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Chris Rock’s Different in ‘Fargo,’ Which Happily Stays the Same | Early in the long-awaited new season of Fargo, which begins in Kansas City in 1950, a prominent Italian businessman is accidentally shot in the neck by a couple of dopey young boys fooling around with quasi-toy guns in the park.
The man’s associates rush him to the nearest hospital, where they tell the nurse who greets them that he needs a doctor now.
The nurse summons the hospital administrator, who tells the men this is a private hospital that does not serve “your kind.” He redirects them to a public hospital several miles away. That hospital, he assures them, will treat anybody.
In a touch lost on these men, but not on viewers, they had moments earlier been bantering about how they were better than black folks.
Not better enough, it turns out, to transcend being scorned by the “white” establishment as dirty Italians.
The fourth season of Fargo, which premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on FX, subtly and not so subtly expands on that point: America has always been way more about ethnic, social and class standing than we prefer to think.
With the fruits of the civil rights era still a few years down the line, Kansas City in 1950 remains a Southern town, with white and black as separate as law and custom can keep them.
Chris Rock, not joking.
So it’s a bold move when Loy Cannon (Chris Rock) and some of his black friends come into town looking to get a piece of the illegal action controlled by the Italian mob, which a few years earlier had seized control by gunning down the Irish mob.
Creator/writer/director Noah Hawley underscores the significance of the racial element by inserting a narrator: Ethelrida Pearl Smutney (Emyri Crutchfield), the 16-year-old daughter of a mixed marriage.
Her father Thurman (Andrew Bird) runs the King of Tears funeral home, where he handles the white funerals and his wife handles the black funerals.
Pearl is a smart student who is routinely punished by her school’s white administrators for being smart, which they see as uppity. Specifically, she is beaten with a wooden paddle, which she accepts because that’s just the way it is in Kansas City in 1950.
Emyri Crutchfield as Ethylrida Pearl Smutney.
Arriving home one afternoon as a white funeral is wrapping up, Pearl runs into a sobbing woman named Oraetta Mayflower (Jessie Buckley).
While that encounter passes quickly, with an odd note of discomfort, we soon meet Miss Mayflower again. She turns out to be a nurse at the public hospital to which the Italian man is finally taken.
Small world, eh?
And soon, like so many Fargo characters past and present, Miss Mayflower turns out to have a dark side.
Jessie Buckley as Nurse Mayflower.
Along with the dueling male mobs, she sends Fargo where we expect it to go, into territory that is deeply disturbing, darkly comic and uniquely stylized.
If Hawley has taken Fargo some distance from the original Coen brothers movie, he has kept its tone. It’s still not quite like anything else.
The shows revolves primarily around the mob competition, with a small army of interesting and quirky characters on both sides. Fargo remains very much an ensemble show even as Rock’s Cannon becomes the character through which much of the action flows.
That group effort serves the drama well and enables Rock to blend into the story without having viewers constantly think, “Wow, that’s Chris Rock the comedian. I’ve never seen him like this before.”
Past TV seasons of Fargo, perhaps a bit more than the movie, have slipped in some social commentary. Hawley creates outsiders, and whatever their morality and demons, he reminds us that the American power structure likes to keep outsiders outside.
Like past Fargo seasons, this one has a great look. It’s not the bleak North Dakota and Minnesota winters, but there’s snow on the ground and Kansas City looks like it’s been washed with sepia tones. Don’t expect a lot of sunshine.
Hawley still employs some visual gimmicks, like split screens and printed on-screen character IDs. They’re harmless, a familiar part of the stylizing.
The third season of Fargo ended up taking a different direction from the first two, finishing on a note of disturbing ambivalence. A Fargo ending has always mattered less than the ride, however, and this latest journey starts out on course. | https://dhinckley.medium.com/chris-rocks-different-in-fargo-which-happily-stays-the-same-abfed2667b60 | ['David Hinckley'] | 2020-09-27 05:34:59.607000+00:00 | ['Jessie Buckley', 'Race Relations', 'Fargo', 'Noah Hawley', 'Chris Rock'] |
How Switching From AA To TSM Cured My Drinking Problem | How Switching From AA To TSM Cured My Drinking Problem
By David Belenky
Photo by Caleb Jones on Unsplash
I’ve always been an anxious person. Never one to handle stress well, I get easily overwhelmed, and when someone tells me to “take a deep breath,” I immediately go into an arresting state of panic. I am also a desperate people-pleaser. I want so badly for people to tell me that I’m ‘good’ or ‘special’ enough to justify a spot on this planet. Coupled with some wicked genetics, there was no way that Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) wasn’t going to dig its claws into me.
Most people that share all these varying qualities find alcohol to be a great relief. I will never forget when I finally hit my first genuine buzz from a bottle of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill. It not only relaxed me and quieted my ADHD brain, it also gave me the courage I needed to navigate my way through the most challenging social situations. I truly believed that it was the answer to all my struggles.
My love affair with alcohol started innocently in my early twenties. Once I found it, I always knew that the best of adventures awaited me every time I cracked open the bottle. Once I got into early recovery in an abstinence program, I was shocked how much I had in common with other people with alcohol issues. The stories varied, but the common theme that seemed to run through us all like sweet bourbon was that we just didn’t feel comfortable in our skin. Or, as someone else put it, didn’t feel like we ever had skin at all.
A problem with being a people-pleaser is that we don’t want anyone to see us tumble. I made sure that I never dared do anything embarrassing or obvious enough to broadcast my struggles to the world. What would people say? So, though I knew I had a problem with alcohol, I just didn’t have the wreckage to back up the need to make a change. And, as a result, I didn’t — for almost twenty years.
The problem for me was that, not only was my drinking becoming more interesting than my sober life, my sober days were becoming fewer and further between. Also, I learned the hard way that pouring copious amounts of wine on antidepressants not only makes you more depressed and anxious, but can also cause crippling panic attacks that send you to the hospital. It became clear to me that my body and spirit were staging an intervention.
So, being a genuinely terrified person, I threw myself into the most popular abstinence program in the world. My friends and family were shocked. I’d been quite successful in hiding most of my binge drinking, and most of them thought I was a pleasant drinker. They did not know that inside my head, I was just scared and desperate. I had reached a crossroads where my life was filled with too many hangovers, and I was worried nothing special would ever happen to me. I needed to make a change.
My Time With the Program: Why It Worked, and Why It Didn’t
Though I was legitimately freaked out, I kept an open mind in this popular abstinence program. Not uncommon to those entering this new environment for the first time, however, I was overtaken by a sense of rage. It wasn’t that I didn’t identify with a lot of what I heard; it’s just that I couldn’t believe this was an issue I was going to have to battle one day at a time for the rest of my life. Sometimes I drank too much. But sometimes, I didn’t. I wasn’t always powerless. By the way, in the program and in life, that’s called denial. But it was also the truth.
I realized early on, despite the well-intentions of the curriculum and its fellowship, something was amiss. The admission I kept from my brethren was that I didn’t want a new program to replace the old program. Also, despite my penchant for binge drinking, I didn’t believe I had a shortage of spiritualism, or that I owed the world a massive apology for my behavior. As a Reformed Jew, I believe in self-reflection and the occasional atonement. I didn’t feel this was a major reason why I struggled with drinking. However, committed to making the program work, I tucked all these objections away. For two and a half years, I did what I was told.
But although the chips and cakes came in abundance, there was never a ‘pink cloud’ for this once joyful person. Being the willful person I am, I stayed sober. Admittedly, I was scared. I didn’t want to die, and the little I knew about AUD led me to think this was the only option I had. But when asked how I was doing in my new recovery, my most shameful secret was that, despite all the good intentions and support being offered me, this wasn’t working. I was more miserable than I was before walking in the door.
I did have a fabulous sponsor who tried everything he could to convince me of this path. But deep down, I knew I needed more than ‘fellowship’ to be free of this affliction. I confessed to him that I felt I had no agency over my beliefs. Everything I said or did to question the program was my ‘alcoholic brain’ talking, trying to prevent me from giving myself over to this simple program. One member even suggested that more service to others would alleviate this ‘stinking thinking.’
More problematic, I still craved alcohol. No amount of prayers or meetings could take away the constant cloying need to drink and calm my mind. And worse, the longer I abstained, the worse my cravings got. Only later did I learn that what I was experiencing was a common part of recovery: It’s called the Alcohol Deprivation Effect. In layman’s terms, the longer you abstain from alcohol, the more you want it. I could understand why so many long-term ‘sober alcoholics’ find themselves in a full-blown binge after slipping up and having one drink, and I found the prospect frightening and exhausting.
Visiting my family, my mother inquired about my sobriety. I couldn’t lie to her. I told her that, although things seemed better on the surface, I just wished I wasn’t here on this planet anymore. I broke down and sobbed. In my first actual intervention, she put her arms around me and said, “We need to find another option for you. There must be another way.” She told me, “This is anguish. This isn’t living.”
Finding Another Solution
Photo by Teigan Rodger on Unsplash
Around that same time, I came across Claudia Christian’s documentary, One Little Pill. In it, she describes how she overcame her alcohol addiction through something called the Sinclair Method (TSM). Rather than quitting immediately, she continued to drink while taking the medication naltrexone, gradually rewiring her brain to stop craving alcohol until reaching a state called “extinction” — a total lack of interest in drinking.
I was intrigued but highly skeptical. Who wouldn’t be? Engaging in a given behavior to undo that very same behavior seemed not only counterintuitive, but just plain bonkers. This recovery method was incongruous to everything I’d been taught about people’s relationship with alcohol. But I needed to find another approach. I discussed this with my parents, and though they weren’t sure either, they thought it would be helpful to consult an addiction specialist.
Back in Los Angeles, fertile land of both vice and recovery, I made an appointment with the Solstice Clinic in Beverly Hills. I met with a very compassionate doctor, told him my history, and asked if what I’d seen regarding naltrexone and the Sinclair Method was valid, or if I’d just fallen into a river of snake oil. He asked me, “Do you think you’re an alcoholic or a problem drinker?”
I was stunned. “What’s the difference?” He sighed, “A lot.” He then began to explain the varying degrees of AUD, and the many different treatment options that were slowly but surely seeing the light of day. Most recovery programs have been operating on a “one-size-fits-all” model, he explained, but what works for some people fundamentally doesn’t work for everybody.
Considering my personal history, the doctor felt a lot of my problems with alcohol were behavior-based. With a combination of anti-craving medication and regular cognitive behavioral therapy, he was optimistic I could outdo the habit. As he handed me the naltrexone prescription, he warned me, “this isn’t a magic pill.” I needed to consider why I put so much stock in drinking, and what I wanted my relationship with alcohol to look like once I really had the choice. But, he concluded, the Sinclair Method was a fast-growing legitimate option, and I was a worthy candidate.
I left his office, freaked-out and confused. I realized I had some serious thinking — or un-thinking — to do. What if it didn’t work? What if I picked up a drink, spiraled into a full-blown binge, and died? It sounds dramatic, but come on, there are dead bodies surrounding this issue! Or, what if it did work? Would everything I learned the last few years have been for naught?
For a month, the prescription collected dust. I knew I had to make a change, but I was paralyzed with fear. I even talked to my sponsor about it. With twenty years of sobriety in the program under his belt, I half expected him to tell me I was nuts for even considering TSM. But he surprised me. “Well, what if this does work?” he said sheepishly. “Our literature does proclaim, ‘science may one day find a cure…’.” He told me that, regardless of how things turned out, he wanted to be the first person I called if anything happened and I wanted to return.
So, I filled the prescription. I told my friends and my family about my new plan. You never unsee the sight of someone you care about looking back at you, eyes glazed over like you’ve lost your mind. But I had to go forward. One otherwise ordinary Tuesday evening, I popped the pill, waited an hour, and poured myself a glass of cheap Rosé.
Trying TSM: Drinking to Quit Drinking?
As I brought the wine glass to my lips, I was petrified. I took a few sips and after a couple of uneventful minutes, poured the rest down the drain. It just didn’t do what I needed it to do. But this was also the first time, and I’m sure my will to want TSM to succeed kept me out of the red zone that night.
I held off for a week and drank again. It felt like riding a bike — this time without air in the tires. But, I peddled on. And I got drunk. The following day, I had such a terrible hangover. I couldn’t believe I was back here again.
The next few months were probably the most challenging period in my life. Though my friends in my former program didn’t shun me, a feeling of failure, so profound, overcame my emotions. I was no longer on the “righteous path.” Death was waiting for me just around the corner. I had gone out. I had let go. The terms and phrases I had absorbed in the program were burned into my mind, and the mental gymnastics involved were daunting. I was scared, and I felt like a fool.
My addiction specialist encouraged me to stay the course. “Since it took you almost half your life to learn how to become a problem drinker,” he said, “it’s going to take you a bit of time to unlearn this behavior.” I thought he was nuts. I thought I was nuts. But although it certainly didn’t feel courageous at the time, I knew I had to see this through.
So I kept marching on. For months, as I continued drinking on naltrexone, I couldn’t really gauge if it was working. Yes, drinking felt different, but there were times where if I wanted to get drunk, I could push through and get drunk.
It wasn’t until the fifth month when I had my first TSM revelation: I suddenly realized that drinking didn’t give me what I needed anymore.
When people drink to excess, they’re often just looking to blot out or obliterate their consciousness. That’s the sweet spot. And for me, drinking on naltrexone, that “sweet spot” increasingly just wasn’t there. Instead, not drinking felt way more satisfying. And what was extraordinary about this revelation was that, given the option to drink, I actually just didn’t want to. The longing had disappeared.
I increasingly found myself able to pause, and think through whether or not I really wanted that drink. And more and more, I was finding it easy to justify not picking up that glass. After all of those years memorizing theory and repeating sayings, I had finally found a way to brainwash myself into not wanting alcohol.
Sticking With TSM, Long-Term
Photo by Anna Claire Schellenberg on Unsplash
Three years later, in total compliance with TSM, I can say I’ve reached a new catharsis. Having fixed the chemical and biological aspects of my drinking in the first year, I spent the next two years uncovering the underlying issues behind why I used alcohol the way I did. I’ve explored cognitive behavioral therapy, yoga, and meditation to varying degrees of success. It isn’t always a walk in the park, but I’m finding that working through these issues is much easier now that my obsession with alcohol is off the table.
People want to know all the time, “how’s your drinking?” I tell them that on occasion I do still imbibe, but it no longer has the power it once had over me. A malaise of ambivalence to drinking and all that goes with it has settled in my mind, and I know this is the medication at work.
I’m often asked, “if you’re not getting what you want from alcohol, don’t you think you’ll eventually stop taking the pill?” Not take the pill? Not on your life. If I was diagnosed with diabetes and had to treat it with insulin, do you think I’d experiment with not taking it? I do not know if I will ever stop drinking completely, but I know I will never drink again without naltrexone. I know what that life looks like, and it’s just not a place I ever want to go back to.
Truthfully, when people have success on TSM, they get their lives back and then disappear — that’s the nature of the game. There’s no attending meetings for the rest of your life, or permanently identifying as an alcoholic, and for many of us that’s a great relief.
But I do want others to have some access to my experience. Because for me, it wasn’t just unlearning my drinking behavior through TSM that was a revelation. The process of transitioning from regular recovery to medication treatment was one of the most profoundly challenging things I’ve ever done. It was confusing, frightening, and I’ve never felt so alone in my life. I always wished I had someone who had gone through what I was going through to identify with.
What I want people to know is that moving from a traditional program to TSM was in no way easy for me. But over time it’s become clearer how much the process was really about gaining control over my life. Like anyone in or around recovery, I want to make myself better, healthier, and live a life that is fulfilling. While I’m still unpacking the whole thing, it really seems like the ability to make choices and feel in charge of my own path has been crucial in moving forward, and feeling more comfortable in my skin.
When I first left the program, I often felt like everyone was going to see me as weak or a failure. But, more and more, I’m open to the possibility that what I did was not weak at all. That finding another path was, in fact, courageous. | https://medium.com/@riahealth/how-switching-to-alternative-recovery-helped-me-change-my-drinking-da9c6cfdd2c5 | ['Ria Health'] | 2021-06-16 11:44:54.271000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Alcoholism', 'Addiction Recovery', 'Sobriety', 'Drinking Problems'] |
Bodies | I’m used for mine. My body is looked at as a fuck boy playground. My ass is “so damn hot”, “she’s so fuckable”, “damn… she’s thiccc”. I am more than my body. When I was younger, I was the super smart, organized, funny kid. Now I’m hot. I’m no longer a person, just an object. | https://medium.com/@morrichter06/bodies-ec4186cfd728 | ['Morgan Richter'] | 2020-12-21 04:03:24.730000+00:00 | ['Body', 'Used', 'Tits', 'Ass', 'Butt'] |
Journey of social media influencer, blogger & sports enthusiast:Kabaddi Ashish chaurasiya | Ashish chaurasiya is a social media influencer, blogger and sports enthusiast:kabaddi. who manages the social media marketing and digital marketing of many people and other sports players from Mumbai.he is a member of Kabaddi club in mumbai.His Instagram username is @iashish04 he is very active on every social media platforms.
He learnt the art of managing social media pages the best making him competent to help people in their online branding.Ashish chaurasiya was born on 4th November 1999 in mumbai His parents – Chandrika chaurasiya and pramila chaurasiya are from a middle-class family and like any other parents wished their son to make them proud with his achievements.
The life of Ashish chaurasiya has been phenomenal when it comes to social media influencers. He has made many people in shaping up their social media profiles thus helping them grow digitally and making their business grow. Ashish chaurasiya has worked with many individuals and business groups helping them grow their social media lives the best. Some of his high profile clients players of kabaddi,Kabaddi clubs,local business group and brands and many more...
He has remained the part of many social media campaigns for brands and celebs who hail from the sports category and creative world.
Social Work
He is also engaged in social activities like helping NGOs and groups willing to contribute to society with different social media campaigns. He has helped to raise funds for various causes in his hometown and Mumbai and has remained in the forefront to drive the campaign the best on various social issues. | https://medium.com/@ashish04/journey-of-social-media-influencer-blogger-sports-enthusiast-kabaddi-ashish-chaurasiya-6413dae8c61d | [] | 2021-01-11 07:48:12.824000+00:00 | ['Ashish', 'Kabaddi', 'Blogger', 'Influencers', 'Ashishchaurasiya'] |
The One and Only Reason People Choose Not to Follow Jesus | Perhaps the most famous conversation in the Bible is the one Jesus had with the Pharisee, Nicodemus, as recorded by the Apostle John. We can assume that John witnessed this exchange, and he recorded it exactly as it happened.
Nicodemus was a teacher of the law and a learned man. John said this discussion happened at night, probably because Nicodemus had his reputation to protect since Jesus was a controversial figure among the Jewish leaders.
The key passage I want to consider starts with the verse that almost everyone can quote. But it’s important to read and evaluate this verse in a more complete context. Jesus said:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. (John 3:16–21, ESV)
Allow me to extract from Christ’s words above these important points:
There are two groups of people in the world…those who will perish and those who will have eternal life. It’s one or the other. There is no third rail.
Believing in Jesus is the factor that makes the difference. Jesus came into the world to save those who would believe in Him. Believe in Jesus and gain eternal life. Reject Jesus and perish.
What does it mean to “believe” in Him? To believe in Jesus is to agree that He is the “light,” that He is “the way, and the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6, ESV) Those who believe in Jesus demonstrate their belief by hating wickedness and striving to follow Jesus’ commands.
You can’t love wickedness yet claim that you believe in Jesus. The two are not compatible. If you continue delighting in the things of darkness, you aren’t truly a believer. To believe is to follow.
So, there it is. The one reason people choose not to follow Jesus is because they do not agree with Jesus’ standards. They look at the commands of God, and they judge their standards to be higher or more important than God’s standards as taught by Jesus and His Apostles.
People choose not to follow Jesus because they prefer their lifestyle over the lifestyle Jesus exemplifies.
It really is that simple. Tragically simple.
Eternal life
To believe in Jesus, to follow Jesus, is eternal life. How horrible is it that people reject Him because they love their sin, they love the darkness, to the point that they are choosing an eternity of misery for a few short years of pleasure in this life?
What’s even more tragic is the fact that, more often than not, this sin does not deliver the joy that it seems to promise. Dark choices in this life result in trouble and misery now, and they will lead to an eternity of agony that goes on forever, and ever, and ever when this life is over.
Dear one, consider your life. Does your sin really bring you that much pleasure? Is it worth an eternity in hell?
Jesus offers an abundant life now, even in the midst of hardship
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10, ESV)
You might make excuses, saying “There’s no convincing proof that Jesus rose from the dead.” or “Christians can be such hypocrites.” or “I don’t want to go to church.” Those are feeble arguments to avoid making the choice to become a follower.
Making statements like this just proves you love the darkness rather than the light.
If you hear His voice, become a believer. Become a follower. Jesus said: | https://medium.com/koinonia/the-one-and-only-reason-people-choose-not-to-follow-jesus-6edebd724380 | ['Mark Thogmartin'] | 2020-09-12 16:36:45.235000+00:00 | ['Christianity', 'Belief', 'Jesus Christ', 'Choices', 'Eternal Life'] |
Best Smartphone Under 15000 | Each and every individual who utilizes a smartphone needs a decent modest smartphone. That is the reason there is an acceptable rivalry between various organizations. By doing this, organizations lessen the costs of their smartphone and add numerous beneficial things. By doing this we can purchase numerous great mobiles at low costs.
Numerous new mobiles have turned out in the market now. Which is considerably more remarkable in value, force, and execution.
Monetary status consistently assumes a significant job when purchasing a smartphone. As of now, the cost of a smartphone is extremely low contrasted with quality. Here are the best 5 smartphones available for purchasers2020.
5. Xiaomi Redmi 7
Xiaomi Redmi 7 runs at a passage level cost. The smartphone has a decent cost on the rear of the double camera, Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 processor, 4000mAh battery, 10W quick charger, unique mark in the backside, 6.26 inches IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen show. For all its fascinating highlights it was a mainstream smartphone of the time. Yet, it is as yet a decent cell phone. After the Xiaomi Redmi 6 arrangement, Xiaomi 7 arrangement cell phone came and its initial 7 arrangement smartphone is Xiaomi Redmi 7. The individuals who need to purchase a Xiaomi smartphone can purchase this smartphone.
The Redmi 7 uses a 6.26 inches IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen show with (720x1520 pixels goal) proportion of 19.9 and a Corning Gorilla Glass V3 show. The Redmi 7 has a 12MP + 2MP double essential camera with a LED streak and an 8MP selfie camera. One has a 1080 p goal and @ 30fps for recording video.
Xiaomi Redmi 7 smartphone upholds Android 9.0 (Pie). The processor in this smartphone is Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 (14 nm) Chipset with 2GB and 3GB RAM and 1.8GHz Octa-center processor. It has Adreno 506 GPU which can give a decent encounter for every single weighty client. The gadget has the choice of 16GB and 32GB inbuilt stockpiling, both with expanded space nano microSD cards (up to 256GB) with committed openings. Xiaomi Redmi 7 is selling three-guard tones in Lunar Red, Eclipse Black, and Comet Blue.
This smartphone has a Non-Removable Li-Poly (Lithium Polymer) 4000mAH battery which gives a dependable fulfillment at this cost and its value range is restricted. Alternatives accessible on the Redmi 7 incorporate Wi-Fi, Mobile Hotspot, Bluetooth, GPS with A-GPU, Mass storing device, USB charging, 4G Network, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
4. Realme C3
Another smartphone delivered by Realme is the C3 with heaps of new gadgets added to it. The smartphone bolsters the Android 10.0 working framework. It utilizes a 6.5 ″ inch IPS LCD show with a screen goal (720 x 1560 pixels) and furthermore has a 19.5: 9 perspective proportion and a thickness of 264PPI. The telephone has a 12MP + 2MP double essential camera with LED streak and a 5MP selfie camera. You get 1080p goal and @ 30fps for video recording here. Realme C3 has 4GB RAM and 64GB inbuilt stockpiling like RAM.
The processor in the smartphone is a (2 × 2.0 GHz Cortex-A75 and 6 × 1.7 GHz Cortex-A55) Gold Octa-center processor with Mediatek Helio G70 (12 nm) chipset. Availability choices incorporate 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, miniature USB, WiFi Direct, double band, hotspot and that’s just the beginning. The smartphone additionally has a removable Li-Poly (Lithium Polymer) 5,000mAh battery that can charge the smartphone rapidly.
Read more… | https://medium.com/@sagor0175297/best-smartphone-under-15000-a10cffdb3323 | ['Md Sagor'] | 2020-12-22 06:50:06.436000+00:00 | ['Best Smartphones In India', 'Best Smartphone 2020', 'Best Smartphone', 'Smartphones', 'Best Smartphone Under'] |
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Simplifying Dependency Injection and IoC Concepts using TypeScript | But first, let us set the table straight. If you have noticed any top class restaurant’s kitchen operation then you will find this article’s motivation a bit similar. In a restaurant, each Station Chef is responsible for running a specific section of the kitchen and they are being managed directly by the Head Chef or by the second-in-command Sous Chef. Station chefs can be in charge of different things respectively. A list of station chefs includes but is not limited to butcher chef, fish chef, grill chef, pantry chef, etc.
Whenever one order comes to the kitchen via a Caller, the Sous Chef simply doesn’t start preparing it all by himself. He runs down what are the things he needs to deliver, and start instructing them accordingly to each Station Chef. He expects they would handover their prepared items on a common table, where the entire dish can then be prepared or garnished for serving. This is an important takeaway that we will soon find out in this article but before that here is a rundown of the topics you will get introduced in this article.
- Dependency Injection
- Dependency Inversion Principle
- Inversion of Control
- Inversion of Control Container
- TypeScript Interfaces
- Decorator Functions
- Reflection APIs
- TypeScript IoC
Problem Statement
Let’s present a problem we are going to recreate and solve, called “Pizza making chronicles”.
I made this comic strip using Pixton. It is a cool app, do check out!
Pizza making got several dependencies to start with. Ignoring cheese and toppings (even sauce) for simplicity, we can see that pizza needs dough and dough needs flour and yeast. Flour and Yeast need water. Water needs salt. Here is a directed graph diagram that roughly shows these dependencies:
The blue line shows the dependencies of dough.
Dependency Injection
Pizza needs dough to start with. Let’s see how does that look in a typical code base.
Soon we figure out that this Dough class is also required for making bread, so its redundant to allow both Pizza and Bread to be in charge of Dough all by themselves. So let’s delegate the creation of Dough to someone else. We inject the dependency Dough in Pizza constructor, an example of the most famous constructor based Dependency Injection.
However, we passed a concrete implementation of Dough in Pizza, called DoughEntity . But customers might order different types of dough for different pizzas later.
Dependency Inversion Principle
Since dependency implementations can be swapped easily as they are injected during runtime, we rather inject an interface, like IDough so that we can later swap it with any concrete implementation of IDough , i.e DoughEntity like SourdoughDough , BriocheDough , ChallahDough , FocacciaDough etc.
You can read more about the benefits of having interface defining an action and other classes implementing the interface in another article of mine:
With dependency injections, we ensured that the chef making pizza can’t make its own dough, and with dependency inversion principle we ensured that different kinds of dough can now be used for making pizza. Same goes for dough maker. Dough maker doesn’t decide which flour and what kind of flour it will use rather it is handed to him by someone else in the charge of the pantry.
There is a slight problem with this pattern in applications. This might lead to a nested and complicated dependency graph because we keep manually initiating the dependencies and pass them up to the ones who need it. So what to do?
Inversion of Control
In software engineering, inversion of control (IoC) is a programming principle. IoC inverts the flow of control as compared to traditional control flow. In IoC, custom-written portions of a computer program receive the flow of control from a generic framework.
Dependency Injection so far looked like this: The Caller needs a pizza and announces it in the kitchen. Pizza Chef doesn’t make the dough himself, he asks it from the dough maker.
But imagine the dough maker now says, “Don’t ask me for the dough, I will keep my dough on a table when I am done myself.”
There is a Hollywood Principle, which states:
“Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You”
This is what inversion of control looks like. The Pizza Chef doesn’t directly gets the dough from the dough maker, rather he will get if from an external place without him having a knowledge of who or when it was exactly kept there.
Inversion of Control Container
So finally we have a kitchen table which contains the prepared items. Pizza chef takes everything from there when he needs it and starts making pizza. A programming container also behaves as such, which typically bind interfaces to implementations and serves them as dependencies when someone needs it. It will look something like this in the code.
Now let’s code the talk using TypeScript. The demo code is a NodeJS application build using Express framework. We will be using InversifyJS, an IoC container for TypeScript, in this project. Here are the dependencies used:
I used lightweight InversifyJS to simply demonstrate how containers work in applications, and then it will be easier for us to understand how frameworks like Angular or Laravel uses DI and IoCs. You can check out the entire repository here:
TypeScript Interfaces
Let us create an interface called Dough . I don’t like using IDough naming, so would name dough as Dough for the rest of the code.
We usually want to code using interfaces so that we have better consistency across classes, but in the generated JavaScript, we do not have any references for it. It is simply non-existent. So how can we use Dependency Injection in TypeScript?
Decorator Functions
Frameworks like Angular and NestJS use decorators, so to tell its own DI mechanism what are the dependencies other classes require and and how to initialise them.
These decorator functions basically add metadata to our classes. The metadata are used to gain information about what dependencies it needs during runtime and thus helps in resolving them.
In Inversify, whenever a class (it will always have @injectable decorators on them) have a dependency on an interface, we use the @inject decorator to define an identifier for the interface that will be available at runtime.
Reflection APIs
Reflection allows inspection and modification of a code base, including its own. Unlike JavaScript, TypeScript does support experimental reflection features, though few in number. Using metadata reflection API we can standardize how we achieve details of unknown objects during runtime.
For the class Pizza , when DoughEntity dependency is called, the Injectable Decorator adds a metadata entry for the property using the Reflect.metadata function from the reflect-metadata library, which gives us a array of dependencies that the class requires. It under the hood presents us with the right information about DoughEntity being a dependency for Pizza .
Here is a simplified example of the metadata generated when we pass a concrete implementation. You can find this behaviour in NodeJS frameworks like NestJS, and its decorator usage .
We can see that the metadata points to exact DoughEntity . But what if we injected Dough interface?
When the code transpiles to JavaScript, we get metadata as an Object , with no way for us to say which specific object it is. We need to do something to uniquely identify them so that during runtime the proper class is resolved.
In our demo code after having coded in the interfaces, we type-hint our real classes instead of interfaces. We use Symbol to allow identification of Dough interface with “Dough” .
Let’s create a concrete implementation of Dough now and call it DoughEntity . Here you can see, we mentioned the class as injectable using @injectable decorator, and passed in interfaces in the constructor with @inject decorator so to define the identifiers.
Now we create a container that binds the interfaces to their implementations such that if Dough types are called, we get concrete implementation of DoughEntity .
We create the Pizza class as following:
Before we do the rest of the code, here is a peek in to the future for better understanding. Since we are using decorators and reflection API, if we see the generated JavaScript code of pizza.class.ts by setting “emitDecoratorMetadata”: true in tsconfig.json , we could see that the Object we get in metadata will be of type Types.Dough .
And the generated JavaScript code of dough.entity.ts would look like this, where param orders tell us about DoughEntity dependencies:
It surely seems that the decorators and reflection API have done its part in figuring out the dependency.
And now the moment of truth, let’s resolve a dependency here in the main.ts file and see it in action.
If we run the application and open the console, we can see the following output telling us the Dependency Injection worked using the IoC container.
Salt gets initiated first. Water , Flour , Yeast and finally Dough classes were successfully resolved and finally got injected into the Pizza class.
Conclusion:
Photo by David Cain on Unsplash
There is a reason why good kitchens operate similar to this. A real chef can vouch about it more than me for sure. They can truly deliver the best when each of the chefs has singular, separate responsibilities, each knowing exactly what, where and when to contribute in making a perfect dish for the restaurant-goers, with someone managing it, who is however not directly being involved in any of the process details.
I am really impressed with the DIs and IoCs of Laravel, Angular and NestJS. It has really made both the backend and frontend code much more manageable, reusable and testable with time. The key concepts are the same in all the frameworks and are rightly so. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter (@saadbinamjad), and you can check some other articles posted by me in our Engineering Blog. If you want to read more on some diversified topics, please check out our company blog.
Thanks, till then happy coding! | https://medium.com/monstar-lab-bangladesh-engineering/simplifying-dependency-injection-and-ioc-concepts-using-typescript-b70643f71c91 | ['Saad Bin Amjad'] | 2019-10-05 13:20:30.861000+00:00 | ['Design Patterns', 'Inversion Of Control', 'Typescript', 'Dependency Injection', 'Software Engineering'] |
The Internet as an Equalizer | The Internet as an Equalizer
I don’t have a drawing of the cartoon otherwise I would share it. But in the cartoon, there is a dog sitting in front of a desktop computer and the dog is talking to a cat that is seated right next to him. The dog says to the cat: “On the Internet, they don’t know you’re a dog!”
That cartoon cracked me up! But for the most part. it’s true.
When I first started working online (over 10 years ago) I used a tool called Cartoon Yourself. I think. It’s been a while so I don’t remember the exact name and nowadays if you Google that term, several different products pop up in the results. But anyway! It was free to try and I created a cartoon of myself, which really doesn’t look like me. But I have been using it as my avatar for years. The only reason I created it was because my late husband told me not to use a real picture of myself and his reason was … Hold on! Wait for it! … “Nobody wants to do business with an old lady!”
I did NOT agree with him. But just in case he was right and since I was just starting out, I figured: “I see other people using avatars. Maybe that’s why. So I’ll use one too!”
As time went on I finally got brave enough to put my real face out there. Actually, that’s another story too. What happened was my son got married and the photographer provided him with digital photos as well as the traditional wedding photographs. One of the photos was of me and my husband. My husband did not want his face on the Internet. So I cropped the photo and cut him off. That’s the real photo that I’ve been using, along with my avatar. So now … folks KNOW … I’m an old black lady! And if they have a problem with that … SCREW ‘EM!!
Contrary to what my husband said, for the type of work that I do online … affiliate marketing, article writing, blogging, miscellaneous stuff that earns cryptocurrency … my age, my ethnicity, etc. does not really have an impact.
Why am I bringing this up? Well because, to go back to the dog cartoon, on the Internet, people really don’t know WHO YOU ARE!!
Working on the Internet I have made friends with a lot of online entrepreneurs and work-at-home professionals and it is amazing what some of these people are going through.
I have two friends that had brain cancer. One passed away recently but the other one is still pushing forward. Yet when you read her social media updates or her articles or her blog or view her Zazzle products, you don’t even realize that this person is sick.
I have other friends who are handicapped … they have a debilitating illness … etc. The only reason I discovered they had ailments was that during a friendly conversation they mentioned it.
I had a friend who writes the most interesting articles that I have ever read, She’s a qualified historian with an advanced degree and she’s deaf! All the time I was talking … or rather typing to her online … I never realized she couldn’t hear! And we had really long conversations!
Last but not least, another friend told me that she didn’t realize I was an African-American. She said that based on chatting with me, she had a completely different picture of me in her mind.
This is the year 2020 A.D. By now, people should have figured out that there are other people who live in the same world who are totally different from them but also totally the same.
Everywhere you go … what do you find? You find a family unit, you find people living together in a community and getting along. Who told them to do that? It’s not like they watched you and followed your example. They are people who exist in remote parts of the world and they aren’t even on the map! They get discovered accidentally by some foreigner, an outsider … who … (???) … probably wasn’t even looking for them!
Why am I saying all this? Because … DISCRIMINATION IS AN UGLY THING!!
It doesn’t really serve a constructive purpose in our society … in our culture … IN OUR WORLD.
And I think we should all Thank the Lord for the Internet!
You could be handicapped, bedridden, deaf, etc. It doesn’t matter where you live or where you are from. Your age doesn’t even matter. That’s why there are so many wealthy child entrepreneurs who made their fortunes via the Internet.
If you have Internet access you can work, do business around the world, and be successful. You can accomplish many things before people even realize that they were supposed to be discriminating against you and holding you back!
The Internet, though it probably wasn’t planned that way, serves as an excellent EQUALIZER.
Of course, now we have the problem of governments trying to BLOCK people’s access to the Internet for fear their citizens might become AWARE! They might become tolerant, open-minded, independent thinkers.
Some human beings can always make a problem where there is none. Can’t they?
That’s why some people argue that Internet access should be a RIGHT! I don’t think it’s necessarily a human right. But it sure is a good thing to have access to! However, if it takes this kind of argument to fight against discrimination, to aid and uplift those who are impoverished or disadvantaged, and make this world a better place, I’ll side with those who are fighting for this. I mean … by my logic … and I believe the logic is universal … we all have the right to be treated as equals.
So what is your opinion or perspective?
Do you think access to the Internet is a human right?
* * *
Interesting Articles:
Is Internet Access A Human Right? | Amnesty International (Jan 2012)
UN says internet access is a human right | Business Insider (Jul 2016)
Why Internet Access Is a Human Right — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Jun 2017)
The Case for Internet Access as a Human Right | Vice “A new study says internet access shouldn’t be an exploitable luxury good, but a basic, protected human right provided for free to those who can’t afford it.” (Nov 2019) | https://medium.com/express-yourself/the-internet-as-an-equalizer-20f446bfa1cd | ['Treathyl Fox'] | 2020-11-12 15:12:18.599000+00:00 | ['Human Rights', 'Society And Culture', 'Discrimination', 'Internet', 'Equality'] |
NewPath Learnings’ Write-On, Wipe-Off Activities Make Learning Fun! | It’s never been this easy and exciting to learn! With activities that build comprehension through hands-on interaction, reusable Write-On, Wipe-Off Activities provide endless hours of learning fun.
Not just that, NewPath Learnings’ Early Learners Write-On, Wipe-Off Activities reinforce fundamental skills with brightly-colored exercises created to make learning feel like a game. And they're reusable, so kids can return to them as often as they want!
Here are a few examples of how these activities make learning more enjoyable for your child.
They Make Learning Fun
The Write-On, Wipe-Off Activities pique children’s interest in learning numbers and letters with their appealing images and text. Traceable rocket ships and soccer balls will be displayed alongside word-tracing exercises, as well as Dalmatians and penguins that will teach your child how to count.
It Is Not Restricted to A Specific Age Group
If your child is having difficulty writing letters or numbers, it can be difficult to find books that will help them practice without having age bands adorned on the covers.
With the Write-On, Wipe-Off Activities, your child will not feel “too old” or “too young” to practice the skill-building exercises inside. They allow kids to practice writing and counting in a stress-free environment, whether they are in preschool or first grade.
They are designed to withstand years of use
There’s no need to replace these resources after just one use because the write-and-wipe format ensures they’ll stay on the shelf for years and can be used by future students as well. Kids can simply wipe to erase all marks made and redo the learning exercises, focusing on the ones that need work!
Write-On, Wipe-Off Activities help build student confidence as they practice essential curriculum skills. Kids love that they can draw all over these books, and teachers and parents love that the Write-On, Wipe-Off format allows kids write over and over again and again.
So, what are you waiting for? Make learning fun this summer by providing your children with activities that they can use for quiet time again and again!
Shop the most popular Write-On, Wipe-Off Activities right here! All Flip Charts and related materials can be found at https://www.newpathlearning.com/ | https://medium.com/@newpathlearning/newpath-learnings-write-on-wipe-off-activities-make-learning-fun-7d2bbcfddd1d | ['Newpath Learning'] | 2021-06-17 12:28:41.120000+00:00 | ['Online Learning'] |
“The Grind” | by Ange Mlinko
Three mini ciabattini for breakfast
where demand for persnickety bread
is small, hence its expense, hence my steadfast
recalculation of my overhead,
which soars, and as you might expect
the ciabattini stand in for my fantasy
of myself in a sea-limned prospect,
on a terrace, with a lemon tree…
Not: Assessed a fee for rent sent a day late.
Not: Fines accrued for a lost library book.
Better never lose track of the date.
Oversleep, and you’re on the hook.
It’s the margin for error: shrinking.
It’s life ground down to recurrence.
It’s fewer books read for the thinking
the hospital didn’t rebill the insurance;
the school misplaced the kids’ paperwork.
Here’s our sweet pup, a rescue
which we nonetheless paid for, and look:
he gets more grooming than I do.
When I turn my hand mill, I think of the dowager
who ground gems on ham for her guests;
the queen who ground out two cups of flour
on the pregnant abdomen of her husband’s mistress;
I think of a “great rock-eating bird”
grinding out a sandy beach,
the foam said to be particulate matter
of minute crustaceans, each
brilliantly spooning up Aphrodite
to Greek porticoes, and our potatoes,
and plain living which might be
shaken by infinitesimal tattoos.
— Poetry, September 2012
Ange Mlinko is the author of three books, “Shoulder Season” (Coffee House Press, 2010), “Starred Wire” (Coffee House Press, 2005), which was a National Poetry Series winner in 2004 and a finalist for the James Laughlin Award, and “Matinees” (Zoland Books, 1999). | https://medium.com/the-hairpin/the-grind-91499add3e61 | ['The Hairpin'] | 2016-06-02 00:56:08.634000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Ange Mlinko', 'Featured Poet'] |
Parse Args in Bash Scripts | There is something to be said for the immediacy of using Bash scripts, especially when dealing with relatively simple system operations; however, parsing command line arguments has always been rather cumbersome and usually done along the lines of several painful if [[ ${1} == '--build' ]]; then ... .
And, yes, I know about getopts : hopefully, no one here is going to argue that it’s either user-friendly or feature rich, now, are we?
On the other hand, Python is pretty convenient for system operations (especially when using the sh module) but sometimes a bit of an overkill, or just missing the immediacy of Bash: however, the argparse module is nothing short of awesome, when it comes to power and flexibility in parsing command line options.
This simple Python script tries to marry the best of both worlds, allowing with a relatively simple setup to parse arbitrary command line options, and then having their values reflected in the corresponding local environment variables.
Usage
The usage is rather straightforward: we invoke it with a list of the desired option names, followed by the actual command line arguments (`$@`) separated with ` — `:
# The `-` indicates a bool flag (its presence will set
# the associated variable, no value expected);
# the `!` indicates a required argument.
PARSED=$(./parse_args keep- take counts! mount — $@)
source ${PARSED}
the values of the arguments (if any) are then available via the `${ }` operator:
if [[ -n ${keep} ]]; then
echo “Keeping mount: ${mount}”
fi
For example:
└─( ./test — keep — mount /var/loc/bac — take 3 — counts yes
Keeping mount: /var/loc/bac
Take: 3, counts: yes
The trailing - (simple dash) indicates a “flag” (a boolean option, which takes no value and whose presence will result in the corresponding variable to be set), while a trailing ! indicates a required argument:
└─( ./test — keep — mount /var/loc/bac — take 3
usage: [-h] [ — keep] [ — take TAKE] — counts COUNTS [ — mount MOUNT]
ERROR: the following arguments are required: — counts
Modifiers
Simple arguments (without any trailing “modifier”) will be assumed to be optional arguments of the --arg type; there are three modifiers:
! indicates a required option, of the --arg type;
indicates a option, of the type; + indicates a required “positional” argument (no flag, simply the value — as in tar /var/loc/my.tar )
indicates a “positional” argument (no flag, simply the value — as in ) ~ indicates an optional “positional” argument
Implementation
The source code is available here and revolves around adding arguments to argparse.ArgumentParser dynamically:
for arg in args:
# we first check if there is a modifier using a RegEx
m = re.match(MODIFIED_PATTERN, arg)
if m:
mod = m.group('modifier')
# Depending on the modifier, we add the
# necessary arguments for add_argument()
... parser.add_argument(f"{prefix}{m.group('opt')}",
**kwargs)
the regular expression that matches the ‘option’ and the ‘modifier’ takes advantage of Python’s “named groups” (of the form: (?P<name>...) ):
MODIFIED_PATTERN=re.compile(r"(?P<opt>\w+)(?P<modifier>[-!~\+])?")
so we can then use their names from the smatches object:
mod = m.group('modifier')
Finally, instead of having many “call points” for add_argument() depending on the modifier, we simply build the method’s named arguments into kwargs and pass it in the call:
if mod == "!":
kwargs["required"] = True
kwargs['action'] = 'store_true' if mod == '-' else 'store'
if mod == '+':
prefix = ''
elif mod == '~':
prefix = ''
kwargs['nargs'] = '?' ...
parser.add_argument(f"{prefix}{m.group('opt')}", **kwargs)
We have subclassed ArgumentParser with a StderrParser so that:
when erroring out, we emit error messages to `stderr` so they don’t get “swallowed” in the bash script; and
we need to exit with an error code, so that using `set -e` in our shell script will cause it to terminate, instead of executing the `source` command with potentially unexpected consequences;
for the same reason, we need to override the print_help() method, which will only emit the `usage` line (to `stderr`) and then exit with a non-zero code, to force the bash script termination. | https://medium.com/python-in-plain-english/parse-args-in-bash-scripts-d50669be6a61 | ['Marco Massenzio'] | 2020-08-07 06:47:03.590000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Coding', 'Tech', 'Bash', 'Programming'] |
A Newbie’s Chronicles on Distributed Data Processing — S01E03: Grand Finale | Roadblock: The DAG-ger that cut deep
The application logs by themselves weren’t very useful to debug as we could just see tasks failing — but not the exact conditions in which they were failing. For example, we saw that our code was still failing due to a memory issue at the JOIN step. Which was weird — as memory shouldn’t have been an issue after the optimization changes we had made in the previous episode.
To figure that out, we turned to our secret arsenal: the Spark Web Console!
Sample Spark Web UI, credits: https://spark.apache.org/docs/3.0.0-preview/web-ui.html
Basically, this is a Dashboard UI provided by Spark, that throws a lot of useful hints such as the stages, tasks, time taken, nodes status, memory metrics, etc in a step-by-step manner for a job on-the-fly right when it’s running.
It came in clutch like a Swiss-knife for debugging, to say the least! As we looked at the current application’s run, we saw that for some reason, one of our earlier pre-processing steps to read incremental data was being called again during the JOIN operation, instead of re-using the one we had already got as output for in the count() operation stages.
The mysterious case of re-reading incremental data
Thankfully, Sanket was familiar with this issue as he had faced this before himself once and he explained it to us in detail.
Basically, Spark keeps versions of the computed values according to Catalyst’s Logical Plan, in a DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph). Now, depending on the memory availability (or requirement) for its next operation, the earliest values stored in the DAG keep getting purged one by one till we’ve made enough memory for the next operation to happen.
Which means, one of the variants of our incremental DataFrame must have gotten purged from the DAG to accommodate the join operations, and it was trying to read them all again and start processing from the beginning. This is why it had hit a memory issue — and the job started failing after a maximum tolerance of 4 retries for the failing task.
And here I was — thinking that if the DataFrame was in memory while successfully executing the count(), it’d still be in memory for the consequent JOIN steps. The very fact that the DataFrame could get purged from the DAG in between these 2 lines of code — felt like being betrayed by my own code. 😢
Trust issues: “Hello there, long time no see.” | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/a-newbies-chronicles-on-distributed-data-processing-s01e03-grand-finale-99b7cc8601cb | ['Athitya Kumar'] | 2021-02-18 17:13:38.590000+00:00 | ['Scalability', 'Experience', 'Data', 'Distributed Systems', 'Learning'] |
A Day Of 2010 | It was 6:00 AM. I just woke up with a wish of rain so that I skipped school. No, but I wasn’t lucky enough. I again closed my eyes. But now sleep had gone. Suddenly I heard mother. She was in the kitchen making breakfast for us and asking us in a louder tone to wake up. It felt like a burden to leave the bed and start preparing for school. Somehow I left the bed and now I had gone to the kitchen. I was sitting beside her watching her making dishes (not with phones like now). She was giving me a sip of tea to taste. Then she asked me to wear the uniform which she already pressed.
We were happy back then!
I rushed and wore my uniform. I had my breakfast and now I am all set for school. She came to the Gate and said goodbye. Here now I am in school. The boring Assembly always made me angry not the PT though. Assembly over, The first period started, The teacher arrived with an attendance register in his hand. A fight had already started for the seat. The teacher act as a mediator and both parties agreed.
Attendance marked, the second period started, and like that it was a break time. I was rushing with my friends to be the first in the line of the canteen. The break was over and the period of the homework checking had started. I asked my proctor friend to put my Copy at the bottom. I was counting minutes with the copies so that period might over before it’s my turn. But every time I failed, the teacher asked me, “Why hadn’t done my Homework”? I had no answer but lame excuses. He shouted at me to tell my other siblings. However, somehow I managed to bear that period.
Now it’s 2 PM. School had closed. I was on my way home thinking about what there would be for a lunch. I reached home and my mother asked me to change the uniform and come for the lunch. Sometimes she took off my shoes. After that, the cartoons and Indian shows on the TV with siblings were the best things (Not watching lonely on the internet).
It’s 4 PM started to do homework not started but just sit with others. The tea with snacks had arrived. It was a moment of relief since I didn’t have to study from Hitler’s siblings at least for now.
After the snacks, there was a most awaited moment that was playing with friends. The Esha (A time of prayer for Muslims) had started. Had my dinner. Meanwhile, Father arrived. He started the news but we had a show to watch. All were sitting around him with disappointing faces. And finally, he agreed to give us the remote. It was the win for all. The show was over. It was 9 PM. I had gone to the bed without worrying any thought.
This’s how I spent my whole day without social media, phones, and the internet. I couldn’t believe it was me. But the beautiful days were gone. Life was beautiful back then | https://medium.com/@hammadsaleem1100/a-day-of-2010-8e2dea5c774f | ['Hammad Saleem'] | 2020-12-22 07:57:25.327000+00:00 | ['Happiness', 'Schools', 'Family', 'Love', 'Childhood'] |
Blockchain Report — 8/30/2018 | Summary: Andreessen Horowitz Invests In Blockchain Start-up Building A “World Computer”; Italian Football Club Becomes First To Be Purchased In Cryptocurrency; Chinese County Makes Blockchain Company To Develop Forestry Industry
Andreessen Horowitz Invests In Blockchain Start-up Building A “World Computer”
According to CNBC, a blockchain start-up that is referring to itself as the “world computer” has raised $102 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz and crypto hedge fund Polychain Capital.
The startup is Dfinity, whihc is trying to build a decentralized cloud computing network that is attempting to disrupt the cloud services industry.
Some people believe that Dfinity might be able to one day rival Amazon Web Services in its capabilities. Andreessen Horowitz partner Chris Dixon believes that Dfinity, while it is still in its early stages, has the potential to one day disrupt the cloud industry. He believes that Dfinity can solve the issue of scalability within blockchain technology.
Other big investors in Dfinity are SV Angel, Village Global and Aspect Ventures.
Italian Football Club Becomes First To Be Purchased In Cryptocurrency
According to Forbes, Italian Serie C football club Rimini FC 1912 has become the first ever team in history to be purchased with cryptocurrency. Quantocoin, a company that uses blockchain technology to provide an cryptocurrency payment method for investors, now owns 25% of the side.
Pablo Dana, a partner at Quantocoin, said the purchase will be the first of many that his firm wants to make in the industry. He thinks that cryptocurrency can offer a way to fight corruption in football. Football has had a number of scandals, including Qatar allegedly buying votes to win the right to host the World Cup in 2022.
Quantocoin’s payment system logs every instance when a payment is made through a system of autonomous, incorruptible and constantly updating nodes. As a result, money paid between football officials, players and agents can always be monitored which decreases the chances of corruption within the sport. Dana said:
“We are working exactly on the ideas that UEFA want to put into place…This is transparency in football and we are looking to reduce corruption through our Quantocoin platform.”
Chinese County Makes Blockchain Company To Develop Forestry Industry
According to Cointelegraph, a county in China’s northern Sichuan province signed a strategic cooperation contract to create a new blockchain company in order to develop the local forestry industry. The Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County of Sichuan Province and Beijing Sinfotek Group jointly established the new company, Hangzhou Yi Shu Blockchain Technology Co., Ltd for “forestry economic development and industrial poverty alleviation.”
The company is one of 19 blockchain companies to have passed the first batch of 700 projects in the Hangzhou Blockchain Industrial Park. The company aims to apply blockchain technology to farming and agriculture industries:
“[The company’s strategy] will be closely integrated with the national development strategy, and [will] fully promote the application of blockchain technology to realize the parallel development of enterprise value and forestry industry.”
ICO Watchdog™ is the most popular chatbot assistant for ICO investors and cryptocurrency traders now available for FREE on Telegram, Messenger, Discord and Slack. Sign up today at http://icowatchdog.com.
Do you want daily blockchain and cryptocurrency news delivered directly to your inbox or feed? Sign up today for the Blockchain Report by ICO Watchdog™ at http://bit.ly/2KYOpxJ or follow us onTelegram,Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. | https://medium.com/blockchain-report/blockchain-report-8-30-2018-fa03b5fa5398 | ['Christopher Durr'] | 2018-08-30 09:47:21.220000+00:00 | ['Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain', 'Investing', 'News'] |
Accelerate your Digital Transformation Journey — a must read for Board Members, C-Level Executives and Business Owners | “At least 40% of all businesses will die in the next 10 years… if they don’t figure out how to change their entire company to accommodate new technologies.” — John Chambers
Digital Transformation is often pigeonholed as an IT topic or project that only concerns the CIO or CTO….but it is much more than that. It is really all about rethinking your business in the Digital Age.
What is Digital Transformation?
Here are my two favourite definitions for anyone that may be wondering what exactly Digital Transformation is:
Digital Transformation is the process of using digital technologies to create new — or modify existing — business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements.
Digital Transformation is turning your business into a 21st century organization that is strategically driven by technology & data and focuses on innovation at the intersection of Technology and Human Behaviour.
With COVID-19 being the one thing that has pushed executives over the ledge and has made sure that even sceptics of Digital Transformation are now embracing it, it is highly important for Board Members, C-Level Executives and Busines Owners to be equipped with the right knowledge and understand the principles of Digital Transformation.
There is no alternative to Digital Transformation, visionary companies will carve out new strategic options for themselves — those that don’t adapt will fail. — Jeff Bezos
I held a Digital Transformation Masterclass on Zoom last week — specifically for Board Members, C-Level Executives and Business Owners. It was an amazing experience being able to share my knowledge and experience with over 60 participants.
In conversation with…
I was joined by Digital Transformation Expert Nkiruka Uwaje, who has worked with big corporates in the UK helping them think through their Digital Transformation journeys and also happens to be my sister.
I asked Nkiru a few very important questions around Digital Transformation:
1. Why should companies accelerate their Digital Transformation Journey
Digital as a Resilience Strategy:
The ongoing pandemic has forced us all to rethink strategies and accelerate Digital Transformation. COVID is a great diagnostic test that has served up major gaps in technology & service delivery across private and public sector.
Consumer Culture is changing:
We are seeing massive changes in Consumer culture and only an amazing Customer Experience (CX), winning Digital Marketing strategies and simple yet innovative products can ensure that customers stay with you.
The Challengers are here:
Challenger Brands are disrupting more and more industries. The order of the day for established brands is accelerate innovation and agility or die.
2. What are the Pillars of Digital Transformation
The pillars of Digital Transformation
Customer Experience (Marketing, Service / Product Delivery)
Data (Analytics, BI, Big Data)
Infrastructure & Architecture (Cloud, APIs, Open Network Economy)
Security (Cyber Security)
3. What are the Key Technologies that drive Digital Transformation
Nkiru talked us through key technologies driving Digital Transformation that every executive needs to understand:
Cloud
Data
Open Network Economies
Platforms
APIs
I elaborated on this point during my Masterclass as well and outlined areas that executives need to dig deeper in and expand their knowledge in.
I just watched the recording of the session and Nkiru really helped lay the foundation and shared so much insightful background information, examples, resources and lots of real nuggets of wisdom. Thank you so much for joining us and sharing so generously! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
The Masterclass
After that we dove right in and spent the next 60+ minutes running through the Masterclass — in case you missed it here are the slides.
The biggest part of our Digital Transformation is changing the way we think — Simon Sinek
Here is what we covered:
1. What are the Key Pillars of Digital Transformation
Customers — Digital allows co-creation, 2-way communication, and value flow. Leverage your customer networks and invest in your customer experience.
— Digital allows co-creation, 2-way communication, and value flow. Leverage your customer networks and invest in your customer experience. Competition — In the Digital Economy collaboration and partnerships are key — even with competitors. Sharing data and resources benefits everyone → e.g Open Banking / Network Economy
— In the Digital Economy collaboration and partnerships are key — even with competitors. Sharing data and resources benefits everyone → e.g Open Banking / Network Economy Data — Use data to enhance CX, conversion driven marketing, effective cross selling, decision making, hyper personalization and process optimization.
— Use data to enhance CX, conversion driven marketing, effective cross selling, decision making, hyper personalization and process optimization. Innovation — Rapid prototyping must become order of the day. Fail fast and keep innovating. Innovation should be deeply embedded in your culture and organisational DNA in order to win.
— Rapid prototyping must become order of the day. Fail fast and keep innovating. Innovation should be deeply embedded in your culture and organisational DNA in order to win. Value — Adapt your value proposition in a world of ever changing customer needs, consumer behaviour and challengers. Invest in building your future consumer base (Millennials & Gen Z). Invest in developing products.
— Adapt your value proposition in a world of ever changing customer needs, consumer behaviour and challengers. Invest in building your future consumer base (Millennials & Gen Z). Invest in developing products. Strategy — Digital-first is a business strategy. Technology is no longer a tool, it is a core survival strategy for your business. Strategy should touch on customer experience, process automation and supply chain optimization.
2. What’s your Digital Transformation Persona
Digitally Challenged: little or no understanding of digital
little or no understanding of digital Digital Thinker: little direct interaction with digital but you conceptually understand digital
little direct interaction with digital but you conceptually understand digital Digital Disruptor: You have been deeply embedded in digital
You have been deeply embedded in digital Digital Leader: You have substantial experience of running a traditional business that leverages digital in a significant way.
You have substantial experience of running a traditional business that leverages digital in a significant way. Digital Transformer: You have led or participated in a digital transformation of a traditional business.
3. What role should you play in Digital Transformation as a
Board Member: The board is central to determining corporate strategy and championing projects and investments that deliver it, thus Digital Transformation should be driven from the very top of the organisation.
The board is central to determining corporate strategy and championing projects and investments that deliver it, thus Digital Transformation should be driven from the very top of the organisation. C-Level Executive: The CEO, COO, CIO, CMO, CHRO and CFO must all be involved in driving Digital Transformation. Traction really starts to take hold when C-Level Execs collaborate and coordinate holistic digital transformation initiatives
The CEO, COO, CIO, CMO, CHRO and CFO must all be involved in driving Digital Transformation. Traction really starts to take hold when C-Level Execs collaborate and coordinate holistic digital transformation initiatives Business Owner: Depending on the size and stage of your business, business owners should understand Digital Transformation and Technology and frequently and deeply engage on strategy and risk - don’t leave it all to your CIO / CTO
Depending on the size and stage of your business, business owners should understand Digital Transformation and Technology and frequently and deeply engage on strategy and risk - don’t leave it all to your CIO / CTO Consultant: Depending on whether you have the in-house capacity to design your strategy, oversee and manage the implementation you should consider finding an IT Partner that can support your transformation and has a deep understanding of your business processes and industry landscape & regulations.
4. Digital Transformation Checklist
Your Digital Transformation Strategy should focus on the following key areas:
5. Points of Failure
There are many points of failure
Support: Lack of Board / C-level Support / buy-in
Lack of Board / C-level Support / buy-in Cheap is expensive — DT is an investment strategy
— DT is an investment strategy Change Management is key — make sure that everyone is carried along
is key — make sure that everyone is carried along Local Support is key — make sure that you have adequate IT support services
is key — make sure that you have adequate IT support services People: Get your workforce 21st century ready, keep their skills up to date & figure out how to retain talent
Get your workforce 21st century ready, keep their skills up to date & figure out how to retain talent Data is the new gold — don’t play with it
is the new gold — don’t play with it Documentation: Document like your life depends on it — standards, policies, processes, procedures they should all live in documents
Document like your life depends on it — standards, policies, processes, procedures they should all live in documents Business Continuity: Don’t forget to think about Business Continuity
Don’t forget to think about Business Continuity Data and IT Security: Don’t forget to think about data and IT security risks
In case you missed it or just want to dive in all over again here are the slides and the recording of the session.
The Future is DIGITAL….The Future is NOW!
So what next?
Think about your Digital Transformation Journey
Engage your Team — Craft your Vision
Start Working on your Digital Transformation Strategy
Implement — Implement — Implement
Transform — Transform — Transform
Optimize — Optimize — Optimize
If you need help with thinking through your Digital Transformation Journey and Strategy — you can reach out to me by leaving a comment in the comments section below or sending me an email on [email protected]. | https://medium.com/inside-futuresoft/accelerate-your-digital-transformation-journey-a-must-read-for-board-members-c-level-executives-ddb436de4cda | ['Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho'] | 2020-05-05 09:50:06.673000+00:00 | ['Business Strategy', 'C Level Executive', 'Customer Experience', 'Digital Transformation', 'Digital'] |
Identity Politics | Identity politics for me not thee
Bernie Sanders announced his candidacy yesterday arguing “We have got to look at candidates not by the color of their skin, not by their sexual orientation or gender and not by their age. I think we have got to try to move us toward a nondiscriminatory society that looks at people based on their abilities, based on what they stand for.” Translation. I know there are a lot of POC and women candidates so don’t discriminate against me because I’m white.
For the last three years, Bernie has claimed that the White working class hasn’t been heard and that White men have been forgotten by society. Bernie, and Trump for that matter, claimed they would stand up for the White working class and make sure that their jobs are not going away. They will make sure that their factory jobs will stay in this country. And if they are in college, Bernie will make sure they can go for free. Because student loan debt is the same thing as slavery (Bernie didn’t say that but one of his Bernie bros actually did).
We are supposed to believe that the White man is the real victim in this country. Men like Kavanaugh who was traumatized because he had to answer for his actions instead of just walking into the SCOTUS seat he wasn’t qualified for in the first place. Men like Bernie Sanders who could not understand why Democrats preferred a Democrat to represent them in 2016 and who spent the last 3 years telling everyone the election was rigged against him and also he wants to be the Democrat nominee in 2020. Even White boys like the Covington High School teenager who was vindicated by the media. Even church leaders decreed he did absolutely nothing wrong, and who got the softest of softball interviews on a major network but still plans on suing the Washington Post because they didn’t immediately believe his story over videos. And of course, Trump who is uniquely unqualified for the position he holds and yet he still receives over 30% support in this country. I could go on and on and on.
Every election cycle, the media goes to rural America and interviews White voters sitting in mom and pop diners, local bars or in small businesses. According to the mainstream media, these voters are the backbone of this country and what they are feeling we all feel. Liberal media groups like the New York Times and the Washington Post ran story after story of rural Trump voters. How they were excited about a President Trump who would address their issues of the lack of job opportunities, stagnant wages, and inadequate healthcare. The stories ran literally every week of rural voters affected by the Opioid epidemic and of poor White grandparents raising their grandchildren because they own children were caught up in a cycle of drug abuse. And after reading another story (ok, not reading, glancing through it), I wondered, why isn’t the issues affecting these rural White voters considered “identity politics”?
Bernie Sanders claims that we shouldn’t focus on identity politics. And his supporters agree. In their minds, Black people talk too much about racism; women talk too much about sexism; and gays talk too much about discrimination. These people were more offended at Black people kneeling during the anthem then at the over policing, and lack of police accountability which was why they were kneeling in the first place. Black folks are told over and over again not to focus on racial issues at the very same time we are bombarded with calls to appeal to the White working class. Women are told not to focus on sexual harassment, pay inequality and our lack of opportunities for advancement since it turns away White male voters because equal pay is offensive, I guess.
But let me make it clear, in the minds of Bernie and Trump supporters, identity politics means civil rights, women’s rights, and gay rights. They are perfectly comfortable with identify politics for White men. And let’s not get this twisted; Bernie believes this too. Bernie thinks his way to the nomination is to get those disaffected White voters who accept Trump’s racism just don’t like his tariffs, tax cuts for the rich, and tax increases for everyone else. They would overlook Trump locking little brown kids in cages if they had gotten better tax refunds. Bernie is whistling to those voters that he will focus on their identity issues not those other people.
So Bernie Sanders continued his divisive rhetoric to start the 2020 campaign against opponents that are people of color and women. His not so subtle message is that his opponents are running on being Black or a woman or gay. He is already implying that the people who support Harris or Booker or Klobouchar are doing so just because of their identity. Bernie said “I come from the white working class, and I am deeply humiliated that the Democratic Party cannot talk to the people where I came from.” It seems Bernie is against identity politics except for those he can identify with. | https://medium.com/we-know-what-we-know/identity-politics-78a44f14411e | ['W. Island'] | 2019-02-22 14:10:32.647000+00:00 | ['Bernie Sanders', 'Elections'] |
Gen Y The Series {Capitulo 6} Subtítulos en Español | Episode 6 | In the world of Y, many relationships might happen from imagination but how many times does that relationship comes from the real world?
Watch On ►► http://dadangkoprol.dplaytv.net/tv/112908-1-6
Show Info
Network: Thailand Channel 3 (2020 — now)
Schedule: Wednesdays at 22:50 (30 min)
Status: Running
Language: Thai
Show Type: Scripted
Genres: Drama Romance
TELEVISION 👾
(TV), in some cases abbreviated to tele or television, is a media transmission medium utilized for sending moving pictures in monochrome (high contrast), or in shading, and in a few measurements and sound. The term can allude to a TV, a TV program, or the vehicle of TV transmission. TV is a mass mode for promoting, amusement, news, and sports.
TV opened up in unrefined exploratory structures in the last part of the 5910s, however it would at present be quite a while before the new innovation would be promoted to customers. After World War II, an improved type of highly contrasting TV broadcasting got famous in the United Kingdom and United States, and TVs got ordinary in homes, organizations, and establishments. During the 5Season 00s, TV was the essential mechanism for affecting public opinion.[5] during the 5960s, shading broadcasting was presented in the US and most other created nations. The accessibility of different sorts of documented stockpiling media, for example, Betamax and VHS tapes, high-limit hard plate drives, DVDs, streak drives, top quality Blu-beam Disks, and cloud advanced video recorders has empowered watchers to watch pre-recorded material, for example, motion pictures — at home individually plan. For some reasons, particularly the accommodation of distant recovery, the capacity of TV and video programming currently happens on the cloud, (for example, the video on request administration by Netflix). Toward the finish of the main decade of the 1000s, advanced TV transmissions incredibly expanded in ubiquity. Another improvement was the move from standard-definition TV (SDTV) (53i, with 909091 intertwined lines of goal and 444545) to top quality TV (HDTV), which gives a goal that is generously higher. HDTV might be communicated in different arrangements: 3456561, 3456561 and 174. Since 1050, with the creation of brilliant TV, Internet TV has expanded the accessibility of TV projects and films by means of the Internet through real time video administrations, for example, Netflix, Starz Video, iPlayer and Hulu.
In 1053, 19% of the world’s family units possessed a TV set.[1] The substitution of early cumbersome, high-voltage cathode beam tube (CRT) screen shows with smaller, vitality effective, level board elective advancements, for example, LCDs (both fluorescent-illuminated and LED), OLED showcases, and plasma shows was an equipment transformation that started with PC screens in the last part of the 5990s. Most TV sets sold during the 1000s were level board, primarily LEDs. Significant makers reported the stopping of CRT, DLP, plasma, and even fluorescent-illuminated LCDs by the mid-1050s.[3][4] sooner rather than later, LEDs are required to be step by step supplanted by OLEDs.[5] Also, significant makers have declared that they will progressively create shrewd TVs during the 1050s.[6][1][5] Smart TVs with incorporated Internet and Web 1.0 capacities turned into the prevailing type of TV by the late 1050s.[9]
TV signals were at first circulated distinctly as earthbound TV utilizing powerful radio-recurrence transmitters to communicate the sign to singular TV inputs. Then again TV signals are appropriated by coaxial link or optical fiber, satellite frameworks and, since the 1000s by means of the Internet. Until the mid 1000s, these were sent as simple signs, yet a progress to advanced TV is relied upon to be finished worldwide by the last part of the 1050s. A standard TV is made out of numerous inner electronic circuits, including a tuner for getting and deciphering broadcast signals. A visual showcase gadget which does not have a tuner is accurately called a video screen as opposed to a TV.
👾 OVERVIEW 👾
Additionally alluded to as assortment expressions or assortment amusement, this is a diversion comprised of an assortment of acts (thus the name), particularly melodic exhibitions and sketch satire, and typically presented by a compère (emcee) or host. Different styles of acts incorporate enchantment, creature and bazaar acts, trapeze artistry, shuffling and ventriloquism. Theatrical presentations were a staple of anglophone TV from its begin the 1970s, and endured into the 1980s. In a few components of the world, assortment TV stays famous and broad.
The adventures (from Icelandic adventure, plural sögur) are tales about old Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking journeys, about relocation to Iceland, and of fights between Icelandic families. They were written in the Old Norse language, for the most part in Iceland. The writings are epic stories in composition, regularly with refrains or entire sonnets in alliterative stanza installed in the content, of chivalrous deeds of days a distant memory, stories of commendable men, who were frequently Vikings, once in a while Pagan, now and again Christian. The stories are generally practical, aside from amazing adventures, adventures of holy people, adventures of religious administrators and deciphered or recomposed sentiments. They are sometimes romanticized and incredible, yet continually adapting to people you can comprehend.
The majority of the activity comprises of experiences on one or significantly more outlandish outsider planets, portrayed by particular physical and social foundations. Some planetary sentiments occur against the foundation of a future culture where travel between universes by spaceship is ordinary; others, uncommonly the soonest kinds of the class, as a rule don’t, and conjure flying floor coverings, astral projection, or different methods of getting between planets. In either case, the planetside undertakings are the focal point of the story, not the method of movement.
Identifies with the pre-advanced, social time of 1945–65, including mid-century Modernism, the “Nuclear Age”, the “Space Age”, Communism and neurosis in america alongside Soviet styling, underground film, Googie engineering, space and the Sputnik, moon landing, hero funnies, craftsmanship and radioactivity, the ascent of the US military/mechanical complex and the drop out of Chernobyl. Socialist simple atompunk can be an extreme lost world. The Fallout arrangement of PC games is a fabulous case of atompunk. | https://medium.com/capitulo-6-gen-y-the-series-subt%C3%ADtulos-en-espa%C3%B1ol/gen-y-the-series-capitulo-6-subt%C3%ADtulos-en-espa%C3%B1ol-e2bd13d08989 | ['David A. Douglas'] | 2020-12-16 13:38:45.589000+00:00 | ['Romance', 'Drama', 'Gay'] |
Podcast Episode #5: Industry Relations and Networking Advice with Erik Mjoen | Erik Mjoen is the Industry Relations Manager at UC San Diego’s Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI), where he focuses on facilitating networking, leadership, partnership, and innovation. In this episode, we talk with him about his experiences in Industry Relations, his advice to students seeking industry opportunities, and his tips on soft and hard skills.
His Work
As an Industry Relations manager, Mjoen’s responsibilities entail overseeing research, leadership, partnerships, and developments in Data Science. Most of his daily activities involve meetings with companies, in hopes of establishing a collaboration between them and the HDSI. To establish partnerships, these companies must have a clear vision of what their goals are, how they will benefit from this partnership, and how they will utilize the resources.
Aside from meetings, Mjoen focuses on connecting students with companies by planning career fairs and other events for students to gain exposure to industry.
Mjoen’s work does not strictly pertain to either academia or industry. Rather, he is the liaison between both, which means he has a diverse set of tasks to work on and events to plan, so his day-to-day routine often varies.
He started his journey toward his current role in college, where he studied International Business and minored in Economics. He then worked in various international firms in San Diego, zeroing in on technological innovation during the dot-com boom, and eventually running his own recruitment business. Seeking a different path later on, he was introduced to UCSD and got his first job at the Career Center, focusing on industry engagement for technology and engineering. Over time, he familiarized himself with the university’s engineering talent.
Mjoen has worked at UCSD for more than three years and found that the university is a bastion for innovation and discovery. Both its faculty and student body are forward-thinking, and HDSI, in particular, strives to help “the next generation of innovators and leaders.”
Four Quadrants of Industry Relations
HDSI’s industry partnership framework can be broken down into four parts, according to Mjoen.
The first of these is Research and Innovation, which consists of engaging faculty and students, usually graduate-level, in solving complex problems. By working on these projects, students partake in addressing real-world issues all across the spectrum, as the faculty are very diverse in their domain knowledge. What is unique about HDSI is that it seeks to expand these experiences into the undergraduate curriculum.
The second part is Recruitment and Talent, which Mjoen argues is the most important because it cultivates competition and diversity in the marketplace. HDSI’s partners may set up internship and hiring goals, and they’ll in turn get assistance in meeting those goals as well as building recruitment brands.
The third part is Continued Learning, which serves to keep current professionals informed about the evolution of the Data Science field and the industries that apply its numerous moving parts. Faculty lectures and comprehensive workshops cultivate Continued Learning.
Leadership comprises the fourth quadrant and aims to foster the Data Science curriculum lends itself to the necessary industry skill — sets. This area fosters two-way communication and collaboration, and it ensures that academic faculty and companies can learn from each other through facilitating relevant research endeavors.
Career Advice for Students
When planning out their careers, Mjoen stresses that students should concentrate more on the learning process and less on acquiring the most impressive-sounding job title offered by a top-grossing company. Also, as important as hard skills are, students should continually practice their soft skills and networking skills.
Many networks in our daily lives are outside the workplace: our friends, classmates, families, and others. Therefore, our aptitude in networking grows only with constant practice in every situation. Mjoen explains that a strong network is what paves the way for opportunities, and we must be vigilant of any opportunities that spring up in which we can make new connections. The doors that open up are almost always unpredictable, and it’s up to us to maintain strong connections through relationship-building and reaching out to people in our network.
Mjoen notes that networking is proactive not passive. As uncomfortable as it may seem, seeking out an employer or industry expert in person, as opposed to drafting an online application, will leave a more lasting impression. Doing so also increases the chances of follow-ups. Additionally, it’s better to follow-up upon meeting these recruiters to further the odds of them securing a place in your network and vice versa.
Having an elevator pitch also comes in handy, says Mjoen. With it, you can tell your story and your goals succinctly and efficiently. These should generally last 30 to 60 seconds.
For more insight about Mjoen’s efforts in pioneering for industry-academia alliances, go to this link. | https://medium.com/ds3ucsd/podcast-episode-5-industry-relations-and-networking-advice-with-erik-mjoen-db14f845d9e4 | ['Camille Dunning'] | 2020-06-08 19:37:09.226000+00:00 | ['Education', 'Networking', 'Data Science', 'Industry', 'Careers'] |
Stroke survivors to use robotics exo-suit | Stroke survivors at Brooks Rehabilitation are going to get support from a robotics exo-suit.
US based ReWalk Robotics (Nasdaq: RWLK), a manufacturer of robotic medical devices for individuals with lower limb disabilities, has donated one of its ReStore Exo-suits to the rehabilitation centre.
Brooks is located in Jacksonville, Florida, and the ReStore Exo-suit will be used by the therapy team in one of the specialized Neuro Recovery Centers to conduct gait training sessions with patients seeking post-stroke rehabilitation.
Brooks combines highly trained clinicians with the latest technologies to advance rehabilitation through innovation and research-based practices. The ReStore Exo-suit is a first of its kind technology which is designed to be versatile and adaptable, allowing it to be used with a broader range of a clinic’s stroke rehabilitation patients than previous robotic technologies.
“Being able to offer robotic assistance devices is especially important for patients and clinicians during the COVID-19 crisis to help support public health safety protocols,” said Larry Jasinski, ReWalk CEO. “Our ReStore exo-suit is an innovative solution for stroke patients, and we’re happy to deliver the device to a leading national care center known for adopting advanced care solutions to help serve their patients.”
“As a recognized leader in physical therapy for 50 years, Brooks’ sees technology not as a tool, but as a resource to help our clinicians achieve higher quality outcomes during a patient’s rehabilitation. Thanks to this donation, we are able to offer our patients additional options for their stroke recovery,” added Robert McIver, PT, DPT, NCS, Director of Clinical Technology at Brooks. | https://medium.com/basic-robot-news/stroke-survivors-to-use-robotics-exo-suit-c875f321c386 | ['Neil Martin'] | 2020-12-22 20:53:27.390000+00:00 | ['Robots', 'Exoskeleton Market', 'Robotics', 'Robotics Technology', 'Exoskeleton'] |
My story got thousand views ! | My story got thousand views !
It was neither curated by the Medium team nor published by any Medium Publication. This is an article about a story of mine, which crossed 1000+ views recently, attributed to my amateur blogging maneuver.
Photo by Cam Adams on Unsplash
I started my journey on Medium a year back with the hope that it could be my retirement plan. Soon I realized, I am a misfit. None of my stories crossed more than 10 views. I always assumed the story will fly on its own. If there is a quality in my content, it will click automatically. I did not bother about curation or the Medium publications at that point of time.
Its only a few months back, when I started exploring the platform with more sincerity. The unusual high number of views on the story, which is neither curated nor published, is nothing less than the magic. But the success of it is attributed to my blogging maneuver and not just luck.
Story with 1000+ views
If you are expecting a quick mantra, you might be disappointed. But at the same time, the factors behind my story success are easy to follow. More than thousand views on my story is the result of three fundamental steps —
Finding my niche
Finding my key to Curation
Cross Linking
Finding my niche
I restarted my journey on Medium, with the promise, that I will write every day. This is the most successful mantra I came across, shared by many successful bloggers on Medium. I did it for ten days but could not continue. My ten day exercise did improve my writing and narration but the content was still lacking.
I wrote on varied topics. I always considered myself to be an analysis guru, irrespective of the topic. I explored and enjoyed connecting the dots, in the world of Business, Politics, Economics, Social, Pandemic and many more areas. This approach helped me in developing a good understanding, across multiple domains but none of my stories got curated or published. I was everywhere but nowhere!
Photo by Kevin Ku on Unsplash
I was looking for the answers when I came across few articles about “finding the niche”. This gave me some direction to move forward. By profession, I am a software consultant. I always treated it like my routine job but never realized it could be my niche area. I thought to give it a try and it clicked.
This is the first important step I learnt in my blogging journey. You cannot write about everything you came across. The depth on the topic will always be missing out, if you follow this approach. Be it your job, hobby or life, you must find your niche.
This is the key reason that my stories started delivering the quality. My last seven stories are specific to the software technologies and all of them are curated.
Finding the key to Curation
Curation guidelines are up on the wall, so I will not spend time on the already written guidelines. I read it, at least couple of times. I read the curation tips from other Medium gurus as well. It did help in improving the quality of my content. I worked on my grammar, spellings and sentence formations to make the story error-free. I tried to keep the content flow as readable as possible.
But the real value came when I found my niche. With this, I was able to focus on one particular area. I worked as a software consultant throughout my career so it helped me in following the path easier. I focussed on my technology niche, both from the depth and breadth perspectives. My stories provided real value, when I tried to fill in the details, and not just being superficial.
All of my curated stories are at least ~ 1500 words. Earlier even a thousand words article used to stress me out. But when I covered my topics in detail, even two-thousand words fell short sometimes. The details helped me in articulating my thoughts much better than before. A thorough understanding on the topic automatically brought up, the curation values of being Rigorous, Honest, & Complete. My stories started passing through the curation filters.
One after another. All of my last seven stories got curated. Thorough explanation of the topics provided help and value to the readers. As per the Medium statistics, my fans and followers both jumped in numbers, during this period.
But wait! You must be wondering why I am talking about the curated stories. Isn’t the article about the story which is NOT-CURATED?
The final piece of this puzzle lies in the concept of Cross-Linking.
Cross Linking
Here is the story I am referring to. It belongs to my niche area. This is an introduction page to a technology learning series — Spring Boot Microservices, one of the popular programming frameworks.
Going forward, I will call this as an introduction story. My last seven curated stories are child-stories of the introduction story and discuss more specific technology areas.
This created a good platform for me to create references. At the end of each of these stories, I provided a link to my introduction story. I also provided the story reference inside the content of the curated stories. My curated stories had already gained momentum and this automatically lifted up the introduction story.
Total number of views for my seven curated stories is roughly ~12500, at the time of writing this article. With ~1000 views for the introduction story, the conversion rate of these links become ~8%. If the “conversion rate” term is new to you, do check out the definition from Google here.
The conversion rate of ~8% is relatively a high value compare to the online ads or other digital marketing tools. The power of cross-linking stories should not be underestimated and we must seek out the opportunities. This provides one of the most valuable marketing channel to consider.
Find the possibilities of linking the stories. Try to find the relation between them and provide valuable references. In my case it was a parent-child relationship, but it could be any other in your case. Relation could be based on location, work, interests, references, inspirations, categories… the list is endless. Even if a single story is curated or accepted well by its readers, it can uplift other stories with the help of these references.
Just providing the links with no relation, will not be effective though. Its efficiency could be much lower than the online ads. Cross-linking is a powerful tool and we must use it diligently. If not, it will just become a spam.
Summary
As every individual has a different journey to his life, every blogger has a different journey too. I shared my experience based on the things I came across. It does not mean, your journey is limited to this. You might find something different, probably much better ideas than me. I guess the most important mantra is to “keep trying” and “keep learning”. It does not matter what path you take, what matters is to reach there.
I hope, I created some value by putting up my small success story on blogging. Do take my advice with a pinch of salt though, as I am still an amateur blogger. | https://medium.com/an-idea/my-story-got-thousand-views-987291e38090 | ['Lal Verma'] | 2020-10-13 07:21:24.314000+00:00 | ['Blogging Tips', 'Blogging', 'Crosslinking', 'Medium Curation', 'Digital Marketing Tips'] |
Background Syncing — how to never miss any local change | This article is for you if 3 technical terms circle around in your mind: Concurrency, Synchronization, and Mutable Records.
When we were about to shift the syncing process of our mySugr App to the next level, we were looking for a simple, rock solid solution to never miss any concurrent modification of a locally stored record and make sure that every update gets pushed to our server consistently. Yes, there are many articles and papers out there about synchronization. And yes, TL;DR them all.
Architectural requirements of a responsive app
The first version of our app was very trivial and so was its architecture. Only a few data records were saved locally and then were transferred to our server. Nowadays, we gather hundreds and thousands of records from different sources like HealthKit, Google Fit, blood glucose meters, and manually entered values concurrently, which required us to rewrite our syncing process. Background fetching and uploading has become most important for optimal user experience.
Mutable vs. immutable Records
An immutable record is existent or not, but never gets modified. The synchronization procedure just needs to identify all unsynchronized records and send them to the server. Records that were created remotely need to be downloaded and stored locally. That’s all, no magic here.
On the other hand, mutable records can change values during their lifetime and therefore we need a method to identify any change to these records.
Naive approach
To identify changes of a mutable record, we introduced a status field which reflects the synchronization status of each record (basically, one of new/modified/deleted/unmodified). So, the synchronization procedure could fetch all candidates which are needed to push to the server. Every candidate is uploaded and afterwards its status is set to unmodified, indicating that the record is “in sync” with the server. This solution works fine as long as there are no modifications of the record during the syncing process.
But since we introduced background syncing and the amount of records increased, it is very likely that records get modified while these records are in the process of syncing. Which leads to 2 issues:
Missed updates: If a record’s status is set to unmodified after a successful push to the server, any concurrent local modification (i.e., modifications during the synchronization) is never picked up by the synchronization procedure and therefore never gets pushed to the server. Lost updates: A pull from the server overwrites any local changes to the record. There is no option to determine if the record has been modified in the meantime.
A simple solution: Record Versioning
After realizing those issues, the idea of “every record needs a version number!” came up to our minds. With a version number, we can track all modifications made. But is this sufficient? Where should we store the version number of the modifications which are already synced? How can we make sure that nothing gets overwritten by concurrent threads?
Here, the principle of Unidirectional Data Flow will help! :-)
So we introduced two additional fields in the local database schema. These are associated to the record and never leave the local node (i.e., they are not synchronized from or to a server):
version : This field keeps an incremental version number that reflects local updates. version_synched : This field keeps the version number that was last synchronized to the server.
The synchronization procedure then needs to follow these rules:
There is a separate thread for synchronization; all other updates to the records happen on other threads. The version is never updated by the background thread. The version_synced is only updated by the background thread to follow the Unidirectional Data Flow principle. It must not be updated by other threads. Whenever a record gets updated, its version is increased by 1. Periodically, the background thread fetches all records whose version is greater than its version_synced , and pushes these records to the server. When the push is completed successfully, the version_synced field is set to the value of the version field. After all local modifications were pushed to the server, new or updated records from the server are pulled. If an incoming (pulled) record has been updated locally in the meantime, it is NOT overwritten. Instead, we rollback the pull, push all changes to the server, and then pull again (continue in step 7).
This principle works for any storage solution with a proper transaction management, like most SQL databases or Apple’s Core Data. We have been using this approach successfully in our mobile apps whenever we need to synchronize mutable records to a remote server.
Takeaways
These are the takeaways that should help you make sure that your synchronization procedure does not miss updates: | https://medium.com/monsterculture/background-syncing-how-to-never-miss-any-local-change-4f19a8d4453a | ['Hubert Hausegger'] | 2019-12-10 16:06:32.650000+00:00 | ['Database', 'iOS', 'Software Development', 'Android', 'Data'] |
Our Take: Klaus (2019) | Our Take: Klaus (2019)
A film that demonstrates how ordinary people can bring the magic and spirit of Christmas and create a legend. The_FilmPost Dec 25, 2020·4 min read
A true selfless act always sparks another.
A year after its release on Netflix, the Film Post re-watched the BAFTA award winning and Oscar nominated Christmas film, Klaus. The animated film directed by Sergio Pablo, who previously worked on several Disney films, including Hercules and Tarzan, tells a story of a spoilt postman, Jesper (voiced by Jason Schwartzman) coerced to establish a post office on the bleak and sinister remote town of Smeerensburg (roughly somewhere in Scandinavia, we suppose). He befriends a lonely woodsman and convinces him to donate all the toys he made to the children of the town who write letters to him. This toymaker is no other than the titular Klaus (voiced by J. K Simmons) himself. Together they foster change in a town and inspire hope and the habit of selfless acts, consequently creating the legend of Santa Claus.
Klaus and Jesper
When talking about Klaus, it’s hard not to give credit to its animation — it is stunningly phenomenal. In a behind the scenes video, Sergio Pablos shared that he wanted to bring 2D animation forward into the future. With the amount of details and shadowing work on the animation, the film elevated 2D animation. In the months following its initial release there have been debates on whether or not it’s actually 3D!
The film is more than just it’s eye-catching animation. The soul of the movie, and what we love the most, is its story, particularly how they showcase the morals and spirit of Christmas through a reimagining of the origin story of Santa Claus. Despite the simplicity and straightforwardness of the plot, it still manages to inspire and remind us of the true spirit of Christmas. Some of the lessons the film teaches us that hope always finds it way through Alva (voiced by Rashida Jones), a schoolteacher who has lost sight of her dreams when the delinquent children of Smeerensburg no longer go to school.
The Town of Smeerensburg
A prominent lesson in the film is showing kindness through selfless acts. In a town where there is a long tradition of feuds between the clans, the Ellingboes and the Krums, hatred and spite thrived within the hearts of the townspeople, until Jesper threatens a kid that Klaus won’t give him any gifts he is naught. This resulted in the children doing chores and random acts of kindness which influences their parents.
There is one lesson that truly resonates with us. It is how sometimes the most magical things in life are created by the ordinary. Just like how the film uses innovative 2D animation to create a visually remarkable film that puts it on a competitive level with the animation used in Toy Story 4, the unique and imaginative, though simple, plot of the film still manages to have the same awe-inspiring and feel-good effect on audiences as other Christmas films like The Polar Express do. In Klaus, there is no magical, ethereal man in a red suit giving out presents at midnight instead, there is only a toymaker with a generous heart and his friend, Jesper, a slender postman who does all the delivering for him, such as climbing down the chimney and eating cookies. Together, these two ordinary characters create a legend. This is a lesson that is more relevant in these times of a pandemic that halted our holiday plans and traditions. Keeping the true spirit of Christmas and with a little imagination, we can make magic during this holiday season.
All in all, if there’s a film that you must watch with your family, it is Klaus. There are enough sarcastic jokes and quips for the adults as well as the usual slapstick comedy for the kids. While it also has its heartfelt moments and lessons that would apply to anyone of any age. Five years in the making, Klaus is a Christmas masterpiece that we wouldn’t mind revisiting every year. | https://medium.com/@thefilmpost/our-take-klaus-2019-4f65b233f666 | [] | 2020-12-29 17:33:36.097000+00:00 | ['Christmas', 'Movie Review', 'Movies', 'Family', 'Animated'] |
How to Create the Ultimate ‘Use of Funds’ Slide for your Pitch Deck | Positions BEFORE People
We all want the cream of the crop when hiring for those first few positions at a startup––those so-called A-Players––ultra-high achievers who share our same passion and enthusiasm for 80-hour workweeks, smashing through milestones and GSD (getting stuff done). But in reality, A-Players only belong in the highest-impact positions.
Moreover, it’s simply too expensive (and not feasible) to attract, select, develop, and retain these top performers for every last position on the org chart.
Lastly, high performers aren’t going to add much value if they’re engaged in work that isn’t essential to the company’s business strategy.
Therefore, before we go looking to hire the A-Players we think we need, we must first identify the strategic work that is most crucial to the company’s success metrics. As Huselid, Beatty & Becker highlight in their 2005 HRB article,
“…it’s surprising how few companies systematically identify their strategically important A positions — and then focus on the A players who should fill them.”
Common Misconceptions: What IS Strategic?
To better understand this people management strategy, we can divide the specific work of our organization into three groups, as described by Huselid, Beatty & Becker:
Strategic work: has a profound impact on the creation of customer and economic value. Support work: enables the strategic work. Surplus work: at one time may have created value for the company, but no longer contributes much to its strategic success––work that remains in a company for reasons of tradition, politics, or inertia.
In the startup world, we can largely ignore surplus work since it typically only applies to larger, mature organizations. However, when cash is finite and the end of the runway is visible, strategic and support work are vital.
Furthermore, it’s easy to convince ourselves that certain positions are inherently strategic. However, (perhaps with the exception of the Co-founder(s)/CEO) determining whether a position is in fact strategic depends entirely on the unique needs and goals of the organization.
For example, software developers are most strategic to an enterprise SaaS company, whereas the Marketing Director is most strategic to a consumer hardware company.
Only once we identify our most strategic positions can we then begin hiring.
So how do we determine what positions are most strategic? By identifying the strategic capabilities unique to our organization. | https://medium.com/alliedvp/how-to-create-the-ultimate-use-of-funds-slide-for-your-pitch-deck-e8150b759d3c | ['Matthew Wilson'] | 2020-12-21 22:34:18.609000+00:00 | ['Founder Stories', 'Use Of Funds', 'Fundraising', 'Pitch Deck', 'Founders'] |
Nyacademy: Unrugged // How Yield Farming Contract Works | Nyacademy: Unrugged // How Yield Farming Contract Works
And… The Case of the ‘Missing’ Tokens (💧x🐱)
This episode, we are going to take a look at the popular yield farming contract UniswapRewardsFactory and the SmartChef (somewhat ‘MasterChef’) contract.
If you follow us close enough, you will realize that we had a recent collaboration with Bliquid ($BLIQ) on a Nyanchpool which got delayed by a day. We’ve never had such issues before, so something interesting must have happened.
We thought that we could go through the yield farming contracts and also add in a twist of the recent BLIQ token encounters. So we’re going to share our experience on hosting a field farm with self-burning mechanism (like BLIQ) using UniswapRewardsFactory contract. This probably won’t affect you if you’re not using the UniswapRewardsFactory.
What is UniswapRewardsFactory
UniswapRewardsFactory is a reward distribution contract (yield farming) pioneered by Uniswap. It is a super strict contract that absolutely makes sure that the predefined expected rewards are exactly the same as the actual rewards.
If you follow how we do our collaboration transactions. We don’t ask our partners to send their tokens to our Deployer. The reason is that Deployers are usually EOA (just a wallet account) so anyone (like the host, aka us) with the keys can simply steal the huge amount of tokens sent by the partners. Here’s a look at PancakeSwap’s Deployer.
Could you imagine how much trust is needed for someone to send that many tokens to an EOA account? Of course, PancakeSwap is very trustworthy, but we can’t speak the same for others (like us 🐱). So we’re preventing you.. from us. We usually ask our partners to send the tokens directly to the RewardsFactory contract. This way, we can’t steal the tokens.
So.. Why was the BLIQ Nyanchpool delayed?
It’s solely mathematical. The interesting thing about BLIQ token is that it has a self-burning mechanism whenever someone triggers a transfer of the token. In short, 6% would be taken out of the sent amount, leaving 94% at the destination. Is that a big deal? Apparently for us, huge deal.
If you’re hosting a normal ERC20 token, there won’t be such issues at all.
How Does the UniswapRewardsFactory Work?
Two contracts are in the picture. The UniswapRewardsFactory (referred to as Factory) and the UniswapRewards (referred to as Reward).
We are distributing 21 BLIQ over 7 days on our Nyanchpool.
Bliquid sends 21 BLIQ to Factory Nyanswop triggers ‘notifyRewards’ function on Factory Factory sends 21 BLIQ to Reward Reward calculates predefined expected rewardRate against actual rewardRate, and make sure the expected rewardRate is ≤ actual rewardRate (to ensure that it has sufficient BLIQ to pay out to stakers) If all passes, the pool will start.
There is no interaction with the Reward contract. We only interact with the Factory contract.
RewardRate is defined as BLIQ balance / 604800 (7 days in seconds).
So expected RewardRate is fixed at 21 / 604800, which is 0.000034722.
And actual RewardRate depends on the BLIQ balance of the Rewards contract divded by 604800, which cannot be calculated now.
Ideally it should be exactly the same. And you thought so..
*note that the real representation of 21 is 21*10¹⁸ (18 zeros), we’re shortening it to just 21 for readability
Introducing RewardsFactory (and Self-Burning Token)
Step 1 — Receive 21 BLIQ in Factory Contract 😸
It starts with Bliquid sending the agreed 21 BLIQ to the Factory contract.
Cheers. We’re set. Let’s call the deployment function~
Step 2 — Trigger notifyRewards function in Factory Contract 🐱
Our first deployment attempt was hit with an error. The error simply means that a transfer has failed. We failed at ‘Step 1’. Though we’re pretty sure we saw BscScan showing that the Factory contract has 21 BLIQ.. but is it really 21 BLIQ?
‘Thanks’ BscScan, you lied. That was the moment we recalled that BLIQ has a self-burning mechanism. The awesome team at Bliquid reacted instantly and sent over a small bit of tokens to make it 21. So we try again, we trigger ‘Step 2’ again.
Step 3 — Reward to Receive 21 BLIQ from Factory Contract 😾
This error is new. It is something we haven’t encountered before even after hosting 4 projects on Nyanchpool. So we went to find which code threw this error.
Step 4 — Pass Expected vs Actual rewardRate Integrity Check 🙀
We made it through ‘Step 3’ but failed at ‘Step 4’. At ‘Step 3’, Factory sends the BLIQ to Reward so by right it shouldn’t fail. Here we recall that the expected rewardRate is fixed which is 0.000034722 (21 / 604800), so the only variable is the actual balance rewardRate (line 588).
So something clicked. Since the transferred BLIQ will lose 6% when it reaches the Reward contract, we’ll need our Factory to have at least 22.3404255319 BLIQ (21 / 0.94), so that we will end up with at least 21 BLIQ at Reward after the transfer from Factory. So.. we got Bliquid (thanks again) to send us a bit more BLIQ. Now, we have slighly more than 22.3404255319 BLIQ in our Factory contract so that should finally work.
But we seem to hit the same issue again. Seems like we somehow still don’t have 21 BLIQ to pass ‘Step 4’. The real cause might not be as what we thought. We could, logically speaking, send more BLIQ to Factory contract, or dig out the real cause. We chose to believe in our previous judgements, and dig into the possibilities. And we found something that we overlooked:
In the Factory contract, it will always and only send the predefined rewardAmount which is 21. Sending more than 21 BLIQ doesn’t help as the contract will only send 21 BLIQ. So that means we’re always going to get 19.74 BLIQ (94% of 21) in the Reward contract no matter what.
So does that means that the 21 BLIQ is permanently ‘stuck’ in the Factory contract and that we’re never ever able to host projects with self-burning mechanism?
require(rewardRate <= balance.div(rewardsDuration), "Provided reward too high");
After spending some time trying to balance this equation.. Yes, by the looks of it, it’s pretty much not possible unless we make modifications to the contract in the future. Looks like the 21 BLIQ is stuck. So we disappointedly posted to stop the BLIQ Nyanchpool.
*inserts sad cat* 😿
After spending the whole night looking for possibilities to transfer out the 21 BLIQ. We found a workaround to make the BLIQ Nyanchpool happen.
After ‘Step 3’ (sending 21 BLIQ from Factory to Reward contract), the actual rewardRate’s balance is calculated by rewardsToken.balanceOf(address(this)) , which means the ‘current’ BLIQ in the Reward contract, which is ‘currently’ 19.74 BLIQ.
So.. what if we send an extra 1.26 BLIQ to our Rewards contract, will we hit 21 BLIQ at this line?
Yes nya~ it worked. From the ‘Tokens Tranferred’, you can see that only 19.74 BLIQ got sent to our Reward contract (as expected, 94%), and the rest was ‘burn’ away. Based on BLIQ’s token behavior, 1% will be burned, 5% will be sent back to the BLIQ contract for some processing.
And… we’re back~
That’s how the UniswapRewardsFactory works for rewards distribution. Hopefully that gives you the basic know-how on how it actually works. Having such knowledge is very beneficial especially when you’re checking on a newly designed contract.
Are Other Farming Contracts Able to Support Self-Burning Tokens As-is?
For yield farming contracts, we should always look at how the contract determines the start and end of the farming period.
Let’s take a quick look at PancakeSwap’s SmartChef contract.
What’s Initialized When the Contract is Deployed?
For starters, we should always look at the constructor first.
The contract seems pretty standard for yield farming contract. Mainly, it initalizes the start and end of the farming period. For SmartChef, the fixed rewardPerBlock is also initialized here.
Similarly, UniswapRewards contract constructor initializes the same thing. The difference is there UniswapRewards is created by triggering a function in the UniswapRewardsFactory.
How Does It Determines Start and End of Distribution?
For UniswapRewards contract, there is check (mentioned in the BLIQ scenario):
require(rewardRate <= balance.div(rewardsDuration), "Provided reward too high");
It is done upon the triggering of the start of the rewards distribution (notifyRewards). So we can look at how SmartChef determines that a reward distribution has started. One unique aspect of the ‘MasterChef’ style contract is the function to calculate the rewards for the users, usually named as the updatePool function.
Line 803 determines if a reward distribution has started. If the current time is before the predefined starting block, this function will exit immediately.
Line 812 calculates the CAKE reward for for user based on the percentage ownership of the pool multiplied by a predefined rewardPerBlock rate.
So how does the SmartChef contract determines the end of a reward distribution phase? For this, we can follow the bonusEndBlock variable initialized in the constructor. That will lead to just one part of the contract, the getMultiplier function:
If you prefer to the previous image, you can see that the _from is the startBlock and _to is the current block number. _from will keep on getting updated with the current block number (check previous image, Line 814). There are two places in the code that uses this function, and both made checks to ensure that block.number is always > than pool.lastRewardBlock . Of course, these values will change over time, but we’re just looking at this point for starting and ending point of view.
We’re looking for how it determines ending, so 0 seems to be decent candidate. So the code will hit at Line 780 when the lastRewardBlock eventually becomes ≥ than the bonusEndBlock , as it will keep updating to become the value of current number. So, in a way, the SmartChef contract doesn’t end, it just reduces the rewards to 0.
Caveats
There’s no strict check on whether the SmartChef is able to distribute the predefined rewards when the rewards distribution starts. You have to really trust the owner to do the right thing. The UniswapRewards contract, however, checks that before allowing the reward distribution to commerce.
That also means that SmartChef, technically speaking, could start the rewards distribution even without having 100% of the pre-stated reward token amount. Consider this following:
SmartChef is to distribute 1000 NYA tokens over 100 blocks. SmartChef is initialized with:
startBlock = 500, endBlock = 600, rewardsPerBlock = 10
So 10 NYA would be distributed every block from 500 to 600. But it doesn’t guarantee that it is able to distribute all of it at any point of time (especially during the start). The owner might deposit only 800 NYA at start, then add another 200 NYA along the way (between block 500 and 600). That is indeed flexible.
Unlike the UniswapRewards contract, which is very strict on these. Though it prevents mistakes and middle-man from rug-pulling. It’s strictness defined it’s safetyness and also it’s rigidness (on the good side). Most people simply avoid using this contract for yield farming because of it’s strictness and complication, but we at Nyanswop totally love it.
Both has their good and bad points. It really depends on what you’re looking for.
Take Away?
If you’re sending with ‘self-burning’ tokens, make sure to calculate the starting amount correctly by taking into account of the end state. For you to send 21 BLIQ, with 6% burn rate, you have to send 21/0.94 BLIQ. If you’re dealing with tokens with ‘overriden’ methods (especially if it belongs to the official ERC20 interfaces), do check if the end state is what you expected. For our case, BLIQ token has a burning mechanism for the ‘transfer’ method and we didn’t expect to not receive 21 BLIQ. If you’re using contracts that are very strict on the data integrity, do take extra note when dealing with tokens with unique personalities. If a transaction fails, there’s no need to repeatedly send the same thing because it is bound to fail. Do something different, or reach out to the support team of the Dapp that you’re using (including us nya~ 🐱)
We like Uniswap’s RewardsFactory’s strictness as it maintains the integrity of the data. So we’ll not modify our contract to fit special tokens, at least for now.
Moving On
After this interesting issue. We now require all partners to do a trial-run with us in the Testnet if your token has certain methods overridden (especially transfer method).
We thank Bliquid for being very responsive in reacting to our request, and also explaining in-depth on the burning mechanism of the BLIQ token.
— Nyan Dev 🐱
Follow us on Twitter and Telegram for the latest updates.
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Telegram (Announcements): https://t.me/Nyanswop_ANN | https://medium.com/@nyanswop/nyacademy-unrugged-how-yield-farming-contract-works-647501e6f82e | [] | 2020-11-28 15:50:16.453000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Ethereum', 'Binance Smart Chain'] |
XPRIZE Launches its Feed the Next Billion Challenge | XPRIZE, a nonprofit organization out of Culver City, California that hosts competitions to create technological advances in order to benefit humanity, has launched its Feed the Next Billion campaign. The Feed the Next Billion challenge is based on the statistic that by 2050, Earth’s population will have risen to 9.7 billion people. According to XPRIZE, 50 percent of the Earth’s habitable land is already being used for agriculture, as well as 70 percent of the planet’s water. Cities are seeing an increase in wealth, and a subsequent increase in market demands for animal products, such as fish and poultry. Alternatively, COVID-19 has increased food insecurity for many. The challenge comes at a timely point in cellular agriculture’s development, as XPRIZE announced the plans one week after Singapore has given the green light on the commercial sale of cultivated meat. On Saturday, December 19, the cultivated chicken bites made by the California based company Eat Just launched in Singapore’s 1880 restaurant.
The competition is defined by XPRIZE as follows: “XPRIZE Feed the Next Billion is a four-year, $15M competition that will incentivize teams to produce chicken breast or fish fillet alternatives that replicate or outperform conventional chicken and fish in: access, environmental sustainability, animal welfare, nutrition and health, as well as taste and texture.” The challenges hosted by the nonprofit are public and encourage holistic applicants from a wide range of biotechnical backgrounds, whether an applicant feels they can help perfect the aroma, the texture, the nutrition, or the cost effectiveness of the finished product. There will be a bonus prize given to the team that produces the product (which can be purely cultivated protein, plant-based protein, or a blend of the two) at the “lowest production cost.” The challenge is partnered by Aspire, part of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council, and is funded by the Tony Robbins Foundation, a charity. The Good Food Institute, a nonprofit organization and thought leader in the alternative protein industry, will be serving as a team success partner.
I reached out to Eliot Swartz, senior scientist at the Good Food Institute, who gave some perspective on how XPRIZE’s challenge reflects the mission of the Institute. “GFI is thrilled that XPRIZE will be funding talented teams across the world to create fully structured chicken and fish products, which are key gaps in the alternative protein marketplace. Competing on environmental sustainability, nutrition, health, access, and versatility will incentivize new creative solutions and provide additional motivation for consumers to make more conscious meat and seafood purchasing decisions.”
While cultivated meat is still a new endeavor in the biotech industry, cultivated fish is even more of an industry infant. The texture of fish is softer and harder to achieve than a springy, meaty texture. New Harvest, a cellular agriculture research organization that relies on donor funding, has supported start-ups in both the cultivated fish and meat space. At the recent SynBioBeta Brands & Biology conference, Finless Foods, one of these start-ups supported by New Harvest, made an appearance on a panel about climate solutions and cellular agriculture alongside Kate Krueger, emphasizing the need for capital behind this cutting edge research. According to NPR, as of 2019, there were about a dozen companies working on cultivated animal protein, and only six were working on cultivated seafood. Alternative seafood still lacks regulatory approvals, and generally lacks the full extent of research that cultured meat has behind it. Krueger is a former research director for New Harvest with a PhD in Cell Biology from Yale, and is now Founder of Helikon Consulting and newly appointed cultivated protein technical expert for the XPRIZE challenge.
The Feed the Next Billion challenge has gotten a significant amount of press already. One article that stood out was published by Yahoo, as it touches on peripheral questions surrounding the challenge and the field, and highlights how XPRIZE takes a holistic approach. As reported by Yahoo! Finance, XPRIZE has focused on the issue of food security in the space of cultivated meat, an issue (perhaps because the industry is still so new) that is often left untouched. The article continues with statistics from the United Nations, which warn the number of sustainably caught fish could decrease by 25 percent by the close of the century, due to climate change. There’s a significant sector of the world’s population that relies on seafood, and climate change is likely to increase food insecurity across many populations — and that’s not including current food security threats such as Covid-19. The challenge places significance on the need for climate solutions, and comes at an exciting and critical time in the cellular agriculture industry. As Swartz said, “We foresee a future where the emerging technologies of structuring and formulating plant-based ingredients and cultivating animal and microbial cells come together to meet the protein demands of a growing population without sacrificing human, animal, and planetary health. The Feeding the Next Billion prize will get the world closer to achieving that goal.”
Written by: Thea Burke for Helikon Consulting, LLC | https://medium.com/@admin-21183/xprize-launches-its-feed-the-next-billion-challenge-7de56d6d17df | ['Helikon Consulting'] | 2020-12-22 18:00:18.668000+00:00 | ['Challenge', 'Alternative Proteins', 'Covid 19', 'Feed The Next Billion', 'Xprize'] |
Sichere den WordPress Login und wp-login.php vor Bots und Brute-Froce | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/inhalt/sichere-den-wordpress-login-und-wp-login-php-vor-bots-und-brute-froce-f872eb53497c | ['Jochen Gererstorfer'] | 2021-01-12 14:32:41.165000+00:00 | ['Wordpress Security', 'WordPress', 'Login'] |
Patrón de diseño FACADE en PHP | Senior Software Engineer | I love coding, software architectures and all new technologies. I’ll try to share, in an easy way, all the bits of my head.
Follow | https://medium.com/francisco-ugalde/patron-de-diseno-facade-en-php-da6b7058ea95 | ['Francisco Ugalde'] | 2020-06-10 18:45:55.320000+00:00 | ['Best Practices', 'Software Development', 'Clean Code', 'PHP', 'Facade Pattern'] |
Christmas Stars and Conjunctions — What Was the Original Star of Bethlehem? | Photo by Martin Jernberg on Unsplash
One of the things we associate with Christmas is stars. To Christians, the Star of Bethlehem is an important signal; it guided the Wise Men or Wise Kings to the place of Christ’s birth in time to give certain valuable and symbolic gifts.
So it’s not really surprising that many have equated the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn that occurred yesterday (sadly I missed it due to That One Annoying Cloud) with the Star of Bethlehem.
So, was the Star of Bethlehem, or whatever started the story historically, a Great Conjunction? Let’s poke around and see what we know.
Jesus Wasn’t Born on December 25
Sorry, people. Like the Queen of England, Jesus has a real birthday and an official one.
December 25 was originally the supposed birth date of Mithras, who’s cult was extremely popular with the Roman military. In order to placate the soldiers when Rome officially adopted Christianity, they gave Jesus Mithras’ birth date.
Tracking the history of Roman censuses tells us that the historical Jesus was born some time in the spring. Obviously, this is important when we try to trace what historical astronomical phenomenon the “Star of Bethlehem” might have been.
Photo by Ashwini Chaudhary on Unsplash
So, Was the Star of Bethlehem a Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn?
Jupiter and Saturn come into conjunction every 20 years, but the Great Conjunction is only as close as it was this year about every 180 years. Usually they get as close as the diameter of the moon then dance away again.
The last time we saw a conjunction like this was July 16, 1623, or rather, people on Earth did;; the 1623 conjunction would only have been visible to people living close to the equator.
The best view was on March 5,1226, when they were even closer together, and in that case most people would have seen it. They probably thought it meant something.
Interestingly, the next one will only be in 2080, meaning some people now alive might actually get to see this twice.
Now, there is a possibility for this. In 7 BC, Jupiter and Saturn did a full blown dance number, conjoining not once, not twice, but three times. This could well be the Star of Bethlehem, which appeared, disappeared, appeared…
The third conjunction was on December 5, and that gels with the fact that by the time the Magi arrived, Jesus was far from a newborn. Of course, it doesn’t gel with them still being in Bethlehem, but some scholars think the entire Bethlehem story was kind of invented anyway. And the time of day was right. “In the east” would have meant a conjunction visible at sunrise, which was correct for this particular pas de deux.
Photo by Lukáš Vaňátko on Unsplash
What Else Could it Have Been?
But that’s not the only theory as to the identity of the Star of Bethlehem.
There are certain other planetary conjunctions that have been put forward, including a very bright conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in 3 BCE. Which also was followed by a celestial dance, which resulted in a full conjunction in June.
Astronomers of the time would have considered any of these to be a potential omen.
What we can determine from the story is that the star was not a meteor (it was around far too low).
It was also not a supernova. Sorry, but there isn’t a candidate supernova it could have been; supernova events have been recorded going back thousands of years and we can’t find a nebula that would gel with one. There was a supernova in 185 A.D. that was recorded by the Chinese, and that’s literally the closest one.
Was it a comet? That’s a reasonable suggestion. There was a large, bright comet in 5 BCE that could be a potential candidate. However, comets have always been considered bad omens rather than good ones. You certainly wouldn’t go following after one.
I’m not Christian, but if there was a historical Jesus…and a historical star of Bethlehem…looking at the story in Matthew, I would say that if Jesus was born in March, the wise men arriving in June/July would actually fit perfectly.
So I’m going to go with it being the Jupiter/Venus conjunction.
At the same time, the one we got this year might give some idea of what such a “star” would have looked like.
For those of you who didn’t have one pesky cloud right in the way *grumble*. | https://medium.com/@jenniferrpovey/christmas-stars-and-conjunctions-what-was-the-original-star-of-bethlehem-a5b4555ca050 | ['Jennifer R. Povey'] | 2020-12-22 18:39:13.282000+00:00 | ['Bible', 'Astronomy', 'Christianity', 'History'] |
Here’s How to Test Error Correction on an IBM Quantum Computer | We now live in a world with quantum computers. Many are on the cloud and ready to use, requiring little more than an internet connection. But what can we do with them?
A quantum computer called ibmq_16_melbourne
First, we need to be realistic with our scope. No world crisis will be solved with a current quantum computer. No fortunes will be made. When thinking of these current devices as a computer, you have to think of them as pretty bad computers. The limited number of qubits means that they can’t do much, and the effect of errors means they can’t do even that very well.
Instead, we can think of these devices as pieces of experimental physics equipment that we can run tests on. From that perspective, their size and precision is very impressive. Never have we had such control over such a large quantum system. They represent the frontier of what we have been able to probe experimentally. With them, we have an opportunity to test whether quantum theory continues to hold in this unexplored territory.
It was in 2016 that IBM handed this opportunity over to the world. At that time, I worked at the University of Basel and primarily did research on quantum error correction — ensuring that we don’t lose quantum information to the effects of noise and quantum decoherence. So I started to probe this particular corner of quantum theory: if we implement elements of quantum error correction on real devices, do they behave as we would expect them to?
I wrote some papers with those results. These are now among the more than 200 papers that have been written by scientists around the world who have performed experiments on IBM’s quantum devices.
Using prototype quantum computers for science is obviously something that is easier when you are a professional scientist. However, given the right resources and tools, this is something that everyone else can have a go at as well.
This was one of the main motivations for creating the topological_codes module in Qiskit. The module has all of the basic tools you need to create experimental tests of quantum error correction. Specifically, it helps set up and analyze instances of the so called ‘repetition code,” the simplest example of something that uses the principles of quantum error correction to store information and protect it from errors. The repetition code uses multiple physical qubits to simulate a logical bit, rather than a logical qubit. To store a bit you simply repeat the desired value many times, to make it unlikely that that the majority of copies will get garbled by errors. It is simple enough that it can be run on current devices, and used to see how well the ideas of quantum error correction actually work.
To see it in action, you can read the relevant section of the Qiskit textbook. You can also now check out our paper, “Benchmarking near-term devices with quantum error correction” that has just been published in the journal Quantum Science and Technology.
This paper aims to serve as an introduction to what quantum repetition codes are all about, and how to implement them with topological_codes . It also shows an example of the software in use, by doing the largest test of quantum error correction performed so far: a repetition code with 43 qubits.
If you want to discover more about all this, just check out the paper. It has been written for a broad audience, and so it isn’t too full of technobabble. It’s also open access, so you needn’t worry about a paywall.
To give you a taste, let’s take a look at some results from the 53 qubit device called Rochester. Unfortunately, this specific device is not accessible to the public. But it is accessible to me, so I couldn’t resist the urge to put it to the test.
A quantum computer called ibmq_rochester
The main result was to look at how well repetition codes of different sizes can protect information. For this, we make repetition codes and use them to store a bit value ( 0 or 1 ). Then we read out the bit value from the code. In a perfect world, we read out exactly what we put in. However, due to errors, sometimes this will go wrong. The probability of this is called the ‘logical error probability’, which we use as our main measure of how well the code is working.
The theory of quantum error correction tells us that making bigger codes should give us better protection against errors. In fact, we should find that the logical error probability decreases exponentially. Let’s see what actually happens.
Here the ‘code distance’ is a measure of how large the code is. So we do indeed see that the logical error probability decreases with code size, and does so in a way that is consistent with the exponential decay we expect. This is true whether we are doing the test by storing a bit value of 0 (blue) or 1 (orange).
In addition, we get to see some of the details of real devices that theorists like me sometimes forget about. The decay of logical error probability is not smooth, but instead rather bumpy. This is due to the fact that different qubits suffer errors of different types and different strengths. So if making our code bigger means using some dodgy qubits, things might not improve as much as we’d like.
Also we see that it is easier to store a 0 than a 1 . This is due to to the fact that we use a lot of qubits in the state |0 ⟩ to encode the 0 , and a lot in state |1 ⟩ to encode a 1 . The superconducting qubits we use prefer to be in the |0 ⟩ state rather than the |1 ⟩ state. So more errors cause a |1 ⟩ to flip to |0 ⟩ than vice-versa. The results we see are due to exactly this.
You don’t need 53 qubits to get insights like these. Repetition codes can be run just as well on 5 qubits or 15, which is what is available on the public devices. They can be used to test how well you can store a bit value if you use only the best qubits, or how much of an effect the errors will have if you use the worst. You could also add in extra noise using tricks like the ones below.
The id gate makes the qubit pause for a moment and risk experiencing some stray interaction with its environment.
gate makes the qubit pause for a moment and risk experiencing some stray interaction with its environment. Doing any gate and then immediately undoing it gives you the errors associated with that gate (make sure to put a barrier in between so the compiler doesn’t just remove them).
You could even start thinking about new ways of decoding the results that come out, and contributing them to the toplogical_codes module for other people to use.
In summary, by running repetition codes, you can start getting insights into how our devices work. You’ll be able to see the effects of errors and how error correction is able to deal with them. By comparing against simulations, you’ll be able to investigate whether these devices really can tamed in the way that we require to achieve fault-tolerant quantum computers.
Whether you are a high school student or someone doing a research project for their masters, you can do experimental tests of quantum physics from your own home. All the hardware and software you need is free and accessible through the IBM Quantum Experience.
So why not see what you can discover? And perhaps get to know a quantum device even better than the people who made it! | https://medium.com/qiskit/heres-how-to-test-error-correction-on-an-ibm-quantum-computer-ecb086606e7 | ['Dr James Wootton'] | 2020-08-11 14:31:00.917000+00:00 | ['Qiskit', 'Quantum Computing', 'Programming', 'Open Source', 'Quantum Physics'] |
5 Productivity Habits of Truly Avid Readers | 5 Productivity Habits of Truly Avid Readers
“So many books, so little time.”― Frank Zappa
Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash
Books are truly magical objects. They can take you on a journey to any place in the world without you having to leave the house. They can teach you crucial life lessons while you’re sitting on your sofa. Books can be a teleport; they can be a time machine. Books let us live hundreds of different lives and learn from thousands of situations that could’ve never happen to us.
“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
― Charles W. Eliot
But to get the most out of a book, you have to treat it a certain way. Books are unlike any other kind of media. No video, song, or movie requires the amount of time, commitment, and focus to consume. You have to give your full attention to a book to get something out of it. No valuable lessons can be taken and carved into your memory from skimming the pages or reading reviews online. Books simply can’t be hacked.
Because books are a little harder to digest than other media types, some people might think avid readers have some superpower. That you have to be born with a reading gene to read a hundred books a year.
Anyone who knows how to read and enjoys this activity can become a prolific reader. When you read every day, you start to develop some habits and rituals that improve your reading quality and productivity. All it takes is a set of habits that can help you read more productively. | https://medium.com/the-ascent/5-productivity-habits-of-truly-avid-readers-f8bf36fd6040 | ['Alice White'] | 2020-12-08 17:03:24.691000+00:00 | ['Productivity', 'Self Improvement', 'Reading', 'Habits', 'Books'] |
Symbols | Photo by Kien Do on Unsplash
“Second-hand car shop& garage “- she said.
I don’t know why she said that and what it all meant but I followed her orders.
I couldn't say whether it was a morning or evening, summer or winter.
It felt nostalgic and sad, at the same time it felt like a puzzle to be solved. Don’t ask me what it all meant, I have no slightest idea. I followed her orders.
Who was she? I never met this person before. Why is she in charge?
We arrived at the garage — old, dirty, under bridge garage.
There was a sound, not loud but persistent sound. I looked around but couldn't see the source of that sound.
Never mind the sound, I can get used to it. The feeling, that’s what bothered me.
What am I nostalgic about? What makes me feel sad?
Nothing made sense- the garage, the woman in charge, the nostalgic feeling of sadness, and the persistent sound. | https://medium.com/an-idea/symbols-cd49f66e858f | ['Darius Butkevicius'] | 2020-12-23 09:02:58.018000+00:00 | ['Philosophy', 'Meaninglessness', 'Meaning', 'Short Read', 'Dreamscape'] |
System Design — How to query status of 10,000 machines | The general answer is to 1) maintain a queue of 10,000 jobs, each one is to query a machine’s status 2) have a bunch of worker machines run in parallel, retrieving and executing one status querying job at a time.
Following are the steps of getting deeper in this question and ultimately reach a satisfying state.
Step 1 — Naive Approach
A pitfall when the interviewer presents this question is that, he won’t tell you how many machines you can use to do such an operation. Thus, the first impression an inteviewee got is it can be a dead simple a loop.
List<Status> getStatus(List<Host> hosts) {
List<Status> status = Lists.newArrayList();
hosts.forEach(h -> {
status.add(h.getStatus());
})
return status;
}
Step 2 — this is not an algorithm question, THIS IS A SYSTEM DESIGN QUESTION!
The inteviewer will attack you by asking the complexity of the above solution — it’s O(N) . You’ll doubt if there’s any better way. It seems not, because you have to visit each machine and O(N) is the best one you can think of. Can it be O(logN) ??!!
But wait, the only feasible answer is that… this is not an algorithm question, THIS IS A SYSTEM DESIGN QUESTION!
Then it makes sense, since you can make it faster by enabling Parallel Computing !
The naive parallel solution that comes right to your mind is, having multiple worker machines, say 100, each one querying 100 host machines (100 * 100 = 10,000) and forward the query results to UI.
Step 3 — Naive Parallelization
But what if there are huge delays when querying a single machine? It’s not uncommon due to:
huge network latency
request timeout
several host machines are actually dead!
One of the worst case is that, 9000 host machines are healthy and the other 100 are dead, and it happens to be that one of the workers is responsible for querying the 1000 dead machines. Your UI would take forever to show the results!
Step 4 — Determine a timeout
We should have a timeout for each status query!
Him: Well, how long is the timeout?
You: If we have a collected history of how long each request takes, we can make the timeout such that, we can not only ensure most healthy calls are not missed, but also fail on dead machines fast enough
Him: How can you do that? Let’s say we have a distribution graph for you, can you elaborate more?
Step 5 — Cold Start and Load Balancing? -Worker and Task Queue Paramdigm
There are two main problems with this above solution:
1) what about cold start ? What if there’s no historical data? When you are building this from scratch, not optimizing it, then no data is ready for you to reference.
? What if there’s no historical data? When you are building this from scratch, not optimizing it, then no data is ready for you to reference. 2) what about load balancing ? What if some workers finished all their jobs very fast, and don’t have things to do, but some workers still have a ton of work remaining? This can happen easily when a worker gets assigned 100 healthy host machines, and another worker happens to get assigned 100 dead machines
The only feasible way to go further now seems require changing the naive parallel computing paradigm.
And the promising one is the Worker and Task Queue Paradigm , looks like this:
Each worker pulls an uncompleted task from the task queue, and execute it. When finishing it, the worker pulls a new one.
This parallel paradigm greatly reduces the chance of a worker got assigned all dead machines, and therefore greatly reduces the overall expected time for the whole job to finish.
Let’s compare this with the former approach in Step 3 in the case of consecutive dead machines. We are counting how much time it cost to finish the whole job in both ways, based on the following assumption:
Say the first 100 machines are dead, and the other 9900 are good.
The time to process a health machine (time to send requests + double way network communication time + time to process response) is 1s, and that for a dead machine is 5s (because of the standard timeout).
Ignore the time to actually retrieve a task from task queue
In first approach, the worst scenario is that one worker gets all the 100 dead machines. That worker will take 100 * 5 sec to finish, and all the other 99 workers will take 100 * 1 to finish. So the total time to finish the job is max(100 * 5, 100 * 1) = 500 sec.
In the second approach: all 100 workers will pulls each of query job for a dead machine (100 in total), so it takes 5 sec to finish all the dead machine querying jobs in parallel. Then it takes 9900 / 100 = 99 sec to finish all the remaing jobs for healthy machines. The overall time is 5 + 99 = 104 sec, which is far less than 500 sec.
Step 6 — Priority Queue
This is a kind of bonus answer to this specific problem, but is quite common and important to a general task queue. The incentive is about having tasks of different priorities.
You can set the priority by considering weight of different elements.
Summary
Finally, we came up with a quite sound solution for this question.
Have a worker and task queue paradigm
Maintain the queue as a priority queue
Remember this paradigm in the future when you run into similar problems!
References: https://bowenli86.github.io/2016/06/17/system%20design/task%20queue/System-Design-How-to-query-status-of-10-000-machines/ | https://medium.com/system-design/system-design-how-to-query-status-of-10-000-machines-cbbdec008f50 | ['Omar Faroque'] | 2020-09-28 04:20:03.184000+00:00 | ['1m Machine Health Status', 'Million Query Job Status', 'System Design'] |
You Hold the Key to My Secret Heart | I wanted you from the first day I saw you. The first day I looked into your eyes. That’s when I knew that I would adore you. It was no surprise.
Well I only met her about a week ago but the way she smiles let me know that she could see that maybe we were two of a kind. And I don’t think I’ll ever get her off of my mind.
You’re trying to make your mark in society using all the tricks that you used on me. Born between the covers of your fashion books. You think you can make it, girl, on just your looks. But you could never bring me up. Between us stands a wall. No, I don’t think you know me at all.
We had a fight last night about something or other but it can’t be too important if we love one another. True love always seems to take a little bit longer. But every time we break up, we make up a little bit stronger. I wonder just how long it would be. Me without you, you without me. Let me tell you know.
There’s so little time for us to try to rhyme and so many highways to travel upon. Open your eyes. Get up off your chair. There’s so much to do in the sunlight. Give up your secrets and let down your hair. And sit with me here by the firelight.
When the world and I were young just yesterday life was such a simple game. But today there is no day or night. Today there is no dark or light. Today there is no black or white. Only shades of gray.
You can see the changes we’ve been going through. Such a pity, what a shame. Who can we blame? You and me, me and you, and the rest of them too.
She looked at me and the emptiness in her eyes was cruel to see. Then she turned away and said, “Once I loved, but love is dead”. And I whispered, “Sometimes love is only sleeping”.
Put your heart and soul where I can see them shine. I wish you’d put your heart and soul where I can think they’re mine. I wish you put your heart and soul where I can see them shine.
Then I saw her face, now I’m a believer not a trace of doubt in my mind. I’m in love, I’m a believer! I couldn’t leave her if I tried. I thought love was only true in fairy tales meant for someone else but not for me.
You, you make my heart sing. You make my life worthwhile. I feel such there’s so much to discover. To uncover it is going to take a while.
I am leaving in the morning and I must see you again. Take the last train to Clarksville, and I’ll meet you at the station. You hold the key to my secret heart. Just turn the lock and we could be lovers after dark.
Francine Fallara, 2020
A unique fiction love story written using 100% of The Monkees song lyrics medley to pay tribute to Peter Tork, singer of the Monkees. The idea is to cram as many song title references (from a single artist) as you can into the fewest words that create an actual storyline. For those who enjoy friendly competition, divide the total number of words in your story by the number of song titles. That’s your score. 519 words (including title and subtitle) / 20 Monkees Titles = 25.95 words per title
In response to both JMontes and Michael Whalen | https://medium.com/music-voices/you-hold-the-key-to-my-secret-heart-848a39585059 | ['Francine Fallara'] | 2020-10-20 17:02:47.344000+00:00 | ['Artist', 'Music Voices', 'Fiction', 'Music', 'Musical Story Challenge'] |
Introducing LabRdr: An Experimental Offline News App That Knows You | With this app, we’re experimenting with making offline news reading easier and more relevant, through automatic personalizations of your reading package based on signals like your interests or, possibly in the future, your location and what’s being read nearby.
We also hope LabRdr will save a reader time, since it doesn’t require you to pre-select a lot of broad news categories when you start using it, or spend time saving links to articles you want to read later.
Since it’s experimental (like all of the lab’s projects) the app will only be available temporarily. We’ll remove it from the app store after we finish our experimentation, near the end of the year.
What inspired this idea?
The idea for this app came from a common problem described by a lab engineer, Connor Jennings. Every morning, before he entered his usual subway station in Brooklyn, he would quickly open a handful of browser tabs with articles from The Ringer, a sports news site. Once he was underground he’d look through the tabs and hope that he liked the stories he opened at random.
This messy experience got Connor and the lab team thinking a lot about content recommendations, and how we might be able to use information and signals that are already stored on someone’s mobile phone to improve and customize the offline news reading experience.
Connor researched recommendation algorithms exhaustively and we had a lot of conversations about products or features that exist today to support offline reading or content recommendations. For various reasons it seems like the industry hasn’t quite hit on a successful model. Madeline Welsh, then the lab’s associate editor, even explored the problems and possible solutions deeply in her post, How Do We Build a Better Recommendation Experience for Mobile News Readers?
Ultimately we thought that, by building an app that could allow us to try lots of different algorithms and methods to drive content recommendations, we’d start to gain some deep insights about what makes personalization work for news products.
Our goals
We want to be incredibly transparent about how we are using the data we gather about your commute patterns and the things you choose to read. To that end, for each permission we request, and for each piece of data it allows us to track through the app, we also explain how we’ll use it to aim to improve your commute reading. We’ve also created a section — the Log — where you see what data we’ve collected on your use of the app.
The transparency goes two ways: We’ll also be asking users for feedback about what they like about the app, or what they’d like to see done differently. The reactions we gather from our app users will be analyzed and shared with other news organizations and technologists, in the hopes of helping advance the development of smarter, better-personalized mobile news experiences.
What we’re looking to learn
What makes a good content recommendation system for news? A lot of the existing work about content recommendations are around e-commerce and we’re interested in what signals are particularly good for news organizations and news reading.
We’re also looking to gauge readers’ reactions to the utility of having a short package of news defined for them for a set period of time. Without the option to read a full spectrum of articles on many topics, will they feel better informed with those they do read, or have a sense of achievement at completing a few articles in a set?
As with all our experiments, we’ll report on what we learn in follow-up posts after the app has been running for a while and we’ve collected and analyzed data and reactions.
We hope you’ll download and use the app for the coming week or two. We look forward to your reactions, and please comment here if you have any questions or initial feedback. | https://medium.com/the-guardian-mobile-innovation-lab/introducing-labrdr-an-experimental-offline-news-app-that-knows-you-23f3c960ce37 | ['Sasha Koren'] | 2017-10-25 16:19:55.308000+00:00 | ['Innovation', 'Personalization', 'Mobile', 'Journalism', 'iOS App Development'] |
Breakup Aftermath: What to Do to Get Over It | Breakup Aftermath: What to Do to Get Over It
While time may be the great — and perhaps only — healer, there are some things you can do to start getting over your breakup right away.
I broke up with a long-term boyfriend about eight months ago. Well, let’s be really clear about what it was. I broke up with what was, from my perspective, a long-term boyfriend. Based on his actions, he probably only saw our two-year relationship as a casual fling or maybe merely a test of his acting skills to see if he could make it in Hollywood.
Either way, for me it was a very difficult time. But there were a few things I found that helped me get over things a little more quickly than I might have if I hadn’t done them. These are my best tips for beginning to put the pieces back together after a breakup.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Feel all of it
Breakups are messy, painful, difficult things. There are tears, hurt feelings, anger, urges for revenge (and maybe even murder), and so much more. Some people might tell you to try to ignore those feelings, distract yourself from them, and feel better feelings.
That’s good advice — later. In the beginning, in the days and weeks immediately after the breakup, you need to feel all those bad feelings. Feel the suffering, the pain, the agony. Feel the grief. Mourn what is lost, because no matter why or how the breakup happened, it is a loss.
Ignoring those feelings will only cause them to get bigger and worse later. They’ll pop up months later, or maybe in your next relationship, demanding to be felt. Save yourself the hassle and feel them now. It’s going to hurt, it’s going to suck, and it definitely won’t be fun. Feel it anyway.
Be honest with yourself about what happened
In my breakup, my honesty looked something like this: the man I was dating was not real. He was a façade based on what my then-boyfriend knew I wanted in a man and relationship. He pretended to be someone he was not in order to get me to be with him. He lied, manipulated, and deceived me for two years. And I let him.
Yes, I let him. I knew things weren’t right. I knew there were things he said and did that didn’t add up. And I let him distract me from finding out what was really going on. I let him avoid answering my questions. I stayed with him, despite knowing that I should leave.
This honesty is important. First, it helps you learn from the mistakes that you both made in the relationship.
But perhaps more importantly, it prevents you from second-guessing leaving. It stops you from going back and trying again. It keeps you from sugarcoating what happened and convincing yourself that maybe the breakup is a mistake.
Be brutally honest with yourself. Admit what they did wrong, and admit what you did wrong. Remember that even if one of you bears more blame for what happened, you both bear some — even if yours is limited to “I stayed when I shouldn’t have.”
Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash
Learn from the mistakes you both made
After you’re honest with yourself about what happened, use that information to learn from the mistakes both of you made.
You need to learn from your own mistakes so you don’t repeat them. But you also want to learn from your former partner’s mistakes so that you know what you don’t want in a future relationship. Whether it’s learning how to recognize when someone’s cheating or learning that you need more attention than your partner gave you, learn from what they did or didn’t do.
Some lessons will be immediately obvious, while others may take a little more time to be clear. While you don’t want to dwell on the relationship and pick it apart forever, you do want to make sure you spend enough time on this to feel confident you’ve learned all you can from it.
Don’t seek answers from your ex
I know how tempting it can be. Someone cheats, and you really want to know what they saw in this other person that they didn’t see in you. You’re together for years, maybe even a decade or more, and suddenly they say they’re done. You want to know how they can just change their mind.
Looking for answers from your ex is just a bad idea. First, you can’t be sure they’ll tell you the truth. They might just say what they think you want to hear. Or they might make stuff up just to hurt you more. Second, it only extends your pain and grieving. Finally, if it’s an ugly breakup and your ex is not a good person, they might use your desire for answers to keep you hanging on. They may keep promising to tell you what you want to know without actually doing it just to keep that connection with you and see you suffer.
It’s best to accept that you may always have some unanswered questions. There may never be the closure that you would like from this relationship. It’s not fair, and it might mean your healing takes a little longer, but this acceptance is better for you in the long run than trying to squeeze answers out of someone who doesn’t want to give them to you.
Photo by Tim Bennett on Unsplash
Block the ex if you need to
Some sources will tell you should absolutely block an ex, no matter what. Others will say you shouldn’t block them for various reasons. In my opinion, both are valid.
I have exes that I’ve blocked. I also have exes that I’m still friends with. Every breakup is different. You have to do what’s best for you.
If you feel you need to block the ex, then block the ex. Do it ruthlessly and without guilt. This is about your mental and emotional health, and it doesn’t matter what your ex or anyone else will think.
It doesn’t matter if you block them just because you don’t want them to be able to reach you or if you block them because you need to do it to stop stalking them or keep yourself from contacting them.
If you choose to block them, make sure you cover all the bases: social media, email, and phone.
Get rid of all evidence of them
Pack up all the photos, letters, and gifts they ever gave you and get rid of them. Delete all the photos online, the emails, the voicemails and text messages. If you can’t bring yourself to truly get rid of stuff, then at least pack it all up and shove it in the attic or the back of a high, easily forgotten shelf, and archive everything online so it’s not readily accessible.
Keeping photos or gifts at your fingertips means keeping reminders of your ex at your fingertips too. And while you may be able to wear that locket or look at that photo with a sweet memory someday, today is not that day.
Right now, those things will only serve to drive the knife in even deeper. And while you may feel like that’s what you need to keep from going back, it’s actually just going to prolong your pain even more. Just get it all out of sight so it can be out of mind.
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
Don’t engage with the nosy negatives
Whether it’s your ex’s family calling to blame you or mutual friends prying to find out what happened, avoid the nosy negative people who only want to argue with you about what happened or make you feel bad about it.
Only you and your ex know what happened in your relationship. And you can only control yourself and what you say. Your ex might be spouting all kinds of lies about you but engaging with those people who want to crucify you because of it won’t change anything. Letting them tell you how wonderful your ex is or how horrible you are won’t make you feel better or get you back together with your ex.
This can be particularly difficult if the people we’re talking about are mutual friends. It can feel cruel and unfair to have to cut people out of your life that you genuinely care about. And they may very well have the best intentions. But it doesn’t do your mental or emotional state any good, so it’s best to walk away when those conversations start.
Take stock of the good still in your life
Family, friends, a good job, a reliable vehicle… what else do you have that is good? When we’re in the middle of a breakup and it feels like everything is falling apart and lost to us, it’s a good time to take stock of what we still have that’s good.
You can make this into a whole gratitude practice if you want. Or you can simply remind yourself of all the people, places, and things that are good. The gratitude may or may not come naturally from this reminder, but the purpose of this isn’t necessarily to feel actual gratitude.
Your romantic relationship took up a huge space in your life. The loss of it can leave you feeling empty and lost. This is about reminding yourself that there are things that can fill in that space, other than your romantic relationship. If that makes you grateful, great! If it doesn’t, that’s okay, too.
Photo by Juliet Furst on Unsplash
Dive into hobbies
Taking a couple of days or even a week after a breakup to watch sappy romantic movies, gorge on ice cream, and cry your eyes out is fine. After that, though, it’s time to pick up your battered heart and get back into life. Hobbies are a good place to start.
You probably set aside at least one hobby in favor of your relationship. Pick up those old hobbies again. You have plenty of time to enjoy them now. Find groups, pick up supplies, and immerse yourself in things you’ve always loved.
This is also a great time to seek out some new hobbies. Those activities you’ve always wanted to try but didn’t have time for. The ones you heard about, were curious about, but your partner didn’t want to try, so you set it aside. Now is the perfect time to dig in and really explore those things and see if you like them or not.
Keep a (separate) breakup journal
I recommend journaling as a part of daily life. During a breakup, though, I suggest keeping a separate breakup journal. What’s a breakup journal?
You can buy them if you want. These journals often offer prompts, ideas, and advice on getting through the breakup. They can be helpful, but they’re not required.
You can just grab a blank journal, or even just a blank school notebook, and record all your thoughts and feelings about the relationship and breakup in it. Whichever you decide to go with, the store-bought breakup journal or the blank one, record everything.
Write down every thought, every feeling, every question that comes to mind. Write every doubt, every memory, every idea for revenge and plot for murder that you come up with. Let it all out on the page. All the fears, tears, rage, unfairness, devastation, and everything else that comes up for you should be put in this journal.
Unlike any other journal you might keep, I don’t suggest keeping your breakup journal. Write in it for as long as you need — a few days, several weeks, or even months. But when you’re done, when you feel you’ve exhausted everything there is surrounding the breakup and you’re truly ready to be over it, get rid of the journal.
You can burn it, shred it, or even take it to the shooting range and blast away at it. Whether you consider it a symbolic release of all the negativity around your breakup and a letting go of the relationship, or simply a practical solution to ensuring no one thinks you really intend to cut your ex’s brakes and send him off a cliff, writing and then getting rid of the journal is a great way to truly let go.
Photo by Adam Birkett on Unsplash
See if you can identify the warning signs
Before you get rid of that journal, take some time to read through it. Relive memories, look at the patterns of emotions, and notice the thoughts that came up. As you do, see if you can identify any warning signs that the relationship was coming to an end — or perhaps that it was doomed from the start.
We often become deliberately blind to impending disaster. The evidence is there, we know it’s coming, but we turn away and pretend because we’re not ready to face the truth. While the warning signs may not look the same in every relationship, it can’t hurt to see if you can identify them now.
If you can identify them now, it will be that much harder to turn away and ignore them if they appear in a future relationship. They can also help you identify what you do and don’t want in future relationships.
Just make sure you don’t spend too much time on this.
Engage in lots of self-care
This may be the most important thing you can do after a breakup. Self-care is critical during this period when you might be feeling like taking care of yourself is the last thing you want to do.
You should engage in more “fluffy” self-care, like bubble baths and massages. But you should also make sure you engage in more practical self-care like getting enough sleep, eating healthy nutritious meals regularly, and drinking lots of water.
During a breakup, other self-care might include making sure you have a safe place to live, see a therapist, and making sure that you stay on top of things at work (or even take a vacation so you can get through the worst of the breakup without working).
This may be one of the more difficult times in your life for self-care. You’re often depressed, lacking the energy to do anything, and if you’re blaming yourself for the breakup, maybe not feeling like you deserve to take care of yourself.
You might have to force yourself to take care of yourself during this period. If that’s what it takes, then force yourself. Ask a friend or relative to check in on you. You might even ask them to help you with your self-care.
Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash
Don’t rush to start dating again
It’s a mistake we all make at least once in our lives: we start dating again way too soon after a breakup, and things predictably don’t go well. Too soon for one person is too long for another, so only you’ll know when it’s time for you to start dating again.
But don’t rush it. We all know how hard it is to be alone, and how tempting it is to throw up a dating profile or ask out that cute guy at work — especially if your ex is already dating someone new. But dating before you’re ready, before you’re fully healed, just sets you up for failure. It sets you up to end up back in this lonely, heartbroken place over and over instead of finding the solid, healthy, loving relationship you really want. So take your time and ride out the pain.
Speaking of dating, this also applies to hooking up with someone. Casual, no-strings sex, whether with a friend or a stranger, can seem like a good idea in the moment. No feelings, no commitment, no chance for heartache. Get your physical needs met without all the rest.
The problem is that you can end up transferring the love you felt for your ex to this other person because of the physical connection. Or you can be reminded of how much you miss your ex. Or the experience might just be a really bad one — over too quickly, the lack of feelings leaving you feeling lonelier than before or feeling used.
Sex and romance will still be there, no matter how long you wait. You’ll know when you’re ready, whether that’s a few hours or a few years.
Don’t linger in regret or doubt
It’s so easy to get caught up in the what ifs and what might have beens. It takes no time at all to go down a spiral of reliving things that were said or done and wonder if something different had been said or done, would things have turned out differently? We can create an entire fantasy relationship based on what we think might have happened if just one thing had been different.
This is a waste of time, effort, and emotion. Even if you’re right and one little change could have changed the course of the relationship, it’s too late now. And most of the time, you’re not right. Most of the time, the change you envision making a difference wouldn’t have changed anything. Or if it did change something, it likely would have only dragged out the inevitable — you would have broken up two weeks or a month later than you did, or had that big fight a little later.
It’s common to go through a period, right after the breakup, where you play the “what if” game. The problem comes when you linger in that place. When you linger in the regrets, wallow in the doubt, and keep trying to rewrite the relationship in your head, you drag out the pain and make yourself more miserable than you need to be.
Breakups are a chance to begin again
Breakups give us a unique opportunity. We can wallow in pain, heartbreak, doubt, and unhappiness. Or we can pick ourselves up, and rebuild our lives into something even better than we had before. Whether we wallow or rebuild is up to us.
Which choice will you make? | https://medium.com/love-the-single-parent/breakup-aftermath-what-to-do-to-get-over-it-231f1180f76e | ['Wendy Miller'] | 2019-11-05 02:14:44.795000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Divorce', 'Self Love', 'Breakups', 'Moving On'] |
The Moon Comes Home 2 | The Moon Comes Home 2
Author’s Image. Photo credit Tony Hitchcock
She was so lonely
and tired of being left out.
The other celestial beings rejected her.
They called her ugly and told her to go
back to Earth where she belonged,
with the other dead rocks.
This was an especially cruel thing to say
in the sky realm where everyone had
the secret fear of one day falling
to the lower world.
*see previous. see next. | https://medium.com/illumination/the-moon-comes-home-2-e2fd2033a42a | ['Yeeve Rayne'] | 2020-12-27 18:15:48.547000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Awakening', 'Moon', 'Divine Feminine', 'Fine Art Photography'] |
Ask the tough questions | As a pre-seed investor, my focus is on helping founders find product market fit (PMF). PMF is that state where the market needs what you are making so much that almost any mistake you make is ignored and the momentum continues. Facebook with Beacon, Netflix with Flickster, Amazon with Fire Phone, Airbnb with some horrible overseas experiences, etc. These are companies that found PMF and the market was quick to forgive them.
Here is the report card I work on with founders:
My point of view is that any company who gets an A on this in a large market is a decacorn+, which is my goal for all of my companies. B’s can easily be unicorns and C’s can still make an investor money.
The challenge comes because as a free market, investors of all levels of sophistication invest at all stages and many invest in multiple market segments at once, not just education or future of work. That means that the average founder is confronted with people reaching out to them as soon as they show good growth. They may be an ‘F’ on the mechanics of building a huge company, but who is to argue if someone offers you a $1m seed check or $5m series A check anyway?
My advice to founders is to always take the money. In fact, I often advise them to take the money from people who have absolutely no business writing those checks because they don’t understand the business at all. YC Demo days are my favorite example of this. I have a founder right now pushing to get good knowledgeable investors instead of YC angels at demo day, and my response to her is ‘look, your business mechanics are not working yet, but you have people willing to ask no questions and pay you a valuation as if they were working — take the money!’
I advise them that because money is fuel. For companies I’m working with, I’m pretty confident that if I write an idea stage check, the founder can work for three months and either get to pre-seed metrics or not. With pre-seed, six months is almost always enough to get to seed. And with seed, a year usually works great to get to Series A. So $100k at idea, $500k at pre-seed, and $1m at seed. But markets are messy, and in times like this, we overfund those companies.
None of that bothers me. I don’t even mind paying seed-stage valuations for pre-seed companies if I like the founder and need to do that. What bothers me is that founders think that investors know what they are doing. So if someone is willing to write you a seed check, that implies that your metrics are seed-stage metrics. But given the messy market, that isn’t true.
The way that messes me up is that founders are emotion machines. If you are feeling confident because the market has validated you, it’s really easy to skip the hard work above. Blowing people away with your magic, making it easy for them to experience that, making sure they get engaged right away and see even more value a month later — these all take a lot of work. But you can fake growth, especially early, by doing PR, paying for users, etc. The market rewards you for that, and it’s 10x easier than focusing on the mechanics.
My dream would be that the above report card became accepted by seed stage investors, and they all asked the companies for those metrics. I know it won’t happen universally, but as a smart reader of my blog, I hope you will consider drilling down a level on growth and asking founders about these mechanics. | https://medium.com/@johnwdanner/ask-the-tough-questions-d59e08eab8d7 | ['John Danner'] | 2021-03-19 17:24:34.883000+00:00 | ['Edtech', 'Startup', 'Founders', 'Venture Capital', 'Future Of Work'] |
We don’t need gods or religions to be spiritual. | We Don’t Need Gods or Religions to be Spiritual
We don’t need gods or religions to be spiritual.
Religions are constructs of the mind used to control the minds of the many.
There is a reason why the bible refers to followers as sheep and the spiritual leader as a “herder.” Even the language of religion communicates corralling and controlling.
If we look deeply within ourselves to study the nature of consciousness, we discover that we are all connected.
We all come from the same place: this planet, earth. We are of nature like every other creature, plant, and organism.
When we realize that we are all connected, there is no need for spirit, the illusion that props up the construct of religion.
When you look out into nature, what creatures lay prostate observing religious practices?
Going into the darkness of your consciousness to bring forth the inner light of your humanity is what will truly save you.
You can awaken within the limitless nature of your consciousness — you don’t need to follow a limited and dogmatic construct in the form of religion and ideology.
Remember that even with your eyes closed, you can still see something within your visual field. In other words, you are not blind to your conscious awareness.
See things as they truly are, not for an illusion created by others to control your perceptions. | https://thinkqueerly.com/we-dont-need-gods-or-religions-to-be-spiritual-eb68a8ec746b | ['Darren Stehle'] | 2020-10-13 10:03:00.684000+00:00 | ['Spirituality', 'Humanity', 'Critical Thinking', 'Tao Te Ching', 'Religion'] |
The Terraforming Mars Model Of Building A Story World | The Terraforming Mars Model Of Building A Story World
Create a writing landscape previously thought uninhabitable
When writing a novel there is often the opportunity to create a unique world. Certainly this is the case in sci-fi and fantasy, but even in historical fiction there often needs to be elaborate world-building.
To grasp what needs to take place let’s look at the famed red planet. One day, mostly through the aid of various sophisticated robots (who learn via neural networks), Mars will be terraformed.
To initiate the process, Elon Musk has suggested nuking the polar caps to release the carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Sounds crazy. But this could begin a self-perpetuating cycle of heating the planet (a highly-productive form of global warming).
There are other ideas to heat the planet, such as focusing lasers on the polar ice, employing orbital mirrors, redirecting an asteroid towards the surface of Mars, and creating greenhouse gas factories. Regardless of what technique is employed, we will eventually raise the temperatures on Mars to the point where it is covered in oceans and is far more habitable.
Still, we will need robots to help colonize and irrigate the planet, since they can withstand the elements more easily than humans (radiation, dust storms, freezing temperatures etc.). They will build large edifices and factories to protect us from the elements. Perhaps there will even be self-producing robots, futuristic Von Neuman machines of sorts, creating a veritable army of workers that no longer require human intervention.
Eventually, Mars will be habitable for large groups of humans and function as a waystation for further space adventures (perhaps next to Jupiter’s moons). This may even take place within a hundred years.
Why mention this? Because this process is similar to the world building writer’s need to undertake to create a compelling novel. The most dynamic world building in novels takes place when the writer starts at a place no one else would dare go. When they generate a world from the ground up. When they start with some explosive event that changes this world and makes it teem with vibrancy.
Next they generally have to colonize and alter that world so it seems habitable. The world has to be inviting enough for some sort of civilization, some characters of the imagination, to thrive. It needs rules and regulations and governing principles. It also needs to be capable of evolving and pointing the way to the future.
Yes, the process of world building is really akin to terraforming our imagination. You are making an amorphous mass solid. Building out tributaries and connections. Erecting skyscrapers and irrigation channels. Providing the means for a colony of characters to prosper.
Once we do this effectively it becomes a bit of a self-perpetuating cycle. Like the autonomous robots on Mars, elements we’ve built into the story will soon all but take care of themselves. Characters will speak to us instead of the other way around. The world can function at a higher level of efficiency than even we imagined possible.
Terraforming the imagination is the best way, I think, to create a novel that resonates. For everyone wants to visit a world they have yet to know. Everyone wants to explode the boundaries of our current reality. Everyone wants an adventure. Finally, everyone wants to enter this new world so completely that they end up with a deeper appreciation of all they have back home.
You just read another exciting post from the Book Mechanic: the source for writers and creators who want to make more work that sells and sell more work they make.
If you’d like to read more stories just like this one tap here to visit | https://medium.com/the-book-mechanic/the-terraforming-mars-model-of-building-a-story-world-1f3b7db226ce | ['Matt Nagin'] | 2020-12-11 11:28:41.261000+00:00 | ['Worldbuilding', 'Writing Tips', 'Writing Life', 'Mars', 'Space'] |
My findings on using machine learning for sports betting: Do bookmakers always win? | My findings on using machine learning for sports betting: Do bookmakers always win?
Photo by Kevin Ku on Unsplash
One afternoon, in the middle of my holidays the thought of using machine learning to predict football results in the premier leagues came to my mind. I have never bet on sports myself because I do not like to dispose of the money, I make that way. However, I entertained the idea. I thought that if I can design an algorithm that gives me over 60% accuracy, I could spread the risk and bet on multiple matches, thus making constant revenue.
I thought the following, if I start with £100 (I live in the UK), and bet £10 pounds in 10 different matches, the odds are that I could win around 5 out of 10 matches. If I make sure to have a reliable algorithm, I thought I could make an absolute fortune. Here is the important part, I have never placed a bet in my life, and I do not know the details and intricacies of the betting industry. I knew I had to do my research to understand better what was I missing.
I knew I was missing something; I could not be the first person to think of this, it is never that easy. I proceeded to do a small research to understand better what I could find around this topic. The results were very interesting as I found how things really work.
First, I found a couple of journal papers which allowed me to assemble a small literature review on this field. And yes, apparently, this is a whole research area in which professionals in the field of Artificial Intelligence dedicate their time and effort to improve their Machine Learning (ML) models. According to Bunker et al. (2019) Although several studies have considered statistical sports prediction, the use of the Neural Networks paradigm is a more recent approach.
In my research I found the percentage of accuracy of various algorithms for different sports:
Purucker (1996) achieved 61% predicting accuracy for results in the National Football League (NFL) using a Neural Network Model.
Kahn (2003) expanded the work of Purucker (1996), achieving 75% accuracy across the matches of week 14 and 15 of the NFL. For this data on 208 matches in the 2003 season were collected.
McCabe and Trevathan (2008) studied sports prediction in four distinct sports, namely, NFL (Rugby League), AFL (Australian Rules football), Super Rugby (Rugby Union), and English Premier League Football (EPL) using data back to the year 2002. The average performance of the NN algorithm was 67.5%.
Davoodi and Khanteymoori (2010) attempted to predict the results of horse races, using data from 100 races at the Aqueduct Race Track held in New York during January of 2010. Although the algorithm developed by Davoodi and Khanteymoori (2010) required exhaustive training time, it achieved 77% accuracy.
Tax and Joustra (2015) used data from Dutch Football competitions to predict the results of future matches. In this case the authors also considered the betting odds as variables for their Machine Learning models. While their models achieved an accuracy of 54.7%, the model which used only the betting odds achieved 55.3% of accuracy. This fact made me realise something. Bookmakers have their own data science team. If the odds of a team winning are 10/1, then probably that team is going to lose.
Image by Author: Accuracy of ML predicting models per Sport — Adapted from literature review
After finding out that the accuracy of algorithms in previous research is around 50 to 70% (depending on the sport), I still thought that it would be feasible if the odds for the matches would be at least 2/1.
Finding out why no one has become a millionaire with this yet
Before I write the first line of code I was determined to find out if this was really feasible. At some point, I thought that maybe it was not legal to use your own algorithms, to which a simple Google search answered that it is allowed. Then I thought about bookmakers and how they regulate or limit the amount you can bet. I found a dissertation named “Beating the bookies with their own numbers — and how the online sports betting market is rigged 2017”.
This dissertation is where my research stopped. This paper explained how the authors attempted to use their algorithm to monetize and found two main barriers. First:
bookmakers use their own machine learning algorithms to generate the odds of the match.
Therefore, as your ML model points you towards the more certain results, you might always end up with a low benefit. Second, and even more important:
Bookmakers discriminate against successful clients.
Consequently, when you start to win often, bookmakers will start discriminating against you and restraint the amount of money you can bet.
Besides these two barriers, the paper I found, explained that over a 5 month period they made $2,086 in 672 bets, with a return of 6.2%. That is good (It’s not that good for the amount of effort you have to input), but it is hard work. You have to dedicate a lot of time and effort to make many bets and withstand being flagged by bookmakers.
My conclusions are that developing ML models for sports betting is good only for practice and improvement of your data science skills. You can upload the code you make to GitHub and improve your portfolio. However, I do not think it is something that you could do as part of your lifestyle in the long term. Because at the end bookmakers never lose. Ultimately I ended up not doing a single line of code in this project. I hope that my literature review helps illustrate others. | https://towardsdatascience.com/my-findings-on-using-machine-learning-for-sports-betting-do-bookmakers-always-win-6bc8684baa8c | ['Manuel Silverio'] | 2021-07-26 22:37:26.089000+00:00 | ['Sports Betting', 'Data Science', 'Machine Learning', 'Football Betting', 'Artificial Neural Network'] |
I Applied To 100 Jobs Over 2 Months, Here’s What I Learned | I Applied To 100 Jobs Over 2 Months, Here’s What I Learned
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
“You should be grateful you even have a job!” my aunt scolded, “these are tough times, why look for a new one?”
What my aunt didn’t know was that tough times bring clarity. This year showed me that I needed change. And it had nothing to do with ingratitude.
I needed a new job.
There were a few things I’d compromised on for far too long, like structure, collaboration and communication. My work place was sorely lacking in these areas. And things weren’t getting better.
So, I searched for better.
No workplace is perfect, but I needed functionality. I knew exactly where to start. Quite a few of my friends work for the big boys, you know, like Facebook, Google and the like.
I thought breaking into these circles might be a good start. Boy was a wrong!
I was desperate to learn the secret. How did their skills differ from the hundreds who’d applied? What landed them that coveted role?
I soon learned some shocking news. As I questioned and queried and studied their answers I discovered that none of them knew why they’d been hired.
This was the running thread among all these friends, who also boasted that they were frequently contacted by recruiters on LinkedIn.
They gave generic advice on running my resume through an ATS system to make sure it matched up with the job description. I made sure my resume was standard and had no flowery additions. I followed up with recruiters. I applied for jobs I was qualified for or had enviable transferable skills.
Yet, nothing.
Another thing all my friends had in common was that they were painfully unaware that they weren’t hired because they were special.
They were hired because they were likable.
They barely networked. But they stumbled on someone in the company who thought their personality would make a great addition to the team so long as they could churn out what was required.
I couldn’t judge. I was looking for a work environment with likeable personalities as well and not the mortuary I’d been working in for the past couple years. I wanted to work in a culturally-diverse and progressive environment. So why wouldn’t companies look at personality first and resume later?
You can always teach a skill, but you can’t teach character.
And I get it.
Resumes aren’t the only key. I wish I knew this before because updating resumes aren’t easy. Researching each company is draining. If you land the job, it’s totally worth it. If you don’t, you sit on the edge of your bed contemplating all the ways you went wrong.
I just want to let fellow job-seekers know that it’s not you.
You are qualified! Your resume is perfect. But companies are looking for a perfect fit in all regards.
Somewhere your perfect fit exists.
To find it, think outside the box. Apply for companies that aren’t on anyone’s raider. Think of relatively small brands that you look at from purely a consumer stand point. What about your personality and activities run parallel to the company’s goals and vision? Who can you “run into” that would be impressed with your in-person resume? How can you “chance" a meeting?
Finally, just because my friends were lucky doesn’t mean we can’t create our own luck. They got their jobs by accident, with chance meetings and by making airport friends.
We have to be prepared to impress someone with our in-person resume. Someone who’s willing enough to test their luck and hire us. | https://medium.com/@alexazrapope/i-applied-to-100-jobs-over-2-months-heres-what-i-learned-110de3726c4e | ['Alex Azra Pope'] | 2020-11-24 12:25:54.097000+00:00 | ['Industry', 'Salary', 'Work', 'Job Hunting', 'Careers'] |
Using eBird/Bird Photos | Welcome back. If you follow my blog you will know that I have covered in detail several bird counting opportunities, including Project FeederWatch, and the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). In this post I will introduce eBird, which is also managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
As you may know, both Project FeederWatch and GBBC limit your bird counts as they are for specific periods of time. Project FeederWatch runs from mid-November to early April each year, and participants can only count for 2 consecutive days each week. The GBBC takes place each February and involves counting birds for 4 consecutive days. What if you are an avid birder and want to count every day even in different locations? Enter eBird.
Perhaps the best way to introduce eBird is through the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t-0xAjxakw&t=10s
As the video mentions, data can be entered either via the website or using the mobile app. Photos and even audio recordings can also be entered.
From the eBird website:
eBird began with a simple idea-that every birdwatcher has unique knowledge and experience. Our goal is to gather this information in the form of checklists of birds, archive it, and freely share it to power new data-driven approaches to science, conservation and education. At the same time, we develop tools that make birding more rewarding. From being able to manage lists, photos and audio recordings, to seeing real-time maps of species distribution, to alerts that let you know when species have been seen, we strive to provide the most current and useful information to the birding community.
eBird data document bird distribution, abundance, habitat use, and trends through checklist data collected within a simple, scientific framework. Birders enter when, where, and how they went birding, and then fill out a checklist of all the birds seen and heard during the outing. eBird’s free mobile app allows offline data collection anywhere in the world, and the website provides many ways to explore and summarize your data and other observations from the global eBird community.
So for those of you who want to participate beyond Project FeederWatch, eBird is for you.
Regarding bird photography, you may wonder what camera I am using. I currently use a Nikon Coolpix L830. It has a 34X zoom and is mainly a point and shoot camera, although it does also have manual modes. This is an older model that I bought used. It is a good camera for those on a budget. For your convenience here is a link if you are interested in purchasing a Nikon Coolpix camera; there are new and used ones listed.
Finally, some photos for your enjoyment.
American Goldfinch
Northern Cardinal, House Sparrow
Downy Woodpecker
Originally published at http://dansgardening.blogspot.com. | https://medium.com/@djpfeifer58/using-ebird-bird-photos-921136c04cce | [] | 2020-12-23 01:22:28.812000+00:00 | ['Ebird', 'Birds', 'Bird Photography', 'Bird Watching', 'Feeding Birds'] |
Life is like Jazz () (weird :) | Hmm.. this place seems pretty simple from blogger yeah the interface is quite impressive. I saw few of my friends using this platform so i thought of giving it a try and also this morning i’m in one of mine philosophy mood so yeas i thought what better could be to write a medium story i guess talking is allowed here cause that’s how i write content i talk and tell stories (pretty dramatic ^^).
So, i think by now if you read it till here i have your attention. So what do you think about the tittle i think it got to be a lot better cause we are talking about life here but don’t you think there’s quite a bit of similarities b/w life and jazz well i can’t understand both of ’em :/ well if you’re bored from your daily routine from all the things that are happening around you why don’t you change the octave you can come back to the base scale later try walking a melody on the higher notes or better yet go down you don’t always have to be at the same place switch b/w them. Play a love song or Run a marathon do something if you feel like going away go away cause yea! life is like jazz . (Always trying to Improve ;)
I personally feel i could have written better but still managed to scribble something (Really need emojis here!!) I hope if you took some time out to read it you’ll leave a reply or comment of some sort :E . I’ll come here anyways just need to be in that zone and yeah i think i like the way i write but just need to write more stuff have to put some dedication to write my brain out here cause i usually have many things to write about. Haha! read it till the end
HAVE A GOOD Day! | https://medium.com/@chiragsharma4002/life-is-like-jazz-weird-9cfc3907e08a | [] | 2020-07-24 05:15:36.066000+00:00 | ['Oceans', 'Baby', 'Sharks', 'Life', 'Jazz'] |
Bottled up. | There are plenty of reasons for my Dad to have found comfort in his poison (and I’m paraphrasing with the above). But what’s important is to know that to stop drinking is to stop repressing. To cope with addiction is to cope with the causes of addiction. And none are so simple.
It’s important to note that we’ve been climbing to the cork of this bottle for some time. And he would get angry with us for asking him to take his life seriously. He’d shut us down when we ask him to slow down. “I have this under control.” Until he couldn’t anymore.
I got into town about 10 days ago. I sat with him and asked him what was going on. How he was feeling. He said he knew why I was there. He said he was ready for treatment. And committing to it. I should have felt joy. I should have felt relief. But I felt nothing.
I wasn’t afforded the opportunity to open up in the way I’d prepared to. He wasn’t in treatment now, so I felt like he might back out of it. A piece of me believed he would somehow find some way to not deal with all this trauma that had built up over so long. A piece of me still does. And I didn’t get to tell him how, despite everything he’d been through, that he gave me a great life. That because of his ability to carry a burden, I grew up with so much less of one.
Then I stayed with him for a few days. I got things out of the way. I cleared his headspace. I mowed the lawn. I cleaned the garage. I drove him around. Like a twisted chauffeur helping someone get their affairs in order before a big trip.
And the last day, because the scheduled reckoning was approaching, he began to drink like he’d never get another taste again. Like he was trying his best to kill himself before dealing with real pain.
I couldn’t take it anymore and I exploded. Everything I prepared to say I said to a person who wouldn’t even remember the conversation. I left. Drove around the block a few times and came back to a man who raised me crying in the middle of the carport.
I apologized for yelling. And said I’d be back in the morning to help him with his final paperwork.
That morning, we finished the consent forms, and they called to say everything was in order. And again, I felt nothing. Just accomplished. Exhausted and still drunk, he went back to bed before noon.
I hugged my Stepmother, got in the car, and drove away to be done with it, just for a few days. And again, I waited for him to back out. Until the morning of my flight. I texted him, “hear anything yet?” No answer. Later on, I texted back “Hello? I’m about to board.”
At that moment my Stepmother called me. “I dropped your Dad off this morning at the facility in Tyler. He’s checked in, and won’t be able to use any electronics or his cellphone. He’ll only have access to their landline and he can only call me.”
And that was the point — at gate 23 in an Austin TX airport — that I felt something. I burst into tears in front of everyone. Relief? Joy? Release? The feeling of some life-long wound beginning to heal? And I couldn’t stop for a bit. He did it.
“Wow, Dad’s life was pretty hard.”
And it’s going to continue to be hard. But it will open so many doors toward building a better life.
He chose to start the process. He chose to let it out. The pain that goes with it. The anger that comes from it. He chose to put down one bottle and open something he knows will be filled with terror, pain, and a thousand other emotions he’d never been ready to deal with. From this point, it won’t ever be easy. But he did it.
And I couldn’t be more proud of him. | https://medium.com/@heymacomber/bottled-up-6f15b766f7e9 | ['Patrick Macomber'] | 2021-06-09 18:31:40.871000+00:00 | ['Fathers', 'Alcoholism', 'Family', 'Sobriety', 'Addiction'] |
A short introduction | Image by Author
Hi, all! My name is Cait and I recently started working as an editor at Towards Data Science. As I don’t have an active presence on Medium besides my role at TDS, I thought I’d introduce myself and my background here.
I’m currently finishing up my degree in English at McGill University, and I am a journalist and editor by training. While my academic and professional experience lies in print and digital journalism, I am especially passionate about Digital Humanities and bridging the gap between technical knowledge and social/cultural issues. I believe that making complex concepts accessible and easily digestible is extremely important, and I’m excited to help further that mission at TDS. Everyone should have accessible Data Science education and I think TDS plays a very valuable role in that effort.
In my first few months at TDS I learned a lot about data science (and really expanded my technical vocabulary)! While editing, I am especially drawn to pieces that apply a technical approach to a social or cultural phenomenon and provide a humanities-centred analysis to them.
I’m looking forward to helping grow TDS as a publication and resource for the general public, and hope that I will grow and learn along with it.
Please feel free to reach out to me via Twitter, LinkedIn, or email me at [email protected] if you have any questions :) | https://medium.com/@cait-kindig/a-short-introduction-40eb93ad6bb6 | ['Caitlin Kindig'] | 2020-12-14 16:24:46.082000+00:00 | ['Introduction', 'Journalism', 'Towards Data Science', 'Data Science'] |
Strange Allusions | Strange Allusions
A Poem
Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash
You strangle every frame you come across
the rhythm of discord
taking whatever breath you thought
could stomach the weight
of new dysfunctions
Tragedy its own allusion
bitter mouths & curled/ eyes
every glare a new condescension
A never spoken message
taking on the scope of the antichrist
Worried about the reference
the neverending reference to the glee
& scorn delivered
together /Open dials to the wretched
the birthing of a new
cascade of fire & intention
Spiralling twisting rejections wait
— take their turns
begin the frailer & softer turns
before the jerk becomes your whole gut
& viscera
is just another name for movement
Willingness just another word
for fate/
Streamed the connections into
a lake
then took the rejection all the way
to its apex
before the steep & swift
turns became
the Greek for talented /ruminating
over how
how to get to the next portrait
without falling\ | https://medium.com/literally-literary/strange-allusions-45f6d9a0d4dc | ['J.D. Harms'] | 2020-05-08 02:34:29.938000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Damage', 'Thinking', 'Understanding', 'Reading'] |
Want to save money? Here’s how Americans plan to get it done in 2021 | Want to save money? Here’s how Americans plan to get it done in 2021 SWNS Follow Dec 24, 2020 · 3 min read
A new study conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Slickdeals aimed to reveal how 2020 affected Americans’ financial status and how they look at bettering their situation in 2021. (via Pexels)
The year 2020 has taken its toll, and Americans are looking at the 2021 new year for a fresh start in one particular area.
According to new research, 73% of Americans have a New Year’s resolution for 2021 that centers around being smarter with money.
The survey of 2,005 Americans also found that 47% of respondents say that 2020 was a difficult year for them financially.
Conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Slickdeals, the study aimed to reveal how 2020 affected Americans’ financial status and how they look at bettering their situation in 2021.
So how exactly was 2020 a bad year financially? The poll showed that 53% of Americans can point squarely at the pandemic.
One in four (23%) of those polled were laid off or furloughed, while 34% say they had some other type of sudden income loss.
But there were other causes, too. Nearly half (49%) say they were paying more bills in 2020, and 42% had some medical expenses.
There was also a somewhat unique and unconventional reason our finances struggled in 2020: 59% say they went overboard on spending due to the sheer amount of boredom the lockdown brought them. Respondents already have some solid plans lined up for 2021 that will help ease their financial burden a bit.
When it comes to how they plan to overhaul their financial situation in the new year, 38% say they are going to try to get completely out of debt.
One in three (34%) say they’ll discontinue some unnecessary subscriptions, with another one in three (33%) planning on seeking out more deals and discounts while they shop.
Another one in three say they simply plan on shopping more wisely, with 30% looking into a savings app for their phone.
For one in five (19%), it will be a matter of refinancing their burdensome loans, whereas 12% plan on getting a part-time job.
Another 12% plan on approaching their boss for a pay raise.
“A new year provides a clean slate for people to assess their financial situation and make the modifications needed to put them on track,” said Ryan Tronier, Senior Personal Finance Editor for Slickdeals. “Simple changes such as cutting unnecessary subscriptions or looking for more deals and discounts when shopping can quickly add up to big savings.”
Americans also plan on saving in the new year. The average respondent said they want to put $327 away per month, with 22% putting away $500 or more.
And it could be more than just having a little extra cash: 80% say that having more financial stability will result in a positive domino effect in their life.
Tronier added, “The study showed that consumers are looking to put more money away in 2021. We ran this survey because we believe that every shopping experience can be a winning one for your wallet. Our community of savvy shoppers helps one another discover the best products at the best prices. Over the past twenty-one years, our users have saved more than $6.8 billion. By tapping into the knowledge and insights from our unique community, consumers can quickly make strides toward their new year’s financial goals.”
TOP 5 WAYS AMERICANS PLAN ON OVERHAULING THEIR FINANCES
Getting out of debt 38%
Removing unnecessary bills 33%
Seek out more deals/coupons 33%
Spending money more wisely 33%
Using a savings app 30%
>> Download the video and infographic for this research story <<
NOTE: All news copy and multimedia on this SWNS account is free to use as you see fit. Where research has been conducted, we ask that you credit the company which commissioned it. | https://medium.com/the-capital/want-to-save-money-heres-how-americans-plan-to-get-it-done-in-2021-6d5f1c0f95e7 | [] | 2021-03-03 03:40:38.156000+00:00 | ['Money', 'Finance', 'Personal Finance', '2021', 'Saving'] |
Presentation Skills: How to answer those killer questions | Questions can be a major source of anxiety for many presenters.
In our presentation skills courses we are often asked to help people to answer questions more professionally.
It’s a much bigger issue than many people think.
When we probe a little deeper to understand the issue, our delegates often ask 3 questions:
1. ‘How do I respond confidently to a question I simply don’t know the answer to?’
2. ‘What if I don’t understand the question?
3. ‘How do I deal with hostile questions?’
Our first task is to re-frame the way we think about being asked questions. For many people that presents a significant challenge.
It is often perceived as the moment of truth
We’ve spent hours crafting our presentation to ensure its content rich and helpful. We know our content well and have practiced exhaustively.
We’ve left nothing to chance; so what’s the problem?
It’s as simple as it is frightening. We convince ourselves that our entire reputation depends on how we answer questions.
Unfortunately, there can be a touch of truth behind that limiting belief. That’s why it’s the cause of so much anxiety amongst presenters.
There’s plenty you can do to answer those challenging questions with confidence and credibility. Before we explore them, try to avoid this mistake.
Don’t answer a question saying:
“That is a really good question and I am glad you asked it.”
Quite often, it’s not a good question? If it’s not a good question the response sounds glib. If it is a good question, does that mean the others aren’t?
How you would feel if you asked the next question and the presenter didn’t acknowledge it as a ‘really good question’.
Just answer the question.
The scary six
Our job as presenters extends beyond crafting a content rich, compelling presentation. We also have to deliver it in a way that is congruent with our message. We have to anticipate difficult questions too.
Surround yourself with a small group of people you trust and respect. Share your presentation with them giving each person a specific role.
Roles
Devil’s advocate
Ask them to be contentious, oppose your view and challenge the strength of your presentation.
The sniper
Their role is to criticise you and to create an atmosphere of hostility and distrust.
The energy thief
Get them to look for a negative aspect of everything you say.
The know all
Encourage them to actively demonstrate that they know more than you on the topic.
The honest
Let them tell you in the most respectful way that they don’t agree with you.
The wanderer
They demonstrate that they haven’t listened to a word you said.
It’s not an excercise for the faint hearted because it takes courage.
It is, however an investment worth making.
Once the scary six have taken you and your presentation apart, take another look at your presentation.
As painful and as strange as it may sound, remember it’s not real and it won’t happen. You, however, will be prepared for anything.
What exactly should you do with those awkward questions?
Killer question 1 — You don’t know the answer
The old saying ‘honesty is the best policy’ has stood the test of time because it’s true. The moment you try to bluff your way through a question you don’t know the answer to you lose your credibility.
Try this instead.
Step into the question. In other words, take a step forward towards your audience. If you are seated then lean forward into the table or desk.
Have you noticed how common it is for people to be on the ‘back foot’ when they don’t know the answer to a question?
Your challenge is to be on the front foot and to step into or lean into the question.
Acknowledge the person who asked the question with eye contact. After that, bring the rest of the room into your response with eye contact too. Once you’ve moved forward and made eye contact, confidently say, ‘I don’t know, but I’ll find out and let you know’.
You have a few choices at this point. You can:
Ask the audience
“I don’t know the answer to that but I wonder whether anyone else in the audience does.”
“Can anyone help answer that question?”
Share a thought
You may not have the answer but you may have a view. Share a thought or perspective on the question if you have one.
‘I don’t know, but I’ll find out and let you know. In the meantime I have a thought on the issue. Please keep in mind that it’s not the answer to your question as I’ve already stated I don’t know the answer but here is a thought…
What’s your view on that?’
Ask for a moment
If you need a little time to think about the question, ask for it.
‘I need a few moments to think about that.’
This also take a little courage but remember, you don’t need to rush in to giving an answer.
Give yourself a little time to think. Your audience will respect you for it.
Postpone the answer
It may well be that you know the answer but under pressure the answer has slipped your mind. This is another opportunity to be honest.
‘Given the importance of the question, I’d like to give you the most complete answer I can. I will need to get back to you in…’
Killer question 2 — You don’t understand the question
I’ve long held the view that most people don’t really listen. I believe that many do something else — they wait to speak.
“Most people don’t listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” Stephen R. Covey
That is often the reason why we don’t understand the question. The solution is relatively simple; we need to really listen. That means:
– Listen — to the entire question
– Breathe — don’t leap straight into a response
– Check — ‘Let me just check that I understand you correctly, you are asking me if…’
‘To make sure that I’ve understood you correctly are you asking…’
If you still don’t understand the question, don’t panic. Take a deep breath and ask them to clarify what they mean. Explain politely that you are still not clear you understand the question.
Killer question 3 — It’s a hostile question
Most audiences are on your side. They are friendly, open and are keen to learn from you. That said, every now and then you may get what we call hostile questions.
They feel hostile because of the emotional charge. The questioner may wave their pen at you challenging or criticizing your perspective.
If this happens, your job is to remain calm. Depersonalize the attack and avoid being over defensive; easier said than done I know.
Your first priority is to diffuse the emotional charge and to take care of the rest of the audience whilst respecting the questioner.
Treat them the same as any other member of the audience. Answer their question as honestly and as professionally as you can.
Keep calm
Avoid matching your tone of voice to theirs. Stay calm, professional and polite. Remember that your audience will align with whoever is more courteous and respectful.
Very occasionaly it appears as though the questioner is looking for more of an argument rather than an answer. This is rare but if it happens, you owe it to the rest of your audience to close it down.
You do have some options:
– You can acknowledge their concern and suggest that the two of you meet separately after the presentation to discuss the matter in greater detail.
– If the questioner persists you can calmly assert:
‘I’m afraid I need to move on now.’
It’s possible that you may need to repeat this two or three times.
– A simple but powerful technique you can use to respectfully regain control of your presentation is to:
Listen — That means listening very closely and carefully to the perspective of the questioner.
Agree — You have listened closely enough to find something you can sincerely agree with. That does not mean you agree with a point they make even if you don’t. It means you listen intently for something that does make sense to you that you can agree with. When there is such a high emotional charge in a question it’s often fueled by passion and a need to be heard.
The questioner isn’t a bad person. They are simply someone who feels very strongly about what you are saying and may not share your perspective. Once you have listened closely enough to find something you can genuinely agree with, no matter how small, there is only one thing left to do.
Pause — You acknowledge that you agree with that element of their argument. Tell them that you understand their perspective or that the specific point they just made makes sense to you. Then you pause and you stay silent.
It’s more than a pause of course, as you are signalling to the questioner that you have nothing else to say on the matter.
You don’t say a word and watch what happens next.
Try to understand the motivation behind the question and tone. Share what you are picking up from them: “It sounds like your main concern is with the process. Is that correct?” This will encourage them to focus on the point they are trying to make. It will also give you a little time to consider a response.
One of the many key distinctions between a Mindful Presenter and a mediocre presenter is the ability to handle challenging questions professionally and effectively.
Remember
That distinction is achieved through the conscious focus and effort to:
– Listen very carefully to the question
– Lose the ‘headstuff’; in other words not making it all about you
– Pause and breathe
– Repeat the question if necessary and appropriate
– Understand the motivation behind the question
– Respect the questioner and the audience
– Anticipate difficult questions whilst crafting the presentation
– Stay calm, focused and on message
– Close the questions down politely and move on
If you need help:
– Book yourself onto a powerful public speaking course.
– Invest in some really good one to one public speaking coaching.
– Get yourself some excellent presentation training
If this article has inspired you to learn more you may want to take a look at our presentation training and public speaking coaching pages. You will also find a great deal of really helpful ‘free’ information in our Learning Centre.
Image courtesy of: iStock.com | https://medium.com/@mauricedecastro/presentation-skills-how-to-answer-those-killer-questions-c6524e9a934f | ['Maurice Decastro'] | 2021-11-23 12:03:05.463000+00:00 | ['Public Speaking', 'Communication', 'Business', 'Leadership', 'Questions'] |
Empowering Frontline Employees with a Connected Worker Experience Strategy | Empowering Frontline Employees with a Connected Worker Experience Strategy
In her presentation, Mimi described lessons learned in the first 10 years of digital transformation. These first-wave efforts focused on acquiring, experimenting, and launching new technologies without building the organizational capabilities, culture, and worker-experiences needed to support sustainable change.
Mimi then provided insight into how organizations can focus their efforts for success in the current second wave as they transform to business-digital ecosystems driven by human value and purpose. In successfully transformed organizations, the worker is central to the organizational ecosystem through new work practices, human workers are comfortable with their machine counterparts and a collaborative human-machine approach to problem-solving evolves, the organization learns on multiple timescales as a competitive necessity, and that knowledge flows rapidly within ecosystems as the “edges” of digital become the “core”.
If you are interested in having Mimi present at your next leadership event, please contact John Fee, VP Marketing. | https://medium.com/logical-design-solutions/empowering-frontline-employees-with-a-connected-worker-experience-strategy-b71066a1030d | ['Logical Design Solutions'] | 2020-12-23 11:03:12.877000+00:00 | ['Employee Experience', 'Company Culture', 'Digital Transformation', 'Employee Engagement', 'Future Of Work'] |
Love, Like Water, Will Find A Way In | Literary Impulse
Image by Annelise Lords
Tony Grant raced across the street on his bike as the light changed to green. He didn’t see the cab coming from the opposite direction breaking the stoplight, but he felt himself flying, then darkness. He felt cold, shivering. He removed the thing that covered his face, sitting up, glancing around. He saw trolleys. A funky odor burned his nostrils. He saw handles on small doors in the wall. There was a sink and two scales. As he stood up a door open and someone in a white lab coat looked at him, screamed, and fainted. Three more people in lab coats rushed in calling, “Dr. Simpson!” They stopped when they saw him, one of them said, “We pronounced you dead six hours ago!”
“Do I look dead to you?” Tony asked, realizing where he was.
The female easing towards him, looking at his lower body said, “You were a few hours ago. Don’t you think you should cover that,” pointing with her eyes. Looking down at himself, Tony realizes that he was naked. Instinctively, he rushed behind a line of trolleys. She walked to a closet, open it, and threw a white lab coat on one of the trolleys in front of him, then said, “Put that on. Your clothes are in the trash, but we can find something you can wear after we examine you again.”
Looking at the clock over her head, grabbing the white lab coat, Tony said, “I am sorry Doc, but I am late.”
“Look, you died six hours ago, we are here to do your autopsy, which we can’t do because you are alive, but we must run tests to make sure you are ok.”
“How long will that take?”
“Not long,” she assured him.
Four hours later Tony found her.
Angellina Delic was in pain, and only one thing could stop it. She sat sipping hot coffee, fighting her impulse. Five sips later she got up and walked out. Heading to the East River, she stood on the bridge as she did yesterday staring down, then turned and walked away. She repeated this process five times and on the sixth day as she sat inside the café sipping hot coffee, he came in. She got up and headed out. Turned on E 14th Street, stopped at the corner waiting.
As he turned the corner, he bumped into her.
“Why are you following me?” she screamed pushing him away, grabbing the attention of everyone within earshot.
He stopped, stared at her as if he was trying to remember where he had seen her.
She screamed, “Help! He has been stalking me!”
A squad car appeared as the crowd gathered. “Why are you following me? I notice you for the last five days. Why?”
He just stared at her. She grabbed his shirt and started to speak in a foreign language stuttering as she cursed. A police officer pulled her away, and another officer took him aside. Ten minutes later he was handcuffed and pushed into the back of the squad car. She smiled as the car drove away with him. Then she headed back to the bridge.
Half an hour later she positioned herself in the center glancing around. Today the park was scanty and the bridge was empty. She attempts to climb over to end all of her pain, a voice said, “Your father is trying to reach you and he can’t without this,” holding up a gold chain.
The jewels in the bear’s eyes on the pendant glistened as the sun’s rays touched it. She stopped, turned to him trembling, then said, “but I throw it in the river last week.”
“Your father is trying to reach you. He knows what you were planning to do.”
“That’s why you were stalking me?” she asks, easing towards him.
“Yes,” he replies, handing the chain to her. “Please, put it on, killing yourself isn’t the best solution.”
She took the chain from him, kissed the pendant of a bear hugging her cubs, and said in tears, “who gave it to you?”
“Your father?”
“That’s not possible, my father is dead. He has been for six years.”
Rubbing the back of his neck, as the memories of the past few days send pain through his body, he sighs then releases, “He said he is your father.”
“Where did you meet him?” she inquired.
He retraced his steps and discloses, “I thought it was a dream. I remember riding my bike through the green light on 3rd Avenue a week ago. Suddenly I started flying. I woke up in darkness tied up in chains. Then someone freed me. He gave me that chain, asked me to deliver it, and told me why. I woke up on a stretcher in the morgue and was told that I had been dead for 6 hours.”
“What did the man look like?”
He went back to his dream, then said, “He looked a lot like you, with brown eyes and he has a scar under his neck.”
She gasped, then said, “How did you know it was me?”
“Well,” he said scratching his head, “He told me where to find you.”
“He is watching over me,” she said aloud
“He also said if I get you angry enough you will curse in a different language and stutter. Sorry I had to be sure I was delivering the package to the right person. Plus you have a mole on your . . . . . .”
The look she gave him, he bit on to his tongue for a second, then said, “Can we go somewhere else to talk. Please?”
They found a cool spot in the park and sat down.
“My mother died of cancer when I was five years old. My father, my only parent, was killed by a hit and run driver when I was seventeen years old,” she said tears steaming down holding on to the pendant of the chain around her neck. “Today would be the sixth anniversary of his death.” She went on to talk about him and how much she loved him. She was glowing when she talked about him.
He listened, smiling, then said, “Why did you want to kill yourself?”
She sighed deeply, wipe her eyes, raises her brows, shrugged her shoulders, and said, “It’s not easy to live in a world where the only two people you know that loves you is dead.”
“You mean your parents?”
“Yes,” she answered with pain and regret.
“But what about your life? It’s the only thing we own that we don’t have to show proof of.”
She sighs, then said, “your parents are alive, so you wouldn’t understand.”
He nodded.
“Your parents are dead too?”
He nodded again.
Eying him in confusion, before she could speak he said, “I don’t know, I never met them.”
She stared at him in understanding saying, “you mean. . . . “
“I never met them,” he repeated. “I was raised in an orphanage, and then in a boy’s home. I have no memories of my parents or who they are. I wished I had memories like you. Memories are the gift our loved ones left behind that keeps us going and give us happiness too. Keep those memories alive, it will give you more reason to live. I felt your happiness when you spoke about your parents.”
“That’s why he sent you,” she said out loud.
“Ah,” he said.
“He chose you, so I could understand and recognized the value of my memories.” She sighed, then released, “thank you for stopping me this time. I get really sad every year on this day.”
He smiled and asked, “are you hungry?”
She smiled too, “You saved my life.”
He swayed his head left to right and said, “Your father save mine, so we are even. Come on, tell me more about your parents.”
Life has its own, but good ways of healing and helping us in crisis, with a little help from above and beyond. | https://medium.com/literary-impulse/love-like-water-will-find-a-way-in-6e95e48d478 | ['Annelise Lords'] | 2020-09-04 14:49:08.144000+00:00 | ['Love', 'Living', 'Life', 'Literary Impulse', 'Hope'] |
Killing in our name: A look at the modern era of the death penalty in the United States at its 1500th execution | By: Kristina Roth, Senior Program Officer Criminal Justice
For Amnesty International there is no debate about our sentiments as the United States marked this abhorrent milestone on June 20,2019, its 1500th execution in the modern era. That same year, 1977, Amnesty convened the first international conference on the death penalty in Sweden leading to the Stockholm Declaration, calling on all governments to abolish the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment that we call the death penalty. For the last 42 years we have unapologetically opposed the death penalty without exception, period.
As we process this moment in our nation’s grim history, let’s look at how we got here. In 1972, in Georgia v. Furman, the US Supreme Court ruled the death penalty violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the US Constitution, arguing that it was cruel and unusual punishment, with some Justices also noting the arbitrary nature by which the death penalty was applied and the evident racial bias against black defendants. These arguments against the death penalty would go on to be and still are core to the abolitionist movement today. Four years later in Gregg v. Georgia, the Court found that the death penalty does not violate our rights not to be subject to cruel and unusual punishment overturning what had been asserted in Furman. The following year, 1977, Gary Gilmore was executed by firing squad by the state of Utah. Gilmore’s execution was the first since 1967 when Gregg brought the return of the death penalty, ending a ten-year moratorium on executions in the United States.
Since Gregg, we’ve seen peaks and valleys in the number of people executed and sentenced to die from year to year, but the overall trends over the last 42 years point to a nationwide decline. In 1999 executions reached a peak since Gregg, when US states collectively carried out 98 execution that year. In the last three years we’ve seen no more than 25 executions annually, most recently hitting that high in 2018. From the US’s 500th execution in 1998 it took seven years to get to 1,000 executions, though it took almost fourteen years to carry out the next 500 executions showing an apparent decline in pace between 2005 and 2019.
Graphic courtesy of the Death Penalty Information Center
The Eighth amendment states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Over the years the US Supreme Court has ruled out eligibility for certain groups of people to be sentenced to death through the Eighth Amendment’s cruel and unusual punishment clause. In Ford v. Wainwright (1986), where the Court ruled against the death penalty for the “insane”, Justice Marshall wrote in the majority opinion of the Court that it would be “savage and inhumane” to execute these individuals. In 2002, in Atkins v. Virginia, the Court determined that it would be cruel and unusual to give the death penalty to people with intellectual disabilities, at the time referred to as “mentally retarded”. In Roper v. Simmons the high Court took on the issue of the age of a defendant at the time of the crime setting 18 as the standard. In that 2005 decision, Justice Kennedy wrote that the Eight Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment must apply to these cases given “the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society”
Persistent themes have challenged the legality of the death penalty in the US and the promise of equal justice for all. In too many trials, We have seen racial bias evident at every phase of a trials where a death sentence is sought. In 1986, the Supreme Court ruled on race in the juror selection process in Batson v. Kentucky, where the Court held that prosecutors and defense attorneys cannot strike potential jurors from a pool solely on the basis of race, there must be a neutral reason for exclusion from serving on a jury. Recently, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Curtis Flowers, a black man on death row in Mississippi. Over the course of Curtis Flowers’ six trials, the prosecution struck 41 of 42 black people from the jury pool, the Court’s decision was informed by the Batson ruling from 1986. Today we have seen study upon study pointing to the race of the victim and that of the accused as a leading factor in deciding if the accused is sentenced to die and is in fact executed. The issue rose to prominence in 1987 in McCleskey v. Kemp, where, as a black man, McCleskey’s attorneys argued that their client’s sentence violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments based on a study demonstrating that black defendants in Georgia were more likely to be sentenced to death if the victim was white. Despite this evidence, the US Supreme Court concluded that McCleskey could not prove that purposeful discrimination had led to his death sentence and upheld his death sentence. In 1990, Keith Tharpe, a black man, was sentenced to death in Georgia. After his capital case, a sworn statement from someone serving on the jury that ultimately convicted Tharpe showed racial discriminatory views towards black people. The US Supreme Court stayed Keith Tharpe’s execution on the evening it was set to take place, but later ultimately sent the case back to Georgia for further consideration. In this case, despite evidence of racist remarks from a juror, the court did not accept this as proof that that juror’s belief was the primary factor in his vote to sentence Tharpe to death. While the US Supreme Court has yet to have found this clear pattern of racial bias overwhelming, last year the Washington State Supreme Court found otherwise. With the help of a state-based study from the University of Washington conducted by Katherine Beckett and Heather Evans, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was unconstitutional because it was applied in an arbitrary and racially biased manner within the state of Washington. Across the United States, too many people experience discrimination in the criminal justice system putting justice for some out of reach. We all have the same right to live no matter what zip code we come from or the color of our skin.
Graphic courtesy of the Death Penalty Information Center
Other factors in our justice system have shown the arbitrary nature of the application of the death penalty. Whether comparable defendants may be sentenced to life or death has shown to be a challenge in the state of Florida, in 2018 Amnesty International published a report, USA: Darkness Visible in the Sunshine State, on the death penalty in Florida. In 2016, the US Supreme Court ruled in Hurst v. Florida that Florida’s capital sentencing scheme was unconstitutional because juries only have an advisory role to Judges on whether someone receives the death penalty as punishment following a conviction. This bucked the 2002 Ring v. Arizona decision that found that the US Constitution requires juries rather than judges to make the factual finding necessary to sentence a defendant to death. Also, in light of the Hurst decision, Florida became one of the final states to require a unanimous jury to sentence a person to die, meaning that, prior to this decision, a person could be sentenced to death by only seven of 12 jurors. After the state changed their sentencing scheme to comport with the Ring decision, it only allowed for partial retroactivity for those who were already sentenced to die under the previous, unconstitutional scheme. Florida determined it would only reconsider cases that had resulted in a death sentence from a split jury, in which the death sentence was issued after 2002.
The death penalty is an irrevocable punishment because there is no undoing the finality of an execution. A 2014 study from the National Academy of Science estimated that at least 1 in 25 people on death row are innocent. 166 people have been exonerated from death row in the modern era and there is no telling how many more wrongly convicted, innocent people are living on death row now, nor how many innocent people have been executed for crimes they did not commit.
Activist in New Hampshire rally outside the Capitol in Concord before the legislature voted to repeal the
death penalty. Photo credit Scott Langley
In 1977, 42 states allowed a for a sentence of death to be imposed. Today, 21 states have abolished death penalty and 4 more have a moratorium on executions issued by their governors, leaving capital punishment on the menu in just half of the country. In 1981 The Washington, D.C. City Council voted to eliminate the death penalty as a punishment. Eleven years later, at the request of Congress, the District put the issue of death penalty on the ballot, where voters approved of abolition two to one. Next, Rhode Island abolished in 1984. While the Court winnowed groups of people as death eligible for execution, the US also took steps backward.
In 1996, President Clinton signed the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Among many things, AEDPA cut down the amount of time a capital defender has to file for federal habeas corpus relief on behalf of their client and it barred reconsideration of legal and factual issues already ruled upon by the state courts with few exceptions. This law has made it challenging to get relief on issues that were not raised before a state court. Though, with a setback came a few steps forward. Over twenty years after Rhode Island abolished their death penalty, state legislatures started to take up the issue. In 2007, New Jersey repealed its death penalty, followed by New Mexico, Illinois, Connecticut, Maryland, Washington and just earlier this year New Hampshire. States are increasingly debating not only why the death penalty violates human rights, but, that the only way to eliminate an innocent person from being executed is to eliminate the death penalty all together, that it is applied in a racial discriminatory way, it is applied to the most vulnerable rather than the worst of the worst, it is applied arbitrarily, it does not deter crime more than life in prison, it is infrequently used and costly to maintain, and people all over the political spectrum are seeing themselves as death penalty abolitionists.
My hope is that in marking this disgraceful milestone in 2019 we come to an awakening about the death penalty here in the USA. In Amnesty International’s over 40 years of global campaigning to abolish the death penalty, we have long held that it is the ultimate denial of human rights and is long overdue to come to an end, here and everywhere. We must act boldly and not only strike death sentences and executions from the modern parlance, but dream bigger. Amnesty International shall remain committed to not only ending the death penalty in the US but moving all condemned individuals off death row whether they are in a state with or without a death penalty. It is past time to re-evaluate our system of punishment and ask what our society could be like if our prison system strived for our commitment to international law, with rehabilitation over pure retribution as our ultimate goal. | https://amnestyusa.medium.com/killing-in-our-name-a-look-at-the-modern-era-of-the-death-penalty-in-the-united-states-at-its-96b3d71ea938 | ['Amnesty International Usa'] | 2020-07-16 14:51:26.729000+00:00 | ['Death Penalty', 'Georgia', 'Execution', 'Amnesty International'] |
Can Hospitality fix its own staffing crisis? | Can Hospitality fix its own staffing crisis?
Is there any way that hospitality can make itself an attractive workplace once more? Or will we forever be stuck with the impressions of low paid, hard graft with little reward. Matt Shiells-Jones Follow Jun 11 · 5 min read
Before I start, if you haven’t read my previous article explaining how hospitality came to be in a staffing crisis, please go and read this first. It will help a lot in understanding where I come from in this article.
Let’s face it. There is no overnight fix that will have people queuing up to start their hospitality career. The damage is done. And it’s systemic. It’s a world that seems dystopian: Corporations where having ‘the right fit for the lowest possible cost’, is more important than the right skills. Where nepotism and ‘who you know’ are ever more influential. Mixed with small businesses desperately clinging on in an industry that relies on ever-shrinking profit margins.
Many think recovering the staffing crisis will involve recruitment drives, employment schemes and wage increases or even signing a petition to ease immigration. But are these only minor factors that just shove a plaster over the bleeding core of our industry? The years of systematic manipulation, mistreatment and high demands made of staff have damaged the trade. So what solutions are being suggested? And more importantly, will they work?
What about higher wages?
This is a deep and very complex issue that spans every nation and it would need a PhD paper to explore in any real depth. But let’s just say that people fear that higher wages could ultimately lead to price rises; which businesses fear will send customers scurrying away from them like rats leaving a sinking ship. Or it will result in lower staffing levels as corporate offices strive to retain already wafer-thin payroll percentages.
I regularly hear examples of McDonald’s having higher paid staff in Scandinavia than the US with marginal difference in the menu price for customers. But that is a high-volume fast-food supplier with the ability to reduce costs through high volume purchases. Saying that a 50-seater restaurant on Brighton seafront can pay staff an extra £1 an hour with no impact to prices is therefore not the same.
But it is not impossible. And therein is the point.
Minimum wage has become a standard of what to pay. It was not designed as this; it was a minimum to prevent cheap labour abuse. But it has become the standard wage to pay for people starting out in hospitality. This needs to be broken as a stereotype – especially in a culture where we still deem it acceptable to be paying someone less because of their age, using the excuse that it’s the minimum wage. If a 40 year-old and 17 year-old do the same job at the same level, they should get the same pay. Just because the law says you can pay someone less, it doesn’t make it ethical to do so.
Let us also not forget that the pay issue extends to salaries and overtime. Having an inherent culture that doesn’t pay for overtime for salaried staff, or doesn’t provide adequate time in lieu, are also major factors for people leaving.
So the real question here is if throwing more money at the situation will fix it? Which would be unlikely until the underlying issues of work-life balance and employer expectations are fixed.
Maybe if we relaxed immigration?
I have no issue with immigration at all. Never have. I have friends from across the world and many from Europe. I do however question why we have industry leaders fighting to import workers rather than making the industry more inviting to those looking for careers in schools and colleges here?
Apologies for this next bit but... I forgot all my corporate teachings for a second! Maybe it’s because foreign labour is seen as cheap and employers cling on to this idea that local labour is lazy, demanding and too difficult to manage; seen as less committed and less likely to drop everything to be last minute cover. And also less likely to obey every instruction without question because “They need the hours” or “They are more committed” – Phrases I have actually regularly heard in my career in great demonstrations of abuse of power: pick up the shift to be seen as committed, deny it and we won’t offer overtime to you again.
I feel I have to say this because few want to seemingly face up to the reality of the culture created in the industry. One of using cheap imported labour for the jobs that we think people from our own countries won’t have a desire to do. A culture so embedded that it has become common practice without question.
Nurture home-grown talent, treat people decently and then perhaps, just maybe, you will find that they are not demanding, just standing up for what is actually ethical.
Harrumph, rant done and toys thrown out of the pram.
Employment and training schemes
Okay, I agree with these. Yet schemes already exist that assist employment; government schemes in various forms and charitable organisations too numerous to mention. These clearly are not working as people expect. And there are more self inflicted reasons for this.
I have seen these schemes used for nothing more than cheap labour; using an apprentice because it’s cheaper than paying a 25-year old. If budgets are the motivations for using these schemes then something is clearly wrong.
They are ways to get people skilled in the industry and get them to experience the trade. People drop out when they see your staff doing long hours, being pulled in fifty directions at once and slowly sinking under business pressure to increase profits at the expense of all else. Yet people still wonder why apprentices quit? I am not smashing these schemes, as they are extremely valuable; I just think so many people fail to realise that dropping a 16-year-old in to an environment such as a full service kitchen is something that they need to work on helping them adapt to and understand. Sadly, this is the part often forgotten and going unsupported.
So what do we do?
It’s so multi-faceted an issue, it is hard to say where to start. It is a chicken or egg scenario.
It needs to be a multi-disciplinary approach; create stable work environments with training, support and a work-life balance. End reliance on zero-hour contracts and make workplaces where a contracted 40-hour week is just that, 40 hours. Stop the expectation of six-day weeks, double shifts and paltry pay in return. And start this with existing teams. They are your biggest assets right now – you wouldn’t run a classic car in to the ground without maintaining it and expect the value to go up – so don’t do the same with your staff!
Yes, we have businesses to recover. Yes there are costs. Yes money is tight. But hospitality is an environment where everyone pulls in together to get the job done. Reliance on good will and fear of job loss has become too commonplace as part of this process.
Now is the time for hospitality to reimagine itself for employees in the same way it is reinventing guest experiences. That is the way forward to creating sustainable businesses with loyal teams who care. | https://medium.com/the-standpoint/can-hospitality-fix-its-own-staffing-crisis-80fea93c7ba2 | ['Matt Shiells-Jones'] | 2021-06-11 12:22:22.502000+00:00 | ['Hotel', 'Hospitality', 'Hospitality Industry', 'Hospitality Management', 'Employment'] |
How 2020 Reaffirms My Resolution Writing Method | In between putting on a face mask, removing it; constant washing of hands, or rubbing them with sanitisers; disinfecting clothes and shoes upon reaching home or the office, time has seemed to take on the speed of light.
We have stepped into September, we have passed even the height of summer.
The heat of summer has been the most welcomed one this year, with the hope that it will help to slow down or even kill the coronavirus. Unfortunately, that has not been the case.
The coronavirus is still spiking in several countries such as the U.S. where it tops the chart with over 5 million infected cases and over 160,000 deaths at the point of writing. And the dreaded winter that is approaching carries a sense of foreboding.
The “Year Twenty-Twenty” could have been spelt “Twilight-Twilight” and not many would have disagreed.
And many would concur that the year had thrown a spanner into the works of their new year resolution.
Your 2020 Resolution
Earlier this year, I wrote about what I have learned from 10 years of making New Year’s resolutions and how I intend to stick to the method that I found to be working in those 10 years.
The key was to turn my “why” to my “who”.
Instead of asking myself why I am making this resolution, I asked myself who am I making this resolution for; effectively turning it into a promise.
My 2020 New Year’s resolution is a promise to my wife, my family and myself.
How about your? Were they a “why” or a “who” led resolution?
If you have been fortunate enough to write them from a “who” perspective, do allow yourself a pat on your back as your resolution should and must still be valid for consideration at this point.
However, if you had made a less fortuitous choice, then you might need to change your method in crafting the 2021 resolution. Do allow me to convince you why you should pivot to this new direction of resolution writing.
Why a “Who” 2020 Resolution Would Still be Valid
If your resolution this year is to travel to several countries; is likely to be an unachievable feat no matter how desperate you work on it. Most countries are still in lockdown and if they are not, they are still closed to tourists.
However, if you had crafted that travel resolution by answering the “who” question which in essence making a promise to that someone, I am pretty sure you are still able to fulfil that resolution.
Let me illustrate it out to you. Say hypothetically, one of your 2020 resolutions is to travel to Thailand.
I would like to travel to Thailand in the year 2020 as a reward for graduating from my bachelor program.
Here, you have resolved a promise to yourself for graduating, you would be intrinsically motivated to see it come to pass, coronavirus or not.
What you would probably have done is to take a virtual field trip to Thailand with Google Earth and walk on the streets of Bangkok with your fellow virtual travellers.
You would also probably have connected with Thais on social media and to bask in the warmth and friendly faces of ordinary Thais. Albeit, this pales in comparison of actually getting onto a plane to “Amazing Thailand”, you would still have kept your word to visit for it is a vouch you have made to someone: you.
On the contrary, if your resolution is a “why” led one, you would probably have given up on the idea, without even attempting to try.
The Promise Theory
In 2004, Mark Burgress, a computer scientist and former professor at Oslo University College, proposed the “Promise Theory”.
This theory was designed in the context of computer science; with the sole purpose of solving problems inherent with the current computer management system that is based on an obligation.
In layman terms, the current computer system is based on an obligation logic, whereby “agents” in the system, could be a computer or a printer are obligated to behave in a certain way when it is sent a command. However, Mark believes that all agents in the system should have autonomy of control and they can only be responsible for their behaviour by keeping to their “promises”.
A ‘promise’ is a declaration of intent whose purpose is to increase the recipient’s certainty about a claim of past, present or future behaviour. (Wikipedia, 2020)
In other words, it is about building trust on the part of the recipient; whether previous promises have been kept or not, with trust increasing proportionately to promises kept.
In parallel, this is no different to us, humans. By making promises and keeping them, we earn trust and if we are the recipient, we will trust the promisor more.
The “Promise Theory”, had sufficiently explained how we tend to want to increase trust in others by doing what is within our means; say what we do and do what we say.
After all, a promise made is a promise kept.
Reference: | https://medium.com/illumination/how-2020-reaffirms-my-resolution-writing-method-71c33a94864f | ['Ivan Yong Wei Kit'] | 2020-09-18 02:34:50.138000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Resolutions', 'Productivity', 'Philosophy', 'Self'] |
How One Animal Kills Its Prey with Flatulence | How it starts
You see, the adult latipennis flutters about the landscape pretending to be a butterfly, all the while looking for the damp and musty smell of decomposing wood. Then, when it detects a woody sniff, it homes in on the source — let’s say an old log — and checks it for termites. If there are some, it chuckles to itself and proceeds to lay some eggs next to the termite nest. Having squirted out a bunch, it then continues on its merry way to do whatever else adult latipennises do.
Sometime later, a baby latipennis hatches — a larva. It yawns, smacks its lips a few times, and begins to salivate as it looks around and smells breakfast. Its breakfast — the termites — meanwhile continue unperturbed crawling in and out of their nest.
Having spotted the crawling buffet, our baby latipennis picks out a particularly juicy looking termite and then approaches it. Next, as Wikipedia informs us, the larva “waives the tip of its abdomen near the termites’ head” and then — oh God then — it lets go of such a toxic bottom burb that “the termite becomes immobile after 1 to 3 minutes, and completely paralysed very soon after this.”
Having subdued its prey with such a foul chemical attack, the baby latipennis begins to eat its victim. And yes, the poor termite is still alive while that’s happening.
Ah, nature. Beautiful, isn’t it? | https://medium.com/i-wanna-know/how-one-animal-kills-its-prey-with-flatulence-c1f559e22b4b | ['David B. Clear'] | 2020-12-01 06:35:49.688000+00:00 | ['Animals', 'Flatulence', 'Evolution', 'Science', 'Biology'] |
Winning the Rental Game, Even With Bad or No Credit | If you are just starting out, chances are you have little or no credit. This can hurt your chances of landing that rental property, especially in today’s real estate market. Recently, an annual survey by the National Low Income Housing Coalition showed that there was nowhere — not one place — in the entire United States where an individual working a full-time minimum wage job could afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment. Add this to a tightened rental market with rental rates up and vacancy rates decreasing, and as a renter, you could be facing an uphill battle.
So what to do? In a competitive market, it’s more important than ever to keep an edge and stand out from other rental applicants when looking for a place to call home. If you have a less-than-ideal credit record, it’s time to buckle down and focus on improving your profile. While landlords take many things into consideration when selecting a tenant, credit score is one thing that can help to thin out a long list of applicants. How do you get past this with your next potential landlord?
Here are some tips to stand out from the crowd, and be more than the number of your credit score:
Act Fast: While it might seem advantageous to look at as many available properties as possible, make a list of pros and cons and then submit an application to only your favorite, this strategy can waste valuable time. In a competitive rental market, an apartment may only be available for a couple of hours. Renters should be ready to submit an application as soon as they find a place they like and are qualified for. Once you find a suitable rental property, be ready to submit your application and have all the move-in fees available that day.
While it might seem advantageous to look at as many available properties as possible, make a list of pros and cons and then submit an application to only your favorite, this strategy can waste valuable time. In a competitive rental market, an apartment may only be available for a couple of hours. Renters should be ready to submit an application as soon as they find a place they like and are qualified for. Once you find a suitable rental property, be ready to submit your application and have all the move-in fees available that day. Be professional: It is important to remember that your landlord is running a business and your interactions with him or her should be professional. Even before you submit a rental application, your future landlord or property manager will treat all interactions with you as a pre-screening process, including emails, phone calls and appointments. Always act courteous, professional and show up on time. If you are late, rude or sloppy, the landlord may choose not to rent to you because they have reason to believe you will not treat the property appropriately or your rental relationship with respect.
It is important to remember that your landlord is running a business and your interactions with him or her should be professional. Even before you submit a rental application, your future landlord or property manager will treat all interactions with you as a pre-screening process, including emails, phone calls and appointments. Always act courteous, professional and show up on time. If you are late, rude or sloppy, the landlord may choose not to rent to you because they have reason to believe you will not treat the property appropriately or your rental relationship with respect. Follow directions: Did the rental advertisement ask you to call to set up an appointment, but instead you knocked on the door and disturbed the current tenants? Did the landlord ask for a copy of your driver’s license, but you didn’t submit one? If you can’t follow the directions on a rental advertisement, your landlord has reason to believe that you will not follow the directions or rules outlined in a lease agreement. For this reason, your landlord can legally deny your rental application. Make sure to read directions carefully and show your respect for the landlord’s requests right away to set yourself up for a great landlord-tenant relationship.
Did the rental advertisement ask you to call to set up an appointment, but instead you knocked on the door and disturbed the current tenants? Did the landlord ask for a copy of your driver’s license, but you didn’t submit one? If you can’t follow the directions on a rental advertisement, your landlord has reason to believe that you will not follow the directions or rules outlined in a lease agreement. For this reason, your landlord can legally deny your rental application. Make sure to read directions carefully and show your respect for the landlord’s requests right away to set yourself up for a great landlord-tenant relationship. Solid references: Landlords and property managers rely on references to verify your employment and rental background. If you provide your landlord with your employer’s name and phone number, they may Google the company and call the number listed online to double check the validity of the information you provided. If it turns out that you or the “reference” you listed do not work, it will be a red flag that you lied and you could be denied. Your future landlord will also call your past landlords or property managers to find out what you were like as a tenant. They are looking for information on whether you paid rent on time, if you damaged or maintained the property, and if you ever caused any problems in general. If your past landlord give less than stellar references, there is a chance you will get your rental application denied. Conversely, great references will work strongly in your favor.
Landlords and property managers rely on references to verify your employment and rental background. If you provide your landlord with your employer’s name and phone number, they may Google the company and call the number listed online to double check the validity of the information you provided. If it turns out that you or the “reference” you listed do not work, it will be a red flag that you lied and you could be denied. Your future landlord will also call your past landlords or property managers to find out what you were like as a tenant. They are looking for information on whether you paid rent on time, if you damaged or maintained the property, and if you ever caused any problems in general. If your past landlord give less than stellar references, there is a chance you will get your rental application denied. Conversely, great references will work strongly in your favor. Proper income: This requirement seems pretty straightforward, however, some renters still find themselves stretching a paycheck and applying for properties they cannot afford. While some landlords will list the income requirements on the rental advertisement, others just assume that renters will not apply for properties out of their price range. The industry standard for income requirements is typically that a tenant needs to make 3x the asking rental price. While you may think your $3,000/monthly paycheck can completely cover your $1,200/monthly rent, your landlord will not and you will most likely get denied. To figure out how much you should be spending on rent, divide your monthly take-home paycheck by three. Don’t forget to include utilities in this figure.
Even if your credit score isn’t going to magically fix itself by the time you need your next rental home, you can stand out from the crowd — and from the stack of rental applications — by following a few simple steps. | https://medium.com/@kayceemiller/winning-the-rental-game-even-with-bad-or-no-credit-77fd03819557 | ['Kaycee Miller'] | 2020-12-16 16:25:07.036000+00:00 | ['Tenant Education', 'Housing', 'Rental', 'Credit Score', 'Renting'] |
Compassion Rooted in Brain & Biology | This coronavirus has challenged all of us. It has taught us that life can change in ways we aren’t prepared for. It has taught us that we are all connected. And it has led us to have more compassion. We’ve always had compassion — look at how we respond to natural disasters by raising money and sending food and supplies. But this time is different. This time, we face the same threat, even if some are more at risk than others. We know these are challenging times, and we want to help each other through them. I decided to read more about the new University of Virginia study, which suggests that we are hardwired to empathize because we closely associate people close to us — friends, spouses, lovers — with our very selves. I am sharing my thoughts on compassion.
Humans are selfish. It’s so easy to say. The same goes for so many assertions that follow. Greed is good. Altruism is an illusion. Cooperation is for suckers. Competition is natural, war inevitable. The bad in human nature is stronger than the good. These kinds of claims reflect age-old assumptions about emotion. For millennia, we have regarded emotions as the fount of irrationality, baseness, and sin. The idea of the seven deadly sins takes our destructive passions for granted. Plato compared the human soul to a chariot: the intellect is the driver, and the emotions are the horses. Life is a continual struggle to keep the emotions under control.
Even compassion, the concern we feel for another being’s welfare, has been treated with downright disdain. Kant saw it as a weak and misguided sentiment: “Such benevolence is called soft-heartedness and should not occur at all among human beings,” he said of compassion. Many questions, whether genuine compassion exists at all — or whether it is inherently motivated by self-interest. Recent studies of compassion argue persuasively for a different take on human nature, one that rejects the preeminence of self-interest. These studies support a view of the emotions as rational, functional, and adaptive — an idea that has its origins in Darwin’s Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals. This research suggests that compassion and benevolence are an evolved part of human nature, rooted in our brain and biology, and ready to be cultivated for the greater good.
Helping others triggered activity in the caudate nucleus and anterior cingulate, portions of the brain that turn on when people receive rewards or experience pleasure. This is a rather remarkable finding: helping others brings the same happiness we get from the gratification of personal desire. The brain, then, seems wired up to respond to others’ suffering — indeed, it makes us feel good when we can alleviate that suffering. But do other parts of the body also suggest a biological basis for compassion?
It seems so. Take the loose association of glands, organs, and cardiovascular and respiratory systems known as the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS plays a primary role in regulating our blood flow and breathing patterns for different actions. For example, when we feel threatened, our heart and breathing rates usually increase, preparing us either to confront or flee from the threat — the so-called “fight or flight” response. What is the ANS profile of compassion? As it turns out, when young children and adults feel empathy for others, this emotion is reflected in genuine physiological changes: Their heart rate goes down from baseline levels, which prepares them not to fight or flee but to approach and soothe.
Then there’s oxytocin, a hormone that floats through the bloodstream. Research performed on the small, stocky rodents known as prairie voles indicates that oxytocin promotes long-term bonds and commitments and the nurturing behavior — like care for offspring — that lies at the heart of compassion. It may account for that overwhelming feeling of warmth and connection we feel toward our offspring or loved ones. Indeed, breastfeeding and massages elevate oxytocin levels in the blood (as does eating chocolate). In some recent studies, researchers have found that when people perform behaviors associated with compassionate love — warm smiles, friendly hand gestures, affirmative forward leans — their bodies produce more oxytocin. This suggests compassion may be self-perpetuating: Being benevolent causes a chemical reaction in the body that motivates us to be even more compassionate.
World vide researchers strands of evidence suggest: Compassion is deeply rooted in human nature; it has a biological basis in the brain and body. Humans can communicate compassion through facial gestures and touch, and these displays of compassion can serve vital social functions, strongly suggesting an evolutionary basis of compassion. And when experienced, kindness overwhelms selfish concerns and motivates altruistic behavior. Parents can also teach compassion by example. A landmark study of altruism by Pearl and Samuel Oliner found that children who have compassionate parents tend to be more altruistic. In Oliners’ survey of Germans who helped rescue Jews during the Nazi Holocaust, one of the strongest predictors of this inspiring behavior was the individual’s memory of growing up in a family that prioritized compassion and altruism. In a series of four studies, researchers invited college students to come into the lab, outfitted them with electrocardiogram sensors, and then had them watch a video of a peer describing her feelings about a death in the family, a sequence of photographs of suffering people (such as starving children), or videos of children being treated for cancer at St. Jude’s hospital. Another control group of students watched an uninteresting video (of a guy building a fence), slides evocative of pride, or an inspiring video. After the videos, the students picked a single number on a scale to indicate the level of compassion they felt.
In comparing these different groups, researchers found that eliciting feelings of compassion always increased Vagal tone. But the Berkeley team made one disconcerting observation from their first three studies — the magnitude of self-reported feelings of heart did not correlate with more significant Vagal tone. So does Vagal’s style correspond to levels of felt compassion? To answer this, they tried a more nuanced experiment where students indicated their levels of felt compassion in real-time using a continuous dial (rather than filling out a scale after the fact, as in the first three experiments). This more visceral method showed that, indeed, feelings of compassion were associated with increased Vagal tone. In sum, the Vagus nerve appears to be intimately tied to experiencing compassion towards other people’s suffering, providing more evidence for Porges’s PolyVagal theory. More specifically, these studies show that what happens in your Vagus affects whether or not you can handle the feelings provoked by another person’s suffering — and whether or not you’ll feel concerned and motivated to help.
Human communities are only as healthy as our conceptions of human nature. It has long been assumed that selfishness, greed, and competitiveness lie at the core of human behavior, the products of our evolution. It takes little imagination to see how these assumptions have guided most realms of human affairs, from policymaking to media portrayals of social life. But clearly, recent scientific findings forcefully challenge this view of human nature. We see that compassion is deeply rooted in our brains, bodies, and the most basic ways we communicate. What’s more, a sense of compassion fosters human behavior and helps shape the lessons we teach our children.
This moment calls for careful reflection and reinvestment in compassion as a foundational approach to health. Calling attention to compassion in this way is not sentimental. It is pointing out a tangible good, without which health for all is impossible. In a sense, COVID-19 has shown us that a healthy person and a healthy world are the same. And healthy people and a healthy world are both strengthened immeasurably by having compassion at the heart of health. | https://medium.com/@capt-vinod/compassion-rooted-in-brain-biology-4c0112978a3b | ['Vinod Bhardwaj'] | 2020-12-22 05:32:16.832000+00:00 | ['Mirror Neurons', 'Brain', 'Covid Help', 'Compassionate Leadership', 'Biology'] |
LOVE your post, Ann! | LOVE your post, Ann! I've been there too - and I practice most of what you mentioned - including writing down manually every expense and manual input for credit card!
It's a way of being more conscious about shopping, but still not turning into a cheapskate or refusing yourself any purchase.
Another trick I use is waiting for 2 or 3 days — and if I’m still thinking of a product, then I’ll consider buying it, when the ‘buying fever’ has passed.
Many of us need to read this! | https://medium.com/@biancazagan/love-your-post-ann-9b2340433243 | ['Bianca Zagan'] | 2020-12-13 18:11:32.570000+00:00 | ['Shopping', 'Conscious Consumerism', 'Saving', 'Compulsive Shopping', 'Shopaholic'] |
Health & Fitness | Health & Fitness
Health and fitness are important aspects of the human body. One must stay fit, both physically and mentally. Children, teenagers, adults, and even old people need good physical activity. As they say, ‘Health is Wealth’ and we must look after and care for our well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic gave us all major opportunities to understand the importance of our health.
Introduction of the speaker:
Prashant Kumar Singh Director & Founder of Aakhada Gym, Varanasi. He is the founder of Aakhada Gym at Varanasi where Bollywood Celebrities like Rahul Dev, Mugda Godse, Ishant Sharma & Pratima Singh have visited.
Prashant Kumar Singh
The complete session on “Health & Fitness” is available on SDF’s Facebook Page. Check out the full session on our Facebook page now👇
https://fb.watch/2AtnKcd9LZ/
You can also find the complete session on our YouTube channel.
Check it now👇👇
To enjoy your life completely, you must be physically and mentally strong. Here are a few tips for you to stay healthy:
1. Perform simple exercises or Yoga for at least 30 mins a day.
2. If you do not prefer the traditional exercises, you can try out ‘Zumba’ which is an exercise program where you dance to music.
3. Start slow but stay consistent. Try exercising almost 6 days a week.
4. Exercise can be painful initially, and you will feel like quitting, but stay motivated. It will help you in the long run.
5. Plan a proper schedule for your exercise according to your routine and stick to it.
6. If you feel you are uncomfortable working out at home, you should join a Gym and get proper training.
7. After every workout, consider rewarding yourself in your way. It will help you stay motivated.
8. Sports can be equally good for your physical activity. Play your favorite sport and stay fit!
To stay fit, the only exercise is not enough. It is also essential that you watch what you eat. Try to avoid foods high in sugar like cakes and donuts. Reduce the junk foods you consume, which are high in fats, like, pizzas and burgers. It is necessary that you eat right, have a balanced diet. Fresh fruits and vegetables, foods rich in protein like fish, eggs, soya beans, etc. well-cooked meals, must be included in your diet. Drinking a lot of water and staying hydrated is also particularly important.
Health and fitness are essential components that every one of us must care about. If you wish to help other people stay fit, you can consider taking health and fitness as a career. The opportunities available are:
1. Sports and Fitness Nutritionist
As a sports and fitness Nutritionist, you will be responsible to train athletes and other fitness enthusiasts to improve their health and plan routines for them.
2. Strength and Conditioning Coach
As a professional, you are responsible to instruct athletes and other enthusiasts in particularly strength training and improve the overall physical appearance.
3. Exercise Physiologist
In this profession, you are responsible to help injured or sick patients regain their strength and fitness.
4. Open up your Gym
You can consider taking professional training as a Gym Instructor and help others gain fitness by opening up your gym!
With proper education and training, you could find opportunities in Sports teams, Fitness clubs, and even in schools and colleges as Sports Instructor. This career can be tricky and chances to gain professional education and training in India are extremely limited.
Conclusion
Overall, the importance of staying healthy is unequaled. Only if you are fit and healthy, you can increase your life expectancy. You can live a life of joy. Keeping a balance of all activities in day-to-day life is very important. Schools and colleges emphasize the importance of both physical and mental health. You must exercise, set a routine, stay disease, and stress-free, and live a long life!
Click on the following links to find more information regarding our career counseling session video.👇
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShashiDream/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shashi_dream_foundation/? hl=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/shashidreamfoundation/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shashi_dream
Keep supporting us by contributing!🙏🙏
You can donate here👇👇 | https://medium.com/@shashidreamfoundation/health-fitness-d40f38c98789 | ['Shashi Dream Foundation'] | 2020-12-25 05:41:40.402000+00:00 | ['Health And Fitness', 'Fitnessmotivation', 'Wellness', 'Health', 'Healthy Lifestyle'] |
[UPDATED 3/19] Coronavirus And H-1B Compliance: How Will You Post LCAs From Home — Electronic LCA Posting Is The Answer. | Photo by Dimitri Karastelev on Unsplash
[3/19 UPDATE]. The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) released their own Practice Alert entitled, “Fulfilling U.S. Department of Labor Notice Requirements During COVID-19 Outbreak” in which they state that the most conservative method of providing LCA notice right now is electronically. They note using a company intranet or direct email, which comes from 20 C.F.R. §655.734, but of course DOL published a follow-up memo to this last year on 3/15 specifically giving online, internet-based electronic LCA the go-ahead.
The world is facing a pandemic — the Coronavirus, or more properly known as COVID-19. According to the CDC, “this is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation” and, if that’s not bleak enough for you, “more cases of COVID-19 are likely to be identified in the United States in the coming days, including more instances of community spread.”
I won’t recap the history of the virus, where it came from and how it’s been spreading (that stuff is all over the news, and the CDC provides a good overview), but I will point out one important trend that will have a direct impact on H-1B cap season, particularly LCA compliance: working from home.
As more and more companies, including Google, Apple, Box and others, both tech and non-tech companies, urge employees to work from home (if possible), this begs the question — how will many of these same companies keep the H-1B process moving along? We’re in the middle of the H-1B registration process, which ends on March 20 and, once USCIS reveals the lucky registrants who will be able to submit their H-1B visa petitions come April 1, that will kick off the now-delayed 24/7 H-1B flurry.
In many ways, COVID-19 won’t affect the H-1B process. Indeed, gathering documents, filling out immigration forms and other work is usually done via a web-based case management platform or over the phone, so it’s possible for the parties to handle much of the process from home.
But there’s one important piece of the H-1B puzzle that, for many immigration law firms and employers, requires them to be present in the office — LCA posting.
Hard copy LCA posting during a pandemic
It’s weird even writing that subheading. If we’re dealing with a pandemic, the last thing we should be worried about is the workplace minutiae, right?
Normally I would say yes, but for 85,000 H-1B hopefuls, and other H-1B applicants that happen to need an extension or transfer during this crazy time, their visas, and by extension their futures, are important to them, coronavirus be damned. As far as I understand, there hasn’t been a suspension or alteration of LCA posting requirements in light of COVID-19, even though the federal government is urging folks to stay home if possible.
William Stock, partner at Philadelphia-based Klasko Immigration Law Partners wrote in JD Supra that, “it is a reasonable interpretation that the DOL’s definition of ‘worksite’ does not include a work-from-home arrangement in the same geographic area as the employee’s main worksite. In addition, even if it were a ‘worksite,’ an argument can be made that there is no requirement to post since there are no other employees at that location to whom notice can be given.”
In other words, posting an LCA at home likely doesn’t comply with the DOL’s posting requirements.
But let’s take it a step further. Does that mean that individuals will have to come in just to post LCAs?
And if they do, but if in theory that poor in-house immigration staff member coming in to post LCAs is the only person in the office, was notice really given? If we want to get into the weeds here, I would argue no.
A broader question about whether the H-1B petition itself needs to change has been posed as well. Does the beneficiary’s home address now need to be added as a worksite? Depending on where the beneficiary lives, are there different or additional wage obligations? Stock’s article touches on some of these points, but likely the true answer is that no one knows for sure. There hasn’t been official guidance handed down by the federal government, and so lawyers around the country will have to make judgment calls based on their analyses and understanding of the laws and regulations.
But here’s the thing — the LCA posting question doesn’t have to be an issue. Because while there hasn’t been official guidance on whether posting in a barren office is still required or even sufficient, especially during coronavirus pandemic, the DOL has made it clear that electronic posting, which you can read as “remote” posting, is compliant.
Last year, on March 15, 2019, the DOL issued a Field Assistance Bulletin (basically a memo) getting into the weeds of electronic LCA posting, particularly online, including for third party worksites. They made it very clear that it can be compliant.
So we’re facing a sudden work-from-home spike. If you’re still posting hard copy LCAs at the office (or you’re a law firm and sending you’re instructing your clients to print and post on site), what can you do?
Start posting electronic LCAs!
While some law firms and employers already submitted their H-1B cap LCAs before registration (which means they already posted the corresponding LCAs and created PAFs — or they should have at least), a lot decided to wait to submit and post LCAs only for those folks chosen in the H-1B lottery.
And for the employers that decided to wait, if they still post hard copy LCAs (which is most employers) and they’ve been told to work from home (which more and more employers are suggesting or in some cases requiring), they’re in a pickle. And by extension, so are their immigration attorneys.
The solution to this is clear — adopt electronic LCA posting.
In other words, create an electronic “billboard” where you can post LCAs and have them seen by the affected workers. If it’s just within your own company, that electronic billboard can sit within your company’s intranet, on your public site, or can even be sent out via email to all employees (this can be done just once and doesn’t need a full 10-day posting requirement, though it sending hundreds of LCA emails to your employees can get spammy).
If you have third party worksites and you need to put folks who don’t work for you on notice, as is common with consulting and staffing firms, then an intranet site won’t suffice and you probably don’t have everyone’s email addresses, so a public-facing LCA posting site that lives on the web is the answer.
A whopping two years ago I wrote about three ways to get started with electronic LCA posting and also some mistakes to avoid when you’re just getting started. But I’ll cut right to the chase since right now, the best way to get started with electronic LCA posting is to leverage technology that has already been built, and built specifically for this purpose.
Why?
Because if your company is telling everyone to work from home, but you need to start posting LCAs next week, you don’t have the time to build an electronic LCA posting process on your own, even if you have a brilliant in-house IT team or have an IT outsourcing company telling you they’ll build it for you.
You need to get started today, and to know it’s going to work.
LaborLess screenshot
That’s where LaborLess comes in. Yes, this is my startup, so yes I’m pitching it to you right now. But when I left my career as an immigration attorney to build a platform that would automate the time-consuming and costly LCA posting process, I inadvertently built a platform that would enable immigration professionals to do more of their jobs remotely, be it an in-house staff member or an immigration attorney at a firm. That’s never been a better time for this solution than now.
With LaborLess you can easily post, track and remove electronic LCA notices from a centralized dashboard. LaborLess automatically creates a unique LCA posting site that can stand alone or be part of an existing website or intranet, and with each LCA posting, LaborLess creates an electronic PAF with the click of a button that can be updated, tracked, managed and stored in the cloud.
Best of all, and perhaps most importantly right now, onboarding with LaborLess is incredibly fast — we’ll set up your account for you, onboard your users and get your team up and running within days or even within the same day if everyone moves quickly enough.
If you’d like to learn more, visit our website, drop me a note on LinkedIn or shoot me an email at [email protected]! | https://medium.com/laborless-io-blog/coronavirus-and-h-1b-compliance-how-will-you-post-lcas-from-home-electronic-lca-posting-is-the-28557688f387 | ['Roman Zelichenko'] | 2020-03-21 15:01:36.460000+00:00 | ['Legal', 'Compliance', 'Immigration', 'Technology', 'Justice'] |
Adding TypeScript to an existing Vue CLI project. | Vue and TS
I thought having a type system especially for the Vuex store files for TechRelief would make coding in the project efficient r I wanted to map the entity’s different states/stores in the code and the collections on Firebase
I am new to Vue’s echo system, but since it uses JavaScript, something I am familiar with, it was relatively easy to get a hang of it.
I did not want to infer everything including the components, but just the data models and some other objects that might need some typing. But why.
One of the motives is the following from a medium post.
The project was not created by me, I was supporting the project, so I will not go through the steps on installing the relevant tools and how to scaffold a Vue CLI project.
So here’s how I did it.
Prerequisites for the following steps.
Have the Vue CLI installed globally in your machine.
Have a Vue project created with the Vue CLI.
Install TypeScript
vue add typescript
And… that was it actually.
I had already created a tsconfig.json file with basic config entries but the above command added the other essential ones and added vue and tsx type declaration files (shims-vue.d.ts and shims-tsx.d.ts).
The above command also added some dependencies.
devDependencies
@types/jest
@vue/cli-plugin-typescript
@vue/eslint-config-typescript
ts-jest
typescript
On top of that, it made some Jest config changes in the package.json file.
Using TypeScript
Now with all that set up.
I started by typing the store slices for the app’s state, I have the state slices files as .ts. Example for the user state slice file user.ts, I had some interface like.
export interface IUser {
name: string;
age: number;
}
I have also changed the store.js file’s extension to .ts where I am configuring Vue to use Vuex.
Vue.use(Vuex);
In this file is the file where I import the typed state slices, actions, methods, mutations, and getters of the individual state slices.
Using the store in the Single-File Vue Components (SFCs)
To get the benefit of TypeScript in these files, I have the lang attribute with the value of ts for the script tag of my SFC.
I have also installed the Vetur, a Vue tooling extension for VS Code.
Without these two things, the script lang and Vetur, I did not get the static typing features.
So I think it is advisable to have these both sorted out
Example
<script lang="ts"> // Note the lang attr
// Your Vue code goes in here </script>
Example
Vetur tool reporting
The following thread is also very interesting.
Github — Vuex issue
Some resources
https://alligator.io/vuejs/using-typescript-with-vue/
https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript/issues/11739 (Not so relevant)
That’s it for now. | https://medium.com/the-innovation/adding-typescript-to-an-existing-vue-cli-project-499e5125d04a | ['Thabo Ambrose'] | 2020-07-30 19:16:09.297000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Typescript', 'Vuejs'] |
USTR Announces Special 301 Review — Comments Due January 28 | USTR Announces Special 301 Review — Comments Due January 28
Originally published on Diaz Trade Law Blog
Co-Authored by Sharath Patil
Special 301 Report
The United States Trade Representative (“USTR”) conducts an annual evaluation known as the Special 301 review. In the review, USTR identifies countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property (“IP”) rights or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on IP protection. As a result of this review, trading partners that present the most significant concerns regarding IP rights are placed in one of three categories: 1) the Watch List, 2) the Priority Watch List, and 3) Priority Foreign Countries.
The ‘Watch List’ and ‘Priority Watch List’ categories are non-statutory categories. The Watch List is an administrative category created by USTR to designate countries that have intellectual property protection inadequacies that are less severe than those on the Priority Watch List, but still attract U.S. attention. Meanwhile, the Priority Watch List is an administrative category created by the USTR for those countries whose acts, policies, and practices warrant concern, but who do not meet all of the criteria for identification as Priority Foreign Country. The USTR may place a country on the Priority Watch List when the country lacks proper intellectual property protection and has a market of significant U.S. interest. If designated on the Priority Watch List, the USTR must develop an action plan with respect to that foreign country. If the President, in consultation with USTR, determines that the foreign country fails to meet the action plan benchmarks, then the President may take appropriate action with respect to the foreign country
In 2020, USTR designated the following countries under its Watch List:
BarbadosBoliviaBrazilCanadaColombiaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptGuatemalaKuwaitLebanonMexicoPakistanParaguayPeruRomaniaThailandTrinidad & TobagoTurkeyTurkmenistanUnited Arab EmiratesUzbekistanVietnam
In 2020, USTR designated the following countries under its Priority Watch List:
AlgeriaArgentinaChileChinaIndiaIndonesiaRussiaSaudi ArabiaUkraineVenezuela
The third category, ‘Priority Foreign Country,’ is a statutory category and is the worst classification given in the Special 301 review process. A Priority Foreign Country designation is given to “foreign countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or fair and equitable marketing access to U.S. persons relying upon intellectual property rights protection. A statutory category for those designated by the USTR as having “the most onerous or egregious acts, policies or practices that deny intellectual property protection and limit market access to U.S. persons or firms depending on intellectual property rights protection” with the “greatest adverse impact (actual or potential) on the relevant United States products.” These countries may be investigated under section 301 provisions of the Trade Act of 1974.62 If a country is named as a “Priority Foreign Country,” the USTR must launch an investigation into that country’s IPR practices. The USTR may suspend trade concessions and impose import restrictions or duties, or enter into a binding agreement with the priority country that would eliminate the act, policy, or practice under scrutiny. In 2020, no country was identified as a Priority Foreign Country.
USTR Robert Lighthizer made the following remarks regarding the 2020 Special 301 Report:
“The Trump Administration is committed to holding intellectual property rights violators accountable and to ensuring that American innovators and creators have a full and fair opportunity to use and profit from their work. Over the last year, USTR has secured strong and enforceable obligations on intellectual property in our historic agreements with China, Canada, and Mexico.”
Comments Due January 28, 2021
USTR is seeking comments for its 2021 Special 301 review. USTR requests written comments that identify acts, policies, or practices that may form the basis of a country’s identification as a Priority Foreign Country or placement on the Priority Watch List or Watch List. Specifically, USTR requests that interested persons identify those countries whose acts, policies or practices deny adequate and effective protection for IP rights or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on IP protection. According to USTR, written submissions from the public are a key source of information for the Special 301 review process.
The deadline for submitting written comments from the public is January 28, 2021. USTR will publish the 2021 Special 301 Report on or about April 30, 2021.
Contact Us
Diaz Trade Law has significant experience on intellectual property matters and in submitting comments on federal rulemaking. If you require assistance filing comments for the Special 301 review or have other questions pertaining to intellectual property, contact us today at [email protected] or 305–456–3830. | https://medium.com/@info-56826/ustr-announces-special-301-review-comments-due-january-28-3ff6ff3e504 | ['Diaz Trade Law'] | 2021-01-18 15:30:59.534000+00:00 | ['Trade', 'Best Practices', 'Import', 'Export', 'Comment'] |
Revamping, and Expansion of The Opinioc | Unsplash: Anatoliy Babiy.
Dear Readers,
We are highly appreciative of all the support, patience, and trust that you have showered on us. It bestows us with immense pleasure to announce that out of the number of projects that we are working on — climacteric of one among them has been accomplished.
Opinioc started its journey as a Medium-partnered publication, and within a short span of time, it set the Thames on fire and became one of the top publications on Medium.
But not to confine it there, a multivariate platform was envisaged in a comprehensive, concise way — where the evolving needs and challenges posed by the new generation will be maneuvered in a succinct, client-friendly, and target-oriented manner. This was only possible because of the support from our readers who had faith in the principles guiding our publication.
As our Opinioc family grew, a need was felt to expand our reach in order to be more inclusive. To cater to those demands, we have revamped and designed a full-fledged website — https://opinioc.com for our esteemed readers, and writers. Also, a new feature — ‘NEW VOICES’ was conceptualized and added, which hopes to provide an open-ended platform giving impetus to every voice out there. The section ‘NEW VOICES’ intends to be the repository of thoughts, ideas, and graphics.
Besides, the methodology for the submission has also changed — keeping traction with the on-going technological advances and not limiting it to the old-school. The writers can either mail their piece at [email protected] or create a Profile, and use the extensive dashboard provided to submit the same.
Apart from that, we would like to take this opportunity to share the great news with our Opinioc family that we have expanded and started Opinioc Services.
In the Services part of the Opinioc, we have collaborated with a team of highly skilled and experienced members who have to their glory — a number of projects and to fulfill the requirements of the time, we have devised this as a broad range platform where Content Writing, Digital Marketing, Web Development, and Designing needs will be addressed.
Together we started this journey and together we are growing. We do acknowledge the effort of every person in making this expedition interesting and successful. We are overwhelmed by your response, we also inform you that the Opinioc has now fully resumed its publication and services.
Warm Regards
The Opinioc Team | https://medium.com/opinioc/revamping-and-expansion-of-the-opinioc-dad001003723 | ['The Opinioc Team'] | 2020-12-23 04:50:19.147000+00:00 | ['Services', 'Publication', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Startup', 'Newsletter'] |
Miracle of hope | Pantoum after Rachel B. Baxter
Photograph taken by me
A soul lost in doubt-
A miracle they say,
Chasing the darkness out,
Quickly swept me away
A miracle they say,
When ‘can’t be’ turned to ‘done’
Quickly swept me away
My despair now undone
When ‘can’t be’ turned to ‘done’
A chapter new began
My despair now undone,
I was now hope’s new twin
A chapter anew begins
Chasing darkness out,
I am now hope’s new twin
To souls lost in doubt! | https://medium.com/chalkboard/miracle-of-hope-b94b5bd59f35 | [] | 2017-09-09 23:31:47.051000+00:00 | ['Passing Pantoum', 'Pantoum', 'Poetry', 'Hope', 'Life'] |
My Dad Missed My Birth Because He Wanted A Sandwich | “My water broke. We need to get to the hospital.”
That was the frantic message my dad received from my pregnant mom at 4:40 p.m. on Thursday, June 5, 1969.
With those two sentences, they instantly forgot the detailed plans they laid out after attending the birthing classes.
Luckily their apartment in Philadelphia was close to where my dad worked as a stock broker. Even though it was only 75 degrees, he was sweating by the time he sped home in his 1961 Ford Mustang, illegally parked and took the elevator up to fourth floor to retrieve my mom and her overnight bag.
They made it to the hospital by 5:40 p.m. and were quickly seen by a doctor who said my mom was ready to give birth that night.
Unlike today, expectant mothers were knocked out with general anesthesia and were unconscious when they delivered. Since fathers were not allowed in the delivery room, my dad was sent to an empty, all-male waiting room.
Once my mom was sedated, the nurse came into the waiting room and told my dad it’d be 2 1/2 to 3 hours before they would deliver me. It was 5:40 p.m. so that meant I wouldn’t be born until at least 8 p.m.
Rather than wait sitting on a hard, all-wood chair by himself, my dad figured he had enough time to drive home, change out of his suit, eat dinner and be back with an hour to spare.
After hitting more traffic than he expected, he got to their apartment and changed into a golf shirt and slacks. He then called his parents and my mom’s parents to tell them that a grandchild was on the way tonight and he’d call them back after the delivery. Instead of eating there, he decided to pick up a sub sandwich on the way back to the hospital so he’d arrive in plenty of time.
When he pulled up to the hospital with the sandwich bag in the passenger seat, he didn’t remember where they had parked previously or the best way to get the maternity ward since they were so rushed before.
After walking in a different door of the hospital and talking a wrong turn that put him down a long hallway opposite of where he needed to go, he looked at his watch and saw it was now 7:15 p.m.
He hurriedly circled back and found an elevator that let him out on the correct floor right next to huge window with three rows of newborn babies.
Excited by the prospect his child would soon be there as well, he took a moment to look at babies in their cribs. A nurse asked if he needed help and my Dad said, “No, I was just heading to my wife’s room. We are expecting our first tonight.”
She asked if they were having a boy or girl and he told her they wanted to be surprised. Then as a joke, he asked “is there a Hill baby in one of those cribs?”
The nurse looked around at all the babies and said yes there was one. At that point my dad could barely speak and asked “is it a boy or girl?” The nurse responded that it was a healthy boy delivered at 6:54 p.m.
Dad’s shock turned to concern for his wife, so he asked the nurse to escort him to the right room. When they got there, my mom was still out.
Waiting for an update, my dad ate his sandwich. After 20 minutes, the night nurse came in. She told him everything went well, but they didn’t expected my mom to wake up from the anesthesia until at least 7 a.m.
Not relishing the prospect of spending the night sleeping in a stiff chair, he dug the sandwich bag out of the trash can. He then wrote my mom this note: “Congratulations, it’s a boy! I’ll see you in the morning.”
He placed the bag on the night stand and went back to the apartment to update their relatives with the good news.
My mom woke up briefly in the middle of the night. While still feeling the effects of the anesthesia, she looked around and saw the hand-written note on the sandwich bag.
Relieved and happy, she immediately went back to sleep until 7 a.m. When she woke up, my dad was there waiting and they were both able to hold me for the first time.
The following day also had a couple of hiccups. When told they couldn’t leave the hospital without giving me a name, they settled on naming me after my dad. Unfortunately, they accidentally left the “Junior” off the birth certificate (only a minor issue throughout my life until we were both detained on a trip to Russia).
Then they drew some judgmental stares when my dad put me into a used car seat that looked more like a laundry basket and stuffed me in the back of his two-door car.
My mom wasn’t upset about the “congratulations” note on the bag, but that was my first and last trip in the Mustang. The next week she “strongly suggested” my Dad trade in the Mustang for a more family friendly (and soon to be discontinued) Ford Galaxie. | https://medium.com/@rickhill-25750/a-chip-off-the-old-block-b274f5774f2f | ['Rick Hill'] | 2020-11-26 12:55:00.079000+00:00 | ['Birth', 'Newborn'] |
The Reason Why Rice Recipe Never Works (It’s Not How Much Water You Need) | The Reason Why Rice Recipe Never Works (It’s Not How Much Water You Need) Kaz Matsune Follow Dec 10 · 5 min read
Image licensed from Sutterstock
Is cooking rice difficult for you? Or is it as easy as ABC?
Because I grew up eating rice almost every day in Japan, for me, cooking rice was no mystery. Still, I learned lots of techniques after becoming a sushi chef.
Many of our sushi class participants told me cooking rice was a mystery. The word “mystery” puzzled me. I always thought cooking rice was a simple technique, though not an easy task to make great rice. Sometimes, the simplest thing can be the most difficult to master.
I decided to investigate the reason for the “mystery.” I looked at many online recipes, videos, and read books. I studied rice — chemistry and science and the difference between short, medium, long, and where they are grown.
After all this research, I found a fascinating article by Pete Vegas, the owner of Sage V Foods (Sage Five Foods). In his article (no longer available), he articulated the science of cooking rice so beautifully saying: It’s how much water you lose when cooking rice.
Wait, what? Not how much water to use, but how much to lose? Doesn’t it sound backward? Yes, and that is exactly what we need to do first.
Let me explain what I mean by that.
The (simple) science of the “perfect” rice
What exactly is the “perfect” rice? It’s complicated because it depends on the type of rice (short, medium, long), and what you will use the rice for (plain, cooking, sushi rice, etc.). So for the sake of this discussion, let’s say it’s rice with 50% moisture.
Cooking rice is about transfer the water into the rice using heat.
Let’s use a 1:1 ratio: 1 cup of water for 1 cup of rice. If we could transfer all the 1 cup water into the rice, then it will be 100% moisture (hypothetically, not realistically achievable or true.) To make 50% moisture rice, we only need to transfer 0.5 cups of water into the rice.
What happens to the rest of the 0.5 cups of water? Have you ever thought about that? Of course, the rest of the water goes away in the form of steam. Sounds obvious, but, have any of the recipes you read told you about this at all? To my (limited) knowledge, I haven’t found one single recipe.
So why how much water you lose is so important when no recipe seems to mention it?
Because the amount you lose will determine how much water you need to start cooking.
For example, if you lose 60% of water during cooking, you need 1.1 cups of water to 1 cup of water. If you lose (whopping) 100% of water, you need 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice, etc.
Does this make sense?
Now, you know we need to pay attention to the water loss, we now need to figure out what we use to cook rice and how you cook it.
Do you use a pot or rice cooker? Do you cook with a lid on or off? Is there a tiny hole on your lid, and if so, how big? Again, it’s about how much water you lose using a particular container to coo rice, which will determine how much water you end up in the rice, which will make the “perfect” moisture content for your cooked rice.
So, once you figure out the container to cook rice and how much the container will lose, you can figure out how much water to use cooking the rice.
But, that is not all.
Other factors affect the moisture percentage of your rice.
They are:
What was the moisture content of rice before you rinsed in the water?
If you soak the rice in water before you cooked, how long did you soak? (this changes the moisture content of the rice before being cooked, affecting how much water you need to cook).
How much water did rice absorbed when you rinsed in water (some recipes call for washing/rinsing rice in water two to three times).
On top of that, the perfect moisture content will be different based on the type of rice: short, medium, long, Basmati, Jasmine, Japanese, and so on.
All these make cooking rice not as easy as it seems. It’s complicated and based on science and some physics (I think).
Solution — Use a rice cooker!
If you are using a pot for cooking rice, especially for the first time, I highly recommend using a rice cooker.
Why?
Because Rice cooker is so much easier, or I should say, consistent. The reason is the amount of water you lose is pretty much the same every time, so once you use it several times, you will be able to figure out how much water to use for cooking specific rice, as long as you use the same rice and use the same rice washing technique.
If you use a pot, the heat distribution will be different every time you cook, unless you pay careful attention, which does affect the water loss during the cooking, which will result in the different rice moisture content.
So here is my recommendation for cooking rice.
Buy a rice cooker
Find the recipe you like (or use the one on the rice package, company website)
Use the same rice
Use the same technique/method on the recipe
Cook several times and adjust the amount of water to cook, or soaking time.
Then, you should be able to figure out how much water you need to cook your particular rice, using your rice cooker.
Hopefully, now you understand the basic science of cooking rice to help you to make the “perfect” rice.
Let me know how it goes.
Kaz Matsune is a founder of Breakthrough Sushi, Two Places Technologies, , investor, entrepreneur, and author of four books including How I Became A Sushi Chef.
If you enjoy this story, here is another story you may like.
Kaz teaches weekly online sushi making class with a sushi kit delivered to your home in 48 US States.
Subscribe to his weekly summary newsletter to get a free copy of my latest book, The How of Sushi. | https://medium.com/the-cookbook-for-all/the-reason-why-rice-recipe-never-works-its-not-how-much-water-you-need-c2342186636c | ['Kaz Matsune'] | 2020-12-10 00:31:40.588000+00:00 | ['Japanese Food', 'Recipe', 'Knowledge', 'Cooking', 'Rice'] |
«Of course, owners of interest rate sensitive assets will always tend the be made better off than… | «Of course, owners of interest rate sensitive assets will always tend the be made better off than non-owners when interest rates fall, which may justify intervention.»
When prices of assets rise, but the assets remain the same, the answer to "where did all the wealth come from?" can only be "from less wealthy people", because such increases in "wealth" are 100% redistributive. A commenter on "The Guardian" wrote:
“I inherited two properties in 1995 [ ... ] and the value has gone from £95,000 to £1,100,000”
The million pound (gross) capital gain in his "wealth" came entirely from someone else, the next buyers of the two properties, as the two properties are still the same as those in 1995. The same largely goes for shares: the businesses they represent have not have grown much less than their price.
The title itself of the piece seems well meaning obfuscation, because actual UK wealth has not increased much if at all in the period examined (also since 1980 the rate of growth of GDP per person has halved compared to previous decades, so wealth accumulation is unlikely to have done well), so when asset prices boom what increases is *purchasing power* rather than wealth, and only that of incumbent asset owners.
Since the purchasing power of incumbent asset owners has increased, but not that of others, that is not an increase in wealth, but just redistribution from poorer to richer, and from other regions to regions with rapidly rising property prices (the Home Counties and London); largely from those who vote for Labour to those who vote for the Conservatives, New Labour, LibDems. | https://medium.com/@Blissex/of-course-owners-of-interest-rate-sensitive-assets-will-always-tend-the-be-made-better-off-than-d16d2e39b9d7 | [] | 2020-12-01 20:12:11.891000+00:00 | ['Policy', 'Wealth Inequality', 'Inequality', 'Wealth Tax', 'Economics'] |
Burned Clean | Fire is the portal.
False things now burned away.
May we this night taste freedom.
A side of salty tears.
Faces shining, super moon.
Now that time is new. | https://sarene.medium.com/burned-clean-e242c7cbd666 | ['Sarene B. Arias'] | 2020-07-11 06:33:53.553000+00:00 | ['Awakening', 'Covid-19', 'Passover', 'Poetry', 'Coronation'] |
No, I Won’t Reveal to you the Four Hidden Warning Signs of a Heart Attack Unless you Give Me Your Email | No, I Won’t Reveal to you the Four Hidden Warning Signs of a Heart Attack Unless you Give Me Your Email
Because I am a horrible person
Photo by Piron Guillaume on Unsplash
What, you think I just give information out for free? Information that could save your life? What do you think this is, charity?
Hell, no, I’m not going to tell you if you might be exhibiting one of the four deadly symptoms of an imminent sudden cardiac arrest.
Why should I?
What, you can’t give me your lousy email? And you’re calling me selfish? What’s so special about your lousy email anyway? Oh, your precious G-mail account. Bet a lot of important stuff goes on there. I wouldn’t want to muck up your inbox with marketing for some materials that just MIGHT SAVE YOUR FUCKING LIFE!
Sure, you could Google it.
A lot of people think they are pretty clever, thinking they can just google their way around click baits.
You can’t Google this one, folks, sorry. My web site has actually been banned from Google search so you’re not going to find this specific information there.
Remember Yahoo? You could try Yahoo searching for it. I don’t know, does Yahoo even do search any more.
I know! Try Binging it. Bing the Four Deadly Signs that You are About To Drop Dead of a Heart Attack.
See what it brings up.
It won’t be the good stuff, trust me. The only way you can get these four secret symptoms of soon sudden death is by coughing up that email you stubborn bastard.
GIVE IT TO ME!
I want that email!! I want it now. I want to put you in my sales funnel. I want to trap you in there. And then want to blast you on a regular basis with scammy sounding medical products and subscription offers to web sites you want no part of.
OK?
Just give it to me.
OH SHIT
I think it’s too late. I can see through your web cam, you’re already exhibiting one of the secret signs of cardiac arrest. You blew it buddy. And, no, don’t even think about giving me your email now. It won’t help you.
CALL 911
And make sure you explain to the EMTs that you’re having a completely preventable heart attack. A medical episode that could have been easily avoided by simply submitting to my marketing demands.
Maybe one of the EMTs can give me his email and I will explain to him in the ambulance what you’re about to die of.
But I need an email.
Alright I’ll Tell You
I’m not a bad guy really. It’s not that big a deal. It’s shortness of breath, pain in your right arm, pain in your chest, duh, and light headedness.
There.
I hope you’re happy now. I didn’t even get an email, but I gave you the four signs.
Can I get your email now? Please.
Pretty please? | https://medium.com/down-in-the-dingle/no-i-wont-reveal-to-you-the-four-hidden-warning-signs-of-a-heart-attack-unless-you-give-me-your-200d1ba6443c | ['Simon Black'] | 2020-02-10 03:48:06.390000+00:00 | ['Funny', 'Comedy', 'Parody', 'Satire', 'Humor'] |
America on pause | America on pause
The COVID-19 crisis has felt surreal in many ways, but few aspects have felt quite so strange as the evaporation of car traffic from American cities. In my neighborhood of Boston, for example, one is just as likely to hear birdsong as car engines during the morning rush hour these days. A new analysis by the firm StreetLight Data, based on cellphone data, shows just how dramatic the drop in vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) during the COVID-19 outbreak has been. Household vehicle travel across the contiguous U.S. declined by 68 to 72 percent during the last two weeks in March and first week of April, compared with the first week in March.
Before launching a deeper dive into the data, some caveats. As with many new data sources being launched rapidly during the pandemic, the StreetLight data should be taken with a grain of salt. The data represent household-based VMT and the estimates of total VMT are at variance with some other sources of vehicle travel data published by state and federal agencies.[1] Nonetheless, the data provide a unique and intriguing picture of what has been happening on the roads during the pandemic, updated on a daily basis.
The data show that as the outbreak unfolded in early March, some states shut down faster than others. By the week of March 8 — the week the virus burst into national consciousness with suspension of the NBA season — vehicle travel was already down by 10 to 15 percent in states along the West Coast and in parts of the Northeast where concern about the virus took hold first. By the following week, the first after President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency, vehicle travel was down nationwide by nearly half. And by the week of March 22, shutdown was functionally complete, with the number of miles driven nationally having fallen by two-thirds.
Change in vehicle travel vs. week of March 1, 2020.
The District of Columbia has seen the most dramatic drop in home-based travel, with a whopping 89 percent decline. Other states that have experienced the most serious outbreaks or that locked down the most completely have seen declines in household vehicle travel of 75 percent or more.
While the drop in travel in some areas has been particularly intense, the data also show that the coronavirus lockdowns have been a truly national phenomenon. In Wyoming, which has experienced the slowest decline in driving, household-based VMT in early April was off by more than 60 percent.
The StreetLight Data website includes much more granular data — down to the county level — that is worth exploring.
So, what are we to take away from all this? The first conclusion is that COVID-19 has made a significant dent in vehicle travel and, along with it, in the negative side-effects of our dependence on cars, from air pollution to the loss of life and property in crashes. Assuming that vehicle travel remains at its current level for the rest of April, the COVID-19 crisis would result in at least a 5 percent decline in VMT for the whole of 2020.[2]
What happens next, of course, is anyone’s guess. It is possible either that vehicle travel will experience a dramatic resurgence once restrictions begin to be lifted or that the hangover from the crisis will lead to travel reductions for the foreseeable future.
Forces that might contribute to a rapid snap-back of car travel include cheap gasoline, pent-up demand for services that had to be postponed during the pandemic (hair styling, dog grooming, routine doctor’s visits, etc.), suspicion of the safety of public transportation, and possibly the replacement of some long-distance and international vacation travel with domestic travel by car.
On the other hand, it’s possible that at least part of the shift toward telework and services delivered over the internet will prove to be enduring, reducing the speed of the resurgence in travel demand. It’s possible that some of those who have taken up walking and biking in the last several weeks as a source of stress relief or as an alternative to public transportation will keep it up once restrictions are lifted. It’s virtually certain that some forms of social interaction — large sporting events or music festivals, for example — and the travel demand they generate will be slower to return than other forms of activity. And if the crisis brings with it a lasting economic recession, the effect of that decline on vehicle travel could be pronounced and long-lasting.
Nobody knows how all those factors will combine in the coming weeks and months. What is certain however, is that not only will total VMT change, but the characteristics of who is driving where, when, and for what purposes will change as well.
During a time of uncertainty, however, it’s important to keep our priorities straight. The most important thing today is to provide safe, accessible transportation for all who need it — especially first responders and essential workers. That means keeping trains and buses running, keeping roads in good repair, and providing safe places for people to walk and bike.
As the coronavirus pandemic winds down, it will be important to find ways to preserve some of the benefits of reduced vehicle travel in whatever our “new normal” turns out to be. Encouraging employers to continue some forms of telework, restoring confidence in the safety of public transportation, accelerating the transition to electric vehicles that can help to clean our air, and expanding access to bikesharing and other micromobility options are all steps that can contribute to preventing a dangerous and destructive resurgence of traffic and pollution.
Lastly, we need to keep our eyes on the prize when it comes to long-lasting investments in transportation infrastructure and not let a rushed demand for economic stimulus drive us to make bad decisions that will lock our unsustainable transportation status quo into place for decades to come.
The COVID-19 crisis has demanded many of our institutions to be nimble and flexible in ways they have never had to be before. As the pandemic continues, and especially as it winds down, it will be critical for policy-makers to keep their eyes open to changes happening on the ground and to look for opportunities to ensure that the transportation system that emerges in our “new normal” is better, cleaner and healthier than the deeply flawed old normal now receding into the rearview mirror.
Note: All data are Copyright 2020, StreetLight Data, Inc., used here with permission. We are grateful to StreetLight for making this data available to the public and to researchers.
[1] Specifically, the StreetLight estimate of VMT for March, which saw a dramatic mid-month decline in vehicle travel, exceeded the FHWA’s estimate for VMT in March 2019. In addition, validation of the model provided by SearchLight found good agreement with some published county-level VMT estimates but significant differences with others. Given the inconsistent quality of vehicle travel data collected by local, state and federal transportation agencies, it is difficult to assess which sources of data are more accurate, but the variation is worth noting here.
[2] The math: Assumes 35% reduction in household VMT for March and 70% reduction for April. March and April VMT as share of year-round VMT based on FHWA Traffic Volume Trends report for January 2020, Household VMT is 65 percent of total VMT, based on 2017 National Household Travel Survey and 2017 FHWA Highway Statistics report, table VM-2. This estimate is likely conservative. | https://medium.com/u-s-pirg/america-on-pause-e4becc77212a | ['Tony Dutzik'] | 2020-04-23 23:15:35.803000+00:00 | ['Pollution', 'Environment', 'Transportation', 'Covid 19', 'Cars'] |
Do High Frequency Gravitational Waves Explain Li & Podkletnov’s Experimental Results? | Scientists like Dr. Ning Li & Eugene Podkletnov have claimed to see anomalous gravitational effects for decades. Could High-Frequency Gravitational Waves provide an explanation? We join Dr. Robert Baker, Jr. to discuss international HFGW research and hypothesize about what might be causing these strange experimental effects…
Robert, I understand that there are literally dozens of physicists & engineers doing research on High Frequency Gravitational Waves, and the 2003 Mitre HFGW conference was a pivotal first event in terms of bringing them together as a community. Can you describe this for me a bit?
Dr. Robert Baker, Jr — view his bio here.
The MITRE conference was a crucial first step in bringing scientists together to discuss HFGWs from both the perspectives of theoretical physicists and practical engineers and included scientists from all over the world.
Interestingly though, scientists from China who were not able to attend the event became some of the biggest proponents of HFGW research and use the MITRE papers as background for their research.
The community that took shape at the MITRE Conference later evolved into STAIF Section-F, and this was due entirely to the tireless efforts of Paul Murad and Tony Robertson. STAIF proved to be an excellent forum for the presentation and discussion of new concepts in gravitational science.
I’ve been following a few of them recently — such as Dr. Ning Li. The last I’d heard from her was a very brief message in which she claimed to have achieved an 11 kilowatt experimental result for gravitational wave production. She calls this “AC gravity”, which is poorly understood by myself and many others.
Well, at the 2003 MITRE conference, we had participants from about nine countries and about 25 papers, indicating quite a bit of interest — particularly in Russia and China.
Ling Li presented a paper there, which was theoretical in nature and perhaps not easily understood by laymen, and in it she did indicate a theoretical output of 11 kilowatts from her system. In her mind, “AC gravity” is simply alternating current — the rest of us refer to it as high frequency gravitational waves. So we’re really talking about the same thing — with frequencies on the order of a hundred kilocycles and on up to the gigacycle range and beyond.
As I understand things, Ning Li’s research uses rotating superconductors, and is similar to the experiments that Eugene Podkletnov claimed results for in the early ’90s. The biggest difference is that she’s working on a theoretical model for her experiments, right?
Well, she worked with Douglas Torr while they were at the University of Alabama and came up with a very significant paper back in 1992 which indicated that these gravitational waves could be refracted.
Essentially, she theorized that there’s an index of refraction, which means you could make a gravitational wave lens out of a superconducting material. It this idea pans out, it would lead to all kinds of optics and a lot of future innovation — it would be quite an amazing feature of her studies.
Dr. Ning Li, demonstrating the superconductor she claims to have generated “AC Gravity”.
The superconductors that both Li & Podkletnov have been experimenting with are quite large — much larger than what NASA used during their experimental replication. Does that play a role in their results?
Yes, they’re both using discs up to almost 10 inches, I think. I’m not quite sure, but certainly 10 centimeters at the least. They’re quite large.
My thesis has been that high frequency gravitational waves are the basis for the effects Li & Podkletnov have claimed. In other words, the rotating disc, fields, high frequencies, harmonics and so on could be producing HFGWs that are perhaps about below the limits of detection at the magnitudes they work at, but may be influencing the local gravitational field, perhaps through self-rectification or something along those lines.
That makes sense. She’s been rather quiet lately — I haven’t heard from her in some time, but did see a recent funding request that appears to have been fulfilled by the Department of Defense, so it seems they may be financing part of her research?
Well, they did, and I was a part of the oversight committee. It was done by the U S Army and the Redstone Arsenal there in Huntsville. They did indeed have her do some research, and I was on the panel that was taking a look at that research for the Army.
There was a problem, though: we couldn’t get a final report out of Ning. You know, we had to get something. She is a brilliant scientist, but like so many brilliant scientists, sometimes they’re a little less than practical.
It’s not that she was hiding it or anything nefarious. In fact, I was on the panel that was talking to Ning, and I said, “well, where’s the final report?” Well, she just didn’t quite get around to it, you know, and that’s a problem. I‘ve talked with her since then, however, and she would play a role in the efforts that I’m trying to promote.
Back in the 1990's, Podkletnov claimed a 3% loss in weight in a rotating superconductor, which is similar to Ning Li’s experiments. However, in the early 2000’s he co-authored a paper with Dr. Giovanni Modanese claiming that a spark discharge onto a superconductor was generating over 20 pounds of force. Are you familiar with this second paper?
Podkletnov’s rotating superconductor was claimed to produce a 3% loss in weight.
Well that’s interesting, and I would love to see a replication of it. Some of their work I have seen, and it had interesting correlation with frequency. In other words, the higher the frequency, the greater the effect, or rather with the square of the frequency.
That caught my attention, because high frequency gravitational wave influence also increases with the square of its frequency, so again I can’t help but wonder if there’s an HFGW effect that might explain their claims.
Please keep in mind, however, that I’m an engineer — not a theoretician. In this particular case, you’d want to follow up the experimental work with a detailed theoretical analysis.
That’s not always the case. Often you have a theory and then develop an experiment to you know, to test it, but since they already claim to have experimental results I think they should work it the other way around.
The Podkletnov & Modanese claims are significant, as is this 11 kilowatt effect that Ning Li claimed to generate — how is that measured? What kind of force could we anticipate from future experimental devices?
Well it’s hard to tell. I mentioned Landau and Lifshitz, but they do not give any particular specifications. Now another scientist that you might get in touch with is Professor Giorgio Fontana over in Italy.
Fontana has come to some of the HFGW meetings and presented papers on gravitational wave beams, interactions and so forth. He’s one of several researchers in Italy looking at gravitational wave beams — what happens when they intersect, and how they might change the gravitational field.
I think Giorgio’s work is good, and he’d be a good person to talk with, but I really don’t think anybody’s theoretically come up with the magnitude.
Do you have any ideas on how conservation of energy is preserved in these experimental claims? I ask because these are claims for pretty substantial results, and I wonder how input power might be coupled to output effect.
I’m not sure and I don’t think anybody’s quite sure. Again, that’s why an experiment is valuable. I’ve not seen any of these purported gravitational change experiments myself, of the people who are reporting claims, none of them have reported any kind of permanent effect or easily replicable effects that would allow for detailed measurements coupling measurements.
In some of the work that I’m doing with the Chinese, you can get up to 10²⁰ watts per square meter for a small area, and that might really open things up. After all, when Marconi developed his ship to shore radio telegraphy, I don’t think he ever thought about microwave oven applications for his work. So we just won’t know until we actually do more experimental research.
Podkletnov’s “impulse generator” was claimed to generate up to 20 lbs of force.
A lot of that research is currently being done in China, from what I understand. Can you tell us a bit about their efforts, and how many people have become involved in their research projects?
Yes, the Chinese sponsored me on a month-long lecture tour of Universities and Institutes in China on the subject of HFGWs. Right now there are probably more scientists in China working on HFGW research than in the whole of the rest of the world.
I’m also working on a project with professor Fangyu Li at Chongqing University in China on an experiment attempting to emulate the gravitational waves produced by a double star system. Fangu Li has a detector that would be well suited to detecting these gravitational waves, and we’re excited to see what kind of results we can produce & detect.
What is the anticipated timeframe before we can anticipate seeing scientific applications for High Frequency Gravitation Wave research?
It’s like anything, it really boils down to money. If the A-bomb project during World War II had proceeded at a normal pace, it probably would have taken 50 years to develop — but when the Manhattan project funded it & removed all the stop, then it happened very rapidly. You could make the same case for the rapid development of computer processors.
Basically as I see it, there’s a tipping point in terms of experimental results, and once that’s been reached then mainstream “big science” gets involved and further research will move rapidly. The question is how fast we’ll reach that tipping point — it could be a couple of years, or it may be a decade. It’s difficult to say. | https://medium.com/discourse/do-high-frequence-gravitational-waves-explain-li-podkletnovs-experimental-results-5d9f9560e1a6 | ['Tim Ventura'] | 2019-12-24 01:00:21.732000+00:00 | ['Physics', 'Futurism', 'Science', 'Technology', 'Gravity'] |
Top New Mobile Games Analysis of November | Based on the newly launched apps in Google Play monitored in the last 60 days and ranked them with the ads numbers of the past 30 days, App Growing Global analyzes the Top New Games of the United States, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia.
01 Top New Mobile Games
The list includes role-playing and strategy games. The most outstanding new games on the list include YOUZU’s “FORSAKEN WORLD: GODS AND DEMONS”, LilithGames’ “WARPATH”, Netmarble’s “A3: STILL ALIVE”, Riot Games Inc’s LOL mobile game “LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: WILD RIFT”.
▲Google Play Top 5 New Games in the last 30 days (the United States)
▲Google Play Top 5 New Games in the last 30 days (Japan)
▲Google Play Top 5 New Games in the last 30 days (South Korean)
▲Google Play Top 5 New Games in the last 30 days (Thailand)
▲Google Play Top 5 New Games in the last 30 days (Indonesia)
The Top 1 in the above 5 lists is mainly role-playing, strategy, and casual games. The casual game “PROJECT MAKEOVER” on the list of the United States, just as the role-playing game “SANGOKUSHI MEISHODEN” on the list of Japan, strategy game “LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: WILD RIFT” on the list of Korean are tied for №1 on both the Top New Games and Category Ranking of each country.
02 Mobile Games Creativity Analysis
2–1 Role-playing Game: “FORSAKEN WORLD: GODS AND DEMONS”
In Indonesia’s Top New Mobile Games list, YOUZU’s “FORSAKEN WORLD: GODS AND DEMONS” ranked top 1 due to its largest amount of ads in the last 30 days. On November 26, it also ranked first in the Google Play Role-playing Category Ranking in 10 countries. The game is an MMORPG with a delicate and magic style.
In terms of advertising, it put 3441 groups of ad creatives in the last 30 days, showed an obvious increase since its update in November.
Facebook Audience Network, Messenger, Instagram are the top 3 advertising platforms of this game, respectively accounting for 27.44%, 21.34%, and 21.34%. And the advertising mainly focused on the European and American regions, and ads are mainly in-feed ads and videos.
Its ad creatives continue to use the superior scene and character design of the game. The high-quality videos display the first-class 3D animation and its gorgeous panoramic materials. The switching of multiple scenes strengthens the impact of the ad. The various looks of characters make the game more playable. In terms of material layout, the page is divided into two parts. The combination of static pictures and dynamic videos shows the complete game information, making it easier for users to remember the game’s name.
2–2 Role-playing Game: Sangokushi Meishoden
This is a Japanese role-playing mobile game that launched on 19 November in Japan. Since its launch, it has put more than 560 groups of ads into the market, the highest daily ads number reached 191 groups.
In terms of media, this game mainly focused on four media, Facebook Audience Network, Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook, which respectively accounted for 45.26%, 15.68%, 15.68%, and 15.68%. Additionally, the advertiser focused on Japan, and ads are mainly in-feed ads and full-screen videos.
Its ad creative simulates from the player’s perspective and chooses a favorable character. It also has a strong Japanese manga style, intuitively expresses the choice of a variety of famous fighters in the game, which increases the player’s sense of substitution.
2–3 Strategy Game: “WARPATH”
Recently, LilithGames’ “WARPATH” is one of the most popular strategy games with the theme of World War II. The second self-developed SLG officially launched by LilithGames after “SWORD AND HOME”, combines realistic painting style with the unpopular World War II themes, making the players feel this game is quite pure. This game ranked first in the Google Play Category Ranking in Germany, Russia, and Australia. In terms of advertising, 3444 groups of ad creatives were put into the market in the past 30 days, with the highest daily ad number of 773 groups.
Facebook Audience Network, Messenger, Instagram are the top 3 advertising platforms of this game, respectively accounting for 26.21%, 22.19%, and 22.19%. And the advertising mainly focused on Europe, America, and Hong Kong China; ads are mainly in-feed ads and videos.
As for ad creative, it is simple and straightforward, and what you see is what you get. With 2D exquisite military style, the screen shows the sense of space in the game; the large playing space in the game allows the operation will not be restricted. The ad creative shows some game levels; players need to use tools to pass the game, which enhances the game’s strategy.
2–4 Strategy Game: “LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: WILD RIFT”
Riot Games Inc’s LOL mobile game “LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: WILD RIFT” had harvested a large number of users from client games when it was released in October. It has placed 462 ads in South Korea in the past 30 days, and it has consistently ranked high on the list. Judging from the current App Annie data, “LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: WILD RIFT” also ranks first in Strategy Games List in South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
It has put 3803 groups of ads in the past 30 days, with the highest daily ad number of 749 groups.
“LEAGUE OF LEGENDS: WILD RIFT” mainly focuses on Admob, Facebook Audience Network, and Facebook, respectively accounting for 59.4%, 15.74%, and 8.1%. And the advertising mainly targets Southeast Asia, and ads are mostly native ads or images.
Its ad creatives put in different countries emphasize localized language, have intuitive advertising content, and clearly present the game scenes. The game characters are well-designed. For frequent game players, the rich character image and props are indispensable creativity.
2–5 Casual Game: “PROJECT MAKEOVER”
“Project Makeover” has been on the list in several other countries, and at the same time, ranked first in the Casual Mobile Game List in 37 countries/regions in Europe and America (Source: App Annie); this is the most worth-noticing casual in this new game analysis. This match-3 game with the theme of transformational variety show achieved such good results this time, which shows the game’s attractiveness.
This game put 2356 groups of ads in the last 30 days, with the highest daily ad number of 1319 groups.
Facebook Audience Network, Facebook, Instagram are the top 3 advertising platforms of this game, respectively accounting for 28.62%, 25.32%, and 23.88%. And the advertising mainly focused on Canada, Australia, America, and Southeast Asia, ads are mainly in-feed ads and videos.
Ad creatives are mainly American cartoon style, and the gameplay is shown from the perspective of trial play, and players have lots of room to operate. The more you play, the more you find it interesting. It also used storytelling techniques to describe the whole process of a woman doing makeup and dressing-up. The ads demonstrate the game’s high playability by showing the players can freely change makeup and clothing and define their desired style. | https://medium.com/@agnewguo/top-new-mobile-games-analysis-of-november-83aa27d3951f | ['App Growing Global'] | 2020-12-11 08:08:57.452000+00:00 | ['Online Marketing', 'Internet Advertising', 'Advertising And Marketing', 'Mobile Games', 'Copywriting Tips'] |
Project 1: Reflection on Amal Totkay | AMAL compiled 5 Totkay which are the basics of developing a Growth Mindset:
1. Self-talk
Increasing self-confidence and curbing negative emotions can be best possible by positive self-talk. When we constantly tell ourselves a single narrative than our mind has no other option than to believe in it. This is how subconscious works.
Our subconscious mind records everything we say and do in a pattern that determines our self-concept. This is why repeated positive affirmations are so effective that we can actually reprogram our own thought patterns by slipping in positive and success-oriented narrative. Accepting our negative emptions and showing compassion towards ourselves is the need of hour. So we can use the power of a smile to reverse the tone of a situation.
2. Get out of your comfort zone:
For a growth mindset, it is necessary to get rid of any kind of fears we have, either it be the fear of being mocked at or the fear of unknown. Many times it happened that after losing an opportunity, we conclude that It won’t be as bad as we expect. We often are unable to jump into an opportunity because we’re self-conscious. All we need to know is no one is paying that much attention to us. Others are scared too.
3. Create new habits:
Doing the same things everyday can be boring and we lose interest and procrastinate easily. Downside to getting used to a routine, is that we forget how to think for ourselves. Without noticing, we’ll begin to unconsciously look for someone else’s directions to follow. Our mind wants someone or something to give it instructions.
Don’t be afraid to do things that you wouldn’t normally do.
Set goals and challenge yourself daily, then evaluate and re-evaluate your goals.
4. Ask people for help:
I always tell myself regarding a problem that: “I’d rather not ask for help. I have to solve this myself, no matter what.” Obviously this attitude of mine exhibits a strong sense of responsibility. I used to think that I will be able to solve my problems on my own without bothering other people. Amal learning has taught me that asking for help is not at all a weakness, instead it is a strength that will strengthen us eventually. We should ask for other’s feedback every now and then.
5. Fake it till you make it:
I came to know that this is an English aphorism which suggests that by imitating confidence, competence, and an optimistic mindset, a person can realize those qualities in their real life. I always consider it wrong to pretend something which I’m not. But for a good, Amal has introduced me with this concept.
This trick is also backed by Science. Scientists have found that if you want to lift your mood, you should force yourself to smile.
Similarly listening to happy music can alleviate the mood.
Pretend you know more than you do, and eventually you will.
Have I started implementing already? What can I do to develop a Growth Mindset beginning from today?
I have already started implementing these tips and embraced the process of learning. Some of the takeaways I compiled as: | https://medium.com/@memoona-siddique171/project-1-reflection-on-amal-totkay-b01201713202 | ['Memoona Siddique'] | 2020-12-26 02:53:00.382000+00:00 | ['Growth Mindset', 'Learning', 'Amal Academy'] |
Eating Disorders: The Personal is Political | Four years ago, an eating disorder colonised my mind. What began as a seemingly healthy preoccupation with fitness and ‘clean-eating’ soon consumed my sense of self. Days became endless cycles of starvation, lethargy and punishment as calorie-counting apps dictated my days and black coffee replaced meals. Every morning I pinched my skin, checking if it had expanded overnight, and promised myself that I would be better today. I believed that anorexia was my friend. It serenaded me with the illusion of control and convinced me that restriction equated to discipline. I memorised its bigoted script, compulsively performing it every time I dreamed of eating- you don’t deserve this, you have no self-control, I knew you were weak. The only way to win was to keep on losing; if I became fat then people would be as disgusted with me as I was with myself.
The prevalence of misinformation about eating disorders (EDs) only bolstered my illness. In high school, the entirety of my ED education was formed by one pallid poster featuring an ailing, skeletal young girl whose bones jutted out of her body like glass shards. This not only limited my understanding of EDs to anorexia nervosa (which only accounts for 3% of EDs) but restricted who I thought was worthy of treatment, namely people on the cusp of collapse. Plus, I didn’t look like that, my bones were still comfortably encased. So, I couldn’t be sick, right? Vapid validation from those around me, congratulating me on my weight loss, further entrenched this notion. Never was I taught that EDs are a mental health illness with physical manifestations; you don’t have to be emaciated to have one, nor do you have to be on the brink of organ failure to deserve help.
For years, anorexia felt like an intimate part of who I was; a personal problem and an individual weakness. Yet, how could that be true when one million others in Australia, 75% of whom are girls and women, suffered the same plight? How is it that EDs have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illnesses, yet we never seem to hear about them? They are scantly mentioned in public discourse and commonly derided as ‘vain’ and ‘attention-seeking’ fixations. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that an illness that primarily affects women is dismissed in this way. Simultaneously, male sufferers are disparaged, mocked and disbelieved for being afflicted by a ‘feminised’ disease. While one’s predispositions play a part in every mental disorder, the escalation of EDs cannot be reduced to individual proclivities. To the contrary, they are a clear consequence of a misogynistic and capitalist landscape that promotes self-loathing for profit.
Everywhere we turn, from food labelling, billboards and even ads on streaming websites, thinness and beauty is sold to women as the sheer purpose of our existence. Multi-billion-dollar industries are predicated on our suffering and self-hatred. Each year, they manufacture a new imperfection, from hip dips to cellulite, which they can conveniently ‘correct.’ Advertising oppression as ‘self-improvement,’ the fitness, makeup, fashion, plastic-surgery and anti-ageing industries keep us yearning for a non-existent state of perfection, before they move the benchmark once again, all as their profits surge. We see the repercussions for outliers, the caustic scorn directed at the likes of Lizzo and Sam Smith, and we are cordially warned of the consequences of disobedience. Is it any wonder that we are conditioned to hate ourselves when every second Instagram ad features a new ‘fat-blasting laser therapy’, ‘fit tea’ or ‘guilt-free snack’? Maybe if girls weren’t bottle-fed thinness as a prerequisite for female existence we could grow into women with the self-assuredness to question this system. Maybe we wouldn’t spend years of our lives perfecting the art of shrinking, and we could focus on living instead. But that’s a frightening prospect for capitalism. So here we are, trapped on a treadmill of doubt and self-diminishment, feelings which have become so commonplace that we are desensitised to their toxicity.
I was lucky enough to recover (for the most part) from this illness. Yet, as the cloudy veil which comes from perpetual starvation began to lift, I grew increasingly furious. And I am angrier still. I am sick of being told that I ‘don’t look like someone who has an ED,’ a bafflingly inane response which typifies the dearth of education around the illness and further cements stigma around mental health. After all, would you ever tell someone that they didn’t look like they had cancer? Are our ribs supposed to resemble shrapnel before our suffering is taken seriously? Most of all, however, I am enraged by an economic system which incentivises misogyny and is willing to do anything if it ensures profit. After all, as Dr. Gail Dines rightfully pointed out, ‘if tomorrow, women woke up and decided they really liked their bodies, just think how many industries would go out of business.’ Once again, I find that this ‘personal’ problem is rooted in a much larger political one. We need more than doctors, psychologists and dieticians to combat the proliferation of EDs- we need to confront the misogynist market forces which poison us to begin with. | https://medium.com/invisible-illness/eating-disorders-the-personal-is-political-7e282ff57f55 | ['Melis Layik'] | 2020-03-15 14:56:51.655000+00:00 | ['Body Image', 'Capitalism', 'Feminism', 'Mental Health', 'Eating Disorders'] |
Dancing at the Grizzly Rose | If you like dancing solo or aren’t great at dancing with a partner, then line dancing is for you. There are many different types of line dancing, some easier and some more complex. At the Grizzly Rose many experienced and beginner dancers go creating for a diverse environment of dancing. The Grizzly Rose is great at creating a fun environment for people to bond over their love for dancing and country music. They have intervals of live bands with recordings which create a livelier atmosphere.
I first went to the Grizzly Rose about five or six years ago. My family and I went with some family friends on a hot summer night. I didn’t know what to expect, we had never been to a club before, much less a country club. We wore our only country clothes and entered the building under the well lit “Grizzly Rose” sign. After getting in they made enormous sharpie x’s on each hand, a sign I would come to be very familiar with as years went by. When I saw people the next day with the same marks as mine we would smile at each other, as if it was a secret only us knew.
The secret wasn’t much of a secret though. It was more of a place to destress through dancing. The Grizzly Rose was where I went not only to meet up with friends but to meet other people. I made many lasting relationships with people I met there and strengthened the ones I already had when we visited. One rule I would tell whomever I went with was that they had to come with me to the middle of the dance floor. The reason being was that learning to dance was a lot easier once in the middle. All the experienced dancers would meet up and dance there, collectively teaching the dancers of other levels. From the middle, I could turn any way and be led by someone who knew the line dances. Song after song I did my best attempting to learn how to dance different line dances. I would then teach my friends or whomever was around me. It was like a ripple effect. People would slowly learn how to line dance from the center outwards. The more frequently I went the more I got to know the regulars. The Grizzly Rose has many regulars who go every Sunday, especially during holidays. Even if you never speak a word to anyone there you still feel connected as you move as a group to the rhythm of the music.
The atmosphere of the place has a lively atmosphere which is perfect for making a newcomer or a regular feel at home from the moment they enter. When I first went inside I noticed how full it was on the dance floor and the loud music. While this doesn’t necessarily sound appealing, the atmosphere allowed for someone to join the dance floor without feeling awkward or pressured like one would in a coffee shop. Coffee shops are usually very quiet and have a system that regulars seem to know. At the Grizzly Rose, the routine is to have as much fun as you can that night, similar to how one would for a concert. Now onto the actual specifics of visiting the Grizzly Rose.
Once you pay the $5 fee at the entrance you can either go dance or for some additional payment you may go get food, ride a mechanical bull, or play games such as pool. If you enjoy country music, then the Grizzly Rose is for you. There are dance nights or lessons offered there which allow for everyone to participate. Family night is from 6–11 pm on Sundays. After that only adults are allowed. However, during those five hours your children and teens can enjoy live country music while they line dance. There are many dance clubs around the Denver Metro Area that have dance nights and lessons. While most dance clubs only allow 18 or 21 and over to attend, the Grizzly Rose offers one night for younger people to enjoy a night out dancing. So when you visit the Grizzly Rose be prepared for a night of lots of dancing and fun! | https://medium.com/dancing-in-denver/dancing-at-the-grizzly-rose-5c5865ac9279 | ['Kaela Guerra'] | 2019-07-01 04:46:10.564000+00:00 | ['Dance', 'Line Dancing', 'Family Night Event', 'Grizzly Rose'] |
The Basics of Singleton Objects in Scala | Photo by Will Porada on Unsplash
Scala doesn’t have the static keyword like Java does. For an experienced Java programmer learning Scala, this raises a number of questions about programming in Scala things we take for granted in Java, such as:
How do you write a “static” utility class like java.lang.Math or JUnit’s Assertions ?
or JUnit’s ? How do you write a class that can only be instantiated once in a session?
How do you write a “main method” for a command line program?
How do you write “factory methods”?
The answer for each of these involves a special class declared with the object keyword instead of the class keyword. Please let me know at the end if you have a similar question that goes unanswered.
Assuming there are no compilation errors, the Scala compiler will compile two Java bytecode files for each Scala singleton object. But we can choose to view each such pair as a single class that is final, has only static functions and procedures, and has a private constructor that can only be called once.
If we wanted to reinvent the wheel of java.lang.Math in Scala, we’d write something like this:
package calculators object Math {
val E: Double = 2.718281828459045
val PI: Double = 3.141592653589793 def abs(n: Int): Int = if (n < 0) -n else n // TODO: Write abs(Long), abs(Float), abs(Double) // TODO: Write trigonometric functions // TODO: Write root, power functions
// etc.,etc. }
Of course we don’t actually need to reinvent this particular wheel for our Scala programs, we can just use java.lang.Math in the same way we use it in our Java programs.
If we went ahead with our own Math , we would be able to use its functions like we use the functions from java.lang.Math , except we’d have to do something about the namespace if we don’t want to have to type the fully qualified name every time.
Because a class declared this way is marked final by the Scala compiler, it can’t be extended, and because its constructor is private, we can’t circumvent the prohibition against a second instance using Java. The following Java line
calculators.Math secondMath = new calculators.Math(); // ERROR
would fail to compile just the same as
java.lang.Math secondMath = new java.lang.Math(); // ERROR
would also fail to compile.
To declare a “main method” for a command line program, you write a singleton object with several elements of the familiar “public static void main” formula. The Hello World program is a good example of this:
object HelloWorld { def main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
println("Hello, world!")
} }
The only bad thing about the Hello World example is that it doesn’t illustrate actually doing anything with String[] args . How about a palindrome checker? Like this one:
package textops object PalindromeChecker { def isPalindromic(s: String): Boolean = {
s == s.reverse
} def main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
for (arg <- args) {
print("\"" + arg + "\"")
if (isPalindromic(arg)) {
println(" IS palindromic")
} else {
println(" is NOT palindromic")
}
}
} }
Thanks to an implicit conversion to WrappedString , we don’t have to worry about the fact that java.lang.String doesn’t have a reverse() function. Also thanks to M. F. Hasler for a refactoring suggestion.
I mentioned earlier that the Scala compiler generates two bytecode files for each singleton object. In this case, that means PalindromeChecker.class and PalindromeChecker$.class.
To run this from the command line, we’ll need the one without the dollar sign, but if you’re using the java command rather than the scala command, you will need to include the Scala Library JAR on the class path.
C:\Users\AL\IdeaProjects\BasicExercises\out\production\...>java
-cp .;"C:\Program Files (x86)\scala\lib\scala-library.jar" textops.PalindromeChecker kayak radars 123454321 123454322 "ABC CBA"
"kayak" IS palindromic
"radars" is NOT palindromic
"123454321" IS palindromic
"123454322" is NOT palindromic
"ABC CBA" IS palindromic
Note that this is case-sensitive. If you want to make it case-insensitive, or even add command line options for that, you can, but that’s outside the scope of this article…
On second thought, I should include it in, to help illustrate that singleton objects are actually classes.
package textops object PalindromeChecker {
var caseSensitive: Boolean = true def isPalindromic(s: String): Boolean = {
val str = if (this.caseSensitive) s else s.toLowerCase
str == str.reverse
} def main(args: Array[String]): Unit = {
for (arg <- args) {
print("\"" + arg + "\" ")
arg.toLowerCase match {
case "-case" => this.caseSensitive = true
case "-nocase" => this.caseSensitive = false
case _ => if (isPalindromic(arg)) {
println("IS palindromic")
} else {
println("is NOT palindromic")
}
}
}
} }
I don’t like that isPalindromic() is no longer a pure function. I should probably refactor… but that really is a topic for another article.
Notice the use of “ this ” to refer to caseSensitive . Does that mean that caseSensitive is not considered static by the Java Virtual Machine? Well… yes and no: it’s static in PalindromeChecker.class but it is not static in PalindromeChecker$.class.
We really don’t need to worry about this particular detail if we’re only working in Scala. This may or may not be a problem for interoperability with Java, but maybe it’s going beyond the basics of singleton objects in Scala.
Scala singleton objects very much have class: they fully participate in the Scala type system. If nothing else, a singleton object tacitly extends AnyRef (Scala’s alias for java.lang.Object ) and Any .
The fact that singleton objects can extend regular classes is a point that deserves some emphasis.
For the example, I’m going to use the ComplexNumber class. Complex numbers are actually quite simple, but I’m not going to go in depth on the mathematics.
One important points for this example is that a complex number has a “real” part and an “imaginary” part. For the sake of expediency, I’m going to use 64-bit floating point numbers to represent the real and imaginary parts of a complex number.
class ComplexNumber(val re: Double, val im: Double) {
override def toString: String = this.re.toString + " + " +
this.im.toString + "i"
def +(addend: ComplexNumber): ComplexNumber =
new ComplexNumber(this.re + addend.re, this.im + addend.im)
def *(multiplicand: ComplexNumber): ComplexNumber = {
val multRe = this.re * multiplicand.re -
this.im * multiplicand.im
val multIm = this.re * multiplicand.im +
this.im * multiplicand.re
new ComplexNumber(multRe, multIm)
}
}
I ask that you accept it on faith that I have correctly implemented the arithmetic of complex numbers (addition and multiplication) here. The toString() override leaves something to be desired, but it’ll do for the example here.
The Greek letter ω (lowercase omega) is often used to represent the special complex number −1/2 + (√−3)/2. That number is special because ω³ = 1.
Normally I would instantiate a new ComplexNumber , but here I’m going to use a singleton object that extends ComplexNumber .
object Omega extends ComplexNumber(-0.5, Math.sqrt(3)/2) {
override def toString: String = "ω"
}
Because the 64-bit floating point number system is inherently imprecise, we’re going to need a numeric adjustment to get ω³ right. But let’s use a run-of-the-mill ComplexNumber instance for that purpose.
val adjustment = new ComplexNumber(2.220446049250313E-16, -1.1102230246251565E-16) Omega * Omega * Omega + adjustment
That last line should give 1.0 + 0.0i as a result. That is, exactly 1. To save you some typing, I’ve made the complex number example into a Scastie snippet.
Obviously adjustment is an instance of ComplexNumber . So is Omega :
scala> Omega.isInstanceOf[ComplexNumber]
res3: Boolean = true
But Omega ’s runtime class is obviously not ComplexNumber . Remember that java.lang.Object has the getClass() function, which we can use to query the runtime class of any object:
scala> adjustment.getClass
res1: Class[_ <: ComplexNumber] = class ComplexNumber scala> Omega.getClass
res2: Class[_ <: Omega.type] = class Omega$
Note that I didn’t include an equals() override in ComplexNumber . For a real world use case (e.g., electrical engineering, applied physics), I would probably use getClass() in the equals() override, but I wouldn’t make special singleton objects for special numbers like ω.
Still, it’s frequently useful to have different but closely related classes, to take advantage of polymorphism, which is supposed to be one of the advantages of object-oriented programming.
This often leads to situations in which the closely related classes have constructors that seem identical, and it would be nice to have some kind of “factory method” which chooses the right constructor to use.
For example, let’s say we have a RegularConnection class and a SecureConnection class, which are different enough to merit their own separate classes, but alike enough to have an immediate abstract superclass in common, the Connection class.
Let’s say the Connection constructor takes just one parameter, a ResourceLocator instance. The RegularConnection and SecureConnection constructors also both take only one parameter, a ResourceLocator instance to pass on to the superclass constructor.
But if the RegularConnection constructor receives a ResourceLocator instance with a secure protocol, it throws a runtime exception, and so does the SecureConnection constructor if it receives a ResourceLocator instance with a regular protocol.
We would like to have a “factory method” which takes a ResourceLocator instance and returns an instance of the appropriate Connection subclass. If this was a Java project, we would probably write a static factory function in the Connection class.
But in a Scala project, what we would do is write an apply() function in the Connection companion object. A companion object is a singleton object with the same name as the class as it accompanies. It generally does not explicitly extend any classes nor implements any traits (interfaces).
The source of the companion object must be written in the same file as the source of the class it accompanies (this is a requirement).
The Scala compiler then generates two bytecode files. In this example, that would be Connection.class and Connection$.class.
I generally place the companion object source after a package declaration but before the source of the class it accompanies. This is by no means required.
Suppose that ResourceLocator is actually an abstract class, and the kind of protocol is determined by the ResourceLocator subclass. Then apply() can use type matching in a Match-Case statement to determine which Connection subclass constructor to use.
object Connection { def apply(resLoc: ResourceLocator): Connection = {
resLoc match {
case regResLoc: RegularResourceLocator =>
new RegularConnection(regResLoc)
case secResLoc: SecureResourceLocator =>
new SecureConnection(secResLoc)
case _ => throw new UnsupportedProtocolException(resLoc)
}
} }
Then, if url is a ResourceLocator instance, we can define a new Connection instance like this
val conn = Connection.apply(url)
or even briefer
val conn = Connection(url)
Companion objects are also good for housing implicit conversions. That’s a topic for another article. | https://medium.com/swlh/the-basics-of-singleton-objects-in-scala-f94d8f16552 | ['Alonso Del Arte'] | 2020-11-18 21:57:31.153000+00:00 | ['Singleton Pattern', 'Scala', 'Object Oriented Design'] |
Energi — Light Paper. We are proud to announce the release of… | We are proud to announce the release of our Light Paper. This document outlines our vision and strategy in an easy to understand format.
Check it out here or read down below: https://www.energi.world/lightpaper/ | https://medium.com/energi/energi-lightpaper-ced45ab9d7d9 | ['Rici Ingenito'] | 2018-10-08 02:20:23.828000+00:00 | ['Announcements', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Crypto', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain'] |
Elaine Shi, Thunder Research, Consensus 2019 Presentation | Dr. Elaine Shi, Co-founder, Chief Scientist at ThunderCore, and Head of Thunder Research, presented at Consensus 2019. Below is her presentation, along with a few key takeaways.
Dr. Elaine Shi, Head of Thunder Research, Presents at Consensus 2019
Key Takeaways
Pala Consensus Open Source Release
Dr. Shi announced that Pala is now open source. Go check it out at
https://github.com/thundercore/pala
What is Pala? Pala is a byzantine fault tolerant consensus protocol invented by T-H. Hubert Chan, Rafael Pass, and Elaine Shi. It can achieve low latency and high throughput in a partially synchronous network setting. Pala allows support seamless proposer switch with no delay in normal operation. When there is a network partition, the protocol switches proposers with little delay (say 6s) to keep liveness as long as there are at least one honest proposer and 2/3 voters in a single partition. All honest nodes maintain consistency no matter how the network is partitioned.
ThunderCore blockchain plans to use Pala to move towards a more decentralized architecture.
Full Node Open Source Release
ThunderCore will open source release its Full Node in Early June.
And a lot more.
Check out Dr. Shi’s presentation at Consensus 2019. | https://medium.com/thundercore/elaine-shi-thunder-research-consensus-2019-presentation-4190f95902ca | ['Peter Abilla'] | 2019-05-23 15:01:00.919000+00:00 | ['Proof Of Stake', 'Thunder Announcement', 'Blockchain', 'Thunder Research', 'Ethereum'] |
This Email Sums Up Why I Hated Working In An Office | This Email Sums Up Why I Hated Working In An Office
The politics of office life
Photo by Chris on Reshot
I have written before about how I hated working in an office. I understand the role that I did is not reflective of all office jobs.
This was the first time I had worked in an office. I’m sure there are offices where working practices and morale are much better. But, working at that place filled with me dread.
One of the worst things about working there was the emails. We were working in a performance-orientated department, which focused on a form of mis-sold insurance. If you are from or have lived in the UK over the past few years, you will know what I am talking about.
There were a lot of claims to deal with. We were under no illusions that we had to get responses out the door as quickly as possible but work with the utmost diligence while doing so.
Yes, that is a contradiction. You have to work as fast as you can, but you have to be accurate and diligent at the same time! Thankfully, once you got the hang of the job, it wasn’t too hard to do this.
There was just one problem, no matter how well we did as a team, it would never be enough for our manager or those above him.
There was always the expectation that we could do more. That we could work harder. This led to divisions in the team where some people bought into this poor attempt at motivation, while others, like myself, saw through it as a simple attempt to get us to work harder for nothing.
One email rammed home how much I hated working there, and how glad I was that I handed in my notice and left.
Our team was coming off the back of an outstanding week where we had shifted more cases than most of the other teams put together. You would think this would be a suitable time to send a message congratulating us on our hard work?
You would be wrong!
What we got instead was a 2,500-word diatribe on how we could do better as a team and a reminder that we had to adhere to several arcane rules. This email was also sent on a Friday afternoon to rub salt into the wound!
If I hadn’t already handed in my notice, I would have handed it in on the spot, because this email was ridiculous. Looking back now, it’s clear that despite the downsides to blogging full-time, I made the right choice to go down this path.
The environment in the office was toxic. It wasn’t an enjoyable place to work. Emails like this one are why offices get such a bad rep. | https://medium.com/swlh/this-email-sums-up-why-i-hated-working-in-an-office-39315312bd9b | ['Tom Stevenson'] | 2020-04-14 16:03:52.136000+00:00 | ['Jobs', 'Work', 'Life', 'Life Lessons', 'Communication'] |
Best tigelle recipe — how to make easy tigelle at home! | If you are here, you might have heard about tigelle and you are curious about making them at home. I don’t usually use the “best” word in my posts, but this is actually the best tigelle recipe I have ever tried, and today I want to share it with you!
What are tigelle
First of all, what is a tigella? Tigelle is, in fact, the plural of tigella, a type of bread typical of the mountains near Modena and Bologna (known in Italian as Appennino Modenese). That small portion of our mountains is an authentic cradle for typical food, and I would highlight what I call the Modenese street food triad:
tigelle (singular: tigella): the bread you are learning to cook today!
(singular: tigella): the bread you are learning to cook today! crescentine (singular: crescentina): they have different names in different parts of Emilia Romagna; crescentina in Bologna, gnocco fritto in Modena, torta fritta in Reggio Emilia. Whatever the name, crescentine are always made by rolling out the tigelle dough in a very thin way, cutting it into shapes (square or triangular) and deep-frying it in lard or (today more common) oil.
(singular: crescentina): they have different names in different parts of Emilia Romagna; crescentina in Bologna, gnocco fritto in Modena, torta fritta in Reggio Emilia. Whatever the name, crescentine are always made by rolling out the tigelle dough in a very thin way, cutting it into shapes (square or triangular) and deep-frying it in lard or (today more common) oil. borlenghi (singular: borlengo). While you will be able to find tigelle also in industrial preparations in the Italian supermarkets, and you will find crescentine in many restaurants, you will find borlenghi only in typical trattorie in the mountains near Modena. One of the best places for borlenghi is Zocca, which is not a lovely village in the mountains but also the hometown of the famous Italian rocker Vasco Rossi. Borlengo is a sort of flatbread, with actually the thickness of crepes, that will be filled with lard, rosemary and Parmigiano Reggiano, folded in four and … eaten. Fun fact: when you sit and order borlenghi, you don’t have to ask for a precise number of them. Just say “I will go for borlenghi” and they will start serving you with a series of borlengo dishes, one after another until you say “next one is the last one”. At the end of the meal, the host will just count the dishes on the table and get you the bill.
Tigelle or crescentine?
You know, Italians are really picky with food, and every town has its own traditional food or a different way to make/name common dishes. But with tigelle, we come to the next level 🙂
If you are in Bologna, I strongly suggest using the word “tigelle”. But if you are in Modena, please refer to them as “crescentine”. But… didn’t I just say that crescentine are fried dough? Let’s try to make it clear with a schema.
What you need to cook tigelle
You can follow the best tigelle recipe and cook them using a bunch of different techniques and tools, from the most traditional to the more contemporary ones. Let’s go through them:
In my life I have tried them all, starting from a very young age, and honestly I would not recommend investing in specific tools: a flat pan like the one in the recipe below will work just fine and is what I always use!
How to eat tigelle, the real way
Well, tigelle might seem just a flatbread. And yes, if you want to fill them with prosciutto, mortadella, salame, cheese (my choice: gorgonzola) … for sure they will be great!
But there is one single way that will make them stand out: stuffed with pesto montanaro and Parmigiano Reggiano!
Montanaro means mountaineer and, actually, pesto montanaro is typical only of the mountains near Modena. Its ingredients are energetic and super tasty:
lard,
garlic, finely chopped,
rosemary, finely chopped.
Simple like that! But if you will try once a hot tigella, cut in two and filled with pesto montanaro plus one spoon of grated Parmigiano Reggiano… you will never forget its mouthwatering taste! And you can even use them as a tasty bread if you are not into baking your own crusty loaf, or you simply don’t have enough time to.
Now that you know something more about tigelle and the love we share for this food in Emilia Romagna, let’s learn how to make the best tigelle. After trying, you will be amazed that this is not only an incredibly tasty one but also a very easy tigelle recipe!
To read my step-by-step guide to your first tigelle, visit:
Suggested wine pairings
Tigelle is a dish strongly rooted in the tradition of a territory, the mountains near Modena and Bologna. I strongly recommend to enjoy them with wine typical of the same area, i.e. a good Lambrusco (choose the dry one, secco in Italian). If you prefer white wine, you can follow the same advice by choosing a Pignoletto, a sparkling white wine from our hills.
Buon appetito! | https://medium.com/@eatalianwithroberto/best-tigelle-recipe-how-to-make-easy-tigelle-at-home-a0b05d288ead | [] | 2021-01-01 15:15:13.453000+00:00 | ['Tradition', 'Recipe', 'Italian Food', 'Street Food', 'Bread'] |
Reasons Why People Like Glass Splashbacks Colours | There are such countless parts to planning another kitchen and a glass splashbacks colours is one of them. A few groups aren’t sure on the off chance that they even need a glass kitchen splashback as they are uncertain as to precisely what it does. They simply realize individuals use them. It doesn’t appear to have a capacity like a benchtop or cabinets. However, it is fundamental.
Character
Very little in your kitchen is pretty much as customizable as your splashback. To add a distinctive look and feel to your kitchen, you can change your splashback to an example. Shading or even a picture that addresses you personally and the inclination you need inside your kitchen.
Insurance
The divider behind your cooktop and your sink is generally made out of mortar and dislike warmth or dampness. Without a splashback, you risk supplanting this piece of division over the years as the warmth from your burner and sprinkles from your taps will begin to dissolve the gyprock over the long haul.
It will likewise begin to ingest smells from the oils and stain contingent upon the sort of cooking you are doing. It’s essential to keep your domestic protected from potential dangers, for example, fire as the divider begins to warm up.
Cleanliness
The last spot you need microbes in your kitchen. At the point when you’re cooking for loved ones, you need a clean, microbes free surface consistently. A kitchen splashback board is the most effortless piece in your kitchen to clean and keep up.
Cost
Even though adding a glass splashbacks colours in advance will add cost to your kitchen, it will save you more than its forthright expense over the long haul. Consider the future cleaning cost or supplanting a divider that has decayed away with consistent openness to water. As opposed to a bare wall, washing a splashback would save you a significant amount of time because it just needs a quick wipe over.
Let Dull Places Shine
Dark rooms are neither energy-friendly nor fun to spend time in. If your luxurious home’s laundry room benefits from more natural light, a glass laundry splashback could be the answer. You will improve the surrounding natural light by adding this glass element behind the laundry sink and the space between the worktop and the cabinets. | https://medium.com/@social-70340/reasons-why-people-like-glass-splashbacks-colours-339c2fb2a97f | [] | 2021-03-22 08:18:10.426000+00:00 | ['Home Improvement'] |
What are the differences between service design and product design? | The early-stage development and design process is easily one of the most important periods of time for any business, whether you are product or service based. After all, the decisions that you make at this stage will have a huge impact on everything from usability and accessibility, to desirability and feasibility.
So, both service design and product design as processes feed into how happy your customer or user will be. And, as such, how successful your business is in the long term!
It’s easy to fall into thinking that the two processes are exactly the same: How can product design and service design really be that different? Well, the truth is, there certainly are some similarities in the ways that they are often conducted, but there are also huge differences that you need to be aware of so that you can create the best product or service possible.
Source: <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/character">Character vector created by macrovector — www.freepik.com</a>
Let’s start with the basics…
What is a product?
You probably know this one!
A product is tangible. That’s to say, that a customer can buy the product and then hold or store it somewhere (be this in the “real world” or on a computer or device). Most often, its value is generated and derived from the product by the user. The user already knows what they want from the product, hence they buy it.
From pots and pans, to t-shirts and video games, all of these are products.
What is a service?
On the other hand, a service is something that someone experiences and isn’t necessarily owned. For example, health care services or streaming platforms such as Netflix, Spotify and Audible. In each of these cases, the service is not tangible and only has value when it is performed for the user.
With this in mind, it’s true to say that whilst services are by definition people-centred, products aren’t.
As you can imagine, the differences in these definitions means that there are also contrasts in the processes of designing products and of designing services.
Source: <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/character">Character vector created by macrovector — www.freepik.com</a>
What are the key principles of Product Design?
As Smashing Magazine point out, “Product design is the process of identifying a market opportunity, clearly defining the problem, developing a proper solution for that problem and validating the solution with real users.”
As such, design thinking is a brilliant foundation for the product design process, since it is so focused on finding actionable and practical solutions to the problems of users.
We’ve spoken a lot about design thinking on our blog. In fact, we covered the topic just last week and explained how it differs from Human-Centred Design.
Design Thinking is a problem-solving process: First you begin by understanding and scoping a clear problem, then you focus on how you can solve it. One of the ways that this is best illustrated is through the Design Council’s Double Diamond:
This is such a valuable process for product designers, as it focuses on product development from one end to the other, not just the design itself. This helps designers to define exactly what they’re trying to achieve in terms of their users’ needs, thereby creating something with a much greater chance of success. More than simply the look and feel of a product is considered!
Again, for more practical steps on how to understand your users through design thinking, read our last blog post.
Understanding the Design Thinking framework, this then feeds into the product development process. Each project will look slightly different, but here’s how the general flow looks:
Defining the product vision Product research User analysis Ideation Design Testing and validation Post-launch activities
What are the key principles to service design?
Let’s hear from the masters themselves, shall we?
According to The Service Design Network, it is “The activity of planning and organising people, infrastructure, communication and material components of a service in order to improve its quality and the interaction between service provider and customers.
The purpose of service design methodologies is to design according to the needs of customers or participants, so that the service is user-friendly, competitive and relevant to the customers.”
To put it simply then, the process has a focus on ensuring that a service is meeting the needs of all users as effectively as possible at every single step.
In terms of implementing service design, according to Marc Stickdorn and Jakob Schneider, the methodology has five basic principles:
User-centred, through understanding the user by doing qualitative research Co-creative, by involving all relevant stakeholders in the design process Sequencing, by partitioning a complex service into separate processes Evidencing, by visualising service experiences and making them tangible Holistic, by considering touch-points in a network of interactions and users
Source: <a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/character">Character vector created by macrovector — www.freepik.com</a>
One of the key aspects of effective services design is — you guessed it! — research. Qualitative research including observations and interviews are conducted, allowing the designer to foresee a variety of situations in which the user may interact with the service. These insights are then used to create personas, customer journey maps, value network maps and stakeholder maps.
Armed with all of this, co-creation sessions are put in place to generate service prototypes which are then developed iteratively. At this point, the designer is able to create the best possible experience for all of the actors on the service, including stakeholders!
Key takeaways
Whilst service design is focused on the organisation and planning of people and communication in order to create optimal service quality, product design is primarily concerned with solving real problems through functionality , not just what a product looks and feels like. This is thanks to the intangibility of services, versus the physical nature of products.
However, at the heart of both product and service design is the desire to create the best possible user experience. They are each user-centred and keep customers at the heart of their decision making.
Through focusing on the processes of product design and of service design, businesses are able to effectively generate more sales, a larger amount of customer loyalty and customer growth more widely.
What’s not to love?
If you have any questions at all about either product design or service design, simply drop them in the comments and we’d be more than happy to help!
The Snap Out Team ⛰ | https://medium.com/snapout/what-are-the-differences-between-service-design-and-product-design-769f930bc361 | ['Bethany', 'Snap Out'] | 2020-01-09 10:01:01.280000+00:00 | ['Startup Lessons', 'Design Thinking', 'Service Design', 'Business', 'Product Design'] |
The Path of the Game Dev — Day 22 | Saving progress…
— —
Keeping on with the cinematography and stealth game, I finished up the intro cutscene and started getting into the scripting portion of the course. Now it’s all starting to look a lot more like a game!
To wrap up the intro cutscene, I had to finish animating the virtual cameras as the scene progressed. This required a lot of adjustments to camera position, panning around the scene, and adding a little bit of noise to the static shots to give it more of a hand-held feel.
After I had established the shots, I had to align the virtual camera shots with the voice over track. This is where the real challenge began because although we were following the director’s notes from the preset package, there was still a bit of room to play with camera angles and timing of the cuts. When you pan the camera over to the sleeping guard, the course makes it one continuous shot with the close-up of the guard’s keycard and before transitioning to look up to the main vault behind him. It was so neat seeing how blending these shots together at different speeds could generate a totally different feel to highlight what the dialogue in the voice over track.
Lastly, I worked on the section dealing with the player’s movement. Since this course asks us to implement a point-and-click type of movement control it has quite a different feel from the 2D Space Shooter. This project uses a NavMesh to dictate where the player can and cannot move — and you can access this through UnityEngine.AI!
Biggest takeaways from the day: Working in 3D with Unity isn’t as scary as I thought. A bit of exploration can have some fun (and not so fun) results.
— —
Progress saved! | https://medium.com/@igartag/the-path-of-the-game-dev-day-22-cc9668ca53cd | ['Gabrielle Igarta'] | 2020-12-22 02:35:59.579000+00:00 | ['Game Development'] |
Important Economic Indicators to Understand the World Economy | Everything in the World is Connected
Compared to the past, the world economy has become much more integrated. Globalization is the growing interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and populations. The U.S. led the efforts to revive international trade and investment after World War II.
Globalization of Trade — Peterson Institute for International Economics
Politics and business have now been integrated as well. Trump tweets change the world around us. An amazing resource has been created by Bloomberg, documenting and tracking Trump’s tweets and the impacts on the stock market.
Despite this, the issues we face today are a byproduct of the fast growth that the world has been experiencing. Certain countries are looking to protect their jobs and people, leading to trade wars and other political issues such as Brexit.
Important Concepts Broken Down
Interest Rates: Central banks around the world use interest rates to influence the economy. This is generally used to curb inflation. Different countries have different levels of inflation, and a higher interest rate slows down inflation.
Increasing Interest Rates > Economy is doing well > Inflation needs to be curbed > Signals a better economy
U.S. Interest Rates — Past 5 Years
Inflation: The increase in prices of goods and services in an economy over time. High inflation means a decrease in the purchasing power of a nation’s currency. This concept is why things get more expensive over time, and your money buys less.
High inflation > Bad for consumers > Increase Interest Rates > Slow Economy
Sample Price Increase in Coffee Over Time
Unemployment: Employment data is a big economic indicator which indicates the well-being of the economy and labour force of a company. This indicator is heavily watched and talked about in the media, as generally the lower unemployment is, the better the economy is doing.
More people working > More spending > More economic growth > Better economy
U.S Unemployment Rate Since the 1950s — FRED St. Louis
Housing Starts: The amount of housing units on which construction was performed during the month. Generally data is provided for single-family homes and residential buildings. Housing is an essential good for consumers, and everyone needs a place to live.
More housing starts > More people buying homes > More disposable income > Better Economy
U.S 2019 — Housing Starts
Consumer Confidence: Consumers are surveyed in a random sampling of 5,000 individuals, of whom 3,500 generally respond. This survey asks the consumers about their sentiment on the current economy, with topics ranging from the labor market, consumer spending, and economic growth.
Higher consumer confidence > More consumer investments and spending > Better economy
U.S. 2019 Consumer Confidence Survey
Stock Market Indexes: Indexes were created as a basket of stocks and have been the world benchmark for equity markets. There are indexes for each country, but the large ones are the S&P 500 (U.S.), Dow Jones (U.S.), TSX (Canada), FTSE 100 (London), Sensex (India) to name a few. With all things held equal, higher profits and good economic situations drive higher stock valuations.
Higher stock markets index values > Better performing companies > More investments and employment > Better economy
S&P 500 Performance for 2019
Real Gross Domestic Product: The Market Value of all goods and services produced in a nation during a year, net of the inflation in a certain country. This is generally used as a gauge of the health and well-being of an economy. When looking at this metric, you want to look at respective growth rates over each quarter. Higher the growth, the better.
Higher GDP > Countries are being productive > Better economy
U.S. Real GDP since 1950
Following this post, you will have more knowledge about economics and the world around us. Hopefully this can kick-start your interest in learning more about the financial world. Feel free to respond with any of your questions, and I will be covering more advanced topics later on.
For other analysis regarding our current economy: | https://medium.com/high-finance/important-economic-indicators-to-understand-the-world-economy-8fb7f99ec54a | [] | 2020-04-09 19:00:59.700000+00:00 | ['Finance', 'Business', 'News', 'Economics'] |
FuzeX Pre-Sale Bounty Program: A Guide | The FuzeX Bounty Program: A Guide.
As the FuzeX Pre-Sale looms ever near, we’ve decided to launch our bounty program to encourage community engagement, project awareness and participation in the FuzeX Pre-Sale itself. This FuzeX Bounty is for the Pre-Sale only. This post details all you need to know, and maybe more, about the FuzeX Pre-Sale Bounty Program.
What is the FuzeX Pre-Sale Bounty Program?
As stated above, the FuzeX Pre-Sale Bounty Program is to encourage participation in the FuzeX Pre-Sale and also to encourage open discussion about the project as a whole. The Pre-Sale Bounty Program has already commenced and will run until the end of the Pre-Sale which will concluded on the 15th of February 2018 at 00:00 GMT.
What amount of FXT Token are allocated to the FuzeX Pre-Sale Bounty Program?
Overall there are 53,000,000 FXT Tokens earmarked for Bounty Programs and Donations. The total amount allocated to THIS particular Bounty Program is 1,590,000 FXT Tokens. This constitutes around 0.15% of the overall FXT Token allocation.
We are in this for the long haul, and have plans for a succession of FuzeX Bounties covering the general Token Sale, Test Markets and National and International launches, too. This is where the rest of the allocated FXT Tokens will be used.
This is our first bounty, so our aim is to build a strong, dedicated FuzeX Bounty team that will take part in continuous future FuzeX Bounty Programs.
How are the FuzeX Tokens allocated for the FuzeX (Pre-Sale) Bounty Program?
These 1,590,000 FXT Tokens are allocated and distributed for the following 5 categories, please note that the token allocation is calculated as a percentage of the total allocated FXT tokens (0.15%). As this is calculated using a percentage, the total amount is subject to change. Please be aware of this before undertaking the FuzeX Bounty Program.
Please also note that if there is less than 6 participants in each category, the category will not be valid. Additionally, depending on participation, a cap for each participant may be set for FXT Token allocations.
What do I get for participating in the FuzeX (Pre-Sale) Bounty Program?
Participants who adhere to the rules and successfully complete the tasks laid out for each of the 5 categories (above) will receive a share of the allocated FXT Tokens. Token rewards will be calculated using the below formula:
Bounty Program Token Allocation Formula.
As with the above formula, FXT Token allocation is calculated using stakes. Stakes are based on several variables which are laid out for each category and explained below. These variables are based on the quality of work, number of followers, level of expertise and influence within certain communities. Stakes will be updated weekly. Be careful to read the rules for your chosen category or categories carefully. These rules are laid out in the Official FuzeX Bounty Program sign-up form here.
The Bounty Category MVP will receive a Fuze Card (Mag Strip) & FuzeX Card.
Also, we’ll offer a FuzeX Card & Fuze Card (Mag Strip Only) to the most active participants in each category and a Fuze Card (Magnetic Strip Only) to the runner-up.
When will I get my FuzeX Tokens?
FXT Tokens will be gradually distributed 6 weeks after the total FuzeX Token Sale Event has finished. This is likely to be the first half of 2018, the exact date of which will be confirmed by us through our official channels.
Also, an important thing to note is that due to safety concerns no requests for wallet address changes will be accepted at all. So, please be careful when inputting your wallet address. This is for our participants security and to decrease the risk of fraudulent activity.
What are the general rules for participation?
Participants must be over 18 years of age. The General Rules are covered here. please read them carefully. FuzeX reserves the right to change any rules or make any changes, if necessary, at any time. Also, if any of the criteria set out in the General Rules is not adhered to OR a participant’s behaviour is deemed to bring the FuzeX brand into disrepute, participation in the FuzeX Bounty Program will be terminated immediately.
This includes but is not limited to; duplicate accounts in the same category, misinformation, abusive behaviour, using bot/inactive/unrelated social media accounts, not adhering to the rules and disruptive behaviour. Please read the General Rules (Detailed in the Official FuzeX Bounty Program Documentation here) thoroughly before participating in the Bounty Program.
What should I do before joining the Bounty Program? | https://medium.com/fuzex/fuzex-pre-sale-bounty-program-a-guide-70f0b4de93c0 | ['Fuzex Team'] | 2018-10-22 05:55:13.250000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'ICO', 'Bounty Program', 'Fuzex', 'Bounty Campaign'] |
Holding Pattern or Integration? | Photo by Cody Black on Unsplash
Our bodies always know.
Today was an ‘out of sorts’ kind of day. The kind when I’m fairly positive all Sorting Hats have left the country. That makes me giggle through the squirm.
Emails answered, student issues dealt with, logistics not yet possible… then there are those online writing courses… Nope. Not enough bandwidth. Rainbow swirls on every site. So the yoga mat. Body feels better. Check.
Now what? I live in a fairly constant state of meditation, so, while additional meditation is always lovely, it does not necessarily come topside when the irritation hits the fan. Then again, that’s not true, so this must not be irritability either…Hmmm.
Other people’s emotions? Perhaps. And then, as my fingertips screamed as though stung, I listened.
“This only feels like ‘hold.’” My body chimed in, bored and impatient with me.
“Do we need the sorting hat?” I queried, playfully.
Bad decision. Body let me have it. “I. AM. INTEGRATING. Thank you for the yoga and for not pushing…thank you for the halfassed kind of listening that meant we didn’t go out and tackle doing things, today. Oh, and the fifty-something times I suggested we might go lie down? If I explain that there has been big energy running and I. AM. INTEGRATING, will you let me be still?”
“I thought I had been… It was a quiet morning, and I did lie down for a bit this aft….”
“We could have gone back to bed! As in, under the covers, in the jammies, for a good sleep. The full moon kept waking us last night.”
“Yeeeah…I guess we still have some communication issues, don’t we?”
“ISH.”
“Thank you, though, for reminding me about integrating. I do tend not to allow for that…”
“Is this better?” I queried, post-shower, from under the covers.
“Put. the. laptop. away. Why do you think I’ve been making our fingertips sting all day? Write…Later.”
And with that, I promised to fold said laptop, cease and desist…as soon as I hit publish.
Yep. Ish-R-Us.
~ Namaste ~ | https://medium.com/indian-thoughts/holding-pattern-or-integration-321900cd97f3 | ['Nalini Macnab'] | 2020-01-14 00:32:33.003000+00:00 | ['Patience', 'Rest', 'Wisdom', 'Listening', 'Yoga'] |
15 Best Baby Skin Care Products Brand | Safe Products | Introduction and Recommendation of Selected Baby Care Products
We are familiar with baby care products in the United States, Germany, and Japan. The publicity of British mother and baby products is relatively less, but it does not mean that British products are not good.
Spring is coming, and it’s time for spring to bloom. The weather is also suitable for children to go out and play. In the house stuffy nearly the whole winter, in order to protect the baby’s tender skin from being rough by the wind, skincare products for the baby should also be bought.
What famous baby skincare products brands are in the world? I hope this article can help you!
Table Of Contents
Which is The Best Baby Skincare Products Brand?
Introduction: for the baby’s delicate skin, we must be careful in the selection of the best baby skincare products brand, so that the baby’s skin can always be maintained in the most stable and comfortable state, so in today’s rich single products, which baby skincare products brand have the best reputation?
The following ranking list carefully sorted out 15 pieces of the best baby skincare products brand for your reference!
15 Best baby skincare products brand
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links are “Amazon” affiliate links and at no additional cost to you, When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Please share these resources with colleagues, friends, and family.
Reason for recommendation:
Johnson & Johnson’s product is made of the most moisturizing ingredients recommended by the top 15 baby skincare products list. Combined with glycerin and other small ingredients, it can help the skin to lock in the most effective moisture for a long time. Moreover, the fresh texture will not make the baby’s skin feel thick, and then give the baby just the right amount of moisture and care.
Johnson’s Baby Cream Pink Round Bowl Size 100 G
Efficacy: moisturizing, moisturizing, whitening, and rejuvenating
Editor’s comment: good, I am using it for my baby. The skin is shiny and slippery and feels very comfortable.
Click Here To Check Out More Johnson & Johnson’s products on Amazon.
Reason for recommendation:
This single product of Kiehl’s can be used by both infants and adults. Its rich vitamins and moisturizing texture can quickly take care of every inch of the baby’s skin. Moreover, it has been tested by pediatricians strictly, and it can effectively help to care for a baby’s delicate and delicate skin for a long time.
Kiehl’s Ultimate Strength Hand Salve — Small 2.5oz (75ml)
Efficacy: moisturizing, moisturizing, soothing and moisturizing
Editor’s comment: used in the baby’s body especially the dry place can really keep the skin moist and smooth for a long time.
Promising review:
A friend gave me my first tube of Kiehl’s Ultimate Strength Hand Salve as a gift. As an RN, hand washing is something I do dozens of times a day and my hands were often red and irritated as a result. Kiehls has changed all that. — Read More — PJ
Also read: The Most Recommended Best European Skin Care Products
Click Here To Check Out More Kiehl’s baby products on Amazon.
Reason for recommendation:
This baby cream is made from the most natural raw materials. The moisturizing factor of its effectiveness can help a long time moisturizing and drying the skin, and the texture of the baby will not give any heavy stimulation to the baby’s skin. It will help to keep the baby’s skin moist and smooth for a long time.
Aveeno Baby Eczema Therapy Nighttime Balm with Natural Colloidal Oatmeal for Eczema Relief, 11 oz.
Product efficacy: Moisturizing
Editor’s comment: can deeply nourish the skin, not greasy, quickly soothe and moisten the baby’s dry facial skin.
Promising review:
My 17-year-old daughter has suffered extremely severe eczema on her entire body (excluding her face-thankfully) for years. We tried every product, RX and otc and nothing ever worked. We did phototherapy as well. — Read More — Rebecca
Click Here To Check Out More johnson baby products on Amazon.
Reason for recommendation:
Baby milk contains the best Lavender, Vanilla, and Natural Oatmeal ingredients. It is especially suitable for babies with sensitive skin. The refreshing and non-sticky ingredients can provide the necessary nourishment for the skin quickly, and eventually keep The baby’s skin and skin are moist and comfortable for a long time.
Aveeno Baby Calming Comfort Moisturizing Lotion with Lavender, Vanilla and Natural Oatmeal, 18 fl. oz
Efficacy: moisturizing, moisturizing, soothing and moisturizing
Editor’s comment: This product of Aveeno home is really very good, adults feel very moist after trial, and there is no sense of burden, rest assured.
Promising review:
While Aveeno products in general work fine for my other kiddos and myself, my one little man has eczema and it induces flare-ups! I figured the “oat” ingredient would be helpful, however, it seems that anything with fragrance will aggravate his poor skin. — Read More — MommaB
Click Here To Check Out More Aveeno Baby products on Amazon.
Reason for recommendation:
This product will not be missing in the baby sunscreen recommendation. Its comfortable and soft texture can quickly replenish sufficient moisture to the skin when used, and gently form a protective barrier on the delicate skin, thus reducing the irritation of any the harmful environment on the skin, and taking full care of the delicate skin when going out.
Baby Bum SPF 50 Sunscreen Lotion | Mineral UVA/UVB Face and Body Protection for Sensitive Skin | Fragrance Free | Travel Size | 3 FL OZ
Efficacy: moisturizing, soothing, and sunscreen
Editor’s comment: this one is easy to push away. If you want to say refreshing, it’s OK.
Promising review:
I initially got the Thinkbaby sunscreen because of the better reviews, but it had this really strong fragrance that I couldn’t stand and didn’t run into my son’s skin very well. It left white smudges all over his skin. — Read More — Josie F.
Also read: The Best 10 French Cosmetics Brands You Should Know and Trust
Click Here To Check Out More baby bum products on Amazon.
** Please Share These Resources with Colleagues, Friends, and Family ***
Read More. | https://medium.com/@muhiuddin-alam/15-best-baby-skin-care-products-brand-safe-products-b5a4467a16fb | ['Muhiuddin Alam'] | 2020-10-08 15:15:09.083000+00:00 | ['Skincare', 'Baby Skin Care Products', 'Baby Care', 'Baby Products', 'Skin Care Products'] |
Now I’ve Seen Everything: Republican and Democratic Rivals Appear Together in Joint Ad | In something of a watershed moment in present day politics, Chris Peterson, a law professor and Democrat, and Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, have created a joint ad that promotes civility and unity, rather than division and hate.
We can disagree without hating each other — Spencer Cox Our common values transcend our political differences and the strength of our nation rests on our ability to see that — Chris Peterson
Not only has this never been done before, it’s almost unheard of to see it happen NOW, amidst the most polarizing and divisive political climate this country has ever witnessed. On one hand I think it’s absolutely phenomenal, and I wish we saw more of it. On the other, I wonder how many people will rightfully criticize it for ignoring all the reasons there’s such a big divide in the first place.
After all, while it’s one thing to disagree on general policy issues and macro beliefs such as religion, it’s another thing entirely when these beliefs have real-life consequences. Things like COVID, health care, a fair minimum wage, climate change, etc., have live-or-die ramifications for million of Americans. And I mean ALL Americans, even those who are not disproportionately affected because of their gender, sexual orientation or the color of their skin.
So while I personally applaud this move, and wish to see more like it, it’s meaningless without a deeper analysis of the underlying reasons for the divide in the first place. Not only that, but it needs to go beyond mere analysis and work towards actually solving some of these issues.
And the only way that will ever happen is if we do it together. | https://medium.com/indian-thoughts/now-ive-seen-it-all-republican-and-democratic-in-joint-ad-6a10df69a26a | ['Russ Josephs'] | 2020-10-22 14:02:10.403000+00:00 | ['Democrats', 'Culture', 'Politics', 'Society', 'Elections'] |
Cocaine / Aprazolam | cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug. For thousands of years, people in South America have chewed and ingested coca leaves (Erythroxylon coca), the source of cocaine, for their stimulant effects.1,2 The purified chemical, cocaine hydrochloride, was isolated from the plant more than 100 years ago. In the early 1900s, purified cocaine was the main active ingredient in many tonics and elixirs developed to treat a wide variety of illnesses and was even an ingredient in the early formulations of Coca-Cola®. Before the development of synthetic local anesthetic, surgeons used cocaine to block pain.1 However, research has since shown that cocaine is a powerfully addictive substance that can alter brain structure and function if used repeatedly.
we available
aprazolam
alpha apvp
4mmc
ketamine
fentanyl
heroin
Website:https://researchchemicalstore.net/
Email:[email protected]
Wickr:docsking
Skype: Research Chemicals | https://medium.com/@zxdswqpklmn/cocaine-aprazolam-cbeaad9f80d4 | [] | 2020-12-26 12:01:42.998000+00:00 | ['Drugs', 'Europe', 'Google', 'Addiction', 'Bitcoin'] |
AWARENESS ABOUT BREAST CANCER: | “Health is the state of complete mental ,social, physical well being ,not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.(WHO)
Now from the above quotation we come to know that health is very important for us and for our community. In order to save the lives of people we must have awareness about any disease especially for women who live inside homes and little communication with people.
Now come to my project work i.e Breast cancer awareness especially among female.Firstly we have to know about breast cancer.
It is a disease in which cells of the breast grow out of control. It can grow in different parts of breast depending on its type.
CAUSES:
Women factor as women are more likely to get that cancer. Second most important cause is age factor. drinking alcohol family history of breast cancer. history of patient with breast problem ,obesity and many other causes.
SYMPTOMS:
its main symptoms include:
New lump in the breast or underarm (armpit).
Thickening or swelling of part of the breast.
Irritation or dimpling of breast skin.
Redness or flaky.
Pain.
Discharge other than breast milk, including blood.
Any change in the size or the shape of the breast.
Pain in any area of the breast.
STATUSTICS ABOUT DEATH:
Pakistan alone has the highest rate of Breast Cancer than any other Asian country as approximately 90000 new cases are diagnosed every year out of which 40000 die.
It also common cancer in women worldwide, with nearly 1.7 million new cases diagnosed in 2012, representing about 25 per cent of all cancers in women.
AWARENESS:
Our most of Pakistani backward living females are unaware about this disease .They also feel ashamed while talking about that to other person. So as a result it spread and cause serious effects sometime death.
Early diagnosis of breast cancer can save from lethal effects and reduce the chance of surgery as well.
GOAL:
My goal is to provide a vast awareness program to these females how to diagnose it early.
Cancer Council’s Pink Ribbon Day helps raises funds in support of the many thousands of Australian women affected by breast and gynecological cancers. Cancer Council aims to minimize the threat of women’s cancers through successful prevention, best treatment, support and world-class cancer research. Pink Ribbon Day.
I can start it by taking small level conceling mettings with uneducated females and male and tell them about cause and symptoms.
Giving a practical view how they can diagnose it by giving five minutes to their self on daily and weekly basis.
In addition I can also consult different field related doctors for better understanding of the whole scenerio.
IMPACT:
I hope my small step can bring a better change in society especially in backward areas.I already started this work at my home side at small level in my family.
Happy to do it on large scale for my satisfaction and for the fulfillment of my duty. | https://medium.com/@iqra-mushtaq167/awareness-about-breast-cancer-14a0ba75f8cb | ['Iqra Mushtaq'] | 2020-12-25 18:37:56.640000+00:00 | ['Amal Academy'] |
Why Practicing Cultural Sensitivity Isn’t Just For White People | I’ve been on the receiving end of racism and cultural insensitivity. And the worst came from someone who shared the same ethnicity and many aspects of my culture as me.
“Oh I can’t say that word; it’s politically incorrect.” “I better do or say this or I’ll offend their culture.” “I don’t use the hyphen when I identify my culture. I’m Chinese Canadian not Chinese-Canadian.”
So the other day, I was making dinner plans with my sister. She sent me some restaurant links to check out.
One of them stood out for me so I messaged her,
“Ooh let’s go to that one. I’ve been craving Mexican.”
She responds,
“Sure, we can go there but it’s actually Spanish tapas.”
So I have to confess that my first reaction (in my head) was:
“To-May-To…To-Mah-To.”
But then, I caught myself and said,
“Right…Spanish. That was culturally insensitive of me :(.”
What Does Culture Mean?
Nowadays, the word “culture” can be used to describe a group of people who share the same decade of birth (eg. those damn Millennials), a group of people who share the same ethnicity, a group of people who work together, a group of people who live in the same country and so forth.
It’s such a widely used term that when I think of ‘cultural sensitivity’, I honestly don’t know where to start.
Which culture is it referring to? Where do I stand in that spectrum? (ie. how sensitive am I?).
Culture can be thought of as “the way things are around here.” ‘Here’ can be a physical location, ethnicity, age, gender, industry, socio-economic status, within a family…etc
And if I have to change my sensitivity levels every time I was in a different environment with different people…then basically I should go dig a hole in my yard, and stay there for the rest of my life, not saying anything to anyone in case I offend someone’s culture.
But obviously, I haven’t done that and I’ve actually been enjoying myself, spewing out my opinions and rants publicly for the world to hear.
As a society, cultural insensitivity actually cannot be prevented because it’s impossible to understand everyone’s culture.
Workplace Cultural Sensitivity Training
Yes, there are cultural sensitivity training courses people can take; however, most of these only scratch the surface and are often requested by an employer.
“How to be more culturally sensitive in the workplace”
More like…
“Let’s make it look like our company prioritizes the development of our employees’ cultural sensitivity skills so we don’t wreak havoc for the HR or PR department”
Watch this video Read this article Match these terms to their definitions Share something in the discussion board Take a quiz 100% course completion = my manager’s off my back now
But I think cultural sensitivity is inherent to someone who practices empathy, who has a decent level of emotional intelligence and who treats others with compassion and kindness. It’s taking that moment to realize when I’ve been insensitive, acknowledging it, taking responsibility, and appreciating the opportunity to learn and change.
From being made fun of for the shape of my eyes to being mocked for speaking a different language, I’ve been on the receiving end of racism and cultural insensitivity.
And yes, these incidents involved those who did not share the same culture or ethnicity as me.
Worst Experiences Come From Where It’s Least Expected
However, the worst experience actually came from someone who shared my ethnicity and many aspects of my culture.
When I was 5 months pregnant, we had lunch with one of my husband’s old acquaintances, a Chinese woman in her 60’s who immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong over 40 years ago.
I’ll call her Mabel.*
*Sounds like an older Asian woman right?
She recently retired after working for 30 years at a company that consisted of 90% white people. Mabel speaks fluent English and Chinese. She never married and does not have children.
Drawing from what I knew of her, I made assumptions about her character without ever having met.
Bad mistake!
I didn’t follow my first rule of understanding another human being:
Don’t ever assume anything about anyone until I’ve met them and shared a beverage.
Anyway, I had expectations that Mabel was going to be this Westernized, open-minded, non-conforming, modern woman with a high degree of emotional intelligence and who understood both the Chinese and Canadian culture.
We sit down for lunch and she congratulates me on my second pregnancy. I respond graciously, glowing like an overripe Hami melon,
“Thank you so much.”
Without any further small talk or conversational etiquette, Mabel bluntly asks,
“How fat have you gotten? How many pounds have you gained?”
I calmly state,
“I don’t know.”
She continues,
“You have to watch out because you can get gestational diabetes and that’s not healthy for the baby.”
I ask,
“Do you know anyone with gestational diabetes?”
She retorts, ignoring without sensing the subtle annoyance in my question,
“No, but I hear it is very common.”
I’m feeling curious and courageous at this point and slightly surprised by my level of tolerance given the raging pregnancy hormones that are coursing through my blood. So I politely inquire with a slight chuckle,
“Is this a Chinese thing to ask a pregnant woman how much weight she has gained? Because my father-in-law (gesturing to my husband) asked me the same thing.”
Mabel’s face turns sour, her eyebrows furrow and lips curl as she defensively snaps,
“I’m merely concerned for your health. You shouldn’t be offended. You just don’t understand the Chinese culture.”
I snap back,
“No, I do understand the Chinese culture.“
I spend the rest of the lunch focused on my daughter, catering to her every need, portraying myself as a dedicated mother while feigning very little interest in her stories condescending lessons so I could internalize what had just happened. I was angry, frustrated and disappointed. But mainly, I was deeply confused.
“Why was I so offended?”
Because she told me I “SHOULDN’T be offended.”
There is a difference between understanding someone’s culture and having it shoved down your throat just because you share the same ethnicity.
Ethnicity ≠ Culture
I was born and raised in Canada by my immigrant parents and although I embrace many aspects of my Chinese heritage, there are some social practices and conversational nuances that I won’t ever appreciate.
They go against my Canadian upbringing that influenced and shaped the values, beliefs and morals of who I am.
When Mabel made those comments and asked those blunt questions, she offended my Canadian/Western culture just as much as I offended her Chinese culture when I questioned her “good intentions.”
And I acknowledge that I offended her and I absolutely believe she has a right to feel offended.
However, she felt it was within her right to impose her culture onto me because we share the same ethnicity.
Her arrogance in dictating how I should feel (ie. “not offended”) due to her grossly incorrect assumptions about me compounded by her lack of emotional intelligence is the epitome of cultural insensitivity.
However, her insensitivity ultimately stems from her ignorance in understanding the Chinese Canadian culture, something that is neither fully Eastern or Western but a blend of practices and traditions that spans across generations of individuals who were either born and raised in Canada or came here at a young age.
Difference between Chinese Culture and Chinese Canadian Culture
One of the reasons why Mabel said what she said is because she doesn’t know that there is a difference between Chinese culture and Chinese Canadian Culture.
Chinese Canadian culture isn’t clearly defined. It doesn’t get talked about because those who identify with this culture (like myself) don’t quite understand it themselves.
It’s neither a whitewashed Banana (Yellow on the outside, white on the inside) nor a FOB (Fresh Off the Boat) culture. It’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that and I don’t know what I resonate with until I hear or experience something that triggers me emotionally.
Raising the Chinese Canadian Voice While Practicing Cultural Sensitivity
As someone who grew up feeling lost between two cultures, it’s made me incredibly aware of how my actions and words can potentially disrespect someone’s culture.
I’ve been dancing around each culture too long, acting according to what is expected of me, depending on the environment that I am in and the people who surround me. I needed to stop convincing myself that I shouldn’t feel offended when I actually am.
And it’s time for me to raise awareness of what makes the Chinese Canadian culture uniquely different.
It doesn’t mean all Chinese Canadians should start our own blogs, YouTube Channels, write for HuffPost Asian Voices and create a charter of their principles and what they believe in and then a course to educate others in understanding our culture (Although, that would be pretty awesome).
But rather, it’s during those informal conversations where I feel triggered, taking a moment to understand why it made me feel the way it did and having the courage to say,
“I’m offended and this is why.”
Cultural sensitivity isn’t just for those who don’t share the same culture as me. It’s for everyone. However, how can I promote and practice cultural sensitivity if no one is aware that this culture exists?
Like what you’re reading? You’ll love Buibui — Have you tried reading from there lately? Click here to learn more
So Readers, how do you define cultural sensitivity? When was a time when you experienced cultural insensitivity? | https://byrslf.co/why-practicing-cultural-sensitivity-isnt-just-for-white-people-2cad58ab19d2 | ['Katharine Chan', 'Msc', 'Bsc'] | 2020-11-24 19:05:36.776000+00:00 | ['Immigration', 'Chinese', 'Canada', 'Culture', 'Beyourself'] |
3 REASONS DEREK NIELSEN PHOTOGRAPHY IS SETTING ITSELF APART FROM THE COMPETITION | BRING HOME SOME OF THE INDUSTRY’S BEST NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY
Why should you buy from my studio? This is a valid question. Now that everyone has a decent camera on their phone, humans take more pictures every second than we did in the entire first 100 years of photography. And experts estimate we’ll take a staggering 1.4 trillion photos this year alone. Obviously, not all these photos will be put up for sale, but even if a tiny fraction of them wind up on the marketplace that leaves you with an awful lot of options.
So, back to the original question: why choose Derek Nielsen Photography for your next portrait, landscape or animal photography purchase? Three big reasons:
1. YOU’RE GUARANTEED A QUALITY PRODUCT
We obsess about the quality of our image. In fact, we put our reputation on the line for it. And one of the main differences between amature work versus Derek Nielsen photography is the detail-driven quality given to a photograph.
For instance, while you don’t need to invest in incredibly expensive equipment to produce the best nature photography or collector-level animal photography, you do need to be razor sharp with your skills. This is especially true if you want to blow works up to large sizes. On average, a photo taken from an iPhonemaxes out at 21×14 inches before you begin to sacrifice quality. My dedication to quality is why I only use high-end, professional digital cameras, clean, sharp lenses and a stable tripod.
For all my large trips the last few years I rented the Canon 5DS R along with some of the best lenses Canon has to offer. The Canon 5DS R is a 50.6 megapixel camera with a 150,000 pixel RGB+IR metering system. This combination of powerful camera with outstanding lenses has allowed me to print images over 40×60 inches with razor sharp detail from edge to edge.
My equipment, and the knowledge of how to use it properly, has resulted in some of the best nature photography you’ll find — works of art proudly displayed in homes and businesses around the globe.
Beyond the equipment and talent required to capture an original image, if you want to provide photography clients with truly exceptional art pieces, you need another skill set entirely: print expertise. That’s why Derek Nielsen photography partners with Nevada Art Printers as our exclusive production company for our highest-quality digital artwork. Nevada Art Printers’ staff of master-level printmakers boasts more than 19 years of expertise in craft, including those of master photographer Robert Park. (Fun fact: World-renowned photographer Art Wolfe used Park’s mastery-level skills to help him with his New York and Las Vegas gallery displays).
2. YOU CAN COUNT ON PERSONALIZED SERVICE
I love what I do. My passion to create the best nature photography also drives my desire to provide my clients with a unique, seamless experience — a process I’m always working on and refining. That’s why, with Derek Nielsen photography, you will always work directly with me (the artist). Your experience will never be driven by pushy sales associates or disinterested gallery staff.
The human-to-human interactions involved in this work, including getting to know my customers, what they like or dislike, what excites them, etc., is also one of my favorite aspects of this industry. And without you, our mission to support environmental and philanthropic organizations around the world through proceeds from our portraits, environmental and animal photography simply would not be possible. That’s why I am available to answer any questions my collectors may have, all seven days of the week.
For projects exceeding $30,000, I will personally fly out to your home or office to discuss sizing, framing options and layout. After your artwork goes through production, I will fly out a second time to oversee installment. Effortlessly enjoy your new collection without ever breaking a sweat.
For smaller projects, you’ll receive the same level of attention and commitment on a remote basis. I will provide digital mockups of your space to give you an exact feel for how your new favorite photograph will look in your home, and am happy to help arrange local installation, if needed.
Please reach out to me directly with any questions. I will communicate with you as much or as little as you need to ensure I meet your expectations from project start to finish.
3. YOU’LL FEEL GREAT ABOUT HELPING ANIMALS, PLACES AND PEOPLE IN NEED
With each of my works — whether it’s animal photography, a landscape or a portrait — I want to transport my collectors, to convey how it felt to be there in the moment the image was captured. I believe the best nature photography, and really the best photographs in general, make you feel at least a bit of what the photographer felt, whether that’s the heart-pounding adrenaline of being face to face with a silverback gorilla or the elation of hiking through the dark of night to make it to a mountaintop by sunrise. But I also want my photographs to do more than capture a moment in time. I want them to help make sure those moments, places, creatures and cultures last.
Throughout my time traveling to all seven continents, I’ve noticed that not only does our environment need help, so do the people who spend their lives working to defend it. At Derek Nielsen Photography, we’re driven by our passion to deliver this help through our art. That’s why we link relevant conservation and philanthropic organizations to each of our photographs, and give them a portion of every sale.
Every decision and move made by Derek Nielsen Photography is grounded in our values:
Inspiration
Art is something we use to decorate our homes and offices, but I feel it can be more than that. I want to ignite imaginations, while cultivating emotional connections.
Integrity and Ethics
As an ethical fine art wildlife conservation photographer, you have my guarantee that I will never disturb wildlife to obtain a shot. I never put animals, the environment or others in harm’s way. Wild animals are not props. All the wildlife depicted in my works was photographed free from captivity. You also have my promise that my art is truth — a direct capture of the moment. In other words, I will not add in elements (like a non-existent moon).
Respect
I believe the wildlife, landscapes, cultures and people depicted in each of my photographs deserves respect and an equal right to cohabitate this beautiful planet we call home.
SAVE THE WORLD: PROUDLY DISPLAY THE BEST NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY
I know my collectors have an abundance of options when it comes to choosing animal photography, landscapes and other fine art to display in their homes and offices. That’s why I strive to continually deliver much more than just artwork.
Derek Nielsen Photography provides the best nature photography experience possible: a conservation-driven, customer-service-minded, fine art gallery on a mission to save this planet. Photography for change is happening, and buying your next piece of artwork from Derek Niesel Photography is your chance to join the movement. | https://medium.com/@derek-45003/3-reasons-derek-nielsen-photography-is-setting-itself-apart-from-the-competition-a8d120ecbf4e | ['Derek Nielsen Photography'] | 2020-12-10 16:27:30.493000+00:00 | ['Business', 'Travel', 'Art', 'Photography', 'Outdoors'] |
Turning 24 | I want to start by saying thank you to all those who have been in my life. Good, bad, close, distant, new, old…I appreciate all of you.
The notion of time has been very strange for me, and most people going through the tumultuous year that is 2020. I vividly remember a trip I went on in March, to see my college friend Alan in Madrid. On a whim I went for a long weekend, stayed with him (in exchange for as many croquettes as he wanted), and frankly had some of my favorite memories this year. We played pickup soccer, ran around the city, reminisced on old times, and created new friendships along the way. I left that trip feeling full (in multiple senses of the word). I made it a point to take note of certain feelings in the journal I carry around, and dissected what made me so happy. Done in an attempt to go all in on these feelings moving forward, I was excited for the future.
Then, the world shut down only a couple days after landing in New York. My parents were unable to leave Europe and work quickly shifted from traveling every week to sitting on my couch, yelling at my brother to be quiet while I joined video calls. Since then I feel like life has been set on warp-speed mode. Days can easily all blend together, and external stimulation has decreased greatly. That being said I’m incredibly lucky to have had my brother and girlfriend through all of this madness, without whom I would’ve gone insane. Long story short-time flew by and it’s insane to me that I just turned 24.
There are aspects of the lockdown/WFH period that I have thoroughly enjoyed. While I was undoubtedly pent up when gyms were closed, other aspects of life slowing down have been great. The important fact is that we must control what we can control. I have ZERO impact on whether governments let me go to a restaurant, mandate I wear a mask, or prohibit me from seeing greater than a certain amount of people at once (I think it’s 10 now). But I can certainly control how I choose to react to such things. Do you decide to sit on the couch all day, lose contact with friends since you can’t see them in person, or lose all sense of accountability with health because gyms are closed? NO. You do what you should always do, make the most of whatever present moment you find yourself in. That is true for good times or bad times. Stoicism has guided much of these beliefs I have and serves as an incredible anchor during this period.
As I’ve kept personal journals for the past few years, in which I do such a birthday review, I’m inspired to start sharing these thoughts publicly. It’s also a great way for me to collect data on myself, stay accountable, measure what matters, and be more open.
How I spent my birthday: I had a pre-birthday celebration with a small group of friends on the 4th, which even included some carrot cake (my ultimate weakness). I was also lucky enough to go surfing in my old hometown in NH. Caught some waves, spent time on the rocks drinking coffee afterwards, and headed to get my favorite breakfast burrito once the cold became unbearable. After warming up and talking to friends/family on the drive home I had some more coffee, went to the gym to do my favorite workout, and am currently in my car headed to New York (don’t worry I’m not driving). Tonight my brother and I are having a joint birthday dinner at our favorite Korean Steakhouse. Excited to be able to spend this day being so active and around friends. I will however definitely need to fast tomorrow! Way too much food.
In terms of how to review the last year and set an intention for the next, I‘d like to give credit to Steve Schlafman for inspiring me with the following framework. He continuously inspires me with his grounded and thoughtful approach to all aspects of life. I adapted his framework from a previous post and appreciate it’s simplicity, as I am someone who could ramble on with such things.
PS. I highly recommend you take a look at Steve’s Annual Review post as well. An amazing tool as we come to the end of 2020. | https://medium.com/@llinemayr1/turning-24-6df3bc22f991 | ['Lukas Linemayr'] | 2020-12-07 03:25:47.422000+00:00 | ['Stoicism', 'Birthday', 'Reflections', 'Personal', 'Personal Development'] |
Pandemi’de İş Değişikliği Yapmak | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/t%C3%BCrkiye/pandemide-i%CC%87%C5%9F-de%C4%9Fi%C5%9Fikli%C4%9Fi-yapmak-375faf2dc368 | ['Ömer Kılıçaslan'] | 2020-12-27 19:25:24.828000+00:00 | ['Home Office', 'Türkçe', 'Türkçe Yayın', 'İşletme'] |
Tricks for Efficient Shadow Effect in Pure JavaScript | The second solution — in details
The source code of Lost In Maze for lighting is contained in two files of 170 JavaScript lines each. We will see a compact simpler version, easier to understand.
First we will see the code for shadowing when the avatar is standing. After we will see that side effect caused by the reduction of the shadow layer, that only happens when the avatar is “moving”.
Note: as we are seeing code snippets, “use strict” does not appear although its present at the top of the source code files.
Preparing
We create the shadow layer: a 78 x 64 pixels canvas. Each dimension is exactly 10 times smaller than the respective dimension of the Lost In Maze game canvas (780 x 640 pixels).
We store as global variables the shadow layer itself, it’s 2D context, its ImageData and its array of pixel values (ImageData.data).
Creating the shadow layer
We use the shadow of the torch to create the default state for the shadow layer. We only need the data (array of pixel values).
Creating the torch shadow data
The last preparation step is creating data of the reduced bonfire shadow. The original bonfire shadow is 540 x 540 pixels. The reduced bonfire shadow is 54 x 54 pixels.
Creating the bonfire shadow data
Running
If the current loop of the game is not in Daylight mode, the program calls the drawLighting function.
Note: the fact that we draw shadows to represent light effects is a private detail of the lighting module, the rest of the program needs not to be involved in such subject. That’s why the interface functions of the lighting module are called initLighting and drawLighting.
Drawing the lighting
We reset the shadow layer using the data of the torch shadow (that is always in the center of the game canvas — easy). Notice that we are not using the canvas method clearRect or drawImage, because we are not working exactly on the 2D context of the shadow layer. We are directly manipulating its array of pixel values.
Resetting the shadow layer
Drawing bonfire shadows implicates creating a list of the bonfires (and respective coordinates) that are in the scene or are near enough for lighting the scene. This part is a bit complicated and related to the Lost In Maze mechanics. We will skip the analysis of the function drawBonfireShadows and we will focus the analysis of the function pasteBonfireShadow, that is responsible for pasting a bonfire shadow on the shadow layer, object of our study.
Pasting a bonfire shadow on the shadow layer
We don’t need to blur the shadow layer. But blurring it results in a nicer light effect. Another irony: the less important procedure takes the biggest code snippet.
Using the canvas method “blur” is not acceptable, because it creates blank pixels near the edges.
Blurring the shadow layer
This blur algorithm is dirty, reckless. It should be constructed with two arrays. One with the original pixels, just for reading. And a blank one just for store the resulting blurred pixels.
I made a lot of attempts and chose this because it was faster and, for my surprise, produced better shadows.
The second solution — the side effect and the fix
As I said before, reducing the shadow layer has a side effect. Any reduction would cause this side effect, but the more radical the reduction is, greater is the side effect. The side effect only happens when the avatar is moving.
This part is not complicated but requires that we focus our attention.
We know that the shadow of a bonfire must match the bonfire. When the avatar “moves” one pixel to the left, on the game canvas, it is the environment that moves one pixel to the right. So, the shadow of the bonfire must move one pixel to the right (matching the new position of the bonfire). Easy, right?
Hence, all we need to do is place the shadow layer (the canvas where torch and bonfire shadows are composed) one pixel to the right on the game canvas, right?
Wrong. The shadow layer, when expanded, has the same size of the game canvas. It must match the game canvas. It is not supposed to be displaced!!
What should be displaced one pixel to the right are the bonfire shadows INSIDE the shadow layer. The torch shadow must keep centered inside the shadow layer, like the avatar is centered in the game canvas.
Good. So when the avatar moves one pixel to the left we place the torch shadow in the center of the shadow layer (as always) and we place each bonfire shadow one pixel to the right. No big deal. What is the problem? — you ask me.
The problem is this: we are (for reasons of efficiency) working with REDUCED images. We place a reduced bonfire shadow one pixel to the right on the reduced shadow layer. For now everything is fine. But when the shadow layer is expanded ten times each side to cover the game canvas, that one pixel to the right becomes ten pixels to the right!!! Therefore, each bonfire shadow will miss its correct position to the respective bonfire by nine (ten minus one) horizontal pixels.
Trying to fix that, we displace the reduced bonfire shadow one pixel to the right on the reduced shadow layer ONLY when the avatar walks ten pixels to the left (on the normal game canvas), keeping the proportion. OK. It is much better now, but it is not good yet: | https://medium.com/geekculture/tricks-for-efficient-shadow-effect-in-pure-javascript-8064c0506728 | ['Joana Borges Late'] | 2021-03-22 14:03:03.978000+00:00 | ['Graphics Programming', 'Lighting', 'Game Development', 'JavaScript', 'Browser'] |
Swift protocol extension. I got 99 models but one has bugScore twice before you cut once | Swift protocol extension. I got 99 models but one has bugScore twice before you cut once Dmitrii Ziablikov Nov 15, 2019·2 min read
Everyday most of iOS developers work with different APIs, send network requests, parse JSON models. So I want to share with my interesting experience.
Let’s try to imagine that you have a large number of models. Almost all models have several identical properties.
Property “category” defines a strategy how to fill model.
Example:
struct MyModel: Codable {
let category: String
let checked: Bool
let status: String
let warning: String let name: String
...
}
I decided it would be a good idea to close models by protocol. Further more I implemented a class that processes models and fills fields depending on certain logic.
So fields “category”, “checked”, “status”, “warning” are declaired in protocol
My genius protocol:
protocol Input {
var category: String { get set }
var checked: Bool { get set }
var status: String { get set }
var warning: String { get set }
}
But there are several models where “status”, “warning” are not needed. For those case I added protocol extension and made it optional.
Extension:
extension Input {
var status: String {
get { return "" } set {}
} var warning: String {
get { return "" } set {}
}
}
Okay, the models are closed by protocol and class receives an abstract model and returns filled fields.
Something goes wrong
I found out bug in one model that fields “status”, “warning” were empty.
I checked server’s response in debag mode and saw that fields are filled. What’s going on?!
Model with bug 👹
struct BugModel: Input, Codable {
var category: String
let status, warning: String
var checked: Bool
...
}
As you can see fields “status”, “warning” are declared as let and this is the answer. The fields are optional in protocol and declared immutable in model that is why it values are always empty.
Good model👍🏻
struct NiceModel: Input, Codable {
var category: String
var status: String
var warning: String
var checked: Bool
...
}
Well done, I fixed bug.
If you don’t understand what’s happened I recommend to read about Method Dispatch in Swift.
I also wish me and all us to be more attentive and Xcode become smarter🤓
If you want to make me glad make 3 clap🙃 | https://medium.com/@dimzfresh/i-got-99-models-but-one-has-bug-be026878d3fa | ['Dmitrii Ziablikov'] | 2019-11-17 13:42:55.853000+00:00 | ['Json', 'Protocol', 'Codable', 'Protocol Extensions', 'Swift'] |
A SUITCASE FULL OF HOMES | PRIVILEGED, SHELTERED YET SOMEWHAT DISPLACED
Photo via Unsplash by Ray Hennessy
MUMBAI, INDIA — In elementary school a lot of us joined the choir; we were taught a lovely Samoan nursery rhyme called ‘O Le Pepe’ by Ester Temukisa and Laban-Alama. The song goes ‘Va’ai I le Pepe, Va’ai I le pepe’ inviting us to see the butterfly as it flies and flutters about (E lelelele solo, ma fa’apepepepe’). Listening to this song almost 15 years later, in a country different to the one I was born and raised in, I seemed to resonate with it more. Identifying with the butterfly, the song goes on to say ‘E pei se manulele, E pei se manulele, mania on a lanu ese ese’ which means like a bird, colourful and beautiful. I remember, singing this song at an International Day at our school, with the rest of the choir. A choir comprising of more than half of the worlds nationalities, yet all sung in harmony. I came home and would sing it much after the international day was over. I loved it even though I wasn’t quite sure of what to make of it at the time. The last part of the song, actually was my favourite ‘E lele i i , Ma lele i o, Ae leai, leai se pa’o’ which means it flies here and there but doesn’t make a sound at all. Often times, as kids surrounded by an international community, we fail to realise the sounds we make or the voices we have. As butterflies of the world, we flutter around the globe, picking up and leaving our little bread crumbs, in each and every corner.
Ever heard of the phrase “living out of a suitcase”?, well for some it’s more than just a phrase, it’s a lifestyle, and it’s one that some of us, Third Culture Kids (TCK’s), inevitably consider home.
American sociologist, David Pollock defines us TCKs as “a person who has spent a significant part of his or her development years outside the parents culture. He explains that we, “the TCK frequently build relationships to all of the cultures which may be assimilated into the TCKs life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationships, to others of similar background.”
We are also often defined as “placeless”, or to be more specific “placeless people of privilege”, which yeah, as a TCK and having a definitive social circle of TCKs, I can’t say I disagree.
Unlike most TCK’s I have had it relatively easy. I lived in one house, up until I moved away to University. Well now you must be thinking, what do you mean? How are you a TCK then? Let me explain. Definitively speaking, I was born and raised in Thailand, a country that I wasn’t ethnically from, nor were my parents — who are of Indian origins.
From an early age, I was exposed to a multitude of cultures.I was enrolled into the kindergarten near my house. It wasn’t an Indian kindergarten, nor a Thai one but rather one of Japanese-English medium (random? — I agree). My two best friends were Japanese and Korean — my favourite cuisines till today. You could also say I became multi-lingual; maybe not in the language per-say but definitely in the culture. I could tell the difference between Japanese and Korean, and I learnt how to use chopsticks before I could even use a fork and spoon.
In Thai, there is a saying ‘Nam Kuen Hai Reeb Tak’, if literally translated it means ‘as the water rises don’t hesitate to take some’. In essence, encouraging one to seize the opportunity that presents itself, before its too late. Or on a lighter note to seize the day. So I guess, with us TCKs we are quick to seize these opportunities, friendships and culture that more often than not are thrown at us.
In fact, a recent virtual conversation with a friend, who I had also grown up with, made me realise the level of diversity we were exposed to while living in Bangkok. Recognising this privilege we had of studying at an international school, meant we had the world at our feet.
Growing up, I was acquainted to (at the time) a somewhat foreign concept of “expat life”. From the moment I started elementary school, I had friends from Argentina, Germany, America, Japan and even more so, cross-cultural kids who were living the third-culture life. They came and went, and like them, I was also used to making new friends along the way.
A perk that came with my diversified portfolio of friends was the cultural richness. Whether it was my friends returning from Argentina with a big jar of Dulce De Le Che, endlessly dancing to the tune of the Ketchup Song, learning the art of Origami with my Japanese friends or the intense obsession of K-Pop songs that came about in middle school, we all shared many memories.
Come senior year, -like the butterfly in the nursery rhyme, we too had to flutter away, I quickly noticed that everyone had their mind set on a university of their choice. At age 17, as excited as I was to move away from home, I was grappling with the separation of being away from it for the first time. Moving away connected me to my roots even more so; being a part of The Thai Society, as well as eating the usual Thai meal (where although I’d get ‘americanised’ Pad Thai with Sriracha Sauce — and not Thai ground chilli vinaigrette), it still gave me the satisfaction of home.
After Scotland, it was a series of shorter moves, so I went back to Thailand for 6 months and then India for another 5 months (which mind you was the first time I ever lived in India in the 17 years — at the time — of my existence). I was culturally ‘out of sync’ by the originality and authenticity of my mono-cultured acquaintances. Still determined, I found some footing at a job, which among other things, sort of validated my place in this new environment. Still, I noticed differences. It was definitely an adjustment; the adjustment of being in a new city, one I was supposedly meant to share a strong connection with from the get-go. There was the difference of speaking in a mother tongue with a slight foreign accent. There was also that main difference of looking too foreign for locals, even though, I was/am technically Indian. While I took no offence in the mockery towards my accent (yes speaking to some uber drivers included), I was also eager to explore; I still remember the admittedly, foreign thrill and excitement of trying ‘Pani Puri’ (on the street!! with bottled water though don’t worry) or ‘Elco Dosa’ for the first time.
A commonly held perception of us,”hybrids” if you will is that we are an accumulation “both the local and the global culture” thus a ‘glocal’ culture” (Besley, 2003). It was this excitement of having street food (apparently not a very south bombay thing), that also rooted me back to Thailand, where local food was accessible yet divine — or as they say in Thailand ‘Ha Daaw’ (5 Star).
5 months had passed. Emotional messages, dinners and “I’ll see you soon’s” were in order.
The suitcases were packed, the passports were checked and the plane was boarded. It was time for Paris. With a heartfelt sense of nostalgia, of leaving this new life behind, I was surprised at the emotional connection I had built with Mumbai.
While the cultural repercussions of our many moves will continue to dawn upon the best of us, it will also continue to add flavour to our ever expanding suitcase of identities. Scholar and educator, Michel Vandenbroeck famously said “it is a personal mixture of past and future, of fact and fiction creatively rewritten into an ever-changing story.
To be continued from Paris, and who knows where next. | https://medium.com/@shannontanwani/a-suitcase-full-of-homes-c647f61cfcea | ['Shannon Tanwani'] | 2020-07-11 17:29:25.500000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'Culture', 'Identity', 'Family', 'Sociology'] |
How do we deal with criticisms? | Anything you do will attract criticism — Anonymous.
To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing — Aristotle.
We don’t build monuments to trolls — Tim Cook.
Anything we do, critics, trolls and naysayers seem to appear from nowhere!
So be it. Successful people focus on making a positive impact, doing some credible stuff — than letting trolls and naysayers impact them.
Does it mean we turn a blind-eye to critics? Not really.
As per researchers, we are four times more likely to remember criticism than praise; And it takes five positive events to neutralize psychological impact of one negative event!
So it’s in our choices. We need to choose what to ignore and what to consider, as at times critics may point out blind-spots that exist; and remember (as Tim Cook points out) no one admires, appreciates or builds monuments for the trolls.
Another choice to make is whether I should be a critic, troll or a naysayer to others.
#ceo #leadership #coaching #scaleup | https://medium.com/@pknarayanan/how-do-we-deal-with-criticisms-dfe5b95786f2 | ['Pk Narayanan', 'Ceo Coach'] | 2020-11-25 05:33:31.666000+00:00 | ['Scaleup', 'Leadership', 'CEO', 'Action', 'Coaching'] |
Relentless Angels — Chapter 12. I Land in the Bible Belt | I Land in the Bible Belt
As hard as it is to believe, it was Aunt Billie who brought me to Utopia: answering another plea for help from my Father after another lost school year of suspensions, experimental vice, and defiance at yet another private academy.
But I can guess that Billie thought that what I needed was the example of a righteous home (my father was a committed sinner in her eyes, certainly).
She guessed that I had just been short of examples of good behavior, and Christian living.
Which was far from the truth. I had known good and careful people. I just didn’t feel like being one of them.
• • •
The afternoon of the first day included a brief tour of the farm.
Then Danny was off to the feed store, and Billie introduced me to the ground floor room where I was supposed to live like a holy hermit for what was going to be at least three months — maybe longer.
Although no one else was in the house, aside from ourselves, she pulled the door shut behind her and (in a low tone of voice) informed me that, as long as I lived under their roof, she would want to see underwear beneath my clothing.
She didn’t go to her “Bible voice” to demand this of me — as she would have done with her own child.
I was Barry’s daughter. She was cautious in the early going, and — even later — I don’t believe she was ever as strict with me as she would have been with one of her own.
• • •
The room in which I was to be incarcerated had formerly been her sewing room, and they had simply dropped a narrow bed into it without making any other adjustments.
It had her sewing table, some needlepoint things, a couple of black-and-white photographs on the wall, and the smell that a pine-scented cleaner leaves behind.
They had opened half a closet for me and I stuffed some of what I had brought into there. I didn’t know what to do with the rest, so I left it in the suitcases. Then dinner was mostly silent, and the time after dinner seemed to be mostly dedicated to waiting for bed.
In a way it was like living in the previous century. Television, of course, was a tool of Satan and was not allowed in the house. Movies were also out of the question, for the same reason. There was a museum-quality stereo system in the living room, but it accepted only recorded hymns at 33 RPM.
With dinner complete, Uncle Danny took up the thin little newspaper from Elsinore — the Harvester — and studied it as though he was going to be quizzed on the material the next day.
Billie’s Christian radio was muted during dinner — but came on again as she cleaned up in the kitchen. Then it could be heard, in the distance, as she settled into the living room and carefully read through her Bible: her finger following the verses down.
Certain pungent passages got read aloud: reminding Danny about what he should believe, and why he should believe it.
No provision was made for my entertainment, because I wasn’t there to be entertained. All that was left for me to do was shuffle to my new quarters: where I was scheduled to confront my sins … and repent.
• • •
As far as I was concerned, I felt I had plenty of reasons to repent. All of my private school indiscretions had led to this. A needlepoint closet. A convent of one. In this case, the punishment more than suiting the crime.
But there were more surprises to come.
That very first night, I settled myself on the bed and began to read the wallpaper. But, without thinking (and because the radio was on and I didn’t want to hear it), I closed the door to the room behind me as I came in.
Hearing the click of the latch, Aunt Billie came flying.
Without even an attempt to knock, the door opened on her threatening face: determined to find something loathsome and atheistic going on. (She may have thought that I’d packed a vibrator in my overnight bag).
“We have no closed doors in this house.”
“Why not?”
“We just don’t.”
“Well, it’s easy when there’s just the two of you.”
“That has nothing at all to do with it.”
“Doesn’t the Bible say anything about privacy?”
“The Lord looketh upon the heart. He sees everything we do and think. Nothing we do is private.”
“Then what does it matter whether the door is closed or not?”
“Because it’s a temptation. It encourages things.”
“Like what?”
She couldn’t bring herself to describe it.
“What did you think I was doing?”
“Nothing!”
“Did you think I was fingering myself in here?”
She stiffened, as though I had poured ice water down her back.
I know that I saw her right hand move, slightly.
If she tried to slap me, I was going to try to block it. I had made lots of enemies during my school career. I wasn’t exactly a virgin when it came to fighting.
But I was Barry’s daughter. And protected by that. They were just warehousing me for the summer. In return for the checks that would keep the farm afloat. So she couldn’t hit me. All she could do was stammer.
“I … I … wasn’t thinking anything of the kind.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“I’m glad of that. The Lord loves the truth. And loves those who speak the truth.”
“The truth is: I wish you’d go away.”
Another slap-worthy comment, had our relationship been closer. Instead, I only got a decree.
“This door stays open….”
She went back to the kitchen. Thinking that the episode was complete.
But it had only begun. After waiting a decent interval I softly crossed the room, and closed the door again. Which, again, brought her from wherever she was in the house.
And so began the Door War. And I can only explain its true significance by saying: you had to be there.
It wasn’t just a vehement discussion of where a piece of wood, mounted on hinges, would come to rest. It was a struggle that defined all of our other struggles. Who would dominant. Who would decide “right” and “wrong”. How my time would be governed. The limits of what I could do.
In time, I came to understand that — in Aunt Billie’s view of evangelical Christianity — there was no room for compromise. There were only “winners”. And only “losers”.
She knew (for a fact) that the day would come when Jesus would return, and — when he did — she, and the other Non-Instrumentals would be welcomed into his arms.
Them — and only them. Just the members of that one church. Just the people who spent Sunday mornings in that building.
No one else.
The teeming billions of the world would be dumped into the unquenchable fires of hell: as the tiny band of 50, or 60, true believers walked into paradise: to live forever with the Lord.
My Aunt Billie obsessed about winning and losing: with the ultimate victory — the eternal torture of everyone else on the planet — as her final goal. Not to “win” was to “lose”. There was no middle ground at all in her life.
So it was obvious that she couldn’t allow me to close my door. Or have any kind of time not under her supervision.
• • •
Which meant that I was under house arrest as well. All the same, I made an announcement at the breakfast table the next day.
“Think I’ll take a walk around this morning.”
Before I even had time to take another breath, permission was denied.
“No — I think we’ll just have you around the house for a few days. Until we can have some people over from the church.”
To straighten you out, she almost said.
After Uncle Danny gave her a brotherly kiss, and bounced away on his tractor, Aunt Billie clicked the radio on, and adjusted the volume to the very loud hymn that was playing.
And the term of my imprisonment was supposed to begin.
• • •
Yet I felt I had an obligation to go walkabout, and display my big city sophistication. I had lucked out, back East, and had found a pair of jeans that fit me so tightly I couldn’t get a cigarette paper between the fabric, and my skin.
They were a natural choice for my debut.
The tube top I pulled out of the closet was a size, or so, too small — boldly etching my nipples — curving up under my breasts: showing their roundness, and weight.
High-heeled sandals pushed me up about 4 inches, and forced me into a syncopated kind of gait that had my hips swinging and my ass in full motion.
The small mirror in my room confirmed that my outfit left almost nothing to the imagination.
I seemed to recall that the Bible had said something about “fishers of men”.
Well — there I was. About to go fishing.
Aunt Billie was still in the kitchen — radio voices filling that room — and I had only to wait to hear the water running to know that her back was turned to the hallway before I slipped out. Unheard. Unseen. Unlicensed.
The village tax base didn’t provide for sidewalks: so I swayed right down the middle of the street.
Even in the late spring, the “rainy” season there, the town was beige with dust. My feet made a satisfying crunch as they hit the gravel — and I felt a very unwarranted sense of optimism as I saw curtains flicker, here and there, in kitchen windows and next to television sets that were already moving through the morning soaps.
I was to discover that any sound of footsteps in the street always had that effect.
People looking to see what was going on, since — so much of the time — there was so little going on.
But, except for the curtain flipping, there was little evidence of human settlement.
At that time of the morning, it was mainly a dog town. Six or seven trotted over to greet me. Unleashed and roaming free. The majority were utterly unsuspicious and not territorial, since they were able to move without restraint through the open yards and streets.
In fact, you might say the village was a utopia for dogs (at least the intelligent ones) who found freedom and food and entertainment in its streets, and garbage cans, and open fields. They could go wherever they wanted to. No one even seemed to know what a leash was. Although the less intelligent among them eventually ended up as corpses at the edge of State Highway 98.
The Parminter boys, in their flatbed truck, were headed toward 98 as I entered the Central Business District.
I got an appreciative, openmouthed leer from Paul (Saul?) out of his open window as they drove by. He turned to say something to the rest of the cab, but I didn’t hear what it was.
• • •
The Café, which had no other name, was a large linoleum room with acoustic ceiling tile stained brown from past leaks in the roof. A variety of tables and chairs filled it: without much attention to what matched and what didn’t. And the wall decor consisted mostly of calendars, one of them for the wrong year, and advertising posters that Lucy had received free in the mail. (Lucy had received them. Someone else, with more energy, had hung them on the wall.)
Like every small town café I have visited since, this one had a geezers’ table: where retired men could escape from their wives, and act like fools. But the customary giggling and chatter at that table stopped the instant that I came through the door, and all of the men turned to the inspection of their coffee cups for traces of sediment.
At least until I had passed.
Then I felt the clinical pressure of seven pairs of eyes on my backside as I walked to the counter. (I understood that, later, they would be discussing how I got those pants on. Turned out that there was more than one theory.)
Lucy was the owner of the establishment, and — like my Uncle Danny — read newspapers as though she would be tested on them later.
She made it clear to everyone that she was not a waitress. Or a cook. She unlocked the front door in the morning. Started the coffee. And was available to answer questions.
But she was not a waitress, or a cook.
Visitors would approach the counter and — if they didn’t already know it by heart — examine the menu: a display board with moveable letters where some of the 5’s were S’s, and some of the S’s were 5’s, to decide if there was anything they would like to have thawed out.
When the order had been zapped in the microwave, the idea was to come back to the counter to retrieve it.
And, before leaving, whoever had eaten came back to the counter to pay.
Each of these visits to the front involved a delay while Lucy found a convenient stopping point in the article she was reading just then. So the Café was not the first choice of people who liked being served, or who were in a hurry to get somewhere.
Regular visitors knew how to open the cash register and make change for themselves. If you just wanted coffee there was an Honor Jar next to the coffee pot where you could drop in a quarter.
And it was not unheard of for someone who needed some small thing, like toast, to just go into the kitchen and make it themselves while she sat there.
You would think, in that case, there would be some sort of discount for do it yourself.
But there never was.
Lucy was not a waitress. Or a cook. And nothing was ever discounted.
• • •
I gave the retirees a lingering shot of my rear end — a few seconds of fantasy — as Lucy self-consciously turned the tabloid page to even more unexpected revelations and indiscretions. (It turned out that baking soda, used in different ways, could solve just about every problem anyone might have).
I made a sudden resolution that she would be the first to speak. Since I was new in town.
She turned a page before curiosity got the better of her.
“Help ya’?”
“Some herbal tea, please.”
I was hoping to get her to double check the menu. But she knew perfectly well what she had, and what she didn’t have.
“We ain’t got any a’that.”
“Well … just some coffee then.”
She didn’t move from her chair. She hadn’t moved from her chair the day before, but knew already who I was and who I was staying with in town.
“Seems like Billie’d have coffee at home of a morning.”
“Once I saw what a nice place this was, I couldn’t keep myself out.”
“Coffee’s a quarter.”
I flipped a hundred dollar bill out on the counter. Ben Franklin, face up.
She glanced at it, then tilted her head a little.
“I can’t change anything that big.”
“This is legal tender.”
“I ain’t sayin’ it isn’t. We just don’t deal in that kinda money….”
I put down a five instead.
“What kind of money do you deal in?”
“Cup a’ coffee’s just a quarter, little girl. Jar’s over there.”
And, with that helpful information, she considered our conversation over.
“Would you have anything like a cinnamon roll?”
“I’d think that Billie’d have breakfast of a morning.”
“The board says Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls. Should someone change it? Would you be the one to change it, if it needed to be changed?”
The five was still on the counter and I held a roll of currency visible in my hand while she decided what she wanted to do. She could see the geezers smiling at her from their table. This conversation was better than The Today Show as far as they were concerned.
She started to shift her enormous ass on the stool.
“Think I gotta coupla frozen rolls. Take a few minutes t’heat up.”
I shrugged.
“I’m here for the whole summer.” (I judged that news would be all over town in about 10 minutes).
Lucy put down the tabloid near the special “Alien Invasion” insert.
I stepped over to the coffeepot. Putting a dollar into the jar probably entitled me to four cups of whatever brown stuff she was keeping hot. But I probably would have died before I finished that much.
I demurely placed myself at a kitchen table near one of the front windows, the indestructible brown mug in front of me, and watched as nothing at all happened on Main Street outside.
After a minute or two, I used a napkin to wipe the windowpanes clear. But the milky film I was trying to remove was part of the glass, and there was nothing to be done about it.
When Lucy judged that my pastry was sufficiently thawed, she placed it on the counter, without a word, and resumed reading. This was not out of malice. As I said, this was the system in her democratic establishment. She treated everyone like dirt.
After a few minutes, one of the geezers appeared at my elbow with the plate. Looking a little apologetic.
“You don’t go up to the counter to get it, she just leaves it there.”
It was a grander gesture than I had expected from one of them. I turned on a full Miss Congeniality smile, and he returned to his table a hero. Beginning a low rumble of retired conversation again. Although not about me. That would begin when I left.
Judging from the snatches that I heard, they were refighting the Second World War in Italy.
My Jumbo Cinnamon Roll was actually quite small. About the size of a very thick cookie. And I discovered that it was a good thing that Aunt Billie did fix breakfast of a morning. The pastry, although warm to the touch around the rim, was held together in the center by undissolved ice.
That was inedible. The coffee was undrinkable. And the decor was enough to make you put a gun to your head.
Thankfully, my work there was almost done.
I had finished my moment at centerstage. Lucy wasn’t looking at me. Even out of the corner of her eye. And the geezers had reached full conversational volume on the topic of Hitler’s postwar lifestyle in Argentina.
The General Store across the street invited inspection. But the place I really wanted to visit, the Six Shooter, was closed until lunchtime.
I left my frozen nugget at the table to thaw out for some other lucky person and returned my cup to the counter. Lucy didn’t look up.
“Make sure to read that section on how to get a smaller tighter ass….”
I was able to bring up the volume so that my one-liner filled the place.
Her eyes narrowed as she gave me a look that was supposed to blister my skin.
But the geezers thought I was attractive, and lively. I gave them a wave. And a couple of them waved back.
Now they knew I would be there all summer.
Going across to the General Store, I found the source for Lucy’s tabloids. There were almost as many different little weeklies as there were brands of beer. And more kinds of candy bars than anything.
Larry, with the drooping paunch and the optically-amazing bifocals, was the owner, manager, inventory clerk, and head cashier. He was Lucy’s husband. But didn’t seem to have the same aversion to work.
He poked his head out of the back when the merchant bell on the door rang but, seeing that it wasn’t one of his friends, he went back to his clipboard.
I surveyed his shelves. Packed tight. And surveyed the arrangement of the place. Tight again. Almost claustrophobic. But without cameras, or even security mirrors, to help Larry spot people who were taking things from him without benefit of legal tender.
There were packages of cigarettes in a special display near the cash register. Out of Larry’s line of sight. I took two of them. Just to see how easy it would be to operate there should I ever run out of cash.
Then the merchant bell rang again as I went back out.
I assume that Larry looked out of the back again, clipboard in hand. But he was busy. There was no commotion. And no pursuit. Stealing from that place was so easy that it didn’t even deserve the term “shoplifting”. It was more like a village potlatch.
As for the cigarettes, I don’t smoke myself, so I dropped them into a garbage can that was standing next to the street.
• • •
After strolling the three blocks it took to cross town in a westerly direction, Agnes Parminter at the Post Office told me that I would be unable to collect any mail without the post office box key.
So I walked over to the elementary school: three blocks to the south — past Widow’s Row, with the Church of the Last Word, Non-Instrumental, to the right, and the Lutheran church to the left.
The school was the largest building in town. But stood empty, since they had run out of children to put in it, and no one could think of any other purpose it could be used for.
A large, empty building can be a wonderful opportunity, and it was an opportunity that I saw right away.
The school had what, in England, they would call a “pleasant seat”. Like Aunt Billie’s house, it stood at the end of a street, and one long side of it faced out into yet another field planted in corn. The shaded area next to the field was where the playground had been: although the slides and monkey bars and the merry-go-round were gone, and there was only grass to replace them.
Giving myself plenty of time to confirm that I wasn’t observed, I checked a couple of doors and windows. Which were locked hard. But I made a note to check them again when I had the darkness on my side, and more time.
There was a wooden bench on the back side of the building, where the sun hit the brick, and I soaked up the light like a cat. After a while, I slipped my top off. To avoid the tan lines that are always so bothersome.
Had the bench been facing the highway, or had I thought that I had any company, except cottonwood trees and hybrid corn as far as the eye could see, I might have thought twice about this.
But there was no one in sight. And no hint of activity — except the long tearing sound of the occasional car or truck moving along the distant State Highway 98.
Gilded by the sun, I started to be reconciled to Utopia a little bit.
In that town, where surveillance was so much a part of everyday life, that little area on the far side of the school seemed to be a sanctuary — and I stayed there until I thought it was time for lunch.
• • •
I came back to Bible Farm with the thought that I could possibly endure the summer there.
But I had failed to realize how efficient the village was in its self-policing.
I had no sooner stepped through the front door, than I was immediately placed under house arrest (again) for dressing like a “slut”. My sentence was intensified, if that could be possible, by a report from one of Billie’s fellow Non-Instrumentals that I had discarded cigarettes in his garbage can before coming home.
“It wasn’t like that….”
“Where on earth did you get cigarettes?”
“I found them.”
“No one finds packages of cigarettes in this town. They weren’t even opened.”
“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?”
“Why would that be good?”
“It means I didn’t smoke any….”
“If you’re a smoker, then you’d just better get used to not smoking. It’s not the kind of thing that’s going to go on with anyone living in this house.”
“The Bible doesn’t say anything about smoking.”
“It says that your body is the Temple of the Lord. It’s disobedience to do otherwise.”
“I think it also says that what you put into your mouth isn’t as important as what comes out of it.”
Aunt Billie felt the scriptural ground shift a little under her feet. Not a big tremor. But enough to feel.
“Christ wasn’t talking about this when he said that.”
“I think Jesus might have smoked. He obviously drank.”
“He didn’t drink at all.”
“He turned water into wine.”
“It wasn’t wine. It was just plain grape juice.”
“Wouldn’t grape juice go bad in a couple of days? It would be wine then.”
“He would keep it fresh.”
“How?”
“He was the Lord. He could do whatever he wanted.”
“Why does it say wine then? Why doesn’t it say ‘fresh grape juice’?”
“That was added later. By people who misunderstood.”
“So it’s wrong … the Bible, I mean….”
Aunt Billie saw where this was going, and refused to continue.
“I know where those cigarettes came from, and that Larry Aardson is going to get a talking to.”
Billie already had consigned him to eternal hellfire for selling beer. It was hard to imagine what she would have to say to him that could be worse than roasting naked over infinite charcoal.
“And I’d better never see you with a cigarette in this house.”
“You won’t. They didn’t belong to me.”
There was more of the same for about ten minutes. Then I was dispatched to my room.
She more or less dared me to close the door. But I didn’t take the bait.
I just got some lotion for my sunburn, and tried to take a nap while some minister was being interviewed on The Jesus Hour. | https://medium.com/great-american-fiction/relentless-angels-chapter-12-fe0aca8d6ec5 | ['Nate Briggs'] | 2020-04-09 16:25:22.916000+00:00 | ['Novel', 'Religion', 'Small Towns', 'Humor', 'Fiction'] |
The Talented Nature and Nurture of FlowXS | (Dance Duo FlowXS)
When you think of famous siblings in entertainment, it’s likely the actors who come to mind: Hemsworth, Gyllenhaal, Affleck, and Olsen. Music has their Allmans, Jacksons, and Gallaghers but not since the Nicholas Brothers danced with Cab Calloway has the modern world seen a duo like FlowXS aka Michael and Kevin Scheitzbach. These Canadian brothers have steadily risen in their notoriety and prominence with productions in their home country and have recently broken into the Hollywood scene with work on Disney films like Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 2. Growing up in a home where their parents were actual DJs laid a foundation that was certain to cultivate some artistic expression in the boys who have already accumulated a long list of credits while barely entering adulthood. They note that there is a professional and personal shorthand they intuitively share which has allowed them to work so well on varied projects whether they be dancing, choreographing, or a combination of both. Among the numerous things they share are a host of awards they’ve both earned which includes: the IDO (International Dance Organization) Bronze Medal Award, City of Brampton Arts Acclaim Award, Monsters of Hip Hop Show Nomination, The Dance Xperience/Nexus Protégé Award, and the Manifesto “Up Next” award. Dance competition shows, dance themed scripted TV series, and films have increasingly become a fascination of the global viewing audience. Michael and Kevin’s early exposure on Canadian shows like Make it Pop and Rockids TV has evolved into red carpet appearances at the premiere of Disney films in which they appear. FlowXS is yet to become a household name with the international public but film and TV professionals know fully well that this will soon change.
Americans might not be as aware as Canadians of the hit TV show The Next Step (TNS); an understandable detail as the program airs in Canada, but the high level of talent in this show’s dance centric storyline has cultivated exceptional talent. It’s also notably where FlowXS first received their major national exposure. Created by Frank van Keekan, TNS has earned multiple BAFTA Awards, numerous Canadian Screen Awards, and a Writer’s Guild of Canada award. It is the unparalleled production of its kind in Canada, known for discovering remarkable young talent. While Kevin had appeared previously on the show’s first season, the brothers performed together in seasons four and seven as a duo Hard Ice, sometimes playing the main rivals one of certain TNS characters. In season seven, their characters were particularly arrogant which gave Michael and Kevin a chance to flex their “bad guy” acting chops. TNS casting director and head choreographer Amy Wright had been a long-time fan of FlowXS and invited them to audition together for the other casting directors and producers. They were so impressed that the duo was not only invited to appear on TNS but also to choreograph their own performances for the show. Michael comments, “It was an eye-opening experience being able to present our own choreography on such a well-known and highly popular show. Being on this show before was a lot of fun and we are friends with a lot of the cast, but this time I think there was a bit of added pressure on us because they put their trust in us to deliver a very strong, competitive, opposing routine for one of the leads. They already knew that we are creative and dynamic dancers with similar calibre and dance experience as the main characters so it was nice to showcase our skills.”
(Kevin of FlowXS)
FlowXS has been a part of George Jones Jr.’s “The Vibe Xclusive” since 2016. Jones Jr. is known for his work with world famous talent that includes Nicki Minaj, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, and others. The Vibe Xclusive is his all-male professional dance company which performs at major dance events in cities like New York City and Los Angeles. George brought FlowsXS aboard to serve as Dance Captains, teaching choreography to the other members, liaising information, running rehearsals, and cleaning routines to ensure The Vibe Xclusive maintains its prestigious status. On top of this, Michael and Kevin act as George’s assistant choreographers and professional demonstrators that travel with him across Canada and in the future, the United States of America. They will also have job opportunities such as roles in TV dance shows and live performances through Bloc Talent Agency.
(Michael of FlowXS)
Travelling the world to perform live, teaching choreography, appearing on TV and in Film, there are a number of avenues for modern dancers to assemble a career and the Scheitzbach brothers plan on pursuing all possibilities. Kevin notes, “The toughest aspect of being a dancer in modern times is that you’re never guaranteed to have a steady job. Movies, TV, and live stage work does not happen all the time. Even if you get an audition, there is no guarantee of booking the job. If you’re passionate about dance and creativity like us, you find many ways to keep doing what you love. The life of an artist is in no way easy but it is incredibly fulfilling. Compensation is not always necessarily in terms of money but also in the opportunity to do that thing which you love everyday of your life. Yes, it’s great to attend a Hollywood premier of a major film that you are in but those quiet moments when you are pushing yourself to be your best, even when you are alone in the studio; those are just as incredible because you are achieving what you’ve worked so hard to master.” | https://medium.com/@kkingme2003-99752/the-talented-nature-and-nurture-of-flowxs-304ab4344592 | ['Kelly King'] | 2020-03-17 13:51:24.529000+00:00 | ['Film', 'Dance', 'Television', 'Disney', 'Canadian'] |
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