.Y our code up in the controller, we can add a controller filter that is run prior to each action. Filters are methods that can be run before, after, or around controller actions. For the purpose of this instance, we want to use a “before” filter since we want this code to run before our actions. | https://dr-lucasleibs.medium.com/staying-d-r-y-with-before-action-c13ea1482832 | ['Lucas Leiberman'] | 2020-08-12 18:00:37.621000+00:00 | ['Coding', 'Ruby on Rails', 'Ruby', 'Software Development'] |
Karya Penakhluk Konstantinopel | Hi! As an extraordinary dreamer, I am going to archive every dream that comes true during my stay on earth. | https://medium.com/@nada-marcha/karya-penakhluk-konstantinopel-7888d96fa23f | ['Nada Marcha Putri'] | 2020-12-09 09:08:35.779000+00:00 | ['Istanbul', 'Turki', 'Bosphorus', 'Turkey', 'Rumeli Hisarı'] |
How to Overcome Fears about Podcasting and Speaking — The Wave Podcasting | Guest Post by Alexandra Cohl
You know that feeling when fear hits your body? When your stomach starts to tighten, your palms begin to feel clammy, and then even your thoughts clam up? Or, when tension starts to grab hold of your shoulders and your thoughts spin out of control, latching onto any bad thing that could happen?
As someone with generalized anxiety, fear is very present throughout my day-to-day life. Just writing about it incites those feelings in my body. In my previous article, “Feeling Afraid of Starting Your Podcast? Don’t Worry, You Aren’t Alone,” I talked about the “what ifs” and other worries I have had about starting a podcast.
In it, I also shared fears from some of my favorite women in the industry, specifically the ones they had prior to starting their podcast. Through speaking with them, I realized just how normal mine were, and since you’re reading this, I suspect that you are wondering how to quell those fears just like I had been.
Dope advice from fellow podcasters
Upon reaching out to these women, they were also generous enough to share tips on how they overcame this inevitable fear of trying something new. These range in their locations, experience, and expertise but all of them don’t let fear stop them from sharing their voice. Trust me, these quotes will definitely help:
What you need to take away from this
We aren’t going to ever fully rid ourselves of fear. That’s a given. But, we can harness it and recognize that it is normal and that one huge way to soften its voice is through putting in the work and trusting your own unique perspective.
Lately, I’ve been reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Big Magic, and in it she talks a lot about how creativity and fear are woven together and will always be present with each other. Therefore, fear doesn’t mean we should not do the thing. Instead, it just means we need to have an arsenal ready to combat and accept those fear thoughts when they come up.
So, here’s what I want you to do, and I promise I’ll do it, too. Don’t just read through these quotes and forget about them tomorrow or in a week or whatever. Read them. Save them somewhere that you will see them. Look to them when you are conceptualizing your own podcast, recording your first episode, or interviewing an exciting (and in that case probably intimidating) guest, and put them into practice each day.
I’m here to help
It is going to take work, just like Rita said, and part of that work is creating reminders for yourself. Even if your fear wasn’t named in this article, that doesn’t mean others do not have it. I can bet you that someone is having the same thought right now, so do what I did and start asking around on Twitter, Instagram, your friend circles, wherever you can. And, you can always DM me about it!
Whatever you do, start talking about it and realize that you are not alone. Forget all the shoulds of what you think your podcast should be and start putting what your voice is out there. And when you do, send it to me, ’cause I want to hear it. | https://medium.com/the-wave-podcasting/how-to-overcome-fears-about-podcasting-and-speaking-the-wave-podcasting-b9d5e43929cb | ['Lauren Popish'] | 2021-02-17 01:26:04.171000+00:00 | ['Podcasting', 'Podcasting Tips', 'Women Podcasters', 'Podcasting 101', 'Podcasters'] |
Why use Selenium Grid? | Untuk setup automation testing untuk parallel execution menggunakan beda browser pada selenium Remotewebdriver dengan selenium grid. untuk menjalankan paralel test yang di perlu di perhatikan ada di:
File BaseTest pada setup Capability contoh seperti berikut:
package base; import driver.ThreadLocalDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.Platform;
import org.openqa.selenium.chrome.ChromeOptions;
import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxOptions;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.DesiredCapabilities;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver;
import org.testng.annotations.AfterMethod;
import org.testng.annotations.BeforeMethod;
import org.testng.annotations.Parameters; import java.net.URL;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit; public class BaseTest extends DesiredCapabilities { @BeforeMethod
@Parameters(value = {"browser"})
public void preparation(String browser) throws Exception {
if (browser.equals("chrome")) {
new DesiredCapabilities();
DesiredCapabilities capability = chrome();
capability.setBrowserName("chrome");
capability.setPlatform(Platform.MAC);
ChromeOptions options = new ChromeOptions();
options.merge(capability);
ThreadLocalDriver.setTLDriver(new RemoteWebDriver(new URL("http://localhost:4444/wd/hub"), options));
} else if (browser.equals("firefox")) {
new DesiredCapabilities();
DesiredCapabilities capability = firefox();
capability.setBrowserName("firefox");
capability.setPlatform(Platform.MAC);
FirefoxOptions options = new FirefoxOptions();
options.merge(capability);
ThreadLocalDriver.setTLDriver(new RemoteWebDriver(new URL("http://localhost:4444/wd/hub"), options));
} ThreadLocalDriver.getTLDriver().manage().window().maximize();
ThreadLocalDriver.getTLDriver().manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS); } @AfterMethod
public void stopServer() {
ThreadLocalDriver.getTLDriver().quit();
} }
Untuk selanjutnya setup di runner class seperti berikut:
ChromeRunner
package runner; import base.BaseTest;
import cucumber.api.CucumberOptions;
import cucumber.api.testng.CucumberFeatureWrapper;
import cucumber.api.testng.TestNGCucumberRunner;
import org.testng.annotations.*;
@CucumberOptions(
features = "src/main/resources/features",
glue = {"steps"},
tags = {"@test"}
)
public class ChromeRunner extends BaseTest { private TestNGCucumberRunner testNGCucumberRunner; @BeforeClass(alwaysRun = true)
public void setUpClass() {
System.out.println("Setup TestNG for Cucumber");
testNGCucumberRunner = new TestNGCucumberRunner(this.getClass());
} @Test(groups = "cucumber", description = "Runs Cucumber Feature", dataProvider = "features")
public void feature(CucumberFeatureWrapper cucumberFeature) {
System.out.println("In Test TestNG for Cucumber");
testNGCucumberRunner.runCucumber(cucumberFeature.getCucumberFeature());
} @DataProvider(parallel = true)
public Object[][] features() {
return testNGCucumberRunner.provideFeatures();
} @AfterClass(alwaysRun = true)
public void tearDownClass() {
System.out.println("Final Session TestNG for Cucumber");
testNGCucumberRunner.finish();
}
}
Firefox Runner
package runner; import base.BaseTest;
import cucumber.api.CucumberOptions;
import cucumber.api.testng.CucumberFeatureWrapper;
import cucumber.api.testng.TestNGCucumberRunner;
import org.testng.annotations.*;
@CucumberOptions(
features = "src/main/resources/features",
glue = {"steps"},
tags = {"@test"}
)
public class FirefoxRunner extends BaseTest { private TestNGCucumberRunner testNGCucumberRunner; @BeforeClass(alwaysRun = true)
public void setUpClass() {
System.out.println("Setup TestNG for Cucumber");
testNGCucumberRunner = new TestNGCucumberRunner(this.getClass());
} @Test(groups = "cucumber", description = "Runs Cucumber Feature", dataProvider = "features")
public void feature(CucumberFeatureWrapper cucumberFeature) {
System.out.println("In Test TestNG for Cucumber");
testNGCucumberRunner.runCucumber(cucumberFeature.getCucumberFeature());
} @DataProvider(parallel = true)
public Object[][] features() {
return testNGCucumberRunner.provideFeatures();
} @AfterClass(alwaysRun = true)
public void tearDownClass() {
System.out.println("Final Session TestNG for Cucumber");
testNGCucumberRunner.finish();
}
}
Untuk di file testng.xml yang tak kalah penting untuk settingan paralel execution berjalan seperti berikut:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE suite SYSTEM "http://testng.org/testng-1.0.dtd">
<suite name="Parallel test suite" parallel="tests" thread-count="2">
<test name="Regression 1">
<parameter name="browser" value="chrome"/>
<classes>
<class name="runner.ChromeRunner">
</class>
</classes>
</test>
<test name="Regression 2">
<parameter name="browser" value="firefox"/>
<classes>
<class name="runner.FirefoxRunner">
</class>
</classes>
</test>
</suite>
Output Result:
Pada codingan di atas, menggunakan class DesiredCapabilities untuk mengatur properti pada Selenium WebDriver. Properti pada Capability digunakan untuk konfigurasi browser seperti BrowserName BrowserVersion, lokasi script yang akan di Execute dan lainnya. | https://medium.com/@yogiisari/why-use-selenium-grid-5c2ab3f13a5a | ['Yogi Is Ariyanto'] | 2021-06-04 02:55:38.936000+00:00 | ['Selenium', 'Selenium Test Automation', 'Selenium Grid', 'Selenium Webdriver', 'Web Automation Testing'] |
How Pinterest runs Kafka at scale | Yu Yang | Pinterest engineer, Data Engineering
Pinterest runs one of the largest Kafka deployments in the cloud. We use Apache Kafka extensively as a message bus to transport data and to power real-time streaming services, ultimately helping more than 250 million Pinners around the world discover and do what they love.
As mentioned in an earlier post, we use Kafka to transport data to our data warehouse, including critical events like impressions, clicks, close-ups, and repins. We also use Kafka to transport visibility metrics for our internal services. If the metrics-related Kafka clusters have any glitches, we can’t accurately monitor our services or generate alerts that signal issues. On the real-time streaming side, Kafka is used to power many streaming applications, such as fresh content indexing and recommendation, spam detection and filtering, real-time advertiser budget computation, and so on.
We’ve shared out experiences at the Kafka Summit 2018 on incremental db ingestion using Kafka, and building real-time ads platforms using kafka streams. With >2,000 brokers running on Amazon Web Services, transporting >800 billion messages and >1.2 petabytes per day, and handling >15 million messages per second during the peak hours, we’re often asked about our Kafka setup and how to operate Kafka reliably in the cloud. We’re taking this opportunity to share our learnings.
Pinterest Kafka setup
Figure 1 shows the Pinterest Kafka service setup. Currently we have Kafka in three regions of AWS. Most of the Kafka brokers are in the us-east-1 region. We have a smaller footprints in us-east-2 and eu-west-1. We use MirrorMaker to transport data among these three regions. In each region, we spread the brokers among multiple clusters for topic level isolation. With that, one cluster failure only affects a limited number of topics. We limit the maximum size of each cluster to 200 brokers.
We currently use d2.2xlarge as the default broker instances.The d2.2xlarge instance type works well for most Pinterest workloads. We also have a few small clusters that use d2.8xlarge instances for highly fanout reads. Before settling on d2 instances with local storage, we experimented with using Elastic Block Store st1 (throughput optimized hard drives) for our Kafka workloads. We found that the d2 instances with local storage performed better than EBS st1 storage.
Figure 1. Pinterest Kafka setup
We have default.replication.factor set to 3 to protect us against up to two broker failures in one cluster. As of November 2018, AWS Spread Placement Groups limit running instances per availability zone per group to seven. Because of this limit, we cannot leverage spread placement groups to guarantee that replicas are allocated to different physical hosts in the same availability zone. Instead, we spread the brokers in each Kafka cluster among three availability zones, and ensure that replicas of each topic partition are spread among the availability zones to withstand up to two broker failures per cluster.
Kafka Cluster auto-healing
With thousands of brokers running in the cloud, we have broker failures almost every day. Manual work was required to handle broker failures. That added significant operational overhead to the team. In 2017, we built and open-sourced DoctorKafka, a Kafka operations automation service to perform partition reassignment during broker failure for operation automation.
It turned out that partition reassignment alone is not sufficient. In January 2018, we encountered broker failures that partition reassignment alone could not heal due to degraded hardware. When the underlying physical machines were degraded, the brokers ran into unexpected bad states. Although DoctorKafka can assign topic partitions on the failed brokers to other brokers, producers and consumers from dependent services may still try to talk to the failed or degraded broker, resulting in issues in the dependent services. Replacing failed brokers quickly is important for guaranteeing Kafka service quality.
In Q1 2018, we improved DoctorKafka with a broker replacement feature that allows it to replace failed brokers automatically using user-provided scripts, which has helped us protect the Kafka clusters against unforeseeable issues. Replacing too many brokers in a short period of time can cause data loss, as our clusters only store three replicas of data. To address this issue, we built a rate limiting feature in DoctorKafka that allows it to replace only one broker for a cluster in a period of time.
It’s also worth noting that the AWS ec2 api allows users to replace instances while keeping hostnames and IP addresses unchanged, which enables us to minimize the impact of broker replacement on dependent services. We’ve since been able to reduce Kafka-related alerts by >95% and keep >2000 brokers running in the cloud with minimum human intervention. See here for our broker replacement configuration in DoctorKafka.
Working with the Kafka open source community
The Kafka open source community has been active in developing new features and fixing known issues. We set up an internal build to continuously pull the latest Kafka changes in release branches and push them into production in a monthly cadence.
We’ve also improved Kafka ourselves and contributed the changes back to the community. Recently, Pinterest engineers have made the following contributions to Kafka:
KIP-91 Adding delivery.timeout.ms to Kafka producer
KIP-245 Use Properties instead of StreamsConfig in KafkaStreams constructor
KAFKA-6896 Export producer and consumer metrics in Kafka Streams
KAFKA-7023 Move prepareForBulkLoad() call after customized RocksDBConfigSettters
KAFKA-7103 Use bulk loading for RocksDBSegmentedBytesStore during init
We’ve also proposed several Kafka Improvement Proposals that are under discussion:
KIP-276 Add config prefix for different consumers
KIP-300 Add windowed KTable API
KIP-345 Reduce consumer rebalances through static membership
Next Steps
Although we’ve made improvements to scale the Kafka service at Pinterest, many interesting problems need to be solved to bring the service to the next level. For instance, we’ll be exploring Kubernetes as an abstraction layer for Kafka at Pinterest.
We’re currently investigating using two availability zones for Kafka clusters to reduce interzone data transfer costs, since the chance of two simultaneous availability zone failures is low. AWS latest generation instance types are EBS optimized, and have dedicated EBS bandwidth and better network performance than previous generations. As such, we’ll evaluate these latest instance types leveraging EBS for faster Kafka broker recovery.
Pinterest engineering has many interesting problems to solve, from building scalable, reliable, and efficient infrastructure to applying cutting edge machine learning technologies to help Pinners discover and do what they love. Check out our open engineering roles and join us!
Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to Henry Cai, Shawn Nguyen, Yi Yin, Liquan Pei, Boyang Chen, Eric Lopez, Robert Claire, Jayme Cox, Vahid Hashemian, and Ambud Sharma who improved Kafka service at Pinterest.
Appendix:
1. The Kafka broker setting that we use with d2.2xlarge instances. Here we only list the settings that are different from Kafka default values.
2. The following is Pinterest Kafka java parameters.
We enable TLS access for Kafka at Pinterest. As of Kafka 2.0.0, each KafkaChannel with a ssl connection costs ~122K memory, and Kafka may accumulate a large number of unclosed KafkaChannels due to frequent re-connection (see KAFKA-7304 for details). We use a 8GB heap size to minimize the risk of having Kafka run into long-pause GC. We used a 4GB heap size for Kafka process before enabling TLS. | https://medium.com/pinterest-engineering/how-pinterest-runs-kafka-at-scale-ff9c6f735be | ['Pinterest Engineering'] | 2018-11-28 22:21:11.105000+00:00 | ['AWS', 'Engineering', 'Kafka Streams', 'Apache Kafka', 'Open Source'] |
Unlocking the potential of electric scooters could have huge benefits for London | Bird arrives at the Move Conference
I was in London this week speaking at the Move conference. The conference’s mission is “to create the world’s most important mobility event, where disruptive technology and innovation drive much needed change.” It’s not lost on me that it took place in London , one of the most congested cities in the world — and one that desperately needs to re-think mobility. In fact the average speed of a car in the city centre is now just over six miles per hour and it’s getting slower. Congestion has not only brought London to a standstill, it also means the city has some of the highest levels of urban pollution in Europe. The problem is so bad that the UK has been referred to Europe’s highest court for failing to tackle the illegal levels of air pollution.
I’ve been inspired by some of the talks I’ve heard. It’s exciting that London has set itself the goal to reduce car dependency and transition 80 percent of trips to foot, bicycle and other sustainable modes of transport including scooters alongside public transport by 2041. I fully agree with my fellow speakers that rapid changes are needed to achieve this goal. While there is no silver bullet, giving Londoners access to greener transport solutions is a big step in the right direction.
Bird’s mission is a simple one — to make cities more livable. We can do this by reducing car trips and the resulting traffic and emissions with an environmentally friendly and convenient alternative to the car. Bird’s smartphone app enables you to locate and ride our network of dockless electric scooters in cities. When you’ve arrived at your destination you simply park the scooter in a convenient place and end your ride from within the app.
We continue to be humbled by the adoption of our service in the cities we operate in, which goes to show how passionate people are about solving congestion and air quality problems in their communities. In our first 12 months of operation, people around the world took more than 10 million rides on our electric scooters in over 100 cities. If these rides had been carried out in a car instead, an estimated 12.7 million additional pounds of CO2 would have been emitted into the atmosphere.
Closer to home we launched our service in Paris last summer. We’ve been blown away by how Parisians have taken to Bird. In fact 71% of electric scooter riders in the city now use their cars less; and perhaps more interesting is that a third of our riders use Birds to connect to the existing public transport network. We believe we could have the same impact in London.
At Bird we work closely with the cities we operate in to ensure Bird complements the existing public transport network. When we launch in a new city we always start with a small number of scooters, only adding new ones when we know there is demand for them. We also look at where the scooters are being used, so unlike docked solutions, we can position the scooters in the right places and the right times. At night we stop riders being able to use the service, not only does this make it safer, it also gives us the opportunity to charge and maintain the scooters. This helps to ensure tidy roads. So while we want to grow, we want to do so responsibly and in partnership with cities throughout Europe. I’m proud that as a result of our approach every city we have entered in the region has welcomed us and continues to support us.
Safety First…Always wear a helmet!
As a business we’re obsessed with safety and we have a number of policies and initiatives in place. We require all riders to be 18 or older before they can ride, even when the law may allow for younger riders. All riders consent to a safety agreement with Bird, and those who do not act responsibly will no longer have access to the app. Bird also promotes the use of helmets and has given away tens of thousands of them in the cities we operate in.
In November last year we launched the UK’s first ever electric scooter pilot on private land in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to give Londoners a taste of how our scooters can improve mobility. It’s no secret that our ambition is to launch the service more broadly in the UK so we can start playing a role in helping cities become cleaner and less congested — however, under current regulations this is sadly not possible. While we have seen many countries adopt policies to enable electric scooters, this has not yet happened in the UK.
Try out Bird in the Queen Elizabeth Park!
In most of the cities we operate in electric scooters are regulated the same way as a bicycle, so they can be ridden in bike lanes and roads. We believe London would benefit hugely from Bird not only because London has invested heavily in cycling infrastructure but also because in the first week of our small pilot, we saw over 1,000 people download the app and take their first ride. We’re confident this is something people in London want.
Bird, the policy makers and the people they represent all share a common goal — to make our towns and cities better places to live and work. While we appreciate electric scooters are new, we hope our trial and the example we have set in other countries will demonstrate how electric scooters can play a vital role in cutting congestion and the associated pollution. Ultimately, however, it is up to the Government to give us a chance.
The UK has always been at the forefront of innovation. In a world where major European cities are embracing electric scooters, it would be unlikely that people here will want to be left behind. Cities like Paris and Vienna have already embraced these new forms of clean mobility and we remain optimistic that the UK will follow. | https://medium.com/@patrickstudener/unlocking-the-potential-of-electric-scooters-could-have-huge-benefits-for-london-510955bbeee1 | ['Patrick Studener'] | 2019-02-16 13:06:26.684000+00:00 | ['Transportation', 'Sustainability', 'London'] |
My Day-I with Reinforcement Learning | What is Reinforcement Learning?
RL is believed to be the fourth paradigm of Artificial Intelligence after Supervised, Semi-supervised and Unsupervised Machine Learning. As per many experts, RL is the true AI.” RL is a learning paradigm concerned with learning to control a system so as to maximize a numerical performance measure that expresses a long-term objective”, wrote Csaba Szpesvari in his book Algorithms for Reinforcement Learning. RL is the science of decision making that makes it so general and interesting.
In English, Reinforcement Learning is a kind of Machine Learning in which an Agent makes certain Observation and then takes Actions within an Environment in an expectation of getting rewards. The objective of the RL Algorithm is to learn in an attempt to maximize its long term rewards.
If you did not get the intuitive meaning of terms like Reward, Environment, Actions then sit tight, an easy diagram along with an analogy is coming your way :
Basic RL Working
The Agent( could be compared with the Brain of a human) acts in a specified environment. It Observes the environment and then selects the Action that will bring it maximum Reward.
Dishwashing Example
For instance, an RL algorithm is employed in a dish room. As mentioned in the figure above, Agent’s task is to get rid ( by cleaning and stacking the dishes properly)of Dishes as soon as possible and will be rewarded a point every time there will be no dishes on the counter. The action space of the Agent might be Joint movement. And information that Agent might get back is a camera image of the kitchen. Might get +1 reward if there are no dishes on the counter. In this scenario, there will be a delayed reward- for a long time, the dishes will be on the counter unless it just sweeps all the dishes off the counter and has them crash on the floor. So in this scenario, the expected reward will come after a long time.
Just in case you are wondering who decides the Reward? It is the algorithm designer that decides the Rewards as per the environment where an algorithm is about to be employed.
How RL is different from other ML algorithms? There is no supervisor. It is more of a trial and error paradigm. There are just reward signals. And the feedback about good/bad decision might not come instantaneously. It might get delayed by several steps. So in RL when a decision is making then only after several steps the decision could be judged good/bad. If you had watched the Alpha Go documentary then you will surely understand this concept intuitively. Ref: When algorithm makes some weird moves (Move 37 for instance )and everyone doubted the strength of Alpha Go but it ends in the end. The i.i.d paradigm does not apply to RL because of the Agent acting in the real world. As the Agent makes action, the data that it is receiving varies significantly. Unlike other algorithms, RL is based on reward hypothesis ( stating all the goals could be described by maximization of the expected cumulative reward ) | https://medium.com/@khatri_81309/my-day-i-with-reinforcement-learning-7e64fd027345 | ['Rahul Rai Khatri'] | 2019-04-27 00:05:03.307000+00:00 | ['Reinforcement Learning', 'Diary', 'Python', 'Deep Learning', 'Machine Learning'] |
How to Eliminate Bad Habits That Are Holding You Back | How to Eliminate Bad Habits That Are Holding You Back
“Successful people are simply those with successful habits.” ~Brian Tracy
Photo credit: iStock
By Gideon Hanekom
Successful people are simply those with successful habits.
~Brian Tracy
We all have habits that are hurting us. Your habit may be as small as biting your nails or buying expensive coffees every day. On the more extreme side of things you may wish to break free of smoking, anger issues, excessive overeating, or other destructive habits.
The good new is, there are ways to deal with habits that are holding you back.
Use these strategies below that will show you how to eliminate bad habits that are holding you back once and for all:
Get a big enough WHY. None of human behaviour is random. Everything we do is done for a reason. The reason is usually to avoid some form of “pain” (usually psychologically and emotionally in nature), or obtain some kind of pleasure/gain. Once we perceive a certain action to cause too much pain, we tend to cease that behaviour. As long as we downplay the cost of certain behaviour in our minds, we will continue that behaviour or pattern. An important first step in ceasing any bad habit that might be hurting you, is considering the cost of perpetuating that pattern in the now. Not someday, but now. What does it cost me and others right now? Think about how your habit hurts you and others. Does it harm your health? Make you look old? Put a major dent in your bank account? Does it make you act irrationally? Does it hurt your kids? Create a list of the cost of your current “bad habits” to you and those you love right now. Make it as painful as possible, in order to create leverage. Also, create a list of major benefits that you’ll experience when you replace these habits permanently.
None of human behaviour is random. Everything we do is done for a reason. The reason is usually to avoid some form of “pain” (usually psychologically and emotionally in nature), or obtain some kind of pleasure/gain. Once we perceive a certain action to cause too much pain, we tend to cease that behaviour. As long as we downplay the cost of certain behaviour in our minds, we will continue that behaviour or pattern. An important first step in ceasing any bad habit that might be hurting you, is considering the cost of perpetuating that pattern in the now. Not someday, but now. Think about how your habit hurts you and others. Does it harm your health? Make you look old? Put a major dent in your bank account? Does it make you act irrationally? Does it hurt your kids? Make it as painful as possible, in order to create leverage. Find a reason to remove that detrimental habit in your life and hammer that thought into your mind each time you want to continue with it.
each time you want to continue with it. What’s the pot at the end of the rainbow? Naturally, when there is a direct reward at the end of your pursuit, you’re more inclined to give a wholehearted effort. The only way to adopt a new empowering habit is by positive reinforcement. Creating leverage through pain is an initial step which is quite powerful. But to maintain a new habit you need more. Conditioning any new habit or pattern of behaviour therefore is essential. Coming up with ways to reward yourself immediately after you exercised and new habit or behaviour, is crucial. Reinforcement relies on the element of timing . When you reward or “punish” yourself too long after a certain behaviour, the brain can’t make the association or connection between behaviour and consequence. This makes it very hard for your brain to create a neural association that will serve new habits on a subconscious level moving forward. Which means, you will constantly have to rely on willpower to make good choices while trying to overcome bad habits. This is not a good strategy. Therefore reward yourself in small ways, but consistently, right after you exercise or engage in positive patterns of behaviour/habits moving forward. This over time will create the neural connections or pathways for new habits.
Naturally, The only way to adopt a new empowering habit is by positive reinforcement. Creating leverage through pain is an initial step which is quite powerful. But to maintain a new habit you need more. Conditioning any new habit or pattern of behaviour therefore is essential. Coming up with ways to reward yourself after you exercised and new habit or behaviour, is crucial. . When you reward or “punish” yourself too long after a certain behaviour, the brain can’t make the association or connection between behaviour and consequence. This makes it very hard for your brain to create a neural association that will serve new habits on a subconscious level moving forward. Which means, you will constantly have to rely on willpower to make good choices while trying to overcome bad habits. This is not a good strategy. Therefore reward yourself in small ways, but consistently, right after you exercise or engage in positive patterns of behaviour/habits moving forward. This over time will create the neural connections or pathways for new habits. Furthermore, ensure that your reward is “foreign” to your habit. If you’re trying to quit over-eating, it’s pointless to reward yourself with a whole chocolate cake at the end of each week for being “disciplined.”
If you’re trying to quit over-eating, it’s pointless to reward yourself with a whole chocolate cake at the end of each week for being “disciplined.” The reward should be in line with the complexity of your task. Rewarding yourself with a cruise around the world because you’ve stopped biting your nails is a bit of a stretch. However, rewarding yourself with a night out might be in order. Save the biggest rewards for last. What do you really want? What’s something you’ve wished you could have or experience for a long time? Spend the time you would normally spend indulging in your habit to plan your great reward or experience.
However, rewarding yourself with a night out might be in order. Save the biggest rewards for last. What do you really want? What’s something you’ve wished you could have or experience for a long time? Spend the time you would normally spend indulging in your habit to plan your great reward or experience. Small incremental steps. Focus on only one small step each day or week to ensure long-lasting results. For example, if you’re trying to lose weight, remove bread from your diet for the first week. The next week eliminate other carbs, like pasta, in addition to bread. If you’re trying to minimi s e your spending, determine the average amount you spend each week in unnecessary purchases. Then set a goal to reduce that amount by 10% for the first week. Then 20% then next and so on.
Focus on only one small step each day or week to ensure long-lasting results. For example, if you’re trying to lose weight, remove bread from your diet for the first week. The next week eliminate other carbs, like pasta, in addition to bread. If you’re trying to minimi e your spending, determine the average amount you spend each week in unnecessary purchases. Then set a goal to reduce that amount by 10% for the first week. Then 20% then next and so on. Find models and learn from them. Read books or browse the web to learn from those that have previously been in your shoes and conquered the same habits and achieve the results you desire. Habits feed our basic human need for certainty. They give us a feeling of control over your circumstances. However, negative patterns can also fill this void and feed this need. They will hurt you, but you’ll stick to them. You need to break that partnership. See bad habits for what they are and employ patterns of behaviour that actually serve your life.
You are the boss of your mind, body, and results. Start today. Make a new decision. Raise your standards of what you will tolerate in your life and stick to that. You deserve it and so does your loved ones.
—
The story was previously published on The Good Men Project. | https://medium.com/change-becomes-you/how-to-eliminate-bad-habits-that-are-holding-you-back-8d7ba7f55b57 | ['The Good Men Project'] | 2020-06-04 04:46:00.775000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Habit Building', 'Advice', 'Habits', 'Change Your Life'] |
How to Prevent Seasonal Depression From Making This Winter Even More Miserable | I live in the Chicago area, where the sun sets around 4:30 PM in January. The cold isn’t what bothers me so much as the endless overcast days we often receive.
It’s not just in my imagination. I did the research. The months of December through February average three hours of sunlight per day. That’s not a lot of sun.
No wonder I get despondent sometime around the middle of January. Winters here are long, and the summer can seem so far away.
I know the lack of sunlight affects me. As does having to bundle up to step outside for even 10 minutes. I usually get through as best I can with things that cheer me up, like the hot sauna at my gym, meeting a friend for coffee, a hot yoga class, a dinner out, or taking my daughter out for lunch and a movie.
But my usual pick-me-ups are strictly off-limits if I don’t want to risk catching Covid or spreading it to my family.
The good news is, the Covid vaccine is here and it seems very promising. I’m feeling hopeful we might have some return to normalcy by summer. But there will simply not be enough vaccine this winter to get us to safety.
If we want to avoid catching this disease right before the vaccine is made available to all of us, it will have to be a winter without the usual routines. For my family, this means no restaurants, no gatherings, no movie theaters, no trips, and no hot sauna in the gym.
I’ll admit, I’m a little worried about making it through this winter. I have spent a lot of time outdoors since last March. And I already know I’m affected by a lack of sunlight.
I’m worried about getting hit by a double whammy of isolation and seasonal depression in the coming months. What I don’t want is to fall into a depression that leads me to make bad choices this winter.
If you think you may suffer from seasonal depression, this is not the winter to ignore it. Let’s take a look at what it is and what we can do to help ourselves. | https://medium.com/exploring-wellness/how-to-prevent-seasonal-depression-from-making-this-winter-even-more-miserable-1e8ec03d9126 | ['Jennifer Geer'] | 2020-12-27 17:35:48.763000+00:00 | ['Lifestyle', 'Depression', 'Mental Health', 'Winter', 'Wellness'] |
Why I was so eager to vote for Biden…was not because I thought Biden was perfect | I saw a conversation yesterday between a person who sees the horror of the trump era and someone who refuses to do so. The response from the trumper was “you must think that Biden is great” or words to that effect. I think Biden is a nice older gentleman who is basically a middle of the roader. I am far from being a middle of the roader. I am definitely a person that is more strongly for change than that.
Now, first of all, let me say that I am constitutionally a Democrat…a liberal Democrat at that; in other words, I was never for the old southern democratic extremists like George Wallace. And Biden was not my preferred candidate. In 2016, my favorite candidate was Bernie Sanders. In 2020, my favorite candidates, in this order, were Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Yang.
Why those three? Well, Elizabeth and Bernie were firmly in favor of less income inequality. For entirely too long, in this country, the rich have gotten richer and the poor have gotten poorer. While I have benefitted from being a part of a fairly powerful union during most of my career, not everybody has had that advantage. When the top of the ladder gets enough money in a day to buy and sell the rest of the nation, it is a national disgrace.
That is especially true in a nation that gives more and more tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations (artificial constructs for the purposes of making money for the already rich). The theory so often given is that doing so will allow money to “trickle-down” to the workers and everybody will be lifted up. Well, that is not how it has ever worked. Every time the top gets more breaks, they turn around and invest in things that allow them to keep more money and payout via machines of automation and therefore downsizing.
That is why the third person entered that list, Mr. Yang. He had a new idea about how our economic system should be set up. Under his idea, there would be a basic income. Then, if there was more money needed by the individual involved, there was work but also “social credit”. Social Credit as Yang sees it is basically a barter system where I tutor someone and then they hammer some nails that I need in a bookcase or something of that nature.
The reason Yang was not further up the list of my three favorites was that I wasn't sure how the program would be implemented and it seemed complex. In addition, Yang seemed like a one-horse wagon. The very interesting proposal about economic reform and change was his only real claim to fame that I remember hearing about. Elizabeth and Bernie had more comprehensive programs.
Biden was not my first choice as you can tell from reading. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t like Biden, but saw him pretty much as a continuation of “the normal”. As I have said, I am wanting to see change. I don’t think Biden will do much more than return us to the days of Clinton and Obama. While Obama was in office when finally, and long over-due, marriage equality was finally agreed upon by the Supreme Court, with Obama approving, there was still not enough movement on economic fairness or for that matter, civic and human rights equality.
So, why was I so eager to vote for Biden that I was willing to go out, in a crowd although wearing a mask, in order to make sure my vote for him counted? Now if the republican had been Jed Bush or John Kasich, I might not have been so very eager, although I would still have voted for Biden. The difference is that the Republican wasn’t either of those, but trump. Yes, my eagerness to vote was not so much to get Biden as to try and get rid of trump.
And why is that, some might ask? Well, because trump has tried to destroy American values. He has coddled and sided with racists and homophobes. He has attacked anybody and everybody. He sided with Putin against our own intelligence community. He is not, after losing the election, trying again to undermine Americans' trust in the voting process with every fiber of his being. As my friend Amod has said, if somehow trump manages to retain power (by finding a way to steal the election) or manages to get re-elected in 2024, then our nation deserves exactly what will then happen…our total fall into being a third world dictatorship. Amod didn’t say all of that but that we would deserve what happened to us but that is what I have seen coming from this man since 2015 when he demonized 2 demographics to rile up his supporters.
So, NO, I don’t think Biden is perfect, but he, like Hillary, would have to be a hell of a lot better than a sider with the KKK and the Nazi’s which is what trump has been, as well as a destroyer of political norms and decency. | https://medium.com/@jwgarman2/why-i-was-so-eager-to-vote-for-biden-was-not-because-i-thought-biden-was-perfect-da0f530709a5 | ['Left Wisdom'] | 2020-12-02 18:12:15.710000+00:00 | ['Biden', 'Decency', 'Politics', 'Trump', '2020 Presidential Race'] |
A Remote Control Versus a Truly Connected Product: Which One is Yours? | Adding mobile, web and voice apps to a consumer electronics product can provide users with an effective digital interface if implemented correctly, but if it stops there, all you get is a digital remote control to your physical product. A truly connected product allows manufacturers to take ownership of their user base and strike a relationship that can improve customer experience as well as drive revenue. It enables manufacturers to move from a one-time transaction model to Lifetime Value and create new revenue streams.
There are many consumer electronics products in the market today that claim to be “smart” because their manufacturers simply added a digital remote control to their devices. But these companies failed to take the next step, because they aren’t taking advantage of the real value a truly connected product represents; there’s a huge opportunity for these manufacturers. The good news in this case is that the heavy lifting, i.e developing a digital interface (mobile, web or voice apps), including the hardware and firmware elements required, is already done. What is left to do in order to make the product a truly connected device is to add the cloud elements constituting the ability to gather and analyze data and communicate to the end users on an individual basis.
Gathering data from devices only, as we typically see in industrial IoT implementations, doesn’t really suffice. In Consumer Electronics, only the complete data set, including device data as well as user data, must be built and then acted upon in the form of individually customized communications. The data must flow from the device and the various digital interfaces employed. Only then can a complete picture be constructed with useful insights that can be translated to effective communications.
A very simple litmus test revealing the nature of a digital interface is email. If through the onboarding process an email address is not being requested, then the device has a remote control and is not truly connected. If the user is asked to open an account, most likely this data will be used to try and communicate with him effectively through the lifecycle of his experiences with this particular device.
For a manufacturer to fully realize the value of Consumer IoT, a connected device must have a digital interface of some sort as well as a complete backend cloud infrastructure designed to collect analyze and communicate. Full realization entails taking ownership of the user base to drive business growth while improving customer experience. | https://medium.com/copilot-cx/a-remote-control-versus-a-truly-connected-product-which-one-is-yours-477fa9968c81 | ['Zvi Frank'] | 2019-11-13 06:35:25.536000+00:00 | ['Internet of Things', 'Consumer Electronics', 'Customer Experience', 'IoT', 'Smart Home'] |
The Narrator Shares his Convictions | The Narrator Shares his Convictions
Chapter 4
If the thought of the Lisping Barista’s wonderful body lying dead and dismembered disturbs you, Dear Reader, what can I say? You’re human; of course, you would feel that way. I wish I could say I felt the same, but I don’t; for I am not human. I am incapable of feeling anything at all.
Judging from my elbow patches and tweedy look, you’d think I was a professor of comparative literature. I must be on sabbatical because I have nowhere to go. When someone asks me something, I answer in a thoughtful, but incomprehensible manner, as if it’s more important to be clever than clear. I privilege sound over sense, erudition over having something to say. That’s how it seems, but I know the truth. I’m a fictional character named S. Harry Zade.
That’s right, I’ve been created by a man in dirty sweat clothes who hasn’t washed his hair in four days, gone punchy from too many hours staring at a screen. He’d just screeched at his wife because she knocked on the door to ask if he wanted breakfast. What was so important that he couldn’t be disturbed? He was conceiving me. He gazed at the blinking curser, cupped his hand ever so gently over the rounded form of the mouse, fondled the keyboard, and brought me into being. The imperfect man to whom I owe my very existence is a perfect prick.
There are some things that seem real. I remember a mother and a father. I felt lonely on the school bus when no one would sit with me. I got tense at tests and terrified in thunderstorms. I was overjoyed during my first kiss, orgasmic during sex, and heartbroken when ditched. I was proud to acquire a PhD. These are all indications of being real. I can remember them, but the memories are cloudy and incomplete. If I had to be honest, I can’t be sure whether these things happened, or I read about them. They could be the notes of a backstory my author invented and keeps in an old file.
There are books I’ve written and honors I’ve received. They say I’m famous, for an academic. My students rate me highly and my classes are always full; but I might as well be an empty suit or a talking robot. I’m a shell without a nut, a husk without an ear. The lights are on, someone appears to be home; but except for a few hundred dusty novels and my opinion of them, there’s nothing there. I’ve been an actor who’s played a part for so long, I’ve forgotten who I am.
It’s like I’d been forgotten in a drawer, my author on a long digression, a parenthetical parable, or a superfluous sermon. Metaphors piled till I couldn’t move. Alliterated allusions abated my breath. An editor should have crossed me out. Then something happened. It might have been inspiration, some may call it transformation, to me it was revelation. I was cut and pasted, rearranged and restated, and placed where I belong. I found myself at the Epiphany Café, overhearing an attractive young woman astonishingly say yes to a geeky guy.
How can I believe I’m fictional? Isn’t the least complicated explanation best? I see no reason it must be so; things can be complicated as well as simple, as anyone who has ever done their taxes can attest. But the best argument for it is a straightforward, yet disturbing perception. I do not feel alive.
No, I don’t feel alive; I feel as if I’m alive, with an emphasis on the as if. There is nothing of me inside. It’s been that way for a long time. I never understood why until it occurred to me that I could be fictional.
Even if I wasn’t sure I was fictional, I’d believe it anyway. The consequence of not taking my fictionality seriously would be severe if it was true and trivial if it was not. If I insisted that I was an ordinary professor of comparative literature on sabbatical and went back to doing whatever professors on sabbatical do, then I’d be in big trouble with my author. He’d be likely to replace me with a character who performs as he’s told.
On the other hand, if I was a professor on sabbatical, mistakenly believing I was fictional, I’d be neglecting nothing, for if there was anything I was supposed to do while on sabbatical, I don’t remember what it was. I could even claim that taking a turn as a fictional character was my sabbatical. I’d already spent most of my life talking about literature, it’s time for me to be literature and investigate it from the inside.
I conducted an experiment. If I was fictional, I wouldn’t have a body.
I let loose a silent but deadly fart into the café. It felt good. There was a sensation of relief and a hidden vanity in the action, a surreptitious satisfaction of boldly giving birth to a bursting baby bubble. At the same time, I was pleased that its arrival was not accompanied by trumpets that would’ve blown my cover. I took clandestine delight in watching my neighbors crinkle their noses and look slyly around. They shifted uncomfortably in their seats, hoping no one will suspect them. They weighed the pros and cons of packing up their laptop and moving, versus waiting for the smell to dissipate.
You be the judge. Did I capture the experience of furtive farting? If so, I thought, how could I not be real?
But, that’s no proof at all, I concluded. It’s possible to imagine a body quite vividly. Rather, my Author could imagine what my body does and, presto, I’m doing it. So, you see, I have the evidence I need that I’m a fictional character. The next question is: how about all these others at the Epiphany Café; are they fictional also?
All I need to do is look around at their crinkled noses and say, of course they’re real. They evidently have feelings and the feeling they are currently having is the most troublesome feeling possible. They are overcome by disgust.
Be that as it may, from what I can tell, no one here with a real body wants anything to do with it. The Geeky Guy moves around with as much grace as a marionette. All the scribes at their laptops seem to have forgotten that they have bodies as they squint into the virtual world, drink too much coffee, and hold their arms in uncomfortable positions till they get tendonitis. Then there’s the Lisping Barista, who seems to have fought a war against her body, as wonderful as it is; defacing it with permanent graffiti, revising it with piercings, and slicing it to ribbons with a razor. All these real people do their best to be disembodied, fictionalizing themselves into fictional characters. But then, when the awful day comes and the Lisping Barista’s body is torn to pieces and eaten by animals, all the real people will be horrified, proving how real they always were.
You, Dear Reader, turn yourself into a fictional character, too. Just think of the many poses you take. Sexy with your boyfriend, prim with your parents; studious with teachers, goofy with friends; a hard worker, a lazy slouch; fun here, serious there. Which, out of that expansive cast is your true self? The one you go to bed with at night? Do you look the way you think you look when you look in the mirror? You are full of fictions. Buddha said it best: the self is an illusion. He might as well have said a delusion, a painted smile on a sad clown, a fudged report, a generalization, a weak end of a flashlight beam, shaking on the trail where the woods are full of monsters.
Normally, real and fictional people do not interact in such a way so that, when a fictional character orders a double shot non-fat macchiato, the barista will hear him. In most cafes no one can observe the fictional character drink his coffee. But, as I’ve said, the Epiphany Café is no ordinary coffee shop, nor is Kenilworth a typical small New England town; it is an enchanted place where the real and the fictional interact.
Being fictional gives me clarity and singleness of purpose I wouldn’t have otherwise. It’s revealed by my name. If you sound it out, S. Harry Zade becomes Scheherazade, a clever allusion to the storyteller of Arabian Nights. Apparently, I’m meant to narrate this story. Perhaps it’s this very virtue, the ability fictional characters have of knowing the meaning of their lives, that causes real people to fictionalize themselves.
Be that as it may, this narrative imperative worries me. Like the Lisping Barista, I could end up dead. Failure to produce a steady flow of entertainment can send me to the chopping block. I can be rubbed out and made to disappear more easily than if I was real, for it’s not necessary to dispose of a body when it can be done in by a delete key.
I must continuously tell stories or die. I need constant stimulation, a steady flow of material, story leads, and compelling characters. The Epiphany Café is just the place for this.
This is why it meant so much to me when I overheard an attractive young woman, the Lisping Barista, say yes to the Geeky Guy, even though she was not saying yes to me. I knew I would have a story to tell. I did not know what a story it would prove to be. | https://medium.com/who-killed-the-lisping-barista-of-the-epiphany/the-narrator-shares-his-convictions-9779e7968152 | ['Keith R Wilson'] | 2020-09-02 01:16:00.905000+00:00 | ['Novel', 'Fiction', 'Derealization', 'Reality'] |
UX or UI, where to focus? | UX or UI, where to focus?
Few see them separately and few see them as one. Let’s clear the air!
There are humans around the world who call themselves as UI/UX Designers and not sure who has the major stake, UX, or UI. Let’s take a look at it.
In the industry, there are UX Designers and UI Designers, and both of them have their responsibilities. Instead of comparing each other, let’s take a look at who is capable of what.
User Experience Design (UX)
A skeleton.
Yes. If we consider the human body as a product, the skeleton is what gives you stability and shape. This is what a UXD in a product does. There are other parts in the human body like heart, kidney, liver, lungs, etc. which can relate to user personas, user scenarios, competitor analysis, information architecture, task flows, wireframes, user interface, prototypes, etc.
If a body part is malfunctioning, it surely affects the function of other parts too. Similarly, one wrong step in different stages of UX Design can leave a critical impact on other stages of design. For Example, Your actual user is a 50yr old with poor eyesight, and you considered a user persona of 21yr old Rock band artist in your research. The needs of both are entirely different, and if not corrected before going to the next stage, your final product may not serve the needs of your 50yr old target.
User Interface Design (UI)
The beauty not admired is a Sin.
At some point in your life, you must’ve told yourself that “She is beautiful or He is hot”. It’s a human instinct. It happens when something tickles your eyes. Similarly, UI is what makes someone say “This is cool, awesome, smooth, or even disgusting” about a product. In the example of the human body, UI components like layouts, colors, inputs, buttons, lists, typography, etc., can relate to makeover elements like a shirt, pants, top, jackets, watches, shades, etc.
No matter how good the groundwork (UX) is, people always judge just by looks. So, UI is important. But that doesn’t mean beauty without brains will work. UX is needed too.
“You can attract users by showcasing extra-ordinary visuals in UI, but you can’t make them stay unless your product is usable.”
This makes me think of “why dribbble has so many shots that are most liked but never implemented in any apps”.
The balance of both is the key to awesomeness.
If you notice clearly, UI is a segment of the UX Design Process. And it is the medium through which you showcase your entire hard work.
As a designer, each stage of the UX Design process helps you make decisions that make a difference. | https://medium.com/design-bootcamp/ui-or-ux-where-to-focus-2be638b2266c | ['Avinash Bussa'] | 2020-10-04 15:25:46.083000+00:00 | ['UI', 'User Experience', 'Design', 'UX', 'Product Design'] |
Are Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Here to Stay? | Are Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Here to Stay?
Bitcoin has more detractors than fans, but blockchain and its applications hold out hope
By Irving Wladawsky-Berger
Bitcoin was created about a decade ago, with the release of the original design paper, Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, under the pen name of Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin aimed to become a decentralized cryptocurrency and digital payment system that would enable the secure exchange of digital money without the need for central government authorities or financial intermediaries. It introduced the blockchain — which most everyone agrees is a truly brilliant architecture built on decades-old fundamental research in cryptography, distributed data, distributed computing, game theory and other advanced technologies.
How are they doing after 10 years? The September 1 issue of The Economist includes a special report on cryptocurrencies and blockchains, with nine articles on the subject. The report’s overview article doesn’t mince words in articulating its overall assessment: “Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are useless. For blockchains, the jury is still out.”
“Bitcoin has been a failure as a means of payment, but thrilling for speculators,” it further added. Its price has been subject to wild fluctuations over the past two years. It rose from around $600 in September, 2016, to $6,000 in September, 2017, reaching a peak of over $19,000 in December, 2017, before falling to around $7,000 earlier this year. It’s been hovering between $6,500 and $7,500 for the past few months. Other cryptocurrencies have experienced similar price fluctuations. “That has made a few people very rich (just 100 accounts own 19% of all existing bitcoin), encouraged others to play for quick gains and left some nursing substantial losses.”
It wasn’t supposed to have worked out like this. Bitcoin began life, not surprisingly, around the time of the 2008 global financial crisis, as a kind of techno-anarchist project to empower and protect individuals who shared a deep distrust of governments and large companies.
Its original objective was the creation of a people’s currency and an alternative global financial system not subject to interference from untrustworthy governments and banks. A decade later, it’s barely used for its intended purpose. Relatively few vendors accept bitcoins, put off by its volatility and shady reputation.
Its decentralized nature and mining based proof-of-work makes it slow — fewer than ten transactions per second compared to the tens of thousands handled by existing payment networks. Users must wrestle with complicated software to convert traditional money— e.g. $, £, €, ¥,₩— into and out of bitcoin’s ecosystem.
While bitcoin’s blockchain-based infrastructure is highly secure, the exchanges that handle the conversion to fiat currencies have been repeatedly hacked over the years. And once something goes wrong, there’s no recourse or central authority that can fix it. If you’ve stored bitcoins in an exchange that’s been hacked, they’re essentially lost. Similarly if you accidentally erase or mislay your bitcoin wallet— it’s likely impossible to recover. The bitcoin ecosystem doesn’t offer the sort of financial protections that most consumers take for granted.
The Erratic Token Economy
But, regardless of bitcoin’s issues, it’s impact is undeniable. “Bitcoin has spawned a horde of imitators,” says The Economist. It’s given rise to a so-called token economy, where thousands of cryptocurrencies have been launched in the past few years, and different kinds of crypto-based digital assets have been created. Most are likely to quickly disappear, but others are trying to fix some of bitcoin’s key issues, like its wild price fluctuations.
Bitcoin’s volatility is party a result of not being backed by any real-world assets. This is also the case with many other cryptocurrencies. But it’s possible to design cryptocurrencies whose overriding objective is to maintain a stable value by being pegged to physical assets and/or fiat currencies. An example is Digital Trade Coin (DTC), an asset-backed digital currency being developed as part of MIT’s Connection Science initiative.
Other crypto-based projects have generalized bitcoin’s original ideas beyond electronic cash and payments. Ethereum, for example, has developed a public, blockchain-based distributed computing platform where applications, called smart contracts, are executed under predefined circumstances, thus reducing the need for intermediaries. Ethereum’s cryptocurrency, the ether, is used to compensate the owner of whichever computer platform ends up running the smart contract.
Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are another related application, which emerged as a means of raising capital for crypto-based startups by going directly to investors, thus avoiding the regulations, costs and delays of dealing with traditional intermediaries like VCs, banks and stock exchanges. The ICO issuer creates crypto-tokens using an existing blockchain-chain based platform like Ethereum, then sells them to investors and potential customers to raise money for developing its offering. If the offering is successful, the associated tokens will hopefully rise in value. Tokens can also be used to reward users who contribute data, computing power or other assets, as is the case with with Endor’s EDR.
“Cash is pouring in,” notes The Economist. “According to one estimate… by early August 706 ICOs had raised almost $18 billion from a mix of institutional investors and individuals this year. That compares with just 221 ICOs in the whole of 2017, raising $3.7 billion.”
ICOs have democratized the ability of projects to crowdfund themselves, but their current lack of regulations increases the risks to investors. “For now… even honest ICOs are living in an uncomfortable legal limbo.”
The Hype — and Hope — of Blockchain
How about blockchain— the technology underpinning bitcoin and just about all cryptocurrencies? “The advantages of blockchains are often oversold,” said The Economist. In fact, three years ago The Economist itself was guilty of precisely such overselling when it featured blockchain in the cover of its October 31, 2015 issue with the tag line “The Trust Machine: How the technology behind Bitcoin could change the world.”
Overselling is often the case with just about all promising technologies. This is why Gartner came up with its hype cycle — where all the excitement and publicity accompanying a new, exciting technology often leads to inflated expectations, followed by disillusionment if the technology fails to deliver. For the past few years, blockchain has appeared in Gartner’s yearly hype cycles, but so have deep learning, IoT platforms, virtual assistants and other highly promising technologies. It’s also not unusual for the hype to get out of hand and lead to situations like the AI winter in the 1980s and the dot-com bubble a decade later. So, the cautionary remarks about blockchain should be heeded.
Like the Internet until the early- to mid-1990s, blockchain is still in in its early stages, with pilots underway in a number of application domains like supply chain ecosystems, and industries including financial services. “For now, however, almost all blockchain projects remain experimental,” wrote The Economist in its concluding article. “Most will fizzle out. The less world-changing a proposed use, the better its chance of success. For example, the cryptographic structures that make data in a blockchain hard to change are fairly easy to introduce. When they add an extra layer of security to things like financial accounts or official documents, they could be useful… A bigger prize awaits in the back office, reducing the time-consuming administration required for firms to talk to each other by providing a shared database which everyone can use.”
Finally, I particularly agree with the special report’s concluding paragraph: “Other compelling uses may yet emerge. But it is worth bearing in mind that big IT projects — which is what blockchains amount to — tend to be cumbersome and slow even if they are undertaken by a single company. If they require several companies to work together, they will take even longer. So whatever happens, blockchain’s backers will need patience.” | https://medium.com/mit-initiative-on-the-digital-economy/ten-years-later-are-cryptocurrencies-and-blockchain-here-to-stay-413a0c887806 | ['Mit Ide'] | 2018-10-09 19:48:05.826000+00:00 | ['Digital Payment', 'ICO', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain'] |
4 Strategies Used by Successful Writers | 1. They have a schedule
You have a work schedule, right? The time you have to be at work and the time you can leave (Yay!). If companies allowed employees to work whenever they felt like it then I imagine the whole economy would come crashing down around us. A schedule forces you to work whether you feel like it or not.
Tim Ferris, author of The 4-Hour Work Week says, “It took me a long time to accept 1–5 am as my best hours, which was the only timing that provided consistent progress”. This schedule would suit night owls the most, but what about those of us who like a lie-in?
Pioneering feminist and author of The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir once reported of her writing schedule, “at about 10 o’clock I get underway and work until one. At five o’clock I go back to work and continue working until nine”.
And for the early birds, Japanese author Haruki Murakami whose work has been translated into 50 languages says, “I get up at 4 am and write for 5 to 6 hours. I keep to this routine every day without variation. The repetition itself becomes the important thing”.
Lastly, for those who have limited time due to other commitments, poet laureate of Brooklyn Tina Chang builds a strong case for being able to write better the less time she has, “After I have fed, napped, entertained, bathed, changed, and put my children to bed, I have my dinner, put on my shoes, and head to the rented office around the corner. My creativity is summoned within a two-hour time span. In this way, my writing has become more efficient”.
What I learned from these writers’ schedules was that forcing myself to work at the same time each day helped me get into a writing mindset. Create a schedule that works for you — whether it is in the small hours of the morning when everyone else is sleeping or a couple of hours before you go to bed when your mind is more relaxed. Before long, you will automatically come to associate that time with writing and this will be a motivator in itself. | https://medium.com/the-brave-writer/4-strategies-used-by-successful-writers-54f9876c9537 | ['Elizabeth Dawber'] | 2020-12-14 17:02:34.062000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Creativity', 'Productivity', 'Advice', 'Writing Tips'] |
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Automation eating your industry? (Answer: Yes.) These are the skills that will always be valued in the workplace. | by Alison E. Berman ✍️
If you’d asked farmers a few hundred years ago what skills their kids would need to thrive, it wouldn’t have taken long to answer. They’d need to know how to milk a cow or plant a field. They needed general skills for a single profession that barely changed. This is how it’s been for most of human history.
But in the last few centuries? Not so much.
Each generation, and even within generations, we see some jobs largely disappear, while other ones pop up. Machines have automated much of manufacturing, for example, and they’ll automate even more soon. But as manufacturing jobs decline, they’ve been replaced by other once-unimaginable professions like bloggers, coders, dog walkers, or pro gamers.
In a world where these labor cycles are accelerating, the question is: What skills do we teach the next generation so they can keep pace?
More and more research shows that current curriculums, which teach siloed subject matter and specific vocational training, are not preparing students to succeed in the 21st century; a time of technological acceleration, market volatility, and uncertainty.
To address this, some schools have started teaching coding and other skills relevant to the technologies of today. But technology is changing so quickly that these new skills may not be relevant by the time students enter the job market.
In fact, in Cathy Davidson’s book, Now You See It, Davidson estimates that,
“65 percent of children entering grade school this year (2011) will end up working in careers that haven’t even been invented yet.”
Not only is it difficult to predict what careers will exist in the future, it is equally uncertain which technology-based skills will be viable 5 or 10 years from now.
So, what do we teach?
Finland recently shifted its national curriculum to a new model called the “phenomenon-based” approach. By 2020, the country will replace traditional classroom subjects with a topical approach highlighting the four Cs — communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. These four skills “are central to working in teams, and a reflection of the ‘hyperconnected’ world we live in today,” Singularity Hub Editor-in-Chief David Hill recently wrote.
Hill notes the four Cs directly correspond to the skills needed to be a successful 21st century entrepreneur, when accelerating change means the jobs we’re educating for today may not exist tomorrow. Finland’s approach reflects an important transition away from the antiquated model used in most US institutions; a model created for a slower, more stable labor market and economy that simply no longer exists.
In addition to the four Cs, successful entrepreneurs across the globe are demonstrating three additional soft skills that can be integrated into the classroom — adaptability, resiliency and grit, and a mindset of continuous learning.
These skills can equip students to be problem-solvers, inventive thinkers, and adaptive to the fast-paced change they are bound to encounter. In a world of uncertainty, the only constant is the ability to adapt, pivot, and get back on your feet.
Like Finland, the city of Buenos Aires is embracing change.
Select high school curriculums in the city of Buenos Aires now require technological education in the first two years and entrepreneurship in the last three years. Esteban Bullrich, Buenos Aires’ minister of education, told Singularity University in a recent interview:
“I want kids to get out of school and be able to create whatever future they want to create — to be able to change the world with the capabilities they earn and receive through formal schooling.” — Esteban Bullrich, Minister of Education, Buenos Aires
The idea is to teach students to be adaptive and equip them with skills that will be highly transferable in whatever reality they may face once out of school. Embedding these entrepreneurial skills in education will enable future leaders to move smoothly with the pace of technology. In fact, Mariano Mayer, director of entrepreneurship for the city of Buenos Aires, believes these soft skills will be valued most highly in future labor markets.
This message is consistent with research highlighted in a World Economic Forum and Boston Consulting Group report titled, New Vision for Education: Unlocking the Potential of Technology. The report breaks out the core 21st-century skills into three key categories — foundational literacies, competencies, and character qualities — with lifelong learning as a proficiency encompassing these categories.
From degree gathering to continuous learning
This continuous learning approach, in contrast to degree-oriented education, represents an important shift that is desperately needed in education. It also reflects the demands of the labor market — where lifelong learning and skill development are what keep an individual competitive, agile, and valued.
Singularity University CEO Rob Nail explains,
“The current setup does not match the way the world has and will continue to evolve. You get your certificate or degree and then supposedly you’re done. In the world that we’ve living in today, that doesn’t work.”
Transitioning the focus of education from degree-oriented to continuous learning holds obvious benefits for students. This shift in focus, however, may be a difficult situation for academic institutions to adapt to as education as an industry becomes increasingly democratized and decentralized.
Any large change requires that we overcome barriers—and in education, there are many — but one challenge, in particular, is fear of change.
“The fear of change has made us fall behind in terms of advancement in innovation and human activities,” Bullrich says. He goes on:
“We are discussing upgrades to our car instead of building a spaceship. We need to build a spaceship, but we don’t want to leave the car behind. Some changes appear large, but the truth is, it’s still a car. It doesn’t fly. That’s why education policy is not flying.”
Education and learning are ready to be reinvented. It’s time we get to work. | https://medium.com/singularityu/automation-eating-your-industry-22173e674d04 | ['Singularity University'] | 2017-03-29 01:49:39.584000+00:00 | ['Teaching', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Future Of Work', 'Future Of Learning', 'Education'] |
The Power of Live Video | By Sound Film Studio
Video is a powerful tool for any event, and live video takes it to the next level. When you’re broadcasting your show LIVE on Facebook or YouTube Live Video, audience engagement skyrockets with real-time interaction that can be seen by anyone across the globe!
With this new form of communication at our fingertips, more than ever before, we have an opportunity to get creative in ways never thought possible; from interactive polling questions during presentations to streaming interviews with attendees.
For a live video, you will need to have the right equipment. You can get away with using your phone if necessary; however it is recommended that you use either an external camera or one of many phones on the market now which are equipped for this type of streaming. The most important thing in preparing for livestreaming is ensuring high quality sound and lighting so do not forget about these two aspects!
Though simple enough, there are some things to keep in mind before hitting record because stream failure could be catastrophic: setting up another camera angle (back-up), choosing shooting positions carefully (avoid obstructions like large banners, attendees who block views), making sure internet connectivity stays strong throughout event duration (~2 hours) as well as storing recorded.
Live streaming your event can be a great way to reach people who might miss the live experience in-person. You have many software options for broadcasting and they’re all free! YouTube Live, Facebook Live, or even Livestream are some of the most popular choices out there that let you go live at events — find one that’s best suited for what kind of content you want to produce. It’s important not only because it brings more viewers but also helps with generating revenue from ads too!
The best way to create a great video is with an amazing camera! Whether you are looking for the latest gadgets or want something more affordable, there is a perfect option out there. Stick to your budget and figure out what features would be most beneficial for your situation before investing in anything too pricey. But don’t forget that it’s worth spending money on high-quality equipment if this will result in better videos down the road as viewers flock when they see how much quality their viewing experience has been improved by upgrading from lower resolution devices.
Audio quality is just as important as video at an event, some would say that it even matters more. Without audio your viewers are likely to leave the live stream if they can’t understand what’s happening on screen!
There are a few options for microphones: condenser mics work well in set-ups where people have their own table and lapel ones do great when presenters like me move around while speaking or filming.
A sound mixer is a must for any event that will be using multiple cameras and presenters. It allows you to cut in and out of specific microphones when necessary, as well as control the volume levels so everyone can hear clearly at all times!
An audio mixer is essential for events that are also using multiple cameras and presenters. With a single click, the sound engineer can cut in to whichever microphone they want or raise or lower volume as needed. This ensures an optimal experience with crisp clarity!
Livestream reported that 67% of viewers are more likely to buy a ticket after watching your event live. If you can’t think of any reason not to stream it, we’ve got plenty: for starters, the ability to reach out past yourself and attendees on just one day is incredible; or how about providing an experience like no other? The fact is streaming will make your events better than ever!
Going digital is the only way to reach people nowadays. By opening up your event to those who cannot attend in person, you are able to transform into a global experience that engages demographics that would have otherwise been missed out on with an indoor-only setup. Your live video will not only reach those who were unable to physically be there but also reaches some of our target audience — non-attendees or even attendees unaware of this specific event! This is why it’s crucial for us create and promote a unique hashtag throughout the duration of the event so we can keep track easier after everything has ended.
Live video is a great way to get your content out there as soon as it happens. It doesn’t matter if you’re at an event and want people that are participating there, or just have something special happening in the office — live video can be used for anything! One of my favorite things about this type of media is that once it’s uploaded (making sure the size requirements are met), viewers will be able look back on older videos over time while getting their latest updates automatically delivered too. | https://medium.com/@soundfilmstudio/the-power-of-live-video-623242e9690d | ['Sound Film Studio'] | 2021-07-25 07:25:21.673000+00:00 | ['Livestream', 'Live', 'Live Streaming', 'Events', 'Vidéo'] |
Not Acknowledging Your Pain Might Be Hurting You More | The Indicator of Discomfort
As Medical News Today states, physical pain is an unpleasant sensation and emotional experience that links to tissue damage. It allows the body to react and prevent further damage.
Pain on a psychological level can be a similar indicator of emotional anguish. If you are feeling consistently low, maybe it’s an indication that something’s wrong with your surroundings — a way for your subconscious to rebel against your current situation and prompt you to get out of it.
If you turn away from it and only focus on the positive, how would you know there’s something wrong? Ignoring the symptoms and sweeping uncomfortable realizations under the carpet would only mean forcing yourself to adjust to the distress you’re in. If you don’t acknowledge the pain and try to get to the root cause, how can you reach a viable solution?
Here are some ways I’ve adopted to identify the root cause. You can adopt the same to embrace growth:
Don’t fill your head with external stimuli all the time
In other words: don't check your phone each time you’re bored. Sure, podcasts and audiobooks are a great way to improve your productivity, but they snatch away the opportunity to spend time with your thoughts.
There was a time I used to run away from being alone because I was terrified of what demons I’d have to deal with. But in 2020, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: self-awareness comes with a price, but it’s the best (and probably the only) tool for growth.
Yes, it’s hard to listen to your thoughts, but you’ve got to do it to learn what kind of person you are. Without this, no amount of self-help content will help. Silence offers opportunities for self-reflection and daydreaming, which activates multiple parts of the brain. It gives us time to turn down the inner noise and increase awareness of what matters most.
Write what you feel and be honest with yourself
It’s difficult for me to be completely transparent during conversations with people. However, my journal is the friend I turn to for solace. It’s where I write all my thoughts out and am unabashedly honest with myself.
Journaling has cleared my head of a ton of clutter and helped me acknowledge my innermost feelings and desires. You might find some emotions too hard to acknowledge, but remember that it’s your journal. No one else is going to read it. Be as honest and open with yourself as possible. Reflective journaling can be a great tool for self-awareness and personal growth. It can help you prioritize problems and track any symptoms so you can recognize triggers and learn ways to better control them.
Allow yourself to just be
There’ve been times when something triggered me, my immediate instinct was to start binge-watching a show or lose myself in a book. But several sessions with my therapist have helped me understand that such acts will only cure the symptoms, not the root cause.
Instead, my therapist advised me to embrace the sadness. She said it was okay to wallow in self-pity for as long as I needed, but then pull myself back together and move on.
You don’t have to be happy all the time, as long as you don’t let the sadness overcome and take control. A book that helped me come to terms with this is How to Be a Movie Star by TJ Klune. The novel carries such an accurate representation of mental health, the narrative took my breath away. One of the quotes that gave me strength was: | https://medium.com/mind-cafe/not-acknowledging-your-pain-might-be-hurting-you-more-50b7ac70ad9d | ['Anangsha Alammyan'] | 2020-12-27 19:32:49.457000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Psychology', 'Advice', 'Ideas', 'Inspiration'] |
Travis Kalanick’s Cloud Kitchens: When you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras. | This originally appeared in the November 14, 2019 edition of the Expedite weekly newsletter. Subscribe here.
I had just finished journalist Mike Isaac’s book, “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber” (like… just finished the night before) when the Wall Street Journal broke news that Uber founder Travis Kalanick had raised $400 million from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund for his ghost kitchen startup, Cloud Kitchens. The endeavor had been largely secretive, and still is, though the company is sharing a bit of information via its own website.
According to the piece, the investment, which closed in January of this year, was kept very quiet, known only to a handful of Cloud Kitchens executives. In fact, in a recruitment email sent by a City Storage Systems employee (that’s the parent company of Cloud Kitchens) last spring, a recruiter wrote, “We have no major outside investors so are tasked with building and driving the product/platform the way we see fit.”
Why so secret? Well, for one: “It was the fund’s first known deal in Silicon Valley since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year,” according to the Journal’s reporting.
Now though, we’re faced with proof to the tune of over half a billion dollars that the contentious Uber founder is putting a ton of cash — including $300 million of his own dollars — behind his new business. While still shrouded in a good amount of secrecy, my sense is the startup costs for the business, which buys up real estate to convert to commissary, or “ghost” kitchens, are high. So far, these kitchens are home to a few commercial partners and delivery-only brands created and branded specifically to perform well on delivery platforms — F*ck Gluten and Skinny B*tch Pizza among them.
Travis Kalanick is inextricably tied to Uber. Even after selling over half a billion dollars in stock this week (including more reported today), he still holds tens of millions of shares. He remains on the company’s board of directors, as does the managing partner of the Saudi fund that invested in both Uber and, reportedly, Cloud Kitchens.
Speaking of Uber, Uber Eats continues to do well for its parent, and CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is direct about the company’s plan for the product: to enter “…aggressively into markets where we’re confident we can establish or defend a number one or number two position over the next 18 months,” he told investors on the company’s third quarter earnings call. “We’re going to shoot to get to number one and number two in every market that we’re in. If we can’t make it to that level, we’ll look to dispose or we’ll get out of the market.”
In the highly competitive world of third-party delivery, Uber is going big all around the world. While the domestic story continues to be DoorDash’s meteoric rise to prominence, the company doesn’t have a huge presence outside North America. (DoorDash did announce its imminent Australian launch a couple months ago, and yesterday another $100 million in investment at a staggering almost-$13 billion valuation.) As these companies compete, they’re drilling down on anything that can differentiate them from the competition. DoorDash recently announced its own ghost kitchen concept in northern California. But you know what’s better than one ghost kitchen? An entire network of ghost kitchens around the world created especially for growth in delivery. If (ahem, when) a large third-party delivery company wants to take a giant chunk of the market, scooping up valuable delivery operations businesses in key markets might help.
Maybe it’s the intrigue of Isaac’s book, or maybe it’s ten years of living alongside the tech industry in San Francisco, but I can’t help but read this any other way: Kalanick has started a company that essentially competes against Uber Eats’ own model. If you (or, in this case, City Storage Systems) buy up enough swaths of real estate in enough high-profile areas, you can spin up a competing food concept in a matter of days — or even hours. Multiply that by however many markets $700 million in investment buys you, and you have big business.
Here’s the headline that’s been flashing in my head: Spurned ex-Uber Boss Solicits Near Half-Billion Dollar Investment From Current Uber Board Member to Build Company Perfectly Suited to Prop Up Uber’s Delivery Biz.
Uber’s Khosrowshahi has made it very clear that Uber Eats isn’t going to market just to play, it’s going to market to win. I suspect executives from competing companies feel the same, and everyone is willing to throw down some serious cash to make it happen.
As I was wrapping this up, I saw a Fortune Term Sheet from last week where author Polina Marinova came to the same inevitable conclusion. She consulted sources close to Cloud Kitchens and wrote, “[Sources] told me Kalanick does want to compete with Uber — but he does not want to sell. He wants to compete with Uber and win.” No true surprise there. The zebras aren’t coming.
What else is happening?
Instagram likes are probably going away, at least the public-facing ones.
The company is currently testing the change worldwide. “We will make decisions that hurt the business if they help people’s well-being and health,” Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said onstage at the recent Wired 25 event.
DoorDash works to prove its business model.
In addition to that extra $100 million investment, the company announced early results of its adjusted courier payment policy. According to a blog post, DoorDash couriers are earning 12.5 percent more. “we know that our new model is not perfect, and we are continuing to make changes in response to Dasher feedback,” the company wrote.
OpenTable Adds Another Delivery Partner
Over the summer, OpenTable added delivery options to its app. Today, Postmates joins Uber Eats, Caviar (which is now owned by DoorDash) and Grubhub in listings. In what is almost certainly the most useful part of the feature, the OpenTable app shows estimated delivery times for each provider, which I can’t imagine is exciting for the providers — unless, of course, you’re the fastest. | https://medium.com/expedite-weekly/travis-kalanicks-cloud-kitchens-122aff0d2f5a | ['Kristen Hawley'] | 2019-11-14 18:43:10.967000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Uber Eats', 'Technology', 'Restaurant', 'Uber'] |
What if…. | The Indian government imposed a total socio-economic lockdown in the country in the wake of the outbreak of C-19 pandemic from 25th March 2020. The restrictions were relaxed gradually from June-2020 onwards.
In my view, it is almost impossible to assess the utility and true impact of lockdown exercise. We would never know, what could have been the situation if a total lockdown was not imposed in March. It could have been worse in terms of economic and health shocks; or perhaps the economic loss could have been less pronounced, sans total lock down.
However, this episode has further strengthened our already strong view that the incumbent government is unpredictable. It can take decisions having far reaching repercussions rather quickly; without adequate planning; and without bothering about the immediate consequences in terms of human suffering. | https://medium.com/@amitgupta0310/what-if-f527274e712d | ['Amit Kumar Gupta'] | 2020-12-24 16:08:29.328000+00:00 | ['Coronavirus', 'Lockdown', 'Covid 19', 'Narendra Modi', 'India'] |
How to control Covid Spread | Here is how some countries are doing it successfully:
Your flight lands. You get out of the plane. There are about 20–30 workers to help you fill the forms, check your papers etc . They segregate you into different groups. Each batch of no more than 10 people get escorted to immigration and to your baggage area. Your baggage is already on the floor, neatly laid out row after row. You pick your bags and the group is led outside to a Bus , which takes you to the designated Hotel.You dont know which one. You get checked in , one family at a time and get to your room. the door shuts and thats where you will remain for the next 14days. Quarrantined.
This whole process from the time you landed to your hotel room has taken less than an hour. Seamless. Smooth. Silent. No unnecessary chatter. You dont ask questions becasue you know you wont get any answers. Answers will come from the relevant people later.
The whole thing is surreal. Me and my wife sit tight . I shut off my eyes and ask myself ” did I commit any crime”. No? Then why am I am feeling strange. wow, this is realy happening . To us. You had heard about something like this But this is how it is. Quarrantine. Soft jail. Isolation. Solitary. Whatever name you want to give it, it is here.
The Hotel is not something you had hoped for. Room is too small. Has no window. No fresh air. I call the reception. Angry. Furious. “ How can we live here for 14 days. My wife has asthma and allergies. She will get sick here” She listens patiently . Obviously well trained. Polite. Asks me to be patient. Shares a link with me. “ Sir kindly fill the form in the link and they will get back to you shortly. I understand how you feel . Please be patient “. Couple of hours later, I get a message “ sorry to hear about your discomfort. Tell us what the issue is”. I do . “ do you have any supporting docs ? from a doctor about your wife’s condition” I do and share it. End of the day we have been approved to a different hotel. 58th floor. Huge room with a balcony and the best view in town. fresh air. All our stress is gone. we now look forward to spending the next 13 days here comfortably.
we are in day 5. two seperate teams check on us. One physically visits us and checks that we are following the required quarrantine. The other is a video call, at a different time to talk to us and check on our status and make sure we are following the required instructions. Hotel staff is polite , courteous, supportive , calling us every once in a while to check if our stay is comfortable and if we need anything. 3 meals a day get served, in disposable bags. we can't touch, speak or look at a staff member. Haven’t seen one in 5 days . You need help? Call the reception. However , you can order online. If you have friends and/or family here, they can send you food, clothes , whatever you need . But they can not visit you.
Whats next? on day 12 we will get a test done. on day 13 the results will come. if negative, on day 14 we are allowed to go home. Exactly what we are hoping for.
In short, everything has been planned for , meticulously. Every little detail has been thought of. Everyone of course has their own experience. But this is our experience. I have lived here for 15 years. And boy, more than ever , am I glad I live in this country right now. Thank you Singapore.
So why all this trouble you might ask ? What about human rights, freedom of speech , individual convenience blah blah blah. Yes what about it? look at the countries where people feel very strongly about all this and the goverments have done what they have done. The results are not great to talk about.
what about Singapore? Results are good. Zero cases in the community for the last 30/40 days. All cases , on a average 10–12 daily, are imported, meaning these are people who are coming to singapore and bringing Covid with them. Thats the reason they are isolated and tracked on a daily basis. Singapore has , to my knowledge, broken the chain of spread. I am not a medical guy. But I am over 60 . Reasonably fit and healthy. Concerned for my life. I am happy to sit in a comfortable hotel room for 14 days if that means I have a better shot at escaping from this virus alive to enjoy whatever years I might have left.
I read about Taiwan and the results are great there too and I am told similar process is followed there as well. I havent gone through that experience. But I am living the singapore experience as I write this .
So is the Singapore govt full of super smart public servants or do they realy look smart when you compare them to the public servants in other countries. For sure they are smart. But they also have the benefit of being a city, state and a country into one. Small size . Yes that helps. But the will and competenece to execute on a strategy is the key with the people here. They execute very very well. Remember we had SARS here. That was a new one at the time and they executed very well even then.
I have long since retired from a regular corporate job and worked in India, Singapore and America and I belong to the group which believes in “ Execution eats Strategy for breakfast” . Remember the famous quote from Mike Tyson ” everyone has a strategy till they get punched in the face”
Bottom line is : Every country had a plan or created a plan but how many executed well? Every well known medical expert begged the governments to do precisely what Singapore is doing so why is the spread so relentless in so many countries.?
Because we human beings dont have any discipline. Vast majority of us anyways. We dont want to follow instructions. We dont like change. We dont like any inconvenience. Its all …dont dont dont. Then we get sucked into politics and religion and digital world messaging ..mostly fake and we start to become doctors ourselves……till it hits home. your family, your siblings family, close friends, relatives. It has hit home for us. My brothers and sisters family got it. Luckily they recovered but not one of the elders. Covid took him away. My batchmate , 61, gone. So many other that I knew of and knew personally , gone.
Makes you wonder why is it so hard for people to follow some simple basic rules? wear a mask, sanitize your hands frequently. Maintain social distancing. avoid parties. Avoid travel.( We are guilty of not being able to avoid travel. Family marriage etc ). But doesnt mean you cant follow the guidlines strictly.
Damn it, its about life and death. But some people wont get it. And they will put others to risk. In situations like these true leadership needs to take charge . Not lip service. Real Leadership.
Sometimes that may mean hard choices that people are forced to have to make, but it is worth the sacrifice.
After all it is about saving lives. Yours and others that you come in contact with.
Stay safe . Stay Healthy. | https://medium.com/@rkichloo-37212/how-to-control-covid-spread-5146fe58d0c | ['Ravi Kichloo'] | 2020-12-21 06:19:56.092000+00:00 | ['Effectiveness', 'Covid', 'Singapore', 'Competence'] |
Beyond the Boundaries | Get this newsletter By signing up, you will create a Medium account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
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Medium sent you an email at to complete your subscription. | https://medium.com/merzazine/beyond-the-boundaries-92b33f875a9b | ['Vlad Alex', 'Merzmensch'] | 2020-06-10 20:12:43.904000+00:00 | ['Ai And Creativity', 'Published Narrative', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Japanfernweh', 'Videos'] |
Ten quotes that will help your business | Inspiring quotes to help you improve your marketing, grow your business and make more money.
Image by Daniel Nebreda from Pixabay
Give people what they want
“You can have everything you want in life if you will help enough people get what they want.” Zig Ziglar
Zig Ziglar was an incredibly successful and honest businessman, and he’s proof that if you offer products or services that genuinely add value to someone’s life then you’re onto a winner. The truth sells, and it’s your most powerful asset.
It’s not about you
“People aren’t interested in you. They’re interested in themselves.” Dale Carnegie
If the first page of your website is all about you and how great you are, your customers will get bored. It’s not about you, and how many years you’ve been in business, it’s about what you can do to help your customers. Even your brand story page should be about how you solved a specific problem. The hero is your customer, you’re the trusted sidekick who will help your hero achieve a better future.
Make a good first impression
“On average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy. It follows that unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90 percent of your money.” David Ogilvy
This is from the ‘Father of Advertising’ and he gets straight to the point. People are busy and they want information quickly. Each piece of writing, on your website, adverts and marketing materials, needs to grab attention, get the reader to stop and read the next sentence. It has to appeal to your reader’s self-interest and shout about the benefits to them. Don’t waste the opportunity.
Be focused
“So, before you begin the writing, be sure you know the purpose or mission or objective of every piece of content that you write. What are you trying to achieve? What information, exactly, are you trying to communicate? And why should your audience care?” Ann Handley
Ann Handley is a digital marketing pioneer, and she knows her stuff. Being focused is easier if you make a list of the messages you want to convey to your customers. Put them in priority order and work out where they are best placed.
Take a look at your website and imagine you’re a customer. Make sure every blog post, social media post and web-page has a purpose that adds value to your customers.
Make it clear to your customers what you want them to do with a clear call to action. Schedule an appointment, look at our new collection, sign up for our newsletter… think in terms of what you want to achieve and the benefits to your audience.
Be clear and avoid jargon
“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.” Elmore Leonard
It’s easy to forget that you’re not writing to your customers, you’re having a conversation with them. If you were talking to them face-to-face would you use jargon and try to impress them with big words? I know you wouldn’t. Instead you’d talk openly and honestly with them about what you do and how you can help them. If your marketing materials don’t reflect that kind of conversation, you’re not communicating effectively.
Make relevant statements
“We have become so accustomed to hearing everyone claim that his product is the best in the world, or the cheapest, that we take all such statements with a grain of salt.” Robert Collier
Big statements often fall flat, and provoke resistance.
We’re the most established business — who cares? What do you do for me?
We’re the cheapest on the market — who cares? You might be the worst quality product.
We’re the best in the world — I’ll be the judge of that.
You won’t find better on the market — challenge accepted!
Don’t overplay it and, as with any statement, make sure it’s customer-centric and focuses on the benefits your customers will receive.
Communicate directly with your customers
“I’ve learned that any fool can write a bad ad, but that it takes a real genius to keep his hands off a good one.” Leo Burnett
Trust the people who are helping you build your brand. Advertising is key and you might hire a copywriter and designer to create those adverts for you. Your role is to enthuse those professionals about your brand and decide what messages you want to promote. Their expertise is creating adverts they know will work. You might want to add extra sales messages to one advert, but think of each advert as one message. Create separate campaigns for each message you want to shout about.
Make it urgent
“Believe me; nothing works as well on the web as deadlines.” Clayton Makepeace
Creating urgency, to motivate your customers to action, is a proven technique and one of the highest paid copywriters of our time knew this well. There’s lots of ways to make something look urgent, from ticking timers on websites, great headlines, targeted email campaigns and carefully timed reminders.
Advertise
“Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you’re doing, but nobody else does.” Steuart Henderson Britt
We all know this, but it’s easy to underestimate how much you need to promote yourself. The good thing is that there are so many ways to advertise. You can promote your brand, products and services with paid adverts, on local listings pages, social media posts, print adverts and so much more. It doesn’t have to cost the earth either.
Work on it
“Everyone wants to climb the mountain, but the big difference between those at the top and those still on the bottom is simply a matter of showing up tomorrow to give it just one more shot.” Gary Halbert
This is true for almost every aspect of building a business. It is particularly true when it comes to marketing. Your website is never ‘finished’, you need to maintain it and update it with great blog posts. It’s no good just having social media accounts you have to post consistently and engage with your customers. A marketing strategy isn’t set in stone, keep trying new things to get better results. Keep working at it. | https://medium.com/@didivonstone/ten-quotes-that-will-help-your-business-9027db51bc4b | ['Dianne Vanstone'] | 2020-11-14 17:58:15.632000+00:00 | ['Business Strategy', 'Quotes', 'Copywriting', 'Marketing Strategies', 'Copywriting Tips'] |
What You Need To Know About Online Language School Revenue Streams | Introduction
This article will aim at focusing on the different revenue streams that online language schools use to generate revenue. The article will focus on three leading online Language Companies, these being Duilingo, Italki, and FluentU, which all use three different ways of generating revenue within their company.
Duolingo
Duolingo is a free language platform that teaches language to users through their games focused courses. The platform is available on most major devices and has multiple revenue streams. For this example, i will focus on just the one, Duolingo has become so popular over the years that many companies have used Duoliongo as a source of advertising. This may be small ads on their webpage, but it has proven to be very beneficial for Duolingo. Some of these companies that advertise on their page also have a pay for click function, and any clicks that generate traffic flowing onto the client’s websites generate income for Duolingo.
FluentU
FlunetU is also an online language company but rather structure their lessons and courses in a game form they design their courses around fun videos and real-world context. For example, the popular frozen movie has a song called “let it go” this song is known by many, and for FlunetU, they have the “let it go” song in multiple languages so that if people want to learn, they can do so with things they are familiar with. Unline Dulingo FluentU revenue stream is more focused on subscription, so people pay a monthly fee and this gives them access to the learning content that FlunetU has on their website. This is not any better or worse then Duolingo its just an alternative way of generating income.
Italki
I talki is referred to as the Facebook of language learning. I talki allows users to you to connect with language learners from all around the world. Although free learning is one possibility of Italki’s their primary forms of revenue are through there lessons tutoring services. How this works is customers will be able to pick tutors they want based on the languages they teach, feedback received by previous customers as well as certain skill sets. After choosing, they will pay a service fee, and a tutor will teach you one on one. This, unlike the other two services, is a more tailored experience at which students can pick and choose which area they would like to focus on.
Conclusion
Based on the three revenue streams, I have explained its evident that there is not one specific revenue stream that does better than another. Companies are unique and do things based on what they feel fits their target markets. The hope is that by reading this article, you have learned more about different revenue streams that could potentially help you in your future business ventures. | https://medium.com/@jordaan.wihongi93/what-you-need-to-know-about-online-language-school-revenue-streams-285889a88ba9 | ['Jordaan Wihongi'] | 2019-11-21 06:46:37.813000+00:00 | ['Language Learning'] |
‘Informing — In Kind’. Mask Vigilantes | ‘Informing — In Kind’
Slight rant blog tonight.
Ok, so we’re all doing more-or-less the same things during this ‘Rona time. We need to adhere to basically the same guidelines, wear masks inside, not cough on others (like who does that anyway?,) etc. etc.
What I don’t understand is just because it’s the law to wear a mask right now, some people, even if they aren’t necessarily having a bad day, act as though they own the world and tear strips off people for making honest mistakes.
Seriously.
There’s always a way to be a decent human when talking to people and…shockingly…give them the benefit of the doubt that they legitimately forgot or didn’t realize x, y or z.
There are other examples out there…and the list could be long.
Road rage, for example, is shunned because it’s not a nice thing to do and we, especially as adults, usually (and could more often) give people the benefit of the doubt about their driving skills.
When Margaret cuts me off (which could be caused by distracted driving which is unlawful and I could yell at her for it and report her) because she is elderly, tired, possibly can’t see over the steering wheel very well and probably didn’t even realize that it happened — it wouldn’t be kind of me to follow her home and give her a piece of my mind.
I was born with the will and freedom to choose and I have the capacity and choice to be a jerk…or not.
Now, I’m not referring to the people who don’t wear masks and are super rude or combative with employees who are only trying to do their jobs by following the mandatory indoor practices as outlined by the business.
I’m talking about the random guy who, not even giving it a moment, drops the F-bomb and meanly demands why another patron of a store isn’t wearing a mask or wearing it properly as soon as they step food in the store. Really dude?
Or the Mom getting groceries who is with her young child and people (not actually reading or knowing Bon Bon’s guidelines choosing to ‘not remember’ that youth 12 and under don’t have to wear them) decide to tell her what is up. Get serious.
In these types of situations, there is never a nice suggestion, there is no trying to understand that it may be an honest mind-blank and there is no keeping their mouth shut because perhaps he or she is medically exempt.
This type of awful scenario is increasingly pervasive and not cool.
I’m usually quiet with stuff like this and these days, I’m trying to walk wiser yet speak in truth and support those who are on the mean end of the stick.
I’m going to continue to speak up when warranted…when it’s time…for those who don’t have a voice or don’t think they can use it.
The kind of poor behaviour that I outlined has been ramping up lately in all places with all types of people. It doesn’t make the world go ‘round and it’s the last thing anyone needs.
Try to be a kinder human being…as much as it depends on you.
Mask vigilante rant over.
-Becky | https://medium.com/@beckyboughton/informing-in-kind-b22b8959d532 | ['Becky Boughton'] | 2020-12-22 06:32:30.743000+00:00 | ['Law', 'Humanity', 'Masks', 'Kindness', 'Relationships'] |
QA vs. QE vs. SDET | QA, QE, and SDET are the most common basic identities of software testers. These three abbreviations stand for Quality assurance (QA), Quality Engineer(QE), and Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET).
What are those roles?
Quality Assurance (QA): In today’s industry, this is the most popular title for a tester is QA. This engineer is held accountable for the product’s quality, which is often achieved through testing and manual and automated methods.
In most cases, the process is automated; yet, this title is occasionally misinterpreted to mean that this engineer only performs manual testing. He or she also oversees and ensures that processes in the software development lifecycle adhere to quality assurance standards like ISO 9000 or CMMI.
Quality Engineer (QE): A quality engineer (QE) is a person whose job is to apply engineering practices to various aspects of the software development process in order to improve quality. It’s essentially the same as QA’s job.
However, having a de-emphasis on the term “confidence,” which has its own set of negative connotations, shows a bit more complexity of thought. A QE should also be able to build a quality plan, edit code, generate incident reports, run all types of tests, know and use the same tools and methodologies as the developer, work in continuous integration settings, and grasp the project’s overall business vision.
The role of the Test Engineer (TE) is similar to the role of the QE.
Software Development Engineer in Test(SDET): The Software Development Engineer in Test is another role found in quality. This role is also known as Software Engineer in Test (SET) and Automation Engineer (AE).
SDET prefers to take the lead over QA and AE. Only concentrate on developer tooling, test automation, framework development, and rewriting them over and over. This function is useful in both development and testing because it focuses solely on testability, robustness, and performance. An SDET, unlike a tester, should be familiar with the complete system and be involved in every phase of the development process.
The ability to think like a developer and advise development, management, and design teams on technical implementation and user scenarios is SDET’s greatest skill.
To signify a level of seniority in terms of experience or the position that the person plays on the team, you can prefix these with Associate, Senior, Lead, Staff, Principal, Distinguished. It is determined by the organization, work experience, and talents of the individual.
Are all of them the same?
In light of the above, do you think all of these are the same?
Despite the fact that all of these jobs have been software testing, they differ slightly in terms of the above-mentioned desired functions. However, the following factors can influence those discrepancies.
Context of the company/organization.
The personnel in charge of the tests think about their job.
What is the executive team’s prior experience with the company’s Test/Quality discipline?
Members of the team and how they viewed other testers in previous employment.
Finally, the table below summarizes the skills and qualities of QA QE and SDET. | https://medium.com/@senuri/qa-vs-qe-vs-sdet-8dd856f91037 | ['Senuri Samindi'] | 2021-09-07 17:36:04.012000+00:00 | ['Software Testing', 'Sdet', 'Quality Engineer', 'Quality Assurance'] |
The Subsplash 2019 Keynote is here! | A lot of incredible things have been happening at Subsplash! We’ve released websites with SnapPages™, rolled out targeted Push Notifications with GeoEngage™, taken Subsplash Giving to the next level, and so much more.
We can’t wait to share with you all the products and features we’ve rolled out over the last year, in addition to the heart behind our mission. We’re excited about continuing to take digital engagement to the next level and supporting your ministry as you make the truth of Jesus incredibly accessible, make more and better disciples, and build community.
In our 2019 Keynote, you’ll hear from a handful of our team members as they share what we’ve been up to in the last 12 months. We have lots of exciting news, including highlights from 2018, first-hand accounts from our clients, and an inside perspective from our founder and CEO, Tim Turner.
With new and innovative tools to support your ministry just around the corner, our team can’t wait to share everything that will be coming in 2019 to the Subsplash Platform. If you’re currently using the Subsplash Platform to maximize engagement and want to know more about what’s coming in 2019, reach out to your Client Success Manager. If you’re not yet utilizing the Subsplash Platform and want to learn more, one of our ministry-minded experts would love to talk with you. Let’s chat! | https://medium.com/subsplash/the-subsplash-2019-keynote-is-here-e1b833a469aa | [] | 2019-05-10 18:06:12.191000+00:00 | ['Giving', 'Church App', 'Keynote', 'Subsplash', 'Website Builders'] |
Custom domains are back! | Your domain name is an important part of your brand and clarifies the relationship forged between writer and reader. A couple years ago, we pushed pause on allowing writers to set up new custom domains on Medium. We did this because every feature on Medium should be frictionless and scalable, and the set-up of custom domains did not adequately satisfy either. During that time thousands of writers reached out, asking to bring this feature back. Last year, Ev detailed our plans to bring back custom domains:
Among other reasons, we needed to fix some cross-domain bugs and revamp our system for registering SSL certificates. We have now prioritized that work so that we can scalably offer custom domains again.
Today, we’re excited to announce that we’ve worked through the aforementioned issues, and writers can once again link their blog to a domain name they independently own. We used to charge $75 per custom domain, but we’re now making this feature free for Medium members. Once you’re a member, you can add or remove custom domains at no additional cost.
Set up your custom domain from profile or publication settings.
To set up a custom domain for your Medium profile or publication, simply navigate to the ‘Custom domain’ section in your profile or publication settings and click ‘Get Started’.
We hope custom domains help make your space on Medium feel like your own. Drop a link in the responses to your blog or publication using a custom domain ー we’d love to check them out! | https://blog.medium.com/custom-domains-are-back-2dee29560d59 | ["Russ D'Sa"] | 2021-02-16 18:05:18.040000+00:00 | ['Custom Domain', 'Creators', 'Writers On Medium', 'Launching', 'Features'] |
Myth #5 — Change is about communicating what our new values or beliefs are | This is part of a continuing series on the Five Myths of Organizational Change.
The Five Myths of Organizational Change — Myth #5 — Change is about communicating what our new values or beliefs are
Lastly, and most critically, we have gotten this wrong for far too long. Beliefs don’t change behaviors, behaviors change beliefs. First, think of the last time you truly changed a belief. Oh sure, you may have learned something that surprised you or even gave you new evidence that shifted your immediate thinking — but was this a true belief, something that has worked for you time and time again? Or was it something new you were not actually that attached to? The only way to change beliefs is by behaving in a new way first — behaving as if something else might be true and then seeing what happens.When we try on new behaviors, and the results that they produce don’t fit our beliefs, two key things happen
One — our beliefs come out of the shadows and begin to take form
Two — we start to see the cracks in those beliefs because we have experienced the disconnect, not because someone told us our beliefs were off, but because we experienced it ourselves!
We have to stop the propaganda campaigns about new values and beliefs, they change nothing (except increasing the belief that nothing has really changed). We have to start behaving differently. Change does not start after the horses have left the barn. The most effective change happens in the design of the change, in an inclusive process, in a robust dialogue. And it starts long before decisions are made. Otherwise our Change and Transformation experts simply become the propaganda leaders for decisions already made. Jason Stanley in his book How Propaganda Works, states that propaganda is part of the mechanism “by which people become deceived about how best to realize their goals, and hence deceived from seeing what is in their own best interests.” Can it work? Sadly, yes. Do people see through it in time. Also, yes. And then they feel that they have been manipulated. Not a great recipe for trust. Not a lasting recipe for change.
In our increasingly complex and technology-driven world, and you can’t do it alone.
Based upon almost two decades of partnership with the groundbreaking work of Michael Bungay Stanier and his approach to coach-like leadership, U help you think through the most difficult of times and gain an advantage by accelerating, and augmenting, your growth as a 21st century leader. Here’s more on my Executive Coaching for Change program.
Look forward to hearing from you,
Michael
Did someone forward this blog to you? Click here to subscribe my newsletter. | https://medium.com/@leckiemichaelj/myth-5-change-is-about-communicating-what-our-new-values-or-beliefs-are-5e3a199adc6d | ['Michael Leckie'] | 2020-12-01 13:17:13.366000+00:00 | ['Organizational Change', 'Leadership', 'Organization', 'Leadership Development', 'Organizational Culture'] |
Reduce Your Fire Risk With Vaping | The Dorset Fire Service has highlighted the importance of switching from smoking to reduce the number of cigarette-related home fires.
The Dorset Fire Service has highlighted the importance of switching from smoking to reduce the number of cigarette-related home fires. Their advice is backed up by the frequent directions from the pro-vaping London Fire Service that noticed a dramatic drop in call outs as people switched to using electronic cigarettes.
What is the Dorset Fire Service want people to do?
It is urging all smokers to bin their tobacco habit as it is a “ top factor “ in fatal home fire incidents.
What does its spokesperson say?
The Dorset Fire Service’s spokesperson commented: “ Smoking-related materials have been the top factor in fatal fires for many years. The best way to prevent such fires is to stop smoking. If you’re caring for someone who smokes — start by encouraging them to quit.
“Also, make sure you or others have working smoke alarms fitted in the home and be sure to test them regularly. If the person you care for has a personal alarm system, is it linked to the smoke alarms? This can be arranged for additional safety.”
How does this relate to other fire services?
Back in 2014, fire prevention officers were noting that vaping was having a dramatic impact on incident rates. In their report “Fire statistics Great Britain 2011 to 2012” they noted that there were 2,673 accidental fires caused by smoking. This resulted in a death rate of 84 smokers per year.
Vaping was booming, it was approximated that there were 2.1 million e-cigarette users. There were just 57 accidental fires caused and a single death so the benefit of smokers switching was obvious.
Cheshire Fire Service advocated switching in 2017 and gave smokers the following advice:
The following year, London’s Assistant Commissioner for Fire Safety Dan Daly said: “ So many [of these] deaths and injuries could have been prevented either by stopping smoking or by switching to vaping. We would rather people didn’t smoke at all but if they do, vaping is a safer option.”
Daly continued: “ There is a common misconception that vapes are a fire risk but the reality is they have caused a very small number of fires — normally because the device is broken or it’s being charged by a faulty charger. Smoking on the other hand is a killer. Common causes of smoking-related fires are people falling asleep while smoking or discarding cigarette butts or matches that have not been properly extinguished.”
The London Fire Service added: “ For smokers who aren’t ready to quit yet, e-cigarettes (vapes) are a better option from a fire safety perspective. Dropping a vape on a carpet, duvet or armchair won’t start a fire. So, if quitting completely isn’t on the cards, it’s a simple swap that can save lives.” | https://medium.com/@e-liquidsuk/reduce-your-fire-risk-with-vaping-e-liquids-uk-c0ac2274d695 | ['E-Liquids Uk'] | 2021-06-30 15:35:07.288000+00:00 | ['Vaping', 'E Liquid', 'Fire', 'Smoking', 'E Cigarettes'] |
Learn From the Scholars but Listen to Yourself | Learn From the Scholars but Listen to Yourself
We all have unique spiritual realities
Photo by Suad Kamardeen on Unsplash
The first time I ever questioned the opinion of the scholars was a few years back at a particular halaqah that my friends and I used to attend. We had just welcomed the glorious month of Dhul Hijjah and in trying to maximize the benefits of the first ten days, we had decided to fast. At the halaqah, Our Mu’allim had mentioned to us the hadith about fasting on the day of Arafah; a hadith that I had heard many times before.
“Fasting on the day of Arafah expiates all the sins of the past year and the coming year” [Muslim]
This hadith and many more were not only a true sign of Allah’s love and mercy towards his creatures; but also a reminder that even if our sins were to fill up an ocean, Allah only requires a subtle act of good deed and a heart full of repentance to forgive our sins. It meant that if I kept up with the annual tradition of fasting on the day of Arafah, I would practically be sinless. My heart was always overwhelmed with so much joy at the prospect of all my sins being washed away leaving my soul as light as a feather and my heart as pure as a white piece of cloth that is free of stains.
But on this particular day, our Mu’allim had said something along the lines of “You can’t have all your past sins forgiven just by fasting on the day of Arafah. The Prophet (PBUH) was only referring to our minor sins.”
I looked at the Mu’allim and I didn’t know whether it was anger or confusion I felt when I asked him quite confrontationally “How could you say that when the hadith quite clearly states that whoever fasts on the day of Arafah would have his past sins forgiven?”
“Well, the hadith has been interpreted by the scholars to mean that Allah would only forgive our minor sins” he replied
“If I may ask, why does the hadith need any further interpretation? It is quite clear and unambiguous. The Prophet (PBUH) didn’t say ‘minor sins’. He said ‘all the sins’. There’s a difference.”
“Sometimes, the scholars dig deeper than the surface. They don’t look at a particular hadith in isolation”
This subtle but significant argument left me more confused and dejected; confused because I didn’t understand how and why a clear and simple statement needed a semantic surgery and dejected because should in case the Mu’allim’s assertion were true, my hopes of having all my past sins forgiven by fasting on the day of Arafah had been dashed.
Photo by Suad Kamardeen on Unsplash
Years later, reflecting on this experience and trying to understand why the scholars had interpreted the hadith in that manner, I had discovered that the only reason why they would so literarily limit the mercy of Allah was to try to make us strive for a sinless life. According to them, the only way to have our major sins forgiven was to be conscious of the fact that we had committed a particular sin and then make tawbah by admitting our sin, feeling guilty about it and resolving not to go back to it. This and only this was the one way to have our major sins forgiven.
So what happened to those big sins I committed unknowingly; that I never either thought of as sins or that I subconsciously did not even take notice of. If it was not enough for me to raise both of my hands up to my Lord and seek his forgiveness, how then would I get my sins forgiven? Was I supposed to just lose hope in the mercy of my Lord?
The Prophet had said we would have “our past sins” forgiven, not just the minor ones. It seemed to me like a deliberate effort on the part of our scholars to get us overwhelmed. But Allah knew best.
I was told to become conscious of the major sins; to learn each and every one of them so that I could avoid them, but when I finally got the book that was recommended to me, The Major Sins by Muhammad bin Uthman Adh-Dhahabi, I became all the more overwhelmed. About seventy major sins had been listed and explained in detail. Amongst them were quarrelling, arguing and picking apart another’s words.
I even learnt that losing hope in the mercy of Allah was itself a major sin. And except we all want to deceive ourselves, how many of us have sincerely reflected on a major sin like “lying” in whatever form it takes, felt guilty about it and resolved never to lie again. And even if we do, a simple statement like “I’m not at home” when you actually are is itself a major sin.
How was I supposed to super consciously live every day of my life, guarding myself against committing the seventy major sins? I felt stifled, imprisoned and eventually, a feeling of despair descended upon me.
“Say; O my slaves who have transgressed against themselves, Despair not of the mercy of Allah: verily, Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is oft-forgiving, most Merciful.” [Noble Qur’an 39:53}
The day I stumbled upon this verse from the Qur’an, I realized that not only had the Prophet (PBUH) told us that we would have all our sins forgiven, but that Allah Himself had told us that He forgives “ALL” sins, as long as you remained a true Muslim [not a Mushrik (polytheist) or a Munafiq (hypocrite)]. It suddenly occurred to me that while not asserting that the scholars were wrong, they were also humans who could err just like me and it was only unfair to them that we had placed them on such high pedestals.
One cool Ramadhan’s evening, while listening to a particular episode from the Bayyinah podcast, I realized that Allah had spoken to me. I had learnt about the gravity of Allah’s mercy from listening to the halaqah of Nouman Ali Khan when he quoted a verse from Soorah Taha that Allah did not reveal the Qur’an to us to cause us distress but that it was indeed guidance and mercy to mankind; those who were conscious of their Lord.
For the first time ever, after so many years of reciting the first five verses of Soorah Baqarah, I picked up my Qur’an, this time trying to understand it deeply and ever since then, I have not felt more at peace. In the first five verses of Soorah Al Baqarah, Allah mentions the characteristics of those who are on true guidance and will be successful.
First is that they are Al Muttaqun, the pious believers of Allah, who perform good deeds and abstain from evil deeds.
The second is that they believe in the unseen and perform Salah and Zakah.
The third is that they believe in the book (the Qur’an) which was sent down to Muhammad (PBUH) and in the books (Zabur, Torah and Injil) which were sent down to those who came before Muhammad (PBUH) and they believe with certainty in the Hereafter.
I became conscious of my own unique spiritual reality, seeing that in the end, my Islam was between me and my Lord. And although it was laudable to learn from the scholars and the people of knowledge, I chose to trust my gut, to listen to myself and live my Islam in a way that would guarantee my happiness rather than leave me feeling stifled and dejected.
The biggest relief for me was the fact that I came to understand that Allah doesn’t demand perfection from us. He just wants us to strive towards attaining His mercy. This mercy was what we needed to be successful.
And now, to the best of my ability; as little as I can, I go about my daily activities, seeking Allah’s protection from falling into error, raising both my hands to him to seek His forgiveness and yearning for His mercy. | https://medium.com/the-heart-of-quran/learn-from-the-scholars-but-listen-to-yourself-f9f5d22253f5 | ['Wardah Abbas'] | 2019-09-22 03:10:22.227000+00:00 | ['Islam', 'Spirituality', 'Quran', 'Religion', 'Muslim'] |
Fine wine returns outperform UK blue-chips and gold | ICO Rating CWEX
Fine wine investors will be raising their glasses as their returns for the year are set to outperform UK blue-chip shares and gold. The index charting the movements of 1,000 leading fine wines on the secondary market, the Liv-ex 1000, had gained 11.3 percent at the end of November in pound sterling terms from the start of the year, setting a record high thanks to increasing interest in wines from Burgundy and Italy. This compares with pound-denominated gains of 1.4 percent for gold in sterling terms and a return of 6.6 percent for the FTSE 100 by the same local currency measure, which also includes the reinvestment of dividends for the year ending November 30. Fine wine merchants in the secondary market are predominantly based in London and the market is traded in sterling. However, thanks to the weaker dollar, a US-based wine investor would have seen a gain of 21.8 percent in the Liv-ex 1000 calculated in dollars, beating the S&P 500’s total return of 20.5 percent at the end of November. In dollar terms, gold had risen 11 percent for the year at the end of last month. “Buying interest broadened beyond Bordeaux, pushing up prices of Burgundy and Barolo wines,” said Ed Jackson, the analyst at Liv-ex. Chinese buyers, who had deserted the fine wine market after Beijing’s anti-corruption and austerity campaigns, have been returning, say wine experts. Once solely focused on Bordeaux reds, the Chinese market for fine wine is maturing and diversifying into other areas in France, such as Burgundy. “Australian wines are becoming quite big, like Penfolds,” said Mr. Jackson, adding that the free trade agreement between China and Australia had also helped demand. Oenophiles outside of China also showed interest in wines outside of Bordeaux. The main catalyst for the rally has been the Burgundy market, where production at the wineries tends to be much smaller compared with Bordeaux. Reports confirming a small 2016 harvest in the region also spurred buying of top Burgundy wines. The Liv-ex 100, the narrower index that tracks some of the most actively traded fine wines, rose 5.4 percent for the year to end-November, fluctuating on the value of pound sterling. Fine wine prices saw a bounce last year after the UK’s EU referendum when sterling plunged. Prices continued to rise until the pound strengthened in April this year, which brought the Liv-ex 100’s 16-month winning streak to an end. A strengthening euro during the summer encouraged buying while Asia based investors have been stocking up ahead of the Chinese new year, according to Liv-ex. The broadening of the market is expected to continue into next year with more wine merchants trading an increasing number of wines, says Liv-ex. Andrew della Casa, the co-founder of the Wine Investment Fund, expects that the market has room to rise further. “I expect the market recovery to continue at least to trend and possibly beyond,” he said. Liv-ex warned that there were several uncertainties which could affect prices next year. Volatility in sterling, which is down 3 percent against the euro since the start of the year, is one leading factor, especially as Brexit negotiations progress. Another is the departure of the respected wine critic Neal Martin from The Wine Advocate magazine, founded by the wine guru Robert Parker. Mr. Martin, who took over Mr. Parker’s main tasting responsibilities, announced his exit last month and will join the wine website Vinous in February next year. Mr. Parker’s tasting scores could make or break a Bordeaux vintage and the departure of Mr. Martin could mean that the market has lost a key influencer of prices, says Liv-ex. When Robert Parker stepped back, the importance of the critics’ ratings declined, “but the scores can still affect the prices”, said Mr. Jackson.
Website: https://cwinex.io/
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ZB Market Daily: BTC & BCH daily technical analysis | BTC Price rallied by 3.39% on Tuesday after break out of consolidation zone. Despite 5.63% losses on the 20th of December due to second wave of Covid 19 outburst in the UK, BTC Price closed the trading session yesterday at $23791.27 at press time.
Yesterday, it was a consolidation opened of the trading session after the bears pressure cooled off from the rapid plunged of BTC Price to a major support of $22550.71 on the 21st of December.
BTC Price opened yesterday trading session at $22694.39 and printed a low of $22502.82 in the first 4-hour of the Asian session.
Although, this low that was printed was a demand zone for the underlying crypto instrument looking at the west direction from the 4-chart time frame.
Crypto bulls leveraged on the demand zone to pressure BTC price to print a high of $23077.51. Although, a minor resistance was created at $23077.51 on the 22nd of December, which caused BTC Price to fall back to a support of $22502.82.
After Minor consolidation, crypto bulls broke out of the range bound of $22502.82 and $23072.91 at 16:00 UTC with a high of $23152.73.
The crypto bulls got more volume to ride on the bullish momentum to the upside, which caused BTC Price to print an intraday high of $23807.23 as of the time of writing.
BTC 4-hour chart
Technically, the head and shoulder market structure that was printed in our previous analysis on the 21st of December became invalid after the crypto bulls defended $22657.86 major support.
The Bollinger band converged and also the 20-period simple moving average acted as a dynamic support with respect to horizontal support of $23093.47. BTC Price closed the trading session bullish.
RSI flipped higher above a neutral territory of 50 mark and at 59.23 positive territory for bullish bias to the upside.
For the day ahead, the crypto bulls are faced with a major resistance of $24090.91 that was printed during the recent rally.
A break out of this resistance will be a major breakthrough for BTC Price to extend and continue December’s rally to a new record all-time high.
But failure to break this resistance in the next day trading session will lead to retest of the major support of $22657.86.
BCH
BCH Price rallied by 6.23% on Tuesday after preventing the crypto bears from flipping price lower below a major support level.
BCH Price made a major correction after two days rallied from a high of $379.33, leading to a plummet of price to retest a broken resistance of $327.50 on the 21st of December.
BCH Price closed below this Price range which led to the bearish momentum at Tuesday opened trading session.
Yesterday, BCH price opened the trading session at $312.00 with a weak bearish candle. Irrespective of the weakness of the crypto bears, BCH Price fell to an intraday low of $299.50 but got pulled back to close the late afternoon session at $305.71.
This price range was major demand zone for the underlying crypto instrument at $305.71. Volume rolled in the BCH/USDT pairs.
At the closed of the trading session, BCH price printed an intraday high of $324.90.
BCH 4-hour chart
From technical indicators, 20-period moving average acted as a dynamic support simultaneously with 30 EMA & 10 EMA after a swing low of $312.80.
RSI is 49.99 mark in the neutral territory, which was a signal for a range setup of BCH price.
Based on price action perspective, BCH price did a little pulled back due to a minor resistance that was printed on the 21st of December.
For the day ahead, the crypto bulls are faced with a resistance of $327.50.
If the crypto bulls get some level of volume at $318.85, then a probable break of the resistance could occur.
Traders will need to leverage on the broken resistance as a platform to long their position for a probable target of $368.44.
On the contrary view, if the bulls fails to break the resistance, BCH Price will dip lower to retest $305.71 major support.
About ZB Group
ZB Group was founded in 2012 with the goal of providing leadership to the blockchain development space and today manages a network that includes digital assets exchanges, wallets, capital ventures, research institutes, and media. The Group’s flagship platform is ZB.com, the industry leading digital asset exchange. The platform launched in early 2013 and boasts one of the world’s largest trading communities.
ZB Group also includes ZBG the innovative crypto trading platform, and BW.com, the world’s first mining-pool based exchange. Other holdings include wallet leader BitBank.
Industry intelligence and standards are headed by the recently launched ZB Nexus who embody the core values of ZB Group and open-source their reports and analysis for the public.
Learn more about ZB Exchange by visiting www.zb.com. | https://medium.com/@zbmarketreport/zb-market-daily-btc-bch-daily-technical-analysis-17be56ed54c6 | ['Zb Market Research'] | 2020-12-23 07:15:48.211000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Bitcoin', 'Crypto', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Analysis'] |
“The special forces team said they are tired.” | “The special forces team said they are tired.”
We understand that Lukashenko will betray us.
Igor Makar is a former deputy commander of the combat group of the anti-terrorist special unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus called “Almaz”. He worked in “Almaz” for 5 years. Igor coached Nikolai Karpenkov, and he is still a close friend of the head of Lukashenko’s security service, Dmitry Shakhraev. Igor has insider information from his former colleagues. He told Radio Svaboda what he felt when he was beating prisoners, what tortures the police forces have been practicing for a long time, who killed Taraykovsky, and what frame-up Lukashenka’s security service was preparing on the election night.
Igor Makar was born in Grodno in 1977. After serving in the army, in 1997 he started serving in Grodno OMON (special forces team). In 1998 he began working at “Almaz”. Graduated from the Academy of Physical Education and Sports of the Republic of Belarus, later he went to the Law Institute. He left the service and was the head of the security of the former ex-presidential candidate Alyaksandr Kazulin. He is in political emigration since 2006. In 2011, his sister Olga Makar and her son applied for political asylum in the UK due to police persecution and threats to her and her son’s lives. Igor Makar cooperates with the By_Pol association which helps the security forces who refuse to obey criminal orders.
“What are your thoughts on the last Sunday protest, harsh detentions, and escalation of violence by the police forces?”
“The protest mood is not eternal. The state machine, the power structures have much greater functions and abilities to survive in such situations. Lukashenka has a goal to completely strangle all kinds of protests. The fewer people go to protests, the more police officers work. I talked to the special forces team, and they are exhausted, they are trying to do everything to end the manifestations and protests. The fewer people are on the streets, the more get detained.”
“How did you join the police forces, tell us about your career there, why did it end?”
“In 1995–1996 I was a part of “Spetsnaz” border troops. My boss in special training was a man who later joined the president’s security team. All my life I have been involved in sports, participated in competitions. When I came home after the army, I really wanted to work at “Almaz”. I had a good friend working there. There they told me that I need to go through an internship to understand how it works. The deputy head of the detachment advised us to go back to Grodno and get a job in a rapid reaction police detachment, work, understand the essence and then return. That’s exactly what I did. I went to OMON, passed the selection, got a job, and worked there for about a year. ThenI was recalled to work at “Almaz”. I worked at “Almaz” for about 5 years. Resigned as a senior lieutenant.”
“What was your main duty there?”
“Detention of the most dangerous criminals, protection of senior government officials, anti-terrorism.”
“Did you participate in street protests?”
“This function of the division does not include that. During the 5-year work at “Almaz”, we used firearms only once (I had a pistol, an automatic MP5, and an Uzi). Fully armed and equipped we arrived at the presidential residence and waited in two minivans. As I understood there was also some kind of protest. We stayed for 3–4 hours and then left the residence because it was over. It happened in 2002 or 2003.”
“As far as you know, how often “Almaz” forces are being present during protests and when did it start?”
“2002–2004. In 2006 it became very tough. At that time I was already with Kazulin, I was in his security, I saw all the work. Especially in the Palace of Culture of Railway workers in March 2006, when Kazulin arrived at the National Assembly and everyone was seriously beaten there. I managed to leave and hide because Kazulin did not take me with him. He seemed to have foreseen everything. The security officers were brutal.”
“You left “Almaz” when you joined Kazulin. What caused your resignation?”
“When I was appointed as a deputy commander of the combat group, I had many disagreements with the leadership of “Almaz”. All these eventually led to the fact that I just quit. I’ve already talked to Kazulin then. And then I talked to Alexander Vladislavovich, and he said: “Igor, I do not want to force you, just think. If you are with me, you will be with me, if you want to continue working, do so,” and I quit.
I had a close relationship with Kazulin’s daughter Yulia, I really loved her, and we were about to become a family. But due to the political situation and my departure from the country, this never happened.”
“When did you leave Belarus? After Kazulin’s arrest on March 25, 2006, or earlier?”
“I left earlier. Before the elections, Nikolai Karpenkov was calling me all the time (at that time he was the commander of the division). He really wanted me to quit politics because I was a former employee of “Almaz” and it was ruining the face of the division. I collected information from all employees about the lawlessness that was going on, and once I went to my close friend. It was Dmitry Shakhraev, who is now the head of the presidential security service. We had a friendly conversation. At that time he was Lukashenka’s personal adjutant. From the conversation, I realized that neither he nor I would cooperate, we were just fellows, and I left. Obviously, they found this out; maybe I was being followed. Then Karpenkov called me and we set up a meeting. I talked to him very seriously. Very seriously, in the end, he told me: either you leave, or worry about your mother. He made it very clear that everything would be very bad.
We made an agreement with him that I would hand in all the incriminating evidence. He said that then he would organize a meeting and this meeting would be very serious. Was I ready? I said I was. I had no choice. After a while, I met with the Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Naumov. We talked for over 2 hours about everything. I managed to record this conversation, I won’t say how. I am ready to publish it. I published a little and gave Oleg Alkaev some parts from the conversation. I negotiated with Naumov about all the incriminating evidence (they are in Poland), that I would be going to Brest, they would meet me, I would bring everything. We would exchange them and say our goodbyes, and I would not get into politics anymore.
After meeting with Naumov, I went to Kazulin. The next day Kazulin met with seven ambassadors of the European Union. I showed them the tape, they all listened. Naumov said that we would detain Kazulin and I would be the next. There was no choice. I was taken to Moscow by plane, and then the Lithuanian ambassador agreed that I go to Lithuania, later I received political asylum.”
“You mentioned the name of Nikolai Karpenkov, a very famous person now, the head of the Main Command for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with whom you met and communicated. How would you characterize him?”
“When I worked at “Almaz” Nikolai Karpenkov headed a department in the presidential security service, and they came to our “Almaz” base to train. The commander made me in charge of the training. I trained, showed everything I could, everything that we did. I got along with Nikolai, he always respected me when they came to the detachment, and he asked me to train them.
He is a very loyal person, especially to Lukashenko. He will never betray him, he will do everything. As I see it, his dream is to become a minister. He is doing everything to get this position. By the way, Naumov became the head of the presidential security service by the suggestion of Karpenkov. Then Naumov was assigned as a minister, and this was his merit as well. Naumov himself told me about this.”
“Now “Almaz” has a new generation of guys, but some people you used to work with still remained. Do you know the atmosphere there now? They still are performing duties they are not supposed to. This is an anti-terrorist division, they are not supposed to fight peaceful demonstrators.”
“I can speak about not only “Almaz” but briefly about all divisions. Only people, I would call them armchair people, are in a good mood: investigators, district police officers, and detectives. They understand that they will have to answer for this dirty work later. In special units like riot police, “Almaz”, “Alfa”, “SOBR” they are absolutely inadequate. Telling them to stop and think about people is useless. Lukashenka managed to separate special forces from the people. He dragged the units into aggression, which manifests itself more and more every day. The main reason why people do this is absolute, total impunity. This has been going on for 26 years. Nobody is responsible for anything. Therefore, no one can talk to them normally.”
“I am thinking like an ordinary person, not a soldier who follows orders. If you see an unarmed man, peaceful, how easy is it to beat him? Could you? Have you done that? A person holding a weapon should be asking himself this question.”
“Yes. I don’t remember what year it was when I worked at “Almaz”, I was a young officer in the division back then. “Almaz” was just renamed into an anti-terrorist organization and we were sent to visit prisons. When we arrived at some prisons, we lined up in the corridor in two opposite directions, we were holding batons. The cell opened, prison guards called the name of the prisoner saying: “Out! Run!”. They ran, and we were beating them with batons as hard we could. Then the second, third, fourth prisoner.”
“Swearing all the time?”
“Sure. People writhed in pain on the other side. Then the same last names were called again, and they ran back to their cell. It was around 2000–2001. I remember it being a prison in Zhodino. We held our training there, and the head of the prison said that we need to show strength because there were people who disagreed with the regime, they did something wrong. There were five or six chambers. They beat them terribly. This is a common practice both in the riot police and in “Almaz”.”
“Similar video from the Okrestino detention center was recently leaked and it shocked people. Why did no one know about such a “common practice” before?”
“No, this information was confidential, these people were not political prisoners. When regular people started uniting now, such units as riot police are being sent to fight their own people. They are all embittered. Some of them justify this by the fact that they work day and night since every Sunday, Saturday there are protests. They are poorly paid. On the first days, they were given bonuses for each day. Now nobody says anything because there is no money. And they won’t, so the officers are angry and use force. We had a training in “Almaz” to harshly detent every criminal, there is no other way because your life is in danger. But if you handcuff the detainee, whoever he was, you stop. You must not beat a handcuffed person, you cannot mock him. What the riot police is doing now is inhuman.”
“What you did to the prisoners was an order. It seems that now such an attitude towards people is an order, not a wish, is that so?”
“Certainly. This is used in prisons and isolation wards, not against one or two, but against a large number of people. If 15–16 protesters are in the isolation ward, it is very simple — stand in two lines, chase one by one, and beat them with truncheons. You can’t think of anything better, because what we did in prisons involved several people, you hold hands and beat them with batons from both sides. The person could not keep standing after that. It was just a mess. It was very brutal. I don’t think they do that now.”
“What were you feeling when you were doing it?”
“Nothing. It was just an order. Absolutely nothing. I just did it, that’s all. But with time, after a year, two, three, four… That is why I had a disagreement with the head of “Almaz”, once I argued strongly… When those who wanted to enter “Almaz” were selected (same as I at one point), there was an obstacle course, then sparring. During sparring sessions some of our guys simply maimed people. There was one guy from the presidential security service who wanted to join “Almaz”, he was trained, but on the other side, there was a person who had better fitness skills. As a result, he broke his back. Terrible. I expressed my opinion, but they told me that it was none of my business.”
“Everyone saw the photographs from the Sovetsky District Department of Internal Affairs, where people stood by the wall with their hands up. Those who went through this say they had to do it for about 5–6 hours. Is it common as well?”
“Yes. When I worked in the riot police, this was done with detainees who violated the law or committed a crime. You put one, two, or three detainees against the wall, hands up, and they stand like this for 30–40 minutes, they can’t do it any longer. When they lowered his hands, you just punched them with a baton, and the detainee raises his hands. And because of all this suffering, you get testimony from them, they tell the truth about the things they did or did not do.”
“You no longer work there, you’ve been in political emigration for many years, recently you took part in the International Congress of Belarusians. What is your opinion on what your former colleagues are doing? What is your human and law assessment?”
“I condemn their actions. Moreover, they are committing a crime. The employee of “Almaz” who shot Taraikovskiy convicted of a crime for which he can be sentenced to punishment. It was a pump-action shotgun that can only be applied from 50 meters. Every employee must be aware of this. I do not understand why the soldier shot. There were only 20–25 meters away which led to death.
There were two more wounded with rubber bullets. They were hospitalized and the doctors rescued them. This is inappropriate behavior, because an officer of the division, especially working at “Almaz”, knows at what distance a pump-action shotgun can be used. It is used to stop a wrongful act. Less than 50 meters is fatal. In the video we see a man with his hands up, there is evidence of weapon use, but for some reason no one does anything. I believe that every case should be investigated. Take video facts, find out the identity, and prepare for trial.”
- You say that the special forces are tired, angry, and want to stop everything as soon as possible. Is there a way to talk to them, convince them?
“No longer. I tried about a month ago. I watched the video from each action. I’ve seen a lot in my life, but I was terrified. Five riot policemen attack people, girls, and guys and simply beat them up with batons. I tried to talk to my friends, even those who work in the department now, to talk with those who are directly involved in the crackdown, with the riot police. My friends talked to the riot police officers and said: “Igor, you don’t even need to try, nothing will change.”
You can watch Prokopyev’s video about Sergei. Yes, everything is beautiful, fine, but this is not working now. Asking not to beat the protesters, because this is a peaceful action because these are your people because they pay you a salary and you are a state employee — this no longer works. In one conversation, an OMON officer said that they understand everything, but they will not stop doing it because they have already done so much that there is no turning back. I quote: “Today we are at war, for us everyone who goes out on the streets to peaceful protests is an enemy, and we will hold back until we can.” My friend said that Alexander Lukashenko will betray them. The same happened with “Berkut” in Ukraine, with Riga and Vilnius OMON after the collapse of the USSR. And he said: “We understand that he will betray us, but now we stand as one for one. And we shall stand until the end, there is no turning back.”
“Are there many people who quit just like you?”
“There are. Some of the people who worked with me at “Almaz” are now “in civilian clothes”, mainly in Russia to earn money, with their families. Nobody participates in politics.”
“What would you say to peaceful protesters who know that they can be detained, beaten, maimed, and still come out to protest? What should they do? How can they protect themselves?”
“I talked to people who now work in the system, who are very tired of it. Tired of the current structure of power, and those who protest, and the whole situation. The first thing I would like to say to the people who go on the streets is a huge thank you. I understand that the Belarusian people exist, Belarusians exist as a nation. What has been done is a huge plus. If a person is ready to go out, they have to go out, but only peaceful actions are needed. So, there will be detentions, possibly harsh, jail, fines, but you need to endure because I think that we can win this fight against Lukashenko. He will no longer hold his power. Do not under any circumstances take radical actions. There will be provocations, and this will play into the hands of Lukashenko. We need only peaceful actions. Endure to the last. Even if 100 people come out, it will already be good. Just be in a chain without anything illegal. Just peaceful actions. Stay for a bit and go. If someone does at least something — hang up a flag, write words of support — everything will go to the common piggy bank.
About provocations. On election night, my anonymous source contacted me and said that provocations were being prepared, that snipers were training in the presidential security service with sniper rifles and automatic pistols. At the shooting range, they shot at targets wearing riot police officers’ uniforms. According to the source, a provocation was being prepared — shots at the riot policemen, and as a result — a very serious crackdown of the actions, even with deploying the army.
When I found it out, I wanted to reveal it quickly, but it didn’t work out very well. Everyone thought that this was a provocation on my part. Dmitry Shakhraev, the head of the presidential security service, is a very close friend of mine. It happened that we are on opposite sides, but we still remain friends. He was the teacher in my division, he was an example to me. We are close, and I would not want him to commit a crime. If there was a provocation and when Lukashenko’s regime collapses, he would go to prison. Literally two days before the elections in Belgium and France, they agreed to publish this information, and, fortunately, the provocation never happened.”
“Do you have any optimism about the future?”
“Small, but I do. Now it is my personal duty to make this dictatorial regime created by Lukashenko, this repressive machine, end so that the people live peacefully in a normal country.”
“You’re saying now it makes no sense to convince the security officials. But as a former special forces soldier, what would you try to tell them?”
“As a former employee, as an officer, I made my last call. Maybe someone will hear that. I address all employees involved in dispersing peaceful protests. Don’t commit a crime. If you are afraid of being fired (some say that they are watching each other), just pretend, raise the baton, but do not hit people, delay, and if possible, release. Let the man run away. Gather information for the future, because everyone will be responsible for everything they did. I agree with Pavel Latushko that if there is not enough evidence, because someone was in a balaclava, there is a lie detector, and every employee who worked at that time will go through it. Think about your family and future, about your people, because you belong to these people”
TEXT: Anna Sous | https://medium.com/@voicesfrombelarus/the-special-forces-team-said-they-are-tired-f897f8266506 | ['Voices Belarus'] | 2020-12-03 16:08:56.941000+00:00 | ['Police', 'Protest', 'Belarus', 'Prayforbelarus', 'Violence'] |
Why I Write: A Flawed Explanation | For no discernible reason, here is a photograph of an Oak Tree at a client’s farmhouse. It just felt right for this story.
I write because I love the angle of the wall as it meets the ceiling, just over there near the head of that black timber window. I write because I love the cold, flat grey light of winter, the stillness of those ugly trees in the chilly midday air, and the way Melbourne’s footpaths burn whtie in the summer sun. I write because I love a messy house, because I hate housework, because I hate going to the supermarket on a Saturday and because I want to exist long after I have turned to dust. I write to remember that part of my day is worthwhile, even while some gets wasted; I write to remember to take it easy, to take it long and low and to draw out the strokes of my lazy afternoons.
I write despite having no ideas about what to write. Having an idea for a story is like having an idea for a poem: it doesn’t lead anywhere in itself. It is merely the conscious mind attempting to take control and set the agenda. It is not productive. I seem to get this with poetry more than prose: I begin a poem because I find the fragment of a poem in my mouth and on my tongue, a stray association of words that has sprouted like a seed from my subconscious. I should try this more with prose.
Story ideas are a red herring. They miss the point. They are ‘about’ and not ‘of’. They are desperate attempts to herd fish when the real game is a shotgun blast in a salad bowl. If an idea has value it will emerge from the seeds of free writing. If it does not it will not: something else will emerge instead. Something strange that will take root and grow out of the fertile soil of steady production. And production is everything: to write, and to write and to write.
So I write through interruptions, through rain storms, and through the beats and chimes of this drawn out Saturday Boxing Day afternoon. I write through application and concentration. I write through the eye of a needle, threading each sentence through the eye just one word thick, one word at a time. Sometimes I write through a fine, white gauze I call Mental Muslin.
I write imperfectly and impatiently. I write enough for now, and then some more for later. I write up and I write down, and I am working on writing sideways as well, but I am not there yet.
I am therefore I write, but the am came first. | https://medium.com/@theinkshot/why-i-write-a-flawed-explanation-3e6295431d56 | ['Marcus Baumgart'] | 2020-12-26 03:50:02.255000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Reason', 'Trees'] |
What should be the mindset before starting to learn something new? Taking the First step. | What should be the mindset before starting to learn something new? Taking the First step. AK Subodh Jun 1·2 min read
Learning always require efforts. But above all what is it that decides whether we fail or succeed? If I start learning a skill today, as an individual in this time of pandemic where any way I could contact peer is virtual, will the old ways work?
Working alone while managing the ongoing semester. Fear of imperfection. Self-assessment revealing the same poor results persistently.
Being daunted by this ever-growing void, I’m somewhere missing out the opportunities. If there’s no one to counter or compare to, then managing my own profile might work.
Almost all the resources and tutorials out there are by the people having considerate amount of experience in their field. This scenario gets reversed when we practice with our peers. They’re inexperienced and learning along with us at their pace which is beautifully challenging and exciting.
The process to attain the flow actually leads to satisfaction while sometimes watching too many people already having rehearsed access to it, leads to unnecessary comparisons and frustration, whether we accept it or not. Truth is, everyone has their individual timeline. Difference is of relativity.
Acceptance is the key.
I was unable to find anyone in my field, at my level whose growth + failure + success+ challenges I could witness and learn freely with them. Hence, deciding to record my own thought process, approach and activities for anyone in a situation like me.
I’ve fear of presenting my work. Divergent interaction between the natures of the subjects I want to pursue and the one I’m studying at college, results into chaos in maintenance of knowledge I gather.
Therefore, I’m working on developing connections between the dots. Somehow it’s easier to find topics to read but problem is too much availability of the content out there. Being a beginner, you’re a dead man the moment you dig in too deep in the first topic you find. The connections I develop definitely are based on the assumptions on the data I could find. Hence,process is based on trial-an-error.
This post is to just mark the Day1. All the plannings and challenges I plan to undertake are part of second post.
P.S: If it reaches you, I’m really happy to find you! It was surprising to find out that even a loner being like me could miss observing people from a distance. Contribution of people in our lives is significant, even if their interaction is minimum.
Happy First step! | https://medium.com/@aksubodh/what-should-be-the-mindset-before-starting-to-learn-something-new-taking-the-first-step-c5677229f8d | ['Ak Subodh'] | 2021-06-01 19:19:43.545000+00:00 | ['Productivity', 'First Post', 'Growth Mindset', 'Growth', 'Learning'] |
Viral Marketing and Political Correctness | The progressive nature of our society driven by the “acceptance” or dare I say “tolerance” of other’s views and freedom of expression has ushered a new ideology and self awareness of how we speak to each other and ironically how we express ourselves while balancing on that thinning line of freedom of speech. In this piece I discuss how this new awareness of political correctness affects marketing for brands, and how brands can take advantage of it.
PC Culture
Taking into consideration that I believe everyone should think before they speak, the civil consequences particularly to prominent figures in our society, has risen tremendously and is more of a requirement to be incredibly aware of how they interact with the masses. I am simply saying that it affects the bottom line. Wether or not those entities (human or brand) actually care, is a totally different conversation.
It’s quite irrational that for the amount of time humans have spent on Earth, we still haven’t been able to get past the outer layer of what we look like, particularly when we all bleed the same color and function, mechanically; the same. The possibility that you might offend someone in your rhetoric is absolutely something that we all should have in mind when we speak. Brands are not exempt, they should try to remain neutral in all issues, to prevent alienating a sect of their market share.
DISCLAIMER: Some of this footage may be offensive, this clip does not represent my view or Volta Global’s views on any particular topic nor do we condemn the breaking of Jimmy’s legs.
However, an an example from the clip above, there is a thing as going too far. I don’t think we can always correctly conclude if something could be conceived as offensive. History shows that when we assume, we make a donkey of ourselves. With that said, I do believe brands and individuals should have the opportunity to regress and apologize for any given action that comes off as offensive. But what happens when a brand thinks something is going to be offensive and in an effort to prevent the offense, pulls back? Enter ESPN.
ESPN and Misguided Political Correctness
As reported this Tuesday, ESPN decided to pull sports announcer Robert Lee a radio and television personality from broadcasting Virginia’s season opening football game on Sept 2nd against William & Mary because of the similarity of his name to the Confederate general Robert E. Lee, amid this month’s clash in Charlottesville with White Nationalist and counter-protestors.
“We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all parties. It’s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play by play for a football game has become an issue.” — ESPN OFFICIAL STATEMENT
ESPN claims that the decision came down to a potential mockery that could come from the event, they came to the defense of their employee and prompted the action to prevent distraction or worse social hectoring and trolling. Even if you agree with ESPN on this decision, it still caused a negative perception on the brand out of fear. Instead of dealing with any issues that could have risen, they assumed for their audience, they made the issue bigger than it needed to be. Almost, like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
When you don’t want to go Viral
Deciding the publics appetite for political correctness is a dangerous slope, particularly when you can’t control the flow of information, now a days a feat that is almost impossible. In the attempt of not going viral, ESPN went viral by telling the Internet to not make fun of something and we all know that Section 5322 Clause 7 of the Internet hand book states: “When you tell the Internet not to make memes, the Internet makes a million memes”. It’s almost as if going about your regular business is the best way to not go viral.
If your cogs are spinning, then you are getting what I’m trying to allude to here. From a marketing perspective, this behavior could create for some interesting opportunities. After all, if you want something done, and all you have to say is “not do it”, then this reverse psychology could be quite profitable. While the media perception has been mostly negative for ESPN, the attention in itself has been enormous.
Perfect Timing Perfect Topic
Of course reverse psychology on just anything and at any time wont work, because the Internet, can generally tell when it’s being played. This was a perfect storm that was generated on the tails of a dying national story and a paradigm shift to a more politically correct civilization. As South Park has demonstrated, sometimes goes a little too far.
Now, I’m not saying ESPN planned this, but if they did, a perceivably small nick on the brand, has sparked tremendous coverage and conversation on political correctness. As the media reports on this news, I already see ESPN shifting the conversion. New articles written with titles, “Political Correctness, Are We Going Too Far?” no longer attacking ESPN but using ESPN as an example, providing them, the Brand, further “Viralasticity”.
Media Manipulation and #fakenews
Wether or not you like President Trump, his take on media manipulation and articles written from bias directives isn’t wrong, nor new. A great book on how to engage the media and move them in any direction was released not so long ago, by Ryan Holiday “Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator(affiliate link). As the Head of Marketing for American Apparel, he led campaigns utilizing the media’s hunger for content to not only create but also steer conversation about the brand.
Ryan calls it “feeding the beast”, the most dangerous weapon to our society. Due to the speed in which we receive and consume information, we have accustomed ourselves to not verify or check facts thus basing our positions off mostly headlines. While the ESPN situation shows the possibility of steering a conversation, it also shows the potential caveats of it. It should serve as a warning for all brands, when attempting to go Viral to make sure they are prepared for the backlash.
“Whoever controls the media, controls the mind.” — Jim Morrison
If you enjoyed reading this, check out my other recent posts on Medium.com | https://medium.com/volta-global/viral-marketing-and-political-correctness-96bf76a3e757 | ['Michael I. Alcantara'] | 2017-08-24 14:36:55.463000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Viral', 'Political Correctness', 'Digital Marketing', 'ESPN'] |
What every data-driven mayor needs | Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has made building a more compassionate city one of local government’s core values. The city’s data initiatives serve to advance that agenda, not the other way around.
By Beth Blauer, Executive Director, Johns Hopkins University Centers for Civic Impact
On a visit to Louisville a couple of years ago, I overheard a very brief conversation between Mayor Greg Fischer and a city employee. It’s left a big imprint on the work I do helping city governments bring data into their decision-making processes.
I was walking between buildings in the City Hall complex with Mayor Fischer and members of his senior team. Along the way, we crossed paths with a couple of sanitation workers who were emptying trash bins in the alley. When Fischer thanked them for their work, one of the men looked up, smiled, and replied proudly: “We’re a city that cares!”
I later learned that the employee was paraphrasing something Fischer talks about pretty much constantly, whether he’s meeting with city staff, community members, the business community, or anyone else. It’s his pledge to make Louisville a “compassionate city.” It’s an expansive idea and one that the mayor defines as showing “respect for each and every citizen so that their human potential is flourishing.”
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Fischer has ranked compassion as one of Louisville Metro Government’s core values since taking office in 2011. He uses the concept as a unifying framework for everything from promoting volunteerism to boosting investments in education. Clearly, it’s a motivating force for employees as well. That a sanitation worker sees his work as part of Louisville’s compassion is a powerful sign of buy-in to Fischer’s vision.
I’ve been thinking about this story lately as we’ve been ramping up training through the What Works Cities Academy to help city staff across the U.S. use data to improve services. These lessons stick the best in cities where the use of data isn’t seen as a command from on high — but where it’s also baked into the city’s already-expressed values. When employees see using data as a way of meeting shared goals, it means something far more profound than when data is seen as a compliance exercise.
That’s certainly true in Louisville, which has a national reputation for being a well-run city. With tools like LouieStat, a regular system for reporting performance data and relentlessly pushing departments to improve, the city is on the leading edge of using data and evidence to deliver better results for residents. Last year, it was one of the first nine cities to be certified by What Works Cities for excellence in using data. This year, Louisville became one of just four cities to reach the gold level of certification.
When it comes to using data, there are a lot of mayors out there who would love for their cities to be as advanced as Louisville is. And, as they work to get there, here’s what they can learn from Greg Fisher: Your values come first.
Don’t get me wrong: Nobody in Louisville believes more in the value of data-driven government than Fischer does. He’s successful, however, not because he’s a technocrat but because he knows how to rally his city around a common vision. (In addition to compassion, Fischer’s other two pillars are advancing health and lifelong learning.) Louisville’s top-notch data work exists to advance the city’s broader agenda — not the other way around.
[Read: 9 Ways cities can use data for results]
Sometimes this values-first point gets lost in the drive for more data-driven leadership in cities. But it’s critical for mayors to keep in mind as more of them join our movement. A key tenet of What Works Cities Certification is that a city’s mayor or chief executive incorporate examples of their city’s use of data and evidence into their public talking points. The most successful ones will, like Fischer, weave that data narrative seamlessly into how they talk about their values.
Here are three more lessons from Louisville that mayors should keep in mind:
1. Empower your staff. One reason for Fischer’s success is that he attracts smart people — and then gets out of their way. The mayor frames his values clearly and talks about them continuously, in a way that everyone from top managers to frontline staff like the garbage collector he spoke with can see their work in it. When it comes to setting goals and using data to measure performance, it’s clear to all what North Star they should be aiming for. When the workforce is confident about expectations of them they can feel confident about their own decision making; morale improves, outcomes are achieved, and trust builds. By contrast, when the values are constantly changing or the priorities are always shifting, it produces an environment where outcomes are harder to achieve and bureaucratic fatigue can set in.
2. Engage your community. Fischer’s values reflect the needs and wants of his community as much as they do him as a mayor. That’s critical. Mayors who can articulate core values that resonate with the public and reflect a diverse set of stakeholders tend to find willing partners in their initiatives. Data, then, simply becomes part of their shared language for measuring progress. By contrast, when the public can’t see themselves reflected in the mayor’s values, it makes it harder to get buy-in around tough decisions. This year, Louisville is tackling homelessness with a strategy that purposefully engages the public, not just around what the right interventions should be but also on what data they will measure to hold themselves accountable to.
3. Learn. Part of leading a values-driven organization is leading a learning organization. That means being open to experimentation while routinizing an approach with data that allows you to see whether your interventions are working or not. It also means being continuously responsive to community needs as they come up, so you can make adjustments based on the values you’ve articulated.
All of this can be harder than it sounds. Many mayors struggle to turn winning election campaign messages into a clear set of governing values. Those who can do it, and bring their employees and residents along, will be positioned to build the momentum that’s needed for data and analytics work to take shape. | https://bloombergcities.medium.com/what-every-data-driven-mayor-needs-659309843640 | ['Bloomberg Cities'] | 2019-08-07 13:27:12.453000+00:00 | ['Cities', 'Leadership', 'Innovation', 'Data', 'Louisville'] |
3 Key Takeaways from Traction Conference 2017 | Two days, twelve cups of coffee, sixty-eight tweets, six phone charges, and seven pages of notes later, we’ve wrapped up our time at the Traction Conference in Vancouver. After hearing from over thirty amazing speakers, we learned the latest insights on how to scale a business, measure success, and increase conversions. Though each speaker covered a very different topic, we noticed a few key trends that the industry’s best all tended to agree on, and we wanted to share them here.
Here are our three key takeaways from Traction 2017.
1. How and When to Focus on Growth
“Growth is about accelerating the realization of your vision, not about moving metrics left and right.” - Aatif Awan, VP of Growth, LinkedIn
With regards to growth, there were a few “ifs” that are important to consider while you make decisions:
If you’re unsure about product-market fit, don’t focus on growth. You wouldn’t want to risk taking a bad product and telling as many users about it as possible.
If you can’t keep customer retention above 20%, don’t focus on growth. If you can make it to 40%, hit the gas.
If you have a leaky bucket (i.e., customers are coming into the funnel, but not converting), don’t focus on growth. Instead, work on fixing the hole in the bucket.
Even if you’re not in a place to focus on growth, there are a few effective strategies you can implement now to optimize for growth in the future. A/B testing aspects of your product, marketing, or even sales efforts and measuring the results of each test can help you verify what works best for your customer base and what does not. If you are unsure where to begin, focus on making your product easier to adopt and use, communicating the value of your product/services more effectively, and asking your users for feedback so that you can deliver as much value as possible.
Once you have optimized your product/service, don’t jump ship too soon. It’s important to keep optimizing as markets and user needs evolve.
2. How to Measure Your Performance and Leverage the Results
“If you can’t measure it, you really can’t improve it.” - Gina Gotthilf, VP of Growth and Marketing, Duolingo
Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) should be treated as metrics that indicate a particular outcome. “Revenue” is a not a KPI. Instead, focus on indicators like acquisition, conversion, engagement, and retention rates to indicate the performance of a particular effort. KPI’s can also be used to forecast revenue by identifying revenue levers. These are elements that represent revenue earned or costs incurred that can impact profitability depending on how you manipulate them. Below is an example of how manipulating the numbers of new paid subscriptions, the average revenue per user, and the subscription churn can help subscription-based businesses predict revenue:
These KPIs should be digestible to everybody — not just your marketing and sales teams — so that anybody in the company can be clear about what you are measuring. Once you’ve carefully defined your KPIs, you are then in a place to track them to ensure the progress you measure is meaningful to your business.
Remember: the data you collect from tracking these KPIs is only enough to tell you what happened. As I mentioned above, it’s also important to test variables. Even if you see negative results from these tests (expect 30–50% failures), finding out what doesn’t work can help inform you of what does.
3. How to Make Design Work for Your Customers
“Design thinking comes from empathy. It’s about end users before business goals.” - Zack Onisko, CEO Dribbble
These days, just about anybody can put together a beautiful website, and design in other areas is becoming more approachable too. Because of this, it’s no longer enough to have a trendy-looking website. Your design has to stand apart from your competitors’, and it has to be optimized to convert users.
So how can you set yourself apart?
Design thinking refers to creative strategies designers utilize during the process of designing. Our graphic designer outlined the process below:
When you apply the principles of design thinking to a process such as building a new website or product, you optimize the resulting product for user appeal. This optimization occurs because understanding your customer is the foundation on which everything is built and tested. The resulting product is not just good-looking, but easily understood, adopted, and evangelized by your customers too.
Tying it all Together
At the end of the day, it became clear to us that the underlying principle of optimization is ubiquitous for any product in any stage. Optimizing your processes, content, and products to most efficiently prepare for growth, convert customers, and meet user needs provides a stable foundation for your business to take off and stick around for the long run.
Keep testing, validating, and using this data to innovate and inform business decisions. | https://medium.com/insights-from-the-incubator/3-key-takeaways-from-traction-conference-2017-c9f452bb4528 | ['Samantha Grandinetti'] | 2018-04-03 20:59:54.123000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Digital Marketing', 'Startup Lessons', 'Growth Marketing'] |
Weight Loss Diet Plan — Healthy Meal Plan for Weight Loss | Weight Loss Diet Plan, Healthy Meal Plan for Weight Loss. Want to Lose Weight then you need to follow some successful tips to burn your fat, Are you tired of spending hundreds of dollars on weight-loss products and nutritional supplements?
Weight Loss Diet Plan-bit.ly/2P7bm5E
Weight Loss Diet Plan-bit.ly/2P7bm5E
Ginger mint tea. Add some freshly grated ginger to a cup of peppermint tea, plus a squeeze of lemon. … Coconut yogurt with blueberries. … Cinnamon oat smoothie. … Spinach and tomato omelet. … 2 slices of watermelon or cantaloupe. … Spiralized Apple and cinnamon noodles. … 3 or 4 sticks of celery with mashed avocado. … Vegetable frittata.
7-Days Diet To Reduce Belly Fat
· Day 1 (Monday)
· Day 2 (Tuesday)
· Day 3 (Wednesday)
· Day 4 (Thursday)
· Day 5 (Friday)
· Day 6 (Saturday)
Weight Loss Diet Plan-bit.ly/2P7bm5E
4 VITAL TIPS FOR A FLAT STOMACH
1. FOCUS ON INTENSE, TOTAL-BODY WORKOUTS
It’s nearly impossible to get abs with targeted exercises when there is a layer of fat on top. It’s better to focus on total-body workouts, like those in the Results app, that recruit many muscle groups at the same time. This will result in more calories burned and more overall body fat loss. When you are working out at an intensity level that is challenging for you, you don’t need to spend hours working out. Find out how to crank up the intensity and burn more calories during your next workout.
How to Get a Flat Stomach in 3 Days, Having a hard time pushing yourself to train hard? Try recruiting a friend to join you for your workouts.
2. GET THAT CORE STRONG
The best exercise to strengthen your core is the Plank! And when your core is strong, you will get stronger overall. You will have a better form and be more fit for all types of activities. So get to know and love this exercise, as well as many other exercises that challenge your core. Not only does the Plank hit the core muscles hard, but it also helps you improve your balance and strengthens your back and chest. Even your legs have to do some work.
Make it your mission to try a plank variation during every single workout. Once you start getting a feeling for your abdominal muscles, you will feel much more confident about your midsection.
3. STAY AWAY FROM ALCOHOL
This might get a “BOOO!” from the crowd, but it’s really important. Not only is alcohol full of empty calories, but it also releases estrogen into the bloodstream which, in excess, can cause you to put on weight. If you’re really serious about getting a flat belly for summer, keep your alcohol intake to a minimum.
4. TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR EATING HABITS
I say this all the time, but you can’t out-train a bad diet. In fact, your eating habits are the key here. Check out the steps you can take:
Get rid of all the processed foods, microwave dinners, fast food, chips, soda, etc. All the extra sugar and sodium will surely prevent you from getting rid of the belly pooch. Don’t forget — sugar is hidden in many foods where you wouldn’t expect it.
Think whole foods: fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and heart-healthy fats! This fruity quinoa salad is perfect for summer and, when that sweet tooth starts calling, sink your teeth into these deliciously moist brownies made with kidney beans!
Drink plenty of water. This will prevent extra bloat and help boost your metabolism. Some other drinks can help you reduce your belly bloat, too.
Tips To Reduce Belly Fat
Tips To Reduce Belly Fat
Keep yourself hydrated throughout the day. Eat every 2–3 hours. Limit your salt and sugar intake. Keep healthy snacks in your bag. Consume healthy carbs (veggies, fruits, and whole grains), healthy fats, and lean protein in every meal. Consume healthy fats like fish oil, olive oil, nuts, and seeds every day. Get at least 7–8 hours of sleep and de-stress by meditating or having your “me time”. Get rid of all the unhealthy foods from your pantry. Make your own food to avoid consuming extra hidden calories in the form of packaged sauces, cornflower, and refined flour. Exercise at least 4–5 hours per week.
Experience of a Lady How she gets reduce her weight
Conclusion
Belly fat could be difficult to reduce. But by following this nutritious and flexible diet plan, you should start to see visible changes in about six weeks. Consult your doctor and dietitian before following this diet plan. | https://medium.com/@komail.sing1998/weight-loss-diet-plan-healthy-meal-plan-for-weight-loss-6e866512a700 | ['Komail Sing'] | 2020-02-20 11:28:11.182000+00:00 | ['Weight Loss Tips', 'Diet Plan', 'Weight Loss Diet Plan', 'Weight Loss Supplements', 'Diet Plan For Weight Loss'] |
Organizing our lockdown wedding felt like a piece of cake with Galarm | Arrange or love marriage? Love is something, which defeats everything and makes a tough time even more beautiful when you have your partner beside you.
Shot By CineLove Productions
“They knew it. Time, distance, nothing could separate them. Because they knew. It was right. It was real.” - Annie (Ryan)
We had the shortest time to plan our wedding but within a couple of weeks, we had finalized our wedding to be on the 7th of May at the The Imperial Hotel Delhi, until the second wave of coronavirus came upon us all.
Delhi declared a lockdown amidst second wave of coronavirus. The lockdown paused all our wedding plans indefinitely. Not knowing any way forward we sat confused and disappointed. We decided that the best way to kick start our new lives, is an intimate wedding, with our close families, following all possible safety guidelines. So we started planning it again.
With an overly enthusiastic group of family and friends along with a smart reminder app: Galarm, organizing it all felt like a piece of cake. A lockdown wedding is all we needed! Hence, #Somanyu preparations started in full swing!
Shot By CineLove Productions
Shot By CineLove Productions
Honestly, we wanted to do 3 to 4 events for 3 days but it felt like a complete waste in this time. Reducing the guests’ list from 100 guests to 30 guests seemed hard to come to terms with in the beginning but soon enough everyone realized that it’s the wedding that matters the most.
Shot By CineLove Productions
Since we had to coordinate with just 30 guests for all the rituals, we chose Galarm as our partner. The app’s group alarm and buddy alarm features were used extensively to manage the guests and events.
They say a pair of happy feet is all you need at Sangeet but in our case that wasn’t enough. Along with a pair of happy feet we needed a tool to coordinate dance sessions of our closed ones with the choreographer. We used Galarm’s buddy alarm feature to coordinate it all. All our virtual meetings with vendors, designers, stylist were managed using Galarm. Taking the advantage of the digital age, we also made arrangements for virtual wedding for our guests who could not attend the wedding. Using Galarm’s shareable alarm links, we made sure that everyone joined the celebrations through their laptop screens on time and shared the moments of joy and happiness with us.
Shot By CineLove Productions
With the support of over 80 people over zoom and our dear friends and family everything turned out to be just perfect. For all the upcoming couples wanting to get married in this time we would just like to say be brave and be loving and don’t forget to manage it all using Galarm. It all just works out in the end! | https://medium.com/@galarm-app/organizing-my-lockdown-wedding-felt-like-a-piece-of-cake-with-galarm-c2d14c79307b | ['Galarm - Alarms', 'Reminders App'] | 2021-06-08 13:36:41.951000+00:00 | ['Covid Weddings', 'Weddings', 'Wedding Planning', 'Wedding Photography', 'Lockdown Weddings'] |
Introducing Vega-Lite | Support programmatic generation, sharing, and reuse. Like Vega, Vega-Lite can serve as a standalone file format for visualizations. In particular, Vega-Lite is designed to be a convenient format for automatic visualization generation by visual analysis tools. Examples of applications that use Vega-Lite are Voyager, a recommendation-powered visualization browser for data exploration, and Polestar, a web-based visual specification interface inspired by Tableau. Moreover, one can reuse Vega-Lite specifications across datasets with similar schemas.
The online Vega editor shows the Vega-Lite specification and the compiled Vega specification side-by-side.
Leverage Vega’s performance, flexibility across platforms, and expressivity. Vega-Lite specifications are compiled into Vega specifications and rendered using Vega’s runtime, which supports both browser-side and server-side rendering via SVG or Canvas. Vega-Lite directly benefits from Vega’s architecture. While Vega-Lite focuses on commonly-used charts, one can create more advanced designs by starting with Vega-Lite and then further customizing the resulting Vega specification.
The Future of Vega-Lite
With the 1.0 release, Vega-Lite provides a useful tool for visualization on the web. That said, we are even more excited about what comes next.
Composition and Interaction. A powerful aspect of modular approaches to visualization is the ability to create sophisticated graphics by composing simple ones. A static visualization typically provides at most a handful of insights into the data. The true power of visualization lies in the ability to interact with data and see it from multiple perspectives. So, we are building new methods for composite, interactive visualizations in Vega-Lite. In the coming months, Vega-Lite will add support for both layering and composing views side-by-side. We are also developing ways to describe not just visual encodings, but interaction techniques using a concise, composable, high-level syntax. For example, we will support linked views with cross-filtering.
Brushing and Linking in the Vega cross-filter example, inspired by Mike Bostock’s Crossfilter.js library. Vega-Lite will support describing this kind of interaction techniques in the near future.
Scalability. As Vega-Lite is a declarative language, we can reason about its behavior and automatically optimize and distribute computation. For example, a server could pre-aggregate data and send data in a compressed binary format to the browser. As a result, visualizations of large data sets can load more quickly and be more responsive. Moreover, this optimization should be possible without any changes to a Vega-Lite specification!
Lyra, a visualization design tool.
Design Tools. Creating visualizations with Vega-Lite should be easy, but we hope to make it even easier. We are developing a design validator that helps identify potentially ineffective visualizations. For example, a horizontal bar chart with an x-axis starting at a non-zero value is a valid specification, but it might cause readers to misinterpret the relative differences between values. We will also introduce support for theming in both Vega and Vega-Lite to customize the default look-and-feel. Plus, the next version of Lyra, a visualization design tool, will use Vega-Lite’s rule-based system for rapidly creating visualizations.
Learn and Use Vega-Lite
If you are interested in taking Vega-Lite for a spin, you can start visualizing and join the community today by:
This post was authored by Kanit “Ham” Wongsuphasawat, Dominik Moritz and Jeffrey Heer. We would like to thank all of the Vega-Lite contributors and the UW Interactive Data Lab for their assistance in the development of Vega-Lite. | https://medium.com/hci-design-at-uw/introducing-vega-lite-438f9215f09e | ['Uw Interactive Data Lab'] | 2016-05-20 21:21:54.507000+00:00 | ['Visualization', 'D3', 'Data Science'] |
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room? | Have you ever been alone in a crowded room?
Till I was fifteen no one ever called me their best friend.
In school I was the teacher’s pet, the know-it-all, the only Indian kid in class — desperately trying to fit in and understand why the other kids didn’t want to hang out with me.
One of the few places I’ve always felt comfortable is the hospital. Even as a child, I knew all the nurses and doctors by name and they knew me. I remember everyone always being happy to see me, stopping in the hallway to say hello. I knew what to expect every time I went to the hospital. I knew how to find my way up to the pediatric floor, I knew where the food court was and where the pool where I took swim lessons was. Every hallway held a memory, because I grew up in the hospital, coming for appointments nearly weekly till I left for college. As a child, I didn’t realize this was unusual — all I knew was that the hospital was a good place.
As I grew up, that changed.
Instead of offering me the solace they did as a child, full of the friendly nurses and doctors that I loved, hospitals left me with more questions than answers. As my symptoms grew worse, I had so many doctors give up on me. Say “we don’t know what you have” and send me on my way. I live with uncertainty around painful symptoms which have never been diagnosed. I have spent weeks of my life on the phone with clinics and insurance companies, in waiting rooms and pharmacy lines, years navigating the healthcare, educational and disability rights landscape as a young woman of color in America. As an adult, every time I go to the hospital, I come back disappointed, dejected, betrayed.
As an elementary school student, I had a feeding tube to make sure I received enough nutrition every day. The public-school system didn’t want to take responsibility for my chronic illness and without my parents’ fierce advocacy, would have chosen to send me to special education classes, without considering what my needs as a student actually were.
As a middle school student, we ran the mile every Friday. I always finished last.
As a college student, I had to take a semester off in order to manage my health. I saw 30 specialists, had multiple procedures and was referred to a psychologist because it was easier to tell me my symptoms weren’t real than it was to confirm they were giving up on my case. It took six years to find a diagnosis.
Credit: https://tinyurl.com/yykxyqrd
This was the first time I had to consider that I had a disability.
Despite the fact that people with disabilities are the largest minority group in the United States, I grew up believing it was best to hide my limitations and focus only on my strengths. I thought that if anyone, personally or professionally, knew my vulnerabilities, they would not consider me able to contribute to a workplace or a relationship. I internalized that my limitations were a burden for others.
As a full-time employee, despite having reasonable accommodations as required by law in place, my boss constantly made snide remarks about how often I took sick leave. I became stressed and afraid to use my sick leave. At one point my boss told me “you should learn how to manage your disease.”
In another workplace I had an unforeseen health episode which prevented me from working for weeks. While I was trying to manage my health, I was forced to take unpaid sick leave.
In the last 7 years I have tried over 18 different medications, allopathic treatments, ayurvedic treatments, and making significant lifestyle changes.
I live every day with a degree of uncertainty. Uncertain whether I will feel well enough to make it through the day, the week, the project, the semester, the next hour. Some days I accomplish everything I planned to. Some days I can’t get out of bed. Some days it hurts to breathe. Some days I can’t make it up the stairs without gasping for breath. Some days my head is spinning so much all I can do is close my eyes and cry.
Credit: https://tinyurl.com/yykxyqrd
As a Masters in Public Health student, managing the challenges of a pandemic while being at high-risk for COVID-19, I have reflected how my firsthand experience as a disabled immigrant, student, woman of color and full-time employee fuels my passion for equity in public health. Navigating the inequities in the healthcare system have helped me empathize with others and become a better engaged public health practitioner.
I know what it is like to live with an invisible illness. I know what it is like to be able-bodied and disabled. I know what it is like to feel no control over how you feel hour to hour. I know what it is like to be dismissed by healthcare professionals. I know what it is like to be believed by healthcare professionals. I know what it is like to feel isolated, alone, and frustrated. I know what it is like to feel like a burden to others. I know what it is like to feel loved and supported. I know what it is like to feel like no one understands.
Chronic illness is a constant exercise in self-reflection and reminders that there is strength in vulnerability. | https://medium.com/@ruhi-nath/have-you-ever-been-alone-in-a-crowded-room-86af752d6487 | ['Ruhi N.'] | 2021-01-02 07:02:25.648000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Vulnerability', 'Disability', 'Chronic Illness'] |
How To Find The Money To Invest | Those who spend too much will eventually be owned by those who are thrifty. — Sir John Templeton
Many people say they don’t have the money to invest. And yet, I see those same people spend what money they do have as if money were going out of style.
Here are a few ideas to consider if you’re really serious about investing, and having a secure financial future.
Open a savings account. If you already have one you are miles ahead of most people. And if it has $1,000 or more in it you are light years ahead of the majority.
If you already have one you are miles ahead of most people. And if it has $1,000 or more in it you are light years ahead of the majority. Pay yourself first. Every time you are paid or receive income, deposit some of it into your saving account. To do this without even thinking about it, arrange for your bank to automatically transfer the amount you decide on from your checking to your savings account, on a specific date every month. Begin with an amount you feel comfortable with and increase it bit by bit as your income increases. You can also deposit amounts directly into your savings account any time you so desire.
If you are really serious about saving, save 10% of every paycheck and live on the rest. Save more if you can. In other words, save first. Most people save what is left over. Those who are serious spend what is left over, after saving.
Reduce or eliminate expenses. It can be done. Make a list of your expenses. All of your expenses. What can you reduce? What can you eliminate? Yes, eliminate. Here are a few expenses to consider reducing or eliminating:
How much do you spend daily on coffee? Are you one of those people who go through the Starbucks drive-thru for your morning caffeine fix? And how many times a day after this fix do you again buy coffee? Can you reduce the number of cups of coffee you buy each day? If you can, how much would you save per day?
Do you go out for lunch every day? What is this costing you? Can you brown bag it? If you do, how much would you save per day?
Do you smoke? How many packs per day? What is your daily expenditure on cigarettes? How much in taxes do you pay on each pack of cigarettes? I smoked. The taxes I paid per pack motivated me to quit. That was thirty years ago.
How much can you save per day if you buy fewer cups of coffee, pack a lunch, and smoke less or quit smoking altogether? How much is that per week? Per year?
Let us assume for a moment that your daily savings are: coffee $10, lunch $15, and cigarettes $10. You will then be saving $35 per day.
Monthly savings = $35 X 30 days = $1,050.
Annual savings = $1,050 X 12 = $12,600.
Amazing how a few bucks a day adds up to thousands in a year!
Socializing and eating out. How often do you go out with the gang for a drink? Every week? What is this costing you? Can you cut back in this area? Can you reduce the number of times you eat out?
How often do you go out with the gang for a drink? Every week? What is this costing you? Can you cut back in this area? Can you reduce the number of times you eat out? Use public transit. In many cases owning a car is a luxury. Gas, insurance, car payments and maintenance can run anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 or more per year. Of course, it will be a lot less if you drive a good used vehicle for which you paid cash. Paying cash will eliminate the car payment which includes interest. If you own a car and want to keep it, use public transit whenever you can. At a minimum you will save on gas and maintenance.
Using these ideas alone could easily save you a minimum of $13,000 to $15,000 a year. That’s in one year!
What to do with your savings.
Use your savings to pay off your high-interest debt before you start investing. What is the interest rate on your outstanding credit card balance? If you have a balance on your credit card, pay it off as quickly as possible. Think about this — if all you do is pay the monthly minimum amount due on your credit card, you will never pay off the total amount due. And your bank or credit card company will become richer and richer, while you become poorer and poorer.
One way to pay off your high-interest credit card debt is to get a line of credit at your bank and use that to pay off your credit card balance. Then pay off your line of credit. The interest on a line of credit is lower than the interest on a credit card.
One more thing. Stop using your credit card until you have paid off your line of credit, and after that, pay off your credit card balance every month.
I hope you find these ideas helpful. | https://medium.com/@dem3000/how-to-find-the-money-to-invest-fe85b40a528 | ['Abinas Jagernauth'] | 2020-12-20 03:57:00.014000+00:00 | ['Money', 'Stocks', 'Investment', 'Investing', 'Stock Market'] |
A DAY IN OUR LIFE COULD BE WAY MORE BEAUTIFUL: | A DAY IN OUR LIFE COULD BE WAY MORE BEAUTIFUL: Manjari Jul 6·2 min read
For beautiful days and positive thoughts , you will have to start your day by doing what your heart says rather than what brain does.
Most of the time we tend to listen to our brain and tries to behave logically whereas sometimes dealing emotionally can change and give a better outcome, everywhere and every time even when your brain cant uphold you, your heart can…
Just erasing up your past , holding up pen in the present and writing your future is just a creative way to view your future way more interesting and in your perspective the best , because reality cant be told or written , it always keeps up a surprise, full of mystery and new lessons for us to upgrade or keep a better perspective of our lives …..
Just our attitude or our reaction to an matter can help us change the whole scenario. Acting aggressively towards a situation vs dealing it patiently can bring out two different outcomes , its always in your hands how to live in every moment of life ….
“THERE ARE TWO GREAT DAYS IN A PERSONS LIFE — THE DAY WHEN WE ARE BORN AND THE DAY WE DISCOVER WHY”… William Barclay
This beautiful quote includes simple lines but great message → Since the time when we are born till our death , every moment , every second is precious, if you can live in each and every thing only you can find out your purpose of being born in this world, just like skipping few ads which disturbs in middle of a video, don’t skip the Beautiful opportunities you got in life maybe they could have turned out the best, u never know….
So try to discover yourself in each word & actions you perform and try to see the real you…:) | https://medium.com/@manjarisai232/a-day-in-our-life-could-be-way-more-beautiful-ff7192d60b26 | [] | 2021-07-06 13:19:22.065000+00:00 | ['Love Yourself', 'Nature Writing', 'Thoughts And Feelings'] |
Covid-19 Impact on Flip Flops Market Size To Reach $23.8 Billion By 2025 | Covid-19 Impact on Flip Flops Market Size To Reach $23.8 Billion By 2025 Rajesh Varma Follow May 7 · 2 min read
The global flip flops market size is expected to reach USD 23.8 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is projected to expand at a CAGR of 4.2% from 2019 to 2025. The growth is driven by the rising demand for comfortable and fashionable flip flops across the globe due to their low prices and high durability.
Moreover, flip flops are extremely lightweight and can be carried easily, which is also boosting their demand across the globe. In addition, rising concerns about environmental pollution has driving the demand for eco-friendly products, thereby impelling manufacturers to develop sustainable products. This is also likely to have a positive impact on the market growth. For instance, in 2018, Allbirds, a startup company, launched new flip flops made from sugar cane.
Furthermore, companies in the flip flops market are focusing on increasing sustainability by donating some revenue share for environmental causes. For instance, Havaianas launched IPE collection and announced that it will be contributing 7% of the revenue generated from the collection to Environmental Research Institute that will develop projects to help reserve Atlantic Rainforest, Amazonia, and Pantanal. The online distribution channel is estimated to register the fastest CAGR from 2019 to 2025 on account of increasing usage of smartphone devices and internet.
Furthermore, availability of attractive designs and easy payment options and return policies offered by online portals are driving the segment growth. The offline distribution channel is estimated to account for the largest market share by 2025 owing to high product sales through these channels, particularly in low-income countries. Based on region, Asia Pacific is estimated to be the largest market. However, North America is projected to expand at the fastest CAGR during the forecast years.
To request a sample copy or view summary of this report, click the link below:
www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/flip-flops-market
Further key findings from the study suggest: | https://medium.com/fmcg-market-research-reports/covid-19-impact-on-flip-flops-market-size-to-reach-23-8-billion-by-2025-495f3412c9d | ['Rajesh Varma'] | 2021-05-07 06:27:19.279000+00:00 | ['Flip Flop Slippers', 'Flip Flops', 'Consumer', 'Manufacturers'] |
A Letter to Christians who Support Trump | Dear Family in Christ,
We are living in perilous times. This year has brought unprecedented levels of stress and challenge to our already struggling democracy. We have seen almost 220,000 people in our country die from covid-19. We have seen national outcry against racism and police brutality and a loss of trust in our justice system. We are encountering the erosion of civility and decency in political discourse, coupled with the rise of propaganda and conspiracy theories, which makes us suspicious of anybody who claims a truth that does not match the one we desire.
National Covid Remembrane- 20,000 Empty Chairs on White House lawn
Our communities are feeling weary- emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually. And we all feel it.
In the last couple months, with the elections drawing near, I have spent intentional time trying to listen to your voices. As somebody who has found both the personhood and the policies of Trump to be extremely troubling, I have tried to extend empathy and understanding to you and understand how you- a fellow sibling in Christ- could so unwaveringly support a man I believe is inciting violence and hatred in our country, encouraging bullying and dehumanization, and undermining our democracy on every level.
As I’ve tried to listen to your voices and hear your stories, I can sense the urgency and desperation you feel to preserve what you find to be the beauty, and even God-ordained destiny, of America. You find abortion to be murder, and Roe v. Wade to enact a form of genocide- a genocide that you have a moral obligation to end. You feel that the Church is under attack, and want to preserve the right to individual and religious liberty- to express freely what you believe without fearing persecution, to not be labeled a bigot or racist simply for saying something politically incorrect. You want to preserve your own worldview, even your own Christian convictions, around issues such as marriage, sexuality, gender identity, and guns. You want to live in an economy that is working for you, which you believe will happen with lower taxes and less government interference in our free market. You believe in the rule of law and the Constitution, and trust our police and our courts to uphold that law in a fair, just, and unbiased way. You believe in the greatness of America and the power of the American military to secure peace in the world, and feel that these forces are under siege. And while you may not always be a fan of Trump’s personality, you are generally supportive of his platform and his policy.
You certainly have a right to hold these views and may even find them to stem from your faith.
The problem is, that for so many of the people in your life- including people like me- the greatness and liberty that you long to preserve has a cost. And all of the desires that you have, while potentially beneficial to you and people like you, may also cause great harm to others in your life. In trying to preserve a way of life for yourself, you may be stripping other people of their God-given dignity and value. People who have real names and real stories. People who may have different life experiences than you. People like me and my family.
The greatness that you so laud and hope to return to, has always been upheld by committing physical, social, and economic violence against certain people in our nation. And the liberty you so cherish has always come at the oppression of the most vulnerable in our society. While your vote is based on a desire to preserve life, I believe you are supporting a man who’s policies and personhood continually demean and devalue human life- especially the lives of the most vulnerable.
So I want to share what your views mean for us.
As we get ready to vote, I want to ask you to take a moment to consider me and my family- your fellow siblings in Christ. I hope that you will consider the ways that a vote for Trump severely threatens the dignity and well-being of me, my husband, my daughters, and loved ones in my life:
Your vote for Trump means that my interracial family has to make safety plans for ourselves after the election, literally in fear for our physical safety due to all the unbridled terrorism of white nationalism that has been enabled throughout Trump’s leadership, and because of explicit calls to arms that he and his supporters have made in the face of this election. It means being on guard as domestic terrorism is on the rise and fearing for what will be unleased with 4 more years of Trump’s leadership.
Some of the 13 arrested in charges to kidnap Michigan governor and incite Civil War- Detroit Free Press
Your vote for Trump means that we, alongside other local clergy, need to talk about how to protect our places of worship from expressions of white supremacy and hate. We have already experienced Black church burnings, racist graffiti at Black churches, and defamation of synagogues and public spaces with Nazi symbols, the increase in effigies and nooses being found in public spaces, and I fear things will only get worse. San Leandro recently had incidents of Nazi symbols being painted on public properties, so this is a real, concrete concern.
One of the 3 Black churches set on fire in Louisana- by 22 year old white male, Holden Matthews
Your vote for Trump means that our voting rights, and the voting rights of my Black family members in places like LA, West Virginia, and Ohio, are being actively suppressed by and undermined by an Administration that has waged war on our elections process and challenged a peaceful transfer of power. People should not be waiting 12 hours to vote, in 2020.
Voters in Georgia wait up to 12 hours to vote- Getty images
Your vote for Trump means that me and my daughters, could one day lose agency over our bodies when it comes to issues of pregnancy and prenatal health. It means that women everywhere may be on a path to losing our own freedom to make informed, responsible decisions about highly complex and nuanced matters that affect our own bodies, our health, our fertility, our futures, and our families. While I certainly want to see an end to abortion, I do not believe the way to accomplish that is by stripping women of the right to control their bodies. Can you imagine the outrcy if we tried to end abortion by forcing men to get surgeries or medical procedures?
Your vote for Trump means that friends like A.T. or G.A. in my life, who came here as asylum seekers and refugees and have been able to build a life here as productive community members, would have likely been denied entry in this country, and that they might not even be alive today due to the gang violence and religious persecution they were facing in their home countries. It means supporting an administration that explicitly advocated for the separation of children from their parents, which I believe is a grave evil.
Your vote for Trump means that many dear friends and even members and clergy in our own denomination who are in same sex marriages, could lose the legal protections and privileges afforded them and be criminalized for who they love. You may not have the same religious views on marriage as them, but should they really be denied equal protection under the law?
Rally in Los Angeles — AFP
Coral Bleaching due to Climate Change- Vox Images
Your vote for Trump means that people of color living in America, will be living under an administration that actively denies our nation’s racist history, makes it illegal for organizations to run trainings that discuss white privilege or male privilege, and perpetuates narratives of violence, supremacy, and even eugenics in our society. It means that people like me and my husband feel unsafe to share our own experiences of racism and discrimination, despite the ways that we face it in concrete ways every single day.
So please, when you consider your vote this year, consider the call of Christ to “love your neighbor as yourself” and actually consider the consequences of 4 more years of Trump on the rights and liberties of ALL your neighbors, not just yourself.
Ultimately, you may not agree with me on political matters, think that I am overreacting, or brainwashed by the “fake news” or the “Radical Left.” Maybe you think abortion is such an important issue, that it overshadows everything else (to which I would say, being pro-life means not just ending abortions, but also creating the kind of world that those babies can thrive in). But I think we both hold on to the belief that what makes America great is that it was founded on the principle that all people in this country- from the unborn to the elderly- should be able to live without threat of violence, oppression, and terror, and that their rights should be upheld.
I can tell you that my vote against Trump doesn’t mean I am a baby-killer, Marxist, cop-hater, or atheist who just wants to see our country become pushed into Socialism. It also does not mean that I think that the Democratic Party is doing a great job or that Joe Biden is going to save our country.
But I vote based on the founding principles of this nation- that the government must secure the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all people- not just people who are like me- and that forms of government that become destructive of these ends must be altered or abolished. To me, a vote for Trump is to vote for the ongoing destruction of the physical safety, civil liberties, and human rights of many, especially the most vulnerable in our communities.
So I plead to you to consider: Do you see how a Trump presidency actually erodes the rights of many in this country, though maybe not your own? And if you vote for Trump, which you are entitled to do, what will you do to continue to protect the well being of me, my family, and my loved ones under his leadership?
The Jesus I worship modeled for us a way of justice, righteousness, and shalom. He modeled a way of self-giving love. He emptied himself, laid down his right to power and domination for the sake of loving us sacrificially, as an expression of grace and love. He fought for the dignity and healing of those on the margins, even when it broke religious tradition and challenged political powers. He called us to repent of our idols. He taught us that we cannot love both God and money. We cannot worship both him and Caesar. We cannot be allegiant to the Church and also to the Empire.
If we are worshiping the same Jesus, I hope that you will consider my pleas today. It may not change your vote, but I hope that these words will at least impact your conscience.
Know that as your fellow sibling in Christ, I am holding you accountable, and so is Jesus.
In Love,
Erina | https://erinaspeaks.medium.com/a-letter-to-trump-supporting-christians-5e51f537e2ad | ['Erina Kim-Eubanks'] | 2020-10-15 23:32:07.579000+00:00 | ['Elections', 'Christianity', 'Politics', 'Church', 'Trump'] |
The Impact of COVID-19 on the Agriculture Sector: How to Feed Indonesia? | Analysis of the implications of COVID-19 pandemic towards the agriculture sector and food security in Indonesia.
Source: CNN Indonesia, 2020
In Indonesia, population pressure, unstable environment, land degradation, and poverty have been the main cause of food security is difficult to attain. This has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. The most important sector of food security is agriculture and has been one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic (Wang et al., 2020). It is expected that employment in agriculture will reduce by 2.87% and domestic agricultural supply by 6.2%. Moreover, imports of agricultural products are expected to decrease by 17.11% with import prices will rise by 1.2% in the short term and 2.42% in 2022 (Neliti, 2020).
The declining agricultural sector due to a reduction in supplies and imports significantly affects the food security issues in Indonesia as the country still heavily relies on crop importation to meet domestic demand. Indonesia’s source of protein heavily relies on white rice consumption and its protein source comes from soybean products such as tofu and tempeh. However, the country still has to import rice and soybean to meet domestic demand. Thus, COVID-19 exacerbates food shortages due to price inflation and limited domestic production.
It is important to discuss the implications of COVID-19 to agriculture, and food security, especially in Indonesia. New and enhanced strategies are needed for the country to achieve the 2030 Agenda, specifically on the Sustainable Development Goal 2 that states by 2030 Indonesia will end hunger by achieving food security and improving nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture.
Indonesia’s Agriculture Sector
Agriculture Landscape
Indonesia has an estimated 57 million hectares of agricultural land, making agriculture one of the prominent sectors of Indonesia contributing to 12.72% of the share to GDP in 2019 (The World Bank, 2019). Also, it is estimated that 29% of the Indonesian workforce works in the agriculture, fisheries, and livestock sector and is the third-biggest contributor to the economy after manufacturing and trade (BPS, 2019).
The agriculture sector in Indonesia comprises large plantations that are both state-owned and private that tend to focus on commodities that are important to export including palm oil and rubber. On the other hand, smallholder production modes focus on rice, maize, soybeans, vegetables, and fruit. Indonesia’s palm oil plantation and processing industry is a key industry in the country’s agriculture sector contributing between 1.5% to 2.5% of the nation’s GDP (Indonesia Investments, 2016).
Although Indonesia’s staple food is rice and is the third-largest country in terms of global rice production, it still has to import rice to feed the nation. The nation’s rice consumption per capita was recorded at nearly 150 kilograms of rice, per person, per year in 2017 (Indonesia Investments, 2018). The dependency on rice importation is mainly due to the domination of smallholder farmers, not by big private or state-owned enterprises that account for 90% of the country’s rice production with each farmer holding around 0.8 hectares of land area (Ministry of Agriculture, Republic of Indonesia, 2016).
Indonesia’s agricultural production in thousands of tons (Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Republic of Indonesia, 2019)
Another popular staple food for Indonesian households would be maize and cassava that demonstrate high levels of production according to the figure above. Sweet potato, mungbean, peanut, and soybean are secondary crops usually planted after the rice has been planted. Crop availability is needed by Indonesian society because many areas consume these crops as their main staple food or supplementary source of carbohydrates.
A lot of Indonesia’s source of protein comes from soybeans that are used to produce tempe and tahu, products that are cheap, high in protein, and probiotic and whose consumption has become a tradition. However, the country is still dependent on soybean importation to fulfill domestic demand or to secure domestic food stock. Average soybean demand in Indonesia is approximately 2.3 million tons per year, but domestic production is less than 1 million tons per year (Ningrum et al., 2018)
Post-COVID Situation
Indonesia’s agriculture sector relies heavily on external inputs such as pesticides and fertilizers making the crops at higher risk from pest attacks, climate change, and pandemics. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the stock availability and accessibility, in which price has become uncertain, conditions that had the potential to stop farmers’ activities in production, affecting food supply (Rozaki, 2020). The social distancing restriction has proved difficult for farmers who commonly work in fields, live in rural areas, and are disproportionately uneducated.
Some regions in Indonesia have faced water shortages, mainly during the drought season. Some of the worst water shortages are felt in Java, which is home to 60% of the population, having the largest cities, and most of them are home to agriculture production. Compared to Papua that holds 70% of the water supply in Indonesia with only 13% of the population, Java is seriously lacking in the water holding just 10% of the nation’s water supplies (Piesse, 2016). The COVID-19 has exacerbated that problem, producing an additional dilemma whether water is going to be used for farming or used to clean bodies and wash hands. This can lead the agriculture sector to be more vulnerable to water shortage.
In regards to the importation of agricultural products, disruptions to Indonesia’s supply chains are appearing due to the closure of some roads and ports, and reduced processing capacity have slowed the distribution of food. There have been shortages of some crucial products like sugar and garlic (CIPS, 2020).
Despite the challenges faced by the agriculture sector, the sector managed to grow 2.19% YoY in the second quarter of 2020. An economist at the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), Bustanul Arifin, stated that the growth could be partially attributed to the resilience of farmers to the crisis aided by a delay in the rice harvest following last year’s drought (The Jakarta Post, 2020).
Indonesia’s Food Security
Food Security Issues
“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” (World Food Summit, 1996)
Indonesia is considered as a lower-middle-income country and the largest economy in Southeast Asia. With significant rapid economic growth and government investments in social development, the country managed to meet its Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of malnourished or undernourished people by 2015 (WFP, 2016).
Food security index for 34 provinces in Indonesia (Source: Food Security Bureau, Republic of Indonesia, 2020)
However, poverty is still concentrated in rural areas with 14.3% of the population living below the poverty line. Because of high food prices, access to food is uneven with rice being 50% to 70% more expensive than in neighboring countries resulting in 19.4 million Indonesians being unable to meet their dietary requirements (WFP, 2020).
Because a lot of Indonesians eat poorly varied diets, based mainly on rice, the country is faced with three simultaneous nutrition-related challenges. It is estimated that around 37% of children under the age of five years old suffered from stunted growth due to malnutrition, with higher prevalence among families living in poor areas, rural areas, and mostly farmers. Moreover, there is an increasing number of people over the age of 25 who are overweight or obese and one-quarter of women of reproductive age are anemic due to lack of iron.
Moreover, the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture stated that six provinces, Papua, East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, West Kalimantan, Bangka Belitung Islands, and West Papua, have a low food security index, thus, the development should be considered a priority (Food Security Bureau of Indonesia, 2020). This shows that food security is unevenly distributed in Indonesia.
Post-COVID Situation
Research done by (Kharisma and Abe, 2020) found that before the pandemic hit Indonesia, 27.4% of people in an urban area were at a level of food insecurity and has undoubtedly increased due to the pandemic. Even under normal conditions, the country cannot meet the demands for self-sufficiency and is more incapable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Limitations on imports and exports during the pandemic applied have meant that countries relying on food importation are more vulnerable to food insecurity due to trade disruption.
With the increasing unemployment rate across Indonesia, people are losing their income and resulting in higher food insecurity that mostly affects the lower socioeconomic classes. A survey done by J-PAL SEA in 2020 involving 5,500 Indonesians indicated that since the beginning of the pandemic, food insecurity remains high in Indonesia. The surveys have estimated that only 24% of Indonesian households reported eating as much as they should during the pandemic. However, in rural areas of Districts, food insecurity is improving significantly.
Although Indonesia has not applied strict lockdown measures to minimize the spread of the virus, some regions have applied PSBB. Limitations on economic, and non-economic activities have disrupted the food supply chain as food production is commonly centered on particular regions, with other regions importing that food. This disruption affects the market system and food price as increases in fluctuation cannot be avoided when the pandemic occurs.
Way Forward
It would not be easy to fulfill the demand for food during the pandemic and thus, a food crisis could arise if no measurements are applied. Food security adaptations arising from the COVID-19 pandemic need to be employed as soon as possible by considering the possible short and long-term impacts. With the hope of the new vaccine for the virus, Indonesia could control its food stock, distribution, and price better through strategies both at the national level and household level.
It is important to increase local food production to achieve food security in Indonesia. Relying on local production is much more sustainable rather than relying on imported food (Bishwajit et al., 2013). Thus, the government of Indonesia should focus on regulation regarding supporting local production, importantly in this time of crisis, in which movement of goods is complicated and unstable by limited governmental activity. The success of agricultural production should be followed by accessibility to quality inputs such as seeds, pesticides, and fertilizer (Rozaki, 2020).
Another way to support local food production is through food diversification to reduce the dependence on a single food product. In Indonesia, food diversification has its potential as some regions’ staple foods are sago, cassava, and maize. Moreover, the government has implemented the One Village One Product approach to support food diversification since 2006 (Kompasiana, 2018).
However, planting only one crop makes the farm more vulnerable to disease, weeds, and pests, increasing dependence on chemicals (Alteri and Nicholls, 2020). Thus, to support food and farming system diversification, the government of Indonesia should invest in information and mechanization regarding farm-level production through technological development.
An increase in local production can also be supported in the context of individual properties, houses in Indonesia’s rural areas commonly have a yard that can be used to plant food crops for self-consumption. In this way, both non-farmers and farmers can participate in meeting domestic food demands. If one cannot afford to plant its food crops, buying from local farmers to support small and medium enterprises can help to increase local food production. | https://medium.com/with-bright-indonesia/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-the-agriculture-sector-how-to-feed-indonesia-9829baf1ae3f | ['Gianina Amira Zahra'] | 2020-12-17 09:33:15.236000+00:00 | ['Market Research', 'Covid 19 Impact', 'Indonesia', 'Agriculture', 'Food Security'] |
DAOstack Token Sale Announcement & FAQ | Last updated: April 29th, 2018
We are pleased to announce the upcoming token sale for the Gen token (GEN), the native utility of the DAOstack ecosystem. Below you’ll find some commonly asked questions and their answers as of April 29, 2018. We will update this document from time to time. You should periodically check our website for updates.
Introducing DAOstack: A Short Film
Please note that the sale of GEN is subject to the GEN Distribution Terms & Conditions that we will post on our website prior to the commencement of the token sale. In the event that there are any inconsistencies between these FAQs and the GEN Distribution Terms & Conditions, those Distribution Terms & Conditions will be controlling in all respects.
When is the GEN token sale?
The main token sale and token generation event (“the TGE”) is currently scheduled to begin on May 8, 2018, at 4:00 a.m. GMT. It will remain open until the aggregated contribution and payments received for GEN amounts to our hard cap (see “Will there be a hard cap?” below), or until 30 days is reached, whichever is sooner.
In addition, we are also planning to open a presale (“the presale”) on May 1, 2018, at 4:00 am GMT. Anyone who is on our token sale whitelist at least 24 hours prior to that time will have the opportunity to submit a purchase request during the presale. The presale will remain open for 48 hours and will have a cap to be announced prior to the commencement of the presale. Requests accepted during the presale will be filled during the TGE.
How can I request to join the whitelist?
You can now request to be whitelisted at https://daostack.io/whitelist.
All purchasers will be subject to our KYC/AML policies and procedures and such other due diligence as we may decide to conduct in our sole discretion.
DAOstack reserves the right to reject any potential purchaser in its sole and absolute discretion. All purchasers will be required to agree to, and be bound by, the GEN Distribution Terms & Conditions.
Will there be a discount/bonus for the presale?
There will be a 10% bonus for the presale relative to the main token sale.
DAOstack is committed to raising no more than the ETH equivalent of USD 30,000,000 (the “hard cap”) from selling GEN — including advance and private purchases, the presale and the main token sale — as calculated according to the ETH-USD closing price on coinmarketcap.com for the day prior to the presale.
Does being on the whitelist guarantee an allocation in the presale?
GEN purchasers accepted onto our whitelist will be guaranteed an allocation during the presale (the “guaranteed allocation”), equal to the maximum amount of ETH receivable during the presale (the “presale cap”) divided by the number of purchasers accepted onto the whitelist.
To be more specific, such whitelisted purchasers will be able to send ETH according to the amount they wish to use to purchase GEN. If the presale cap is not exceeded during the 48 hour period, we will accept and fill all presale orders during the TGE. If the presale cap is exceeded during the 48 hour period, we will fill everyone’s order up to the guaranteed allocation, then divide any additional allocation available in a pro-rata fashion among the purchasers who have partially unfulfilled purchase requests. Following that process, any purchaser who still has unused ETH will receive a refund of that amount in ETH within 72 hours.
What will be the price per GEN Token?
Overall, DAOstack is selling 40M GEN for $30M, including all advance and private purchases, the presale, and the main token sale. The price of GEN in USD will be determined upon the main token sale and will be calculated based on the amount of tokens sold and offered as bonuses during previous sales. Given these factors, we estimate the price of GEN in USD during public sale will be in the neighborhood of $1.00. We emphasize that this is an estimate, and that the actual price of GEN in USD may vary substantially from that estimate.
The price of GEN in ETH will be calculated based on the ETH-USD conversion rate at the close of the business day prior to the presale, as published on coinmarketcap.com.
What business entity will be issuing the GEN tokens?
GEN tokens will be issued by DAOstack Limited, a Gibraltar non-profit company.
Will U.S. persons be allowed to participate?
No. U.S. persons will not be able to purchase GEN at the moment. It is possible that U.S. persons may be able to buy GEN in the future, if DAOstack decides, at its sole discretion, to allow sale of GEN to U.S. persons, subject to the then-applicable U.S. legislation and regulation.
Will there be a lockup period for tokens purchased through the presale?
No, there will not be a lockup period. The GEN purchased during the presale will be distributed at the end of main token sale.
However, all purchasers shall only sell, assign, transfer or trade GEN to other non-U.S. persons.
Will there be a minimum purchase requirement?
There will be a minimum purchase requirement of 1 ETH for the presale and 0.5 ETH for the main token sale.
What will be the supply of GEN, and how will it be distributed?
The supply of GEN will include:
40M GEN made available for purchase, including advance and private purchases, the presale and the main token sale.
10M GEN for DAOstack existing contributors, including the founding team, advisors, and service providers. Team and advisor tokens are “locked”, meaning unable to be transferred, for two years from the main token sale.
10M GEN for DAOstack future contributors to the DAOstack ecosystem, to be managed by the DAOstack non-profit.
In addition, the Genesis DAO, a community-managed fund in which anyone can participate, will eventually have the ability to mint and allocate additional tokens, up to a maximum of 40M, once it demonstrates stability and security. Until such a time, the ability to mint tokens will be held by the DAOstack non-profit.
How will the funds received be used?
DAOstack intends to use approximately USD 10,000,000 for the development of the DAO stack and ecosystem.
The balance of funds received will be reserved for eventual management by the Genesis DAO, a decentralized fund in which anyone can create proposals according to the Genesis DAO’s governance protocol. Funds will be transferred to the Genesis DAO by the DAOstack non-profit gradually as it demonstrates stability and security. The Genesis DAO will serve to advance the DAOstack project and ecosystem, and will be investing primarily in proposals related to:
the extension of the components of the DAO stack
collaborative applications (Dapps) and interfaces that will integrate with the DAO stack
support for/investments in organizations built on the DAO stack
Will GEN be an ERC-20 token?
Yes.
How can I stay informed about the GEN token sale?
You can sign up for email updates on our website, join our Telegram group, and join our Telegram announcements channel.
How can I learn more about DAOstack?
How can I get involved in DAOstack? | https://medium.com/daostack/daostack-token-sale-announcement-faq-ea3cd125a900 | ['Josh Zemel'] | 2018-04-29 23:49:44.104000+00:00 | ['ICO', 'Crypto', 'Ethereum', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain'] |
Live Face Tracking on iOS using Vision Framework | Computer Vision
Have you wondered how apps such as Snapchat add props to faces on screen? Or how they change your face in funny ways? They do so by first detecting where each face is. Additionally they need to detect where each face feature is too.
In this post I will show you how to detect faces and its features using Vision framework in an iOS app. We will receive live frames of the front camera of an iOS device. Next we will analyse each frame using Vision framework’s face detection. Finally we will display where the face and face features are on the screen.
In this post we won’t solve computer vision challenges. We won’t write computer vision algorithms. We will leverage provided functionality by Apple that solves computer vision challenges.
What is Vision Framework?
Introduced in WWDC 2017, Vision framework is a module offered by Apple to iOS developers. It contains functionality that solves some computer vision challenges.
Why use Vision Framework?
Solutions offered by the Vision framework are not new. In fact many of the solutions offered initially by the Vision framework were already present in the CoreImage framework also offered by Apple since iOS 5. Vision framework is offered from iOS 11. Additionally all the functionality we will be using on this post are supported both in CoreImage and Vision.
So why use Vision framework at all if its only supported by recent iOS versions?
Apple claims that the underlying implementation of the Vision algorithms are more accurate and less prone to return false positives or negatives. They claim that the framework leverages the latest machine learning (deep learning) and computer vision techniques which have improved results and performance.
Additionally active users using iOS versions prior to iOS 11 account for less than 3.5% based on Mixpanel’s data (number can vary based on your target audience). At the time of writing iOS 12 accounts nearly 90% of the users.
Getting Started
In this section we will create an iOS app project from scratch. The app will:
Stream the front camera feed onto the screen Detect faces and draw bounding boxes on screen
Time to dive into the code. Let’s start by creating a new project from scratch. Open Xcode and then from menu select File > New > Project… Next, select Single View App template and then click on Next.
Name the project FaceTracker and then click Next. Finally store the project wherever convenient for you and then click Finish.
The template will create the necessary code with the right configuration to run the app and display a blank screen.
1. Streaming the front camera feed onto the screen
As the first step we want to be able to stream the camera feed from the front camera to the screen.
As part of the project setup from the Single View App template, Xcode will have created a file named ViewController.swift . This file contains the ViewController class which is the controller for the blank screen presented when you run the app. Right now it does nothing.
Let’s add the camera feed to the ViewController . First we will require access to the front camera. We will make use of the AVFoundation framework provided by Apple on the iOS platform to do so. AVFoundation framework allows us access to the camera and facilitates the output of the camera in our desired format for processing.
To gain access to the AVFoundation framework add the following line after import Foundation in ViewController.swift :
import AVFoundation
Next we next to create an instance of a class called AVCaptureSession . Within the ViewController class add the following line:
private let captureSession = AVCaptureSession()
This class coordinates multiple inputs such as microphone and camera into multiple outputs, one such is video. For this post we only need one single input (front camera) and one single output (raw frames).
Next let’s add the front camera as an input to our captureSession . Add the following function to your ViewController :
private func addCameraInput() {
guard let device = AVCaptureDevice.DiscoverySession(
deviceTypes: [.builtInWideAngleCamera, .builtInDualCamera, .builtInTrueDepthCamera],
mediaType: .video,
position: .front).devices.first else {
fatalError("No back camera device found, please make sure to run SimpleLaneDetection in an iOS device and not a simulator")
} let cameraInput = try! AVCaptureDeviceInput(device: device)
self.captureSession.addInput(cameraInput)
}
The function above starts by fetching the front camera device. Note simulators don’t have access to camera on the Mac. If no camera is found then the app will crash.
We aren’t managing camera permissions. If the user denies the app permission to the camera the app will crash.
Next we create an device input for the capture session and finally we add the device input into our capture session.
Let’s call our addCameraInput to carry the out the action of adding the front camera to the camera session. Add the following line at the end of the viewDidLoad function:
self.addCameraInput()
We aren’t done yet getting access to the camera. In order for an app to access the camera the app must declare that it requires to use the camera in its Info.plist file. Open Info.plist and add a new entry to the property list. For key add NSCameraUsageDescription and for value enter Required for front camera access .
Info.plist file
Now that we have the front camera feed we now have to display it on screen. For such a task we are going to make use of the AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer class. AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer is a subclass of CALayer and it is used for displaying the camera feed. Let’s add this as a new property to our ViewController . Add the following line:
private lazy var previewLayer = AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer(session: self.captureSession)
The property is lazy loaded as it requires captureSession to be loaded before it. Thus we used the lazy keyword to defer the initialisation to a point where the captureSession would already be loaded.
Next we have to add the previewLayer as a sublayer of the container UIView of our ViewController . Add the following function to do so:
private func showCameraFeed() {
self.previewLayer.videoGravity = .resizeAspectFill
self.view.layer.addSublayer(self.previewLayer)
self.previewLayer.frame = self.view.frame
}
Let’s call this function. At the end of viewDidLoad add the following line:
self.showCameraFeed()
Next we need to adapt the preview layer’s frame when the container’s view frame changes; it can potentially change at different points of the UIViewController instance lifecycle. Add the following function to do so:
override func viewDidLayoutSubviews() {
super.viewDidLayoutSubviews()
self.previewLayer.frame = self.view.frame
}
Finally we have to tell the captureSession to start coordinating its input, preview and outputs. At the end of viewDidLoad call the following line:
self.captureSession.startRunning()
Run the app and watch the front camera feed!
2. Detect faces and draw bounding boxes on screen
For the second part we will extract live images from the camera feed continuously and then run face detection on each image. If face and face features are detected then we will draw a bounding box onto the screen.
Let’s first extract the live camera feed image. For such a task we will require our captureSession to output each image. We will need to make use of AVCaptureVideoDataOutput . Within the ViewController class create an instance of AVCaptureVideoDataOutput by adding the following line:
private let videoDataOutput = AVCaptureVideoDataOutput()
Next let’s add videoDataOutput as an output to our captureSession . Additionally let’s tell the videoDataOutput to deliver each frame to our ViewController . Add the following function to ViewController class:
private func getCameraFrames() {
self.videoDataOutput.videoSettings = [(kCVPixelBufferPixelFormatTypeKey as NSString) : NSNumber(value: kCVPixelFormatType_32BGRA)] as [String : Any]
self.videoDataOutput.alwaysDiscardsLateVideoFrames = true
self.videoDataOutput.setSampleBufferDelegate(self, queue: DispatchQueue(label: "camera_frame_processing_queue"))
self.captureSession.addOutput(self.videoDataOutput) guard let connection = self.videoDataOutput.connection(with: AVMediaType.video),
connection.isVideoOrientationSupported else { return }
connection.videoOrientation = .portrait
}
The above function should raise an error.
In the getCameraFrames function we have told the videoDataOutput to give the ViewController the camera frames. However in order to do so ViewController must conform to the AVCaptureVideoDataOutputSampleBufferDelegate protocol. Add AVCaptureVideoDataOutputSampleBufferDelegate to the ViewController declaration right after UIViewController . Your ViewController declaration must now look like:
class ViewController: UIViewController, AVCaptureVideoDataOutputSampleBufferDelegate {
....
The error should now have disapeared.
Note in the getCameraFrames we told videoDataOutput to send live camera frames to our ViewController . We also told videoDataOutput on which thread to process the frame. We created an instance of DispatchQueue which executes the delegation of each frame on serial thread which is not the main one. The main thread is used to render views. It is good practice to off load intense tasks from the main thread. We’ll come back to this point once we want to draw where the face and face features are within the screen.
Next let’s add the function to receive the frames from the captureSession :
func captureOutput(
_ output: AVCaptureOutput,
didOutput sampleBuffer: CMSampleBuffer,
from connection: AVCaptureConnection) {
print("did receive frame")
}
The captureOutput function will receive the frames from the videoDataOutput .
So far for this section we have created a function that outputs video frames and created a function that receives them. However we still need to call the getCameraFrames function. Before self.captureSession.startRunning() in viewDidLoad add the following line:
self.getCameraFrames()
Run the app and watch the console (from menu select View > Debug Area > Activate Console).
console log
Whilst the app is running console will log did receive frame continuously.
Now that we have the image from the camera feed we now need to process it and run face detection on it. We will process using Vision frameworks VNDetectFaceLandmarksRequest . To access Vision we must first import it in the file using it. At the top of ViewController.swift file, below the other import statements add the following line:
import Vision
Next let’s add a new function to detect faces and face features:
private func detectFace(in image: CVPixelBuffer) { let faceDetectionRequest = VNDetectFaceLandmarksRequest(completionHandler: { (request: VNRequest, error: Error?) in
DispatchQueue.main.async {
if let results = request.results as? [VNFaceObservation], results.count > 0 {
print("did detect \(results.count) face(s)")
} else {
print("did not detect any face")
}
}
}) let imageRequestHandler = VNImageRequestHandler(cvPixelBuffer: image, orientation: .leftMirrored, options: [:])
try? imageRequestHandler.perform([faceDetectionRequest])
}
The function above will create a face detection request on the currently displayed image on screen. For now we check that one or more faces are detected on the image and then print the number of faces detected to the console.
Let’s call our new function to detect face and then test our FaceTracker app. Let’s change the implementation of our captureOutput function to the following:
func captureOutput(_ output: AVCaptureOutput,
didOutput sampleBuffer: CMSampleBuffer,
from connection: AVCaptureConnection) {
guard let frame = CMSampleBufferGetImageBuffer(sampleBuffer) else {
debugPrint("unable to get image from sample buffer")
return
} self.detectFace(in: frame)
}
Run the app and watch the console.
console log
We’re approaching the final steps. Next we will draw on the screen the bounding box of where the face is located. The results returned contains a properties named boundingBox for each observed face. We will take each face in turn and extract the bounding box for each of those.
Before we add the function to draw the faces bounding boxes let’s first create a new variable to hold the drawings in our ViewController instance:
private var drawings: [CAShapeLayer] = []
We will use this property to reference any drawings on screen.
Add the following functions to handle the results from face detection:
private func handleFaceDetectionResults(_ observedFaces: [VNFaceObservation]) {
self.clearDrawings() let facesBoundingBoxes: [CAShapeLayer] = observedFaces.map({ (observedFace: VNFaceObservation) -> CAShapeLayer in let faceBoundingBoxOnScreen = self.previewLayer.layerRectConverted(fromMetadataOutputRect: observedFace.boundingBox)
let faceBoundingBoxPath = CGPath(rect: faceBoundingBoxOnScreen, transform: nil)
let faceBoundingBoxShape = CAShapeLayer()
faceBoundingBoxShape.path = faceBoundingBoxPath
faceBoundingBoxShape.fillColor = UIColor.clear.cgColor
faceBoundingBoxShape.strokeColor = UIColor.green.cgColor return faceBoundingBoxShape
}) facesBoundingBoxes.forEach({ faceBoundingBox in self.view.layer.addSublayer(faceBoundingBox) })
self.drawings = facesBoundingBoxes
} private func clearDrawings() {
self.drawings.forEach({ drawing in drawing.removeFromSuperlayer() })
}
handleFaceDetectionResults starts off by clearing any drawings on screen. As the face changes position the old bounding boxes drawings are no longer correct so we remove them before drawing the new position of the face.
Note the face observation result returns a bounding box with the location of the face in the image. However the image resolution differs from the screen resolution. Therefore we have to convert the face location from image location to the one on screen. For such Apple has provided a conversion function on AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer instance named layerRectConverted(fromMetadataOutputRect:) to convert from the image coordinates and screen coordinates.
Let’s call our new handleFaceDetectionResults from detectFace function. Change the detectFace implementation to the following:
private func detectFace(in image: CVPixelBuffer) {
let faceDetectionRequest = VNDetectFaceLandmarksRequest(completionHandler: { (request: VNRequest, error: Error?) in
DispatchQueue.main.async {
if let results = request.results as? [VNFaceObservation] {
self.handleFaceDetectionResults(results)
} else {
self.clearDrawings()
}
}
})
let imageRequestHandler = VNImageRequestHandler(cvPixelBuffer: image, orientation: .leftMirrored, options: [:])
try? imageRequestHandler.perform([faceDetectionRequest])
}
Run the app and play with it. You should now see a green box around all faces.
Face with bounding box drawn
As a final step let’s draw some face features. I won’t cover all the face features available. However what we will cover here can be applied to any face feature. For this post we will draw the eyes on screen. We can access the face features path using face detection result, VNFaceObservation landmarks property. Add the following functions to handle face landmarks from face detection:
private func drawFaceFeatures(_ landmarks: VNFaceLandmarks2D, screenBoundingBox: CGRect) -> [CAShapeLayer] { var faceFeaturesDrawings: [CAShapeLayer] = [] if let leftEye = landmarks.leftEye {
let eyeDrawing = self.drawEye(leftEye, screenBoundingBox: screenBoundingBox)
faceFeaturesDrawings.append(eyeDrawing)
} if let rightEye = landmarks.rightEye {
let eyeDrawing = self.drawEye(rightEye, screenBoundingBox: screenBoundingBox)
faceFeaturesDrawings.append(eyeDrawing)
} // draw other face features here return faceFeaturesDrawings
} private func drawEye(_ eye: VNFaceLandmarkRegion2D, screenBoundingBox: CGRect) -> CAShapeLayer { let eyePath = CGMutablePath()
let eyePathPoints = eye.normalizedPoints
.map({ eyePoint in
CGPoint(
x: eyePoint.y * screenBoundingBox.height + screenBoundingBox.origin.x,
y: eyePoint.x * screenBoundingBox.width + screenBoundingBox.origin.y)
})
eyePath.addLines(between: eyePathPoints)
eyePath.closeSubpath() let eyeDrawing = CAShapeLayer()
eyeDrawing.path = eyePath
eyeDrawing.fillColor = UIColor.clear.cgColor
eyeDrawing.strokeColor = UIColor.green.cgColor
return eyeDrawing
}
The functions above converts each eye if detected and draw them. Note in drawEye function we have to convert each point for the eye contour to screen points as we did for the face bounding box. However these values are relative to the screen bounding box. I wasn’t able to find a convenience function to convert each relative point to screen points easily. Thus in the function above we do a manual conversion of the points.
Let’s call our new functions. Change the implementation of handleFaceDetectionResults to the following:
private func handleFaceDetectionResults(_ observedFaces: [VNFaceObservation]) {
self.clearDrawings() let facesBoundingBoxes: [CAShapeLayer] = observedFaces.flatMap({ (observedFace: VNFaceObservation) -> [CAShapeLayer] in
let faceBoundingBoxOnScreen = self.previewLayer.layerRectConverted(fromMetadataOutputRect: observedFace.boundingBox)
let faceBoundingBoxPath = CGPath(rect: faceBoundingBoxOnScreen, transform: nil)
let faceBoundingBoxShape = CAShapeLayer()
faceBoundingBoxShape.path = faceBoundingBoxPath
faceBoundingBoxShape.fillColor = UIColor.clear.cgColor
faceBoundingBoxShape.strokeColor = UIColor.green.cgColor var newDrawings = [CAShapeLayer]()
newDrawings.append(faceBoundingBoxShape)
if let landmarks = observedFace.landmarks {
newDrawings = newDrawings + self.drawFaceFeatures(landmarks, screenBoundingBox: faceBoundingBoxOnScreen)
}
return newDrawings
}) facesBoundingBoxes.forEach({ faceBoundingBox in self.view.layer.addSublayer(faceBoundingBox) }) self.drawings = facesBoundingBoxes
}
And that’s it! 🎉 Run the the app and checkout the results!
Face with bounding box and eye contours drawing
Summary
In this post we have learnt to:
Stream the camera feed from our iOS devices to the screen
Handle live images from the camera in our app
Use the Vision framework to process the image and detect face and face features
Convert image coordinates to screen coordinates
Draw onto the screen using CAShapeLayer
Final notes
In this post we have learned how to solve computer vision challenges without knowing anything about computer vision. We have leveraged functionality that already solves these challenges. However in some cases built-in or off-the-shelf functionality might not solve your problem. In those cases you might need to solve the computer vision challenges yourself. In my previous post I showed how to be able to solve computer vision challenges by leveraging OpenCV, a C++ library that contains functionality aimed at real time image processing.
You can find the full source code to this post here.
If you liked this post please don’t forget to clap. Stay tuned for more posts on iOS development! Follow me on Twitter or Medium! | https://medium.com/onfido-tech/live-face-tracking-on-ios-using-vision-framework-adf8a1799233 | ['Anurag Ajwani'] | 2020-06-16 14:00:57.222000+00:00 | ['iOS', 'Vision', 'Computer Vision', 'Swift', 'Mobile'] |
Early-stage companies — RubrYc Therapeutics | More well thought out work can be found at — https://axial.substack.com/
Axial partners with great founders and inventors. We invest in early-stage life sciences companies often when they are no more than an idea. We are fanatical about helping the rare inventor who is compelled to build their own enduring business. If you or someone you know has a great idea or company in life sciences, Axial would be excited to get to know you and possibly invest in your vision and company . We are excited to be in business with you — email us at [email protected]
Who leads RubrYc?
RubrYc Therapeutics was founded in 2017 by Isaac Bright (CEO), Matthew Greving (CTO), and Mohan Srinivasan after spinning out of HealthTell (develops immune profiling assays) to use the company’s peptide array synthesis technology to form the basis of RubrYc’s business to develop new antibody medicines.
What does RubrYc do?
RubrYc discovers epitope-selective antibodies. The company’s platform, Discovery Engine, is centered around photolithographic synthesis of peptide arrays. This platform enables RubrYc to manufacture meso-scale engineered molecules (MEM), which are scaffolds meant to present an epitope in its natural conformation. The idea is that screening antibodies in vitro against MEMs can more easily discover antibodies that recognize an epitope in vivo.
RubrYc’s platform has 4 advantages in antibody discovery:
Expand the complementary determining region (CDR) diversity of antibodies against known and relevant epitopes Develop antibodies against challenging epitopes In particular, enable antibodies to be discovered for discontinuous or junctional epitopes More easily identify and avoid antibody off-target binding (i.e. avoid antigen sinks)
WIth the ability to generate unique libraries of antibodies, the company uses machine learning to discover epitope-selective antibodies in oncology and autoimmunity with certain features: better pharmacodynamic properties, stronger epitope binding, targeting natural versus alternative epitopes, safety/off-target binding.
What makes RubrYc unique?
RubrYc’s ability to create MEM arrays with over 3M peptides is a major advantage to discover antibodies selective for one target and not for others. This lowers the cost of discovery as well as ensures broad coverage across epitopes. By unifying this peptide array synthesis capability with machine learning, protein dynamic simulations, and high-throughput screening, the company has the power to discover antibodies against a diverse set of epitopes from linear to conformational and junctional.
Why I like what RubrYc is doing?
RubrYc has used its unique antibody discovery platform to build a diverse, preclinical pipeline of medicines as well as set themselves up to forge co-development and discovery partnerships. The company’s lead asset, RTX-003, is an anti-CD25 antibody to activate antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) in regulatory T-cells (Treg) in oncology. Their second asset, RTX-002, is a PD-1 agonist antibody for autoimmunity (SLE and MS).
The company is focusing on developing epitope-specific antibodies focused on T-cells. Overtime, the company is looking to expand beyond monoclonal antibodies (mAb) fto epitope-specific antibody–drug conjugates (ADC), bispecifics, and chimeric antigen receptors (CAR).
You can find RubrYc here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU1qqxXUJXY | https://medium.com/@axialxyz/early-stage-companies-rubryc-therapeutics-c4b0d1eaf72d | [] | 2020-12-06 21:21:47.075000+00:00 | ['Venture Capital', 'Biotechnology', 'Investing', 'Healthcare', 'Medicine'] |
Netflix Is Crashing | Thibault Penin
Recently there have not been as many new, and good TV shows on Netflix. And it is all because of Corona Virus.
COVID has prohibited holly wood filming, so we will start seeing fewer and fewer TV shows. I’d say that in about 6–7 months we might see a complete halt in TV show rollouts.
Jesus Loves Austin
So what are they going to do? Maybe they will have zoom TV shows. Or film from home.
Maybe we won't see any new T.V. shows, literally my heart just stopped.
Or maybe we will see more animations? But the show must go on.
If Netflix just stops I think my life will end. Just Kidding (hehe not). | https://medium.com/predict/netflix-is-crashing-fa2715390cd5 | ['Vanessa Ham'] | 2020-10-10 17:56:01.395000+00:00 | ['Film', 'Netflix', 'Netflix Originals', 'TV Series', 'Filmmaking'] |
Sales and Procrastination | Sales lies in the core foundation of modern-day society. Every person is engaged in sales one way or other. Professionals are selling their skills, companies selling their products, labors selling their services and so on. It may be applicable to some cases of relationship where one sells his/her personality to get desired affection. These traits of sales tell us how selling is directly related to human behavior. Human behavior tends to be different from culture to culture, region to region, nation to nation etc. However, among the behaviors that remain common in whole humanity, PROCRASTINATION is the most found.
Leaders, managers, employees, husbands, wives, in fact all the human roles procrastinate. Similarly, salespersons tend to be procrastinator, but this is something that no management wants to hear or deal about. Sales is the fastest paced profession of all and required continuous focus, presence of mind and customer proximity at all times.
Being a salesperson, I experience procrastination at every sales stage like:
· Cold Calling, it feel like maybe I can make this call later, what I will talk about, maybe the prospect would be busy at this moment, may be its not the lucky hour to call..
· Introductory E-mail, I cannot create right content, I don’t know about the context of customer requirements, who read marketing email these days
· Offer Preparation, calculation tool is not working right now maybe I should work sometime later, maybe I need to consult boss before setting up prices, I don’t need to bear the painful offer approval cycle from management today
· Follow-up call, let’s do this sometime later after all customer already has my offer
… and the list goes on..
Sales is as demanding as love relationship. You need to spend right time and quality time with your partner to make it successful. Same goes in sales cycle, if we miss the right moment of contacting the customer or we lack the effort to spend the quality time, the customer has high probability to break up and move on and its high probability customer finds the right mate within due time before you make any compensatory mood.
We are all bombarded by time management stuff and productivity booster techniques. With digital age now the managers are coming up with new tech solutions to make your every second count. However, being the most intelligent kind of specie, salespersons are still successful in finding the loopholes in technology which they can easily exploit to gain some more time for procrastination.
Myself used to make a dummy skype call while being away from the desk or chit chatting with colleagues, this bluffed the software to rank me the most productive employee of the day on floor and I used to end up among top 10 productive employees on daily scoreboard out of 200 employees working on the floor.
Having said and done all.. I can say with my experience of 7 years in inside and outside sales, if anything which I compete the most is my procrastination. Describing the above scenarios, it’s not at all that only Salespeople need to be blamed. Organizational culture is of high importance as if salespeople have the right environment to be productive. Most often we are bombarded by new spread sheets to fill in the data of Sales pipeline, factory forecasting, strategic measure, most of the time repetitive tasks are required each time with new template. Further, sales involve efforts from cross functional team including product expert, legal, commercial, logistics etc. In most cases these departments are hard to get on board with the sales objectives, resulting in barrier for salespeople to work which further results in their lack of confidence on team and processes which further results in PROCRASTINATION.
I would write some other day on short-term tactics and long terms strategies to overcome procrastination and make more time available for us to utilize in increased sales, family time and self-growth. Honestly speaking there is no silver bullet to fix this issue, many thinkers and gurus have already come up with their strategies and framework, yet still a wide and complex topic to cover. We will also try to explore in another piece to share with you.
At the end the message is just that Salespeople are the front-line forces of organizations be it be small or large, being the most vulnerable who bear so much responsibility of growth and success they tend to have very different emotional or development expertise which need to be taken care of. | https://medium.com/@mujtabaqadri91/sales-and-procrastination-9020f1b55dbe | ['Mujtaba Qadri'] | 2021-05-16 11:02:05.044000+00:00 | ['Sales', 'Productivity', 'Salesforce Productivity', 'Procrastination', 'Salesforce'] |
Curtain Call: The Man of 3,600 Films | By: Bentley Boyd, Donor and Member Communications Manager
Image: John Ewing, Curator of Film at the CMA for 34 Years. Image courtesy Howard Agriesti for the Cleveland Museum of Art.
You couldn’t watch a movie on your phone when John Ewing took over the film program at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1986. But our era of on-demand streaming content only makes the CMA’s curation of film more important, he believes.
“A lot of us who love film resist the word ‘content.’ The best movies are not ‘content.’ They are works of art conceived by artists and should be seen in the best possible environment,” Ewing says.
Ewing was about to show director Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Day of Wrath (1943) at the museum when the CMA was forced to close in March due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Streaming technology has been a godsend to millions of people self-isolating in their homes for months — but people are beginning to feel adrift in all that “content.” How do they pick what to watch next? How will we watch movies in 2021? Without a vaccine, venues for professional sports, concerts, and theater are wondering how and when audiences will gather in person again.
Ewing saw his first movie at the CMA as a college English major in the early 1970s — a W.C. Fields comedy. But with no idea of when the social experience of theater viewings will return, he retired in August.
“Whoever succeeds me will have to separate what the museum does from this multimedia culture that saturates us,” he says. “Films are to be savored, start to finish, with no interruption. That’s something we need to reaffirm. They’re almost now closer to classical music or opera than they are to popcorn diversions. Film is a time-based medium, like listening to Mahler.”
“Films are to be savored, start to finish, with no interruption. That’s something we need to reaffirm. They’re almost now closer to classical music or opera than they are to popcorn diversions. Film is a time-based medium, like listening to Mahler.” — John Ewing, Curator of Film
He departs an institution where a third of the current staff were born after Ewing began his tenure with a showing of the Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra musical On the Town (1949). Ewing has screened more than 3,600 films at the CMA — about a thousand of them being Cleveland premieres.
On the Town (1949) Official Trailer — Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly Movie HD. Video courtesy Movieclips Classic Trailers.
Director of performing arts Tom Welsh says, “His body of work is staggering. We know he is revered not just in Cleveland but by people across the country in independent cinema. He’s a legend not only in our community but in the field.”
John Ewing pictured at the CMA in 1988.
Ewing programmed his first films as director of the 1973 January Term film program at his alma mater, Denison University. Between 1975 and 1983, he directed the Canton Film Society for the Stark County District Library, showing free international films. From 1984 to 1986, he ran a cinema series at the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library, and in 1984 he co-founded the Cleveland Cinematheque and will continue his work as director there after his CMA retirement.
At Ewing’s virtual retirement party for the CMA, media services specialist and longtime Cinematheque projectionist Les Vince told him, “Your passion is very infectious. I would mention a scene in a film I had seen 10 years ago and couldn’t remember the name of the film, and you could name it immediately. The patrons came for the movies, of course, but they really appreciated your knowledge and the personal introductions you had for the films. It was a great touch.”
Early CMA film program brochures.
At the CMA, Ewing increased the number of film screenings per week and oversaw the acquisition of 35mm projectors in Gartner Auditorium in 1988. The night those projectors debuted is a highlight for him — and for Marjorie Williams, CMA senior leadership giving officer. She was in the packed auditorium when the German silent film Nosferatu (1922) ended and the screen rose to reveal organist Dennis James, who turned to accept the applause wearing a vampire mask, and the crowd erupted. “That was a great evening!” Williams says.
Ewing says, “I didn’t know he was going to do that. He really brought the house down.”
The Leopard (1963) Trailer. Video courtesy HD Retro Trailers.
Another favorite moment for Ewing was the community reaction to The Leopard (1963), a three-hour Burt Lancaster movie not available in the US at the time. Ewing got a print of the Italian movie from the British Film Institute and wondered who would show up.
“We had 500 people materialize out of nowhere. I was overwhelmed,” he says. “I think so many people turned out because it appealed to the traditional museum audience. We’ve built this bedrock of a very well-trained, sophisticated audience. These are people who know their film history.”
John Ewing checks screen masking in the Morley Lecture Hall before the showing of Kings of Pastry in November 2011.
Ewing is now part of that history. In 2010, he was named Chevalier (Knight) in the Order of Arts and Letters of the Republic of France, recognized for his significant contributions to French culture. (CMA director William Griswold, and artists Robert Redford, Uma Thurman, David Bowie, and Leonardo DiCaprio have also received the award.)
The award honors the perseverance that was required to curate an international film program with analog technology. Remember that movie from March that Ewing didn’t get to show? It would have been a DVD copy. When he wanted to show that same movie in June 1989, he had to show a silver nitrate print.
“Silver nitrate is highly flammable stock,” Ewing says. “We had to get special dispensation from the fire department. During the showing, we had to sit by the projector with a fire extinguisher.” | https://medium.com/cma-thinker/curtain-call-john-ewing-retires-after-34-years-of-curating-film-at-the-cma-91ea3d144951 | ['Cleveland Museum Of Art'] | 2020-08-21 14:02:46.223000+00:00 | ['Art', 'Curator', 'Film Series', 'Museums', 'Film'] |
Talking local government websites with Katherine Rooney | Photo by Charisse Kenion on Unsplash
We recently published a report into the use of local govenment websites in South West England.
This is the second in a series of reports we are publishing into the use of local authority websites.
The report itself is great (obviously I’m not in any way biased) but we wanted to talk about some of the slightly wider issues arising from the data. So we asked Katherine Rooney to sit down with us. We recorded the conversation and released it as part of our occasional podcast series “Talkoot: the podcast for people working to build excellent public services”.
Katherine has a real depth of experience in public services, data and South West England. It’s 24 minutes, 10 seconds of website analytics gold.
You can listen to just this episode on Soundcloud.
Or subscribe so you never miss another episode. | https://medium.com/the-satori-lab/talking-local-government-websites-with-katherine-rooney-ce8854088fc | ['Ben Proctor'] | 2019-05-08 08:13:28.461000+00:00 | ['Digital Analytics', 'England', 'Google Analytics', 'Data', 'Local Government'] |
The Perplexity of Loss | The Perplexity of Loss
Photo by Egor Kamelev on Pexels
There is an instinct in humans, if not simply a rational sensibility, that causes us to assign life a privileged position. We objectify life, instead of allowing it to be the function that it is. And so when it disappears, we look for it, as if it went somewhere. It’s like looking for where the movement went when a rolling stone stops its rolling.
We attribute such value to life that we can’t understand how it can simply be extinguished, often from one moment to the next. We can’t process it. Our mind cannot look directly at the truth of mortality and understand it on a visceral level. Likewise, in our ceaseless, solipsistic personification of all of nature, we cannot comprehend how such a valuable thing can be taken from us without a guilty party. We all live under the terrible fate of mortality, and we have no one to blame for it, nothing to fight against, and no place to direct our pleas for mercy.
What a turbid confusion loss roils up in the mind. As if in a blizzard raging in the dark of night, we are nipped by pangs of sadness and lost in a violent haze, and though there’s nothing to be made out in full, in the distance we find something that resembles an answer. It’s not quite an answer, but it has a way of soothing like one. It gives the mind clarity and a focus. It is blame: finding something, anything, to blame.
I’ve seen a grieving widow spend years mulling over suing a number of doctors for incompetence because they couldn’t save her husband’s life. I know of a mother who tried to press criminal charges against her daughter’s friends for not stopping the daughter’s suicide. I’ve seen a mother and father work for years — begging friends and family for money for the legal bills — to have a police determination of suicide legally overturned, and a driver charged with negligent homicide, after their son walked into traffic, as if having someone else be responsible for his death would bring him back. And, most often, without evidence or merit, I’ve seen people blame themselves.
There is an unfathomable confusion that accompanies loss, and in the throes of that emotional chaos, blame looks like an answer. | https://medium.com/@martinvidal/the-perplexity-of-loss-a61c236f8647 | ['Martin Vidal'] | 2020-12-27 13:10:01.964000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Love', 'Death', 'Grief', 'Life Lessons'] |
Guide to Diem (or Libra 2.0) | Guide to Diem (or Libra 2.0)
The decisive moment seems to have come for the arrival of the cryptocurrency from Facebook and the consortium behind it. After several legal problems and clashes with the American authorities, the project seems ready for release next January.
The news comes from the Financial Times, which reveals how the Association once called Libra has changed its name to find its identity and to try to emphasize its independence from Facebook. Let’s try to understand the meaning, functioning and history of the most controversial cryptocurrency in the market.
Libra 1.0
The Libra project was born in 2019 by the Facebook company to provide financial services and a payment system through “new” technologies such as DLT and Blockchain. The idea behind the project was the creation of a payments network to be used directly within the most famous social networks and services belonging to the Libra Association. Applications such as Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger and many others would have made it possible to involve millions of potentially unbanked people in the global financial system. The potential of the project was obviously enormous and the consortium that was being created behind the service, with partners of international calibre, represented an excellent premise. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? Well, that’s not quite the case.
The Association
The Libra Association was a non-profit association based in Geneva whose task was to manage the technological infrastructure and related reserves underlying the cryptocurrency released. Among the various Facebook partners in this first version, there were many important names such as Uber, Spotify, Vodafone, Coinbase, PayPal, Visa, Mastercard and many more. To become part of the consortium, each company had to pay an entrance fee and subsequently, would have been entitled to dividends from the Libra Association in a proportional manner. Each of these brands brought their own “community” of people within this project, allowing, at the time of launch, to already have a significant user base.
Stable Coins
As we said earlier, the idea behind the project was the creation of financial infrastructure based on a cryptocurrency, and specifically on a Stable Coin. Stable coins are cryptocurrencies whose value is linked stably to the value of an underlying asset, in this case to the dollar and other fiat currencies, with a 1 to 1 ratio. In this way, the exchange rate between dollar — pound or euro — libra was stable and allowed people to exchange a digital currency not subject to the high volatility that characterizes Bitcoin rather than Ethereum.
Calibra or Novi
While Libra was the Stable coin with which to pay for services and send money between users, Calibra was the division of Facebook and the consortium that took care of the work on cryptocurrency.
The division’s first real product was a digital wallet that made it possible to manage payments through cryptocurrency and integrate with applications such as WhatsApp and Messenger, allowing it to reach the “pockets” of nearly 2 billion people. At first, this wallet was called Calibra but was later renamed Novi.
Problems and conflict
After the presentation of the project and the initial euphoria, there were the first problems at the institutional level. Cryptocurrency and the association have received several criticisms from the heads of state and the G7 finance ministers. The first problems come from Washington in which a large group of representatives of the US congress ask Facebook to suspend development because the scope of the project and the calibre of the signatures in the consortium required validation by the institutions. What worried Congress was the possibility that these instruments constituted a global financial system in competition with the United States and the dollar. Also, the various doubts regarding privacy, security and monetary policy have stalled the work on the cryptocurrency. The idea was simple:
“Since Facebook already has over a quarter of the world’s population in its hands, the group and its partners must cease implementation plans immediately until legislator and Congress have examined these issues and taken action”.
In addition to the US Congress, also from Switzerland there began to be the first doubts about the idea of cryptocurrency and the consortium behind it. In a few months, many of the companies within the Association abandoned it, leaving Facebook and a few others struggling with regulations.
Libra 2.0
After several clashes with authorities and central banks, the Libra Association changed course and started working on different Stable coins, failing to find the right setting. According to the Financial Times, it seems that the association is intent on launching a single stable currency anchored to the value of the dollar. Also, the most important change, at least at the brand level, is the change of name: from Libra to Diem. The Stable coin pegged to the dollar value will be called Diem Dollar and the Association is now called “Diem Association”. Diem proposes to provide a simple platform capable of innovating fintech to allow companies or individuals to exchange money digitally and instantly.
There is still a certain date for the start of the project but the most likely seems to be January 2021. The Diem Association is waiting for the green light and approval from the competent institutions in Switzerland, given that the registered office is in Geneva. Despite the project being launched, the hostilities of the regulators and doubts are not lacking. The fears are essentially aimed at the private entity, Facebook, capable of issuing its own financial service accessible to nearly 2 billion people around the world. The scope of this project is potentially infinite since, while Bitcoin and Ethereum are widespread but always within a niche, Diem has the ability to enter everyone’s homes instantly. Also, giving a company like Facebook the possibility to have the financial data of its users makes this project very difficult to complete. After Cambridge Analytica and the censorship problems experienced by social networks in recent months, the last thing that regulators want is to give the possibility to know the amounts, interests and expenses of users associated with the social network.
In short, Libra, or rather Diem, remains an ambitious and perhaps somewhat utopian project. All that remains is to see what the reactions of the big players in the world of finance and regulation will be. The fears are there but Facebook and the Diem Association seem well-intentioned to complete the project.
Also, Read | https://medium.com/coinmonks/guide-to-diem-or-libra-2-0-cf90a31c9430 | ['Gianmarco Guazzo'] | 2020-12-28 13:44:05.085000+00:00 | ['Stable Coin', 'Technology', 'Crypto', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Fintech'] |
Eye Detection Using Python in Colab | CODE:
Uploading cascade files:
2.Uploading the image:
3.We need to import some packages: numpy , cv2 , matplotlib .
4.A path to access cascade classifier:
5.To display the image we uploaded:
6.Method to create rectangle when eye is detected, here 7 is the width of the rectangle and (x,y),(x+w,y+h),(255,0,0) is the RGB value of the outline of the rectangle.
7.The final output:
You can access the cascade files and the code from my Github.
https://github.com/AMULYA-SRKL/EYE-DETECTION | https://medium.com/@amulyalokeshwari22/eye-detection-using-python-in-colab-ac48f7014242 | [] | 2020-12-30 15:50:29.182000+00:00 | ['Object Detection', 'Python', 'Opencv', 'Colab'] |
Why a design system?. Design systems are so hot right now… | Design systems are so hot right now. It’s hard to throw a rock and not find a Medium post or tweet on Design Twitter about design systems. I’ve spent the last six months at my role at ServiceTitan creating a design system for the company. I want to start this multi-part article specifically covering why we made a company initiative to form Anvil, the design system powering the huge enterprise app that we at ServiceTitan are working on.
Design Systems Are Abstract
The most common question I get from people who are not familiar with design systems is why. Why are we spending the effort building internal tools when we could be improving the experience or adding features? It’s an incredibly valid question that needs to be answered to get buy-in from stakeholders and leadership teams. It’s hard to see the reasons to spend the time working on it when you don’t experience the pains yourself.
Another reason that question is asked so much is that design systems are still abstract. Every company at every size has different challenges to solve and requirements to get there. Design systems are built to solve specific pain-points of the company. There’s no off-the-shelf solution (yet?) that will solve those needs without trying to solve other issues as well.
I’ve worked on three design systems at this point in my career and they were all drastically different in scope. I’ll be focusing on the problems we’re solving at ServiceTitan but I guarantee every company has experienced similar issues or will.
Explosive Growth
ServiceTitan hired their first designer in 2015. Since then, we’ve gone through four rounds of funding and have a double-digit design team. Most of that team growth has happened in the last year. With this newest round, we’re hoping to double the team in the next year (shameless plug: We’re hiring).
Scaling that fast is incredibly exciting. It’s also really hard. When you’re in a small team or a solo designer at a startup, you can basically keep everything in your head. You know the app inside and out. Design patterns start and end with you and your three Sketch files.
When you hit around the 5 designer mark, one of the biggest things that breaks down is the communication of existing and new design ideas. This is no fault of anyone, it’s just incredibly hard to keep track of what everyone is doing, and make sure information is surfaced in a timely manner.
Everyone is trying to get work done and ship useful experiences to customers. It’s easy for cross-application consistency to fall by the wayside.
“When can we update our legacy pages?”
Interfaces change. Design patterns change. Processes change. Branding changes. Technology stacks change (thanks React…). The people keeping track of the interface changes. All of that leads to design debt.
If you’ve never done an Interface Inventory, do it. It’s an enlightening process. Make it public. Do a presentation to the company about it. Show everyone that 43 button styles not only create a sense of disorder for the users, but it’s a time intensive process to figure out which button style should be used.
It can be much easier creating New_Button_final_v3 rather than trying to figure out what the most appropriate style is. It looks really good though. Let’s talk to the PM and engineer to use this new style across our app. Oh, it’s going to take days to get it rolled out and is out of scope for this project. Let’s just use it now and add a ticket to the backlog to convert the rest of the app.
Congratulations, you now have 44 button styles!
This is of no fault to anyone. I’ve done this myself. When an app gets larger and communication becomes more difficult, unless there’s a strategic effort to combat against this design debt, it’s going to happen.
Enable other work to be built
Product design is incredibly challenging work juggling multiple different tasks. Shipping good experiences requires understanding requirements, research, testing, wireframing, visual design, prototyping, iteration, handoff specs, feedback rounds from stakeholders, and more. You’re focusing on so many different tasks to get your product in a usable place, it can be inconvenient to have to design for consistency as well. It’s the problem of having to craft a tree and also build the forest at the same time.
It’s the problem of having to craft a tree and also build the forest at the same time.
If we have a dedicated person or team who is responsible for this high level view, it will allow other designers and engineers to focus more on creating the right experiences for our customers.
Anvils On The Horizon
So the issues we found above helped enforce the reasons we needed to build a design system. Those were:
Communication breakdown as teams grow
Inconsistent and expanding design patterns
Design & engineering efficiencies
We kicked off an initiative to build our design system, Anvil, starting with a team of two. We’ve been working on it for about 6 months, and at the time of writing we have our branding patterns which include color palette, headline styles, typographic scale, and more, as well as over 20 components that our design and engineering teams are using to create and ship new experiences to customers.
We’ve grown the team to four, including a project manager, and since we’ve started seeing the impact across our Product org, planning to add more people to the team next year to continue this momentum.
In the next article, I’ll talk through our foundational strategy and how we got to where we are today. | https://medium.com/servicetitan-design/building-an-enterprise-design-system-f0fe74e7fac | ['Matt Felten'] | 2019-09-05 05:58:38.317000+00:00 | ['Product Design', 'Designops', 'Enterprise Software', 'Design Teams', 'Design Systems'] |
Infosec Women & Mental Health | Content Warning: The following article covers depression, self-harm, and abuse. Some use of strong language may be inappropriate for a wider audience. Names and details have been changed out of respect for privacy.
On a Friday morning in Las Vegas at DEF CON, the world’s largest information security conference, Jo, an acquaintance I’d met at a previous DEF CON, emerged from a muddle of masked hackers and asked me if I’d heard about Helen. I expected her to tell me that Helen was at DEF CON for the first time, that Helen was about to upend the industry with a talk she’d prepared, or that Helen remained at home, mopping up an incident for a customer, but says hello. Instead, Jo told me Helen had committed suicide a few weeks earlier.
Survivor’s Remorse
I met Helen in Dallas several years ago. Celebrating our acceptance into the SANS Institute’s Women’s Academy, we bonded over dinner the week of our bootcamp for Global Information Assurance Certification: Security Essentials (GSEC). Most people take one SANS course and attempt to pass the certification exam in a six-month period. We pledged to pass three in that time. Even though Helen was reserved, she revealed the difficulty she had endured as a female aerospace engineer in her past career. She didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t ask. After 20+ years working in the male-dominated field of information technology, I didn’t have to. I hoped it would be better for us in information security.
I stayed in touch with Helen, chatting online about our courses, music, and work. Since we lived a couple of hours apart, we met up to hang out and work on CTFs. She had a wickedly sharp sense of humor yet seemed to keep her most pointed observations to herself. I got the impression her inner dialogue was a stream of clever, impish commentary, endlessly amusing, and I wanted to know more. But Helen was private. Too private. And soon after we graduated from the SANS Academy, she moved across the country to San Francisco, CA.
I made a few attempts to contact her, but we never reconnected in real life or in real time again. Helen didn’t share her phone number with anyone because of privacy concerns she said, and I presumed that she was thriving, making friends with like-minded people in a city renowned for its culture and tech. A glance at her LinkedIn profile highlighted how she had accelerated to the top of her specialty, attaining several promotions in less than two years. Admittedly, my own feelings of inadequacy got in the way, and I thought Helen had moved up and moved on. I was happy for her though, and I felt fortunate to be an acquaintance. Someday, I told myself, I’d fly to San Francisco, buy her lunch, and perhaps learn more about my enigmatic friend.
Even when we know someone is about to pass away, the loss is surreal. It is more acute with suicide. Grief’s five stages flooded my being as I tried to grasp the finality of Helen’s decision. I continue to grieve that the information security community will never know of her brilliance, how much she had to offer. She didn’t boast or attempt to convince anyone of her genius; she just was.
I have so many unanswered questions and so much survivor’s guilt, but I am not angry with Helen. Scant details I knew about her drug use, rough upbringing, and work-from-home isolation, brought into focus how Helen had not been thriving. She was drowning. Now, her reticence makes more sense to me, as I reflect on what I learned about her after she was gone. Perhaps we had more in common than I realized. I confess that a dark recess in my heart, a place I rarely give voice to, understands why she would choose suicide. At times, I’ve charted those mazes as well.
Women’s Response to Trauma
Many of us have lost our way in labyrinthine corridors of melancholy, constructed of unyielding surfaces and razor edges. Our mind’s machinations eviscerate our spirit, so it’s no surprise we act out in deviant ways, seeking catharsis and escape through self-harm. As teens, we’re labeled cutters, druggies, or sluts. Some of us become adept at hiding it, heeding our parents’ warning that society will judge us harshly, particularly because we are women, rather than helping us acknowledge what is it — a cry for help. As adults, we grapple with depression and anxiety, addiction and disease, while negotiating a culture that exalts pernicious ideals of masculinity.
There is a time and place to recount stories of abuse, neglect, and despair, psychological injuries known as trauma, but it can be a perilous journey if we allow our stories to consume us and define how we relate to others. With the help of skilled therapists and sympathetic friends, many of us attempt to make sense of our experiences and find strength in them. Eventually, with time and self-inquiry, we recognize that our parents and their parents passed down their traumas to us. Some of us can forgive our family members, acknowledging they did the best they could with the resources allotted to them. This isn’t always the case. Some abuses are unconscionable.
As we become adults, striving to bring about the vision of feminists before us, we negotiate a spectrum of unconscious bias, institutionalized discrimination, and downright misogyny that wears us down. It’s exhausting. Many of us feel muted, that our voices don’t matter. Some of us, like my generation of Gen Xers and older, may realize that not only have we become inured to it; at times we subconsciously embody misogynistic ideas that hold back our colleagues, protégés, and ourselves. Sexism is another form of trauma we harbor, along with adverse childhood memories and the generations of trauma we carry.
Steps toward Resilience
Funding and education help reduce childhood trauma and policies can address overt sexism, but the core issue is more fundamental. It is not a money problem, a human flaw, nor a patriarchal institution. Ultimately, it’s a societal issue that starts at birth, is reinforced throughout one’s life, and pervades our culture.
While we cannot change overnight, we can gradually develop resilience in ourselves that will ripple throughout our communities. First, let’s acknowledge that we’ve suffered trauma and acted out in pain. We need to stop overlooking it. Suffering, like death, is inevitable, but we humans have a unique consciousness, and we have the power to transform ourselves and shape how we move through the world. A step toward recognizing one’s trauma is taking the CDC’s 10-question Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) quiz. While it doesn’t directly assess issues regarding race, gender, or poverty, it can help us understand how our past may affect our risk of health issues.
Understanding our ACEs scores and the related risk of chronic health issues may be a wake-up call. Oftentimes we downplay the role past trauma plays in our lives, and coming to terms with it is a step toward self-care. Self-care is a form of compassion, and we must show ourselves compassion before we can extend it to others. Observers may blame us for mental and physical health issues, dismissing our setbacks as a weakness of character. If we tune out the critics, and make friends with our inner critic, then we can celebrate the adversity we’ve overcome and the victories we’ve achieved. But it takes times and effort.
Building a network of supportive loved ones and colleagues is key, and cultivating meaningful connections helps us develop purpose, an intrinsic safeguard against isolation. Ironically, many women feel more detached than ever, even though we inhabit multiple social media platforms. Working from home, a luxury coveted by tech workers, now an expected perk, has contributed to a shared desolation we experience, especially in COVID times. We must recognize the limitations of social media and reach out to one another in person, if possible, and in real time, when not. We humans are wired for real human connection.
Fostering real human connection may be tricky, especially for the highly intelligent women drawn to the field of information security. We often prefer to work alone because we’re more productive when we focus on deep work. In large social gatherings, we may not relate to others and feel like we’re stuck in an echo chamber. Some of us find that we’re anxious around a lot of people, yet we’re predisposed to ruminate if left alone too long. I suspect that it’s even more complicated for neurodiverse women. To address this paradox of intelligence, needing solitary time while still bonding with our fellow humans, we ought to experiment with finding an optimal balance of authentic connection, letting it ebb and flow when adversities arise.
Adversities will come up, and we won’t be able to think our way through them. Let’s check on each other in real life and forge strong, supportive networks we can rely on whether we’re in crisis or when we’re okay. Showing up for each other, establishing a cadence of dialogue, requires accountability as well as courage, because we must expose our vulnerability to ask for emotional support. Texts and DMs are a start; in-person meetups, video calls, and phone calls are better. Attend to friends who live alone. Perhaps these connections will prevent another loss in our small infosec community.
References
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/02/387007941/take-the-ace-quiz-and-learn-what-it-does-and-doesnt-mean
Prevention strategies should be focused on encouraging protective factors such as positive coping strategies, a strong personal belief, and strong interpersonal relationships WHO (2014). Preventing Suicide: A Global Imperative. Available online at: https://www.who.int/mental_health/suicide-prevention/world_report_2014/en/ [Ref list]
Several recent studies found that women who experienced childhood adversity are more likely to have their first child early or outside of marriage and face a higher risk of cancer than men. Lower-income women are particularly vulnerable to health issues related to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). And of all ACEs, child abuse may affect adult health more directly than any other. https://www.prb.org/resources/childhood-trauma-has-lifelong-health-consequences-for-women/
Over the past 45 years, the suicide rate has risen by 60% and has been established as the second cause of death among the 15 and 29 year age, with 50 non-fatal suicide attempts for each suicide. Risk factors linked to interpersonal relationships and the community include war and disaster, discrimination, abuse, violence and conflicts, perception of isolation, and stresses of acculturation (displaced people or indigenous persons), while risks at the individual level include chronic pain, mental disorders, poor financial situation, family history of suicide, previous non-fatal suicide attempts, and the harmful abuse of alcohol. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6284019/
Nearly 1 in 5 women have experienced completed or attempted rape during their lifetime compared to nearly 1 in 38 men. 1 in 3 female rape victims experienced it for the first time between 11–17 years and old. About 1 in 4 male rape victims reported that it occurred before age 10. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/datasources/nisvs/2015NISVSdatabrief.html
https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/why-most-intelligent-people-love-spending-time-alone.html | https://medium.com/@sekent/infosec-women-mental-health-8cbb19b1171a | ['Sarah Kent'] | 2021-08-28 14:12:42.104000+00:00 | ['Cybersecurity', 'Infosec', 'Mental Health', 'Women In Tech'] |
CryptoMentor 99 — Interview with XinFin Community Manager, Emerson Samfilippo | CryptoMentor99 interview with Emerson Samfilippo, XinFin Community Manager. Click here to see full XinFin Community, Management and Advisor Team.
CryptoMentor99 is a XinFin community member that took upon himself to launch a YouTube channel to educate and inform the crypto-investor community on XinFin.
Almost every day CryptoMentor99 produces and shares a YouTube video.
Follow CryptoMentor99 at his YouTube channel:
Or join the XinFin community on Telegram where CryptoMentor99 shares his videos daily.
Originally published at www.youtube.com on September 23, 2018. | https://medium.com/xinfin/cryptomentor-99-interview-with-xinfin-community-manager-emerson-samfilippo-d934264cc43c | ['Xinfin Team'] | 2018-10-14 08:22:11.863000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Xinfin', 'Team', 'Videos', 'About'] |
Another Way to Win A Lion: Using Creativity for Good | Last month marked the 72nd annual United Nations General Assembly (affectionately nicknamed UNGA by those in the know). At this year’s UNGA, much of the focus was around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And this year, the ad industry got in on the action, too.
Back up just a second. What are the SDGs?
The SDGs are 17 high level goals that the UN put together at its 2015 general assembly. They tackle our world’s biggest problems from ending poverty to fighting for gender equality and building smarter cities. The SDGs emerged as a stronger version of an old agenda established at the turn of the century, the Millennium Development Goals. The old goals were never realized for several reasons; one of the largest being just how drastically our world changed between 2000 and 2015. When they were first created, no one could’ve predicted just how drastic a role technology would play in shaping the way we achieve these goals. This time around, it’s been absolutely crucial. And so has the role of the private sector.
It’s Not Just a Conference for Diplomats Anymore
In developing the SDGs and bringing them to life, the UN has made it clear that these global goals are not just for high profile politicians. Everyone from LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner to Mars CSO Barry Parkin attended this year’s General Assembly as thought leaders in the area of sustainable development. Large traditional corporations, small tech startups and public service workers have all come together to talk about the biggest problems plaguing our planet. This year’s UNGA even included a Media Zone that broadcasted talks live around the world, so those who couldn’t be in New York could still participate and be heard in real time.
LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner speaking to the General Assembly.
Cannes is getting involved, too!
To help advance these goals, Cannes chairman Terry Savage announced a brand new Lion that will be launched in 2018. Appropriately named the Sustainable Development Goals Lion, the new award will help drive global awareness of the UN’s ambitious goals.
Terry had this to say about the new Lion:
“At Cannes Lions we know that creativity can be a positive force for good, and the combined power of the communications industry is formidable. Major players have been involved with the United Nations global goals initiative for some time and we’ve been proud to be able to give their work a platform.”
Cannes will begin taking entries for the SDG lion in January 2018. Any and all advertising related to the goals will be considered for awards at next year’s festival. It’s an exciting time to be in our industry!
Want to learn more about the goals?
The official document for the Sustainable Development Goals from the original 2015 UNGA can be found here. | https://medium.com/comms-planning/another-way-to-win-a-lion-using-creativity-for-good-7ffa818b89fa | ['Olivia Poglianich'] | 2017-10-02 16:02:23.672000+00:00 | ['United Nations', 'Sustainable Development', 'Cannes Lions', 'Cannes Film Festival', 'UN'] |
Guide to Multimodal Machine Learning | Guide to Multimodal Machine Learning
Analysing Text and Image at the same time!
Meme with the same text but different meaning. Source: Author of this post
I got my attention on multimodal learning from Facebook recent Hateful Meme Challenge 2020 on Driven Data. The challenge is about how to make an effective tool for detecting hate speech, and how it must be able to understand content the way people do. Seems pretty cool challenge as it makes use of both text and image for analysing content which is similar to what humans do. Let's dive deep into Multimodal Machine Learning to get what it is actually.
Multimodal Learning
As per definition Multimodal means that we have two and or more than two modes of communication through combinations of two or more modes. Modes include written language, spoken language, and patterns of meaning that are visual, audio, gestural, tactile and spatial.
In order to create an Artificial Intelligence ( even A.G.I 🤩 ) that is on par with humans, we need AI to understand, interpret and reason with multimodal messages. Multimodal machine learning aims to build models that can process and relate information from multiple modalities.
To understand how to approach this problem we must first need to understand the challenges that need to be addressed in Multimodal Machine Learning.
The challenge of Multimodal AI
Representation: The first and foremost difficulty is way to represent and summarize multiple modalities in a way we can exploit their complementarity and redundant nature. See we need to understand that usually, all modes of information we take into account points towards the same information like lip-reading and sound we hear from a person represent the same thing. But using both things together gives us that robustness which helps us understand what the other person whats to convey. So the first challenge is how we can combine multimodal data. eg: Language is often symbolic while audio and visual modalities will be represented as signals. How can we combine them?
Alignment: Secondly we need is to identify the direct relations between sub-elements from different modalities. Let's make this easy with a real-life example. We have a video on how to complete a cooking recipe. Now we also have subscript. To make it intuitive we need to match the steps shown in the video with the subscript to make a complete sense of whats going on. This is known as alignment. How do we align different modalities and deal with possible long-range dependencies and ambiguities?
Translation: Process of changing data from one modality to another, where the translation relationship can often be open-ended or subjective. At some point, we might need to convert one form of information to another. Image captioning is one prime example of this. But there exist a number of correct ways to describe an image and one perfect translation may not exist. So how do we map data from one modality to another?
Fusion: The fourth challenge is to join information from two or modalities to perform a prediction. The competition discussed above Facebook AI hateful Meme challenge is one example of it. Usually, we divide fusion techniques into two parts. Early Fusion or Late Fusion. ( Model -Agnostic Approaches)
Early Fusion And Late Fusion. Source: Author of this post
Co-Learning: Transfer knowledge between modalities, including their representations and predictive models. This is an interesting one because sometimes we have a unimodal problem and what we want from other modalities is some extra information at training time so that our system can perform best at testing time.
If after reading out this if Multimodal Machine Learning got you hooked I would suggest going through CMU Multimodal Machine Learning Course.Link in the reference.
Reference: | https://towardsdatascience.com/guide-to-multimodal-machine-learning-b9b4f8e43cf7 | ['Parth Chokhra'] | 2020-11-05 02:57:12.230000+00:00 | ['Deep Learning', 'AI', 'Data', 'Data Science', 'Machine Learning'] |
What designers can learn from the iPhone X | I’ve been playing around with the iPhone X for a couple of days now. The one thing that surprises me the most is how different it is from all the previous models. It’s the most radical deviation from the original iPhone, and yet — or perhaps precisely because of it — the best update so far.
With it’s high price point, its iconic notch, and a full glass design, it causes a lot of controversy. The type of controversy that gets people to talk and line up at stores all around the world.
Every design has a story. And once a new design comes along, I try to understand what I can learn from it. Here are the three takeaways I’ve had.
1. Turning a constraint into a feature
2017 was all about bezel-less displays. Apple came close to its vision of a fully bezel-less screen. But let’s not fool ourselves here. The notch is a reality, and it’s here to stay for a while.
The iPhone X wasn’t the first phone to both have a notch and an almost bezel-less form factor either. But it’s definitely the first that turned it’s seemingly biggest disadvantage into one of its most distinctive features.
As designers we’re often faced with constraints. How we deal with those and the solutions we come up with can fundamentally change the way users feel about it.
Apple writes in its guidelines that developers should embrace the notch but how can you embrace a notch?
Glad you asked.
I wondered the exact same thing. While the notch removes a lot of screen estate in the upper part of the display, it also changes what the rest of the upper screen stands for. There used to be a green or blue bar for ongoing activities that took away from the immersiveness of apps by shrinking the vertical screen size. That’s no longer the case.
The corners are now used in a way that feels much more intentional, responsive, and useful.
Notch status bar activities & actions
Notice how on the first screen, the right hand side area is used to confirm the arrangement of apps whereas the left side is used to indicate ongoing activities like phone calls etc.
Ongoing tasks therefore no longer shrink the screen:
Ongoing call indicator
It feels like the lack of screen estate results in a more focused UI. As we’re probably all painfully aware, too much space often quickly turns into a nightmare of icons and options. Or as a friend at Google once said:
The problem with menu bars is that once they exist, people will put all kinds of shit into it
Is is perfect? No. Particularly gestures like Control Center and Notifications are clearly too far away. But it’s remarkable how the notch reframed how the upper part of the screen is used.
2. Making technology human
Face ID is a remarkable technology. When I saw it in the keynote, I thought Apple did a pretty good job in telling a futuristic story about how Face ID works.
FaceID IR scan
I only realized a few weeks later after watching a video from The Verge, that this is in fact, precisely how the technology works.
While Face ID is remarkable it’s also remarkably scary. I mean, this thing throws around 30'000 IR dots on our faces that can penetrate through sunglasses and yet, we’re all somehow cool with it.
Apple didn’t just use the technology to allows users to authenticate on their phones. It used the iPhone’s depth sensing camera for Animoji and Studio Portrait Mode for selfies.
Fear is an intense emotion. And like any intense emotion, the easiest way to handle it is often not to stop it, but change it. Animoji hides the technology and turns it into something that’s approachable, emotional, and ultimately human.
Animoji demo using true depth camera
“You have to start with the customer experience and work your way back to technology.” — Steve Jobs
People are often scared by new technology. When previous generations encountered the very first cars or locomotive train people were petrified. They were used to seeing horses pull a carriage for their entire lives.
That gave Uriah Smith the idea to attach a full size horse head to automobiles. What sounds like a crazy idea today, wasn’t that crazy back then. It’s hard to imagine how we would have felt in the same situation more than a hundred years ago.
A car with a horse head
My takeaway here is simple. Every new technology provides a platform for innovation. But it’s our jobs to make technology human for it to find wide-spread adoption.
3. Towards a gesture driven future
FastCompany calls the iPhone X a usability nightmare. Is is it actually that bad, or is it bad because the new phone doesn’t have a horse head… erm… I mean a Home button?
I quickly showed my iPhone 6s to a friend who was interested in buying it and I was surprised: I tried closing Photos app by swiping it away. And that’s after using the iPhone X for only one single day.
Removing the Home button was a risky move. It’s arguably the biggest change to happen to the iPhone since its early day, and it seems like it paid off.
Apple replaced the Home button by introducing a new set of gestures.
The power of gestures
Gestures are a delicate topic in the UX world. They make a UI look less cluttered but that cleanliness usually comes at a high price: designers rely on users to figure out how these gestures work.
Fluid gesture / motion by Wojciech Zieliński (thanks for showing me Woonji Kim)
The fact that Apple made this move tells me a larger story here though. After 10 years of smartphones, proficiency of users has evolved just as much as the phones themselves.
We went from elevated buttons to flat ones. From leather panels to gray panes, from buttons to labels, from labels to icons, and back. We survived the Skeuormophic era of design and happily keep hammering on buttons that look a little less like their real world counterparts they used to imitate.
This liberation from the analog world moves the craft of digital design towards a more fluid model where animation and gestures nicely complement and inform each other.
Now that gestures have become an essential part of the core interaction of an operating system that’s used by millions, we can expect to see much interactions like these in the future.
Gestures aren’t easy to get right though. As we’ve seen, even Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snapchat, recently publicly admitted that their interface is too hard to use. Unlike Pull to Refresh, most gestures aren’t self explanatory. This is one of the many new challenges designers need to solve.
I’m excited to see where this new era will take us and how designers will take advantage of gestures in a meaningful way, while solving for discoverability issues that come with them at the same time. | https://uxdesign.cc/what-designers-can-learn-from-the-iphone-x-2b6f866443f3 | ['Adrian Zumbrunnen'] | 2017-11-12 08:10:03.192000+00:00 | ['Interaction Design', 'User Experience', 'iPhone', 'Mobile', 'UX'] |
Terrorism and the State: a Brief Academic Analysis | Ganor defines the difference between terrorism and guerilla warfare as: “The aims of terrorism and guerrilla warfare may well be identical; but they are distinguished from each other by the targets of their operations. The guerrilla fighter’s targets are military ones, while the terrorist deliberately targets civilians. By this definition, a terrorist organization can no longer claim to be ‘freedom fighters’ because they are fighting for national liberation. Even if its declared ultimate goals are legitimate, an organization that deliberately targets civilians is a terrorist organization.” (Ganor, 2002).
I find this distinction largely useful, but not perfect. As I have stated, historically accepted guerilla revolutions have resorted to violence against civilians in the past. For a modern sociopolitical revolution, however, I think that there is the line. If a group is willing to kill innocent people, their cause is not justifiable. However, the fact that revolutionaries within history have done this, and are not considered terrorists, shows a flaw in Ganor’s argumentation. I think that this issue can be supplemented with further distinction. Terrorists will commit bombings, rape, and murder upon nonmilitary, civilian targets within society. They will be indiscriminate in their targets, their target locations will be out in the open, public and visible to maximize shock and awe, and may target children, or use them for suicide bombings.
Legitimate revolutionaries would be hard pressed to legitimize any such behaviors, and in all likelihood, legitimate revolutionaries who are empathetic, human, intelligent, and aware of the consequences of such actions would likely choose to avoid such. Thus, further distinction can be made, that guerilla revolutionaries can be assumed to be rational actors with extreme sociopolitical grievance, whereas terrorists are irrational actors with authoritarian aims (such as in the case of Islamic terrorist groups aiming to establish a world caliphate). A legitimate revolution would be far more likely to engage in guerilla warfare with an illegitimate government, and conduct assassinations, bombings, and attacks upon that government’s military installations, that government’s army, and their supply lines. Under no other circumstances would I find such violence, least of all further violence, legitimate or justifiable.
Cited: Ganor, B. (2002). Defining Terrorism: Is One Man’s Terrorist another Man’s Freedom Fighter? Police Practice & Research, 3(4), 287–304. | https://medium.com/@johnnyringo27/terrorism-and-the-state-a-brief-academic-ana-e7374a026a2f | ['Johnny Ringo'] | 2020-11-17 05:19:00.148000+00:00 | ['Political Violence', 'Violence', 'Politics', 'Terrorism'] |
Choosing a Heater Suitable for your Lifestyle | Trying to figure out which heater to purchase for your home?
Heaters are expensive, and once you buy one, they stick around for a long time. Your choice of heating equipment depends on where you live (an apartment, a house, dorm room) and the weather in that area.
Families with children need to pay special heed before buying a heater because you’d want something completely safe and effective.
It is essential to gather some information before visiting the market to get informed about additional features and narrow down your market. Here is a quick and easy guide we put together to make everything easy for you.
Gas Heaters
The debate about choosing between gas and electric heaters has been going on for a long time. Both are functional are cater to two different sets of people with varying goals of heating. A gas heater is more expensive than an electric heater. In the long term, the cost of electricity triumphs the cost of gas.
Natural gas works to produce more heat than electricity production. The use of natural gas also reduces the amount of greenhouse gas and carbon produced in your household. Gas heaters are perfect for heating a big room within minutes. Even a medium sized one can be used in the lounge to make it cozy for long hours.
Gas heaters are prone to leakage of gas, so make sure you close all outlets before sleeping. This is a significant cause of fires in homes and workplaces.
Electric Heaters
Electric heaters are the most functional in terms of use. They are easy to operate, portable, and come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and functions. There are different types of electric heaters; halogen heaters and oil-filled radiators are comparatively cheap. Whereas the bar fires and fan heaters are expensive.
The variety of options in electric heaters makes it easier to choose one according to your space and lifestyle. For a very large room, the amount of electricity consumed will result in a substantial cost.
Electric heaters require vigilance like any other heating equipment. Keeping an electric heater on throughout the night is a safety hazard. It also dries up the skin and nasal passages during long hours of the night.
Wood Heaters
Wood heaters are ideal for large rooms, spacious houses, and high ceilings. They work by dispersing the infrared heat from the fireplace to the area surrounding it. This way, the temperature stays low in the room. That’s why fireplaces and wood heaters work so well during cold weather.
Wood heaters offer fantastic design and come in a variety of sizes. You can even buy one for your small apartment if that’s the kind of cozy vibe you’d like around you.
Pellet Heaters
Pellet heaters and stoves are easy to operate than fireplaces. They feature automatic ignition, power automation, and dynamic programming. They are environmentally friendly, producing minute air pollution.
They’re the cleanest solid fuel, residential heating option. Pellets are cheaper than other forms of fuel, such as gas and oil. They are readily available in the market and can be stored in a bag near the heater.
Every heating equipment, be it ovens, heaters, stoves, fireplaces, or BBQ grill must be monitored safely. Especially when there are children around the house. Read instructions carefully and educate children to stay away from any heating equipment. | https://medium.com/@lorierana/choosing-a-heater-suitable-for-your-lifestyle-fb8ebcd744a3 | ['Lorie Rana'] | 2019-05-25 08:17:01.125000+00:00 | ['Heaters', 'Home Improvement', 'Wood Heaters', 'Fireplaces', 'Gas Heaters'] |
Most Famous 5 digital marketing agency in Gurgaon | Digital Marketing is the next big thing. It is the best strategy to boost your business. Most of the people are busy surfing internet these days for any kind of products and services and thus it is important that when you are promoting your brand, you consider digital marketing as well. Trust me, it has a lot of potential and will play the key role in boosting your brand image and pumping up your sales. Here is a list of top 5 digital marketing agencies in Gurgaon that are best in their job and you must consider.
1 CUBIX ADS LLP: It is one of the top digital marketing services provider agency in Gurgaon, established in 2018. Since its establishment it has earned the reputation of best service provider thanks to its latest strategies and excellent staff.
USP: Call to get the best quote.
Key services:
· Affiliate Marketing
· Digital Marketing
· Content Marketing
· Website Development
· Mobile App Development
· Game Development
2 Brandhype.in: Brandhype provides with full blown tailor made digital marketing services to the clients. They are specialized in keeping up with the latest digital marketing strategy, to make sure that your website ranks to the first page of Google search engine.
USP: Their clients always return.
Key services:
· Search Engine Optimization
· Social Media Management
· Blog Marketing
· Web Designing
· Pay Per Click Advertising
3 SEO Craft: It is one of the emerging digital marketing agency in India, with one of its branch in Gurgaon. They provide the best and most innovative IT solutions to its clients in the most effective way. They believe in working on latest modules and strategy.
USP:Best and tailor-made IT solutions for clients.
Key services:
· Search Engine Optimization
· Social Media Marketing
· Pay Per Click
· Content Marketing
· Website Designing
· Website Development
4 Fabulous Media: The best part about fabulous media is its multidisciplinary and expert group that work on every minute detail to make sure that every penny that you pay for digital marketing of your brand is worth it. You will soon see the results.
USP: 100% team is Google/ Facebook certified.
Key services:
Social Media Marketing
Influence Marketing
Content Marketing
Mobile Marketing
Website Development
Sales Optimization
PR Online Media
5 AdGlobal360: As the name suggests, this marketing company provides an amazing blend of creativity, technology and marketing. They have the right tools for data analytics, measuring and making sense of metrics for optimization of your website.
USP: Experienced professionals with multiple skills
Key services:
Digital Marketing
Email Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine Marketing
Content Marketing
So, these are some of the best digital Marketing companies in Gurgaon. Choose one based on your requirements. Good Luck! | https://medium.com/@cubixadsllp/most-famous-5-digital-marketing-agency-in-gurgaon-3336cdbe05b9 | ['Cubix Ads - Digital Marketing Agency'] | 2021-12-31 06:44:47.232000+00:00 | ['Social Media Marketing', 'Marketing Agency', 'Search Engine Marketing', 'Famous Digital Marketing', 'Digital Marketing Agency'] |
Functional Programming Series(1): What Is a Semigroup? | What is Semigroup?
The image is from wiki
Okay, I said earlier in this post that Semigroup comes from Magma. Magma is a set of elements that always assures every element from it is still the same type element after operating, such as adding or subtracting.
Basically, if a set, S, of elements to be Semigroup, every element of it must meet the condition of Magma. Plus, they also must comply with the following rule.
If a, b, and c are a member of a set S and where · is a binary operation, (a·b)·c must be equal to a·(b·c). Both of their results must be a member of S.
Semigroup: a ∈ S, b ∈ S, c ∈ S --> (a·b)·c = a·(b·c) ∈ S
And this feature is called “associativity” in the FP world.
Let’s expand our previous example used in the Magma chapter. What I’m going to do with this is to let the methods take one more argument.
const semigroups = {
mul: (x: number, y: number, z: number): number => x * y * z,
};
Now they are three arity functions that take three arguments and return a Number type element.
semigroups.mul(5, 3, 2) = 10
When multiplying those three numbers, the order of multiplying them doesn’t matter. (5*3)*2 = 5*(3*2). The left-hand side gives you 30 as a result, and so does the right-hand side.
(5 / 3) / 2 = 0.8333...34
5 / (3 / 2) = 3.3333...35
But in this example, each result gives you a different value. So (5 / 3) / 2 is not equal to 5 / (3 / 2); this can’t be a Semigroup operator.
But we already confirmed that multiplication can be a Semigroup operator. Then we can say (Number, *) is a Semigroup. (As you can see from the word “group”, Semigroup refers to a pair of a set of some types and a binary operator)
Now it’s your turn to think about if plus (+), minus (-), and division (/) can be Semigroup operator. | https://medium.com/better-programming/functional-programming-series-what-is-a-semigroup-c1ff987db8c | [] | 2020-07-26 03:25:26.361000+00:00 | ['Functional Programming', 'Programming', 'Web Development', 'Semigroup', 'JavaScript'] |
Reliable SEO services that drive your Website to High Rank | Reliable SEO services that drive your Website to High Rank
Digital Marketing Agency Singapore
Online marketing, also referred to as digital marketing, is that the key business tool for enterprises today because it enables them to harness the facility of the web to require their business to the next level. It helps clients to gain visibility across the search engines, boost the website traffic, and have interaction users in order that they get converted into customers. With most of the competitors in the market investing in a digital strategy, it becomes imperative for the business to stay in the race. More importantly, having a strong digital marketing service presence has emerged as a strong branding concept that propels the business to new heights. Every business, therefore, needs to avail Digital Marketing Company Singapore to get the winning edge.
At SEO Services Agency Singapore, we are a leading online marketing agency that offers a comprehensive range of services to help your business grow. We help you overcome the challenges and solve problems related to maximizing your online reach. We have a team of expert digital marketers to assist you with A to Z of online marketing. We offer an entire range of SEO services Singapore to make sure that your business website reaches the highest and is in a position to remain there despite the competition within the market. From SEO to SMO, SMM, PPC, ORM, content marketing and more, we shine at every aspect of online marketing and make an ideal mixture of these strategies to bring a result-oriented digital plan for your business.
• Search Engine Optimization
• Search Engine Marketing
• Conversion Rate Optimization
• Online Reputation Management
• Social Media Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Mobile App Marketing
• App & web Analytics
• Pay Per Click
• Content Marketing
• Digital Strategy
• Product And Service Launch
• Account-Based Marketing
Online Marketing Services You Can Avail At SEO Services Agency Singapore
Search Engine Optimization
A website should be optimized for search engines to be visible and obtain its target traffic. We offer reliable SEO services that drive your site to top search rankings and increase your online reach to the peak.
Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Marketing is that the use of paid advertising sources to urge an internet site on top program ranking. We combine strategies like AdWords, Bing Ads, PPC, affiliate marketing, and more to urge instant traffic for your website.
Conversion Rate Optimization
Online marketing isn’t almost boosting traffic but converting them into leads. Our CRO experts offer strategic conversion rate optimization solutions that help improve the sales, profit, and ROI of your business website.
Online Reputation Management
Online reputation may be a vital parameter of customer trust and business success. We enable your website to build, mend, monitor, and maintain its online reputation so that your business brand creates a positive impression.
Social Media Marketing
Social media may be fast and effective thanks to popularizing your business online. As digital marketing experts, we formulate an efficient social media marketing strategy that harnesses the facility of varied social media channels to expand your audience.
Email Marketing
Email marketing involves reaching bent the purchasers, potential or current, by sending them e-mails. We assist you to create a strong strategy by identifying the target groups and sending across personalized mails at the proper time to popularize your business.
Mobile App Marketing
Launching an app without having an effective marketing strategy is like being a needle in a haystack. SEO Services Agency Singapore assist you with App Store Optimization in order that your app gets a winning edge over its competitors.
App & Web Analytics
App and web analytics function as reliable tools to review customer behavior and frame strategies for getting more conversions. We bring end-to-end app and web analytics services to assist you to gain business insight and use it for the best results.
Pay Per Click
Pay Per Click (PPC) is a web marketing strategy that fetches instant traffic for an internet site . Our PPC experts design specialized advertising campaigns that aim to bring the utmost ROI during a cost-effective manner.
Content Marketing
Relevant and valuable content is that the lifetime of online business. Our content marketing services encompass planning, creating, and implementing content that conveys your brand’s message to the prevailing and prospective customers.
Digital Strategy
Taking the digital route is that the best thanks to make your business stand apart within the competitive scenario. We create a high-tech digital strategy that leverages the innovations like Big Data, Predictive Analysis, ERP, CRM, social media, and more to require your business to the subsequent level.
Product and Service Launch
Introducing a new product or service is a challenging prospect for a business. With our comprehensive digital strategies, we assist you to overcome these challenges and make hype for your new products and services.
Account-Based Marketing
Account-based marketing is an innovative B2B solution that has changed the way these businesses work. We create and deploy personalized solutions that assist you to address specific target accounts and broaden your business reach. | https://medium.com/@vengadesh-seo/reliable-seo-services-that-drive-your-website-to-high-rank-cba88c215c05 | [] | 2020-10-29 11:22:51.160000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Online Marketing', 'Digital Marketing Agency', 'Digital Marketing Company', 'Seo Services Company'] |
I think what you’re describing isn’t really “pick me” behavior but being into activities not… | I think what you’re describing isn’t really “pick me” behavior but being into activities not usually associated with your gender. I applaud all women who live unapologetically & embrace their passions!
That term (“Pick me ass bitch” to be exact) originated from the behavior of misogynistic women attempting to gain men’s approval by creating a distinct “atypical woman” category, of which they proudly belonged and other women were seen as fierce competition. You can hear the “pick me” woman loudly proclaiming how they “aren’t like other girls” before they proceed to trash their bf’s ex (“I would NEVER ask you to do that”). They are hyper critical of behavior seen as feminine (“I don’t know why those girls need to wear so much makeup, I get ready in one minute”) or stereotypical (“unlike other women, I looooooove sex 24/7”).
The motivation is to appear “drama free” and “cool”, to not make (extremely reasonable) demands, to not be high maintenance- basically, to be more appealing to men. It’s trashing our sisters for the “prize” of the male gaze. That antiquated mindset of us being in competition with each other (usually for the attention of a dude nobody should date anyway) is the issue, not the “pick me” term.
I think we should call out this toxic behavior and if we need a catchy phrase to draw attention to it, I’m down. | https://medium.com/@sandriasays/i-think-what-youre-describing-isn-t-really-pick-me-behavior-but-being-into-activities-not-2da43b3d2060 | [] | 2021-06-22 01:50:29.458000+00:00 | ['Womens Rights', 'Feminism', 'Culture', 'Psychology', 'Misogyny'] |
How Do I Deal With The Sadness Of Watching My Parents’ Age? | Source: pinterest.com
I recently visited my parents, who have relocated to our rural home after retirement, and had to face the deep sadness that comes with watching them age. Growing up and even in my adult, nobody ever talks about the acceptance ha an adult child needs to have as they watch their parents’ age. It was difficult, sad, and tough to see the physical and behavioral changes in my aging parents.
I have to admit that watching my parents’ age is one of the hardest things so far, I have had to do in my entire life.
This article does not give you tips to cope with as you watch your parents age. It is all about venting the fear, sadness, and anger that comes with seeing them age. I know it is a blessing to witness them alive at their age, but it does not change the fact that it is heartbreaking to see them grow old.
I was raised in a loving and friendly home with hardworking parents. My father is a go-getter who provided for his four children. My mother perfectly balanced her work with homecare. We never lacked in all senses as both m father and mother ensured we had love, shelter, food, clothes, and anything a child could ask for in his world.
I remember when my dad lost his job, my mother took care of use without ever complaining. And when my mother was jobless, my father also took care of us while loving my mom even deeply. When my mom went back to school to finish her diploma studies, my father was supportive as he raised us without us feeling a huge gap in mum’s absence.
Seeing my parents’ decline, without the strength, good health, and vigor they had while I was growing up really knocked me on my ass. Our roles have currently reversed as it is now the children, four of us, who call to check in on them. We are lucky to have the eldest son staying home with them, but sometimes he is a source of stress rather than comfort due to his alcoholism.
I often break down in tears when I picture my mom doing house chores and my dad taking on other heavier duties and responsibilities. Both my mother and father are yet to accept that they are getting. They still want to till their shamba, go for long church visits, and other duties that they should delegate to the people we pay to do this kind of work.
Both my father and mother have lost weight as they adapt to life in our rural home, plus they have old-age illnesses such as hypertension and ulcers. They constantly fall sick, and seeing them weak and ill is devastating. I have to be strong for them, and it sucks hiding my feelings because I never want them to feel that I have pity or sadness as they age. I want to be their source of happiness, joy, and peace, just as they were to me as I was growing up.
The deep love I have for my parents makes it difficult for me to see them frail and suffering, which does not correspond to the image I have of them in my mind.
As of now, I am still struggling with their aging and the physical and emotional challenges they face as they grow older. However, I want to look for resources and someone who will help me deal with the changes that come with my parents’ aging. I do not have the coping mechanisms or what one needs to do, but after I have dealt with my emotions and learned more, I will hopefully write about what helps.
As for now, I am going to give my parents all the love and support that is humanly possible. Because that is what true love is all about. | https://medium.com/@akinyidory/how-do-i-deal-with-the-sadness-of-watching-my-parents-age-7117f00c87e2 | ['Akinyi Dory'] | 2020-10-22 14:24:23.640000+00:00 | ['Sad', 'Old Age', 'Sadness And Loss', 'Sadness', 'Parents'] |
The Queen's Gambit | The Queen’s Gambit is a Netflix original 7-episode miniseries that tells the story of Beth Harmon, an orphan girl who learns to play chess from the janitor at the orphanage she was brought up and ends up becoming a genius chess player.
The series was inspired by a book of the same name, written in 1983 by Walter Tevis. He passed away in 1984. I have no idea if it is a good adaptation, I have never read the original story, but after seeing the series I was very interested in going after the book.
The adaptation was written and directed by Scott Frank, also known for another Netflix miniseries called Godless — which has been on my list for a long time — and also Minority Report (2002).
Anya Taylor-Joy has the lead role portraying the young Beth Harmon. You must know her for roles in The Witch, which I haven't seen, and she also did very well in the movie Split.
Who's the Queen?
The name “The Queen’s Gambit” is a reference to a chess move, which I will not dare to explain here to you.
Beth Harmon is a character who grows up between the 50s and 60s, and ends up having to deal with addictions, abandonment, drug abuse, alcoholism, sexism… It's an interesting build-up.
The series also shows tensions between the Soviet Union and the USA. During the height of the Cold War, which also happened in the world of sports. Even in real chess disputes during the 70s.
Some of the best things in the series for me are the art direction and cinematography. The color of the Cold War is something that I always enjoy in movies or series. It has so much mystery of a time I have not lived but heard so much about it.
What about chess?
To build the exciting games of chess and accurate plays, the production had the advice of two legends of the sport. Garry Kasparov and American coach Bruce Pandolfini, who guaranteed a reliable representation of everything we watched.
Photo by IMDB
Anya Taylor-Joy had to really learn how to play chess along with all actors who also received basic training, from how to move the pieces to start the clock naturally. You can definitely see all this preparation on the screen.
They were able to create exciting chess games with awesome editing and an amazing soundtrack. Speaking of the music, it's just incredible. I just can't stop listening to it.
One last thing
If you haven't given The Queen's Gambit a chance because it's about chess, think again. It's so much more than that. It's just good storytelling. I don't know about you but I am always up for that. | https://medium.com/post-credit-stories/the-queens-gambit-eb6632ecae7e | ['Felipe Xavier'] | 2020-11-24 18:27:10.834000+00:00 | ['Chess', 'The Queens Gambit', 'Miniseries', 'Netflix', 'Series'] |
Top 9 Smartest Ways to Make Money With Machine Learning | Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash
Machine learning is a well-known term in the current industry. With its help, we can use our projects in a more powerful and smarter way. There are some obvious uses of machine learning in the real world.
Given the huge proportion of open data and multiple possibilities, you need to consider and locate the mandatory request. If you answer these questions correctly, people and organizations will start paying more attention to them.
Any industry that requires creativity can benefit from machine learning. As a result, there are many options that you can use to earn passive income with machine learning, and you can carve a bright career in machine learning.
If you’ve had a specific field of skill, it’s still better to dive into it. We will explore today how a solid understanding of machine learning software development firm can open up a range of important financial prospects. It may be a side-stroke or a full-time commitment, depending on how much time and effort you choose to put into this attempt. And you may become an AI think leader or a CTO based on your willingness.
Let’s explore it.
Top 10 Possible Ways to Earn Money From Machine Learning
1. Publish Book Online
You can write and publish online books related to any field in machine learning. It may be related to neural networks, cortex, intensive learning, sensors, or any aspect of technology. Kindle Direct Publishing has many platforms where you can publish.
Make sure you have a deep understanding of the subject you are writing. In addition, to make this book more reliable, some recognized resources are needed. After you start publishing the book, you can earn a few dollars by selling the book.
2. Earn by Creating Massive AI Data
In order to fuel AI and training algorithms which are part of AI solutions, gigantic volumes of data are necessary. By observation, human intelligence develops. Human beings have tons of experience in both visual and sound. An AI system needs comparable learning and dynamic data that are used to promote them at a significant level.
You develop and move enormous AI data at a significant expense. Enormous money for huge knowledge is ready for gigantic instructional research foundations. Privacy, security, inclusiveness, fairness, confidence, transparency, and accountability are the core requirements of AI arrangements. Cash is only influenced by the correctness of the data.
3. Develop a Simple AI App
Photo by Dmitry Mashkin on Unsplash
Developing applications can be a great way to earn money from machine learning. You can develop a subscription app to pay for some premium features to be unlocked.
According to a recent study, it is found that subscription apps are estimated to earn at least 50% more money than other apps with a variety of in-app purchases.
First, you can try developing simple new smartphone AI apps and make money. The new AI apps for smartphones illustrate AI’s ability to convert our society and become an important part of our daily lives.
We all know how AI helped Facebook delete thousands of fake accounts and “suspicious behavior.”
4. Collect Data and Sell it to Companies
As machine learning enthusiasts, we all know that “data is the driving force of machine learning, and computing power is the engine of machine learning.”
You can make money by collecting data. For example, for a project to predict the population of India in the next 10 years, we need data on the number of family members in the house. You can collect this data in your area and then sell it to companies that need it.
The only challenge is to find companies that need this data, which can be found online.
5. Freelancing Machine Learning Jobs
Photo by Nathan da Silva on Unsplash
After a full-time opportunity, we started working independently. Freelancing seems good and easy to do, but it is far more difficult than full-time 9 to 7 jobs.
Do you know why?
Because it requires crazy discipline.
Think there are:
No one cares about you.
No one pokes you.
No one asks you for updates.
If you have a team working on the project, you will also have to manage human resources.
Will you still work? 90% of people will not.
However, if you master self-discipline and master the relevant skills to solve customer problems, you can easily generate passive income from machine learning by engaging in freelance work.
6. Use AI Social Media Functionalities to Increase Business Sale
Social media platforms are necessary to promote companies in many industries. Social media sites use machine learning to benefit themselves and their users.
AI lets you optimize and better target your news feed.
Machine learning recognizes your experience on Facebook, taking into consideration your hobbies, your work, the type of market you can connect with, and recommend activities.
The Pinterest platform employs computer views to identify items or pins shown in photographs and can thus propose comparable pins.
This method enables machine learning to extract useful information from movies and pictures, along with an important computer vision component.
7. Make a Product that You Can Sell
The new AI chatbot is a gold mine for making money.
Produce and sell Alexa, Google Home, Siri, Bitsy, and other products. We also know how Apple’s Siri platform maintains the Google Assistant quality standard, which uses the same algorithms as Google Translate and Google Image Search to change the game.
Therefore, you can build a smartphone chatbot framework in the background, and on the front end, you can build a machine learning engine and make money with machine learning.
8. Provide Service in the Domain of ML
You can easily develop a new product and offer it as a service to as many potential customers, and make more money by doing these simple tasks.
You don’t need to spend much money to work continuously; you will have free time to spend on yourself and your family. For example, you can create a trained chatbot yourself or hire an AI chatbot development company that can build a bot to respond to multiple messages/queries without human intervention.
This will save website owners’ time and allow them to devote time to other things to expand their business. Nowadays, it is a very necessary tool, and they will provide you with a lot of money for this important service.
9. Analyze Stuff
Most learning machines are about stuff forecasting. A popular IT consulting company NYC makes a list of everything you see when you look at it and trains a machine learning model to attempt and anticipate what you’ll be watching next. You utilize this prediction to ensure that the material is available on your nearest server.
This implies for you that the film plays fast and in the finest quality. That does not mean that all they own on every server in the globe is saved for the development firm of machines.
Are you willing to become rich using these tips? In the comment section below, let us know your valuable answer.
This article is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any significant financial decisions. | https://themakingofamillionaire.com/top-9-smartest-ways-to-make-money-with-machine-learning-546c20a9e802 | ['Lucky Brain'] | 2021-08-26 07:03:42.812000+00:00 | ['Earn Money Online', 'Make Money Online', 'Machine Learning Ai', 'Machine Learning', 'Making Money Online'] |
New Orleans: From “BlightStat” to Preventing Fire Fatalities | New Orleans: From “BlightStat” to Preventing Fire Fatalities
2018 Certification Level: Silver
By Sharman Stein
On a recent Thursday morning, some ten city officials seated in a u-formation of tables faced an audience of some two dozen local residents in a room at New Orleans City Hall. The city staff and residents all knew each other by first name, and they bantered a bit back and forth, which was no surprise as many have been regulars at this monthly meeting for years, regularly returning to follow progress and to fight for the removal of blighted properties that have proven more difficult to address in their neighborhoods.
BlightStat, a data-driven performance management program, has been in place for seven years. When Mayor Mitch Landrieu took office in May 2010, New Orleans faced what has been described as one of the worst blight problems in the U.S., “with no strategy to address it,” the City notes. A large part of the problem was the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the city in 2005. Five years later, faced with thousands of homes that could not be saved, Mayor Landrieu instituted BlightStat to ensure that the City’s efforts to get rid of the blighted homes would proceed efficiently and effectively.
BlightStat set priorities for the inspectors and researchers who identify rundown properties and determine whether to levy fines, order a demolition, force a sale, or take some other action. Under the BlightStat framework, the City considers issues such as the condition of the roof and foundation, the owner’s history of tax payment, and the market for real estate in that neighborhood, trying to predict the cases that will have the best outcomes so that the Department of Code Enforcement can decide how to best to deploy its resources.
New Orleans has 15,000 fewer blighted properties thanks to BlightStat, a data-driven performance management program that’s helped the City strategically address the issue.
The City also created BlightStatus, a website that aggregates data about inspections, code compliance, hearings, judgments, and foreclosures, providing users with a simple search box that unlocks all the information available for any address in the city. It opened up a new, easy-to-use link between the city and community, keeping everyone on the same page and giving residents the chance to make their voices heard. The tool also helped city employees keep up-to-date with changes to properties and stay accountable for promised changes.
Today, New Orleans has more than 15,000 fewer blighted addresses, accomplished through a mix of demolition, sale, and owner repairs, aiding vastly in New Orleans’ recovery.
New Orleans also worked with What Works Cities partner the Behavioral Insights Team to devise a “nudge” letter to owners about housing violations, resulting in a 10 percent drop in cases moving to the hearing stage, saving staff time and city funds.
New Orleans’ use of data undergirds many of its major programs. “We use data to plan. We use data to create an iterative process that informs implementation. Data is baked into our culture; it’s a part of our subconscious,” says Oliver Wise, former Director of the Office of Performance and Accountability (OPA), who recently left NOLA, and has been succeeded by Melissa Schigoda.
OPA runs the City’s data analytics initiatives. Along with BlightStat, they include ResultsNOLA, which evaluates the performance of city departments, and NOLAlytics, which helps those departments conduct their own data analytics projects to support their missions.
In one project, OPA developed a predictive model that identified which parts of the city were most at risk for fires and fire fatalities. The City used that information to target its campaign to distribute smoke alarms to vulnerable households. Using analytics, it identified twice as many households in need of smoke alarms than it had when the City chose households at random. Less than a year later, there was a fire in an apartment building in one of the neighborhoods that the City had identified, and eleven people escaped — all because of a very cheap, but strategically installed, smoke alarm.
To address its high murder rate, the City instituted its NOLA for Life initiative in 2012, targeting anti-gang violence via prevention efforts and rehabilitation, which led to an 18 percent decrease in the number of murders, as of 2016.
Mayor Landrieu, who will leave office in May 2018 after serving two terms, says he has always been data-driven, realizing that if you can’t measure something, you can’t assess outcomes. “Data shouldn’t make you look good — it’s intended to tell you the truth,” he says. “The results can speak for themselves.”
Mayor Mitch Landrieu signs the City’s open data policy, in 2016
Landrieu says he told staff from the start that he “wanted to count everything” and to fold that sensibility into the budgeting process to run a “leaner, more efficient government.”
“If you measure and it’s real, you gain the confidence of the public,” he explains. Landrieu says a “culture of counting” will have a real impact on the ground and make a difference in people’s lives. He created a Neighborhood Engagement Office to ensure managers are more connected to residents and see to it that “everybody’s data can matter.”
As he looks back at his administration, Landrieu says he’s most proud of the team he assembled for their focus on getting things done in a data-driven fashion, and the processes they put into place to encourage innovation. “These processes were designed to last,” he says, “not to be a flash in the pan.” | https://medium.com/what-works-cities-certification/new-orleans-from-blightstat-to-preventing-fire-fatalities-6c245f535de0 | ['What Works Cities'] | 2020-05-04 20:31:29.594000+00:00 | ['Cities', 'Government Innovation', 'Data', 'New Orleans', 'Local Government'] |
Logistic Regression in Python | Classification techniques are an essential part of machine learning & data mining applications. Approximately 70% of problems in Data Science are classification problems. There are lots of classification problems that are available, but the logistics regression is common and is a useful regression method for solving the binary classification problem. Another category of classification is Multinomial classification, which handles the issues where multiple classes are present in the target variable. For example, the IRIS dataset is a very famous example of multi-class classification. Other examples included fall under the category of classifying articles, blogs, & documents.
Logistic Regression is one of the most simple & commonly used Machine Learning algorithms for two-class classification. It’s easy to implement & can be used as the baseline for any binary classification problem. Its basic fundamental concepts are also constructive in deep learning. Logistic Regression describes & estimates the relationship between one and dependent binary variable and independent variables. It’s a statistical method for predicting binary classes. The outcome or target variable is dichotomous in nature which means that there are only two possible classes. For example, it can be used for cancer detection problems. It computes the probability of an event occurrence.
It is a special case of Linear Regression where the target variable is categorical in nature. It uses a log of odds as the dependent variable. Logistic Regression predicts the probability of occurrence of a binary event utilizing a log function.
Where, y is dependent variable and X1, X2 … and Xn are explanatory variables.
Properties of Logistic Regression
The dependent variable in Logistic Regression follows Bernoulli Distribution
Estimation is done through maximum likelihood
No R Square, Model fitness is calculated through Concordance, KS-Statistics
Linear Regression Vs. Logistic Regression
Linear Regression gives you a continuous output, but Logistic Regression provides a constant output. An example of the continuous output is house price and stock price. Examples of the discrete output is predicting whether a patient has cancer or not. Linear Regression is estimated using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) while Logistic Regression is estimated using Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) approach.
Maximum Likelihood Estimation Vs. Least Square Method
The MLE is a “likelihood” maximization method, while OLS is a distance-minimizing approximation method. Maximizing the likelihood function determines the parameters that are most likely to produce the observed data. From a statistical point of view, MLE sets the mean & variance as parameters in determining the specific parametric can be used for predicting the data needed in a normal distribution.
Ordinary Least Squares estimates are computed by fitting a regression line on given data points that has the minimum sum of the squared devotions (Least Square Error). Both are used to estimate the parameters of a linear regression model. MLE assumes a joint probability mass function, while OLS doesn’t require any stochastic assumptions for minimizing distance.
Types of Logistic Regression
Binary Logistic Regression: the target variable has only two possible outcomes such as Spam or Not Spam, Cancer or No Cancer.
Multinomial Logistic Regression: the target variable has three or more nominal categories such as predicting the type of Wine.
Ordinal Logistic Regression: the target variable has three or more ordinal categories such as restaurant or product rating from 1 to 5.
Advantages
Because of its efficient & straight forward nature, it doesn’t require high computation power, it’s easy to implement, easily interpretable, and used widely by data analysts/scientists. It also does not require scaling of features and it provides a probability score for observations.
Disadvantages
Logistic Regression is not able to handle a large number of categorical features/variables. It is vulnerable to overfitting. Also, it can’t solve the non-linear problem with the Logistic Regression that is why it requires a transformation of non-linear features. Logistic Regression will not perform well with independent variables that are not correlated to the target variable & are very similar or correlated to each other.
References: | https://jasonjoseph072.medium.com/logistic-regression-in-python-311fb9fda8d3 | ['Jason Joseph'] | 2020-10-24 21:30:00.222000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Data Science', 'Python'] |
Go Big Or Go Home | No one would deny that The United States is a big country. It would be stupid to claim that we don’t have big allies, big enemies, and big trading partners. It would be the height of stupidity to imply that we do not have big problems, or that those problems do not require big solutions…
And yet, since at least the time of Ronald Reagan, we’ve been brainwashed with this mistaken idea of “small government”. The neoliberals, on both sides of the partisan divide as well as the entire mainstream media keeps perpetuating this farce, and far too many people have bought into it. At this very moment, we have self-styled “patriots” rioting in our streets, in support of an incipient dictator, because, somehow, they believe an authoritarian asshole that gives huge breaks to corporations and his authoritarian buddies is going to give them “freedom”.
It’s not about big government versus small government at all; it’s about who the government works for. We need a big government if we are going to deal with big problems, but what we do not need is any government that caters exclusively to the “big interests”.
It is part and partial to the media propaganda demonizing “socialism”. Most older Americans are frightened, unnecessarily, when anyone even mentions the word socialism, because years of propaganda have trained them to equate socialism with dictatorship, as if they have anything to do with each other. Socialism is an economic system, just as capitalism is. Dictatorship and democracy are political systems, these are not the same. There is, or can be, some crossover between them, but only because unscrupulous politicians and financiers want it that way. And the authoritarian forces can use either economic system to wreak their damage. We have seen in recent years that everything we were warned would come true under evil socialism, has actually come true under our vaunted capitalist system of “free trade”. A small number of elites reaping all the benefits while the masses fight over table scraps? Check. Government and business taking homes, health, food, childcare away from the working poor? Check. Erosion of your rights and freedoms? Check. Increased surveillance and control of your daily life? Check.
Who really cares if it’s “Big Government” taking away everything worth living for, or if it’s “Big Business” doing it with the approval and direct assistance of the government? Are you any less free if you have to bow and scrape at the feet of Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, than at the feet of a Clinton, a Reagan, a Trump, or a Biden?
No, it is time we got over our fear and loathing of “Big Government” and started looking at the real problem…who is the government working for? And fake populists like Trump are not the ones who will bring you your freedom back. (unless your idea of freedom is freedom to be a bigot.)
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Pelosi and Schumer, all the “big names” have to stop playing the “small government” and “evil debt” games. Any business man will tell you you have to spend money to make money, and yet the pro-business people are the first to decry “government spending”, but only when that spending isn’t going into their pockets.
You want a real representative government? Stop being fooled by catch phrases like “evil socialism” and “big government” and “unsustainable debt” and start fighting for your own voice to heard… otherwise, we’ll all drown together when our “big problems” are met with with “small solutions”. | https://medium.com/@fraterchaos/go-big-or-go-home-32ad2fa081e4 | [] | 2020-12-15 20:34:20.600000+00:00 | ['Socialism', 'Big Problems', 'National Debt', 'Propaganda', 'Small Government'] |
Don’t be Afraid to Publish Your Work On Medium | Keep writing
Don’t be Afraid to Publish Your Work On Medium
Do your best, don’t self-doubt, keep calm, and publish on.
I have a friend, let’s call him Paul. Paul is very good at painting. His work mesmerizes me. On the other hand, being a perfectionist, he thinks his art is not good enough. Hence he doesn’t show his work to anyone other than me. But if he did, I’m sure people would love it.
I’m also afraid of not being good enough
Most of my write-ups, I feel, are shit. I write, rewrite, and delete a lot of my work without publishing. Because, naturally I’m afraid of my work going unnoticed, or worse — somebody telling me it’s crap.
So what, I tell myself
Even if that happens, so what? Someone may dislike it, but there might be another person, who may love it.
Take this haiku, I wrote, for example.
In this haiku, I didn’t use any fancy words and delivered a simple message. Because of that simplicity, I thought it’s not good enough.
I self-doubted for many days as this kept sitting in my draft stories. I was going to delete it, but then I told myself: even if it’s not good enough, there is no harm publishing it. If it goes unnoticed, so what. And I did publish it.
Right after publishing it, within first few moments, I’ve had two comments and a few claps. It simply resonated with a few readers. And, within one day, it has more than 10 fans and a few hundred claps!
Even if one person reads it, claps it, or interacts with me, that’s a win.
Take away for you
“It’s not good enough” is just anxiety in your head
What’s not good enough for you may touch someone’s heart
Pour your love into your work
Publish and move on to the next one | https://medium.com/live-your-life-on-purpose/dont-be-afraid-to-publish-your-work-on-medium-3b73caf73c4b | ['Salam Khan'] | 2020-04-16 17:01:00.965000+00:00 | ['Self Confidence', 'Self Improvement', 'Writing', 'Confidence', 'Self'] |
What is Machine Learning? | Machine Learning
The term Machine Learning was coined by Arthur Samuel in the year 1959. He was a pioneer in Artificial Intelligence and computer gaming, and defined Machine Learning as “Field of study that gives computers the capability to learn without being explicitly programmed”. In this article, we will explore in detail about machine learning.
Simply put, Machine Learning is the study of making machines more human-like in their behavior and decisions by giving them the ability to learn and develop their programs. This is done with minimum human intervention, i.e., no explicit programming. The learning process is automated and improved based on the experiences of the machines throughout the process. Good quality data is fed to the machines and different algorithms are used to build ML models to train the machines on this data. The choice of algorithm depends on the type of data at hand, and the type of activity that needs to be automated.
Here’s a video by explaining what is Machine Learning from the ground up.
Now you may wonder, how is it different from traditional programming? Well, in traditional programming we would feed the input data and a well written and tested program into a machine to generate output. When it comes to machine learning, input data along with the output is fed into the machine during the learning phase, and it works out a program for itself. To understand this better, refer to the illustration below:
Types of Machine Learning
In this section, we will learn about the different approaches towards machine learning and the type of problems they can solve.
Supervised Learning:
It is the widely used approach in a maximum of the Machine Learning applications. The supervised learning model has a set of input variables (x), and an output variable (y). An algorithm is used to identify the mapping function between the input and output variables. The relationship is y = f(x).
The learning is monitored or supervised in the sense that we already know the output and the algorithm is corrected each time to optimize its results. The algorithm is trained over the data set and corrected repeatedly until it achieves an acceptable level of performance.
Supervised learning problems can be further grouped as:
Regression problems — Used to predict future values and the model is trained with the historical data. Eg: Predicting the future price of a product. Classification problems — The algorithm is trained with various labels to identify items within a specific category. Eg: Disease or no disease, Apple or an orange, Beer or wine.
Here’s a video that describes step by step guide to approaching a Machine Learning problem with a beer and wine example:
Unsupervised Learning:
This approach is the one where the output is unknown and we have only the input variable at hand. The algorithm is left to learn by itself and discover interesting structure in the data.
The goal is to decipher the underlying distribution in the data to gain more knowledge about the data.
Unsupervised learning problems can be further grouped as:
Clustering: This is used to group the input variables with the same characteristics together. Eg: grouping users based on search history Association: Here we discover the rules that govern meaningful associations among the data set. Eg: People who watch ‘X’ will also watch ‘Y’
Semi-supervised Learning:
Here the data is trained on a mix of a very small amount of labeled data and a large amount of unlabelled data. Usually, the first step is to cluster similar data with the help of an unsupervised machine learning algorithm. The next step is to label the unlabelled data using the characteristics of the limited labeled data available. Once the complete data set is labeled, the supervised learning algorithms can be used to solve the problem.
Reinforcement Learning:
In this approach, machine learning models are trained to make a series of decisions based on the rewards and feedback they receive for their actions. The machine learns to achieve a goal in complex and uncertain situations and is rewarded each time it achieves it during the learning period.
Reinforcement learning is different from supervised learning in the sense that there is no answer available so the reinforcement agent decides the steps to perform a task. When the training data set is not present, the machine is bound to learn from its own experiences.
Machine Learning Applications
Machine Learning algorithms help in building intelligent systems that can learn from their past experiences and historical data to give accurate results. Many industries are thus applying machine learning solutions to their business problems, or to create new and better products and services. Some of the applications of Machine Learning can be seen in healthcare, defense, financial services, marketing, and security services among others. Some of them are described below:
Facial recognition/Image recognition: The most common application of machine learning is Facial Recognition and the simplest example of this application is the iPhone X. There are a lot of use-cases of facial recognition, mostly for security purposes. It can be used to identify criminals, find missing individuals, aid forensic investigations, etc. Apart from this, it is being used in intelligent marketing, diagnose diseases, track attendance in schools, and more.
Automatic Speech Recognition: Abbreviated as ASR, automatic speech recognition is used to convert speech into digital text. Its applications lie in authenticating users based on their voice and performing tasks based on the human voice inputs. The system is trained by feeding speech patterns and vocabulary to train the model. Presently ASR systems find a wide variety of applications in the following domains:
– Medical Assistance
– Industrial Robotics
– Forensic and Law enforcement
– Defense & Aviation
– Telecommunications Industry
– Home Automation and Security Access Control
– I.T. and Consumer Electronics
Financial Services — Machine learning has many use cases in Financial Services. Machine Learning algorithms prove to be excellent at detecting fraud by monitoring activities of each user and assess that if an attempted activity is typical of that user or not.
Financial monitoring to detect money laundering activities is also an important security use case of machine learning.
Machine Learning also helps in making better trading decisions with the help of algorithms that can analyze thousands of data sources simultaneously. Other applications include, but are not limited to, underwriting and credit scoring.
The most common application that is witnessed in our day to day activities is the virtual personal assistants like Siri and Alexa.
Marketing and Sales: Machine Learning is improving lead scoring algorithms by including various parameters such as website visits, emails opened, downloads, and clicks to score each lead.
It also helps businesses to improve their dynamic pricing models by using regression techniques to make predictions.
Sentiment Analysis is another important application to gauge consumer response to a specific product or a marketing initiative.
Machine Learning for Computer Vision helps brands identify their products in images and videos online. This is used to measure the mentions that are posted without any relevant text.
Chatbots are also becoming more responsive and intelligent with the help of machine learning.
Healthcare — An important application of Machine Learning is in the diagnosis of diseases and ailments which are otherwise difficult to diagnose. Radiotherapy is also becoming better with Machine Learning taking over.
Early-stage drug discovery is another important application which involves technologies such as precision medicine and next-generation sequencing.
Clinical trials cost a lot of time and money to complete and deliver results. Machine Learning-based predictive analytics could be applied to improve on these factors and give better results.
Machine Learning technologies are also critical to make outbreak predictions and are being used by scientists around the world to predict epidemic outbreaks.
Recommendation Systems — Many businesses today use recommendation systems to effectively communicate with the users on their site. There is a lot of learning in the user behavior data that can be applied to recommend relevant products, movies, web-series, songs, and much more.
Most prominent use-cases of recommendation systems are e-commerce sites like Amazon, Flipkart, and many others along with Spotify, Netflix, and other web-streaming channels.
Machine Learning Jobs and Career prospects:
Before moving on to Machine Learning job roles and career prospects, let us have a look at the skill sets that are necessary to become a successful machine learning professional.
The prerequisites to learn Machine Learning are:
– Linear Algebra
– Statistics and Probability
– Calculus
– Graph theory
– Programming Skills — Python, R, MATLAB, C++ or Octave
Essential Machine Learning skills to become a successful ML professional are:
Machine Learning Algorithms and Libraries — There is an absolute need to be acquainted with the implementation of ML algorithms mostly available through APIs, Packages, and Libraries. It is also important to learn about the pros and cons of different applicable approaches towards ML implementation.
Data Modelling and Evaluation — This includes the process of continuously evaluating the performance of the given model. This is achieved by selecting an appropriate accuracy measure and an effective evaluation strategy based on the problem at hand.
Distributed Computing — Machine Learning jobs require to be working with a great set of data. This large amount of data cannot be processed using a single machine. It needs to be distributed across a cluster of machines.
Software engineering and system design — A strong base in software engineering and system design is a requisite for a successful machine learning career. The ability to build appropriate interfaces for components is preferred by employers. These skills are valuable for improving quality, productivity, collaborations, and maintainability.
Machine Learning Job Roles and salary trends:
(Source: Analytics India Magazine ‘Salary Study — 2018′)
The future scope of Machine Learning
It is estimated that the Machine Learning market will grow to reach USD 8.81 billion by the year 2022. That means that there is going to be a substantial requirement of skills around Machine Learning to drive this growth. The future looks promising for those planning a career in Machine Learning!
If you want to know more about what is machine learning and are interested in pursuing a career in Machine Learning, check out Great Learning’s postgraduate program in Machine Learning. | https://medium.com/my-great-learning/what-is-machine-learning-e5bee93eaef | ['Great Learning'] | 2019-09-06 11:25:50.017000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Edtech', 'Tech', 'Artificial Intelligence'] |
How To Deploy Your .NET Core App on an IIS Server | Configure your IIS Server
Downloading the required packages
Install the required packages before configuration.
Downloading the dotnet SDK
Deployments only need runtime, but if you want to have a more flexible environment that allows you to build and publish dll files rather than only running it you would want to install the latest dotnet SDK, here.
Install the Azure Artifacts Credential Provider
Next, install the Azure Artifacts Credential Provider, full instructions can be seen here.
Azure Artifacts Credential Provider Manual Installation Guide
Find the latest release here, and download the .zip package.
After downloading the zip archive, copy the plugins folder to %USERPROFILE%/.nuget
Set your environment variables, open User Variables and create a new entry.
Set the variable name to NUGET_PLUGIN_PATHS, and because in this case, we are going to be using the dotnet credential provider, so set the value to
%USERPROFILE%\.nuget\plugins
etcore\CredentialProvider.Microsoft\CredentialProvider.Microsoft.dll
Then finish the setup by clicking OK on the Environment Variables dialog. | https://medium.com/bina-nusantara-it-division/how-to-deploy-net-core-on-iis-eb091773f74d | ['Agustinus Theodorus'] | 2020-10-28 15:38:47.641000+00:00 | ['Microsoft', 'Software', 'Tutorial', 'Programming', 'Software Development'] |
Taking Query Optimizations to the Next Level with Iceberg | Taking Query Optimizations to the Next Level with Iceberg
This blog is the third post of a series on Apache Iceberg at Adobe. In the first blog we gave an overview of the Adobe Experience Platform architecture. We showed how data flows through the Adobe Experience Platform, how the data’s schema is laid out, and also some of the unique challenges that it poses. We also discussed the basics of Apache Iceberg and what makes it a viable solution for our platform. Iceberg today is our de-facto data format for all datasets in our data lake.
We covered issues with ingestion throughput in the previous blog in this series. We will now focus on achieving read performance using Apache Iceberg and compare how Iceberg performed in the initial prototype vs. how it does today and walk through the optimizations we did to make it work for AEP.
Here are some of the challenges we faced, from a read perspective, before Iceberg:
Consistency Between Data & Metadata : We had all our metadata in a separate store from our data lake as most big data systems do. This made it hard to do data restatement. Restating thousands of files in a transactional way was difficult and error-prone. Readers were often left in a potentially inconsistent state due to data being compacted or archived aggressively.
: We had all our metadata in a separate store from our data lake as most big data systems do. This made it hard to do data restatement. Restating thousands of files in a transactional way was difficult and error-prone. Readers were often left in a potentially inconsistent state due to data being compacted or archived aggressively. Metadata Scalability : Our largest tables would easily get bloated with metadata causing query planning to be cumbersome and hard to scale. Task effort planning took many trips to the metadata store and data lake. Listing files on data lake involve a recursive listing of hierarchical directories that took hours for some datasets that had years of historical data.
: Our largest tables would easily get bloated with metadata causing query planning to be cumbersome and hard to scale. Task effort planning took many trips to the metadata store and data lake. Listing files on data lake involve a recursive listing of hierarchical directories that took hours for some datasets that had years of historical data. Inefficient Read Access: For secondary use cases, we often ended up having to scan more data than necessary. Partition pruning only got us very coarse-grained split plans. As an example, complying with GDPR requires finding files that match data for a set of users. This required a table with a time-series partitioning scheme that was a full table scan even if the actual set of matching files was relatively small.
Read Access in Adobe Experience Platform
Adobe Experience Platform keeps petabytes of ingested data in the Microsoft Azure Data Lake Store (ADLS). Our users use a variety of tools to get their work done. Their tools range from third-party BI tools and Adobe products. Because of their variety of tools, our users need to access data in various ways.
Additionally, our users run thousands of queries on tens of thousands of datasets using SQL, REST APIs and Apache Spark code in Java, Scala, Python and R. The illustration below represents how most clients access data from our data lake using Spark compute.
Figure 1: Client Access to Adobe Experience Platform data lake
Our platform services access datasets on the data lake without being exposed to the internals of Iceberg. All read access patterns are abstracted away behind a Platform SDK. All clients in the data platform integrate with this SDK which provides a Spark Data Source that clients can use to read data from the data lake. This is the standard read abstraction for all batch-oriented systems accessing the data via Spark.
Underneath the SDK is the Iceberg Data Source that translates the API into Iceberg operations. This allowed us to switch between data formats (Parquet or Iceberg) with minimal impact to clients. The picture below illustrates readers accessing Iceberg data format. Query planning and filtering are pushed down by Platform SDK down to Iceberg via Spark Data Source API, Iceberg then uses Parquet file format statistics to skip files and Parquet row-groups.
Figure 2: Reading with Iceberg Over Parquet
Iceberg for Reading
Iceberg is a library that offers a convenient data format to collect and manage metadata about data transactions. Iceberg’s APIs make it possible for users to scale metadata operations using big-data compute frameworks like Spark by treating metadata like big-data. At its core, Iceberg can either work in a single process or can be scaled to multiple processes using big-data processing access patterns.
Iceberg APIs control all data and metadata access, no external writers can write data to an iceberg dataset. This way it ensures full control on reading and can provide reader isolation by keeping an immutable view of table state. Using snapshot isolation readers always have a consistent view of the data. In our earlier blog about Iceberg at Adobe we described how Iceberg’s metadata is laid out.
A reader always reads from a snapshot of the dataset and at any given moment a snapshot has the entire view of the dataset. Underneath the snapshot is a manifest-list which is an index on manifest metadata files. Manifests are Avro files that contain file-level metadata and statistics. The diagram below provides a logical view of how readers interact with Iceberg metadata.
Figure 3: Reader Snapshot Isolation
Query Planning
Before Iceberg, simple queries in our query engine took hours to finish file listing before kicking off the Compute job to do the actual work on the query. To even realize what work needs to be done, the query engine needs to know how many files we want to process. For most of our queries, the query is just trying to process a relatively small portion of data from a large table with potentially millions of files. Iceberg design allows for query planning on such queries to be done on a single process and in O(1) RPC calls to the file system.
Iceberg knows where the data lives, how the files are laid out, how the partitions are spread (agnostic of how deeply nested the partition scheme is). Furthermore, table metadata files themselves can get very large, and scanning all metadata for certain queries (e.g. full table scans for user data filtering for GDPR) cannot be avoided. For such cases, the file pruning and filtering can be delegated (this is upcoming work discussed here) to a distributed compute job.
Iceberg treats metadata like data by keeping it in a split-able format viz. Avro and hence can partition its manifests into physical partitions based on the partition specification. Iceberg keeps two levels of metadata: manifest-list and manifest files. This two-level hierarchy is done so that iceberg can build an index on its own metadata. This layout allows clients to keep split planning in potentially constant time.
Figure 4: Iceberg Metadata Access Flow
Why Iceberg Works for Us
Consistent Data & Metadata
Iceberg API controls all read/write to the system hence ensuring all data is fully consistent with the metadata. Reads are consistent, two readers at time t1 and t2 view the data as of those respective times. Between times t1 and t2 the state of the dataset could have mutated and even if the reader at time t1 is still reading, it is not affected by the mutations between t1 and t2.
Scalable Metadata API
When a reader reads using a snapshot S1 it uses iceberg core APIs to perform the necessary filtering to get to the exact data to scan. It can do the entire read effort planning without touching the data. The metadata is laid out on the same file system as data and Iceberg’s Table API is designed to work much the same way with its metadata as it does with the data. The Scan API can be extended to work in a distributed way to perform large operational query plans in Spark.
Efficient Read Access
Listing large metadata on massive tables can be slow. For interactive use cases like Adobe Experience Platform Query Service, we often end up having to scan more data than necessary. This is due to in-efficient scan planning. Partition pruning only gets you very coarse-grained split plans. Iceberg can do efficient split planning down to the Parquet row-group level so that we avoid reading more than we absolutely need to. Iceberg keeps column level and file level stats that help in filtering out at file-level and Parquet row-group level.
Read Performance Optimizations
In this section, we enlist the work we did to optimize read performance. After this section, we also go over benchmarks to illustrate where we were when we started with Iceberg vs. where we are today. Each topic below covers how it impacts read performance and work done to address it.
Vectorized Reads Nested Schema Pruning & Predicate Pushdowns Manifest Tooling Snapshot Expiration
Vectorized Reading
What is Vectorization?
Adobe Experience Platform data on the data lake is in Parquet file format: a columnar format wherein column values are organized on disk in blocks. Such a representation allows fast fetching of data from disk especially when most queries are interested in very few columns in a wide denormalized dataset schema.
Default in-memory processing of data is row-oriented. By doing so we lose optimization opportunities if the in-memory representation is row-oriented (scalar). There are benefits of organizing data in a vector form in memory. Query execution systems typically process data one row at a time. This is intuitive for humans but not for modern CPUs, which like to process the same instructions on different data (SIMD).
Vectorization is the method or process of organizing data in memory in chunks (vector) and operating on blocks of values at a time. Figure 5 is an illustration of how a typical set of data tuples would look like in memory with scalar vs. vector memory alignment.
Figure 5: Vectorized Layout in Memory
Potential benefits of Vectorization are:
Improved LRU CPU-cache hit ratio: When the Operating System fetches pages into the LRU cache, the CPU execution benefits from having the next instruction’s data already in the cache.
Spark’s optimizer can create custom code to handle query operators at runtime (Whole-stage Code Generation).
If a standard in-memory format like Apache Arrow is used to represent vector memory, it can be used for data interchange across languages bindings like Java, Python, and Javascript. This can do the following:
Evaluate multiple operator expressions in a single physical planning step for a batch of column values. Automatic Loop Unrolling. Amortize Virtual function calls: Each next() call in the batched iterator would fetch a chunk of tuples hence reducing the overall number of calls to the iterator.
Teaching Iceberg to do Vectorized Reads
Challenges
Given our complex schema structure, we need vectorization to not just work for standard types but for all columns. Our schema includes deeply nested maps, structs, and even hybrid nested structures such as a map of arrays, etc. There were multiple challenges with this. Firstly, Spark needs to pass down the relevant query pruning and filtering information down the physical plan when working with nested types. We will cover pruning and predicate pushdown in the next section.
The next challenge was that although Spark supports vectorized reading in Parquet, the default vectorization is not pluggable and is tightly coupled to Spark, unlike ORC’s vectorized reader which is built into the ORC data-format library and can be plugged into any compute framework. There is no plumbing available in Spark’s DataSourceV2 API to support Parquet vectorization out of the box. To be able to leverage Iceberg’s features the vectorized reader needs to be plugged into Spark’s DSv2 API. Since Iceberg plugs into this API it was a natural fit to implement this into Iceberg.
Vectorization in Iceberg using Apache Arrow
Apache Arrow is a standard, language-independent in-memory columnar format for running analytical operations in an efficient manner on modern hardware. It is designed to be language-agnostic and optimized towards analytical processing on modern hardware like CPUs and GPUs.
Apache Arrow supports and is interoperable across many languages such as Java, Python, C++, C#, MATLAB, and Javascript. It uses zero-copy reads when crossing language boundaries. It complements on-disk columnar formats like Parquet and ORC. For these reasons, Arrow was a good fit as the in-memory representation for Iceberg vectorization.
Iceberg is a library that works across compute frameworks like Spark, MapReduce, and Presto so it needed to build vectorization in a way that is reusable across compute engines. Iceberg now supports an Arrow-based Reader and can work on Parquet data. This implementation adds an arrow-module that can be reused by other compute engines supported in Iceberg. Adobe worked with the Apache Iceberg community to kickstart this effort. Today the Arrow-based Iceberg reader supports all native data types with a performance that is equal to or better than the default Parquet vectorized reader. Support for nested & complex data types is yet to be added.
You can track progress on this here: https://github.com/apache/iceberg/milestone/2. We intend to work with the community to build the remaining features in the Iceberg reading.
Vectorization using Native Parquet Reader
While an Arrow-based reader is ideal, it requires multiple engineering-months of effort to achieve full feature support. Adobe needed to bridge the gap between Spark’s native Parquet vectorized reader and Iceberg reading. The native Parquet reader in Spark is in the V1 Datasource API. Therefore, we added an adapted custom DataSourceV2 reader in Iceberg to redirect the reading to re-use the native Parquet reader interface. You can find the code for this here: https://github.com/prodeezy/incubator-iceberg/tree/v1-vectorized-reader. We adapted this flow to use Adobe’s Spark vendor, Databricks’ Spark custom reader, which has custom optimizations like a custom IO Cache to speed up Parquet reading, vectorization for nested columns (maps, structs, and hybrid structures).
Having said that, word of caution on using the adapted reader, there are issues with this approach. This reader, although bridges the performance gap, does not comply with Iceberg’s core reader APIs which handle schema evolution guarantees. This is why we want to eventually move to the Arrow-based reader in Iceberg.
Nested Schema Pruning and Predicate Pushdowns
As mentioned earlier, Adobe schema is highly nested. It is able to efficiently prune and filter based on nested structures (e.g. map and struct) and has been critical for query performance at Adobe. Iceberg collects metrics for all nested fields so there wasn’t a way for us to filter based on such fields.
There were challenges with doing so. In the version of Spark (2.4.x) we are on, there isn’t support to push down predicates for nested fields Jira: SPARK-25558 (this was later added in Spark 3.0). E.g. scan query
scala> spark.sql("select * from iceberg_people_nestedfield_metrocs where location.lat = 101.123".show()
In the above query, Spark would pass the entire struct “location” to Iceberg which would try to filter based on the entire struct. This has performance implications if the struct is very large and dense, which can very well be in our use cases. To fix this we added a Spark strategy plugin that would push the projection & filter down to Iceberg Data Source.
sparkSession.experimental.extraStrategies = sparkSession.experimental.extraStrategies :+ DataSourceV2StrategyWithAdobeFilteringAndPruning
Next, even with Spark pushing down the filter, Iceberg needed to be modified to use pushed down filter and prune files returned up the physical plan, illustrated here: Iceberg Issue#122. We contributed this fix to Iceberg Community to be able to handle Struct filtering. After the changes, the physical plan would look like this:
// Struct filter pushed down by Spark to Iceberg Scan
scala> spark.sql("select * from iceberg_people_nestedfield_metrics where location.lat = 101.123").explain()
== Physical Plan ==
*(1) Project [age#0, name#1, friends#2, location#3]
+- *(1) Filter (isnotnull(location#3) && (location#3.lat = 101.123))
+- *(1) ScanV2 iceberg[age#0, name#1, friends#2, location#3] (Filters: [isnotnull(location#3), (location#3.lat = 101.123)], Options: [path=iceberg-people-nestedfield-metrics,paths=[]])
This optimization reduced the size of data passed from the file to the Spark driver up the query processing pipeline.
Here is a compatibility matrix of read features supported across Parquet readers.
Manifest Rewrite
As mentioned in the earlier sections, manifests are a key component in Iceberg metadata. It controls how the reading operations understand the task at hand when analyzing the dataset. Iceberg query task planning performance is dictated by how much manifest metadata is being processed at query runtime. Each Manifest file can be looked at as a metadata partition that holds metadata for a subset of data. As any partitioning scheme dictates, Manifests ought to be organized in ways that suit your query pattern.
In our case, most raw datasets on data lake are time-series based that are partitioned by the date the data is meant to represent. Most reading on such datasets varies by time windows, e.g. query last week’s data, last month’s, between start/end dates, etc. With such a query pattern one would expect to touch metadata that is proportional to the time-window being queried. If one week of data is being queried we don’t want all manifests in the datasets to be touched.
At ingest time we get data that may contain lots of partitions in a single delta of data. Iceberg writing does a decent job during commit time at trying to keep manifests from growing out of hand but regrouping and rewriting manifests at runtime. This can be controlled using Iceberg Table properties like commit.manifest.target-size-bytes. Even then over time manifests can get bloated and skewed in size causing unpredictable query planning latencies. We found that for our query pattern we needed to organize manifests that align nicely with our data partitioning and keep the very little variance in the size across manifests. In the worst case, we started seeing 800–900 manifests accumulate in some of our tables. We needed to limit our query planning on these manifests to under 10–20 seconds.
We achieve this using the Manifest Rewrite API in Iceberg. We built additional tooling around this to detect, trigger, and orchestrate the manifest rewrite operation. As a result, our partitions now align with manifest files and query planning remains mostly under 20 seconds for queries with a reasonable time-window.
While this approach works for queries with finite time windows, there is an open problem of being able to perform fast query planning on full table scans on our large tables with multiple years worth of data that have thousands of partitions. We are looking at some approaches like:
Performing Iceberg query planning in a Spark compute job: https://github.com/apache/iceberg/issues/1422
Query planning using a secondary index (e.g. Bloom Filters) to quickly get to the exact list of files
Before Manifest Tooling
Manifests are a key part of Iceberg metadata health. Particularly from a read performance standpoint. We have identified that Iceberg query planning gets adversely affected when the distribution of dataset partitions across manifests gets skewed or overtly scattered.
A key metric is to keep track of the count of manifests per partition. We observe the min, max, average, median, stdev, 60-percentile, 90-percentile, 99-percentile metrics of this count. The health of the dataset would be tracked based on how many partitions cross a pre-configured threshold of acceptable value of these metrics. The trigger for manifest rewrite can express the severity of the unhealthiness based on these metrics. The chart below is the distribution of manifest files across partitions in a time partitioned dataset after data is ingested over time. This illustrates how many manifest files a query would need to scan depending on the partition filter.
Figure 6: Distribution of Manifest Across Day Partitions
Iceberg Manifest Rewrite Operation
Iceberg allows rewriting manifests and committing it to the table as any other data commit. We rewrote the manifests by shuffling them across manifests based on a target manifest size. Here is a plot of one such rewrite with the same target manifest size of 8MB. Notice that any day partition spans a maximum of 4 manifests. Additionally, when rewriting we sort the partition entries in the manifests which co-locates the metadata in the manifests, this allows Iceberg to quickly identify which manifests have the metadata for a query. Iceberg supports rewriting manifests using the Iceberg Table API. This tool is based on Iceberg’s Rewrite Manifest Spark Action which is based on the Actions API meant for large metadata. The chart below is the manifest distribution after the tool is run.
Figure 7: Manifest Distribution After Manifest Rewrite
Snapshot Expiration
Snapshots are another entity in the Iceberg metadata that can impact metadata processing performance. As described earlier, Iceberg ensures Snapshot isolation to keep writers from messing with in-flight readers. This allows consistent reading and writing at all times without needing a lock. A side effect of such a system is that every commit in Iceberg is a new Snapshot and each new snapshot tracks all the data in the system. Every snapshot is a copy of all the metadata till that snapshot’s timestamp. It’s easy to imagine that the number of Snapshots on a table can grow very easily and quickly. These snapshots are kept as long as needed. Deleted data/metadata is also kept around as long as a Snapshot is around. Iceberg reader needs to manage snapshots to be able to do metadata operations. If left as is, it can affect query planning and even commit times. To keep the Snapshot metadata within bounds we added tooling to be able to limit the window of time for which we keep Snapshots around. We use the Snapshot Expiry API in Iceberg to achieve this.
Expire Snapshot Action
Iceberg supports expiring snapshots using the Iceberg Table API. For heavy use cases where one wants to expire very large lists of snapshots at once, Iceberg introduces the Actions API which is an interface to perform core table operations behind a Spark compute job. In particular the Expire Snapshots Action implements the snapshot expiry. This operation expires snapshots outside a time window. We run this operation every day and expire snapshots outside the 7-day window. This can be configured at the dataset level.
Benchmarks
In the previous section we covered the work done to help with read performance. In this section, we illustrate the outcome of those optimizations. We compare the initial read performance with Iceberg as it was when we started working with the community vs. where it stands today after the work done on it since.
Initial Read performance when we started Iceberg Adoption
We use a reference dataset which is an obfuscated clone of a production dataset. We converted that to Iceberg and compared it against Parquet. Benchmarking is done using 23 canonical queries that represent typical analytical read production workload.
Row Count: 4,271,169,706
Size of Data: 4.99 TB
Partitions: 31
Figure 8: Initial Benchmark Comparison of Queries over Iceberg vs. Parquet
Observations
Query Planning was not constant time. Queries with predicates having increasing time windows were taking longer (almost linear).
We noticed much less skew in query planning times. Since Iceberg query planning does not involve touching data, growing the time window of queries did not affect planning times as they did in the Parquet dataset.
Queries over Iceberg were 10x slower in the worst case and 4x slower on average than queries over Parquet.
Split planning contributed some but not a lot on longer queries but were most impactful on small time-window queries when looking at narrow time windows.
Read execution was the major difference for longer running queries.
Read Performance After Optimizations
Figure 9: Apache Iceberg vs. Parquet Benchmark Comparison After Optimizations
We observed in cases where the entire dataset had to be scanned.
Iceberg took the third amount of the time in query planning. In point in time queries like one day, it took 50% longer than Parquet. Query planning now takes near-constant time. Full table scans still take a long time in Iceberg but small to medium-sized partition predicates (e.g. 1 day vs. 6 months) queries take about the same time in planning. OTOH queries on Parquet data degraded linearly due to linearly increasing list of files to list (as expected).
Raw Parquet data scan takes the same time or less.
Impact on Query Planning
Figure 10: Query Planning Times after Optimizations
Comparing time spent in query planning of simple count queries that span different time windows viz. 1 hour, 1 day, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months to observe impact with different manifest merge profiles.
of simple count queries that span different time windows viz. 1 hour, 1 day, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months to observe impact with different manifest merge profiles. The default ingest leaves manifest in a skewed state. Also, almost every manifest has almost all day partitions in them which requires any query to look at almost all manifests (379 in this case).
Repartitioning manifests sorts and organizes these into almost equal sized manifest files. So in the 8MB case for instance most manifests had 1–2 day partitions in them. So querying 1 day looked at 1 manifest, 30 days looked at 30 manifests and so on.
Across various manifest target file sizes we see a steady improvement in query planning time. Larger time windows (e.g. 6 month query) take relatively less time in planning when partitions are grouped into fewer manifest files.
Future Work
In this article we went over the challenges we faced with reading and how Iceberg helps us with those. We illustrated where we were when we started with Iceberg adoption and where we are today with read performance. Iceberg’s design allows us to tweak performance without special downtime or maintenance windows. There are some more use cases we are looking to build using upcoming features in Iceberg. Here are a couple of them within the purview of reading use cases :
Distributed Query Planning: In addition to the manifest metadata optimizations there are use cases where we cannot avoid a full table metadata scan e.g. GDPR actions, queries with predicates not involving a partition column (only sort key). In such events we need an efficient way to scan all metadata often for very large tables. This Iceberg github issue tracks the feature.
In addition to the manifest metadata optimizations there are use cases where we cannot avoid a full table metadata scan e.g. GDPR actions, queries with predicates not involving a partition column (only sort key). In such events we need an efficient way to scan all metadata often for very large tables. This Iceberg github issue tracks the feature. Secondary Indexes: All Iceberg stats today are at the file level and can be rolled up to the partition or table level. But statistics that cannot be rolled up and are expensive to calculate, such as distinct values are useful for efficient join planning. We are working with the community on designing and building secondary indexes at the partition and table scope.
All Iceberg stats today are at the file level and can be rolled up to the partition or table level. But statistics that cannot be rolled up and are expensive to calculate, such as distinct values are useful for efficient join planning. We are working with the community on designing and building secondary indexes at the partition and table scope. Statistics Collection: We are building a statistical store for all our datasets to enable use cases like Cost-Based Optimization, Query Speedup on SQL queries, data quality checks. We intend to use at-rest Iceberg statistics to limit cost on such metadata collection.
We are building a statistical store for all our datasets to enable use cases like Cost-Based Optimization, Query Speedup on SQL queries, data quality checks. We intend to use at-rest Iceberg statistics to limit cost on such metadata collection. Incremental Reading: Reading deltas of appends, deletes, and update operations is a major upcoming use case for us. Furthermore, many of our internal platform customers require the ability to read updates to a dataset as a consumable stream of changes (Change Data Capture). We intend to leverage existing time travel, Copy-on-Write features, and build on the row-level delete work in the community.
In conclusion, it’s been quite the journey moving to Apache Iceberg and yet there is much work to be done. We look forward to our continued engagement with the larger Apache Open Source community to help with these and more upcoming features.
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Related Blogs
References | https://medium.com/adobetech/taking-query-optimizations-to-the-next-level-with-iceberg-6c968b83cd6f | ['Jaemi Bremner'] | 2021-01-14 21:48:45.313000+00:00 | ['Cloud Computing', 'Open Source', 'Platform', 'Adobe Experience Platform', 'Apache Iceberg'] |
myCharge HubMax Universal 10050mAh Portable Battery REVIEW | Mac Sources9.7 | All the battery you will need.
It doesn’t seem to matter how much I use my devices — I always need more power. I could be using my iPhone moderately throughout the day and suddenly I’m skirting single digits in the battery percentage area. Since I can’t always be next to a power outlet, I like to be prepared with a portable power bank. myCharge is a brand I trust when it comes to reliable portable battery power. In my opinion, the HubMax Universal power bank is the ideal traveling companion for anyone needing power.
DETAILS
The new myCharge HubMax Universal is a portable charger with 10,050 mAh of power. It has a built-in MFi-certified Lightning cable and USB-C cable for output charging (3.4A MAX) as well as a USB-A port for other connection types. The battery recharges using collapsible built-in wall prongs (100–240VAC, 50/60Hz 0.3A). It’s designed to be compatible with mobile phones and tablets alike. The battery arrives precharged and has a stylish aluminum case, which also tends to keep heat evenly dispersed.
USER EXPERIENCE
A couple of years ago, I took a trip to attend a convention. During that convention, I wanted to travel light and so I chose my accessories carefully. I knew that I wanted to have a portable battery with me and ultimately decided that a HubMax from myCharge was the way to go. I love the overall design of these power banks and how well they are self-contained You don’t have to add any external cables in order to recharge the power bank itself and most mobile items are going to be covered by the device’s built-in cables. The HubMax I had before featured a Lightning cable and a Micro USB cable and it did not have a UBS-A port. So, in my humble opinion, the HubMax Universal is definitely an upgrade.
This power bank seems a little heavier than other power banks, but the inclusion of the built-in wall prongs for charging and charging cables is a good exchange for the weight in my opinion. The side of the device features the status LED and power button. When you press the power button, it will not only show you the amount of power left on the battery itself, but it will also activate the charging function on the power bank. The box of the HubMax indicates that the device should come pre-charged. So, when I took it out, I pressed the status button and the product showed 4 LEDs indicating that the battery was charged 100% full.
My iPhone XS was resting at 45% battery so I plugged it into the HubMax. After 30 minutes the phone gained 33% and 3 LEDs were still illuminated. I left the phone plugged in for another 52 minutes and unplugged it when the battery level on the phone reached 98%. The HubMax was still showing 3 LEDs lit at that point so I plugged in a different mobile phone — the Sony Xperia 10. That phone used the USB-C connector to charge. It was only at 58% charge and after 49 minutes, the Sony phone had gained 32%. At that point the status LEDs were still showing 3 lit up, but the next time I charged a device (my iPhone XS again), the LEDs immediately dropped to 2. Now, it’s important to note here that while I was charging the Sony phone, I was also using the phone to stream video and I had only been streaming music on the iPhone when I was charging it.
CONCLUSION
The HubMax Universal by myCharge is one of my favorite portable battery options in the market today. I love the overall design and how well it charges devices. The only criticism I have is that the LEDs don’t seem to match the actual amount of power left on the power bank. It would be nice if it were more precise, but other than that, I think this is a great product and it’s worth the investment because it will be a reliable battery for a long time.
For more details, visit mycharge.com, Facebook, and Twitter. | https://medium.com/@macsources/mycharge-hubmax-universal-10050mah-portable-battery-review-mac-sources9-7-d75390472e3 | [] | 2019-06-03 19:46:17.147000+00:00 | ['Battery', 'Charger', 'Tech', 'Mycharge'] |
Why Spotify Wrapped left us feeling unsatisfied | Around the start of the holiday season, several companies release their highly anticipated holiday themed products, features, and accessories. We see companies embrace the holidays as we buy our Starbucks coffee in decorative cups, watch Christmas themed commercials as Hulu subscribers, and of course, unwrap our musical journey for the year with Spotify Wrapped.
This year however, Spotify Wrapped fell a little short. It incorporated new features that were aimed at making users feel better about the rather disappointing year they’ve endured. Spotify Wrapped also made use of a humorous tone to inject comedy into a stressful time and used a multimedia presentation of users’ favorite songs and artists complete with audio, flashy graphics, and bright colors.
Here’s why it didn’t work.
The use of self deprecating humor simply didn’t hit.
While Spotify used a consistent tone in this year’s Wrapped that conveyed a keen perception of the state of the world, the exact messaging felt a bit too depressing.
They used phrases like “The song that helped you get through it all”, “Feel free to show this to your exes”, and “Who was at your side besides your houseplants” that showed great situational awareness but ended up making users feel worse about their lives instead of better.
For example the messaging “2 years from now, you’ll remember this as the song that helped you get through 2020”, offers both situational awareness AND hope & optimism. As a feel good feature that releases once a year, Spotify Wrapped should be focused on more than “keeping it real”; they should be trying to make their users — well — feel good. | https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/why-spotify-wrapped-left-us-feeling-unsatisfied-7d4d254be1b8 | ['Amrutha Palaniyappan'] | 2020-12-15 18:13:04.979000+00:00 | ['Product', 'Spotify', 'Design', 'UX', 'Product Design'] |
Exercising My Demon: Netball | When I was at school, sport of any kind scared me. I was nervous on my bike, useless at climbing ropes, and when, as part of some sort of modern day torture, we were forced to run laps of a recreational ground backed onto by train tracks, I would walk when concealed by bushes — self conscious of my puffy, purple cheeks and dreading coming in last to the claps of my lithe class mates, jeering. In fact, the only time I can remember feeling content in any sort of physical capacity in my school years was when I was bobbing in the swimming pool, letting the man made waves lap over my body, light and buoyant.
So, despite being desperate for camaraderie all my life, the powerful sensation of belonging to something, anything, I never got involved in team activities. When I did, I would be picked last or plucked into a team of underdogs in PE lessons. I found hockey terrifying, worried my teeth were going to be knocked out like the girl in the year above, the socks and shin pads itching as I sweat, my back twisted over the stick with no skill. Tennis lessons were more a humiliation exercise sponsored by my dyspraxia. My body, awkward, pubescent, chubby, found the contortionist element of gymnastics an inevitable mismatch. And netball, netball was my physical exercise nemesis.
Not nimble, due to years of hiding my body, I was slow. Not agile, my aforementioned dyspraxia meant hand ball coordination was lacking. Not strategic, I could never anticipate my oppositions play, let alone my own. Every time netball was on the agenda, it would happily coincide with me ‘forgetting my sports shoes’. A particularly haunting sports teacher (they all look the same for some reason, every depiction of a sports teacher ever seems to meld into one sort of stretched, lanky and cropped haircut with a disparaging look, all burrowed in the brow), would find these conveniences hilarious and set me to the side of the tarmac in my school uniform with a skipping rope — barking at me to jump the entirety of game play.
I knew enough about my lack of skills with netball to put it aside, to the back of my mind, and as I got older and even more hard on myself and stared in the mirror like a ghoul grabbing onto lumps of flesh and crying pretty much every day, I accepted that team activities were never going to happen for 2 reasons. 1) Because I was fundamentally useless and 2) nobody wants a fundamentally useless heifer on their centre court strategy.
I guess somewhere between then, 16, sad, and now 26, happy-ish, I had a revelation about myself and where I fit into the world. The sheer unadulterated fear of being seen exercising in public by impossibly toned bodies and even just your regular run of the mill flesh sacks lifted. Through a combination of growing older, working harder, finding the right kind of love for me, I ended up being someone who ran in public and walked to work and swam freely without worrying about my legs or tits or tummy suctioned into the unforgiving elastic of a swimsuit. And I guess that’s how, on the day after my twenty sixth year on this celestial plain, I found myself in a school’s gymnasium with around 35 other women, ready to learn how to play netball again.
These women were 16. They were 65. They were fat, they were thin. Some had disabilities, some looked like they’d never stopped playing. All races and backgrounds and abilities somehow melted into the lurid yellow lines of a court in Streatham. There was comedy to be had, through the terrible throws and that weird unbearable tension you get when you clash with a stranger when you’re all just meant to be having a nice time.
We saw these women, kind and strong, pounding the slick surfaces — freshly waxed, building up strength and skill and friendship. I began to get lifts home from a mum of two whose heart was impenetrable gold, but who swore every time her team didn’t block an opposing goal. My sister, who had come along with me for the fear I would be laughed out the building, broke up with her boyfriend around 5 weeks into the training and moved back in with my parents — unable to return. Faces would come up each week to ask me how she was doing and coping, with genuine interest and concern, a sense of community. Some women never came back from the training, but I like to think of them every Monday, maybe enjoying a glass of wine by a fire and thinking “this is more me”, and that’s fine, fine, fine.
And now, we sit in teams. I am in a team. My team are doing well. We’re top of the league. I’m Wing Attack, but maybe not fantastic. I am built up from the strength of the woman I play with, slick, fast, determined. It’s funny to think that I’ve had lots of friendships in my life, deep, bonded, emotional, traumatic, brief, terminal — but the affection and pride I have for my team mates is unique and new to me. From never feeling like I was worthy of achievement, I have now found myself slotted into a dynamic that makes me feel worthy. Worthy of my ability, because despite some dodgy passes, I also do some great ones. Worthy of my confidence, because you are pretty exposed out there, under the floodlights, umpires eyes like hawks, hunger in your oppositions eyes. And worthy of my body. This strange body of mine, that I’ve hated and pummelled and cried over, that has taken me across the world and into the arms of those I love, that has crumpled and straightened and bought me pleasure and pain. These thick strong thighs that have crushed bodies and climbed mountains. These momentous breasts that have taken the brunt of a ball more times than they’d like to remember and have broke free of sports bras whilst running.. These hips that have held players back from getting that centre pass, but have danced, danced, danced to music every single day for years and years and years. I don’t know if I’ll ever love my body like the magazines tell me to, but I do know that I am grateful for its existence, gliding down streets and onto dance floors.
We are, at heart, built up by those around us in our lives. The support systems that run rich through our narratives are what shapes who we are and how we navigate through this world. The love and bond I have with my family, my partner, my friends, is the foundations for my existence and where I have grown over the years. And all this time that I have complained about not being part of a team, I’ve been part of so many — rich tapestries of passion and pain and persistence. But now I’m part of a team in a physical sense, even just for a season, and it’s taught me more about myself than any therapy. We are all floating alone out here, and its those we bob toward that help us construct a raft. | https://medium.com/@olivia.wedderburn/exercising-my-demon-netball-4f09eee7fb00 | ['Olivia Wedderburn'] | 2019-03-03 14:34:16.823000+00:00 | ['Excercise', 'Netball', 'Body Positive', 'Sports', 'Body Image'] |
“Welcome to our family.” | After recently graduating the Global Advocates East Africa Program Julita will pass off the management of the Free to Dream program she started as an Advocate and joining the Mama Hope staff as our East Africa Field Coordinator. She’ll be working with the Global Advocate Team to connect young advocates all over the world and build our capacity to support the brilliant hearts and minds existing in our partner communities.
“This transition is about giving back and growth for me. What I received from Mama Hope was so much love, encouragement, hope and technical support. That is why Free to Dream came to reality. So, I want to be there for the future classes and tell them their dreams are also possible. This transition will bring growth to me personally because I am handing over the program to another Advocate who will grow it from within, building on the trust and hope that already exists. I believe by having Easter take the lead and pour her creativity and being into Free to Dream, it’s impact will be amplified. I look forward to showcasing East Africa’s outstanding talents and promoting those that take social work in East Africa to the next level even after they have finished their time with Mama Hope.”
Vincent, Julita and Easter each have their own stories, come from different backgrounds and have walked different paths to get where they are. One theme that connects their stories is their experience with family. Vincent spoke with us about his childhood and how his parents’ resilience against the inequity they have faced catalyzed his motivation in the fight for more equal distribution of our world’s abundance. Easter shared how the openness she has found in her relationship with her teenage daughter shapes her approach to working with youth today. Julita gives much of the credit for her passion for girls education to her mother, who worked incredibly hard to ensure that she and her brothers received an education.
Without intention, but with a very big welcome, this week came with a kind reminder of the formative influence that our families — chosen, born with or otherwise — give us. At Mama Hope we are grateful for those that have chosen us, that recognize the responsibility we have to care for each other through our work, and every person that moves in this space with love, hope and respect. After all — these are the key ingredients in building the global family that makes our world work!
Written by Jane Body, MAMA HOPE’s East Africa Field Coordinator. | https://medium.com/mama-hope/welcome-to-our-family-9fdfeda7b6d4 | ['Mama Hope'] | 2018-08-16 14:49:25.505000+00:00 | ['Advocacy', 'Social Change', 'Social Impact', 'Africa', 'Tanzania'] |
We need 2 things to be great at what we do. | We need 2 things to be great at what we do.
From a writer’s perspective, we need to learn daily. Eating a slice of the humble pie goes a long way.
Next, we need working tools. We are not perfect. With working tools, we can get better.
Right? | https://medium.com/technology-hits/we-need-2-things-to-be-great-at-what-we-do-12cbe7f5918a | ['Aldric Chen'] | 2020-12-15 07:36:26.987000+00:00 | ['Productivity', 'Business', 'Writing', 'Short Story', 'Technology'] |
Contributor Guidelines for PoetsUnlimited | The PoetsUnlimited publication on Medium was an eclectic mix of poetry from contributors around the world with diverse perspectives and styles.
For six years, it was Medium’s most popular, and most active, poetry-only publication. This document left here for entertainment, re-use and evolution for anyone who wishes to borrow from it.
The publication has ceased operation. Thanks to all who contributed and who read our humble feed.
The TWELVE points below helped contributors learn how to join and write for us. Each requirement came from a challenge along the way and sought to make the publication better and keep readers engaged.
( There was a TL;DR version for quick readers too.)
Become a Contributing Poet – The first step is not submitting poems, but rather getting you added as an official poet-contributor. THEN you can submit poems to be considered for publication.
To be added as a contributor is pretty easy. You just need to
a) read the points below,
b) know your Medium ID, and
c) have a poem up on your Medium account that follows the style requirements in items 3–11 below.
The contributor join-up period is closed just now, but when open requires you to read this whole page, then use a form we would link right here to request to join.
There, you’d point us to a sample poem you have published/shared on your Medium feed to be considered. The open contributor-application period closes quickly, so careful not to miss it.
There are no judgements on your skill or approach, as long as you meet the style and format rules outline here. Contributors submit poems at will, and they’ll be published to the world if they meet these style rules here.
Did you enjoy someone’s poem? Click the clapping-hands below the poem to show support.
Tweet, blog or even write a Medium post about the ones you like. It all helps to bring readers out to see all the great work on PoetsUnlimited. How to contribute poems? Once you are accepted as a contributor to the publication it’s just a couple of clicks to ‘submit’ your poem.
NOTE that only free-to-view poems are published. Member-only ‘pay-to-view’ poetry isn’t published on PoetsUnlimited to keep the publication readable by all.
Select “New Story” at the top right of the Medium page, and start writing. Choose “Publish” when you’re finished — that only means your poem is then published on your personal feed only, though it is viewable by the world.
NEXT, you need to submit it PoetsUnlimited. Click the “…” button near the bottom right while your poem is on-screen — that will let you submit to the PoetsUnlimited publication. (More details) An editor will then approve it if it meets these guidelines.
Usually poems get shared with the world within about 24hrs of submitting, if they meet our guidelines.
We don’t ignore any submissions — you’ll either be published or get a message about why not. If neither happens, you’re probably in the queue for a day or two during a busy period. Include a picture please. Medium’s presentation format is very visual, Try to find a pic that works with your piece, it becomes the background of the title on the PU landing page, and helps the publication be visually attractive. That’s better for building a following of readers.
It can be fun too! A pic that works for you need not illustrate your content — maybe it just evokes the mood or theme behind your words.
I like the site FreeImages.com under their “FREE” tab you’ll find free-use, open-rights pictures from good photographers, but there are many other sites too. We leave it to you to ensure you can legally use the picture you choose.
You can go picture-free if you wish your poem to be text-only, however…
If you do not add a picture, a coloured rectangle will be added to the end of your poem just to make the title page work properly. (That colour appears behind your title.)
Feel free to change it into an image of your choice if you wish. (But please don’t delete it and go back to no-image status as it breaks the front page, and we’ll have to remove your poem).
Also — Publishing may be a bit slower for pieces without images to avoid too many of them on the front page at once.
-[See Medium’s help-page on how to put images into a poem] Pictures — The technical details, and limitations:
- Pics need to be at least 300 pixels wide and 200 pixels tall for Medium to use them properly. Otherwise our front page doesn’t look nice.
- Don’t distort/stretch your picture
- No animated GIFs please —they’re not visually pleasant on the front page.
- Avoid Videos — Privacy settings for some users makes a YouTube video show up as an awkward do-not-track policy message in some browsers. Add your video (or soundcloud embed) as a link rather than embedding it. How about a reading in your voice? Fun for your readers . Linking to it is better than embedding to ensure the presentation looks nice.
- No images with copyright watermarks on them. We’ll have to decline a poem or swap out the image, if there is a risk of copyright issues.
- The image should not be the poem. Challenges like display resolution, or image blocking can make image-text hard to read or see for some. If you do wish to have an image of text, include the raw text below it so text searches will work and displaying on various platforms are still okay too.
- Avoid photo essays: a picture (or two) is good, but keep the focus on the written word.
- Images of words or quotations? The words should be yours, but a short inspiring phrase from a poet or a famous quote is fine too (include attribution!) Entire poems of another author are not appropriate.
-[TIP: Medium’s help-page explains how to put images into a poem] A Title. If you choose not to title your poem, that’s fine, but Medium’s way of formatting the front page is a title over a photo, so you should put “Untitled” into the title spot to accommodate that. With no title, Medium will squeeze a bunch of your text into the title area, and it looks messy.
If we see a piece come up messy we’ll probably stick that in to fix it.
(Click for some great tips about formatting stuff on Medium) Poetry not Prose. We define poetry as different from prose, and so that implies a dividing line. That could be a long discussion, so at the end of the day, we as publisher have final say about where our prose-vs-poetry dividing line is, as we try to position the publication as firmly poetry-centric.
For some style guidance, consider that our definition of poetry is a written form that employs or explores structure (like rhythm, repetition and/or rhyme) and where word-choice and word-placement are precise, deeply considered, and economical. Every word is selected and positioned for a reason, and meaning beyond the words — conveyed through imagery, metaphor and/or simile — is evoked.
Example: “I was riding the bus in to my workplace last Wednesday and saw a beautiful sunrise” This we would consider prose, whereas:
“Bus. Early morning yawns/Work awaits/Sunrise captures my breath”
…is sparse, economical, evocative and thus poetic.
A simplistic example, but hopefully helpful.
Generally if you employ a few of those techniques: rhythm, rhyme, structure, imagery and/or interesting language, and especially economy of word use — you’re on the ‘poetry’ side of the dividing line.
Note:
Formatting that looks visually poem-like doesn’t make prose into a poem. Similarly an unbroken paragraph of text doesn’t cause a poem to not be a poem anymore. Format your work as you wish.
About 1 out of every 10 or 15 submissions is declined for being more on the ‘prose’ side of that dividing line. No harm in submitting if unsure. A decline doesn’t hurt too much. :)
And a decline doesn’t mean ‘bad,’ it just means outside our chosen focus — the style preference for our publication — it’s probably still a fantastic piece of writing, and you should find a home for it somewhere. Just The Poem, Please: This is all about keeping the focus on the poetry.
Poems should be submitted on their own without intros, interpretation, background stories, graphical widgets, poem analysis, pleas for followers, clap requests or a list of your muses.
- Avoid the urge to explain your poem. Complexity can be a good thing. Leave your poem to stand on its own merits —they are stronger that way.
- >> Keep any post-poem text to just one line please. <<
- Dedication? Placed at the end is best. Maximum one line still, please.
- Links to your poetry page elsewhere? Sure, no problem, within that post-poem (one line!) text you can link to your other work. It’s a good idea that helps build you a following, connect with your publications, etc.
- As mentioned in #3, the focus should be on the words, so photo essays with many pictures are not the style-of-interest for the publication.
- If you wish to explain something about the poem or its inspiration, try using the “Response” feature below the story after you’ve clicked “Publish.”
- Just submit your poem for publishing once. It shouldn’t have been published on PoetsUnlimited before already, unless you’ve substantially re-written it, as poets are sometimes known to do. :)
Please also, no promotions for other activities, advertisements for personal businesses or commercial additions of any kind. If we allow that, then in a few weeks we will be knee deep in MacDonald’s e-coupons and Pepsi promos. ;) Multiple Submissions? If you have several pieces to submit — that’s fine. Note that poems need to be submitted as separate pieces, not as several poems in a single post.
We like to break up posts by the same poet by intermixing with the works of others, just for variety, and so the site doesn’t look like someone’s personal blog. Sometimes there may be a bit of delay in posting all of your pieces. It will depend on when other poets have submitted something. We can often manage two of your poems on the same day, but more than that will be spread out over a few days.
On a busy day when everyone is submitting, Your pieces might be deferred a day or two. Content Limits? Other than the site being an English-language publication for English-language poetry only, there isn’t much of a limit (that’s the UNLIMITED part).
I hate to have to say it explicitly, but yes, some content isn’t going to be accepted — hate-speech, gratuitous pornography, or long meandering political or religious diatribes aren’t going to be enjoyed by the readers here, so we’ll take a pass on the opportunity to share those, thanks (that’s the hypocrisy inherent in the system).
Your poem should be a minimum size of a haiku, and maximum of a few pages. So neither a poem of a couple of words, nor a novella-sized one are good fits for PoetsUnlimited’s style.
A non-English word or two is not a problem. Sometimes it’s easiest to describe something of another culture with a native noun or adjective. Edits and Repairs. I might occasionally ask a question if a word looks like a possible typo or spelling error. I might just fix it, if it’s obvious like “I saw tge rising sun that morning.” But if you want to write a piece on the enjoyment of typos, by all means we can leave it in too :) Original, Recent, Work. Ideally the pieces published here are unique works you’ve just written. But really, nobody reads everything, everywhere, so if you’re really chuffed about a submitting a piece you wrote and posted elsewhere too, okay then.
Oh — original — yes. We expect you to have written the piece yourself. We won’t publish any ‘here’s a great poem my friend wrote” or “isn’t this a great piece by Leonard Cohen.”
Famous, heavily-published poets tired of CONSTANTLY earning huge sums of money are allowed to share their poems with us here too. Really! “I Hate this. You are stupid and everyone is dumb and stuff.” Okay, sometimes a (rare) contributor forgets that they don’t have to write poetry for Poets Unlimited. Indeed if you employ a ground-breaking writing style maybe we don’t get it (although we really are open and accepting to new ideas). Some contributors might want different rules.
But wait — there’s a solution! Anyone can start a website or a new publication on Medium! There are lots of good ones now. Please DO start your own rather than get too upset at those who volunteer a bit of their time to carve this one into a form that seems to appeal to the thousands of people who subscribe to it. (We still like you anyway).
Whew — that’s a lot of stuff, but each item helps preserve a functional and reader-friendly publication. Do take a look back here occasionally. There may be an addition or two as we learn how to make things even better. I’ll even try to fix some of the typos and grammar-fails on this page as I notice them.
DO promote your poem if you can take a moment to do so. Use the hashtag #poetsUnlimited on your social media platform of choice, and you’ll help both yourself and your fellow unlimited-poets to connect with more readers.
Sorry — we’re not accepting new contributors since we’ve closed up operation
Our open-periods for new sign-ups came and went quickly at the end, as the response was always quite strong. | https://medium.com/poets-unlimited/contributor-guidelines-for-poetsunlimited-1d5f6086f510 | [] | 2019-10-05 02:26:05.893000+00:00 | ['Publications', 'Writing Poetry', 'Poetry'] |
Declarative routing with web components | The history API in the browser changed the way how the web application routing was working. Traditionally the routing was happening only on the server-side. With the arrival of history API, we are now able to update the page content and its functionality according to the URL updates. This changed the way single page applications were crafted and now the browser can take care of entire routing once the page is loaded.
Nowadays most of the front end frameworks provide their own routing libraries either with the framework or as separate library provided by the community. These routing libraries work in a way that links the components to the URL and does the update on the application view, state according to the URL changes.
In this article, we are going to look at how we can create a client-side router from scratch using vanilla javascript and custom elements. As we are using custom elements we should be able to create declarative routing elements that are mostly similar to the react-router. If you have ever worked with react-router, the syntax should be familiar to you. The react-router provides custom components to define the route so that we can use JSX tags to define the route. Here let’s use the same concept but with custom elements instead of JSX and react.
The Markup
Create a file called index.html with the below content.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<meta name="author" content="Jasim" />
<meta
name="viewport"
content="width=device-width,minimum-scale=1,initial-scale=1"
/>
<meta name="theme-color" content="#FF00FF" />
<title>Router</title>
</head>
<body>
<wc-router>
<wc-route
path="/"
title="Home"
component="wc-home">
</wc-route>
<wc-route
path="/about"
title="About Us"
component="wc-about">
</wc-route> <wc-route
path="/users"
title="Users"
component="wc-users">
</wc-route> <wc-route
path="/users/:id"
title="User Details"
component="wc-userdetails"
></wc-route> <wc-route
path="*"
title="404"
component="wc-notfound">
</wc-route> <wc-outlet></wc-outlet>
</wc-router>
</body>
</html>
The above code does nothing with the implementation script missing. Let’s check the element syntax before going to the script section. The <wc-router/> tag is the actual router element through which we are going to implement the routing. All routes are defined using <wc-route/> tag. The tag name should comply with the web component standard and you can use any name or prefix instead of these tag names. Each <wc-route /> tag is having three attributes path, title, and component where the path and component are mandatory. The path attribute specifies the URL path that should be matched against the browser history updates. The component attribute specifies the name of the custom element that should be updated when changing the location.
You could see one more tag called <wc-outlet /> inside the <wc-router/> tag. Here, the idea is whenever the history object state is changed the outlet tag content will be cleared and the element corresponding to the current path will be injected to the <wc-outlet/> element. If the new path contains any dynamic parameters, it will be extracted from the URL and will be passed as the attribute to the newly created component.
The browser will never throw an error if the page contains invalid elements. So the above markup should be rendered fine but with no effect. Let’s start writing code for the router element which will take care of the routing in our scenario. We won’t write the code for other custom elements from the above markup as those are used as placeholders and data-structure.
Router element
Create a file called router.js and add the following code to it.
export default class Router extends HTMLElement {
connectedCallback() {
console.log('Router element is rendered');
}
} customElements.define("wc-router", Router);
The above code does nothing other than registering the router element to the custom element registry with tag name wc-router. You can use any prefix and tag name of your choice. Include the script in your HTML file.
<script type="module" src="./router.js"></script>
The attribute type=”module” is important as we are using ES Modules. Use any simple HTTP server to run the file. You can use Node’s http-server module to start a server. Once you start the server and access the HTML file via the localhost, you should be getting the message in your developer tools console.
Building the routes definitions
Each individual route is defined by <wc-router/> tag. It’s the router tag’s responsibility to get all these tags and build the routes definition from it. The router should also watch for route changes to update the corresponding components. Add the following code to the Router class.
export default class Router extends HTMLElement {
// ...
get routes() {
return Array.from(this.querySelectorAll("wc-route"))
.filter(node => node.parentNode === this)
.map(r => ({
path: r.getAttribute("path"),
title: r.getAttribute("title"),
component: r.getAttribute("component")
}));
}
}
The routes property just added is read-only that query all the <wc-route/> element and extracts path and component name into a plain array.
get outlet() {
return this.querySelector("wc-outlet");
}
Add the above code to the Router class. As mentioned above, the DOM change is happening under the <wc-outlet/> tag. So here we have added a property which gives the reference to the outlet element as we have to use the outlet element very frequently.
Navigating with router
Once the page is loaded and the Router is added to the DOM tree, we need to display the initial view or component by matching the current location path name from the window object. So the router needs to check the registered routes to get the suitable route to display it or it should display the fallback scenario like 404 component.
So let's add a new method called navigate. The navigate method should be called once the Router element is loaded so that the default route level component can be updated to the current view.
export default class Router extends HTMLElement {
// ...
navigate(url) {
window.history.pushState(null, null, url);
} connectedCallback() {
this.navigate(window.location.pathname);
}
}
The connectedCallback will be executed whenever the custom element is mounted to the DOM. The history.pushState method is the key player in navigating back and forth through the user’s history. You can watch the URL is updating with the passed URL when you call the pushState method without a page-reload. Moving backward and forward through the user’s history can be done using back(), forward() and go() methods of the history object. Here the pushState method adds a new state to the browser history object.
history.pushState(state, title, url);
The pushState method accepts a simple JavaScript object as the first parameter that can be associated with the new history entry. The url parameter is the pathname that we are going to navigate. For detailed information about pushState method, visit https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/History/pushState
Matching the component
When the history object state is changed, the router needs to look for any registered route then update the view. Create a function called match with the following content.
let paramRe = /^:(.+)/; function segmentize(uri) {
return uri.replace(/(^\/+|\/+$)/g, "").split("/");
} function match(routes, uri) {
let match;
const [uriPathname] = uri.split("?");
const uriSegments = segmentize(uriPathname);
const isRootUri = uriSegments[0] === "/";
for (let i = 0; i < routes.length; i++) {
const route = routes[i];
const routeSegments = segmentize(route.path);
const max = Math.max(uriSegments.length, routeSegments.length);
let index = 0;
let missed = false;
let params = {};
for (; index < max; index++) {
const uriSegment = uriSegments[index];
const routeSegment = routeSegments[index];
const fallback = routeSegment === "*";
if (fallback) {
params["*"] = uriSegments
.slice(index)
.map(decodeURIComponent)
.join("/");
break;
}
if (uriSegment === undefined) {
missed = true;
break;
} let dynamicMatch = paramRe.exec(routeSegment);
if (dynamicMatch && !isRootUri) {
let value = decodeURIComponent(uriSegment);
params[dynamicMatch[1]] = value;
} else if (routeSegment !== uriSegment) {
missed = true;
break;
}
}
if (!missed) {
match = { params, ...route };
break;
}
}
return match || null;
}
The URL processing can be done in various ways. You can use regular-expression to match the URL and extract the params from the URL. Libraries like path-to-regexp can be used to do the basic work for you instead of writing your own implementation. The above code splits the URL with the forward-slash (/) and matches each part individually. If the route definition of a specific part is a dynamic parameter, it can be extracted from the URL easily with this approach. If no match found from the route definition table the method will return the fallback scenario. The method will return a null value if the match is not found and the fallback scenario is not present in the route definition.
The above code does not cover all the use cases that come on a production application. You can refer any routing libraries react-router, reach-router for a detailed implementation code.
Update the navigate method with below code:
navigate(url) {
const matchedRoute = match(this.routes, url);
if (matchedRoute !== null) {
this.activeRoute = matchedRoute;
window.history.pushState(null, null, url); // Update the DOM
this.update();
}
}
The <wc-router/> will update the history state only if a matched state is found from the child <wc-route /> tag. Once the match found, here we are calling the history.pushState method and then update the DOM. Add the update method to the Router.
update() {
const { component, title, params = {} } = this.activeRoute; if (component) {
while (this.outlet.firstChild) {
this.outlet.removeChild(this.outlet.firstChild);
} const view = document.createElement(component); // If the the route has title attribute
// update the document title with title attribute value
document.title = title || document.title; // Pass the dynamica parameters as attribute
// for newly created element for (let key in params) {
if (key !== "*") view.setAttribute(key, params[key]);
} this.outlet.appendChild(view);
}
}
Updating the links
Basic Router element is ready. But when you click on any hyperlink, it will do a full page reload to navigate to the target page. And when the page is reloaded the history state will reset back to the initial state. So we need to block the hyperlink default behavior and use the router’s navigate method instead. Add the following code to the Router class.
updateLinks() {
this.querySelectorAll("a[route]").forEach(link => {
const target = link.getAttribute("route");
link.setAttribute("href", target);
link.onclick = e => {
e.preventDefault();
this.navigate(target);
};
});
}
We don’t want to block all the hyperlinks on the page. Instead, we are blocking only the links that want to update the history and navigate to the new state. The above code looks for all links with the attribute route to block the default behavior and use the router navigate method. We also added href attribute at runtime by copying the route attribute value into it. The updateLinks method should be called once the Router is loaded and for each route change. Call the method inside the connectedCallback:
connectedCallback() {
this.updateLinks();
this.navigate(window.location.pathname);
}
Add the nav links to the top of the page as follows
<nav class="nav">
<ul>
<li><a route="/">Home</a></li>
<li><a route="/about/">About</a></li>
<li><a route="/contact/">Contact</a></li>
<li><a route="/users">Users</a></li>
<li><a route="/misc">Misc</a></li>
</ul>
</nav>
Now the basic Router functionality is ready. Reload the page and click on any link. You should get the elements updated inside the <wc-outlet/> tag in your developer tools element panel.
As we have not defined the elements that need to be placed for each route, there is no change in the page layout. Let’s create elements for each route. Here is an example of how the home element looks like.
export class Home extends HTMLElement {
connectedCallback() {
this.innerHTML = `<div class="page">
<h1>Home Page</h1>
</div>`;
}
} customElements.define("wc-home", Home);
Make sure you have created elements for each component specified in the route definition.
Handling browser back button
Navigation through the links is handled with the above code. But what if the user clicks on the browser back button or back button on their mobile phones? The browser provides an event for this scanario called popstate. Handle this event and navigate to the browser location pathname. Update the Router element class with the following code.
export default class Router extends HTMLElement {
connectedCallback() {
this.updateLinks();
this.navigate(window.location.pathname); window.addEventlistener('popstate', this._handlePopstate);
} _handlePopstate = () => {
this.navigate(window.location.pathname);
} disconnectedCallback() {
window.removeEventlistener('popstate', this._handlePopstate);
} }
The event handle should be removed when the Router element is removed from DOM. The disconnectedCallback lifecycle method will be executed when the element is removed from the DOM.
Lazy loading routes
In order to update the layout, all the code related to the routes should be loaded before. the navigation that can cause some performance issues on your page load especially if your bundles are heavy. With the use of ES Dynamic import, we can load the bundles of particular route only when the user is navigating to that route. Thus our initial resource size can be reduced to increase the page load performance. Let’s add one more route to the <wc-router/> tag.
<wc-route
path="/contact"
title="Contact Us"
component="wc-contact"
resourceUrl="./js/aboutus.js">
</wc-route>
We have added one more attribute called resourceUrl to the tag which is URL of the script file. The Router element’s routes list array does not include this attribute, so let’s add this attribute to the array if it present in the tag. Update the routes property as follows
export default class Router extends HTMLElement {
// ...
get routes() {
return Array.from(this.querySelectorAll("wc-route"))
.filter(node => node.parentNode === this)
.map(r => ({
path: r.getAttribute("path"),
title: r.getAttribute("title"),
component: r.getAttribute("component"),
resourceUrl: r.getAttribute('resourceUrl')
}));
}
}
When the user navigates to this /contact route, the Router should first fetch the script file to update the view. Update the Router’s update method as follows:
update() {
const {
component,
title,
params = {},
resourceUrl = null
} = this.activeRoute; if (component) {
while (this.outlet.firstChild) {
this.outlet.removeChild(this.outlet.firstChild); const updateView = () => {
const view = document.createElement(component);
document.title = title || document.title; for (let key in params) {
if (key !== "*") view.setAttribute(key, params[key]);
} this.outlet.appendChild(view);
this.updateLinks();
}; if (resourceUrl !== null) {
import(resourceUrl).then(updateView);
} else {
updateView();
}
}
}
Summary
The trickiest part of creating the router is URL processing. So it’s always recommended to use any libraries that are already and tested and using in production. The above code just provides a simple insight into the internals of a router. You can extend its scope in various ways as it does not support nested routing, redirect scenarios, etc.
The code for this article can be found GitHub repo: https://github.com/jasimea/router-sample | https://medium.com/@jasim/declarative-router-with-web-components-43ddcebc9dbc | [] | 2019-10-15 16:00:41.215000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Web Components', 'Router', 'ES6', 'Html5 Router'] |
The European Science Foundation: Forging funding strategies and scientific connections | In its almost half a century of existence, the European Science Foundation has established itself as a critical member of the European science community, active in influencing and shaping the research landscape. CEO Nicolas Walter shared with Research Outreach what part the foundation plays now and how he hopes science and research will develop in Europe (and the world!) in the future.
It has never seemed more pertinent, taking into consideration the current global coronavirus pandemic, that scientists and scientific organisations need to communicate, implement research and work together effectually and efficiently.
Since its inception in 1974, the European Science Foundation (ESF) has supported over 2,000 programmes and networks, gathering more than 300,000 scientific stakeholders from 186 countries. Nowadays, it specialises in providing expert scientific support to groups and institutions across Europe, with the aim of increasing the quality and volume of effective science on the continent.
In this interview with Research Outreach, CEO Nicolas Walter told us more about the strategies and aims of the Foundation and what partnership opportunities it offers.
The ESSC provides recommendations to major European institutions such as the European Space Agency. Photo Credit: ESA — S. Corvaja.
What are the main goals and strategies of the European Science Foundation (ESF) and how have these changed in recent years?
The ESF was created in 1974, almost ten years before the first European Commission’s ‘Framework Programme’ for research emerged. For more than four decades now, the ESF has been actively contributing to the development of the European Research Area, while adapting itself to the evolution of the European and global research landscape. The ESF has initiated many activities, programmes and networks and provides a fantastic infrastructure to facilitate research processes across the academic spectrum.
The ESF has initiated many activities, programmes and networks and provides a fantastic infrastructure to facilitate research processes.
The ESF provides support to programmatic processes implemented by research institutions, especially in the context of scientific assessment of research proposals submitted to competitive calls. In particular, the ESF provides independent assessment reports and sets up high-level review panels to help funding organisations make informed selection decisions.
The ESF also plays the role of catalyst for the research community; in the context of European funding, it brings its experience and expertise to consortia composed mainly of researchers and contributes to make proposals more competitive. Lastly, the organisation provides a forum to address specific science issues at the European level, for example in the fields of nuclear physics or open access publications.
Nicolas Walter is CEO of the European Science Foundation.
Could you explain how you came to be involved with the organisation personally?
My background is in space study; I graduated from the International Space University in 2000. I was hired by the ESF as project assistant on a study for the European Space Agency. This contract was for four months, the first in a long series. Over the years I have been involved in many sides of the organisation and its activities, including as secretary of the works council for some years. I have also structured and developed the ESF Grant Evaluation activities since 2012. I took the position of Chief Executive in July 2019.
The ESF is a fantastic place to work, it is flexible, innovative and very efficient. This would not be possible without great staff. The ESF team is composed of 32 members of 16 different nationalities. I really feel honoured to work for such an organisation with such a team.
In 2017 you launched the expert division Science Connect. Which support services does it offer?
Science Connect supports institutions for the implementation of their research programmes. So far, these collaborations reside mainly in implementing the independent scientific assessment of research proposals submitted to funding organisations, both public and philanthropic. Scientific research is increasingly competitive, and the process of assessing proposals for projects is more complex than ever before. We support our partners in mobilising the right expertise that will allow them to make informed funding decisions.
In 2019 we were involved in 34 funding programmes supported by public research funding organisations (e.g. the Flemish Research Council FWO or the Shota Rustaveli National Research Science Foundation of Georgia) but also regional authorities (e.g. Région Grand Est in France), universities and philanthropic organisations. Altogether, these represented more than 4,300 research proposals and fellowship applications to be assessed by targeted reviewers.
Besides internal procedures and well-proven IT tools, efficiently processing such a high number of projects can only be done with the commitment and engagement of experts from Europe and all over the world. We have set up two colleges of experts — for referees and review panel members — that gather roughly 8,000 members who have agreed to collaborate with ESF in providing independent assessments.
You work with various high-level European funded projects like the Horizon 2020 programme. How exactly is the ESF involved and how does it cooperate with other institutions?
The ESF has strong competencies in science management, and this is very complementary to the scientific expertise present in European research labs and research groups. This winning combination allows us to efficiently split tasks within a consortium and has proven to be very effective in over 45 projects since 2013. We have a success rate of around 40% of all proposals submitted.
The ESF has developed a robust and versatile capacity to take on the administration of projects supported by Horizon 2020 (and previous Research&Innovation programmes). But the ESF’s added value goes much beyond ‘paperwork’. We contribute significantly to the technical execution of the projects by securing sound project management, stakeholder networking, foresight and mapping as well as outreach and communication activities for the projects we are involved in.
Our approach is therefore quite unique as we see our involvement in proposal writing as the beginning of a joint endeavor: if the project gets funded, then we are part of the team and we will actively contribute to its success. If the project is not supported, that’s life! We do not ask for any kind of compensation and we look forward to improving it.
You work with researchers to help optimise their grant proposals. How do you perceive the administrative process of grant application?
With the right experience and the right tools, the administrative process and baseline structure of Horizon 2020 grant applications can become quite mainstream and we master these elements well. It is crucial that researchers focus on the scientific excellence of the proposals, the implemented methodologies and the impact the project can have on the academic and scientific landscape as well as society at large.
In order to transmit and receive data to and from Earth, the European Space Agency places data relay satellites in orbit. Photo Credit: ESA
The Horizon 2020 programme is extremely competitive; the proposals very often require a lot of effort and the involvement of increasing numbers of consortium partners. Only outstanding proposals are going to get through and eventually get funded. I think that the main challenge is to identify the key element(s) of novelty (a proposal has to generate enthusiasm) while being fully aligned with the call expectations.
The ESF has strong competencies in science management, and this is very complementary to the scientific expertise present in European research labs.
More and more, the project teams should consider their proposals in light of the principles for Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and ensure that these are fully embedded in their project. Ethics, gender equality, open access or public engagement shouldn’t be considered as boxes to tick. Rather, integrating RRI in the projects will help build trust and ensure science contributes to societal challenges.
One of the ESF’s focal points is space science. What does the work of the European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) involve?
The ESSC was set up in 1974 as a sister body to the Space Studies Board of the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. This Committee gathers high-level researchers from all domains of space sciences, from astronomy to research in microgravity and from planetary sciences to earth sciences. The ESSC regularly provides independent recommendations to major European and national institutions, including the European Commission and the European Space Agency on scientific priorities and programme implementation. This requires involving the right experts as well as staying constantly updated with what is going on in Europe and beyond (the ESSC has strong links with the USA, Russia, Japan and China). The ESSC, therefore, represents a focal point for bottom-up strategic advice in European space sciences, and it also represents a voice for European scientists in many instances, including in the European Space Agency Council of Ministers.
Besides the transversal expert voice provided by the ESSC, the ESF also hosts the Europlanet Society which gathers European planetary scientists and provides them with a forum in which they can discuss, exchange and develop collaborations. We also host the European Astrobiology Institute that gathers 27 European research institutions and intends to develop this new multidisciplinary research field.
The debate of ideas is intrinsically embedded in scientific research. This is quite different from the work of politicians, who need to communicate unambiguously with the public. Microgen/Shutterstock.com
What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the European and global research landscape?
The current COVID-19 outbreak demonstrates the need to communicate science while maintaining public trust; the former cannot be efficient without the latter. For weeks now and in many instances, we have witnessed the clash of the scientific sphere with the political sphere and those two do not work with the same set of rules or at the same pace.
It seems critical to communicate to the general public that the debate of ideas is intrinsically embedded in research processes — this is actually what makes science progress. Very often in science things are not ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in the first instance, and the scientific community needs to raise awareness regarding the nature of the scientific knowledge in order to prevent science being used only as an excuse in political decisions.
Behind the Research | https://medium.com/@researchoutreach/the-european-science-foundation-forging-funding-strategies-and-scientific-connections-e26492a29d50 | ['Research Outreach'] | 2020-12-16 20:02:11.575000+00:00 | ['Coronavirus', 'Europe', 'Esf', 'European Commission', 'Communication'] |
Lessons from leading UX design at a seed-stage startup | Credit to Tim Gouw from Unsplash
I joined HireBeat in May 2020 as their first product designer. Joining a seed-stage company has been quite a challenging journey for me since I’m a new grad student with little industry experience. Life here was like a rollercoaster ride full of changes, mistakes, failures, successes, wins, and of course, learnings. Here are some takeaways and observations that I’ve gained from working in a startup.
Reflections of my 6 months experience ✍🏼
Design is more than just about visual or ease of use. It’s about empowering a business.
Making things look good and work well is not enough. The most crucial part of the design is creating a successful business.
In school, my UX checklist would normally look like this:
✅Design must be visually pleasing and create delightful experiences.
✅Design must help users accomplish the desired task.
After working with the startup, there’s one thing I added to it:
✅Design must help the company meet its business goal.
At an early-stage startup, where every moment is a fight for survival, you will be constantly bombarded with problems with prioritization. Sometimes you will be in situations where you must sacrifice the visuals or less-important functionality. Many great ideas end up becoming nothing due to little time and resources. That’s why it’s important for the designer to have business thinking, to keep in mind the immediate business needs and goals.
Come up with an initiative is important, no matter what level you are currently in.
Being the first designer at an early-stage startup means I have a large amount of freedom. I can own everything design, from product to branding (I even refined the logo). But freedom always coming up with responsibilities. You should never wait to be told what you need to do. Instead, if you see something that you feel you can improve and it meets the business goals or improves the experience, talk to the CEO and other team and add to the plan.
Don’t be afraid of having less right to speak because of your experience level. At first, I felt scared when my CEO doesn’t like my design, however, I found most of the time you do have rational reasons to support your opinion. Believe you are the expert in design especially when you are the only one or two designers in the team. You need to be bold to stand out at the right point.
Most long term plans change
In a fast-growing environment, everything is unstable. Expect company vision, the rest- features, designs, everything can have a big change. I’m the person who prefers to plan things ahead. It bothers me way too much but I know I have to get used to it.
Tips for designing at a startup💡
Be confident but not boiled
As the lead designer (in a design team of 2) with good visual skills, I’m often praised by team members without any design background. For a junior designer, it’s so easy to feel accomplishment and achievement, but it’s much more important to think more about “what works” instead of “what will be liked”.
Get comfortable with “good enough”
Don’t push yourself too hard. Pixel perfect isn’t bad but you need to make a compromise to the timeline. Startups often have strict product launching dates. At some point you must let it go, knowing that there will be subsequent iterations and releases for improving imperfections. Iteration is always on-going!
Always keep everyone informed
Communication is the key to a startup where team members have closer relationships. Remember to document decisions, processes, ideas, findings — everything that is useful, in case of letting anyone behind the update. | https://medium.com/@yolanda-tian/lessons-from-leading-ux-design-at-a-seed-stage-startup-59f6eb912045 | ['Yolanda Tian'] | 2020-12-15 03:10:22.515000+00:00 | ['UX Design', 'Internship Experience', 'Startup Lessons', 'Startup Life'] |
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