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(Un)Mute Yourself, Day 1 | Mark 13:33: Keep “an abundance of caution,” for you do not know when the time will come.
For the first day of (Un)Mute Yourself, a brief meditation on today’s chosen word and verse:
To be entirely honest, I lost count of how many times I’ve heard “an abundance of caution” since February of 2020.
Wash your hands out of an abundance of caution.
Wear a mask out of an abundance of caution.
It is out of an abundance of caution that conferences have to be canceled this year.
It is out of an abundance of caution I am terrified to get on an airplane and travel across the country to see my family.
Oddly, I’ve had to live in a state of abundant caution in the United States, and not because of COVID-19. I’ve had to live in an abundance of caution, being very aware of the skin I inhabit. I would never know what day or what hour would bring. Sometimes the day or hour would bring indifference. There have been instances where the day and the hour brought about a physical assault and verbal assaults. I walk the sidewalks of this sleepy suburb with an abundance of caution for my personal safety.
It’s not often, though, where this abundance of caution has gone global. I’ve been aware of living with an abundance of caution, never knowing what the next day or the next hour would bring… yet I never anticipated that others would have to live with a different interpretation of this uncomfortable abundance. Not knowing the day or the hour in these peculiar days has been challenging, to say the least.
Photo by Jessica Tan on Unsplash
Yet how long? I don’t even know what day it is anymore. The season of Advent snuck up on me. I thought I would have more time. Yet at the same time, there hasn’t been enough time. I wake up knowing that each day is a new day, but I’m not sure of what day it actually is. All I truly know is that it is some day. My spouse, who is very much into the sciences, told me it sounds like I’m stuck in the space-time continuum. I am arriving at this season of Advent, wondering how we already got here because yesterday was Pentecost, and the day before that is Easter. It’s been so hard trying to mark time this year day to day, and a new liturgical year feels like it’s suddenly come upon us, and it feels like it took forever and a day to reach this first day.
I’ve been struggling with just how to be alive this year in the midst of so much death. I’m struggling with not just a single abundance, but what now feels like an overwhelming multitude. Abundance can indeed be difficult, and my thoughts and feelings are beginning to disconnect in order to function at a baseline. I know I need to live in the multitudes of abundant caution, whether it be COVID or the ever-present threat to Black and Brown bodies in a world seeping with white supremacy. I cannot throw caution to the wind, especially when lives are at stake.
What does bring me comfort in this peculiar time of abundance? Knowing that God’s timing has been at work throughout the course of all of history. God has been at work, but on God’s time. God works in unexpected, unanticipated, and incredible ways. I think about the verse near the end of the Gospel lesson used on this day for the Revised Common Lectionary, “for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly” (Mark 13:35). The master that is due to arrive… but when? What about that hour, over two thousand years ago, when so many were asleep in Bethlehem? That hour, when God unexpectedly broke into our world? That hour, God breaking into our world in a manger as a baby, not clothed in majesty and power, but in the unexpectedness of utter humility and helplessness? In a body that needed to exist within an abundance of caution as a newborn babe born not to earthly royalty, but to bring about a new understanding of the realm of God in the everyday, broken, and seemingly unredeemable? That is truly the unexpected hour. As Christians, we cannot write off that unexpected hour, no matter how unfavorable or inconvenient the powers and principalities of this world deem it to be.
I continue to wait for that day, for that hour, even though I have no idea when it will arrive. | https://medium.com/digitaldevotional/un-mute-yourself-day-1-610ee9a4f5f | ['Tuhina Verma Rasche'] | 2020-11-29 10:02:10.355000+00:00 | ['Gospel Of Mark', 'Caution', 'Christianity', 'Jesus', 'Advent'] |
Power-up your marketing with heuristics messaging | Heuristics is a phrase that simply means “to locate, discover, or determine.” Heuristics, in a larger sense, refer to a problem-solving strategy that uses practical approaches to develop judgments that improve decision-making.
A competition analysis is typically the nightmare of every digital marketing plan when it comes to product messaging and copywriting. Studying key factors that make your rivals stand out on search and social media, and leveraging that information to your benefit. If you think that was difficult, just wait till you see keyword research and A/B testing.
Despite a shift in digital marketing trends for 2021, these quantitative techniques will continue to be an integral element of your digital marketing frameworks and strategy. Marketers nowadays are fortunate in that there are several marketing automation solutions available that enable them to track a range of KPIs and gain unique insights. You can quickly tailor your metrics to see how well your heuristics are doing.
What is the definition of heuristic evaluation?
A heuristic evaluation is originally a professional review of a website to ensure that it is user-friendly. Its goal is to discover and handle frequent user concerns on a website in order to improve the overall experience and happiness on the page.
Heuristics messaging services has evolved over time from focusing just on the usability of a digital product to relying on other conversion-focused brand components such as product message and website content organisation.
Heuristics messaging services are conducted using a set of recognised concepts known as heuristics. The assessment approach applies these heuristic concepts to a product or website in order to identify particular components that may be changed in order to boost lead and conversion rates.
Implications for market research: The authority heuristic is regularly included in marketing materials to inspire customer confidence and pave the way for swift brand decisions. To optimise its influence on the target audience, one may wish to investigate the extent to which authority’s endorsement generates brand loyalty and if dependence on it is balanced with the use of other promotional channels.
Heuristics, without a doubt, have an impact on how we absorb information, perceive brands, and make purchasing decisions. These are only a few of the hundreds of heuristics and cognitive biases that have been discovered to influence human thought and decision-making. Knowing when these heuristics are likely to be used and how they might influence answers can assist market researchers in uncovering insights that would otherwise go unnoticed. Considering their function may improve our conversation guides and analysis, resulting in deeper and more practical findings.
Also read — Maximize your campaign result with the best message optimizer | https://medium.com/@newristics/power-up-your-marketing-with-heuristics-messaging-f174a106ae05 | [] | 2021-12-21 10:56:37.972000+00:00 | ['Message Development', 'Messaging'] |
What’s on Your Bucket List? | Alice Pyne is 15 years old and she is dying.
As Salon details in a recent article, “Alice Pyne is a typical 15-year-old British girl. She likes Cadbury’s chocolate, her friends and her dog. She also has terminal Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Earlier this week she began a blog. ‘The cancer is now spreading through my body,’ she wrote. ‘It’s a pain because there’s so much stuff that I still want to do.’ And she wrote down what they were.”
The first item on Alice’s bucket list? “Make everyone sign up to be a bone marrow donor.”
TechCrunch’s Paul Carr may be cynical about the Internet community coming together in favor of a good cause, but what’s amazing about Alice’s story is that she is just one girl with a blog and a Twitter account, yet she was able to gather the attention of a massive number of people in just a few days. Alice’s sister has raised over £30,000 for cancer research. Alice’s blog has thousands of comments. With so many causes and people with cancer in the world, the question remains: why are people jumping to help Alice? What makes her different?
I like the answer given by Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Wiliams: “There’s so much we can’t do. That’s why it feels amazing when someone gives us the chance to do something we can. To send a card. Bake a lasagna. Donate a pint of blood. Raise a little money for research. It’s not just because the sick need it, but because we all need it. In our most grief-laden moments, we search ferociously for meaning and purpose, and we cling to them for dear life.”
Want to help? Check out 100k Cheeks to learn more about how easy it is to become a bone marrow donor. | https://medium.com/the-dragonfly-effect/whats-on-your-bucket-list-85e897044fd5 | ['Andy Smith'] | 2017-02-02 21:14:50.076000+00:00 | ['Happiness', 'Storytelling', 'Nonprofit', '100k Cheeks', 'Case Studies'] |
Space exploration — An industry that values design | Photo by Pixabay from Pexels
A Design in its most basic sense is the offering of a or a solution to a problem. Its purpose is to reduce complications in the most practical and efficient manner, in the most vulnerable and dangerous of situations. But finding the inspiration for a design is but only the first step of the process. The victory of a well-done design is in its usability.
The metamorphosis of an inspiration into a ‘GOOD DESIGN’ is the primary foundation of human civilization. The design of a bonfire, inspired from a spark between two stones helped early man to stay safe in the wilderness. The perfect circular stone rolled on to become wheels saving us the hard labour of walking to places and carrying heavy load. These designs might seem plain, but it took several trials and errors to reach their prime functional stage.
Importance of good design
One of the best ways to gain perspective for appreciation of good design is through evaluating achievements and losses in the process of space exploration, the largest breakthrough for mankind till date.
The disaster of The Columbia space shuttle is probably the greatest misfortune in the quest of space exploration. The loss of a piece of foam from the bipod ramp collided with the left wing of the shuttle, allowing hot gas to enter the wing that destroyed the shuttle while it re-entered earth’s atmosphere, killing its crew of seven astronauts. The loss of foam had already been established as a setback in design. NASA focused on strengthening precautionary measures to handle the disastrous malfunction rather than to completely mitigate the possibility of its occurrence through a better functional design.
This catastrophe reinstates the importance of good design. And also the danger of not heeding to one.
Launch of a vessel into outer space has many challenges. The main motive of a space rocket is to escape the earth’s gravity drag to reach the destination.
The force required to break free of earth’s gravitational force is massive even for a tiny object. A fully equipped rocket is heavy, weighed down by the essentials required for a crew manned mission. The required force is achieved by fuel propulsion and mass expulsion.
In space shuttles gas is produced by burning fuel in the engines. Controlled escape of this gas provides the thrust which propels the rocket in the opposite direction. The largest mass of the rocket is occupied by the propulsion system (propellant tanks and propellants). This mass is lost as the propellants are fired up by the engine to gain acceleration of the rocket providing the force for it to escape gravity. A functional design for a rocket is to efficiently burn enough propellant to gain the required acceleration.
A well designed rocket is able to generate enough force to either get into orbit of the earth or escape earth’s gravity entirely to move to another planet, much like the same way a good design helps to gain investors to ‘launch off’ a product successfully into the market.
As the rocket flies through the air of earth’s atmosphere aerodynamic forces of drag and lift kick in.
Lift force occurs due to the turning of the gas flow by the rocket. It upsets the direction of flight by causing rotation and changing the course of the vessel. The nose cone, body tube and the wings of the rocket are used to turn the gas flow and generate lift force to control and stabilize the direction of flight.
Drag force is the friction generated between the atmospheric air and the rocket. The drag force is difficult to determine and requires testing of the rocket model and is entirely dependent on its shape design, thrust setting and gas flow at the base.
Thus Structural design of the rocket dictates its flight ability and is key for the mission of space exploration.
Once a product is launched in the market, the competitors and economy begin acting as the opposing forces. Efficient Marketing and Branding design are essential to neutralize these opposing forces.
Turning good design into an asset
A key factor for space exploration is the ability to maneuver the vessel and host the crew.
Once the rocket leaves the luxurious atmosphere of the planet, assistance through communication satellites becomes unreliable and there is no GPS in space.
A sustainable atmosphere with Environment controls, Life support systems and highly reliable smart control systems are vital constituents of a rocket.
The launch of Falcon9 rocket, a combined project of SpaceX and NASA, is the first step towards opening up the barriers of space exploration through smart, reliable and functional design.
The Falcon9 simplified its control panel with large touch screens that enabled visualization of extensive real time data and effectively commandeer the ship.Use of custom foam molds in the capsule seats helps provide a more smooth and comfortable ride for the crew.
The rethinking of the design of the spacesuit by Elon Musk with minimal equipment, use of lightweight material and increased efficiency, custom made for the crew is a positive step towards the future of space missions.
The control panel and cockpit along with a reliable crew are necessities that help the transition of a well designed rocket into a beneficial asset for mankind.
A highly efficient team and environment is required to keep a business and product afloat. Build an efficient cockpit to drive your design to success.
The International Space Station (ISS) is a pitstop in the conquest of space exploration.
ISS functions as a self-contained, living quarters and life-support system that is capable of communication with the ground flight controllers. It is designed to serve as a docking port for space shuttles and crew exploration vehicles to provide a rest stop for rejuvenation. The Internal and External research accommodations of ISS allows experiments to be carried out in order to collect data and test new technologies. It serves as the initial platform for the conquest of space, to further proceed towards greater achievements in exploring the universe.
Once you build a successful firm, make a pitstop to gather and re-evaluate data. Design a platform to experiment with creativity and test new ideas.
Rely on your design, data, and intuition once you step out to become a venture. Make your product an asset in the market.
Future of Design
Each successful design opens up opportunities for further designs, technologies and achievements.
The Mars Landers have picked up insights about the planet and evaluations of the data have shown a possibility of building a sustainable human colony on it. The curiosity rover was designed to travel over the land of Mars and analyze its environment. Powered by the energy generated through radioisotope decay, the rover is a self-sustainable mission. It has a camera and robotic arms to collect, gather, and store information as it roams on the planet’s surface.
Elon Musk sprung the proposition of landing an experimental greenhouse on mars that would help open access to space. If the idea seems familiar to you, it is because it is also the storyline of ‘The Martian’ movie.
Falcon9 is a step towards opening up space exploration opportunities with reliable and affordable design, the vision of SpaceX. The successful completion of its mission has restored the enthusiasm to explore space further.
There exists no limit to inspiration and design. Every idea is an opportunistic design to power the future.
If you’re looking for consulting services in design or development for your new or existing digital product or enhance your online presence, please email your requirements to [email protected] | https://medium.com/@headcanon/space-exploration-a-product-of-valued-design-e4ead33ffb03 | [] | 2021-01-06 12:51:11.007000+00:00 | ['Consulting', 'NASA', 'Emerging Technology', 'Design', 'Space Exploration'] |
I’m Coming For You | *Trigger warning*
It’s time I got my own
From a world that didn’t care
From a world that wasn’t home
Taken and laid bare
Taken before I had grown
My home turned into a lair
Used and left alone
But now I can share
But now I have grown
But now I will dare
To take back that loan
To make the ledgers fair
Perhaps you need a clue?
Because I still remember
Now I am coming for you
A new contender
If you only knew
That night in December
That door stepped through
Had me questioning my gender
Unsure of what was true
You took life’s splendor
Now its time for a coup
You consummate pretender
Your sins have come due
No, I won’t be tender
What I will do
Is become future’s defender
You are just a fucking mutt
Your crimes will be laid bare
Turned me into a slut
Were you so unaware?
Forced my mind shut
But I will now dare
A swift knife cut
Some pain to share
I’ll force your eyes shut
Into a death glare | https://medium.com/loose-words/im-coming-for-you-26fe2b92fe05 | ['Zachary Phillips'] | 2020-12-14 14:02:02.132000+00:00 | ['PTSD', 'Mental Health', 'Sexual Assault', 'Poetry', 'Me Too Movement'] |
Develop an Educational App in 2020–21: Its Cost, Features, Business Model etc. | There is no doubt in this fact that COVID-19 virus attack has revolutionized the entire education system and introduced new learning methods with virtual classes.
On one side, online learning has made it possible to study anywhere, anytime by using the smartphone. And on the other hand, it is raising the demand for mobile educational apps.
“During the first quarter of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic caused a surge of downloads of educational apps and marked the highest download rate in 2020. The global mobile educational app downloads are projected to jump from 273 Million in 2017 to 466 million in 2020.” (Source-Statista)
Apart from these figures, a new survey report is predicting a massive rise in revenue generated by educational mobile. The report published by the Serious Games Association and research firm Metaari, says that this category will triple its annual revenue to just over $800m in 2022 and continue on to $1b by 2024.
In this digital era, smartphones and mobile applications have bought everything in your palm and every piece of information at your fingertips. Considering this fact, many businesses are curious to get started with the educational app, but what makes them afraid of investing in the mobile app?
While it comes to developing a mobile educational app, businesses are hesitating to bear its expensive development cost. But why?
Many mobile app development companies can provide you with an estimated cost of developing a feature-rich educational app at up to $10,000, but be careful! It can easily end you up with the hidden cost and throw your budget out of the window.
But don’t worry, this blog will help you understand what exactly it will cost you to develop an educational app, its features, and more…
How Much Does It Cost To Develop an Educational App in 2020–21?
Any educational mobile app development company can help you build an educational app from $8,000 to $50,000. But, now many of you are wondering, why there is a huge variation in the development cost…
The cost of developing any mobile application consists of various elements. It can greatly vary depending upon the type of education app you need to develop, the amount of development time, cost taken to customize the features, cost to hire app developer and UX/UI design, testing and more.
Let’s discuss each factor in detail to evaluate how exactly it can cost you to build an educational app:
What Type of Educational App Do You Want To Develop?
Where You Want to Launch Your App: Google Play Store or Apple App Store?
What Features You Need to Integrate to Customize The Educational App?
Cost to Hire App Development Team
Let’s move to the detailed discussion…
1. What Type of Educational App Do You Want To Develop?
There are different types of educational apps created to target different age categories and study the interest of the students. The complexity, features and its development cost is totally depending upon the type of education app you choose you to develop for your startup. To help you make a better choice, we take examples of leading education apps that enable you to determine what app clone you need to follow:
Online Learning App Like BYJU’s
It is one of the well-designed and easy to access learning apps for the students, launched with the aim aligned to make the entire learning system easier, fun-filled and interesting. Considering the fact, they provide complete mock tests and sample papers for class 7 to 12, for all the major board exams including IIT-JEE, CAT and NEET. To help students perform better in studies, BYJU’s offer engaging video lessons and additional test papers which allow students to evaluate their performance with the instant test results.
Quiz and Game Show Apps for Classrooms Like Quizizz
If you are looking for the educational app that works for both teachers and students and allows you to conduct an interesting quiz and make the learning process much more enjoyable. In that case, Quizizz is the perfect app development option.
It is a perfect app type that is completely free to access from top to bottom and offers a delightful and meme-fueled game for the kids. This app is packed with various features like robust homework options for quizzes, different quiz modes, offering multiple question formats and more.
Entrance Exam Prep App Like TCY
If you are planning to launch an app particularly for the students preparing for the CAT, GRE, GMAT, SSC, GATE and more then it is worth considering the TCY Exam Prep App. The education app like TCY is specially designed with the study material and sample papers that provide right assistance without any need of paying costly coaching fees. Moreover, it has some of the unique features like exam alerts, challenge zone, sending invites to friends, instant results and more.
Student Performance Tracking App Like EduCloud
EduCloud is an ideal app development option for teachers that enables them to track day to day progress of the student with different patterns and evidence. Right from the student progress graph to assignment summary, EduCloud provides you a complete progress report in an easy to access format.
Conclusion: With the forecast marked to surpass $243 billion by 2022, no matter which type of education application you decide to develop, all apps have a great scope to rise in future. However, the key to success is how you convert your idea into the final product? And this leads to the demand for hiring a reputed app development company that can understand your needs and be able to deliver the perfect product.
2. Where to Launch Your Mobile App: Google Play Store and Apple App Store?
With 2.2 million apps available on Apple App Store and 2.8 million apps available to download on Google Play Store, it is safe to say that these are the most leading operating platforms to launch your app. But now the question is, how will you make a choice on which platform you need to launch?
Here the factors that you need to keep in mind:
Decide whether you are targeting a limited amount of users through a selected platform or wide users through different devices? Iphones have the biggest market in Europe and America, whereas Android is leading the rest of the world.
How early you want to launch your app, as iOS has few limited versions whereas if you’re targeting Android, then you need a bit longer time as there are various versions of devices.
It is a well-accepted fact that iOS handsets are used by rich people whereas middle-class people use an Android handset. So determine whether your app will be paid or free to download.
Pro Tip: In case, if you are planning to launch an app on both platforms but afraid of its expensive development cost, then it will be a great option to develop a cross-platform application using Flutter. The prime reason behind recommending Flutter is, it’s an open-source platform based on Google’s in-house programming language and offering an advanced set of widgets and plugins.
With modern SDK kit, developers can increase their efficiency and enable them to create a user-friendly app in less time frame. All you need to look for is to hire an app developer.
3. What Features You Need to Integrate to Customize The Educational App?
If there is one thing that eats up the largest part of your app development cost, that is the features and functionalities of your app. In addition, the choice of features will decide how your app will be accepted by the user. Instead of stuffing too many features or trying to create a replica, it is worth it to keep it simple, useful and unique.
Let’s get started with the list of features that you need to integrate into an educational app:
Signup/ Registration: It is an ideal way to get started with the app with the registration process. Allow users to sign up the app with an email and password or phone number and password. Also, you can allow them to integrate social network accounts and enable them to sign in via the same account. To make your app highly useful, it is important to add “password forgot” option. To make the development process more manageable and more superficial, you can use Amazon SES and Amazon SNS.
It is an ideal way to get started with the app with the registration process. Allow users to sign up the app with an email and password or phone number and password. Also, you can allow them to integrate social network accounts and enable them to sign in via the same account. To make your app highly useful, it is important to add “password forgot” option. Create A Profile: Create an app with two interfaces- one for the teachers and another for the students. Once they create a profile, offer the content according to the age, subject and more.
Create an app with two interfaces- one for the teachers and another for the students. Once they create a profile, offer the content according to the age, subject and more. Course Choices: To make it easier for teachers and students to browse their choice of course material, you can categorise the material under well-defined course program and description. Also, you can add a Buy button in to sell the course material.
To make it easier for teachers and students to browse their choice of course material, you can categorise the material under well-defined course program and description. Search Options: This feature will make your app more functional and add the flexibility to find their choice of course material according to the age, subject and student’s need. To create a perfect search system, you can hire an app developer and prefer to use Elasticsearch.
This feature will make your app more functional and add the flexibility to find their choice of course material according to the age, subject and student’s need. To create a perfect search system, you can hire an app developer and prefer to use Elasticsearch. Menu: It is an important feature as it allows students to check out the list of upcoming lessons, tasks, tests and more. This feature will make learners more organized and make the learning process easier.
It is an important feature as it allows students to check out the list of upcoming lessons, tasks, tests and more. This feature will make learners more organized and make the learning process easier. Push Notification: Notifications will keep students updated with test alerts or notify them when new content is added.
Notifications will keep students updated with test alerts or notify them when new content is added. Test: This feature will help learners to evaluate their knowledge and performance with the test scores, whereas teachers can access this feature to create a test.
This feature will help learners to evaluate their knowledge and performance with the test scores, whereas teachers can access this feature to create a test. Student Management: Teachers always prefer to access an educational app that helps them manage students effectively. For this, you need to list the learners and details about them. Also, tutors need to check tests and put marks to manage student profiles easily.
There are many more features that you can consider integrated into the educational app, but the cost to develop these features can be somewhere $9,000+, depending upon the complexity of the app.
Pro Tip: With approx, 5 million applications on respective app stores, projected to make $935.2 billion revenue by 2023, achieving success by launching an ordinary educational app is not a real worth. So, here you need to take a step ahead and consider implementing both Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality features to deliver an unmatched learning experience to the students and teachers.
For this either you can look for an Android app development solution or hire a software firm backed by AR/VR developers that understand the urgent need of the market and are able to meet your needs.
4. Cost to Hire Mobile App Development Team
The cost of app development does not end with the list of features, there are some other essential things that contribute to the app development cost. If you are thinking that developing an educational app is all about customising an app with the above listed features, then you are wrong at this place. There are a lot of things to consider while estimating the cost of the app. Will your learning app need to support video/audio playback? Will it require audio integration like other educational apps?
So when it comes to hiring the app development team, you have two primary choices. Either build an in-house development team or consider outsourcing the software development company. On one side, communicating with the in-house development team, on the other side, outsourcing mobile app development company can assure you advance technologies and methodologies for the app development.
Moreover, the practical obstacles of finding the talented developers make it hard to develop the right in-house team.
Therefore, it is always a worthy decision to hire a mobile app development company that offers you a complete project team including:
Project Manager
UX/UI Designer
iOS Developer
Android Developer
Backend/Frontend Developer
QA specialist
The final cost of hiring the team varies according to their skills, location, experience and technical knowledge. In India, it can be starting from $12 to $30 per hour in India and $100 to $150 in the USA.
Conclusion
Education is the standalone industry that always remains in demand, but Covid-19 pandemic wave has triggered the demand for educational apps and providing an opportunity to various startups and SMEs and allowing them to make money.
Hopefully, with this blog you have understood all the basic points that help in creating a useful educational app and how much it cost you in the end. But keep in mind that these are the estimations, as the final development cost will be depending upon your business requirement, features and complexity of the app.
So to know the exact cost to build an educational app, we recommend you to hire a Software development company. They will analyse your needs and accordingly suggest you the best technologies, methodologies and final cost of development. | https://medium.com/quick-code/develop-an-educational-app-in-2020-21-its-features-business-model-etc-7398b0f4c3fd | ['Sophia Martin'] | 2020-11-02 05:11:50.944000+00:00 | ['App Development', 'Mobile App Development', 'Technology', 'Apps', 'Startup'] |
The one and only Figma plugin you need to improve your graphic design skills. | As a beginner, often happens to feel that your design is dull, and there is no way to make it look better. It’s normal. So an important question is: “what’s the best way to improve?”. Well everyone is different, but between artists there is one common approach.
Quantity over quality.
Pablo Picasso is known for his masterpieces, but I guess you can’t name more than ten artworks he made, or even five. But do you know how many did he make? well, around 147.800.
That’s nearly 150k. But why? because doing a lot of practice makes you learn, and by doing a lot of different things, you learn how to do a lot of different things. That’s it. In fact, a lot of artists are extremely prolific and learned their art by doing, doing, doing.
Also, you can not get quality if you’re a beginner, so it is a huge waste of time trying to make a few masterpieces.
But how to apply this “contradictory” principle to Figma? well by designing a lot of different things. And in this case, a very famous plugin comes in handy: Unsplash.
The Plugin: Unsplash.
Thousands of designers use Unsplash, but we’ll discover a new way to use it. Unsplash has an interesting feature which is Insert Random: it lets you bring to the artboard a random image.
To apply the quantity over quality principle, get a random image, and start designing around it. No cheating. The first image you get, the first you use. In this way, you are forced to learn something new, or at least to think in different ways.
I’ll now show four examples of how using random images allows you to design completely different websites.
Case N.1: the Basketball Hoop.
The first image I got was a basketball hoop. Let’s analyze it.
The image has three main colors (orange, dark blue, and white), and the topic is sports.
This already solves two issues: which colors to use and which mood the artboard needs. | https://uxplanet.org/the-one-and-only-figma-plugin-you-need-to-improve-your-graphic-design-skills-79d8c02b02f4 | ['Lorenzo Doremi'] | 2020-12-15 19:41:53.320000+00:00 | ['Design', 'Graphic Design', 'Figma', 'Design Process'] |
When in Roam | So how do you pack for a seven-month trip when you’ve got two peeps traveling in a 2020 Subaru Outback that has yet to be named? Yes, I name all my cars. Suggestions welcome. See the picture above. And no, there’s not going to be any licensing rights. Is Yankee Stadium the last vestige of a bygone era in that regard?
Ok, back to packing. What’s gonna fit? Think of it as a real-life game of Tetris. Part art, part science. My gut said:
- one large suitcase for each of us for our day to day clothing, assuming moderate climate but prepared for some cold weather.
- one large suitcase for all footwear, jackets, and a spare towel each, just in case.
- one roller for business clothes; hey you never know. I was a Boy Scout for one year. Always be prepared!
- one knapsack each for laptops, iPads, books, magazines, and journals.
- one toiletry bag for vitamins & drugs.
- one soft cooler for food/spices.
- plus — and this is important — focus here, a fav pillow each, and one blankie to share. Certain creature comforts that are HUGE and make anyplace feel like home.
We packed our suitcases for five days’ worth of clothes, as we plan on AirBnB-ing it with washer/dryers as table stakes. One of the small benefits of this horribly surreal point in time is that we’re all dressing casually, wearing the same stuff over and over, so this wasn’t that hard to figure out. Plus, we threw in a couple of business casual outfits for celebrations — anniversary, New Years', etc.
And we’re off!
“I hear a wind
Whistling air
Whispering
In my ear”
Blasting Roam by the B-52s to kick off our Spotify playlist of the same name, we vacated our bungalow at Forest Lake Country Club in Hopewell Junction early Monday morning October 26th. The first stop was an overnight stay in DC at a new AC Hotel by Marriott, on K St. near the Convention Center.
We kicked it off with one of the wonderful side benefits of the trip, spending time with folks that we often don’t get to see 1:1, our kids' friends, and our friends' kids, on their turf.
First, we were met by the daughter of dear friends who goes to the U of Maryland — FEAR THE TURTLE! She drove 45 minutes for a 30-minute hang with us. Which isn’t a surprise if you know her. It’s a gift to watch our family and friends’ kids evolve as people!
Then we had drinks with friends of Spencer from Georgetown who are now writers on the Washington beat. It was the night that Amy Coney Barrett was being confirmed so they had the hearing on C-SPAN at the same time. Now that’s dedication! We tried to pump them for some Beltway gossip, but it appears that doesn’t exist in the time of COVID as everything is remote. They wouldn’t give it up, even after a bottle of vino!
They recently bought a cute home near Howard University. We’ve been coming here for 10+ years since Spence went to college in the area and we’re now seeing the effects of the gentrification. On one hand, it's amazing to see the renewal, on the other hand, where have all the peeps who used to reside here gone, and are they better or worse for it?
Great first day. Next stop Raleigh North Carolina! | https://medium.com/@howardfertig/when-in-roam-74accd8b3a60 | ['Howard Fertig'] | 2021-02-03 23:57:52.216000+00:00 | ['Travel', 'Moving', 'Life', 'Personal Development', 'Retirement'] |
Tardy value | ‘Peter, how dare you?’ My teacher shouted in class. I just saw the scene that Peter was reading his after-class fiction and caught by my teacher. Peter said, ‘the textbook is really boring!’
Peter was a close friend of mine in middle school. He was outgoing but naughty, and he always came to internet café in the noon on weekdays (which received adults that was older than 18 years old). He sometimes refuted what teachers said unreasonably and he usually violated discipline of class. Contrary to his character, I was shy and obedient. Because of the huge differences, my impression of him was not good.
I was one of the top three students in study. For this reason, Peter adored me a lot and thought I was strong enough to trust. He always deliberately created chances to work with me. When I almost had no friends to hang out with, he always asked me whether he could join me. In grade 9, in an experimental chemistry lesson, nobody wanted to become my partner because I always tried finding another new way to finish my experiment and maybe it’s dangerous. As a time I use high-heat alcohol burner to heat the test tube in a new angle that teacher never mentioned before, the tube just exploded. In spite of this, Peter joined me. He helped me washed test tubes and cleaned the table.
During the experiment, he always talked to me about his new recreational activities. However, I never talked back. When the lesson might end, he said to me, ‘Bro! In this noon, I won’t go to internet café. Instead, I will have a try riding my cousin’s new motorcycle. It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?’ I thought it’s just a joke he always told or it’s normal for him to behave just like such a naughty boy. Thus, I didn’t think more about that. However, he never came back to school.
In that afternoon, after 2 pm, the bell rang. Maybe it’s normal for him to be late for class. But the bell for the third lesson rang, he didn’t come. His absence filled me with fear and I became more and more worried as the hands of the clock turned. The low temperature of the desk made me upset.
He died in a car crash. Suddenly, I just bent my neck and burst into tears. Gradually, I became angry with myself and asked myself why I didn’t stop him! I beat my desk continuously. I thought the hurt can make me calm down.
That is a terribly shocking information for me. I sank into self-accusation for a long time. I always told myself that the accident wouldn’t happen if I exhorted him not to do it. He always obeyed my words. As the saying goes ‘after losing it, just know how to cherish it.’ I recalled the moment he always relieve me when I felt that nobody understood me. Every time I bent my neck and put my head on the desk, he always bent his knees and squatted near my desk and said ‘Bro, who teased you? I will beat that guy up!’ when I just bent my head on desk in low spirits.
It took me a long time to walk out the darkness. I told myself ‘to be positive for me and for Peter!’ I would try my best to cherish my close friends and give them warmth and be serious about what my friends said. Also, don’t make the value of other people late.
A sentence for all of you
Don’t suspect how short the time will be when you accompany with the person who loves you.
Remember that. | https://medium.com/@zongyu1112/tardy-value-2f95121cc070 | ['Zongyu Li'] | 2019-08-11 15:53:08.723000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Values', 'Frienship', 'Sad'] |
Blown Winter Grass V | Hungry stomachs like tight hands, growling, bones cracking. I never felt I measured up as a man when I was younger. I don’t measure up now. Money like water through my fingers. Confidence like flowers broken by the fall’s first cold snap. Or, take the house and its scuzzy blue siding, its dandelion weeds like Gothic scepters, its grasses like husks of callus trimmed from giant heels. My dog walks best in his black nylon rope harness, walks proudest: head high, at a high canter. Nothing like a bowl of seasoned water after. Nothing in his stomach makes his stomach tighten and squeak. The nothing in my hands makes him turn, trot away. In the living room I find him. There, he’s whole. My wife believes him, makes a place for him beside her on the couch. His limbs at full stretch flood over half its length. He paws at the air while dreaming. His rippling growl, his closed-mouthed yipping, act on my heart like a clamp acts on a table edge. Or a walnut. Holds it together, then breaks it. I grow sick with power. His head fits my hands. His ribcage swells beneath my palm. I keep it there for several minutes while he and my wife sleep, waiting for my fear to subside. I can mount the French cleat and hang the head board above our bed. I can replace a feathered fan belt, cloudy engine oil. I can break apart the cardboard boxes and cases the baby’s things came in. I can punch in each box’s sides to snap the packing tape. I do so.
skull of a household
god ㅤalcohol-blanched ㅤsulphur
memories ㅤswans wilt | https://medium.com/chalkboard/blown-winter-grass-v-4385c549454b | [] | 2017-11-06 20:37:30.851000+00:00 | ['Haibun Poem', 'Storytelling', 'Poetry', 'Art', 'Chalkboard'] |
Let Them Eat Cake. | Let Them Eat Cake
Exposing the American Racial Wealth Gap
Children and adults agree: Cake is a fabulous, decadent treat.
So, why was the phrase, “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche,” offensive?
The phrase in English is Let them eat cake. However, historians highlight that brioche is not cake. Brioche is buttery, indulgent French bread. Generally, a cake is a much sweeter pastry. Historians also emphasize that no proof exists that Queen Marie Antoinette ever uttered the famed phrase.
“Because cake is more expensive than bread, the anecdote has been cited as an example of Marie-Antoinette’s obliviousness to the conditions and daily lives of ordinary people. But did she ever actually utter those words? Probably not” (Cunningham, 2020).
Nonetheless, people have been using the phrase since 1789 to talk about economic injustice. It reflected the ideology of the elite who were out of touch with everyday people and the difficulties of poverty. Wealthy people, leaning into their privilege, often blame impoverished, marginalized communities for their socioeconomic stagnation. This ideology harms all poor people but disproportionately impacts Black people and people of color.
Wealthy people claim the American Dream relies on luck, charisma, and an abundance of opportunity. This argument fails to meet the issue face to face. While it sounds pleasant enough, this world view blatantly ignores the role of history in determining socioeconomic status. The assertion that wealth and opportunity are proponents of a chance act counter the cries of injustice by underprivileged groups.
Wealth passes down from generation to generation. New money refers to the bizarre occurrence of someone rising out of poverty into the upper echelon. Too often, race becomes an afterthought in discussions about economic stability and growth.
“At $171,000, the net worth of a typical white family is nearly ten times greater than that of a Black family ($17,150) in 2016. Gaps in wealth between Black and white households reveal the effects of accumulated inequality and discrimination, as well as differences in power and opportunity that can be traced back to this nation’s inception. The Black-white wealth gap reflects a society that has not and does not afford equality of opportunity to all its citizens” (McIntosh, Moss, Nunn, & Shambaugh, 2020).
Anti-poverty programs that subsidize essential health and welfare are effective. However, these social programs often lack support from wealthy, white, fiscally conservative citizens. The current, color-blind system fails to address factors contributing to wealth inequality. Scholars judge civilizations on how they treat marginalized communities. Seemingly oblivious of this, America seems reluctant to change the degrading living conditions among its citizens. | https://medium.com/an-injustice/let-them-eat-cake-59aac48427e5 | ['Allison Gaines'] | 2020-08-02 22:21:07.496000+00:00 | ['Poverty', 'Injustice', 'Wealth Gap', 'Equality', 'Race'] |
The FIRST Step Toward Healing a Broken Marriage | A few years ago, I noticed some bruising on my legs. I hadn’t bumped into anything or done any extremely physical activity that I could think would have caused the bruising. So I called my sister who is a nurse. She immediately said I should contact my doctor because bruising doesn’t happen for no reason, if it wasn’t an external cause then there may be something more serious going on internally.
When I spoke with my doctor, she suggested I get my routine blood work done to make sure everything was normal. I was diagnosed with lupus in 2010, so I have my blood tested every few months to make sure I am doing well.
The next day, the nurse called with my blood test results and instructed me to go directly to the emergency room. The tests showed that my platelets had dropped to only 12,000 (the normal range is 150,000–450,000). Unknowingly, I was one trip or fall away from possibly bleeding from my brain.
I called Christian and he came home from work to drive me to the hospital. The following days were long. I was afraid, uncertain, and very emotional.
The doctors explained if I had not paid attention to the bruising and taken the steps to find out what was wrong, things could have been a lot worse. They were able to identify what was wrong and begin the steps towards building my numbers back up.
The process wasn’t easy, physically, mentally, or emotionally. But through it, I learned a lot more about the healing journey.
A broken relationship isn’t much different than a broken (or sick) body. In fact, the steps to healing are pretty much the same.
➡️Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing the FIRST 3 STEPS toward healing a broken marriage.
The FIRST STEP toward healing a broken marriage is identifying your symptoms. Ask yourself: What’s going wrong? In order to identify what’s wrong, you have to look at yourself first.
☑️What’s been different about you?
☑️Do you look, feel, or react differently?
☑️Has your energy been low when it comes to your relationship? Why?
☑️What’s changed?
Take some time to pray and ask God to help you identify your symptoms. You may even want to write them down. If you’ve ever gone to the doctor, you know the first thing they ask about are your symptoms. They cannot help you if you don’t know what’s been going on. The same applies to your marriage. If you don’t take the time to do self examination, you won’t be able to move on to the next step. You can try, but you won’t be very successful.
Knowing what’s changed within you, pushes you take ownership in the broken state of your marriage.
True healing occurs in your marriage when both husband and wife stop looking at one another’s flaws and look in the mirror. As we continue working on the steps toward healing a broken marriage, we will discuss how you and your spouse will need to work together to true healing.
Tomorrow, we’ll be back with Step 2 toward healing a broken marriage.
We’re praying for you! Remember, trust the process.
Lyneesha
P.S. This Thursday, we are hosting a FREE webinar called, Quarantine and Heal. We’ll be taking a deeper dive into the necessary steps for healing a broken marriage. In the next few days, we’ll only have time to discuss the FIRST 3 steps. On Thursday night, we’ll be able to go much deeper AND answer your questions. This event is free but you must register to receive the login details. Sign up here >> | https://medium.com/@thrivinginlove/the-first-step-toward-healing-a-broken-marriage-be917de895 | ['Thriving In Love'] | 2020-03-23 19:57:49.087000+00:00 | ['Marriage', 'Christian Living', 'Life Coach', 'Coronavirus', 'Infidelity'] |
Statement about the National Black Justice Coalition’s 17th Anniversary | The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) is celebrating its 17th anniversary on December 8. Since 2003, NBJC has been the nation’s leading civil rights organization working at the intersection of racial justice and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and same gender loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) rights.
We are extremely proud of all the work that we have done in the past 17 years advocating for the Black LGBTQ+/SGL community, providing resources that help advance conversations around important topics like HIV and gender justice, responding to hate crimes, and working on public policy that will help protect and advance the rights and needs of the community. We’re especially thankful for the investors, partners, and volunteers that help to make the work possible. We know this year has been traumatic for many, due in part to repeated, high profile cases of systemic racism expressed through police brutality, inadequate healthcare in the prevention and treatment of COVID, and high rates of violence against transgender and non-binary members of our community. In spite of these challenges, we remain hopeful for the future and want to celebrate the progress that has been made.
“Anyone who intimately understands the lived experiences of Black transgender, queer, non-binary, and intersex people knows that we survive, and if lucky, we thrive — in spite of incessant challenges to our well-being, safety, and pursuit of joy,” said Executive Director David J. Johns. “Overcoming or enduring ‘in spite of’ should not be celebrated in ways that obscure the need to dismantle policies and practices that require us to perform additional labor, unlike our cisgender and heterosexual siblings, but to underscore how much more work we have had to do, especially during the last four years. Members of our community live on the front lines of efforts to advance national policy and to change local practices so that every member of our community can live without the threat of violence, or the sting of stigma that accompanies our attempts to simply show up as we were designed. My hope is that our community members — those who do the work even when there’s not a national spotlight shining — take care of themselves and engage in respite because while there is so much work to do, we need people to be happy, healthy, and whole if we’re to truly get free.”
As we enter year 18, we are looking forward to many exciting projects and initiatives. We have expanded our team and look forward to what their leadership brings. We are launching a new website designed to be a space where members of our community can connect and where those seeking to increase competence and compassion can find information and resources. We are also doubling down on our efforts to advance meaningful policy that responds to the most pressing needs of our community — as well as our work to support the learning and development of youth and young adults.
We extend special thanks to those who facilitated NBJC’s birth, and to those who have supported us along the way. We are excited to continue our mission of fighting for Black LGBTQ+/SGL equity and working to make this nation a better, safer, and more affirming place for everyone. We look forward to making the journey with you by our side. | https://medium.com/@nbjcmedia/statement-about-the-national-black-justice-coalitions-17th-anniversary-31a18de188fe | ['National Black Justice Coalition'] | 2020-12-08 23:12:00.540000+00:00 | ['Queer', 'LGBTQ', 'Racial Justice', 'Transgender', 'BlackLivesMatter'] |
5 Ways to Achieve and Live the Life You Desire | Be your own fan and support
In going after your dreams, you wouldn’t find people to support you most of the time. Everybody is busy being conventional. So, when you decide not to be one of them but different going after a life bigger and better than the narrative, most people will become disappointed and wouldn’t support you. Everything about you and your journey will be a lonely one. Not even your family or parents will help and spur you. Therefore, you must have it in mind and be courageous and self-supportive when things turn out this way.
You must always have it at the back of your head to be your own fan, cheerleader, and motivator. Suppose you believe that what you are doing or going for is the best thing for you to make your life better and live the life that you desire. In that case, you want to help and encourage yourself without waiting for someone because pursuing a dream is a lonely thing to do, and you must have the courage to do it alone.
All my life and going after my dreams, I have been my own fan. Nobody has ever done that for me. The people who are supposed to do that don’t understand what I’m doing with my life than to talk of supporting me. I know it alone, and I have to be my motivator. The same is you. And that’s what you must-do if you are going to achieve the life you desire. | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/5-ways-to-achieve-and-live-the-life-you-desire-a62cb655eb9d | ['Emmanuel A. Anderson'] | 2020-12-15 20:48:52.268000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Life Advice', 'Self', 'Inspiration', 'Success'] |
The Muslims Who Fought for Adolf Hitler | The Muslims Who Fought for Adolf Hitler
Germany had more allies then people think
Amin al-Husseini saluting Palestinian Muslim troops recruited by the German Army
Ideological warfare, anti-colonialism, and self-discipline. These were the main common principles that the Nazis used in their attempt to attract Arab Muslim communities to fight for them. Overcoming the vain attempt to persuade Turkey to wage war with the Nazis, Hitler sought to gather as many Muslims as possible among the volunteer soldiers who fought for Nazi Germany. As the Middle East was an area dominated by England and France during the interwar period, the Nazis began to regard the Arab world as a possible ally in a war against these states.
Politics in the Middle East
Hitler wanted to exploit first and foremost the anti-colonialist feelings which were indeed very strong among the Arabs. There was Nazi propaganda accentuated among the Arabs, and even a Nazi invasion was being pursued in the area that was meant to “liberate” the peoples ruled by the colonial powers such as France and England. But more than anything else, Hitler was pursuing oil in the Middle East, with which he could even win the war. Had Hitler controlled the oil fields in Iran and Iraq, Romania would not have played a crucial role in the oil supply of German tanks.
That is why Hitler’s statements became more and more praiseworthy to the Islamic religion. He had categorically declared himself anti-Catholic because this was a “weak” religion and he accepted suffering, allowing Jews to multiply in Europe over the centuries and enriching them on their own. Instead, he considered Islam to be a firm, militaristic religion, suited to a performing society. Heinrich Himmler was also an admirer of Islamic principles, saying that the promise of such a rich paradise after a heroic death was the language that every soldier understood. He believed that the Islamic religion creates ideal, fearless and loyal soldiers.
By 1940, Germany had already occupied France and dominated much of Europe, and the world did not know what to expect anymore. An attack was suspected in North Africa and the Middle East as the Italians had a certain interest in this area. Fortunately, however, Turkey’s decision to remain neutral in World War II made the intervention of the Nazis in the area far too cumbersome. Turkey had an important strategic position and was in relatively good relations with Germany, and any wrong move by the Germans in that area could convince the Turks to move to the opposing camp. Even so, not many would have expected Germany to prefer attacking the Soviet Union to the detriment of the Middle East.
Amin al-Husseini and Adolf Hitler in 1941
The argument of anti-Semitism had not convinced many Muslims, although there is a belief that they always share a certain aversion against the Jews. In some places where Muslims lived with Jews in good understanding, there were cases where Muslims even protected the Jewish population against Nazi deportations and massacres. Albania is an exemplary case in this regard, with Albanian Muslims rescuing more than 1000 Jews from extermination. It became the sure state in Europe where there were more Jews after the war than before the war, with the Jewish population grew from just 200 to over 2000.
The only place where anti-Semitic propaganda had worked among Muslims was in Palestine, where a marked phenomenon of Zionist Jewish migration to the ancient sites of Israel had already begun. Local leading politicians such as Amin al-Husseini was promoting anti-Semitism to the Muslims from Palestinian.
Muslims soldiers from the German Army
With the attack of the Soviet Union, the importance of gathering as many allies as possible became high. The attacked state contained a large number of Muslims, the Caucasus and Crimea being the most targeted. Here the Nazi propaganda enjoyed great success because the Soviets strongly suppressed any trace of the Islamic religious cult. From there were recruited several thousand of Muslims, especially loyal to the Germans and dedicated to the cause.
The attitude of the Nazis towards the Muslims seemed astonishingly open. On the eastern front, Nazi authorities ordered the repair of mosques, prayer centers and Islamic schools destroyed by the Soviets and strongly encouraged them to practice religious rituals again. The Nazis’ concessions to the recruited Muslim troops even closed their eyes to certain practices that contravened Nazi laws. For example, they allowed them to sacrifice animals for religious holidays, thus eliminating the animal protection law given in 1933.
Muslim Bosnian soldiers from division Waffen-SS 13 praying circa 1942
The Waffen-SS 13 division was formed of Muslim Bosnian soldiers, their motivation was the fight against the communist partisans who wanted to form a communist Yugoslavia. This was the first Waffen-SS division made up of non-Germans and consisted mostly of Bosnian Muslim soldiers and a few Catholic Croats, while all officers were German or Yugoslav German-speakers. A second Muslim Waffen-SS division, the 21st Skanderbeg division, contained mostly Muslim Albanians, convinced of the Nazi ideology for the same reason: the fight against communism. In total, about 70,000 Muslims fought alongside the German Fuhrer in World War II. | https://medium.com/history-of-yesterday/the-muslims-who-fought-for-adolf-hitler-61568e72075b | ['Andrei Tapalaga'] | 2020-02-24 00:56:01.234000+00:00 | ['World War II', 'Politics', 'Islam', 'History', 'Religion'] |
Discover the Proven Solution That Gets Your Baby to Sleep like Clockwork | Okay, but what’s the price?
I really wish I could offer you my digital program for free, however my months-long research and running this website unfortunately cost quite a bit of money and time.
In addition, the consultation fees for the sleeping expert easily exceeded $1,300.
Because of this I want you to offer my digital system at an extremely fair price point to cover my own expenses.
In the beginning, I offered my complete method for an all-in price of $129.99 (and there were many families telling me that it was worth every single penny).
However, I realized over time that parents with a limited budget were scared away by the price which of course was never my intention.
That’s why I offer you today my complete digital system for a one-time only $129.99 $27
Yes, you read that right! For a limited time only you can get all my knowledge for only $27.
My 60 day 100% Money back guarantee
No success? = Money back
Take your time and think about it since you can simply test my system without any risk. In the unlikely event of you not being happy with the results of my sleeping system, simply drop me an email and you will get your money back — no questions asked!
FAQ
Does your sleeping system really work for every child?
So far we actually had a really impressive success rate. Admittedly, there were some cases where it took a bit longer for noticeable improvements (around 2 weeks), but an instance in which the system did not work at all is unknown to me at this time.
And just to be clear: In the unlikely event of you not having the desired results with my sleeping system, you can make use of the unconditional 100% Money back guarantee.
What’s the best age for your sleeping program?
I generally recommend my sleeping program to all parents who have children aged between 0 and 36 months. For babies younger than 3 months the progress usually is a bit slower but you can use this time as an effective preparation period for later on.
How long will it take until my child finally falls asleep on its own?
The vast majority of the families working with me see first big improvements between 3 and 12 days after having started with the sleeping system. Making a general statement however is fairly difficult since of course every child is unique. In case you do not make any progress, you can send me an email at any time!
What’s the difference between your system and all the other guides and books?
During my research I read every book I could find on the topic of “baby sleep” and evaluated the contents and practical value of them. The biggest weaknesses were in almost all cases the lack of flexibility of the various tips and strategies (since not every strategy works for every child!) as well as the outdated nature of the content. Most of the books I read (plus countless tips on the internet) were simply heavily outdated and couldn’t be effectively applied in today’s world.
What should I do if I have additional questions?
You can also consult with me anytime via e-mail. Simply message me at [email protected] and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
How exactly does the Money back guarantee work?
As described above, you can make use of the 100% full Money back guarantee within 60 days of your purchase in case you are unhappy with my sleeping system or didn’t see the desired results. No questions asked! | https://medium.com/@devszonezone/discover-the-proven-solution-that-gets-your-baby-to-sleep-like-clockwork-2705a0f84755 | ['Dev Rawat'] | 2021-07-05 15:37:46.822000+00:00 | ['Baby', 'Baby Products', 'Baby Care', 'Baby Sleep', 'Baby Boomers'] |
Why We Need Fewer Politicians in Politics | Why We Need Fewer Politicians in Politics
In today’s world, science is political.
Source: created by the author via Canva
As court battles dwindle there are signs the 2021 US election is finally coming to an end. In many ways, this has been an election unlike any other, framed by the context of a global pandemic, a climate emergency, and unprecedented technological change. These issues were at the front and centre of campaigns, debates, and discussions — yet the more I watched and read, the clearer it became that a large majority of politicians lack any sort of scientific background.
Indeed, aside from COVID-19 and climate change, science policy appears to be missing from campaigns, debates, and party platforms. Even when these issues are discussed, they’re talked about in a very human-centric way. The focus is always on the economy first, society second, and the environment third.
Is this surprising? Not quite. In 2017 there were just two members of Congress with PhDs in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) related field. On the contrary, 222 held Law degrees and a further 18 held only a high school diploma. Considering the lack of scientists in politics it is hardly shocking scientific interests are underrepresented.
It is worth noting that this is not a US-centric problem. In 2016 Australia’s federal parliament had only 20 politicians with STEM training — that’s just 12% of senators and 7% of MPs. In the UK, the most popular subjects for MPs who won seats in the December 2019 election include Politics (20%), History (13%), and Law (12%).
Career politicians are important, and many of them do great work. I am not arguing that every political institution should consist entirely of scientists, nor am I saying that the arts are an inferior background in any way.
Rather, I believe that in a society that trusts and needs science more than ever one must question why so few of our decision-makers come from a STEM or STEM-related field. Likewise, we must ask ourselves how we can fix this gap, and what scientists could bring to public policy and all levels of government.
The need for change
Around the world, scientists are becoming increasingly alarmed at the ignorance, apathy, and indifference of political leaders towards urgent issues.
In South America, 2019 saw Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fire the head of the National Institute for Space Research. This followed tensions over one of the agency’s reports which stated that deforestation in the Amazon had gotten worse since his time in power. In Hungary, the government overtook around 40 institutes previously ran under the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In my home of sunny Australia, Environmental Science degrees have suffered funding cuts of almost 30%, a move that is predicted to harm the country’s ability to deal with drought, bushfires, coral bleaching, and global warming.
On the other side of the planet, it is no secret that White House scientists and Donald Trump have clashed on more than a few occasions. Trump has publicly supported Andrew Wakefield, a British gastroenterologist who is now infamous for his 1998 study linking the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine to autism. Even though the Lancet retracted his paper, Trump allegedly told him ‘I’m gonna do something about this because I know it happened, I’ve seen it in people who worked with me and their children’. Furthermore, research suggests Trump Tweets may increase anti-vax attitudes.
Likewise, in his time in office Trump has delayed nominating a scientific advisor, withdrew the US from the Paris agreement, and proposed cutting the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by 25%.
Clearly, our leadership must change if we are to have any chance of surviving the climate emergency. If anything, the wide and vocal support for the March for Science — an international series of Earth Day rallies and marches — proves that the people want effective and proactive leadership in the fight against climate change.
Why are scientists generally on the sidelines?
The answer is simple — scientists don’t typically run for office.
There are a couple of surface explanations for this. Firstly, individuals with STEM degrees may find it difficult to get noticed by parties due to a lack of connections and contacts within the political sphere. Likewise, many may find the notion of science as a pure and objective pursuit of truth an inherent opposition to the world of politics, which is often based on subjectivity.
Still, there is a deeper, perhaps more troubling cause for the lack of scientific voices in government: a struggle to communicate effectively.
Aside from a few noteworthy personalities such as David Attenborough, Bill Nye, and Neil deGrasse Tyson, scientists are rarely in the limelight. Those who become household names are the exception rather than the rule. In fact, research suggests most Americans can’t name a living scientist. Admittedly, scientists themselves are partially to blame.
The uncomfortable truth is that despite the advent of the internet, science remains inaccessible to a significant number of people. Scientists, intelligent as they are, sometimes struggle to communicate their findings in a way that makes sense to the general public. At worst, this leads to the spread of misinformation, fake news, and confusion over what is and isn’t a fact. To illustrate, there are widespread misbeliefs regarding topics such as climate change, vaccines, and evolution. Is part of this due to a refusal to listen? Sure, but it is also due to a struggle to communicate.
To make matters worse these communication problems are exacerbated through the inaccurate and stereotypical portrayals of scientists in the media. Whether it be in TV shows, movies, or books, scientists are often categorised as eccentric and antisocial at best and ‘mad’ and egotistical at worst — not necessarily qualities we would want in our leaders, are they?
Lastly, we must of course consider that it takes decades to become a respected scientist and build a career as a scholar. Unlike academia, politics does not provide a great deal of stability. It remains uncertain how one might leave behind the laboratory and enter the world of politics knowing that the stint could last four years or less, especially since entering politics is more or less a death sentence for said science career.
What scientists can offer
Representation of scientific interests
Whether for better or for worse, science is political. From the Institute of Health and Welfare to the Department of Energy to the Department of Conservation, much of scientific research is funded by the government. Every day politicians make decisions regarding where to spend public money. One might choose to spend money on defense rather than a space exploration mission, for example. As such, deciding what gets funding — and subsequently what doesn’t — is a political decision, not a scientific one. For some, the idea that public money should fund any research is political.
This brings me to my next point — perhaps the most obvious way in which scientists can further the interests of society is by advocating for funding. This is especially important at a time where science is becoming undervalued. Data shows we are not even representing our interests well. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates Australia’s R&D spending as a percentage of GDP is approximately 2.2%. In America and the UK, this totals 2.7% and 1.7% accordingly. Contrastingly, Finland, Japan, and South Korea spend 3.2%, 3.4% and 4.3% of their GDP on R&D.
Furthermore, scientists bring a unique perspective to the political arena. Unlike some politicians, scientists understand the inherent importance of basic research. In addition, they also understand how patents, regulations, and other barriers to entry stifle and encourage competition and innovation. Scientists can often bring a more holistic approach to policymaking as they understand how budget cuts and funding can make important projects more or less likely to succeed.
Objectivity
Being a voice in favour of funding is not the only benefit scientists can bring to politics. In their day-to-day work, scientists usually rely on evidence and data to analyse the significance, methodology, and conclusions of their work. They are also naturally inquisitive, always interrogating the question and asking ‘why’. Adversely, many career politicians fail to consider all the evidence before making important decisions. If enough scientists take the leap into politics and bring with them these transferable skills, they have the potential to change these dangerous thinking patterns. In the real world, this translates to less wasteful spending and more effective public policy.
Trust
In a disturbing trend, democracies are losing the trust of their citizens. The Edelman Trust Barometer is an annual study that measures the level of trust in institutions across the world. The 2020 report reveals the public across 28 countries has low confidence in government and media, with businesses and non-governmental organisations doing only a little bit better.
In contrast, and perhaps due to the aforementioned objectivity, over 80% of people trust scientists. Bringing more scientists into the political system may just be the key to stop the erosion of trust and create stronger democracies.
Final remarks
Scientists in politics can form the basis for stronger evidence-based leadership. A more diversified government is crucial in the context of technological disruption, global warming, and COVID-19. After all, by pushing a science agenda, providing objectivity, and increasing trust, scientists have the power to unite societies and change the world. | https://medium.com/climate-conscious/why-we-need-fewer-politicians-in-politics-e0464c8fd0ab | ['Sol Kochi Carballo'] | 2020-12-17 15:50:50.018000+00:00 | ['Environment', 'Politics', 'STEM', 'Stem Education', 'Advocacy'] |
We need a roadmap to housing instead of cruelty — opposing Oakland’s homeless encampment management policy. | Just Cities has served as the City of Oakland’s thought and action partners on many public service priorities from passing the nation’s best Fair Chance Housing policy, creating a recent Re-entry Housing Fund, developing the Oakland Police Commission, to creating the City’s Anti-Displacement safety net. This policy gives us grave concern for the following reasons.
The policy proposal violates the human rights of unhoused residents and Oakland’s standards of racial and social justice and common human decency, as well as public health COVID standards.
In 2018 the United Nation’s report on global homelessness cited Oakland’s policy and practices of removing unhoused people from encampments as “cruel and inhumane” and in violation of international human rights. The proposed encampment policy would also violate these international human rights standards.
The policy would also result in placing people living in 98% of Oakland’s homeless encampments under the constant threat of having their homes, belongings, and community they have formed destroyed. We know from both lived experience and public health research that living under such precarity and aggravated stress can result in mental illness, physical illness, child abuse, domestic violence, hopelessness, and suicide.
In a time when City leaders have stood up for Black Lives, the policy would also result in a disparate impact on Black people given that they represent 70% of Oakland’s unhoused population while only constituting 24% of Oakland’s overall population.
In a time of COVID, the policy would result in dispersing people who are at extreme risk of contacting COVID — increasing COVID risks for both unhoused residents and the general Oakland population. This would be in violation of both the City Council COVID policy on homelessness, on which we had partnered with the City and the CDC COVID guidelines.
2. The City has not followed its own internal racial equity standard of authentic community engagement of unhoused residents.
As a member of the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), the City of Oakland seeks to adhere to GARE’s standards on racial equity including community engagement. However, as shared with us by Oakland’s leading unhoused organizations including The Village, East Oakland Collective, and Love and Justice in the Streets, the City has not conducted adequate community engagement with unhoused residents to listen, hear, and dialogue with them.
We strongly recommend that the City Council directs the Administration to engage in respectful and robust community engagement prior to Council taking a vote on the policy proposal.
3. The City has not followed its own internal racial equity standard of conducting a racial equity impact analysis by the Department of Race and Equity.
The Oakland Department of Race and Equity was formed to end the vicious and historic cycle of racially unjust planning and public policy. However, in order for the Council to be informed about potential racial equity impacts, the Department must conduct a racial equity impact analysis BEFORE the policy is enacted. It defies the principles of racial equity and commonsense for the Department to wait until the policy has been implemented and then merely study the harmful effects of the policy, as the City is currently proposing.
We strongly recommend that the City Council directs the Department of Race & Equity to conduct a racial equity impact analysis of the proposed policy prior to Council taking a vote.
4. Instead, the City should provide meaningful alternative housing options including using the available 50 acres+ of public land and millions of new public funds for homelessness to provide immediate, safe, and dignified housing.
Oakland residents and businesses are all united in wanting to see unhoused residents provided with stable and secure housing. However, the government’s inability to provide stable housing for the growing numbers of unhoused people is creating unnecessary land-use conflicts between unhoused residents who are trying to survive and members of the public who are trying to use public spaces.
Oakland is fortunate because unlike some other cities, we are blessed by the ingredients needed to provide safe, dignified, and stable housing for all of the city’s unhoused — over 50 acres of vacant public land and millions of new public funds for homelessness. Two years ago, Just Cities conducted research and issued a roadmap for Oakland on how it could provide immediate housing for over 2,000 residents. This roadmap is still applicable today. We stand ready to assist the City and to mobilize our many partners to do the same.
We need your voice to stand with Oakland’s unhoused residents who include a growing number of children. Please take action by Tuesday 10 am HERE!
In community,
Margaretta Wan-Ling Lin
Executive Director, Just Cities | https://medium.com/just-cities/we-need-a-roadmap-to-housing-instead-of-cruelty-opposing-oaklands-homeless-encampment-966c4b203aff | ['Margaretta Wan-Ling Lin'] | 2020-10-19 23:29:33.550000+00:00 | ['Oakland Public Policy', 'Housing For All', 'Homelessness', 'Racial Justice', 'Stopemp'] |
What Is Human Capital Management & Why Is It Important? | You’ve probably heard someone in a leadership position say, “Our employees are our greatest asset,” at one time or another.
While most of us would agree (I mean, who wouldn’t??), what does it actually mean when we refer to people as “assets”?
Does this mean they have economic value like buildings, inventory, or equipment? Renovations to a building will generally increase the building’s value, and inventory that sits on a shelf for months will generally decrease in value.
But how do you impact the value of an intangible asset like an employee?
The practice of human capital management, or “HCM” for short, has become increasingly prevalent in the last few decades, for a couple of reasons.
One is that people recognize that an organization’s workforce is its greatest asset.
The second, however, is that for many companies the cost of their workforce is often their greatest expense. As a result, HCM has become the driving force behind many new business practices, a growing abundance of human capital management software solutions, and an emphasis on the concept of human capital as a competitive advantage.
The goal of this article is to educate you on the essentials of what HCM is and why it’s important, using simple terminology and straightforward business concepts.
Maybe you’re an HR professional and want to educate yourself or your colleagues, or perhaps you’re the leader, owner, or founder of a startup or small business. Either way, this will equip you with the basic fundamentals of HCM and enable you to get started on practicing it in your own organization.
What is Human Capital Management (HCM)?
To understand HCM, let’s first take a step back and look at what “human capital” actually means.
Human capital is the economic value that comes from things like the worker’s experience, skills, knowledge, and abilities.
Human capital is an intangible asset, unlike tangible assets like buildings and equipment. However, both tangible and intangible assets, like human capital, have economic value.
Examples of other human capital assets that bring economic value include:
the employee’s physical and mental health;
personal values and beliefs;
work ethic;
education
Human capital, like other forms of capital, can be measured and developed and delivers a return on investment (ROI).
While referring to human beings and employees as “capital” might seem harsh — and some joke about the similarity between the words “capital” and “cattle” — it can actually help an organization shift it’s perspective and view employees as an asset that can increase in value. Organizations that do this focus on activities such as learning and development initiatives, health and well-being programs, and specialized skills development, which brings rewards to both the individual employee and the organization.
So what is human capital management?
Human capital management, or “HCM” for short, is the collection of organizational practices related to the acquisition, management, and development of the human workforce — or human capital — within an organization.
The goal of HCM is to optimize and maximize the economic, or business, value of an organization’s human capital in order to gain a competitive advantage. Effective human capital management enables the organization to successfully pursue human capital initiatives.
What are human capital initiatives?
In his book, “Human Capital Management: Leveraging Your Workforce for a Competitive Advantage”, author Mark Salsbury writes, “human capital initiatives (HCIs) are large-scale goals or objectives an organization chooses to pursue that are heavily dependent and reliant on the people of the organization.”
Salsbury also points out that HCI’s are strategic, not tactical, and goes on to provide several examples, as follows:
Improve performance culture
Lean management / Six Sigma
Integration of an acquisition or merger
Build a global mindset
Global talent acquisition/management
New business model (often including reorganizations)
Re-engineer a functional discipline (Sales, Marketing, etc.)
While this is a very useful list, many of these are large initiatives that require significant time and resources, and that are applicable only to larger, well-established organizations.
Certainly, most startups and early-stage companies aren’t concerning themselves with global or international human capital initiatives. For founders, CEOs, and leaders within these organizations, it’s important to note that HCI’s are relative to the size of the business.
Looking back at Salsbury’s definition, he talks about “large-scale goals or objectives”. Depending on what your business looks like, “large-scale” might be an initiative that affects all five employees in your organization.
Following are some examples of HCIs that you might find in a smaller organization:
Create and deploy organizational vision and values
Create a new employee orientation and onboarding process
process Raise investment funds to hire new software developers
to hire new software developers Create new business functions (e.g. HR) and hire the first-team employee
(e.g. HR) and hire the first-team employee Develop or purchase employee data management system
Establish regular communication practices with employees
As you can see, all of these HCIs require the people in the organization to make them happen, and will ultimately contribute in some way to the acquisition, management, and/or development of the organization’s human capital.
How is HCM different from Human Resources Management?
Human capital management and human resources management, or “HRM” for short, are closely tied to each other but are not the same thing.
HCM goals
The goal of effective HCM is to optimize and maximize the value and ROI of the human capital (employees) in an organization.
HRM goals
The goal of HRM, on the other hand, is to create and manage the systems, processes, and policies required to hire, train, retain, and enable employees to do their jobs.
HCM vs HRM
The Charter Institute for Personnel and Development in London offers a distinction between the two:
“Human capital management is comprehensive because it includes not only human resource (HR) practices, but also other work practices and people management strategies that increase organizational performance. The important distinction between human resource management and human capital management is that human capital extends well beyond the HR function to encompass the total people strategy of the organization. Human capital is owned by all of the business leaders and resides with everyone in the organization.”
Effective human capital management usually requires effective human resource management practices — talent management, workforce management, proper benefits administration, succession planning, etc.
As a result, HCM systems and activities are often managed by the organization’s Human Resources (HR) department. In organizations without a professional, dedicated HR team or individual, HCM often falls to a senior leader who is responsible for HR activities.
Here’s a graphic that sums up how HCM and HRM are different:
What is a human capital management system?
A human capital management system is the collective business practices, HR processes, and technologies that enable an organization’s human capital to be acquired, managed, and developed in an organized manner, and on a large scale.
An HCM system takes a broad, organization-wide view of human capital. While individual managers, teams, and departments may have certain human capital management practices specific to them, in organizations with an established HCM system these practices are often guided by broader, organization-wide practices.
For example, new employees in an engineering team may receive training on certain team-specific software tools when they start, but that training would just be one element of a broader on-boarding program that every new employee in the organization would go through.
What are the core elements of a human capital management system?
These are the core elements required for a human capital management system. I’ve explained them in more detail below the graphic:
Organizational vision and values: as with many organizational growth and development practices, developing an HCM system starts with defining and understanding your company’s purpose (vision) and core beliefs (values). These directly impact the workplace culture, how people behave, and the overall importance of the human capital in your organization. Strategic goals and objectives: whether they’re quarterly or annual goals, or five-year BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), your human capital initiatives will often be driven by your organization’s specific, measurable, and time-bound objectives. For example, a goal to “increase your annual employee engagement scores by X%” will drive specific HCIs that are managed within your human capital management system. This will, in turn, drive a specific set of practices to achieve those goals. HCM leadership team: like any system, HCM needs to be managed by people. Because of the far-reaching impact of human capital initiatives, the HCM team will typically be cross-functional, with leaders from across the organization. In organizations with a dedicated human resources function, the most senior leader in the HR department (e.g. Chief Human Resource Officer, VP of HR) will often drive HCM initiatives. In smaller organizations, this responsibility would fall to a senior executive (e.g. CEO, COO). Data management and support: successful HCM requires human capital data for decision-making — in order to manage, take action on, and measure the results of human capital initiatives. There are many types of employee-related data that can be captured, stored, and made available in workforce analytics, such as employee demographics; compensation and benefits; payroll; time and attendance; performance management; and skills training and development. This data can be managed using anything from an Excel spreadsheet to an enterprise-level HCM software solution or HRIS.
These elements may sound huge, intimidating, and complex, but they don’t have to be. Any size of the company, from early-stage startup businesses to large, well-established ones, can create an HCM system.
For example, maybe your HCM system consists of an Excel spreadsheet for managing employee data and quarterly HCM team meetings where you review ongoing human capital initiatives. The key is to start somewhere, even if it’s small, to build the rhythms and habits necessary for long-term human capital management success.
Why is human capital management important?
At this point you should hopefully have a better understanding of what human capital management is, but why does it matter? What is human capital management important?
Smart leaders are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of human capital management as a competitive advantage. The data shows that companies that focus on engagement, well-being, company culture, and employee development in their organization tend to outperform their competitors.
In an article by App Economy, they analyzed Glassdoor’s 2019 rankings of the “best places to work“, which Glassdoor has been doing every year since 2009:
“Looking into the 20 best-ranked public companies over 10 years, 60% have beaten the S&P 500, and 91% had positive returns up to June 2019.” App Economy also noted that “the best places to work that trade publicly have more than doubled the returns of the S&P 500 over the last 10 years.”
The effective utilization and engagement of an organization’s human capital have also been proven to have a direct impact on a wide range of organizational KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), including productivity, employee turnover, product quality, work safety, and customer satisfaction.
The Gallup organization’s 2017 State of the Global Workplace report ties employee engagement — a feeling of being highly involved and enthusiastic about their work and workplace — to a wide variety of business outcomes and the overall performance of the workplace culture. They reported that most employees are not engaged; worldwide, the percentage of adults who work full time for an employer and are engaged at work is just 15%.
The report also offers a number of compelling statistics that show how business units in the top quartile of global employee engagement perform versus those in the bottom quartile.
Higher productivity: 41% lower absenteeism and 17% higher productivity
41% lower absenteeism and 17% higher productivity Lower turnover: in organizations with high employee turnover, highly engaged business units achieve 24% lower turnover
in organizations with high employee turnover, highly engaged business units achieve 24% lower turnover Better product quality: highly engaged business units experience 40% fewer quality incidents (defects).
highly engaged business units experience 40% fewer quality incidents (defects). Better customer experience: highly engaged business units achieve 10% higher customer metrics and 20% higher sales.
Effective human capital management is not only critical for ensuring the health and success of your business but to enable you to compete in an increasingly competitive world.
By making HCM a priority you will be able to attract, retain, and engage the talented, high-performing people you need to be successful, from finding the right talent, to onboarding and supporting the employee experience throughout the employee life cycle.
What do you think?
How are you focusing on and prioritizing the development of the people in your organization?
What people, management processes, and practices do you already have in place that will help get you on your way to building a human capital management system? Which ones are you missing and working on next?
Does your organization have a vision (purpose) and set of objectives that guide your approach to your people — your “human capital”?Weigh in on these questions in the comments below and subscribe to the People Managing People newsletter to stay up to date with the latest thinking in HR from leadership and management experts from around the world. | https://medium.com/people-managing-people/what-is-human-capital-management-why-is-it-important-ebb85437d9d5 | ['Michael Gibbons'] | 2020-12-08 09:15:37.263000+00:00 | ['Human Resources', 'Hcm Vs Hrm', 'Human Resource Management', 'Human Capital Management'] |
Genaro Network (GNX) Monthly Technical Report — November | November 2020 Monthly Technical Report
2021 is going to be a great year, with some breakthroughs in technology and large-scale development after verification ahead. In the R&D, we will focus on the research and development of distributed storage protocols for structured data, learn ETH practice to support more verification use of the chain, as well as test and optimize new versions of distributed networks.
***
The future development direction will be compatibility with Polkadot ecosystem and compatibility with ipfs computing power. The team will continue to focus on preparations and further diversification of the tools at the chain end and keep learning and absorbing the technical advantages and technology of the mainstream blockchain projects.
Public chain layer:
* Regular maintenance of the public chain
* Regular view of the management log content
* Handled the temporary suspension of the main chain due to the network and reply to the transfer
* Updated the version of the light node to enhance robustness, in order to prevent easy pause due to network problems
* Established an interoperability interface with the polka series chain
Storage layer:
* Fixed the problem that the chainmonitor component of bridge does not work due to network reasons and new dependencies
* Compiled primary version of filefi design through storage
* Established a new single-bridge network stress test
* Created a new dependency library to ensure network connectivity
Future Outlook
In 2021 Genaro’s technology exploration, code submission, R&D and practice will never stop in all the aspects including the public chain, storage and mining pool. We look forward to the excellent technology developers start the trial, join the community and exchange ideas with Genaro team and make valuable suggestions regarding our products. For further development updates, please stay tuned to the official media channels of the Genaro Network project.
Breaking News: The first edition of the GSIOP protocol is officially released
On February 20, 2019, Singapore time, Genaro Network, the world’s first smart data ecosystem with a Dual-Strata Architecture, integrating a public blockchain with decentralized storage officially released the first version of the GSIOP protocol. This is not only the product of nearly a year hard work of the Genaro entire team of engineers, but it also marks Genaro’s new milestone in the practical application of cross-chain technology.
Breaking News: G.A.O. (Genaro Alpha One) is officially launched
Genaro Network, the future of Smart Data Ecosystem for DApps, invites you to witness the new era of smart data, empowered by the revolutionary serverless interactive system!
Recommended reading: Genaro public network mainnet officially launched | Community Guide
Download Technical Yellow Paper
Genaro’s latest versions, Genaro Eden and Genaro Eden Sharer, will allow you to store your files in a more secure way and share your unused storage to earn GNX.
Get your Genaro Eden/Sharer for Linux, Windows and MAC OS right now from the official website:
Git source repository is on GitHub>>
Important:
Warm reminder to our community members, please download Genaro Eden ONLY from our official website/GitHub and DO NOT trust any referral links and reposts from anyone, otherwise, we won’t be able to guarantee privacy and security of your data and protect you from scammers.
Genaro Eden — The first decentralized application on the Genaro Network, providing everyone with a trustworthy Internet and a sharing community:
Related Publications:
Genaro’s Core Product Concept
Genaro Eden: Five Core Features
How Does Genaro’s Technology Stand Out?
Genaro Eden Application Scenarios and User Experience
The Genaro Ecosystem
Matthew Roszak Comments on Release of Genaro Eden
About Genaro Network
The Genaro Network is the first smart data ecosystem with a Dual-Strata Architecture, integrating a public blockchain with decentralized storage. Genaro pioneered the combination of SPoR (Sentinel Proof of Retrievability) with PoS (Proof of Stake) to form a new consensus mechanism, ensuring stronger performance, better security and a more sustainable blockchain infrastructure. Genaro provides developers with a one-stop platform to deploy smart contracts and store the data needed by DAPPs simultaneously. Genaro Network’s mission is to ensure the secure migration of the core Internet infrastructure to the blockchain.
Official Telegram Community: https://t.me/GenaroNetworkOfficial
Telegram Community (Russian): https://t.me/GenaroNetworkOfficial_Ru | https://medium.com/genaro-network/2020-11-genaro-network-gnx-monthly-technical-report-november-d4ad48a434d0 | ['Genaro Network', 'Gnx'] | 2020-12-06 10:35:57.214000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Blockchain', 'Storage', 'Dapps'] |
The invention and innovation of satellites have been a huge leap in technological advancement over… | The invention and innovation of satellites have been a huge leap in technological advancement over the years as they deliver a range of functions. Satellites are designed and programmed to do a specific task in space. While the first artificial satellite - Sputnik 1- was successfully launched on October 4, 1957, there have been over 8,900 satellite launching from over 40 countries, about 5,000 remain in the Earth’s orbit and about 1,900 were operational according to a 2018 estimate.
Satellites provide an array of functions but to the man who enjoys solitude, a night gaze at heavenly bodies, would he appreciate the nuisance artificial satellites create in spac? The big question is, how does the untrained eye tell stars apart from satellite’s lights?
After a decent meal, you lie face up on your porch with your curious son asking about the constellations, how sure are you that you are giving the youngster the right education?
Men of the ancient world found their way with starlights guiding their paths. The moon told time to the Ancient Romans, clans used stars to find their way home after tribal wars. Famous Bible story about three wise men following a star to find the new born Messiah records the importance of starlights. Thanks to technology, we no longer have to rely on primitive methods for navigatio, but what happens to a lost man in the jungle without smart devices? What happens to a crew marooned with all equipments for finding home on the ocean floor?
What happens to satellites that have outlived their functions? Well, many are left to roam Earth’s orbit aimlessly while some are driven farther into space to be blasted into debris. At present, Space X has launched 300 starlink satellites into space and plans to put a humongous 12,000 in space for the purpose of providing internet across the globe. As noble as this cause, also giving a beautiful chain of night light in the sky, astronomers are concerned it would mar the study of stars. Another important question, are humans simply just expanding their destructive territory with the launch of satellites into orbit in the thousands?
Traditionally and figuratively, can Simbas on African plains still look up to the clouds to commune with their ascended ancestors? This speaks for the conservative cultures who value their primordial ways of life, Polynesian and Tongan culture like Moana’s , the Dongans of Mali who measure time and season with astronomy and the nomadic pastoralists who navigate the plains and savannahs with stars. With satellites littering the spac, how will these cultural lifestyles be upheld? | https://medium.com/@freelancerlugo/the-invention-and-innovation-of-satellites-have-been-a-huge-leap-in-technological-advancement-4faf55bb671d | ['Ayokunlemi Oladapo'] | 2020-05-25 10:38:48.410000+00:00 | ['Space', 'Space Exploration', 'Satellite Technology', 'Culture Change', 'Technology'] |
How to build a cleaning pipeline with BigQuery and DataFlow on GCP | The schema of the data is currently as shown below.
name type mode
================================
battery_status STRING REQUIRED
bluetooth_status STRING REQUIRED
cell_id STRING REQUIRED
cell_strength STRING REQUIRED
gps_status STRING REQUIRED
last_app STRING REQUIRED
location_gps STRING REQUIRED
location_net STRING REQUIRED
location_accuracy STRING REQUIRED
altitude STRING REQUIRED
speed STRING REQUIRED
location_seconds STRING REQUIRED
timestamp STRING REQUIRED
OK, let’s clean that up so we can work with that! While I could do this with SQL, let’s assume we are in an enterprise environment and we want to ensure we have a solid data preparation pipeline defined. The fact that I only have 34000 rows also adds to the fact that a simple python script would probably suffice. But, let’s do as the Germans say and “shoot for sparrows with cannons”.
DataFlow Pipeline
To get set up, I first create a folder in which to keep the source code. Creating a virtualenv and installing apache-beam[gcp] with pip does the trick for preparation. Looking at the example code, I come up with the following pipeline code. Let’s first look at the “boilerplate” part:
There are several things to learn here:
The imports from are exclusively from the apache-beam package. It may be called DataFlow by Google but it is a 100% apache project from a code perspective
package. It may be called DataFlow by Google but it is a 100% apache project from a code perspective all configuration happens using the PipelineOptions (docs) object in lines 14–21
(docs) object in lines 14–21 lines 23-end define the BigQuery project/table structure, the target schema of the new table and the source and sinks
when defining the schema as json (line 50), be sure to have an object with the key fields containing the array of fields. This goes against the docs but code doesn’t lie
Now let’s look at the actual processing bit
The first few lines describe the high level pipeline. Very simple in our case: read, clean, write. The clean step is performed by a dedicated DoFn , a python object that gets sent to every worker that is spun up. Lines 14–65 describe this unit of code. It took me a while to figure out how to write this without it failing due to foo not found errors in DataFlow. Basically, RTFM applies. The “function object must be serializable”.
All of the code between 21–65 is my domain specific transform code. I basically define a set of functions to apply to each of the columns in a row. As the docs mention, each row is a python dictionary with the column names as the keys.
Testing the code
The above code is easily unit-testable. When searching the docs for testing instructions, it didn’t seem very verbose but the wordcount example mentions logging and testing.
For a simple “beam-like test”, see the gist below. It makes use of the TestPipeline class provided by beam, as well as assert_that and equal_to helpers
Running it in the cloud
Running this is as simple as calling python cleanup_pipeline.py . It Then outputs a bunch of info on the console but you can also check your job in the GCP web interface | https://medium.com/datamindedbe/how-to-build-a-cleaning-pipeline-with-bigquery-and-dataflow-on-gcp-3d2f288d4e1b | [] | 2019-10-30 21:22:46.945000+00:00 | ['Dataflow', 'Bigquery', 'Google Cloud Platform', 'Big Data'] |
Venice Adrift | Photo Credit: Unknown
Descending Tuna Canyon Road on a bike is like floating down a torrent. Few vehicles use it because there’s nothing to go to, nothing to see, except the terrain. The uncertain road is a seven-mile mosaic of rocky debris from above, blind curves, and patchwork from previous washouts. Collectively, they prevent me from hitting top speed and cutting smooth lines. It’s a single lane that drops 2500 ft as it snakes along the mountainside — too steep for artificial structures and too unstable for trees to take root; in some spots, it projects out over the side of a cliff. There are no side streets or turn-offs; even drivers with time-to-kill prefer the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Because of my path of approach, I only occasionally get a glimpse of the water as I descend to the sea. I’m alone.
“Beauty I’d always missed
With these eyes before”
Tuna’s one of those poorly maintained roads where your brakes aren’t going to save you if you get in over your head. I’m confident, but I don’t test my handling skills on the lower sections because the drop-offs are steep — maybe a hundred feet. The sun is vanishing into the infinity skyline. After six hours on the bike, the saline patina — from sweat or the sea air — at the corners of my mouth slakes my dehydration. Usually, I’m more aggressive, but today — now — I’m at peace. “Nights in White Satin,” in my Walkman, helped me to take in the elements.
“Some try to tell me, thoughts they cannot defend”
It’s near dark when I hit the PCH, the false barrier that skirts between rugged mountains and the enigmatic ocean. The moment I drop in from the canyon, I revert to the modern world, a sea of red taillights at a standstill. If I had the energy, I could get to Santa Monica by riding back up to Mulholland; but, it’s too dangerous at night. My fault; I bit off more than I can chew. Now, after baking in the sun for ninety miles and several mountain passes, I’m cooked — fried. I hate riding the shoulder of the highway south of Malibu, especially after dark, but it’s my only way back to Venice. Fortunately, I’ve hit the Sunday afternoon gridlock, sludging its way south after a weekend at a north coast.
The last ten miles of my ride are flat; the first few are a little dicey. I’m bordering on dehydration, but I have no choice but to keep laboring through my pedal stroke. All I can think about is ice-cold lime Gatorade as I effortlessly pass the vehicles in the “slow lanes.” Even with traffic stalled, there’s the fear of getting struck by a high-strung driver. After three anxious miles, I hit the northernmost tip of the cycle path to take me home along the coast. The second I leave the roadway, I’m overwhelmed with relief, and my fear adrenaline shuts down. No longer in survival mode, a wave of tranquility washes through me as I set off for the five remaining miles to Venice — without cars. With no more music, I’m left with just my thoughts.
“Letters I’ve written
Never meaning to send”
Did I mention it’s 1990? When I was twenty, I dropped out of college and moved out to Venice with a buddy from high school. We split an efficiency apartment on the beach. He pulled an internship at Frank Gehry while I expedited at TGI Fridays. I was also racing and writing, but that wasn’t going anywhere. Somehow, we made rent. For my long training rides, I tucked a few mixtapes and a Walkman in my jersey. Cassettes rarely held more than 75 minutes of music, so I’d rotate them during my ride. I usually listened to aggressive music — music to break myself to — but, on this day, I’d accidentally grabbed a tape of easy-listening music. And this is what I was listening to when I was drifting down from the mountains.
With my Walkman dead and me over my endurance limit, my senses come alive. The beach feels drastically different after the sun goes down. Without people, the force of the waves — wind tussling with water as they hit the sand — resounds through you. I can hear them, but with the absence of light, I can’t see them. There is nothing but darkness when I look out at sea. The night water meets the sky somewhere, but it all looks the same.
In Santa Monica, the cement bike path is set in from the road; it divides the sun-bleached beach, serpentining down the coast. It always has a layer of sand on it. Nearby, along the PCH, the light distortion from vehicles and streetlights plays with my vision — disorienting. All around me, I hear seagulls and pelicans fighting for scraps, but I can’t see them. I can taste the salt particles in the breeze from the incoming waves.
While I’m relaxed, I have to focus a little because I can’t always distinguish between the sand and the bike path. Veering off the latter would bring me to a complete halt very quickly. In the distance, I can see the Santa Monica pier. As I coast the coast, alone, hungry, in darkness, I’m euphoric. I’m proud — not only of my accomplishment but of how I’ve chosen to live. You can’t just wake up one day and ride a hundred miles of mountainous terrain. It’s moments like these that put me at peace but also in a heightened state of awareness. I think about where I’ve been. I think about where the world is going and what part I’ll play in it. Did I screw my life when I left school? Do I want a family? What is it all about?
Anaïs Nin once said: “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
Flat tires suck. When you get a flat tire one mile from home, the decision you must make is, do I fix it now or ride the flat home and fix it later. When you have a nice bike, you never ride on a flat tire.
You wouldn’t recognize the Venice Boardwalk and muscle beach at night. Without street performers, sidewalk artists, carnival barkers, and t-shirt kiosks, it feels like a slum. Vagrants and beach bums claim benches and hunker down for the evening with their cardboard mattresses and blankets. You learn to walk wide of anyone that might be arguing — with themself. Occasionally, you have to navigate through a stenchmosphere of urine. When I lived in Venice, I got to recognize some of the nightly “locals.” Most seemed harmless, but close encounters weren’t inviting.
“Why are you here?” the voice asked.
I’m leaning over, changing the tube on my front wheel, about a mile from my apartment, when I hear the voice. I’m near the boardwalk but on the bike path. All I want to do is fix my tire, get home, and eat — anything. I thought I was alone, so I’m a little startled when I hear the question. When I pivot to look at the unkempt man behind me, I realize that I recognize him. I don’t know him, but I’ve seen him in the area a few times.
“Pardon me?” I respond.
“You’re not from here. Why are you here?” he asks.
At this point, I don’t know if he’s asking me if I’m an American or why I’m on the bike path or something else. Aside from appearing disheveled, he looks amiable, but I feel vulnerable. Cycling shoes and lycra have a way of making me feel defenseless, if not a little…dainty. The last thing I want to do is further delay my return to my apartment. With a measured hint of dismissal, I answer, “Just fixin’ my tire.” Then I refocus on my wheel.
“You find what you were looking for?” he asks.
After a short chuckle, I reply, “Ummm, not looking for anything.”
“Need any help?” he continues.
I still feel peaceful, but I am getting a little annoyed by his questions. And I want him to know this. I purposely delay my response as I work. I just want to get back. Before I respond, he adds, “You ride a lot. I can see you’re busy. I’ll leave you alone.”
As he begins to scuff away, I realize he’s probably seen me — recognizes me being from the area. With my tire repaired, I start to pump air into it. For whatever reason, I consider that I’ve been kind of an ass, then ask, “You from around here?”
“You could say that,” he responds. “Where’d you ride to?”
I begin, “Went up to Mulholland, then cut into the mountains — down to Thousand Oaks, then back up — “
“Great roads,” he breaks in. “That why you’re here?”
Now I’m curious. This is the second time he’s asked me that question. I keep going with my hand pump and respond, “Not really. I’m trying to be a writer.”
He smiles. “Go figure — another artist in Venice,” he says.
As I finish with my wheel and put my pump back onto my bike, I respond, “Well, not yet. I don’t know if it will happen. We’ll see, I guess.” At this point, I’m ready to get back on my bike and ride the last mile back home, but the old man is friendly. The way he’s speaking, I consider that he may not be a vagrant. He might even be educated. It’s been a pleasant exchange, so I don’t immediately ride off.
“Mind if I ask how old you are?” he inquires.
I chuckle, “Twenty.”
“Don’t force it,” he shoots back. “You’re doing the right thing. No offense, but you don’t have anything to say yet. Just keep living. Before you know it, it will all be over.”
Now I’m intrigued. He doesn’t even know me. I’m a bit offended, but I don’t let on as much. “Are you a writer?” I ask.
Without answering my question, he responds, “Most people overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in three.”
“Okay,” I respond as a question.
He studies me for an awkward moment as he scratches his chin, then continues slowly, as though he’s trying to be dramatic, “There’s an element in the universe. It’s intangible, but it’s there, and it’s part of everything. It’s hidden under layers and layers of your preconceptions. Some people call it a God. For some, it’s money. For others, maybe a muse, or just hate.” After a short chuckle, he adds. “Yoda calls aether the force. It’s your ability to create what you want in the world.” And, with this, he turns and begins to walk off. “Have a good ride,” he says.
Somewhat confused and at a loss for anything to say, I reply quietly, “Have a nice evening.” In my head, I mumble, “What the hell?”
Without looking at me, the man says, “Believe what’s inside you. Just what you want to be, you will be in the end.”
When I returned to my apartment, I washed up quickly, then dug into some Friday’s leftovers — chicken marsala with a side of pasta Alfredo. I laid on my mattress in silence for a while in my recovery “coma” and watched the ocean breeze gently stir our sheer curtains back and forth. We didn’t have a TV, and this was “before” home computers.
I never saw the old man again. I didn’t look for him; I just noted that I never saw him. Soon after leaving Venice, I joined the military for six years. Then I bartended for another six as I went back to school. As my life evolved, I had no reason to think about the encounter — and I didn’t. It wasn’t until about twenty years later that I came across an article about electromagnetic forces, gravitational pull, and subatomic particles. I was wasting time on the Internet. Sure enough, there it was. And I recalled my encounter. Then, because it was so long ago, and because of my altered state that evening, I questioned whether it had even happened at all.
Today, a couple of songs have the power to immediately take me back to when I lived carefree on the beach, where I seemed to be more in tune with the elements all around me. When I hear one, I see myself objectively — from a bird’s eye view — effortlessly sailing down one of the mountain roads, occasionally getting a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean that no camera can capture. For this, I’m grateful. Before living on the beach, I’d never been to one at night. Now, I prefer it. And I’m thankful for all the time I wasted in Venice Adrift.
- GR | https://medium.com/@gilbert-ramirez/venice-adrift-d7e99b33f1a1 | ['Gilbert Ramirez'] | 2021-06-17 14:51:34.320000+00:00 | ['Cycling', '80s', 'California', 'Los Angeles', 'Short Story'] |
My Favourite Books of 2020 | Books
When the Shooting Stops, the Cutting Begins: A Film Editor’s Story
Ralph Rosenblum & Robert Karen, 1979, Da Capo Press
Take a second and see with how many directors’ names you can come up with. I assume for most of you the number is greater than two. Now repeat the exercise with film editors…My bet is that most of you won’t be able to name a single one (directors who edit their own films don’t count) which is nothing to be ashamed of. As far as filmmaking goes, editors are an invisible force. Turning mere footage into something that can be called a movie, they are often more important than the director — or at least this is the argument Ralph Rosenblum (a long-term editor for Woody Allen and, perhaps most famously, for “The Producers”) puts forward in his book that is part autobiography, part behind-the-scenes look at the history and secrets of a profession that belongs to the least-understood in movie-making. A must-read for film buffs.
Our Europe: Banquet of Nations
Laurent Gaudé, 2019, Europa Editions
Recommended to me by my dear friend and colleague Mary Sanford, this book is a true gem. While I’ve been told it’s best read in the French original I had to revert to the English translation by Alison Anderson as my French is virtually non-existent. Over 192 pages (that will fly by) Gaude presents a history of Europe in free verse, making a passionate case for a European Union, not despite but because of some of the differences between its people. Two excerpts below…
“Europe was built without the enthusiasm of the people,
As a precaution,
Because the enthusiasm of the people led to crime.” (p. 144)
“Who are we now?
What we share,
Is from having been through hell together,
Having been, each one of us,
Torturer and victim,
Gagged youth and blood-covered hands.
What we share,
Is a troubled humanism.
We know man’s inhumanity to man,
We know the abyss,
We have been swallowed by its depth.
What binds us together, is that we are an anxious people.
Who know the shadow within.” (p. 181)
Not Born Yesterday
Hugo Mercier, 2020, Princeton University Press
A fellow countryman of Gaudé, cognitive scientist Hugo Mercier has written one of the best science books this year. The central claim of his “Not Born Yesterday: The Science of Who We Trust and What We Believe” is fairly simple: humans, Mercier argues, are far less gullible and prone to believe crazy things than most pundits these days would have us believe. “For most of history, the concept of widespread credulity has been fundamental to our understanding of society”, he writes “[…] but far from being gullible, humans are endowed with dedicated cognitive mechanisms that allow them to carefully evaluate communicated information. Instead of blindly following prestigious individuals or the majority, we weigh many cues to decide what to believe, who knows best, who to trust, and what to feel.” At a time when large swaths seem to believe that we are hopelessly doomed because everyone else is stupid and easily misled or manipulated, Mercier’s book provides a nuanced antidote to such thinking, grounded in a careful examination of a wealth of evidence from psychology and the social sciences. If you’re keen to get a sneak preview, Henry Farrell has a good summary here…
The Decline and Rise of Democracy
David Stasavage, 2020, Princeton University Press
Unless you are a political theorist (I’m not) this book is probably not what you’d casually pick up at your local bookstore. Which is a shame really, given how good it is. David Stasavage offers a rich, international overview on the origins of democracy and the conditions under which democracy flourishes (or doesn’t). Drawing on a wealth of evidence and scholarship and examining the concept across continents and centuries, Stasavage makes the compelling case that democracy is something “common to the human condition” (at least in its early and most basic form), flowing from a deeply human instinct to have agency and restrain power from above. In an analytical tour de force the book traces the evolution of democracy, and details its preconditions and tensions, sweeping away some longstanding preconceptions along the way (Convinced that democracy was only invented by the ancient Greeks or is a uniquely Western thing? Think again). Most importantly, however, The Decline and Rise of Democracy is an outstanding piece of scholarly writing not just because of the theory it develops, but how it does so: In clear, concise, and forceful prose — the rarest of combinations, which makes this book all the more enjoyable.
Haven’t You Heard? Gossip, Politics and Power
Marie Le Conte, 2020, 535 Publishing
We stay in politics with a book that doesn’t take the high view but instead looks at the inner workings of one of the world’s oldest surviving democracies: the fascinating, sometimes absolutely bonkers, but often just very mundane world of SW1 — better known to many as Westminster, the political district from which the United Kingdom is being ruled. Drawing on many years of experience as a political journalist at the heart of UK politics, her extensive network of contacts, and a good deal of scholarship on the more human side of politics, Le Conte addresses the lubricant that keeps the Westminster machine (and presumably many others around the globe) running: Gossip. On top of that, the reader gets an overview of how politics “works” in the UK (if you ever wanted to know what e.g. a “Whip” is, this is your chance to find out). “Haven’t You Heard?” is a highly entertaining and educative read that treats its subjects with a sense of compassion that’s hard to find these days in writings about politics. At a time when many people feel that weekly screw-ups are Westminster’s modus operandi, rather than the exception to the rule, Le Conte manages to look beyond partisan divisions and provides a tough but fair assessment of the dynamics at the epicenter of British politics.
Artificial Intelligence. A Guide for Thinking Humans
Melanie Mitchell, 2020, Pelican
Talk of AI is everywhere these days but as but as soon as it comes to the question of what AI actually is, things get tricky. One of the main problems here is the chasm between the public perception of AI and the reality of such systems. Melanie Mitchell, one of the leading computer scientists in this field of research, addresses exactly this gap in her book. The result is a cautious and often skeptical overview of artificial intelligence technology and its application which pushes pack against some of the more outlandish claims about the impending arrival of a superintelligence or the technological singularity. Essential reading for the likes of Elon Musk.
Retooling Politics: How Digital Media Are Shaping Democracy
Andreas Jungherr, Gonzalo Rivero, & Daniel Gayo-Aveloo, 2020, Cambridge University Press
Just as AI is beset by hype and exaggerations, so is the topic of digital media and their role in modern-day politics. Steering clear of the simplistic arguments made by both the apostles and fear-mongers of digital technology, Jungherr et al. marshal the latest evidence from across the social sciences to produce a careful, rigorous, and step-by-step analysis of why, where, how, and to what extent digital media re-shape the various aspects of contemporary politics and democracy. The central argument of “Retooling Politics” is as elegant in its simplicity as it is convincing: Focusing on the needs of political actors (that is e.g. politicians, campaigns, activists, and yes, citizens), Jungherr et al. argue that these have not fundamentally changed. Instead, campaigns still try to change minds and to mobilise people, voters still search for information, and organisations continue to face challenges in coordinating supporters, to name just a few. What has changed, however, are the tools by which these actors pursue their needs. In other words: digital media have “retooled politics” (hence the title) but not fundamentally transformed the same. What we witness is a gradual, layered change rather than a revolution as some people have argued. It’s the kind of book I want to put in the hands of anyone who talks about “social media revolutions” or claims technology corporations are solely responsible for political upheavals.
Political Entrepreneurs. The Rise of Challenger Parties in Europe
Catherine E. De Vries & Sarah B. Hobolt, 2020, Princeton University Press
The final entry in this list is yet another book on politics, this time by professors Catherine De Vries and Sara Hobolt who address one of the most pressing and intriguing questions in European politics: How should we make sense of the decline of mainstream parties and the rise of political outsiders on both sides of the political spectrum across Europe? What explains this upheaval in European politics? De Vries and Hobolt tackle this question head on by borrowing from their colleagues in economics, namely those in industrial organisation. They effectively describe politics as a market with imperfect competition where parties compete for “market share” (just like firms). In this tug-of-war between mainstream parties seeking to protect their dominance, and challenger parties trying to break the same, it has become increasingly difficult for the incumbents to defend their territory (among other things due to decreasing voter loyalty and various wedge issues that weaken them) and easier for challengers to gain a share of the pie (by mobilising new issues such as immigration or the environment and by employing anti-establishment rhetoric). “Political Entrepreneurs” is a smart and accessible book which relies on a wealth of empirical evidence to make its case — and it shines bright as an example of great academic writing, because it does so with a clarity that looks effortless but is so hard to attain. | https://medium.com/@felixsimon/my-favourite-books-of-2020-d3f04f1c4665 | ['Felix Simon'] | 2020-12-15 13:13:27.358000+00:00 | ['Books', 'Academia', 'Book Review', 'Best Of'] |
The Top 10 Players Who Need a Big 2022 Season | The Top 10 Players Who Need a Big 2022 Season
A list of players who need to come up huge for their clubs in the upcoming season Enoc Nieves Dec 27, 2021·7 min read
Christian Yelich (left) and Cody Bellinger (right) pose for a picture at the 2019 All-Star Game workout day in Cleveland, Ohio. || Twitter: @Brewers
When the 2021 Major League Baseball season started, there was a sense of optimism about the performance of certain teams and players. After the 2020 pandemic-shortened season ended with the Los Angeles Dodgers raising the Commissioner’s Trophy before a limited crowd at newly-opened Globe Life Park, many around the game believed that there was a high probability of seeing a World Series champion go back-to-back for the first time since 2000. Also, the consensus was that Mike Trout was going for his fourth MVP award, and that the New York Mets would run away with the National League East division at some point in the season. Neither happened. Mike Trout was sidelined with a calf strain injury for most of the year, and the Atlanta Braves pulled off an improbable run after the July trade deadline that ended with the team winning their first title in 26 years.
Indeed, 2021 has been a year of the improbable -not impossible- in baseball. Who predicted Shohei Ohtani achieving in 2021 what only Babe Ruth had done in 100 years? Who would have thought that the Braves would win it all after losing arguably their best player at the time -Ronald Acuña Jr.- with a torn ACL in July? There were certainly many improbable feats in the game; some of them impressive and great, others not so much. The latter is the case of the following list of players, who were projected -or expected- to have monster years in 2021, yet their inability to stay healthy or poor performance make them indebted of responding with a big 2022 campaign for the sake of their clubs:
10. Ian Happ (Cubs)
After his outstanding rookie season in 2017, Happ was widely considered the heir of the Cubs outfield throne. All he’s done is show regression ever since. Even though he was able to stay in the field this year (148 games played), he struggled big time at the plate (.226/.323./.434 slash line) and didn’t add value at all defensively (-0.6 dWAR). If he can return to his rookie-year form, the Cubbies might end up getting something good in return if they decide to move him should they decide to keep rebuilding.
9. Patrick Corbin (Nationals)
The 2019 World Series champions have since parted ways with key components of that historic run. They are still stuck with Corbin, who’s set to enter year number four of the six-year deal he inked with the Nats prior to the title-clinching season. The team was not in a good place to compete in 2021, and Corbin didn’t offer much help by posting a 5.82 ERA and leading the majors with 16 losses. He desperately needs to regain his 2019 form. It could be the only way for him to earn his keep in the rotation.
8. Alex Bregman (Astros)
Do you remember MVP-candidate Alex Bregman? I do. He was terrific for the American League champions in 2019 (and the years prior), but a discreet 2020 and an injury-riddled 2021 have severely downgraded his status as one of the premier third-basemen in the game. He only participated in 91 games this year, and his performance in the Postseason was mediocre at best. He underwent wrist surgery this offseason and is expected to be ready for Spring Training. In 2022, the Astros will need Alex Bregman to be his version of the Alex Bregman that we saw prior to the sign-stealing investigation if they want to remain a powerhouse in the AL; especially if they let Carlos Correa walk.
7. Carlos Santana (Royals)
He has never been the kind of player in whose hands you’d put the fate of your franchise, but the value that Santana brought to championship-contending teams in the past decade went beyond his slash line or power numbers. Nonetheless, I’m sure the Royals were expecting way more than a 79 OPS+ and a -0.2 rWAR when they inked the veteran first-baseman on a two-year deal prior to the 2021 season. After spending a year in Philadelphia, his best season came in 2019 at 33, when he returned to Cleveland. He was named an All-Star, finishing with 34 home runs, and posting career-highs in RBIs (93) and OPS+ (136). It’s hard to imagine that, at 36, he’d be able to recreate such a season, but if he isn’t able to put up a solid year, it might be the end of the line for him.
6. Aaron Nola (Phillies)
Three years removed from a NL Cy Young Award contention, the righty from Baton Rouge, Louisiana hasn’t performed the way fans in South Philly would like him to. Unable to reach 200 innings in 2021, Nola posted a 4.63 ERA, a 90 ERA+, and faced less than 800 batters for the first time since 2017 (excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season), after leading the National League in that category in 2019. If the Phillies really want to pursue a spot in the Postseason, they are going to need Nola to have a monster year on the mound. A 2018-version of Nola in 2022 should make him and Zack Wheeler a scary 1–2 top-of-the-rotation combo in the NL East, and that’s exactly what the Phillies need right now.
5. Francisco Lindor (Mets)
Coming from a small-market team to play in the spotlight of New York is never an easy transition for any player. Lindor already knows that. He learned it the hard way (probably). He was nowhere near the player he was in Cleveland, and I’m sure the Mets would’ve liked to have the Indians-version of Lindor in the first few months of the season instead of the “biggest-slump-of-your-career” version that they got (.209/.311/.336 slash line until June 18th). There were spans in which he got hot, but couldn’t keep it up. As he enters his 28-year-old season (the first of a 11-year/$341 million extension he signed prior to the start of the 2021 campaign), the four-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove shortstop knows he needs to be better than average. The Mets will go as he goes in 2022.
4. Yu Darvish (Padres)
A year after being the runner-up for the National League Cy Young Award, Darvish didn’t find his rhythm in his first season in San Diego. Acquired via trade in the offseason, the Japanese-born right-hander struggled with command, as his Base on Balls Percentage went up from 4.7% in 2020 to 6.5% in 2021. He also gave up home runs on 4.1% of his opponents’ plate appearances, after allowing round-trippers in only 1.7% of those instances a year ago. He posted a sub-100 ERA+ for the second time in his career; the first one being in 2018 when he only pitched in eight games. He also registered a quality start in only 43% of his games pitched (league average is 45%). If he can manage to get quality starts with more consistency (50% or more) in 2022, the Padres would absolutely be pleased with it.
3. DJ LeMahieu (Yankees)
How can a guy go from leading the league in hitting one year to being an offensive disaster the next season? That’s pretty much what happened to the former two-time batting champion. LeMahieu terrorized AL East pitching in his first two seasons in the Bronx. He paced the majors with a .364 batting average in 2020, but his batting average plummeted almost 100 points in 2021. After signing a six-year/$90 million extension with the Yankees, he hasn’t found the magic at the plate that made him one of the best pure hitters in baseball. LeMahieu posted a below-league-average 97 OPS+ to go along with a 1.5 rWAR (3.3 is his 162-game average). A well-know elite defender, he also struggled with the glove this year (-4 DRS, -0.2 dWAR). This better not become the norm for him.
2. Christian Yelich (Brewers)
The 2018 National League MVP hasn’t been the same since he fouled a pitch off his knee during the final month of the 2019 season. The Brewers signed him after that to a nine-year/$215 million extension, and they must be regretting it, since Yelich only registered a .205 battting average in 2020, and followed it with a 99 OPS+ in 2021; the worst of his career. Yelich dealt with a back injury this year, as well as spending time in the restricted list because of COVID-19. He hit 80 home runs and collected a 171 OPS+ in a two-year span prior to the extension. He has rounded the bases 21 times and slashed .234/.360/.392 ever since. A dude who looked like he was on the verge of becoming the face of the National League alonside Cody Bellinger (more about him next) now seems to be a player about to fall off a cliff. If he doesn’t respond, the Brewers might find themselves in a position to blow things up and start from scratch because of it.
1. Cody Bellinger (Dodgers)
After putting up a monstrous 2019 season, Bellinger took home the NL MVP award. He, like Yelich, looked like a player who was about to take the league by storm in the upcoming years, then came unfortunate injuries. With three trips to the injured list in 2021, Bellinger was limited to only 95 games… and sucked at them. In 350 plate appearances, he slashed .165/.240/.302, while only posting a 45 OPS+. That’s not acceptable, even for a bench player. He also struck out in 30% of his at-bats. If he’s fully healthy in 2022, he won’t have a choice but to get back to being a top-3 player in the National League and lead the Dodgers offense in almost every offensive category, just like he did in 2019. Any less than that won’t do the trick.
Honorable mentions:
Gleyber Torres, Matt Chapman, Dinelson Lamet, Trevor Story, Anthony Rendón. | https://medium.com/@enocnieves/the-top-10-players-who-need-a-big-2022-season-fc9499d423b7 | ['Enoc Nieves'] | 2021-12-27 16:16:53.019000+00:00 | ['MLB', 'Baseball', 'Top 10'] |
In defense of the visual alphabet | Christina seems to see this variation in visual alphabets as an invalidation of their usefulness, but I see quite the opposite: validation. People generally don’t copy or develop variations on them if they are not useful. The fact that so many people who are teaching visual thinking require a symbol-set like this is powerful evidence that such a thing is useful and needed.
On Christina’s primary point — that a visual alphabet is only a starting point — I fully agree. The next step is to develop a vocabulary, and a grammar, and the many other elements that make language useful. And I agree with most of the things Christina talks about in her post.
She writes:
“Artistic license is the secret! You have to make your own language!”
In a way, we all have to make our own language. “Just do your own thing” can be a useful concept. Hundreds of years ago Tao-Chi said “The method which consists in following no method is the perfect method.” But the point of language, after all, is to communicate, so language, to have value, must be based on some shared norms.
She writes:
“ I found exploring my own personal visual language was a lot like being a cartoonist, and finding my style. I copied a lot of people.”
“Copy till it feels right” is also a time-honored tradition and has its place. Most art instruction involves some copying of old masters.
Christina did not mention studying nature, which is another time-honored tradition, and, I think, perhaps the most important practice in visual thinking.
She writes:
“ It’s not about shapes! That’s like saying you can learn to write English by drawing lines and circles! (Ok, drawing lines and circles helps you write neatly.)”
Well, I’d prefer something more like “shapes are just the beginning.” Even something as simple as drawing circles should not be lightly dismissed. Making marks — lines and shapes — is the start of making meaning. Picasso said frequently that the path to truly original work was to try to draw a perfect circle. Circle-drawing is practiced daily by some Zen monks and considered a path to enlightenment.
To be useful, any language requires some set of shared norms and rules. As the ideas to be explored and communicated become more complex this becomes even more important. Visual language is, in some ways, as old as the hills. In other ways it is just coming into its own.
“If an artist knows the rules and principles, his work will become faultless and he need have no fear of not succeeding. He may feel bound or restrained for some time, but he will become able to transcend the rules.” Li-K’an, Essay on Bamboo Painting, 14th century.
An old art-school adage is that you must know the rules before you can break them. This is because rules, like alphabets, vocabulary, and grammar are important scaffolding that help others move more quickly up the learning curve. The value of a language grows like the value of any network standard: The more people that become familiar with, and fluent in, a language, the more powerful it becomes.
Christina is right to say that the rules are inconsistent today. For the most part, they are nascent. They are emerging. We are in the early stages of its evolution. Progress is inconsistent. Maps, for example, have evolved some consistent standards: scale, legends, and a set of conventions for depicting roads, borders, bodies of water and so on. Thanks to Edward Tufte, there are some excellent standards for the visual display of quantitative information. A standard set of rules does not exist. But we should be working together to figure them out.
The visual alphabet was never intended to be an end in itself, any more than the Latin alphabet or Arabic numerals. They are simply building blocks to get people started and give them a common framework for working with more complex ideas.
It is still very early days for visual language, and I still believe the visual alphabet is an important concept and an important curriculum that needs to be developed. It should be taught in grade schools alongside English, other languages, and mathematics.
“Make your own language” feels like a step backward for visual language. If we want it to be seriously considered as a peer to reading, writing and arithmetic, we need to develop some rigor and discipline. We need to think of it as language, not just drawing. This is not to say that we need rigid rules. Language is a living thing, it evolves over time organically, and the rules, it seems to me, often come later. Standard spelling in English did not begin emerge until the 1500s, in part driven by the invention of the printing press. That kind of standardization is something visual thinking is not ready for yet.
But we should be thinking about it. The fact that there are no explicit, codified rules and standards does not mean that there are not such things as good and bad form, good and bad habits, well-formed ideas and poorly-formed ones. We can see these things intuitively, but just because we have not articulated the deep structures does not mean they do not exist. We should be looking for these deep structures, principles and commonalities that make visual language such an effective mode of thinking and communicating.
I want to add that do believe that Christina and I are, broadly speaking, on the same page. We are friends and colleagues, and part of the same movement, along with Ed Emberly, David Sibbet, Dan Roam, Sunni Brown, Mike Rohde, Austin Kleon, and many others. We agree far more than we disagree.
Visual language is a powerful tool for exploring, understanding, and communicating complex ideas. It should be a standard, not only in education, but in all fields, including business, government, and academia.
Dave Gray is the founder of XPLANE and author of three books: Gamestorming, The Connected Company, and Liminal Thinking. | https://medium.com/the-xplane-collection/in-defense-of-the-visual-alphabet-a8dcca7cf151 | ['Dave Gray'] | 2017-01-15 17:00:26.530000+00:00 | ['Visual Thinking', 'Design', 'Visualization'] |
Binance Smart Chain now live on Tenderly! | It’s no secret that we love adding support for Blockchain networks that bring value to the whole ecosystem. But I would be lying if I told you I’m not specifically excited for this one!
On December 10th, we’ve officially added support for the Binance Smart Chain. This launch means that developers on the Binance Smart Chain can now use all Tenderly tooling to boost productivity and increase production confidence tenfold.
The future is Multi-Chain
Since the beginning, we’ve been strong supporters of multiple Blockchains working together to dethrone traditional financial and centralized systems. This vision is why we’ve been adding support for Blockchains that subscribe to this idea: xDAI, Matic, and others.
In February of 2019, we saw that Binance was launching the testnet for their Binance Chain. We instantly started researching to see what it would take for Tenderly to support this endeavor. At that time, it didn’t make sense to bring our Smart Contract tooling to the Binance Chain, as there was no Smart Contract support.
Fast forward to September of 2020, and we were ecstatic to see Binance Launching the Binance Smart Chain. We instantly jumped onto Telegram and pinged Flora Sun, who we’ve met at the ETHParis Hackathon. Things immediately clicked for both sides, and we were off to the races!
Binance X
Flora told us that Binance would love to support us in bringing Tenderly to the BSC Developer community. That’s where Binance X comes into the picture.
Binance X is an initiative to foster innovation on the Binance platform and the general ecosystem at large.
So far, we got a lot of support from the Binance X team, and it’s been very rewarding working with them on bringing the best in class tooling over to the Binance Smart Chain.
So welcome everyone, nice to meet you 👋
Hello BSC friends! It’s very nice to meet you all!
Tenderly boasts quite a feature set, but getting started is easy. Let’s see a couple of ways how Tenderly can help you out!
Debugging Transactions
Human-Readable Stack-Traces
Debugging transactions in Tenderly is as easy as pasting the hash into the search bar. Here’s the link to the transaction you can see above. At a glance, you can see what went wrong. You can dive even further down the rabbit hole by clicking on the Debug Error link.
Input, Output and State variables are decoded automagically for you
Alerting
An example Tenderly notification in Slack
Once you receive a real-time alert from Tenderly, you’ll start wondering why you ever kept refreshing a transactions page on the Binance Smart Chain Explorer.
You can choose from a lot, and I mean a lot of different alert types in Tenderly. And the best thing is, we’re always adding new ones!
Not only that, you can configure each of the alert types. This flexibility means you receive notifications only for the things that matter to you.
For example, we can get an alert if the state of a Smart Contract changes
And the icing on the cake? Tenderly supports multiple destinations, so you can pick where to receive notifications.
E-Mail, Slack, Telegram, Discord, Sentry, PagerDuty and more coming soon!
So much more
There is much more to Tenderly. A link that we love to share a link with newcomers is the 10 ways to save time during Blockchain development by using Tenderly article. It’s a great place to start!
Moving forward
This article is just the first in the series that will help you bring your Binance Smart Chain to a whole new level!
So what are you waiting for? Go to Tenderly and start monitoring now!
Thanks for staying with me until the end of this article. As always, you can reach us on Discord or over at [email protected]. Talk to you soon! | https://medium.com/tenderly/binance-smart-chain-now-live-on-tenderly-1d6bae46daed | ['Bogdan Habic'] | 2021-01-22 12:03:01.623000+00:00 | ['Smart Contracts', 'Ethereum', 'Blockchain', 'Solidity', 'Binance'] |
Durians Daily #108: Malaysia’s on-demand work platform GoGet secures US$2 million in new funding round; Doyobi founder shares why change in education can’t happen alone; HelloGold selected for pilot p | Missed out the last Durians Daily? Go here to check it out.
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This post is intended solely for general informational or educational purposes only. 500 Startups Management Company, L.L.C. and its affiliates (collectively “500 Startups”) makes no representation as to the accuracy or information in this post and while reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that the information herein is accurate and up-to-date, no liability can be accepted for any error or omissions. All third party links in this post have not been independently verified by 500 Startups and the inclusion of such links should not be interpreted as an endorsement or confirmation of the content within. Information about portfolio companies’ markets, competitors, performance, and fundraising has been provided by those companies’ founders and has not been independently verified. Under no circumstances should any content in this post be construed as investment, legal, tax or accounting advice by 500 Startups, or an offer to provide any investment advisory service with regard to securities by 500 Startups. No content or information in this post should be construed as an offer to sell or solicitation of interest to purchase any securities advised by 500 Startups. Prospective investors considering an investment into any 500 Startups fund should not consider or construe this content as fund marketing material. The views expressed herein are as at the date of this post and are subject to change without notice. One or more 500 Startups fund may have a financial interest in one or more of the companies discussed. | https://medium.com/500-durians/durians-daily-108-malaysias-on-demand-work-platform-goget-secures-us-2-million-in-new-funding-86c7ccc5339d | ['Southeast Asia'] | 2020-10-13 08:19:32.408000+00:00 | ['Edtech', 'Funding', 'Series A', 'Gig Economy', 'Fintech'] |
NHL vs NBA: Why do underdogs do better in hockey? | As a primer to this article, please take a look at this video which inspired me to create this article! Also, the code can be found on GitHub.
In the last 30 years, the NBA title has been successfully defended 12 times, while the NHL title only 3 times during the same period. Why is this the case? Why do underdogs do better in hockey than in basketball?
If you watched the youtube video that was linked above, you will know that the reason is because hockey is a sport that relies more on luck than basketball does. But, how do we quantify the amount of luck and skill in a sport?
To answer this question, let us first assume that basketball is a game of pure chance. That is, in any given match, either team has an equal chance of winning, a 50/50 split. If such a scenario is true, then how many games can we expect a single team to win in a series of 82 games? This question can be modeled by a binomial probability distribution such that the probability of winning a single match is 50% and the number of trails is 82 (total number of games played by a single team in both a NBA and NHL season). The histogram below shows the results of a simulation of 5 seasons worth of data (30 teams x 5 seasons = 150 data points).
Sample distribution of a basketball season if the game was all luck.
Now that we have a good sense of the outcome of a purely luck-based sport. Let us do the opposite and look at the outcome of a purely skill-based sport. That is, a team that is deemed more skillful than the other will win 100% of the time. To do this we impose an artificial ranking to each team in the NBA and have them play against each other based on the official NBA schedule taken from historic data. In such a scenario, we would expect the distribution of total wins to be uniform. That is, the same number of teams would have a 72–10 records as teams with 10 - 72. Once again, we simulate the results for 5 seasons and present the histogram below.
Sample distribution of a basketball season if the game was all skill.
From the histogram, we can see that our expectations are a little off. There is a clear difference in the number of teams with a record of 72–10 than those with 10–72. This difference is due to the NBA scheduling differences from season to season since every team does not play with each other the same number of times each season. However, we do see that the general result is flatter than the pure chance simulation in which there was a bell-shaped curve around the mean of 41 games.
The real question is how does the real data of NBA/NHL distribution compare to these hypothetical ones? Below we will show the resulting plot of overlapping all three scenarios: pure luck, pure skill and real data for both the NBA and NHL data. For clarity sake, I will remove the bars from the plot just to remove some clutter and will only show the probability distribution estimate.
NBA vs NHL distribution of real data vs all skill vs all luck.
From the two graphs presented above, we can definitely see a difference between NBA and NHL data. The NBA distribution is flatter and looks like it tends towards the pure skill distribution while the opposite is true for the NHL data. In other words, hockey is a sport that has more luck involved because the overall distribution of the actual data is more similar to the pure chance simulation. Meanwhile, the opposite is true for basketball.
We can take this one step further and estimate the amount of luck-skill contribution to each sport by running another simulation. For example, let us say that basketball is a sport made up of 40% luck and 60% skill, then we can say that 40% of the time, the winner of a match can be decided by a coin flip, while the other 60% of the time, the team with more skill wins. We simulate this scenario with different percentages of luck vs skill and show the results below.
NBA distributions at varying simulations of luck-skill breakdown
Seems like the plot with luck set at 60% matches the distribution of the real data pretty well. After some more iterations, I determined the most optimal luck-to-skill breakdown for the game of basketball to be 55% luck and 45% skill. Here is the resulting graph below.
I verified this to be the best split by performing the Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness of fit test and obtained a p-value of 0.89. Meaning there is an 89% chance that the two histograms come from the same underlying distribution.
The same analysis was performed on the NHL data, which resulted in an optimized luck-to-skill breakdown of 75% luck and 25% skill (with a p-value of 0.70). You can see the results of the simulation below.
What changes could the NBA implement that might be most effective at leveling the playing field?
The short answer to this question is: the NBA should change their playoff series from a best-of- 7 to a best-of-1 format.
To answer this question in more detail, I simulate a series of NBA playoff seasons. Each playoff season has 13 series and each series is decided in a best-of-x format. I consider it one upset when an underdog team is able to win a series and advances in the playoff bracket. Therefore, in a single playoff season, the maximum number of upsets is 13. Using this simulation format and our previously defined basketball luck-to-skill breakdown of 55% luck and 45% luck, I present the histogram of the number of upsets in a single playoff season below.
As you can see, as the ‘best-of’ number goes down, the mean skews more and more to the right. This indicates that the probability of more upsets increases as the number in the ‘best-of’ series goes down.
To understand which number in a ‘best-of’ series to choose such that It mimics the results of NHL, we simply compare the two histograms. The results show that an NBA best-of-1 series would most closely mimic an NHL best-of-7 series in terms of the number of underdog upsets per playoff season.
In conclusion, I demonstrated that the reason NHL underdogs do better than NBA underdogs is because hockey is a luckier sport than basketball. An in-depth statistical analysis shows that hockey has a luck-to-skill makeup of 75% to 25%, while basketball has a luck-to-skill makeup of 55% to 45%. In order to even the playing field for NBA underdogs, I suggest the NBA change their best-of-7 playoff series format to a best-of-1, similar to how the NFL does it.
REFERENCES
Luck and NFL Outcomes by Brian Burke
NHL Dataset
NBA Dataset | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/nhl-vs-nba-why-do-underdogs-do-better-in-hockey-68e594946fad | ['Freeman Mak'] | 2020-02-21 06:36:31.230000+00:00 | ['Statistics', 'Data Visualization', 'Sports Analytics', 'Data Science'] |
What Conservation Efforts Miss: Indigenous Knowledges and Lessons from 2020 | “The natural world, therefore, is not one of wonder, but of familiarity. The human niche is only one of a myriad of united niches that work together to continue the process of iwigara” (Enrique Salmón)
Photo by Lindsey Smaka — Edina High School students in the Indigenous Sani community, Ecuador
Enrique Salmón, a Rarámuri ecologist, explains that among his people, iwigara refers to viewing humans as an intricate part of the ecosystem and nature as our kin. He calls this kincentric ecology.
Among the Rarámuri of Mexico, who have lived in an exceptionally ecologically diverse environment for thousands of years, conservation is critical. Countless endemic species — species that are only found in one specific geographic area — exist here. Yet, as Indigenous populations continue to be pushed off their land for various reasons or the very lands themselves become threatened, their abilities to care for their lands are diminished. While conservationists from other places may come in with goals of preserving the land, what of the land’s original stewards, the Indigenous people?
When battling environmental problems and climate change, there are many factors to consider. For example, on the technical side, the Podcast Threshold — Impermafrost — explores predicting and calculating the emissions of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere requires considering the thawing of permafrost and the resulting release of carbon dioxide. However, we need to move beyond the idea that science is purely technical and start realizing that a human factor is involved. Humans and the natural world are simultaneously coexisting on this planet and significantly affecting one another. In this coexistence framework, one of the most important factors is the role that Indigenous communities play in conservation. Threshold also explores the Indigenous communities who are at the center of this climate change. In the episode Things I Can See on the Mountains, host Amy Martin visits the Aleksandersens, an indigenous Sámi reindeer herding family in northern Norway. The Norwegian government grants herding land permits to Sámi and are hard to come by. So when a permit came up, the Aleksandersens moved away from their families to a new part of Norway to pursue and preserve reindeer herding. Not long after, the government decided to put wind turbines on this very same land to help combat climate change. The mother of the family, Risten Turi Aleksandersen, states ”First they have build the big cities and taken the land from the Sámis like that. And then when they have this problem with the climate change and the pollution and so, then they need to solve that problem. And the way they do it is they take even more land from the Sámis, and other indigenous people as well”.
Climate change aside, 2020 has also shown us what can happen when the human world takes advantage of the natural world. COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease, and it is believed that human encroachment on animals’ habitat is what caused transmission to occur (UNEP, 2020). These developments provoke questions — have we always encroached? Why? Is there a better way? And suppose we had followed Indigenous knowledge systems that consider ecological balances from the start, would we be in this pandemic now? Perhaps 2020 is yet another reminder that science education and conservation need to learn from this mistake, do a better job of listening to Indigenous knowledge systems, and expand beyond niche academic or popular conservation social media campaigns.
From the Forests of Wisconsin to the Jungles of Ecuador
Growing up in rural Wisconsin, I had a zest for nature. I spent hours playing outside in the woods, collecting frogs, and making forts. I recall times when my classmates and I would learn about Native Americans and how they “lived off the land,” but my exposure was minimal. Looking back today, despite those knowledge gaps, I relate to what little we learned about Indigenous peoples in relation with nature to how I grew up because nature was an integral part of my life and my culture in rural Wisconsin.
I had a zest for travel but had minimal opportunities growing up. Later, I was able to participate in an exchange in Germany, which started my intercultural and international journey. I attended the University of Minnesota — even though — any school farther than Wisconsin seemed unimaginable at the time. After receiving my Chemistry and German Studies degrees, I became a high school chemistry teacher in a suburb of Minneapolis. In this time, I had put my zest for the connections between nature and international studies on the back burner, through becoming a mother and starting my career.
In 2015, after my mother’s unexpected passing, I found myself viewing life differently. I wanted to expand my horizons professionally and personally, and I came across an opportunity from a conservation research organization, Operation Wallacea, to travel with students and perform conservation research. While scared, I decided to go for it and organized an expedition, allowing me to combine my passion for teaching and the outdoors. After mustering up my courage and with a lot of support from my colleagues, I took my first group of high school students to South Africa.
What I experienced in South Africa made me realize that I have been living off a “single story” for most of my life. I distinctly remember one lecture where my students and I debated big game hunting and poaching. I was struck with a completely different viewpoint of poaching. I had never contemplated the root cause of why people would poach animals instead of judging people as terrible. What I learned is that people poach because of their socioeconomic demands, and because land-stripping and reductions have led to human-wildlife conflict.
In later years, I went on to take students to Fiji and Ecuador, and we stayed in or visited Indigenous communities. I saw students engaging with and learning from Indigenous peoples. In Ecuador, students saw firsthand how their own personal use of oil impacts this village deep in the Amazon rainforest. While these kinds of programs are viewed in a number of different ways — as voluntourism and at risk for fomenting “white saviour” tendencies, I do maintain that our goals were not to stay at nice resorts and gain a tourist’s perspective. Instead, we were interested in forming relationships with communities, and students were fully immersed in the day-to-day life, often returning to the U.S. with new perspectives and viewpoints on life and conservation.
After these experiences, I worked to change how I teach content in my own science classes. Being in a track of hard sciences for most of my life, I witnessed and subscribed to the silos that tend to emerge in academics. As a science teacher, it was always an unspoken rule that I had no place bringing social issues into my classroom. I had to teach only the content, practice the math and build chemists out of the students. However, science and specifically chemistry is a social construct. It has been developed, primarily from white males, over hundreds of years. With every standard I teach, I strive to bring in a global issue of some sort. I have taught gas laws through the lens of scuba diving, deep sea fishing and ocean conservation. I have taught stoichiometry by calculating carbon emissions from forest destruction. The next way I seek to transform my curriculum is to include traditional ecological knowledge.
Colonization, Conservation, and Indigenous Peoples
Despite widespread positive efforts undertaken by conservation, this approach to thinking about and working with nature has historically negatively impacted Indigenous communities, and it is important to ask what residues of these enactments still exist today. No matter its good intentions, science and conservation are linked with colonization, and there is no doubt that colonization had devastating impacts on Indigenous peoples across the globe. Even post liberation as colonies, Indigenous peoples living on their traditional territories in many places still struggle to maintain their knowledge systems. Moreover, modern forms of colonization through narratives of modernity come in the form of government initiatives, foreign aid, and conservation efforts and conservation scientists themselves. As Tsalagi scholar Jeff Corntassel states, “…contemporary colonization continues to disrupt Indigenous relationships with their homelands, cultures, and communities.” What we must remember is that these initiatives are rooted in western ideologies and existing colonial institutions, some with the best of intentions and that are still directly harmful to Indigenous communities.
The Podcast “Threshold”, episode Invisible Hands, explores the island of Shishmaref, a home to Indigenous Alaskans at the forefront of climate change. The island is slowly eroding into the sea, forcing Iñupiaq people to abandon their homes and move to the mainland. But this is a complicated history — When Christians colonized Alaska, they forced the semi-nomadic Iñupiaq to settle on this island instead of continuing to move according to the season, and continuing to cultivate their best survival skills. Kelly Eningowuk grew up in Shishmaref, but she lives in Anchorage now. She’s the executive director of the Inuit Circumpolar Council in Alaska, an organization that works to promote and protect indigenous rights in the Arctic. She states, “I’ve heard something to the effect of, ‘These dumb Eskimos, why did they, why did they build their community on a barrier island?’ The fact of the matter is because the church and the Bureau of Indian Affairs school was built. So I think that’s a major misconception”. Conservationists and the government are now trying to come in and fix a problem that they themselves had created for the Iñupiaq people.
Among the lower 48 States, we can also observe another classic form of conservation — America’s first National Park, Yellowstone. Today’s Yellowstone National Park sits on many different tribal nation territories. In establishing this land as a National Park, environmentalists celebrated while the government slowly but surely pushed Indians out of this territory. People were displaced, their hunting was banned. Indigenous researcher and activist, Dina Gilio-Whitaker in her Time article, the “lingering result of the Yellowstone story is that coded within the language of preservation, ‘wilderness’ landscapes — always already in need of protection — are, or should be, free from human presence. But this logic completely evades the fact of ancient Indigenous habitation and cultural use of such places”.
Growing up in rural Wisconsin, I had always dreamed of National Parks. They were a sanctuary for nature and a way to preserve our land. It was not until I visited the Indigenous community of Sani Isla in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon, that I learned from Sophia Wood (of Operation Wallacea), that Ecuador’s National Parks were a more recent phenomenon. These parks were carefully curated and only certain areas were selected for “protection”. Regions that are resource rich, were instead opened up to development. Perhaps similar to what happened in the U.S. so many years ago, Indigenous communities were today being pushed out. This was a jarring realization — maybe National Parks are not the Holy Grail of conservation, perhaps we need to rethink their intentions, processes, and impacts, perhaps we need to think carefully about how we live outside of the frames of these spaces.
This is an old story: as Indigenous people are pushed off their lands, they struggle. When Indigenous peoples are displaced, they become refugees in their own lands. Thus the very idea of conservation needs to be revisited as Indigenous traditional land use may be questionable — so what is there to “conserve” and why? As investigative historian and journalist Mark Dowie, writes in Conservation Refugees, “…tribal peoples like the Maasai who have seen their lands plundered for two hundred years by foreign colonizers, do regard conservationists as just another colonizer, an extension of the deadening forces of economic and cultural hegemony. Nor should conservationists be surprised to find central African communities associating plans to protect biodiversity with forced expulsion.”
Rethinking American Science Education
As I plan the next expedition with students in 2021, it is an important realization that Operation Wallacea is a colonial entity reflecting non-Indigenous scientific enterprises. 2020 has not only brought the pandemic, but also social and racial issues to the forefront. This year I have concentrated on recognizing my white privilege and have been educating myself. What I wish to do with my expeditions moving forward is to intervene in the narrative of Opwall being a modern colonial enterprise and instead focus on a mutual exchange between the students and the people we visit. The original intent of the organization was environmental, we need to remember that the lands in which this scientific work is being done belong to the original stewards.
As students engage in conservation, it is crucial to recognize that they are not superior to Indigenous people also working toward protection and care of the natural world. Formal science education brings valuable knowledge, but it is equally important for Indigenous Knowledge Systems to be sustained and respected, allowed to heal and cultivate and be cultivated, and while providing equitable opportunities for Native students to engage science methodologies and doing so critically. As Ray Barnhardt and Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley state, “…many Indigenous and non-Indigenous people have begun to recognize the limitations of a monocultural education system… the relationship between Indigenous ways of knowing and those associated with Western society and formal education. Our challenge now is to devise a system of education for all people that respect the epistemological and pedagogical foundations by Indigenous as well as Western cultural traditions”. Indigenous communities have cared for and lived on these lands for millennia, and it has taken colonization and our current ravenous consumption lifestyle for the environment started to fall apart. As conservationists become more aware of the critical role that Indigenous and local communities play in our collective efforts, traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge is a centerpiece of a restorative relationship. It is also important to think about how exchanges such as these are beneficial to the indigenous community. As conservation-indigenous partnerships form, Indigenous communities may gain a voice in their own government or a place in the global economy. It is important that this is something that the community wishes to gain.
Miya Nadya Tom, Elizabeth Sumida Huaman, and Teresa L. McCarty highlight the meaning of the word “Indigenous” in their editorial. As they point out, the UN identifies an Indigenous person as one who “resolves to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems as distinctive peoples and communities” and therefore “sustainability characterises Indigeneity”. We can think of self-determining Indigenous peoples as the original stewards of the environment. They are the original sustainably living societies. Western science strives to research and accomplishes living sustainably, but perhaps we can instead look to Indigenous people who have been doing just that for millennia.
An example of these indigenous knowledge systems that could contribute to science comes from Enrique Salmón’s kincentric ecology. Western farming has developed best land management practices over hundreds of years, including things like covering crops, reduced tillage, and crop rotation. Salmón speaks about how horticultural and agricultural techniques have been developed over centuries. He observed a Rarámuri elder collect a medicinal plant, trekking through the forest passing plant after plant until he found an abundance of them. “He suggested that the iwigara in these low-population areas is “weak” and must, therefore, be allowed to be strengthened before the plants there are of any use. In further conversation, he explained that collecting the plants in the rincon was good because thinning them out actually helps the iwigara in the other plants to strengthen.” Listening to indigenous communities and learning from these practices developed over millennia is an important part of the relationship conservations need to form with Indigenous communities. Finding a place for Indigenous peoples in the field of science is equally as important.
Lessons from 2020
2020 has been one of the most important years in history. Not only for society but also for myself. I am an explorer at heart and greatly miss travel. However, this year I have also grounded myself and learned so much. I think back to my childhood of running through the woods, and although I did not grow up as an Indigenous person, I believe I understand this quote from Māori educator Wally Penetito: “I come from a little place in the middle of nowhere, the ‘wopwops’, the ‘boondocks’, the ‘never-nevers’ but to me it is the centre of the universe.” Ringle, Wisconsin was the center of my universe. We even called it the boondocks as well. As I grew up I started to explore the world, visit “exotic” places, and immerse myself in new cultures. This year has taught me that these new places I explore are the center of someone else’s universe. I know my hometown of Ringle inside and out. I can tell you exactly where the fallen tree was that we used as the center of our make-believe skits. I know where the best place by the pond is to collect frogs. If someone were to visit my hometown of Ringle, Wisconsin, and push for change without working with me or my neighbors first, I would be angry.
As students visit, venture, and explore the world, I want them to learn from the conservation scientists on-site and the Indigenous communities. They will learn how to do this from the people who have lived in that particular environment for thousands of years. Students will take this knowledge and apply it to their western science education to find new and creative ways to move conservation forward inclusively with Indigenous Peoples.
It is also important to think about the science of the pandemic moving forward. With my education in the hard sciences, I was told that science can’t lie. We have been trained as Americans that science is infallible. Yes, numbers do not lie. However, I have recently accepted that the interpretation of those numbers is still left up to humans — humans with biases and different worldviews and perspectives on life. I thought about this recently as I taught the development of the atom to my chemistry students. First, scientists thought the atom was just a solid sphere. Then it morphed into a pudding-like model and as electrons were discovered the atom morphed into a planetary model and now it sits at a model that is very different from the initial solid sphere. Science does this — scientists change and morph theories over time as new knowledge is gained. So we cannot say that science is completely infallible. As the American Indian social critic, Vine Deloria Jr. states, “Like any other group of priests and politicians, however, scientists lie and fudge their conclusions as much as the most distrusted professions in our society… Charles Darwin liberally borrowed the ideas of Alfred Wallace to become the father of evolution”. While we navigate a vaccine and a cure for this pandemic we must also realize that this type of pandemic can very well happen again. The issue of climate change is not going away. As conservationists and society tackle this issue, it is important to start supporting Indigenous Knowledge Systems, learn from them and include Indigenous voices moving forward.
Lindsey Smaka, Doctoral Student, Comparative and International Development Education
University of Minnesota, November 2020 | https://medium.com/@lindsey.smaka/what-conservation-efforts-miss-indigenous-knowledges-and-lessons-from-2020-acd8cce1a63 | ['Lindsey Smaka'] | 2020-12-15 01:47:14.493000+00:00 | ['Indigenous People', 'Science Education', 'Indigenous Knowledge', 'Conservation', 'International'] |
Data Design: Inspiration vs Information | Photo by Franki Chamaki on Unsplash
There are so many articles, books, and other resources online that will tell you the hard and fast rules of how to design a great dashboard or data visualization. Many of them will tell you exactly what to do, and what not to do. This is great until you get to the end of your read and realize this was only one person’s opinion. Often a well-educated and researched opinion, but an opinion none-the-less.
So, if all the rules are made up, how do you create an unmistakably great data visualization?
It depends.
That’s why you have to do research, and find other visualizations that inspire you. Emulate the things you love, and avoid the things you don’t. Compare your favorites with each other to find your perfect approach. This is the exact reason there are so many design inspiration websites online for presentations, logos, you name it.
In this series of articles, I’m going to be highlighting and comparing data visualizations that I like while explaining what has made them stand out to me. You might not agree with my opinions and what I like. That’s ok. My goal is to share with you visualizations and dashboards that have moved me in hopes that you will also be inspired. Then you can go off and create a new data visualization that inspires me. Really, it’s selfish.
So let’s get started:
I often peruse the Data is Beautiful subreddit. It’s a popular forum (almost 14 million subscribers) filled with a wide array of data visualizations about everything under the sun.
That’s where I found this quick video visualizing the world’s population density from 10,000 B.C. to 2016 AD posted by u/neilrkaye.
What do I like about this visualization?
It’s powerful and easy to understand. You can see the world’s population and population density grow by watching the earth light up. The world map slowly shifts from darkness to a pop of red in 200 A.D. with no sign of slowing. Different areas of the map shift from bright red back into darkness (i.e. Mexico from 1500 and 1600), signaling that population dropped in that area. We’re left guessing the historical significance, but also get to witness the power of human resilience as the map turns a more obvious and brighter red.
What purpose does this visualization serve?
It’s eye candy. It’s inspiring. It looks interesting, but it doesn’t give us any context into why populations in certain areas are going up and down. It just simply shows that they are. This is really cool on its own, but generally not very useful if you’re looking to understand more than just the simple fact that earth’s population has skyrocketed in the past few thousand years. This is what the data artist intended as written in the author citations, “This purposely does not have a legend as I didn’t think it would help in an animation and would distract from the animation.”
u/neilrkaye was focused on a visually appealing animation rather than an informational one. Striking a balance between beauty and information is a hard-earned skill. Data artists have to decide what they want the person viewing their visualization to take away, and make sacrifices on information and design accordingly. This artist decided to take a design first approach.
With full credit due to the inspiration from this video, I wanted more context. I wasn’t the only one.
Reddit user zomunieo commented, “I think it would be helpful for it to slow down and highlight some key events: fall of Rome, Black Death, Genghis Khan, Thirty Years War, germ theory, the World Wars, dwarf rice.” To which many agreed, and another user (u/hamderab) responded, “like this one?” and mic dropped this amazing YouTube video from the American Museum of Natural History:
It has a lot more context. Granted, it’s a full 6 minutes longer than u/neilrkaye’s visualization. This video includes a timeline, some music to set the mood, and educates you along the way with text and icons signifying important events.
It’s a more complete visualization.
However, it serves a different purpose.
If I wanted to quickly show how fast the earth’s population has grown in the past few thousand years using one data visualization alone then I’d without a doubt use u/neilrkaye’s. It’s inspirational. However, if I wanted to show any solid historical context around that data, and glean anything from it other than population has mostly gone up over 10,000 years then I’d have to go with the American Museum of Natural History’s video.
So, what’s the point in showing you these two visualizations side to side?
Assuming you already have the dataset you want to visualize handy, data artists and dashboard designers alike have to know what and where to sacrifice. When I’m designing dashboards on Initial State I always ask myself these core questions:
What am I trying to communicate with this visualization? What information needs to be highlighted? What information needs to be left out?
Before you start working on your infographics, IoT dashboards or other data visualizations start by asking yourself what you want the viewer to gain.
Do you want your viewer to be more inspired or more informed? I believe great visualizations find a powerful middle ground.
Once you make a choice as to how you want to display your data, you can compare your thoughts to the differences between the two visualizations above and ask yourself: Is this inspiring, informative, or both? | https://medium.com/initial-state/data-design-inspiration-vs-information-6b1177f4263d | ['Jeffrey Loucks'] | 2019-11-08 18:31:37.374000+00:00 | ['Design Thinking', 'Design', 'Data Visualization', 'Data Science', 'Data'] |
What the heck is Asynchronous Non-blocking I/O !!! | What to expect from this article
This article covers the basics of asynchronous non-blocking I/O and how it is beneficial for applications which need to cater to large number of concurrent requests in a cost effective manner.
Back in the day
Sometime ago when the number of consumers of a service were relatively less, a system built using a language which supported a thread per request model was sufficient to meet the throughput requirements. But as the volume started to increase over the years and almost what exponentially!!! this model of request execution could only scale so much to the requirements in terms of the number of concurrent requests it could handle, beyond which the only way forward was to scale out horizontally by adding more hardware instances of the same service to be able to cope with the load which was an expensive solution.
Thread per request Model
Before we move ahead with Asynchronous Non-blocking I/O lets dig a little deeper into what a thread per request or a thread per connection model is. A thread per request model is one in which a single thread is coupled to the lifecycle of a request. In such a scenario the thread goes into a blocked state as soon as the request starts to perform an I/O operation and is ready for execution once the I/O operation completes.
This approach has two drawbacks.
Since the majority of the time of a request is spent in performing an I/O operation, the thread spends most of the time in a blocked state during the request life-cycle, which reduces the thread efficiency because it cannot do anything else till the I/O operation completes. There starts to be a trade-off between the number of threads that we would want to have in the thread-pool which can handle an appreciable number of concurrent requests and also not pin down the CPU because of the overhead added because of the context switches.
Both 1 and 2 indicate that the CPU remains under-utilised during the whole process because they introduce bottlenecks in the form of thread blocking which requires an application to have more number of threads initialised to handle higher number of requests which also introduces the overhead of context switches.
Behaviour of a blocked thread
Just to give a feel, imagine a piece of code for the UI which blocks the thread on an I/O operation which takes a few seconds to complete. The entire UI would just freeze and become unresponsive because the thread has been blocked by design.
Async Non-Blocking I/O
The efficiency of a thread is maximised when it spends majority of the time running on a CPU.
Asynchronous non-blocking I/O takes advantage of exactly the same fact. An async non-blocking I/O is implemented in such a way that the application thread is returned to the thread-pool instead of being blocked on the request, which lets the thread serve new requests waiting in the request queue and start processing them on the CPU. No single thread thread in the thread-pool is tied to a request. Once the I/O operation completes, one of the threads from the thread-pool can be handed the job of carrying the task further.
Flow of Execution of Async Non-Blocking I/O
One interesting point to notice here is that no single thread is tied to the request life-cycle. In order to maintain all relevant information about the execution of the request, for example: the call stack till the point of an I/O operation, the context of execution of the request is captured and saved in the form of a state machine before it is handed over to a non-application thread for carrying out the I/O. Once the I/O operation completes and the task is assigned to a thread from the application thread-pool, the execution picks up from the point right after the network call.
Advantages of Async Non-Blocking I/O
As we can see, this model of request execution decouples the application thread-pool threads from the I/O operations, providing us with two important advantages
Allowing for more efficient use of the request threads and an improved utilisation of the CPU, by maximising the thread CPU time of every thread. Minimised number of threads required to serve higher number of concurrent requests, reducing the overall context switching overhead.
When to use Async Non-Blocking I/O?
From a UI standpoint, we would want to provide the users with a seamless experience and hence async non-blocking I/O is an ideal choice. Javascript is an asynchronous programming language which supports non-blocking I/O under the hood. From a backend service standpoint, if we have to build a high throughput system which is I/O intensive in nature, this would be an ideal choice as this model of request execution provides better CPU utilisation thus reducing the overall hardware requirements. C#, Node.js supports async non-blocking I/O out of the box.
When can it not be a value add?
We will not be able to see much of a difference or in fact hardly any difference when our applications are CPU intensive, because in such cases the threads would spend most of the time on the CPU providing little to no benefit when it comes to using Async non-blocking I/O.
Personal Experience with Async non-blocking I/O
While working on a very high throughput IO intensive service at Microsoft, we figured that it was not able to handle around 260k requests per minute with 75 instances of the service running. On looking at the codebase we managed to figure that the I/O calls were all blocking calls which caused a very high increase in the number of thread-pool threads spawned to serve the requests (a behaviour which causes a new thread to be spawned in the application thread-pool as soon as a the windows OS indicates that a thread has entered into a blocked state), ultimately pinning down the CPU over context switches.
Once the code was fixed by converting all such blocking calls to non-blocking ones, we started seeing almost 10x improvement in throughput. On further tweaking of the application threads and dedicated OS threads we managed to finally achieve an 18x improvement in throughput by serving 250k requests per minute with only 5 instances of the service!! And more so, the performance has been consistent while having to handle more than 400K rps of peak traffic. | https://medium.com/@nayanava.de01/what-the-heck-is-asynchronous-non-blocking-i-o-1161e83235f9 | ['Nayanava De'] | 2021-07-31 05:44:47.776000+00:00 | ['Java', 'Scalability', 'Asynchronous', 'Software Development', 'Backend'] |
Tips to be an effective Scrum Master | Effective Scrum Master
Do you want to be an effective Scrum Master? I am sharing some do’s and don’ts which you must keep in mind while playing the role of the Scrum Master. Let’s dive into it quickly.
The scrum master is the one who upholds the scrum understanding in the team and practices agility. They ensure the Scrum team is effectively developing products by the following empiricism. Coaching, teaching, mentoring, and facilitation are useful tools for the Scrum Master. They are making sure that every team member must understand the product goal and purpose of developing the product. The scrum master plays a crucial role within the Scrum Framework, from devising Scrum to facilitating scrum meetings. Moreover, it also ensures that the team must work at full productivity.
1. You’re not a Project Manager: No doubt, scrum masters are known for their eagle eyes as they have to observe the scrum team to identify dysfunctions and work on those. They are responsible for checking with those members whether they are doing the tasks or stuck due to impediments. The Scrum Master should not be confusing with the role of Project Manager. The scrum master’s role is to take a different perspective from the team members and don’t directly work as a taskmaster. They don’t direct the team, collect status, compile reports, and share it with the stakeholders. They focus on enabling transparency and help the team practice empiricism.
2. Don’t be a Sole Decision Maker: Taking all the decisions yourself indeed gets you in trouble! Rather than coming up with conclusions all by yourself, I advised listening to others’ views will help you get results. The scrum master must form a self-managed team and not making them dependent on the Scrum Master. Individually within the team can produce wonderful results, but collectively they do better always. Their opinion carries a lot more weight in the organization over the individual decision made by the Scrum Master.
3. Don’t be an Investigator: Continuously peeping into someone can be a bit annoying. Frequently keeping an eye on your scrum team can be a sin. Doing this degrades the position of scrum master. Giving the members their personal space to act to think will make them more efficient and independent as it can ruin relations and provide the scrum master the name of a lousy leader. So one should avoid checking up frequently. Avoiding this will result in better productivity, which is a benefit for both parties.
4. Stop being Biased: Scrum Masters should not take any specific scrum team member's side. Scrum masters are known for being a facilitator in resolving conflict. They called “FACILITATOR.” At the time of any conflict, the scrum master should facilitate a conflict resolution meeting to identify the loophole or root cause of resolving the problem. It makes the scrum master a good leader.
5. Stop being Representative: Scrum Masters are not a development team representative, and the development team represents themselves wherever needed. Scrum Masters are also not co-ordinator to co-ordinate dependencies between teams. The development teams should co-ordinate their dependencies.
Below we have listed down the best things the scrum master must do to make the team the fullest and yield the best results.
1. Be a Transparency Enabler: Scrum Master is considered a protector by many, which is a bit exaggerated. Protecting doesn’t mean that Scrum Master protects a team from demanding stakeholders. It is about helping everyone understand how an autonomous team produces a better result and enables transparency so that stakeholders don’t see an urge to reach out to the team asking status, changing requirements, or progress reports. We need to understand the purpose of such a request and address it through transparency. Leveling stakeholders as bad people and the development team fully committed doesn’t help anyone. Other than these scrum masters, they protect the team from complacency as continuous improvement helps produce the best outcome possible. They always make them feel that they still have a lot to learn.
2. Be a Technical Coach: A great scrum master could coach the team on engineering practices. It is not there in the Scrum Guide, and it is ok as Scrum Guide has changed a lot in the last decade to incorporate various other works that get done using Scrum. I always quote Bas Vodde’s blog and Micheal James’s Scrum Master Checklist for the same. I hear many arguments about anyone can become a Scrum Master, and knowing technical practices are not required. But will you be hiring a badminton coach to help your kid in learning tennis? It is ok to take the role of Scrum Master without knowing these engineering practices but try learning those to help your team understand. Scrum Alliance and Scrum.org both have a good training program for the same, so better to attend Certified Scrum Developer or Professional Scrum Developer.
3. Be an Observer: Being a scrum master helps the team learn how to resolve the problems on their own. So, it’s better to give them a chance to resolve the issues by not interrupting them and merely observing them. Being there for the team is good, but overdosing on them with all-time help can be destructive in shaping team members’ outcomes. Observation and judgemental are two different things. Noting observation, sharing how a Scrum Master feels about observation, and sharing it with the team helps understand better about behavior demonstrated by the team.
4. Be a Lean-Agile Practitioner: Change starts with you is a famous line but not easy to practice. We want everyone to be agile except ourselves. We, as Scrum Masters, expected to lead the change by being a role model. We need to embrace agile values and principles and apply system and lean thinking in decision making. Having experience with a few popular frameworks and practices helps in doing the job of a Scrum Master. Don’t limit ourselves to a particular framework and be a lifelong learner.
5. Be a Facilitator: We all hear every day that Scrum Masters are facilitators and facilitate Scrum events and team decisions. How do they facilitate is something that matters more:
We should know the difference between mediation, facilitation, and hosting meetings. They initiate the conversation with open-ended questions rather than leading questions to have fruitful discussion towards decision making. Structure to support dialogue and facilitation. In recent times, the liberating structure has gained popularity as it provides 33 micro-structure to facilitate team decisions.
Don’t delay your decision to be a good Scrum Master and take the 1st step towards it by writing your feedback about the above points or connect with me to have a 1:1 conversation on this. | https://medium.com/agilemania/tips-to-be-an-effective-scrum-master-e5d0eeb4ff01 | ['Naveen Kumar Singh'] | 2021-01-24 15:03:12.044000+00:00 | ['Scrum Master', 'Project Management', 'Product Management', 'Agile', 'Scrum'] |
W1 NFL 2021: Monte Carlo Simulated Scores & Cover Probabilities | Identifying betting value by leveraging fundamentals, data, and simulations to compare our odds to the market.
Value Plays: NFL 2021 Week 1
(1) DET +8.5 (1.5 units)
(2) SF @ DET OVER 46.0 (2U)
(3) WSH Moneyline -125 (1U)
(4) WSH -1.5 (1U)
(5) CAR -3.5 (1U)
(6) IND +3.0 (1U)
(7) MIA +3.5 (1U)
(8) HOU +3.5 (1U)
(9) JAX @ HOU OVER 45.5 (2U)
(10) HOU ML +135 (1U)
(11) PIT @ BUF OVER 48.0 (0.5U)
(12) DEN @ NYG OVER 41.5 (0.5U)
How to interpret the ISW’s Tables
p (win) = Implied win probability per team based on the results stemming from 10,000 monte carlo simulated games (e.g. NYJ won 5,156 / 10,000 simulated games → NYJ’s p(W) % = 51.6%).
Avg. Score = The average (projected) score per team derived from 10,000 simulated games.
Spread = The average point differential between the two average scores.
Avg. Total vs. Market = The average total is equal to the the sum of each team’s average projected scores. The market is what ESPN’s quoted total (‘over /under’) is.
Market Spread = The current line or spread per ESPN’s NFL Daily Lines.
p (cover) % = Estimated likelihood that each team covers the spread given the market spread based on our 10k monte carlo simulations.
p (cover total) % = The likelihood that the total (i.e. the sum of each team’s final scores) goes over ‘O:’ or under ‘U:’ the market total based on 10k monte carlo simulations. | https://medium.com/the-intelligent-sports-wagerer/w1-nfl-2021-monte-carlo-simulated-scores-cover-probabilities-27672a6273af | ['John Culver'] | 2021-09-12 15:08:51.224000+00:00 | ['Sports Betting', 'Predictions', 'NFL', 'Monte Carlo', 'Lean Startup'] |
The impact of fifth-generation warfare in Pakistan | Introduction
The world has dramatically altered since the arrival of the internet. People’s lives have drastically changed as well. Similarly, the way countries used to fight wars has changed too. There has been a dramatic change in the tactics of fighting wars as well. Over the years, the strategies of fighting wars have been altering time and time again. With the advancement in technology, the strategies of wars have been changing as well. Before the advent of technology, countries would fight wars with the assistance of horses and weapons like spears and swords.
The use of spears and swords in war went obsolete after the arrival of guns. Progressively, countries would make advancements to their military capabilities by inventing fearsome and sophisticated machines. Who would have thought that we would be able to move from one part of the world to another through the use of a thing called an airplane? The answer is nobody. These advancements have led to the change in war tactics as well. Countries have started using fifth-generation warfare as a way to tear apart a nation from within.
Fifth-generation warfare
It is a category of warfare through which countries spread fake news about their adversaries to make them look bad in front of the world. The sole purpose of the use of fifth-generation warfare is to weaken an adversary from within. It causes unrest in the affected countries; violence increases. The economy of the country does not progress as a result. When hundreds of bogus websites spread fake news, people start considering all of this bogus information credible as a result.
It significantly affects the minds of the people that reside within such affected countries as well. It is one of the most economical ways of achieving a specific objective as well.
Situation #1
Let’s learn about hybrid warfare from an example. Country A hates Country B. Therefore, country A launches a propaganda war by spreading fake news about country B. It uses televisions, newspapers, the internet, and other mediums to spread hatred about country B. Country A makes thousands of fake websites whose names resemble the names of international websites. Those websites spread fake news on the internet about country B. Country A recommends the people that reside in country B to read such fake articles through the internet; this manipulates the masses.
Everyone has access to the internet these days. Therefore, spreading fake news and manipulating others has become child’s play at this point. Imagine an average citizen of country B comes across such fake and manipulated articles. They would be manipulated if they come across such articles since these articles are meant to manipulate them. He would believe that the news is authentic and credible even though it is not.
Result
When the resident comes across hundreds and thousands of such fake articles and news, they would think of themselves as the evil ones. The residents of such countries start inculcating contempt and irreverence among themselves for their nation as a result. They start hating their nation as they commence believing these news sources or articles credible. Imagine if all of this is executed on a larger scale. Imagine if a country makes thousands of fake websites to break a nation from within.
Imagine if more than one-third of the population of that country comes across such sham articles and news. They would start raising doubts about their country. They would commence hating their countries as a result; this causes a divide among the nation.
Situation #2
Let’s take a look at the fifth-generation warfare from another example. The roles are the same. Country A hates country B. Country A wants to cause a divide among Country B. Therefore, country A pays some money to some militants to assassinate religious scholars of different sects of country B. When those militants assassinate a religious scholar of one sect, the masses from that sect accuse the other one of this heinous act; this causes a divide between the two sects.
Result
Hence, sectarian violence arises as a result. People from either of these sects start implanting hatred for the other sect. All the reverence converts into disdain as a result. They commence causing damage to each other’s ideologies as a result. All of this further divides a country from within. When a country divides, its unity emasculates as a result. The primary purpose of fifth-generation warfare is to emasculate a country from within. It plays a pivotal role in causing instability in the region.
The impact of fifth-generation warfare in Pakistan
There are a plethora of ways to achieve that sole purpose. Now, you might have been wondering how Pakistan gets affected as a result. What I am about to tell you might shock you. Pakistan has been a victim of fifth-generation warfare for more than fifteen years. Yes, you read it correctly! The European Union Disinfo lab shed light on this fact after they unveiled their research to the masses in late 2020. Before moving further, let’s get ourselves acquainted with the European Union Disinfo lab.
It is an independent organization in the European Union that provides ways to suppress the spread of disinformation and propaganda. The researchers say that India was running a fifteen-year long campaign against Pakistan and China. However, after targeting both of these countries for so long, the primary purpose of this campaign dramatically changed to maligning Pakistan. The sole purpose of doing this was to promote anti-Pakistan feelings in Pakistan and among the world.
Here is a link to the European Union’s article on this topic!
India had made 750+ fake media in more than one hundred countries as a result to malign Pakistan. In addition to that, the country had made more than five hundred sham websites that psychologically as well as economically affected Pakistan. It has been devastating to the economy of the country as well. What would an investor think if they come across such fake news about a country they want to invest in? That is right, they would think more than a thousand times before investing in such a country.
this caused irreversible damage to the economy of the country. When a general citizen comes across such fake websites, they would start hating their country as a result; this tramples national cohesion. When two sects, Shia and Sunni, fight, what happens and who benefits the most? Yup, you are correct! It causes unrest in the nation. Sectarian violence increases. Furthermore, violence increases. Some people even get arrested for causing vandalization. The perpetrator benefits the most from all of this unrest and instability.
Conclusion
Our country has been through a lot. It has been through severe terrorism, yet it keeps moving forward. Similarly, the nefarious and heinous intentions of our adversaries would be overcome as well. We will keep moving forward. We are ready for any reckless misadventure our adversary thinks of executing. We will fight till the last drop of our blood. Before concluding the article, I would like to share the founder of Pakistan’s most well-expressed words: There is no power on earth that can undo Pakistan. | https://medium.com/@hailashirali/the-impact-of-fifth-generation-warfare-in-pakistan-fda0466b02e0 | ['Ashir Ali'] | 2021-02-09 12:37:08.332000+00:00 | ['Propaganda', 'Fifth Generation Warfare', 'Pakistan', 'Warfare'] |
An Alternative Action Plan to Avoid the Circularity Trap? | Author: Hanna Helander
In 2015, the European Commission launched “Closing the loop — An EU action plan for the Circular Economy”. It states that the circular economy will create jobs and “help avoid the irreversible damages caused by using up resources at a rate that exceeds the Earth’s capacity”. Sounds like a concept worthwhile pursuing! But how does this magic pill work, and how can we make sure it does not have side effects?
Obviously, the communication from the Commission is a result of political negotiation between stakeholders with a wide range of interests. At the same time, the circular economy has roots in Industrial Ecology concepts about how to design material flows in our industrial societies. By seeing the society as a socio-economic metabolism, we conceptually linked environmental pressures to the abundant circular economy principles (e.g. reuse, recycle and reduce) and identified the necessary changes in material flows to reach the objective of decreased environmental pressures. The idea is rather simple. We looked at the society and all its activities as if it were an organism using materials and other resources from the surrounding environment; we call these input flows to the society. The society also produces output flows; these consist of waste and emissions. Input and output flows comprise the pressures on the environment. Depending on what kind of flow it is, the environment can deal with it to a certain extent. For instance, CO2 would not be a problem if it wasn’t because of the big quantities released; neither would nutrients would they not accumulate in our seas. The same goes for input flows; the consequences of input flows of wood, sand and water all depend on the magnitude of extraction. Fossil-based materials are of course particularly critical. The bottom line is that we need to decrease input and output flows to stay within the earth capacity and thus enable a continuous prospering human population.
The main idea of a circular economy is the circulation and maintenance of resources within the society to decrease input and output flows
So how can the circular economy help us do something about this? The idea is to circulate materials and resources within the societies, and thus replace input flows with secondary materials and at the same time decrease output flows as they are redirected back into the economy. Or, as some researchers stress, we need to prolong the lifetime of products and materials, increase resource efficiency in all possible ways, and share resources to a higher extend to meet our needs with less resource use.
Then we asked how we could assess the circular economy in a way that captures this goal of decreased environmental pressures. We started by investigating what other researchers have suggested for monitoring the circular economy and to what extent their suggestions capture input and output flows. Given that materials cannot disappear nor emerge, we systematically assessed if the indicators carry information about input and output flows. We concluded that most of them do not, or only to a limited extent. The reasons why, for instance, increased recycling rates or resource efficiency do not necessarily result in decreased net environmental pressures are various. For instance, increased resource efficiency may cause rebound-effects resulting in increased production and consumption. An example is from the metal scrap market: if we decrease the metal use in one product, it may result in an increase of this metal in another product due to market dynamics. Likewise, price fluctuations, substitution of materials and other mechanisms can lead to burden shifting. Moreover, recycling most often means downcycling: the materials cannot be used for the same purposes as they are mixed or contaminated with other materials. Even if they could, it is important to keep in mind that as long as the societal stocks are growing, material recovery will never meet the demand for new materials. This would require a stable-stock-economy with 100% recovery without quality loss, a perpetual motion machine that only serves as a theoretical benchmark. Thus, there is no guarantee that recovered materials replace raw material extraction, and in turn decrease the input flows.
The conceptual idea of a circular economy is, however, still worth pursuing. Nevertheless, strategies need to be assessed in terms of environmental pressures. Otherwise we risk falling into the circularity trap: the belief that any activity labelled circular economy will help us stay within planetary boundaries and sustain human life on earth. Therefore, our action plan includes a stronger focus on the environmental objectives of the circular economy. Based on these, we can prioritize between strategies and identify effective points of intervention to decrease input and output flows. To assess which strategies comply with this requirement, consumption-based environmental footprints offer a useful tool, for which system boundaries need to be defined with great care. Only in this way, can we know if circular economy actually “help[s] avoid the irreversible damages caused by using up resources at a rate that exceeds the Earth’s capacity”.
The next step in our action plan is to identify effective points of intervention for the food sector. So stay tuned! | https://medium.com/@circulusresearch/an-alternative-action-plan-to-avoid-the-circularity-trap-aa97bf392938 | ['Circular Economy Stories'] | 2019-07-25 10:00:53.280000+00:00 | ['Circulareconomy', 'Global Warming', 'Sustainability', 'Resources', 'Climate Change'] |
Blockchain Pyramid Scheme SCAMMED 13,000 people in 18 days | If someone tells you, it is possible to make more than 86 million in 18 days, it is NOT a legendary myth. These days many people will blindly invest in any ponzi schemes with the word “blockchain”.
“Blockchain” concept MLM, accumulated more than 86 million in 18 days
April this year, China, Xi’an annihilated the nation’s first “blockchain” pyramid scheme. In merely 18 days, the scammers recruited more than 13,000 members, scammed more than 86 million yuan. To look more credible, they even spent RMB30,000 to hired a caucasian and projected themselves as a “high-tech multinational enterprise with a foreign investment background”.
While you are still fantasizing about earning your pot of gold from the blockchain industry, the scammers had already ran off with your investment.
The most concerning part about this blockchain craze is that people do not understand what blockchain is, but they are so afraid of being left behind by society that they are blindly following the trend.
Blockchain becomes the new, get rich quick scheme, and the total amount of fraud in this industry exceeds RMB300 million.
In Shenzhen there was an illegal fund-raising scam as well. In March this year, the Nanshan Economic Investigation Force cracked a huge fund-raising scam, with thousands of investors defrauded of RMB307 million.
According to the Economic Information Daily, there are more than 3,000 MLM platforms using the blockchain concept for scams.
Exactly how popular is blockchain?
There is a news saying an engineer wrote that he is an engineer on his online dating profile, and no one clicks on his profile. Later, he renamed himself as a blockchain engineer and immediately he received more than 360 love letters. How crazy is that!
*Enjoy what you read here? Join us on telegram for more >>> https://t.me/Coins300_official | https://medium.com/coins300/blockchain-pyramid-scheme-scammed-13-000-people-in-18-days-6d64259475f4 | [] | 2018-09-16 15:40:30.143000+00:00 | ['Cryptocurrency', 'Crypto', 'Bitcoin', 'Investing', 'Blockchain'] |
What The Heck is Script | -------------Kernel------------
* Inside Input and Output structures
* Basic of Script mechanism
* Step by step of P2PK
* Step by step of P2PKH
* Glimpse at advanced contracting in Bitcoin
Script is a programming language designed along with the Bitcoin protocol by Satoshi Nakamoto. Unlike traditional programming language, it doesn’t have formal grammar and syntax instead, its a simple list of operations, and their definitions are written in the same C++ source code as the Bitcoin Protocol. The Script programming language is used for verifying transactions in the network. But this simple and primitive programming language opens up the doors for the possibility of creating Smart Contracts. The concept of smart contract was first envisioned and the term was coined by famous cypherpunk-polymath Nick Szabo in 1997, and was independently conceived from the idea of cryptocurrencies.
A smart contract is a computer protocol intended to digitally facilitate, verify, or enforce the negotiation or performance of a contract. Smart contracts allow the performance of credible transactions without third parties. These transactions are trackable and irreversible. — wikipedia
Satoshi’s design of Script in 2008 immediately reminded people of this old idea. Even Satoshi while designing Bitcoin had the idea of adding programmability into the currency. That’s why he added many script operations in the first version of the codebase, way more than it’s required to simply perform transaction validations.
Simply put, a script is a program that gets executed every time a node receives a transaction from the network. Every transaction has an associated script, and every node in the network, upon receiving a transaction, executes the Script in their own local machine. Because of the mechanisms of Proof Of Work, once these transactions get added in the blockchain they become immutable, thus every node always computes a script in the exact same steps and arrives at the exact same result. A combination of such programming language with an immutable database creates two fundamentally exciting phenomenon, one is economical and another is of computer science:
We get a digital currency with attached programs, thus a “programmable money”.
We get a distributed computational network where arbitrary programs can get executed inside different machines to result in the exact same output and they cannot be censored.
The implication of these two concepts is phenomenal and can be argued to have the potential to fundamentally change the mechanism of the world financial system and distributed censorship-resistant computation. In this article, we peel off the Bitcoin system to look deep inside the scripting mechanism and we start by looking inside a transaction Input and Output structure.
If you are unfamiliar with the basic structural building blocks of Bitcoin, I highly recommend going through my previous blog post on UTXO first before proceeding further.
Inputs and Outputs
To quickly revisit, every transaction has a list of Inputs and Outputs. The output contains a lock and an amount (in sats), the input contains a pointer to a past output and an unlocking key. Scripting is all about this locking and unlocking mechanism.
An Input and Output structure looks as below:
Input and Output structure
The input structure contains Prev TxID and TxIndex, which together points back to previous output that this input is attempting to unlock. It contains a key (ScriptSig) that successfully unlocks that previous output.
The output structure contains a lock (ScriptPubkey) and an amount in satoshis that is locked inside this output.
Only the owner of the ScriptPubkey (an entity who holds the corresponding private key) can create a correct ScriptSig that opens the lock.
This ScriptSig and ScriptPubkey are simple data field that contains serialized information (sequence of 0s and 1s). Upon receiving a transaction, a node first extracts the corresponding ScriptSigs and ScriptPubkeys from the input and output lists (outputs are from past transactions). After retrieving the raw data, The ScriptSig and ScriptPubkey information are concatenated together.
This full sequence of <ScriptSig><ScriptPubkey> , when parsed by the node reveals the complete Script program, which then the node knows how to execute step by step.
Don’t worry if it sounds all too complicated, we will look in detail into this mechanism.
Script
Script is stack-based, forth like, turing incomplete programming language, written in reverse polish notation.
That is a mouthful. But in essence the concept of Script is quite simple. Script works with a stack-like structure. Think of a stack like a bucket where dishes are placed one after another. The first dish to go inside the bucket will be the last dish to come out and vice versa. This is what is meant by a “first in last out” stack structures. The general-purpose computers also work in this simple stack-based model and Assembly is the language to write programs with such stacks. Script is the Assembly for Bitcoin.
The Script Language
The Script starts working with an empty stack. Data can be pushed into or popped out of the stack.
A Script program consists of two types of objects.
OP_CODES: These are specific bytes that represent a certain operation, like Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, etc.
DATA: Everything that is not an OP_CODE is interpreted as raw data, and pushed on top of the stack.
A Script is nothing but a sequence of such OP_CODES and DATA. The execution counter starts at the very first item and then moves along one by one. If the execution counter points to a data, it is pushed inside the stack, else if it is an OP_CODE, data is popped out of the stack and the OP_CODE operation takes place with the popped data. An OP_CODE can pop one or multiple data (dishes) from the stack, but it will always pop from the top. The operations and number of data pops for each OP_CODE is defined inside the Bitcoin protocol. A Complete list of all the currently supported and unsupported OP_CODES with their meaning are listed here.
If a Script evaluation is successful, the top stack element will 1 . If any other value remains in the stack top other than 1 , the script evaluation is considered failed.
When a node receives a new transaction from the network, it extracts the ScriptSig and ScriptPubkey fields, concatenate them together to get the final script <ScriptSig><ScriptPubkey> , and attempt the execution starting with an empty stack. If at the end of execution the top stack element is 1 , the transaction is considered valid, and the node propagates the transaction to its peers. Else the transaction is considered invalid, and the node doesn’t send it further. Thus invalid transactions never get propagated into the network. Thus each node works as the gatekeeper of the sanity of the entire network.
Script execution in a nutshell
Next we will look into some rudimentary bitcoin scripts and the steps of execution to better understand the mechanism.
Pay To PubKey (P2PK)
This is the most simplest possible Bitcoin script that uses only two data and one op_code. The earliest version of Bitcoin used this type of scripts, and they were used to pay funds directly to a public key. Thus the name, PayToPubKey, or P2PK scripts. Because of their naive approach they are not used anymore as they directly expose the receiver’s public key and are deemed insecure. But it is the best place to start understanding the script execution.
P2PK Script
The ScriptPubkey is the data structure that defines kind of a lock, and the ScriptSig is the data structure that defines the unlocking key. ScriptSig is present inside the transaction input, and ScriptPubkey is extracted from the previous transaction output that this input attempts to unlock.
“Unlocking” is the process of concatenating ScriptSig and ScriptPubkey, interpreting it as a Script program, and upon execution leaves 1 as the top stack element.
The ScriptPubkey and ScriptSig fields for a P2PK type transaction are shown above.
A full P2PK script consists of two data elements, signature and public key , and one op_code OP_CHECKSIG , which checks whether the signature is valid for the given public key . If valid, it return 1 as top stack element, else 0 .
Below we show the execution step by step. Follow the red pointer and the corresponding stack items.
Step 1: Stack is Empty, the pointer is at signature
Step 2: signature is data, so its pushed into the stack
Step 3: public key is also data, so its pushed into the stack
Step 4: OP_CHECKSIG is an op_code which takes top two items from the stack, considering the 1st as public key and 2nd as signature , and attempts signature verification as per the ECDSA algorithm. If success puts 1 into stack, else puts 0 .
(To see the full details of ECDSA verification checkout my Schnorr signature blog post.)
Step 5: Assuming successful ECDSA verification, and 1 in the stack, the transaction is verified and the UTXO is unlocked.
Once a script execution succeeds, the transaction is deemed valid. The previous UTXO gets consumed, and new UTXOs are created as per the output list of this spending transaction. This is what happens when one “spends” bitcoin under the hood.
That’s all for every kind of script execution. The process remains the same, only the complexity of the script program increases from here.
Now that we have seen the most rudimentary script execution of Bitcoin, let’s look at a little evolved version of the same mechanism.
PayToPubKeyHash (P2PKH)
A more complex version of the above P2PK mechanism is P2PKH, where the ScriptPubkey does not include the private key, but a hash ( Hash 1 in the figure below)of the public key. Thus the UTXO does not reveal the receiver’s public key.
The ScriptSig and the ScriptPubkey for a P2PKH script is shown below.
Unlike P2Pk, the signature and the public key both are included in the ScriptSig section. The ScriptPubkey has many more op_codes than P2PK, and a data object Hash 1 , which is the hash of the receiver’s public key. While sending bitcoins the sender sends to this public key hash, thus the name PayToPubkeyHash.
As before, we go through the steps of the above script execution below.
Step 1: Pointer is at signature , the stack is empty
Step 2: signature is simple data, so pushed onto the stack, pointer moves to the next element.
Step 3: public key is also data, so pushed on to the stack. The pointer moves to the next element.
Step 4: OP_DUP is an op_code that duplicates the top stack element. after execution, now we have two copies of the same public key on the stack.
Step 5: OP_HASH160 is an op_code that hashes the top stack element. The top public key is hashed into Hash 2 .
Step 6: Hash 1 is data, so pushed onto the stack
Step 7: OP_EQUALVERIFY is an op_codes that checks if two stack elements are the same. If they are the same, then remove them and proceed forward. Else, fails the execution.
If the right public key is provided, Hash 2 and Hash 1 will be equal to each other. So they are removed.
Now the stack will be exactly equal to the Step 3 of P2PK execution.
Step 8: OP_CHECKSIG checks the ECDSA algorithm for public key and the signature is the stack. If the correct signature is provided, it will return an 1 onto the stack.
The stack ends with 1 at the end of the execution signifying successful verification. Thus the UTXO is unlocked.
P2PKH is similar to P2PK in essence that it checks a public key against a provided signature, but does that in a roundabout way which provides better privacy.
Thus we have covered the two basic forms of script execution in the Bitcoin system. There can be many other variety of scripts, and one can even cook up their own script. If you want to try out your own custom scripts without the trouble of running bitcoin core in regtest mode, btcdeb is a simple command-line tool built for such purpose.
Smart Contracts
A smart contract is a program that executes in an automated and uncensorable way. Because each of the script of a transaction is independently executed by each node in the network, there is no central server to attack in order to stop the execution.
The ScriptPubkey in every UTXO defines a form of mathematical puzzle, that can be solved by appending the correct ScriptSig. Any valid form of such a puzzle with the right ScriptSig will do the trick, and it doesn’t have to be standard P2PK or P2PKH type of scripts. For example, look the ScriptPubkey and ScriptSig below:
ScriptPubkey: 2 2 OP_ADD OP_EQUAL
ScriptSig: 4
A UTXO with the above ScriptPubkey can be opened with the ScriptSig and will result in 1 on the stack after execution. Trying playing the execution in your head, or use btcdeb.
In this way, a UTXO (or a box full of stats) can define any form of “contract” (puzzle), that when provided with the valid unlocking clause will move the locked bitcoins. Only a valid unlocking clause can move the coins and nothing else. The execution of the contract is guaranteed by the Bitcoin network and we do not need a courtroom to enforce the correct execution between parties. This opens up the door for all possible financial contract designs and started the era of “Smart Contract” since 3rd Jan 2009. People have imagined all sorts of exotic contracting clauses since then.
Conclusion
Bitcoin scripting language was the first glimpse of a decentralized program execution mechanism that initiated the idea of deployable smart contracts. Bitcoin scripting is not at all exotic in terms of programmability and its quite hard to write custom smart contracts of arbitrary complexity. Imagine trying to write an App using Assembly language. One major deficiency is Scripts are turning incomplete, which means it cannot jump to execution statements and cannot run loops. Without turning completeness generalized programs of arbitrary complexity cannot be written using scripts.
But this shortcoming is more of a feature than a bug. More complex a smart contract, the higher the chance of having a bug in the code. And a bug in smart contracting logic is way more catastrophic than regular software bugs. Checkout the DAO hack in Ethereum to get an idea of how devastating a contract bug can be. Also contracts become increasingly difficult to review with increasing complexity.
In this sense, Bitcoin smart contracts are robust due to its absolute simplicity. And yet they are immensely powerful. Even without using loops all sorts of complex logics are possible to design using Bitcoin scripts.
Lightning network is nothing but a very elaborate Bitcoin script known as HTLC (Hashed Time-Locked Contracts). Just by clever use of scripting logic people have devised an entire 2nd layer on top of Bitcoin protocol to facilitate instant zero fees offchain transactions. A HTLC ScriptPubkey looks as below:
OP_IF
[HASHOP] <digest> OP_EQUALVERIFY OP_DUP OP_HASH160 <seller pubkey hash>
OP_ELSE
<num> [TIMEOUTOP] OP_DROP OP_DUP OP_HASH160 <buyer pubkey hash>
OP_ENDIF
OP_EQUALVERIFY
OP_CHECKSIG
Thus, though very simple, Bitcoin scripting is an immensely powerful financial engineering tool that is here to shift the world of finance from the hands of centralized gatekeepers to a decentralized autonomous protocol, executing in an immutable way, available for free for anyone in need.
I hope this explainer article sheds enough light on the elusive world of Bitcoin Scripts and Smart Contracts in general.
Off to the moon!! | https://medium.com/bitbees/what-the-heck-is-script-588c7ba061cd | ['Rajarshi Maitra'] | 2020-05-05 12:21:52.324000+00:00 | ['Programing', 'Smart Contracts', 'Bitcoin', 'Verification', 'Script'] |
Herkes İçin Ödüllü İlk Hisse Senedi Ticaret Yarışması! | 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/waykichain/herkes-i%CC%87%C3%A7in-%C3%B6d%C3%BCll%C3%BC-i%CC%87lk-hisse-senedi-ticaret-yar%C4%B1%C5%9Fmas%C4%B1-fe28b01c83e3 | ['Vincent J. Lionheart'] | 2020-12-22 08:36:24.842000+00:00 | ['Trading', 'Airdrop', 'Waykichain', 'Competition', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
The Hottest Lightning Network Apps (Lapps) in 2019 | The Path to Hyperlightningization
Lightning Network applications, also known as “lapps” are useful and fun applications that allow Bitcoiners on the Lightning Network to take advantage of its low-cost and instant transacting qualities. Lapps will play an important role in the development of Bitcoin and how it achieves scaling to accommodate more users and transactions.
Developers are preparing for this inevitable “hyperlightningization” by integrating Lightning with various utilities to demonstrate and test the latest features of the protocol.
Bitrefill has been participating on the Lightning Network since the start and began offering Lightning networking services this year to help customers and businesses onboard with less friction. Anyone can remotely open a Thor Lightning channel with us, or get BTC instantly into their Lightning wallet with Thor Turbo, and soon we will open access to our ThorAPI and Recharge payment services.
The question remains, “I’m on Lightning, now what?” You can already shop for pretty much anything with Lightning at Bitrefill.com using gift cards, but now we’ve put together a list of the hottest lapps available across the internet!
⚡ Tippin.me & Bottle.li — Social tipping made easy and instant
Think about your social media activity and the most popular and engaging posts you’ve created, then ask yourself the question “What if, instead of receiving likes as digital tokens of gratification, I was actually rewarded with some satoshis?”. That’s exactly the thought process behind Tippin.me and Bottle.li, two of the hottest Lightning tipping apps.
Maybe you’re an excellent meme artist illustrating the zeitgeist of Crypto Twitter. You can use these Lightning apps to monetize your effort and encourage support from your fans.
Tippin is specialized for Twitter and embedding a tip button, while Bottle is designed to cover multiple social networks and platforms including Reddit, Github, Twitch, YouTube, and Mixcloud. Try them out!
For other great tipping alternatives, check out CoinTippy, Lightning Tip, and NanoTip.
⚡ LnSMS & Receive SMS — Privacy-enhanced phone texting
Ever wanted to have more privacy while texting, so that your phone number doesn’t get displayed? LnSMS.world allows you to confidentially send short messages to any phone number in the world.
The interface is simple and intuitive, with a cost of 1000 Lightning sats/message. Your SMS is sent from a static number, granting a degree of privacy. But please note that the creators openly state that they keep track of your IP address and you shouldn’t do illegal stuff.
If you’re looking to quickly get a temporary phone number to receive texts, then Receive SMS will come in handy. This lapp is also developed by Kryptode, and helps you get a number from any of the 7 countries listed. It’s a great and cheap complement for LnSMS.
Also check out PayPerCall.
⚡ LNCast & Y’alls — Content monetization at the speed of Lightning
LNCast allows creators to monetize their work by taking advantage of the instant and cheap microtransaction capabilities of Lightning. It’s a great tool for content creators to change their revenue system without ads and sponsors, ushering in a new world of broadcasting sovereignty and fair trade between producers and end-users.
You can see this app in action with Marty Bent’s “Tales from the Crypt” podcast series and Josh Humphrey’s “Bottomshelf Bitcoin”. Anyone can sign up with a BTCPay server URL and their RSS feed. Unlike iTunes and Spotify, you get paid instantly and most likely won’t get deplatformed for your opinions.
Developed by Lightning Labs engineer Alex Bosworth, Y’alls is an ambitious attempt to empower writers. With instant and “unfairly cheap” microtransactions, it’s about time to disrupt creative writing and journalism by allowing content creators to publish their work on their terms, and for a price that they consider to be fair.
There’s a lot of potential in both LNCast and Y’alls, and we expect to see more advancement in content monetization lapps soon!
Check these other publishing apps as well: Lightning Publisher and File Bazaar.
⚡ ZigZag & SparkSwap — Cross-blockchain exchanges
In the future, atomic swaps and submarine swaps via Lightning will enable truly decentralized and private cross-blockchain exchanges. Until then, services like ZigZag can come in handy if you want to trade your Ethereum, Litecoin, or Dash for Lightning satoshis. The interface is even simpler to use than Shapeshift. However, there are trading limits, so you can’t be too reckless!
SparkSwap provides the world’s first implementation of atomic swaps, holds the merit of not acting like a trusted third party. It currently only operates via command line terminal and currently only supports atomic-swapping between Bitcoin and Litecoin over their respective Lightning networks.
⚡ Lightning Chess — Battle for Sats
Developed by Lightning Koala (who also brought us 2018’s sensation Satoshi’s Place), Lightning Chess is an ingenious rendition of the original one-on-one PVP blockbuster hit. If you simply want to play a game of chess with a friend, you just create an instant account (consisting of a randomly-generated number) and send your link to your opponent of choice. You can also wait for the server to automatically match you with a stranger, so you have a more unpredictable experience.
The “Lightning” part in Lightning Chess can be found in power-ups and extra features. Want to extend the amount of time that you have between moves? Regret your terrible last move which makes you lose your queen? You can simply pay some sats and give yourself more time to think and/or revert your bad choice. If you want to raise the stakes of the game, you can also place wagers as a way of making everything much more intense.
⚡ Satoshis.games & Evil Blob Monster — More Lightning games!
If Lightning Chess isn’t enough to entertain you or it doesn’t pose enough of a challenge, there’s a large collection of retro video games waiting for you on Satoshis.Games. There are three main categories of 8-bit titles that you can find: free ones which require no sign-up, Lightning ones which allow you to register with your Joule browser extension or a microtransaction of 1000 sats, or challenge games where you can earn some sats if you play well.
There are modified versions of Super Mario Bros, Flappy Bird, Bejeweled, Agar, and 1980s-style text-based adventure series. The implementations are addictive and give you small financial incentives to return every day.
Tallyco.in developer DJ Booth definitely deserves a lot of credit for creating a Bitcoin and Lightning-friendly version of Patreon, where creators retain all funds. However, his most impressive achievement is a collaboration with his 7 year-old son, Josh. Evil Blob Monster is an interesting take on the classical game of hangman, which comes with a zombie-centered story and a slightly altered mechanic.
The objective of this game is to spell out the passphrase of the evil zombie’s Bitcoin wallet before he eats you. You pick one letter at a time, and your decisions influence the outcome of your face-off: correct choices will capture one body part of your nemesis, while mistakes will regenerate a lost body part. The game features hand-drawn graphics made by Josh, and contains a charming plot.
Try more Lightning games: Hammerland, Lightning Spin, Lightning Roulette
⚡ Paid.co — Lightning e-commerce
After undergoing a basic Blockstack registration, Paid.co empowers artists, content creators, educators, and craftsmen to sell their work for satoshis on the Lightning Network. Creators get 100% of funds for transactions below the $25k threshold (anything greater is charged a 1% fee).
The interface of Paid.co is clean and minimalistic with a lot of potential to grow and cause users to migrate from Fiverr, Upwork, and Patreon — especially thanks to the lack of third-party fees and the uncensorability of Bitcoin transactions.
Also check out CoinMall, NanoPOS, Strike and WooCommerce Gateway
⚡ Pollo Feed — Lightning embedded with hardware
There is no better way to prove the instant nature of Lightning payments than to make a transaction and observe how chicken get fed a few seconds later.
The Pollo Feed concept is simple: a live webcam in a chicken coop allows you to see what the birds are currently up to. If you want to feed them, all you have to do is make a Lightning payment, causing the food dispenser to drop some delicious treats.
Careful! Pollo Feed can become quite addictive, as acknowledged by Elizabeth Stark herself during the Magical Crypto Conference.
⚡ Did we miss any of your favorite Lapps? Let us know on Twitter! | https://blog.bitrefill.com/the-hottest-lightning-network-apps-lapps-in-2019-7baa25746d7d | [] | 2019-06-06 12:13:14.319000+00:00 | ['Bitrefill', 'Gift Cards', 'Bitcoin', 'Lightning Network'] |
Task walkthrough: Image gallery(MDN) | project link:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/JavaScript/Building_blocks/Image_gallery
my work:
https://github.com/readwalkerchang/imagegallery
Project Analysis
Image gallery a.k.a. ‘lightbox’ is a general interface for image preview. But this assessment from MDN is relatively tricky for a beginner who has just learned basic manipulation of event listener or event handler. This article will show you my solutions and strategies.
This assessment consists of three main tasks:
Looping the images from the ‘image’ folder and then showing them as a full image and four thumbnail images(the thumbnail bar) Add event handlers onto the thumbnail images which switch the full image with clicks Add event handlers onto the ‘darken’ button which darken the full image with an overlay.
Sounds easy? Looping images is a piece of cake but how to show them is the issue you have to work on it. If you do the assessment on the premise that you do without modifying the .hml and .css files, how do you ‘Adding an onclick handler to each thumbnail image’ as the instruction described? Here are my solutions:
Use the load event to include all expressions that you going to execute on this page
Add an event listener instead of the ‘onclick’ handler on each image
For the ‘darken/lighten button’, well, this is the only easier part.
Useful methods and strategies
While load the page, include all expressions
I separated all the tasks into three functions as you see
window.addEventListener('load', (event) => { loopingImg(); clickImg(); darkenImg(); });
loopingImg()
Access and change the the src attribute via setAttribute method
newImage.setAttribute(‘src’, taget)
clickImg()
loop and add an event listener for detecting clicks by using the foreach method
remember to use Array.from(elements) in order to transform the nodelist object into an array
let elements = document.querySelectorAll('img'); Array.from(elements).forEach(function(element) { element.addEventListener('click', function); });
darkenImg();
Just do as the instructions described
Concept Recap
Arrow function
An arrow function is just a shorthand of traditional function but limited
is just a shorthand of traditional function but limited It is not compatible with this keyword or other OOP methods such as call, apply and bind.
keyword or other OOP methods such as call, apply and bind. traditional function
myfunction function(){…}
arrow function
(myfunction) => {…}
Nodelist
Whilst you use a document.querySelectorAll(), the document method returns a nodelist
it is an array-like structure but not an actual array
Be sure to convert a nodelist into real array by using Array.from()
foreach
it loops the array-like structure for you but the return value ‘undefined’
that means you can do whatever you want inside the function’s scope
Improvement ideas | https://medium.com/@readwalker/task-walkthrough-image-gallery-mdn-f4930cac08c6 | ['Dusing Chang'] | 2020-12-20 15:29:14.234000+00:00 | ['Development', 'JavaScript', 'Mozilla', 'Beginner', 'Front End Development'] |
Facebook Ads, iOS Impact and what to do about it | Facebook Ads, iOS Impact and what to do about it
Depending on the report 80–90% of users opted out of allowing Facebook to track them on iOS14.5 and onwards. Here is what this means for advertisers. Alexander Hupfer Nov 27, 2021·4 min read
What happened?
Depending on the report 80–90% of users opted out of allowing Facebook to track them on iOS14.5 and onwards.
Why does it matter?
We now see how much Facebooks targeting algorithm depended on the information it derived from:
Following users around the internet: with the FB pixel almost installed everywhere and FB can recognise users’ interests Facebook could easily recognise what users where in market for and therefore more likely to buy if put in front of an ad. Analysis of how far a user went through a sales funnel and retarget user with a brand interest while avoiding “window shoppers”.
Mockup of the iOS do not track dialoge
But what about non-iOS users?
iOS users tended to spend more and generated more revenue then non-iOS users iOS opt-outs means that a lot of information is lost about the highest revenue user segment. Higher competition for non-iOS users is going along with both, increased ad-spending and lower returns
So does this come down to?
Facebook can no longer track these users outside of their platform and understand what products a user is potentialy interested in. Therefore it can longer put “the right message, in front of the right person, at the right time”.
Facebook also lost of interest-category information for these users, meaning interest-groups have shrunk, leaving advertisers to compete for even fewer users when targeting — this is one reason Facebook made targeting expansion the default now.
A similar effect happened for lookalike audiences because of loss of information
How about Retargeting?
Retargeting campaigns have lost their high profitability in many cases because pixel-based retargeting audiences have shrunk. Also iOS 15 may affect using a customer list based retargeting because it replaces emails with Apple’s @privaterelay.appleid.com addresses that Facebook can’t match.
As a workaround however custom audiences can be created from complete customer records including name, address and phone number using Shopify apps like Facebook Custom Audience Sync.
What about Conversion API (cAPI)?
Conversion API can help improve data quality in some cases e.g.where blockers are used
Apple’s policy requires Facebook to ignore any data sent to it to identify individuals or devices for anyone that opted out, even when using Conversion API
(See FAQ here: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/user-privacy-and-data-use/)
What this means for Facebook’s Algorithm
All this has been wreaking havoc with Facebook’s algorithm because they have lost a lot of the “right person, right message, right time” capabilities for a lot of users, leaving advertisers competing for fewer highly targeted users
This has pushed Facebook to do things like use statistical modeling (i.e. educated guessing) and making audiences broader (e.g. audience expansion) — losing a lot of the magic of the FB algorithm from past times
How is Facebook adapting to this changes?
While Facebook strategy is less transparent, Google is developing ways to serve relevant adverts while protecting people’s privacy and personal data. Facebook is likely to follow suite. Two methods in development are Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) and “First Locally-Executed Decision over Groups”Experiment” (FLEDGE).
FLOC aims to group people into tightly defined cohorts based on their browsing history. Advertisers can then bid based on FLOC IDs, but not on a personal behaviour level. Google’s proposal is publicly available on Github.
FLEDGE is about having a new trusted server designed purely to give limited data to bidding algorithms. The user’s data will remain shielded within the device, keeping control in their hands (Github).
How effective these strategies are however remains to be seen.
Conclusion: what can advertisers do?
For now everything comes down to the conclusion that cost of acquisition from cold traffic from outside Facebook’s platforms has gone up.
This means unless you already have well known brand, return on ad spend is going down. Having a known brand consequently means that traffic just less cold.
So what matter most now is to shift acquisition away from cold traffic, building better customer relation and focus on repeat customers. Optimised the post buying experience.
This also means going back to ‘classic’ marketing strategies like RFM customer segmentation. For this the weapon of choice are custom audiences that are created from complete customer datasets like Facebook Custom Audience Sync offers on Shopify. | https://medium.com/@alexanderhupfer/facebook-ads-ios-impact-and-what-to-do-about-it-2526d535546b | ['Alexander Hupfer'] | 2021-11-28 09:07:16.509000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Shopify', 'Advertising', 'PPC Marketing', 'Facebook Marketing'] |
Political Parties Need to Reconnect with Low Income Voters. | ‘A Britain that works for everyone’, ‘For the many not the few’; these slogans used, respectively, by the Conservative and Labour parties in the UK have become almost wearily familiar to voters in recent years.
To those voters on low incomes they have taken on a hollow ring, for decades this section of the body politic has felt excluded from policy making.
This and the discontents surrounding the 2016 Brexit vote and the fallout from local and European elections that saw populist parties beating the big three mainstream parties have given this ignored group a new power within British politics.
A report published by campaign group the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) highlights the need for Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats to reconnect with the concerns of low-income voters.
There are currently 9.5 million eligible voters in the UK who fall into the low-income bracket, 2.7 of these can be classified as swing voters. Although the low paid have traditionally been more inclined to vote Labour they no longer have the old ‘tribal’ loyalty to the left.
Brexit, the ruling obsession of British politics for the past three years, is a major issue for low-income voters; but not their only concern. Equally important is a desire to see an improvement in their community and their individual living standards.
The ‘Every Voter Counts’ report, written for the JRF by Claire Ainsley and Frank Soodeen highlights the disillusionment with and distrust of politicians felt by voters living in communities that have been ignored.
There is, the report suggests, scope for all three main parties to address this situation, but following a strategy that appeals to narrow segments, for example voters worried about the impact of immigration, could easily alienate others.
Instead they need to establish common ground; this will prove more difficult than ever in a sharply divided country.
There is no question that all three main political parties in the UK have taken their eye off the ball when it comes to those communities that have been left behind by the neo-liberal economic project of the past four decades. Their problems have been judged too intractable and their attitudes too challenging for the delicate sensibilities of the metropolitan elite.
Politics abhors a vacuum, into the space left by the retreat of the big three parties has flowed the populist opportunism of the Brexit party, with elements of the far-right following in its shadow.
Slogans about building a fairer country that works for all its citizens express laudable sentiments; but offer little in the way of concrete policies. Too often voters in excluded communities feel that politics is something that is done to them from on high; not a process in which they are equal participants.
Changing that can only be good for the health of our democracy and the long-term prospects of creating a Britain that really does work for everyone. | https://medium.com/@adamcolclough/political-parties-need-to-reconnect-with-low-income-voters-f3ab09fbebe3 | ['Adam Colclough'] | 2019-10-17 12:38:12.474000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Society Politics', 'UK Politics'] |
Mornings are the worst | More from rstevens Follow
I make cartoons and t-shirts at www.dieselsweeties.com & @rstevens. Send me coffee beans. | https://rstevens.medium.com/mornings-are-the-worst-c506816926a0 | [] | 2020-09-04 02:15:09.260000+00:00 | ['Sleep', 'Humor', 'Morning Routines', 'Comics', 'Life'] |
Athletes, the new business angels banking on tech | If you were watching the Ellen DeGeneres Show over the summer, you might have caught ex-NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal explaining how he invested in Google in pre-IPO in the late 90’s after watching someone else’s kid at a Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles. That person ended up putting him on the Google investment opportunity which then went on to becoming one of the biggest tech company in the world. According to Shaq, he made “a really big return” and still owns shares as of today.
In fact, an investment right after Google’s IPO in 2004 would be yielding a x15 return today and I think Shaq is looking at somewhere around a x100 return. As funny and surprising it may sound, the 7ft1 and 325lbs investor might have been one of the earliest athlete banking on tech and it’s interesting to notice that it happened hazardously.
The thing is, tech investing has long been reserved to a certain typology of investors and atypical HNWI such as athletes have been overlooked. The public image of athletes not understanding what to do with their money is still in the heads of many, and their financial advisers often didn’t bother suggesting complicated tech investments. On the other hand, good early stage tech companies are very hard to find, and they would likely prioritize targeting more educated investors.
As athletes became more aware of the investment opportunities available to them and with the tech ecosystem maturing, the gap between athletes and tech has been reduced. Investing in tech notably became a lot more accessible since technology started spreading across all industries. As a result, there was an increasing number of tech companies going public, which created liquidity as well as diversification options for investors. Internet further contributed to bring athletes and tech companies closer together by offering direct communication channels but also by allowing both parties to collect information more efficiently; but the gap is still there.
Over the last decades, economies started growing at a slower pace and tech companies became a portfolio “must have” for investors struggling to find good investment opportunities. Innovation and disruption have been key to create real economic value and it drove garage startups to become some of most powerful public companies in the world today. In 2019, 7 of the 10 largest companies were tech companies (Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Alibaba, Tencent). In 2009, it was only one (Microsoft, at about a fifth of today’s value).
From an investor’s perspective, tech companies and tech stocks have simply been generating some of the most exciting returns for some time now. By taking a simple look at the performance of the NASDAQ (index tracking the biggest US tech companies) and the S&P 500 (index tracking the biggest US companies at large) over the last 10 years, the NASDAQ has been returning about 107% more (181% vs. 289%). Relatively recent mind-blowing return examples include Amazon, Google, and Netflix. For instance, if you invested $100 in Netflix back in the 2002 IPO, you’d be looking at more than $33k today. Let alone if you invested pre-IPO.
Hence, returns in early and growth stage startups can sometimes go as high as two to three-digit multiples. Among some of the best VC deals, Sequoia Capital turned a $60 million investment in WhatsApp into $3 billion from 2011 to 2014 when it was acquired by Facebook. Pieter Thiel, famously known as Facebook’s first investor, received more than $1 billion in proceeds from his $500,000 initial investment.
2019 will be remembered as a breakthrough year for athletes investing in tech as a few of them reportedly made a killing in major tech IPOs. Carmelo Anthony, Stephen Curry, and Lance Armstrong invested respectively in Lyft, Pinterest, and Uber while Andre Iguodala was an investor in Zoom, Jumia, and PagerDuty. In fact, Armstrong was vocal about his investment in Uber and told CNBC it even “saved his family”.
The road to success for Lance Armstrong has been bumpy to say the least. The cancer survivor and former road racing cyclist was once deemed the greatest cyclist to ever do it after winning a world championship, 7 tour de France, and an Olympic bronze medal. At the peak of his career, Lance Armstrong was worth an estimated $125 million from salaries and endorsements that brought him as much as $20 million per year at some point. However, Armstrong later admitted to doping accusations and was stripped from his sponsors including Nike, Trek, Anheuser Busch, and Oakley while being held liable in repayments for damages. In the end, Armstrong lost his tour de France titles and his Olympic medal, but he also suffered losses of about $75 million in terms of lawyer fees, endorsements, and legal settlements. Nevertheless, before the financial meltdown Armstrong made a $100,000 investment in Uber through Chris Sacca’s Initialized Capital as early as 2009. According to Bloomberg, the Uber investment returned Armstrong about $20–30 million 10 years later. That’s somewhere close to half of his $50 million net worth as of 2018.
The recent success stories of athletes investing in tech come with no surprise as a selected group of athletes has been pushing an influent movement about players investing in tech for a few years now.
Carmelo Anthony was the first one to really get some skin in the game when he took advantage of his trade to the New York Knicks to develop his business activities. In 2013, he started Melo7 Tech Partners with Stuart Goldfarb, former president and CEO of a billion-dollar corporation and member of the WWE Board of Directors. Melo7 Tech Partners invested in more than 30 early stage tech companies and 6 years later the fund realized 12 exits including deals like Lyft (ridesharing app, IPO), Bonobos (clothing brand, $310 million acquisition by Walmart), or Luxe (on-demand valet parking app, undisclosed acquisition by Volvo). The portfolio also includes fast-paced growing startups like Casper (Mattress manufacturer) or Andela (HR tool).
Tennis superstar Serena Williams might let you think that she got the tech buzz after marrying Reddit and Initialized Capital co-founder Alexis Ohanian. In fact, even though she publicly announced the launch of Serena Ventures this year, the fund has been investing since 2014 into early-stage companies led by women and people of color, and those that value “individual empowerment” and creativity. Williams teamed up with former asset manager at JPMorgan, Alison Rapaport, to oversee the investment activities and at the time of writing, Serena Ventures has invested in more than 30 companies including startups like Impossible Foods (food from plants), Mayvenn (hairstylist platform), or the Daily Harvest (food delivery). The duo noticeably just realized their first exit with Olly (wellness and nutrition product manufacturer, undisclosed acquisition by Unilever).
Former NBA Champions Andre Iguodala, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant just so happened to all end up playing for the Golden State Warriors, in the Bay Area — birthplace of the Silicon Valley and HQ of some of the biggest tech companies in the world such as Apple, Google, or Facebook — and piled up close to 50 investments altogether in the past 3 years. Iguodala, Durant, and Curry have all been very active in the tech ecosystem developing relationships with venture capital wizards like Ben Horowitz, speaking at major tech events like TechCrunch Disrupt, and most recently launching the Players Technology Summit which has been running for 3 years now.
Iguodala, who’s probably the most prolific tech athlete-investor of the bunch, has partnered on his investments with Rudy Cline-Thomas, founder and managing partner of VC fund Mastry Inc. With a dozen of investments in his portfolio and a previous exit with Tristan Walker’s Walker & Company (undisclosed acquisition from Procter & Gamble), Iguodala just added a great trio of exits this year with Zoom (video conferencing, IPO), Jumia (e-commerce platform, IPO), and PagerDuty (operations performance platform, IPO). He’s also a shareholder in hot startups like Casper, Lime (electric scooters), The Player’s Tribune (publishing platform), or GOAT (sneakers marketplace). Iguodala has been one of the most vocal players to get athletes to follow his path and is well on his way to become a figure of the VC ecosystem post-retirement.
Durant started Thirty Five Ventures in 2016 with his partner Rich Kleiman, an ex-agent and co-founder at Rock Nation Sports, and has been a very active investor to say the least. KD invested into more than 30 startups with shares in some of the hottest deals including Lime, Postmates (on-demand delivery), Acorns (trading app), or Coinbase (cryptocurrency exchange). Through Thirty Five Ventures, Kevin Durant had his first exit with Grove (financial planning, undisclosed acquisition from Wealthfront) and is also doing well with other investments like with his stake in Postmates which has reportedly multiplied by 10 already.
Curry founded SC30 Inc in 2017 with an ex-Davidson teammate and a Stanford graduate, Bryant Barr, and adds up to the athletes realizing their first exits this year with Pinterest (visual bookmarking tool, IPO). Curry invested in a decent range of other startups as well, including TSM (e-sport organization), CoachUp (sports coaching), Team SoloMind (gaming platform), Brandless (ecommerce), Hooked (chat entertainment), Slyce (marketing automation platform), and SnapTravel (hotel deals messenger).
Following his Uber exit, Lance Armstrong just launched Next Ventures, a $75 million venture capital fund to back startups in the sports, fitness, nutrition and wellness markets. Armstrong notably teamed up with Lionel Conacher, a former investment banker and senior executive in several public companies.
Finally, Andy Murray partnered with Seedrs, an equity crowdfunding platform, and has done more than 30 deals since he first started in 2015. Murray invests mainly in tech startups related to health and wellbeing, nutrition, or even dogs. He reportedly works with a team of advisers to assess his investment opportunities.
Athletes and tech startups are a great match and I expect a lot more of them to keep pouring into the space. The recent spurge of athletes investing in tech has already led many others to jump right in and the recent successes will keep the momentum going. With tech spreading into consumer facing areas where athletes have an unfair advantage (sports, lifestyle, nutrition, wellness, or entertainment), they can use their leverage to add value to some of the hottest tech verticals such as marketplaces, e-gaming, foodtech, media and streaming, medtech, cannabis, or sportstech.
It’s worth noting that investing in tech also grew popular because of its societal dimension. Tech investments are often compelling to investors looking to have an impact in the world and the idea of investing in tech companies fueled with smart young people building cool stuff to solve complicated world-scale problems surely sounds like a good pitch.
On the other side, tech startups usually struggle to get funding in the very early stages of the company, namely pre-seed and seed stages (often referred as “the valley of death”). Athletes have the potential to be influent early stage business angels and to help these companies to reach later stages of financing with big premiums on their shares.
In general, the Series A round is the tipping point where funding goes from angel investing to institutional investors (VCs or Corporate Ventures) and where risk of investing decreases considerably since companies are a bit more mature. Consequently it’s a lot harder for angel investors to join the rounds from Series A and onwards because of the increased competition and ticket size. And if investing in early stage startups is riskier, investors have ways to work against the risk and maximize the upside. For instance, they can hedge their bets with multiple investments of smaller tickets, co-invest with other experienced business angels, and even be granted tax exemptions.
Don’t let the incredible successes of tech companies and the hype of investing in startups fool you, however.
Even though investing in tech companies can bring sizeable returns to investors, it remains complex and riskier than other traditional asset classes. In technology, the only constant is change and companies have rapid obsolescence cycles. Companies often have to adjust along the way and pivot multiple times. It’s even not uncommon to see companies on top of their market go on to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to end up bankrupt a few years later, especially in economic downturns (e.g. pets.com or eToys during the dot com bubble).
Adding up to that, the greatest challenge of early stage investors is what we call the deal flow, or the incoming flow of startups screened by the investor. The best deals are usually in high demand and investors must be part of certain networks or have a significant track record to be granted a seat at the table. For instance, if it wasn’t through Chris Sacca, Armstrong probably would have never had the opportunity to invest in Uber.
Even with a good deal flow, the norm in the industry is that experienced VCs usually pick 10 out of 1000–2000 startups to hit the homerun on 1 out 10 investments. The other investments are more spread out with 2–3 investments performing well, and the rest being flat or underperforming. Not to mention that shares of startups are illiquid and that investing cycles usually last 5 to 7 years before investors can exit and make a profit.
Any amateur investor rushing into tech investing has a sure way to lose money. Indeed, it takes time before investors get to see qualitative startups under their radar and even then, it takes even more time and experience before investors can make sense of their deal flow to pick the winners. Athletes are notably often assaulted by the wrong kind of companies and it can be extremely confusing at first.
This is how we go back to athletes needing to surround themselves with a qualified team to make investment decisions, and it couldn’t be truer with tech startups. Finding good startup investments work somewhat like the law of large numbers, the greater the number of startups screened, the greater the chance to discover good deals. In fact, very few are the athletes who did well in occasional tech investments and that’s probably why athletes succesfull in tech opted for setting up their own VC funds or partnering with one instead. Even the great investor Magic Johnson reportedly partnered with Detroit Ventures.
Interestingly in August 2018, one of the most renowned VC in the world Andreessen Horowitz launched a $15 million Cultural Leadership Fund featuring Afro-American athletes (led by Kevin Durant) and entertainers to “invest in companies in the Andreessen Horowitz portfolio who are interested in partnering with the cultural leaders who invested in the fund”. The same summer, Intel and the NBA reportedly worked together on investing in startups in sports while the NFL Player Association launched One Team Collective, a technology and business accelerator for new businesses in the world of sports.
These initiatives come supporting a SportsTech ecosystem that has been growing at a fast pace over the last few years with an increasing number of sports dedicated funds, incubators, or innovation hubs joining the space. The list includes and is not restricted to: Hype Sports Innovation, Sapphire Sport, Global Sports Venture Studio, NYVC Sports, Stadia Ventures, Courtside VC, Bruin Sports Capital, Advantage Sports Tech Fund, Aser, Bitkraft, Shorai, Sports Investment Partners, Trust Esport Ventures, Full Stack Sport Ventures, Capital Sports Ventures, PodiumVC, Le Tremplin, leAD Sports, KICKUP Sports, Active Lab, GSIC Sport Thinkers, Score, SportTech Hub, TenKan-Ten, UEFA Startup Challenge, Wylab, Stakrn, SportUp, Platform A, Spin Accelerator, Dodgers Accelerator, Blue Star Accelerator, Black Lab Sports, Sport eXperience, The Pitch, Sloan Sports, ASTN, Sixers Innovation Lab, Chelsea Foundation, Arsenal Innovation Lab, and Barça Innovation Hub. Most recently, the FC Barcelona announced a 120 million € fund (Barça Ventures) and Seventure and La Caisse d’Epargne partnered up on an 80 million € fund (Sport & Performance Capital) to invest in sports and nutrition related startups.
I believe this is the beginning of a trend that is about to get much bigger. Athletes will increasingly intend to take advantage of their social capital in the tech ecosystem, while other investors and startups will put on an effort to bring them into more deals. This will push traditional VC investors and sports dedicated fund to offer more opportunities for athletes to invest alongside them and leverage their influence. Eventually, athletes will grow even more influent. It’s interesting to see how athletes will embrace these new opportunities and how it will affect the way they get through their careers financially. As athletes gradually get better financial counseling, I’m particularly looking forward to seeing the tech ecosystem allowing them to unleash all their investment potential. | https://medium.com/swlh/athletes-the-new-business-angels-banking-on-tech-c4170b2d9d20 | ['Etienne Boutan'] | 2019-09-13 19:06:27.691000+00:00 | ['Sports', 'Startup', 'Venture Capital', 'Technology', 'Finance'] |
How Minimalism Improves Fitness | How Minimalism Improves Fitness
Progress through simplicity
As any avid enthusiast understands, regular fitness training leads to a better, healthier you. While everyone’s definition of “better” may differ, one truism endures: it doesn’t have to be complicated, it doesn’t have to be excessive, it just has to be consistent.
The best way to ensure consistency? Perform physical activities you enjoy. You’re much more likely to stay on track if you’re engaged with what you’re doing. Playing volleyball on the beach with friends burns a lot of calories.
I’ve always loved Minimalism for its conceptual simplicity. How you can appreciate negative space as an art form, just as you would a sculpture or painting. How appreciating the value of things rather than quantity repels devils like materialism, greed and dishonesty. How decluttering your environment declutters your mind.
From this, freedom arises.
These are not novel ideas, but ideas often ignored. Staying on top of your fitness and adopting a more minimalist mindset are easy to understand, but not easy to adopt. This starts by identifying points of intersection between fundamental minimalist ideals and cornerstone fitness concepts. | https://medium.com/in-fitness-and-in-health/how-minimalism-helps-fitness-c8099e9618d3 | ['Scott Mayer'] | 2020-10-04 00:32:10.188000+00:00 | ['Fitness', 'Health', 'Lifestyle', 'Life', 'Minimalism'] |
Our Hidden Education | Some people and organizations are already doing this.
They’re after school and summer programs. Programs in leadership, performing arts, technology, social justice, mentorship, and sports are instrumental in creating fulfilled and engaged young people.
Out-of-school programs allow young people to explore their interests, build skills, and expand their networks outside of the classroom. Important for several reasons:
It is essential that young people, and particularly those getting ready for adulthood, explore their interests. As Annie Murphy Paul (@anniemurphypaul) has found, “interest has the power to transform struggling performers, and to lift high achievers to a new plane”. Interest is in fact a “more powerful predictor of future choices than prior achievements or demographic variables.” Out-of-school programs tend to inspire what Alex Hernandez (@thinkschools) and Jeff Wetzler (@jeffwetzler) call “signature experiences”. These are those transformative learning moments of lasting impact. While funding for arts in the formal system is continuously decreasing, out-of-school programs are picking up the slack. At the same time, while everyone agrees on the importance of STEM and technology education in the classroom, fewer than 10% of NYC public schools offer computer science education. Again, out-of-school programs are stepping in. Connection with different kinds of out-of-school programs expands a young person’s adult and peer network exponentially. And this matters, because as Julia Freeland (@juliaffreeland) points out, “low-income students have measurably smaller networks than their more affluent peers…”. This has implications for both college access and employment opportunities.
And if you’re not convinced yet, we can always fall back on the trusty graduation rates out-of-school programs are helping to achieve. For example, participants of the community-based organization Brotherhood SisterSol (@BroSis512) in Harlem graduate high school at rates of 94% when the neighborhood average is just 42%.
The leadership and social justice organization Global Kids (@globalkids) is not only creating more informed young citizens, but is also helping 97% of their participants graduate from high school, and 91% to attend college.
Yet another example, Scripted (@ScriptEdOrg), a coding program for teens, has reported that 100% of their participants plan to attend college upon graduation from high school.
The evidence is clear: after school and summer programs are no longer in the ‘enrichment’ category. They are instrumental to the success of young people.
Afterschool and summer programs like the ones mentioned above and the thousands more like them across the nation, are making concrete, impressive gains with our young people. I for one am relieved to learn this because it means we do not have to rely on just one institution anymore.
We can elevate the status of afterschool and summer programs to the level they deserve. Educating young people right alongside the formal education system. It’s time we champion them as partners in our young people’s education and give them the attention they deserve.
Please join me in doing so.
If you are a teen attending a program or are a parent of a teen attending a program, write them a note to thank them for their work. Even better, if you’ve got the means, donate to their program so they can expand.
I know it’s cliché, but it really does take a village to raise a child. We already have that village in place, we just need to harness it better. | https://medium.com/synapse/our-hidden-education-40a648839ddd | ['Cecilia Foxworthy'] | 2016-05-31 20:09:58.225000+00:00 | ['Education', 'Startup', 'Edtech'] |
Backward Compatibility — Glasswall Shim | Transparent API interception
What is a Shim and how does it work?
A Shim is used to facilitate the need to manage the behaviour of an old API with the use of a new API which are directly incompatible with each other but are performing the same functionalities. For example: the new API may be an improvement to the old API, accepting a more versatile set of parameters and functioning in a more efficient, succinct and maintainable manner, but essentially, the functionality and end result between the old and new API are the same.
Therefore, by using the Shim, you are still able to allow your product to use the old API function signatures, but the Shim is used to intercept the behaviour of the old API in a seamless and transparent manner, allowing the functions of the new API to execute.
See the diagrams below which provides a visual representation of the Shim
When would you need to consider using a Shim?
If your product is currently running with an old version of the system and you are facing many obstacles in transitioning to a newer and improved version of the same product, possibly due to compatibility or integration difficulties, the Shim is a very possible solution for you.
How would the use of a Shim benefit your company?
Implementing a Shim is an effective and neat approach which you can use to integrate the newest version of the system by taking advantage of backward compatibility, while also minimising many of the concerns, difficulties and issues that a complete transformation and restructure could bring. Also, the shim is a great way for you to be able to test your new version of the API end to end without much of a ripple effect.
Stop it. Block it. Glasswall it. | https://medium.com/glasswall-engineering/backward-compatibility-glasswall-shim-71d5ca5b79ec | ['Harry Georgiou'] | 2019-11-22 10:31:33.431000+00:00 | ['API', 'Compatibility', 'Product Management', 'Transparency', 'Shim'] |
Writing Angular Services in Scala | Those following my blog posts know that I like to take Scala everywhere. This time, let us write Angular services in Scala.
If you don’t know Angular, it’s a frontend web framework developed by Google in TypeScript, similar to React or Vue. It is a component based framework, and to each component is associated a TypeScript class aiming to control what the HTML component must do. These classes can use services. A service is simply another (usually global) instance of a TypeScript class, either with plenty of facility methods (for example for making http calls), or with global object used to pass information from one component to another.
Our goal today is to discover how one can create and use Angular services in Scala. Using Scala.js, we can compile our Scala code into plain old JavaScript, and export some of our classes to be used, precisely, by the JS world. Let us get started.
TLDR: If you want to jump right into the action, you can head over the accompanying repo. Commits in the repo follow along this article. The master branch shows the final version.
Setup the project
In order for everything to work properly, we simply need a bunch of plugins for managing the project. There are basically three things that we need to do: telling TypeScript what are the types that we are going to provide it, manage the npm dependencies that we want to use, and tell Scala what are the types that exist in JS/TS in the dependencies that we use. Luckily for us, there are exactly three plugins to do just that, to be added inside `project/plugins.sbt`:
addCompilerPlugin(“org.scalameta” % “semanticdb-scalac” % “4.3.10” cross CrossVersion.full)
scalacOptions += “-Yrangepos” /** Explicitly adding dependency on Scala.js */
addSbtPlugin(“org.scala-js” % “sbt-scalajs” % “1.1.1”) /** Plugin for generating TypeScript declaration file. */
resolvers += Resolver.jcenterRepo
addSbtPlugin(“eu.swdev” % “sbt-scala-ts” % “0.9”) /** Plugin for generating Scala.js facades from TypeScript declaration file. */
resolvers += Resolver.bintrayRepo(“oyvindberg”, “converter”)
addSbtPlugin(“org.scalablytyped.converter” % “sbt-converter” % “1.0.0-beta18”) /** Plugin for managing npm dependencies. */
addSbtPlugin(“ch.epfl.scala” % “sbt-scalajs-bundler” % “0.18.0”)
And now we can simply enable all of these, together with some barebones configuration, in our `build.sbt`:
name := “AngularServices”
version := “0.1”
scalaVersion := “2.13.2” /** npm module will have version “0.1.0” */
scalaTsModuleVersion := (_ + “.0”) /** Enabling ScalaJS */
enablePlugins(ScalaJSPlugin) /** Enabling ScalaTS */
enablePlugins(ScalaTsPlugin) /** Enabling Scalably typed, with scala-js-bundler */
enablePlugins(ScalablyTypedConverterPlugin)
We are all set to start creating a JS module for Angular.
A first service
One of the strong suit of Scala is its standard collection library. For example, the native JS Array api has no method for taking distinct elements in the array. Let us fix that. Here is a simple implementation which does that (to be put into src/main/scala/angular/ArrayEnhanced.scala ):
Well, this came for free. That’s the power of Scala. Let us now generate the JavaScript and the TypeScript declaration file by running the sbt command `scalaTsFastOpt`. After it finishes, you can go have a look into target/scala-2.13/scalajs-bundler/main/angularservices-fastopt.d.ts and you’ll see … nothing! That’s right, because we didn’t actually tell Scala to export this class, nor its members, to the JS world. This is easily done by adding the two annotations to the class:
Issuing the command again, the content of the declaration file is now
Note: the careful reader maybe asked himself why the type of f in the distinctBy method was the weird looking js.Function1[A, B] instead of A => B . This is because the type A => B is a Scala function, and pure Scala objects do not enter the JS world. Hence, if we had asked for f: A => B , it would have been impossible for JS to give us the correct argument.
Adding the Angular project
Until now, we didn’t do anything specifically related to Angular. Let us do that now. We are going to add an Angular project within the Scala project directory, into `webapp` directory. To that end, we go to `webapp` directory and issue (outside sbt), the command ng new FromScalaWithLove (I chose not to add angular routing and I chose CSS for styling, as we won’t use that.) We can safely delete the content of the app.component.html file, and replace it with
<h1>From Scala, with love</h1>
Issuing ng serve in the Angular project FromScalaWithLove , and heading to localhost:4200 should make this title appear.
Using our Scala service
The first thing is to copy paste the files in target/scala-2.13/scalajs-bundler/main into webapp/FromScalaWithLove/node_modules/scala-module . That will make our compiled JS code, together with the type definitions, available to TypeScript. And in app.component.ts , we can add the lines
Saving the file should make Angular recompile and refresh the page. Ew, doing this gratified us with an unfriendly `ERROR NullInjectorError`. This makes sense because we never tell the Dependency Injection (DI) mechanism of Angular to take care of our class. This is easily fixed by adding the ArrayEnhanced type inside the providers array in the app.module.ts file. Saving again should make the error disappear.
We can now happily use the ArrayEnhanced service, for example by adding these lines inside the constructor of the app-component :
Polishing the dev experience
Having to copy-paste the compiled files inside Angular node modules is a tiny bit annoying. We want to automate this process. This is simply done by adding the following lines to the build.sbt file:
After reloading sbt, we can issue the makeModule command, which will copy-paste everything properly. Note that in an actual setup, we would like something a bit more fine tuned than hard-coded paths. For now, however, it will do.
Embracing RxJS
The Angular ecosystem makes heavy use of the FRP library RxJS. An Angular user will then most likely expect a service (with asynchronous behaviour) to return Observables instead of, for example, promises. In order to do that, we once again need to change the build.sbt file, in order to add the npm dependency that we want. In this case, `rxjs`. For the sake of speed, we will also tell our project to use yarn instead of npm. This is done by adding the following lines:
Compile / npmDependencies ++= Seq(“rxjs” -> “6.4.0”)
useYarn := true
(You might want to clean first in sbt in order to avoid some weird shenanigans.) Now you can reload and kick ScalablyTyped off by issuing compile . This is going to take quite some time (probably 2 to 5 minutes), because all the TypeScript definitions have to be compiled into Scala.js facades. But don’t worry, this is only a one time process.
We can now create a Scala class which will expose an Rx observable for Angular to use. Let us start with something very modest:
Issuing the makeModule command should now create a declaration file containing (among others)
Since this command automatically copy-paste into Angular’s node module directory, the shiny new EmitRxObservable service will be available immediately. Don’t forget to register it in the app module providers, though.
Note: you will likely hit the following error:
ERROR in node_modules/scala-module/angularservices-fastopt.d.ts(9,7): error TS1086: An accessor cannot be declared in an ambient context.
which comes from the fact that the interfaced exposed our Scala def as a get accessor. This is “solved” by adding the compilerOption `”skipLibCheck”: true` in `tsconfig.json`. I am not a TypeScript aficionado, so there is perhaps something better to do…
We can now happily consume our service by adding the emitRx: EmitRxObservable to the constructor of the app-component , and for example the line
emitRx.naturalNumbers.forEach((e) => console.log(e));
in the constructor. Upon reload, the console should show the natural numbers getting printed.
More Scala, please!
Up until now, we didn’t really do any Scala. We merely used some JavaScript in disguised, but Scala has a lot to offer. For example, it is very good at manipulating data.
We can define a model User , to be used by TypeScript in the project, directly from Scala. This will be a case class with its member exported:
We add a facility method maybeDateOfBirth to be used inside Scala, as Option[A] is more Scala friendly than A | undefined . However, even if this method will exist in TS (because we export all members), it won’t be usable since an Option is a pure Scala type, hence opaque. More precisely, it will be usable but TS will not be able to do anything with the returned object, except carrying it along and possibly pass it back to a Scala.js function. But TypeScript will be able to create instances of User (since it knows all the types of the constructor), and we can therefore ask for them in a Scala service. One example is done below:
And from TS, this can be used by doing
This shows a tiny bit of what is possible doing Scala: we can define models, let TypeScript instantiate them, and use them as regular Scala objects. The only thing that we need to be careful about is to ask from, and return to, TypeScript, only stuff that it understands.
Let’s go crazy
Scala also has a gigantic ecosystem with high quality libraries. There is no reason we shouldn’t use them for our Angular projects!
Let us imagine this use case: you are creating a dashboard of some sort, and you need to download a certain amount of data. You don’t want to download everything at once. You are then given a list of indices [0, 1, …, n-1] and you need to make a call for each of these. However, you know that some of them will take longer than others to be processed by your backend, so you don’t want to have these guys be a bottleneck. Also, sometimes your calls fail for some reason (not that often, but it happens) and in these cases you would like to retry twice with some back-off.
Ultimately, this is what you want to do:
make n http calls to your backend,
always 3 of them concurrently
retry twice those who fail,
if, despite the two retries, one call still fail, the whole process should fail,
be able to track the progress,
return an observable which will emit once an array with the result of the n calls, in such a way that the j-th element is the result of mapping j, and
give the user the possibility to cancel the process before completion.
Good news, this is going to be piece of cake!
We are going to use the ZIO library for that. Other good choices could be AKKA stream or Monix. The first thing to do is to add the ZIO dependency to our project. Add the following line to the build.sbt file:
libraryDependencies += “dev.zio” %%% “zio” % “1.0.0-RC21–2”
We will also need the implementation of the comprehensive java.time library for Scala.js, available via
libraryDependencies += “io.github.cquiroz” %%% “scala-java-time” % “2.0.0"
Function signature
The function that we are going to expose to TypeScript will have the following signature:
where program argument is thought of as an asynchronous observable emitting only once an element of type U . We could also ask for a function returning a js.Promise . We choose the Observable type because it is the one returned by Angular’s `HttpClient`, for example. Note that we only need to export the members of the CompletionState class, because TypeScript never needs to create an instance. It is only required that it understands the ones we are going to give back.
From Rx Observable to ZIO effect
We need to turn this program function into a ZIO effect that we are going to use afterwards. The program assumes that the returned observable might fail, so we need to take that into account. ZIO has us covered and has the function effectAsync to do just that:
This function thus lifts an observable returning a U into a ZIO effect that might fail with a js.Error , and might succeed with a U . Note that you could very well preserve the fact that in TypeScript, an error can really be “anything”. In that case, we would have asked the ZIO effect to fail with a js.Any instead of js.Error .
The retry policy
We decided to allow each program to fail a certain number of times. In ZIO, you need to provide a “retry policy” describing the rules to follow in the retry. We can build a retry policy that fits our needs by doing
If the reader is not familiar with ZIO and wonders why this thing does what we want, they can head over here.
The global execution plan
The last ZIO piece is a pure function taking the inputs from TS, and a bunch of small helper ZIO effect that are going to be actually built by using Rx Observables. Here is the function
The program argument is the program provided by TS, lifted to ZIO. The nextProgress effect will notify that a new program has finished. The two effects complete and fail happen at the end, the former when the whole thing succeeds and the latter when it fails. As we see, the implementation is pretty straightforward. The funny symbol <* means that the right effect will be executed after the left one, but its result will be discarded (similar to Rx tap operator).
The bridge to JS world
We are now ready to implement our function. We create observables for ingesting the progress and the output, and we lift that to ZIO. We then run the program as a cancellable future, and expose a JavaScript function to cancel it. Here is the full implementation:
And that is all. The nice thing that we get from this is that our execution function is pure and can easily be tested. The Scala compiler is also able to ensure us that the global program will never fail. That means that, from TS’ side, we can be certain that the only errors happening will be the ones coming from the input programs, or the TaskCancelledError in the event that TS cancels it.
Using it
We can now use our powerful function from Angular. The interested reader will find in the repo an integration with Angular UI. Below, we simply mention a usage with the console.
Let us write a “dummy” program simulating an asynchronous computation:
This program returns the input one second later, failing with probability 0.1. It prints the input in case of success, and warn “boom” the input in case of failure. Injecting an instance of ZIOService in our component, we can for example use our function like this:
You will be able to see that
elements get printed 3 by 3
the progress will be displayed accordingly
from time to time, a “boom j” will be displayed, and you will see that the value will be printed after bigger numbers
the result array printed at the end is well ordered, as expected.
If you want to see the cancellation in action, you can for example do
I hope this example demonstrated that Scala, with the help of ZIO, can give you an enormous amount of power via a straightforward interface. It’s now time to draw conclusions from all of this.
Why and when do this?
Why should one make Angular Services in Scala? I believe there are a variety of good reasons that I try to discuss below:
your backend is in Scala. In that case, you will be able to define all your business models for the backend, and expose them to JS/TS to be used immediately. And you can write, in Scala, the type-safe versions of the http calls that you want to make to your backend endpoints. That way, all of your models will be completely in sync, you will be able to have an efficient Scala-to-Scala communication (the ScalaTs repo actually has an example of that).
you need to make very advanced stuff, like above. Using ZIO is only one possible example. But Scala has a lot to offer and is perfectly suited to model complicated business domains.
you want to go “all in” and make all your services in Scala, leaving to TypeScript and Angular only the responsibility of the controllers. That way, you can have a nice and clean Scala project, exposing just the right amount of information to your components. You are forced (in a good way) to keep a clear separation of concerns between components and services
testing your services will be a lot easier. Scala has amazing test libraries that will allow you to extensively test your services, mocking their concrete implementations if need be.
Caveats
There is no such thing as a silver bullet in computer science. This technology is no exception. I can see at least three “drawbacks” that I personally think should not keep you away from choosing it, but you should be aware that they exist.
bundle size: the compiled JavaScript file from Scala.js is one big fat file of easily 4 mb. In today’s fashion of doing single page applications, this should not be too much of a deal. But it certainly means that you shouldn’t do this only for the `distinct` method, as shown above
scalably typed typings: scalably typed generates Scala.js facades from TS types for you. Given the nature of TypeScript, they are sometimes a bit cumbersome to work with. If you happen to need a fine tuned facade for one of your libraries, it might be worth writing them by hand. It’s really not that hard
The ScalaTs plugin is young: the following months, perhaps you will find some very advanced use case that the plugin is not able to handle. No worries, you can still write things down by hand, and raise an issue!
Conclusion
Writing Angular services in Scala is amazing. To me, the advantages largely outweigh the caveats. Especially if your backend is in Scala. The beautiful thing is that most of the above apply not only to Angular, but to any JavaScript/TypeScript project (even node.js ones!).
We did not cover using Angular-Angular services within our Scala services, but it is certainly possible to do so.
Don’t hesitate to give it a try! It is easy to get working with and, who knows, it can be a nice entry point for you into Scala… | https://antoine-doeraene.medium.com/writing-angular-services-in-scala-e83fd308b7c3 | ['Antoine Doeraene'] | 2020-07-20 11:27:43.294000+00:00 | ['Zio', 'Angular', 'Typescript', 'Scala'] |
Medical Plastic Market Growth, Share, Opportunities and Forecast by 2025 | Industry Insights
Growing number of insured individuals in U.S., coupled with the resultant demand for medical devices, is expected to have a positive impact on the growth over the forecast years. The market is characterized by the presence of a large number of companies involved in the production of advanced grade plastics for use in the industry.
The market is characterized by extensive integration through various stages of the value chain. HELM AG is integrated across all four stages in the value chain from raw material production to plastic production and the manufacturing of end-use products used by the hospitals and healthcare institutions including private clinics.
Such polymers are regulated by numerous agencies across the globe. In Europe, medical devices fall under the EU Council Directive (93/42/EEC), which provides guidance for their consumption. Restructuring of the European regulations for such devices is anticipated to emerge as one of the key factors affecting the regional growth.
The medical plastic market is subject to multiple technological advancements pertaining to the production of advanced plastics for healthcare application. The companies resort to new product developments as one of the major strategies to achieve market growth. In addition, key market players invest significantly in R&D to develop advanced products.
High degree of competition is likely to bolster the consumer buying power. Product quality and cost competitiveness are the major factors impacting the buyer power decision. High production volumes coupled with the ease of availability of medical plastics is expected to be drive the buyer power in the next few years.
To view summary of Medical Plastic Market Report, click the link below:
www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/medical-plastics-market
Application Insights
PETG is a specialized plastic that provides properties such as superior moisture and oxygen barrier coupled with high degree of transparency thereby driving the product demand for packaging medical device components. This trend is expected to drive the demand for plastics used in medical device packaging. The segment is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.7% from 2019 to 2025.
Market for orthopaedic soft goods is driven by the recurring demand for engineering plastic primarily owing to the superior functional attributes of such plastics. In addition, rising development of advanced engineering plastics by manufacturers is expected to bode well for the market growth over the forecast period.
Polystyrene is used in the production of various devices including plastic boxes, cups, medical keyboards, and vaginal dilator speculum. The product is generally recommended for manufacturing diagnostic instruments, pipettes, flasks, and tissue culture components owing to its ease of sterilization and clarity.
Regional Insights
Middle East and Africa is likely to be driven by the demand for medical components such as disposable gloves, syringes, and catheters. The market is expected to grow due to the rising preference for high-grade medical facilities by the population in middle and lower income group consumers.
The market in China is projected to witness substantial growth over the forecast period, attributed to high healthcare cost, increasing private and public expenditure on healthcare, and high disease prevalence. Increasing geriatric population in the country is also expected to be a major contributor to the growth.
Download Medical Plastic Market Report, click the link below:
www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/medical-plastics-market
Report Scope
Attribute & Details
Base year for estimation
2018
Actual estimates/Historical data
2014–2017
Forecast period
2019–2025
Market representation
Volume in Kilotons and Revenue in USD Million & CAGR from 2019 to 2025
Regional scope
North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Central & South America, Middle East & Africa
Report coverage
Volume forecast, revenue forecast, competitive landscape, growth factors and trends
Country Scope
U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, U.K., Italy, France, China, India, Japan, Brazil, Saudi Arabia
15% free customization scope (equivalent to 5 analyst working days)
If you need specific information, which is not currently within the scope of the report, we will provide it to you as a part of customization | https://medium.com/@marketresearchforecast/medical-plastic-market-growth-share-opportunities-and-forecast-by-2025-c22d50b9f9d2 | ['Rajesh Varma'] | 2019-07-10 07:07:36.390000+00:00 | ['Medical', 'Healthcare', 'Business'] |
Create & Execute your First Hadoop MapReduce Project in Eclipse | Create & Execute your First Hadoop MapReduce Project in Eclipse
A step-by-step guide for creating a Hadoop MapReduce Project in Java
This article will provide you the step-by-step guide for creating Hadoop MapReduce Project in Java with Eclipse. The article explains the complete steps, including project creation, jar creation, executing application, and browsing the project result.
Let us now start building the Hadoop MapReduce WordCount Project.
Hadoop MapReduce Project in Java With Eclipse
Prerequisites:
Hadoop 3: If Hadoop is not installed on your system, then follow the Hadoop 3 installation guide to install and configure Hadoop. Eclipse: Download Eclipse Java 8: Download Java
Here are the steps to create the Hadoop MapReduce Project in Java with Eclipse:
Step 1. Launch Eclipse and set the Eclipse Workspace.
Step 2. To create the Hadoop MapReduce Project, click on File >> New >> Java Project.
Provide the Project Name:
Click Finish to create the project.
Step 3. Create a new Package right-click on the Project Name >> New >> Package.
Provide the package name:
Click Finish to create the package.
Step 4. Add the Hadoop libraries (jars).
To do so Right-Click on Project Name >>Build Path>> configure Build Path.
Add the External jars.
For this go to hadoop-3.1.2>> share >> hadoop.
Now we will move to share >> Hadoop in Hadoop MapReduce Project.
A. Add the client jar files.
Select client jar files and click on Open.
B. Add common jar files.
Select common jar files and Open.
Also, add common/lib libraries.
Select all common/lib jars and click Open.
C. Add yarn jar files.
Select yarn jar files and then select Open.
D. Add MapReduce jar files.
Select MapReduce jar files.
Click Open.
E. Add HDFS jar files.
Select HDFS jar files and click Open.
Click on Apply and Close to add all the Hadoop jar files.
Now, we have added all required jar files in our project.
Step 5. Now create a new class that performs the map job.
Here in this article, WordCountMapper is the class for performing the mapping task.
Right-Click on Package Name >> New >> Class
Provide the class name:
Click Finish.
Step 6. Copy the below code in your class created above for the mapper.
package com.projectgurukul.wc; import java.io.IOException; import java.util.StringTokenizer; import org.apache.hadoop.io.IntWritable; import org.apache.hadoop.io.Text; import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.Mapper; import org.apache.hadoop.io.LongWritable; public class WordCountMapper extends Mapper <LongWritable, Text, Text, IntWritable> { private Text wordToken = new Text(); public void map(LongWritable key, Text value, Context context) throws IOException, InterruptedException { StringTokenizer tokens = new StringTokenizer(value.toString()); //Dividing String into tokens while (tokens.hasMoreTokens()) { wordToken.set(tokens.nextToken()); context.write(wordToken, new IntWritable(1)); } } }
Press Ctrl+S to save the code.
Step 7. Now create another class (in the same way as we used above), for creating a class that performs the reduce job.
Here in this article, WordCountReducer is the class to perform the reduce task.
Click Finish.
Step 8. Copy the below code in your class created above for the reducer.
package com.projectgurukul.wc; import java.io.IOException; import org.apache.hadoop.io.IntWritable; import org.apache.hadoop.io.Text; import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.Reducer; public class WordCountReducer extends Reducer <Text, IntWritable, Text, IntWritable> { private IntWritable count = new IntWritable(); public void reduce(Text key, Iterable<IntWritable> values, Context context) throws IOException, InterruptedException { // gurukul [1 1 1 1 1 1….] int valueSum = 0; for (IntWritable val : values) { valueSum += val.get(); } count.set(valueSum); context.write(key, count); } }
Press Ctrl+S to save the code.
Step 9. Now create the driver class, which contains the main method. Here in this article, the driver class for the project is named “WordCount”.
Click Finish.
Step 10. Copy the below code in your driver class, which contains the main method.
package com.projectgurukul.wc; import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration; import org.apache.hadoop.fs.Path; import org.apache.hadoop.io.IntWritable; import org.apache.hadoop.io.Text; import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.Job; import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.lib.input.FileInputFormat; import org.apache.hadoop.mapreduce.lib.output.FileOutputFormat; import org.apache.hadoop.util.GenericOptionsParser; public class WordCount { public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { Configuration conf = new Configuration(); String[] pathArgs = new GenericOptionsParser(conf, args).getRemainingArgs(); if (pathArgs.length < 2) { System.err.println(“MR Project Usage: wordcount <input-path> […] <output-path>”); System.exit(2); } Job wcJob = Job.getInstance(conf, “MapReduce WordCount”); wcJob.setJarByClass(WordCount.class); wcJob.setMapperClass(WordCountMapper.class); wcJob.setCombinerClass(WordCountReducer.class); wcJob.setReducerClass(WordCountReducer.class); wcJob.setOutputKeyClass(Text.class); wcJob.setOutputValueClass(IntWritable.class); for (int i = 0; i < pathArgs.length — 1; ++i) { FileInputFormat.addInputPath(wcJob, new Path(pathArgs[i])); } FileOutputFormat.setOutputPath(wcJob, new Path(pathArgs[pathArgs.length — 1])); System.exit(wcJob.waitForCompletion(true) ? 0 : 1); } }
Press Ctrl+S to save the Code.
Step 11. Creating the Jar File of the Project
Before running created Hadoop MapReduce word count application, we have to create a jar file.
To do so Right-click on project name >> Export.
Select the JAR file option. Click Next.
Provide the Jar file name:
Click Next.
Click Next.
Now select the class of the application entry point.
Here in this Hadoop MapReduce Project article, the class for the application entry point is the WordCount class.
Click Finish.
Step 12. Execute the Hadoop MapReduce word count application using the below execution command.
hadoop jar <project jar file path> <input file path> <output directory>
hadoop jar /home/gurukul/WordCount.jar /wc_input /wc_output
Here in this command,
<project jar file path> is the path of the jar file of the project created above.
<input file path> is the file in HDFS, which is input to the Hadoop MapReduce Word Count Project.
<output directory> is the directory where the output of the Hadoop MapReduce WordCount program is going to be stored.
This will start the execution of MapReduce job
Now we have run the Map Reduce job successfully. Let us now check the result.
Step 13. Browse the Hadoop MapReduce Word Count Project Output.
The output directory of the Project in HDFS contains two files: _SUCCESS and part-r-00000
The output is present in the /part-r-00000 file.
You can browse the result using the below command.
hadoop fs -cat <output directory/part-r-00000> hadoop fs -cat /wc_output/part-r-00000
Summary
We have Successfully created the Hadoop MapReduce Project in Java with Eclipse and executed the MapReduce job on Ubuntu. | https://medium.com/data-science-community-srm/create-execute-your-first-hadoop-mapreduce-project-with-eclipse-9ec03105e974 | ['Ojas Gupta'] | 2020-09-04 11:52:26.516000+00:00 | ['Mapreduce', 'Eclipse', 'Java', 'Hadoop', 'Data'] |
France’s geopolitical problem with Turkey | France’s geopolitical problem with Turkey
French President Macron’s attempt to rally the EU behind France against Turkey through his turning to European populism puts him at odds with NATO. Radio EastMed Nov 1, 2020·13 min read
President Macron, flanked by Republican Guards, makes his entrance at the Palace of Versailles to deliver his state-of-the-nation address to MPs and senators (CHARLES PLATIAU/POOL).
Scroll down to listen to the audio version of this article.
Comments by French President Emmanual Macron early in October triggered a fierce war of words between himself and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that weeks on, still has the two leaders arguing back and forth. Macron claimed that the religion of Islam is in crisis, a remark that offended Muslims around the world, including President Erdogan, who styles himself as a defender of Islamic values and causes, both in Turkey, and in the wider Muslim world. Erdogan later alleged that Macron is suffering from mental issues, resulting in France recalling its ambassador to Turkey.
In the backdrop of the two leaders’ bickering, French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo re-published an insulting cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad that was originally released five years ago. Back in 2015, the cartoon led to a series of violent attacks in France, including one that targeted the Charlie Hebdo offices. The cartoon led to similar consequences again, as a school teacher was beheaded for showing the cartoon to his class in the name of promoting freedom of speech. This time, however, in reaction to the teacher’s murder, the French government officially endorsed the cartoon as a symbol of French values, even going as far as projecting it on state buildings.
Macron’s endorsement of the cartoon escalated what was already a tense situation between France and the Muslim world. A very small minority of people who identify as Muslims have accepted physical violence to be a legitimate way of expressing their dismay at the cartoons, and this was again seen in a random stabbing attack that took place in Nice, leaving three people dead. And while the vast majority of Muslims do not condone such attacks, it is fair to say that even the most peace-loving Muslims were angered by Macron’s open support for Charlie Hebdo. As is the case when any head of state endorses any behaviour that stigmatises a certain segment of society, certain violent individuals can interpret the endorsement as a green light to take matters into their own hands. One incident in October that didn’t make the headlines was the stabbing of two Muslim women in a racially-motivated attack near the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
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As ill-advised as Macron’s approach to the downward spiral of events unfolding in his country may be, one must understand that the French president is caught in a dilemma between appeasing his society at home and satisfying France’s geopolitical ambitions abroad. On the one hand, the French president is increasingly desperate to build bridges with Muslim societies in North Africa and the Middle East to restore France’s depleted soft power in those regions. On the other hand, Macron must address the domestic problem surrounding the growing French Muslim minority and general attitudes towards them from France’s secular majority.
At present, France is home to the largest population of Muslims in Europe. As much as 5 percent of people in France are Muslims, equating to almost 3.5 million. Most of them originate from countries in Africa that were once French colonies, such as Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mali and Senegal. Islam is also spreading among non-Muslims in France, with as many as 200,000 people believed to have converted to the faith. By 2050, it is estimated that over 12 percent of people in France will be Muslims. Provided that French Muslims can maintain their sense of unity through religion, by 2050 they will have enough numbers to become real movers and shakers in France, the birthplace of secularism in Europe. Many French consider this prospect to be a threat to their way of life and very identity as a European country.
Recent voting trends in France have also been shifting further and further to the right since the failure of former President Francois Hollande’s left-wing government. Macron, himself a centrist, had to shrug off a tough challenge from his far-right rival Marine Le Pen when being elected president in 2017. Since then, general attitudes and feelings in France have continued to move to the right. This is of course something Macron has to take note of for the next time his people go to the polls in 2022. Therefore, his shift to the right comes as no surprise.
Global diplomacy in tatters
As strategic as Macron’s move to the right may be for his domestic prospects, it is already having ramifications abroad. Muslims all over the world have been calling for a boycott of French products amid mass protests condemning Macron. The burning of the French flag has become a common sight even in Muslim-majority countries that typically have good bilateral relations with France, such as Egypt. This public outburst towards the French government has made it difficult for any Muslim leader who wishes to maintain a positive standing in their own country to justify to their people the keeping of good diplomatic ties with France, especially considering that Macron’s endorsement of Charlie Hebdo has upset Muslims on all sides of the political spectrum.
This situation has erupted at a time when France needs to maintain good ties with Muslim countries more than ever. Once the imperial master of much of northwest Africa, France today sees its influence in its former colonial backyard at its lowest since the period of de-colonisation. Its soft power has waned significantly in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, where it is slowly giving way to the growing influence of rival Muslim powers Turkey and Saudi Arabia. France also no longer has much to boast about in its former Middle Eastern colonies of Syria and Lebanon, having been made irrelevant by Russia and Iran.
Iraqi protesters burn posters and the French flag during a demonstration against French President Emmanuel Macron in front of the French embassy in Baghdad on October 26, 2020 (AFP).
This explains why France has been so eager to take on Turkey, which in its own expansionist mission in the Eastern Mediterranean has been creeping into former French strongholds. Last year, Turkey signed a maritime demarcation deal with Libya’s UN-recognised government, which also saw Turkish troops sent to Tripoli to defend the city from attacks by renegade commander Khalifa Haftar. The Turkish deployment was seen by Paris as a danger to its drive to regain its foothold in North Africa. France seized the opportunity to send a warship to the region by putting on a display of defending Greek maritime claims in the Eastern Mediterranean against Turkey. In reality, France was actually attempting to create a stand-off situation between itself and Turkey in a bid to rally EU support behind it and deal a blow to Turkey’s expansion project. But as much as France and Greece tried to play to Turcophobic sentiments in Europe to push for sanctions on Turkey, they proved to lack the combined political leverage to unite EU opinion against the Turks.
EU vs NATO
It could be argued that Macron misjudged the EU’s resolve against Turkey, perhaps even overestimating the EU’s bandwidth as a political bloc. Macron has made no secret of his stance as a Europeanist. He has long called for the formation of a joint European army with other EU members. The problem is that most EU countries are already part of the NATO military bloc, which is spearheaded by the United States. After the US, Turkey boasts of the second largest army in the bloc. The bloc has largely been responsible for security in Europe since the end of World War II, and was the single biggest obstacle preventing the Soviet Union overrunning all of Europe during the Cold War. To this day, it is the main force defending Europe from a multitude of threats, acting as a deterrence mainly against Russian expansionism and maintaining Western hegemony in the continent.
Another function of NATO is that it safeguards the transatlantic trade route, ensuring Western dominance in international trade. Likewise, it helps keep Russian presence in the Eastern Mediterranean at bay, thus preventing the Russians from gaining significant leverage over the West by taking control of the Suez Canal chokepoint, which is absolutely crucial for the transportation of oil from the Arab Gulf to the Atlantic. What Macron fails to realise is that like it or not, Turkey is the country largely responsible for fulfilling this NATO objective by maintaining the status quo in that part of the Mediterranean.
Yes, Turkey may not behave the way its Western partners would like it to behave, but when its national interests have been respected, Turkey has largely been a loyal member of the NATO bloc. In spite of whatever reservations others may have about Turkey being a NATO member, its unilaterally undertaken military operations beyond its borders have always been minimalist offensives designed to defend its territorial integrity through the setting up of buffer zones and military outposts, even if that’s not necessarily how it’s interpreted on the ground.
For instance, despite possessing the military strength to take over all of Cyprus in 1974 when the island was seized by the Greek junta, Turkey only took control of the northern third of the island, just about enough to set up a semi-dependent entity that would secure the safe passage of its ships through the Bay of Iskenderun to the open seas. Likewise in Syria, Turkish troops only advanced as far as they needed to in order to prevent the hostile PKK-linked YPG militant group from creating a corridor along its borders. Even the Turkish maritime deal with Libya only came after Greece took a maximalist, unilateral approach when determining its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Aegean, which would have completely locked Turkey out of the gas bonanza taking place south of its shores. In other words, as much as Turkey is portrayed as an aggressor, most of its cross-border offensives come from a place of defence, often in reaction to provocations that threaten its sovereignty.
Turkish and American forces conduct joint ground patrols in the so-called “safe zone” on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey in September 2019.
From a NATO perspective, tensions between Turkey and other NATO allies are not helpful. Quite frankly, as things stand, Turkey is the only country in the Eastern Mediterranean that first of all has the military strength to hold the frontline against Russian expansionism, and secondly has the shared interest with the West in holding that line. Even Washington’s closest ally in the region, Israel, cannot be trusted to such an extent due to pro-Russian elements within its society. Only Egypt’s military strength equals that of Turkey’s in the region, but owing to the fact that Egypt doesn’t face the same Russian threat to its territory that Turkey does, Cairo does not have the same incentive to cooperate with NATO. That’s precisely why Turkey is a NATO member and Egypt is not. So when other NATO allies, that are not as indispensable to NATO as Turkey is, go about agitating the Turks, their complaints about Turkey’s counter-moves are really of no importance to the bloc’s leadership. If anything, NATO sees the behaviour of France and Greece as dangerous for the bloc’s unity, and considers any actions designed to alienate Turkey to be an opportunity presented to the Russians to bolster their influence in the region.
Macron can kick and scream as much as he likes, but as he has found out through his failure to unite the EU against Turkey, so long as NATO plays the role of Europe’s personal bodyguard, his temper tantrums will not be enough to help France create the military front it needs to reassert itself as a global player.
Macron the revolutionary
It seems, however, that Macron is too proud to surrender France’s destiny to an American-led alliance in which his nation can never truly fulfill its full geopolitical potential. He is determined to help France break free of its American chains and make it the leading nation of a free Europe. He seeks to transform the EU from being a mere unofficial project of NATO designed to help former communist Eastern Bloc states integrate with the West, into a fully-functional and independent entity that will help France regain its former glory. Basically, his goal to bring the united Europe, that currently only exists in his mind, into reality, is an attempt to hijack the EU and turn it into a vehicle of French neo-colonialism.
Macron’s pivot to the right therefore can be seen as being his resorting to populism to establish himself as the natural leader of Europe and defender of so called European values. By targeting Islam, Macron is tapping into the most base instincts of European society and addressing its historic traumas. Of course he is not the first EU leader to do this. The leaders of Hungary, Czechia, Poland and even Italy are already way ahead of him. But none of those countries stand a chance in changing the direction of the EU entirely, whereas France, the bloc’s most powerful member state, does. Macron is seemingly attempting to rally the growing number of far-right eurosceptics in the bloc and give them a brand of nationalism they can digest, with his added ingredient of pan-Europeanism.
Yet in making this move, Macron has set himself against the very people he needs to work with to eventually realise his dream of re-establishing French influence in its former colonies — the Muslims. Just when a beacon of hope began to appear for France in Libya and Lebanon, two places where France is playing, or attempting to play, a key role in the formation of national unity governments, Macron has suddenly made it very hard for local leaders to show any kind of affiliation with the French.
Advantage Erdogan
Even if Macron succeeds in uniting Europe by riding the current wave of Islamophobia, he would find himself facing a united Muslim front that is resistant to any kind of French expansion. Not only that, but he would likely find his Turkish rival Erdogan spearheading that resistance, because whatever populist tactics Macron is just now starting to use to unite European society, Erdogan has already been using those same tactics for almost two decades in the Muslim world.
Being so outspoken against Macron’s endorsement of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons has done wonders for Erdogan in promoting himself as a true Muslim leader. In the Muslim world, Erdogan’s confidence and charisma alone have been enough to inspire a shift in thinking towards the Turks, and in some instances, created a longing for the return of the Ottoman Empire. He may be vilified in Europe, but he holds great sway among the Sunni Muslim majority of the MENA region. Turkish influence was already replacing French influence in the Middle East and North Africa, and this latest spat between Macron and Erdogan will almost certainly be the last nail in the coffin for France in those countries.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a large crowd in Istanbul in August 2016.
However, as much as NATO remains dormant when it comes to dealing with Turkey at the moment, it almost certainly won’t allow Turkey to inherit the lands of the former French Empire. Turkey’s job is to do what it needs to do to keep Russia out of the Eastern Mediterranean. As far as NATO is concerned, Turkey has no business being involved in areas outside of its immediate region. But the key to solving this problem is not to discipline Turkey at the risk of pushing it into an alliance with the Russians. Rather, NATO needs to exercise its influence in Europe to end counterproductive provocations against the Turks, which would in turn allow Turkey to rest its mind from thinking too much about the world beyond its borders.
The right-wing Europeanism currently being touted by Macron is proving to be too troublesome for NATO’s objectives in Europe. With Europe’s experimentation with liberalism pretty much at its end, the time may be nigh for right-wing eurosceptics to finally take centre stage in the EU, ultimately leading to the break up of the EU itself. Instead, NATO may prefer to see the emergence of regional blocs, all aligned to the NATO agenda, but none strong enough to ever break loose and become a rival to NATO. As for Turkey, so long as it remains a key player in holding the Russians back, and in doing so doesn’t become a bigger threat than Russia to Western hegemony, it can be reassured that have-a-go-heroes like Macron will be here today, gone tomorrow. NATO will see to that.
Ertan Karpazli is the Editor-in-Chief of Radio EastMed.
Tweets @Ertan_Karpazli
All views expressed by the writer are solely his own.
Support Radio EastMed on Patreon!
Radio EastMed is a brand new news portal that had its soft launch in January 2020. It is still in its beta stage and aims to be ready for a hard launch by the end of 2021.
We are a completely independent platform run entirely by volunteers. We have no affiliation to any state bodies, political parties, business lobbies, religious congregations, civil society groups or trade unions. We also do not receive any income from investors, sponsors of advertisers.
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So please support us by becoming a Patron today! CLICK HERE to visit our page on Patreon and find out how you can help us provide an even better service. All donations, big and small, are appreciated. | https://medium.com/@radioeastmed/frances-geopolitical-problem-with-turkey-b2c4265fe873 | ['Radio Eastmed'] | 2020-11-02 20:00:50.026000+00:00 | ['European Union', 'Charlie Hebdo', 'Emmanuel Macron', 'Islamophobia', 'Erdogan'] |
Using Chinese Characters in Matplotlib | When you try to display Chinese or other non-ascii characters in matplotlib, your characters may not be displayed properly, like following figure:
Error displaying Chinese characters in matplotlib
It is because the fonts used by matplotlib couldn’t decode the characters properly. To solve it, we should add the appropriate fonts and update matplotlib font cache.
locate the matplotlib fonts folder:
import matplotlib
print(matplotlib.matplotlib_fname())
this is the location of matplotlib config file, you will get something like …/matplotlib/mpl-data/matplotlibrc
The font folder is …/matplotlib/mpl-data/fonts/ttf , put your ttf file there.
2. Get ttf from ttc file (skip if you have ttf file already)
For macOS, the system Chinese fonts is Heiti, which is embed in a ttc file (ttc is a collection of multiple ttf files). Get the system ttc file in /System/Library/Fonts/STHeiti Medium.ttc Copy this file out and convert it to ttf. Here is an online ttc converter:
https://transfonter.org/ttc-unpack
3. Rebuild the Matplotlib Cache
import matplotlib.font_manager
matplotlib.font_manager._rebuild()
restart your Jupyter / ipython kernel, then test if matplotlib can load your font or not by the ttflist function of the font manager
[f for f in matplotlib.font_manager.fontManager.ttflist if 'Heiti' in f.name]
change ‘Heiti’ to your own font name. If you see your fonts object above. You are ready to use the new fonts.
4. Using Appropriate Fonts in Matplotlib
matplotlib.rcParams['font.family'] = ['Heiti TC']
This will tell matplotlib to use the specific font as default, result as follow~ | https://medium.com/@hoishing/using-chinese-characters-in-matplotlib-5c49dbb6a2f7 | ['Kelvin Ng'] | 2019-10-07 14:24:43.564000+00:00 | ['Unicode', 'Matplotlib'] |
Twitter CEO Jack joins Bitcoin Lightning Network Project | The Lightning Network, Bitcoin Second Layer Protocol community project joined by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Feb. 5.
Jack participated in the experiment of LNTrustChain named “Lightning Torch” by providing invoice of 2,860,000 sats for lightning payment and included in the series of lightning transactions chain.
What is LNTrustChain?
It is Lightning Network Transactions Chain in which a user receives the lightning transaction and passes it to the next trusted one by adding the amount of 10,000 sats to the previous transaction.
It is started by an anonymous user on Twitter having Twitter handle @hodlonaut.
The Aim of starting this experiment is to increase the use of Bitcoin Lightning Network (LN) by the people throughout the world.
Bitcoin Lightning Network is a way of scaling Bitcoin in terms of transaction speed and transaction cost.
Bitcoin Lightning Network able to process millions of transaction per second (TPS) and having negligible fee.
Lightning Transaction happened Off the Chain in Second Layer Protocol.
What do you think about adoption of Bitoin Lightning Network, Please Comment below!
Long Bitcoin Short the Bankers
Bitcoinik Suggested Trading Platforms :
Binance — For Altcoins Trading ( Create New Account )
Bitmex — For Marginal Trading ( Create New Account )
Follow us on Twitter | https://medium.com/@bitcoinikdotcom/the-lightning-network-bitcoin-second-layer-protocol-community-project-joined-by-twitter-ceo-jack-159440c7d497 | [] | 2019-02-06 18:46:51.566000+00:00 | ['Lightning Network', 'Twitter', 'Bitcoin', 'Bitcoin Lightning', 'Adoption'] |
We are growing old | Photo by Alejandro Ortiz
The one thing that, even if you whine and cry and refuse to eat and sleep all day, will never change, is the passage of time. The clock will keep ticking. The sun will keep setting, and those quiet grey hairs will keep waiting till the day they can sprout with joy and never look back.
When my friend Gabriel said he dozed off on the car steering on his way to work this morning, I felt a strong mix of apprehension and hilarity.
Gabriel, a young man in his late twenties, is already facing mid-forties problems because he couldn’t get seven hours of sleep!
Who can blame him?
Our generation has it differently. The whole process has been sped up. What we have always known as mid-life crisis really has upped its ante, attended branding school, and has now become the 30s malaise.
The 30s malaise essentially states that the moment you hit your thirties, you begin to experience everything…but harder. (Don’t look that up, I came up with it.) You would feel sadness more sadly, stress more stressfully, anger more angrily and tiredness more tiredly. You would have moments of real worry for something and nothing at all, moments of high hopes rudely interrupted by moments of sharp fatigue, with bubbling questions about the point of this trouble that is life visiting you while you sleep.
It’s why I immediately started to argue with Gabriel that maybe he had altered his age like many Nigerian footballers are wont to do.
“Tell me the truth, are you sure you’re not thirty-five? I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
But Gabriel would not confess, and that’s fine. I know, you, my dear reader, now know, and the Lord who made us all knows that the only reason anyone would be sleeping on their steering early in the morning is because they have the 30s malaise.
Fine, I’m kidding.
But I can’t help but wonder at how quickly time is passing, and how older we are getting. I know it isn’t just me who thought I’d be a teen forever. There are days when I honestly debate within myself if I didn’t get stuck in that phase in my head, while the rest of my body grew, because I do not feel old. I do not feel old at all, and when my nieces and their school mothers call me “Aunty”, I sometimes do a double take like “You can’t possibly be referring to me, kid.”
I admire people who look forward to getting older. I admire their enthusiasm about life, about where next it leads them, and their patience with it to take them there. I admire the photoshoots and public declaration of new chapters with genuine excitement.
And it is not that I don’t feel those too, I sometimes honestly do — I mean, when I finally clocked 18, I wanted to throw a can of red paint at the world to announce my arrival to the good life.
But I guess I am one of those people who are fascinated by their grandmother’s photos when she was young, who read up biographies and watch old movies and wonder what those people were thinking when they were my age, and because of that, frankly, I do not want to grow older.
I want to stay young and here to watch the world as it unfolds, as trends come and go and life gets warm and cold and warm again.
Alas, wishes aren’t galloping hairy things. And at least, I can find comfort in the fact that I am not alone. We are all growing old.
And we will all die one day. | https://medium.com/@ifeoluwaolujuyigbe/we-are-growing-old-bb0431f73e42 | ['Ife Olujuyigbe'] | 2020-12-15 00:28:54.976000+00:00 | ['Time', 'Growing Up', 'Adulthood', 'Growing Old', 'Life Change'] |
A year of plague, fire and blood: but also hope? | A year of plague, fire and blood: but also hope?
A street during the plague in London via Wikimedia Commons
Forty thousand terrified and angry people, dressed in rags and improvised cloth masks yelled at police, begging not to be left stranded on the wrong side of a closed frontier. Oily black smoke from trash being burnt on the Venezuelan side blotted out the sun, and riot police stood by, ready to respond with physical violence. Global plague had reached the Colombia-Venezuelan border, and the result was apocalyptic, more reminiscent of zombie films than the cold reality it truly was.
It was March, and authorities across Latin America were closing all land borders with little to no advance notice. For all of us, the true moment of crisis crystalizing into reality was different, depending on where we were in the world, but for me, I was on the border watching a desperate multitude of vulnerable people trying desperately to get back home.
I struggled to get a flight back to Bogota, where I live, before airports closed. I made it onto one of the last planes to leave before domestic transportation completely shut down. At the time, a girl I was dating was supposed to visit from Ecuador two days later. Coronavirus and closed borders kept us apart for 10 months. Despite our efforts during that time to find workarounds, I would never see her again.
2020 was unprecedented in history as the most restrictive year on record. Most of the world imposed travel restrictions at some point or another, and in Latin America most countries were closed completely. In Colombia for the first three months of lockdown my personal borders were restricted even further. I was relegated to the four walls of my shared apartment.
The isolation was devastating. We faced it as a world, but each of us also faced it alone. It was a paradox. Physically separated, we shared contact through the web: social media, zoom meetings, phone calls. 2020 was a black and lonely year — it was also a year of fire and plague — but there is one trend which gave me hope: those willing to resist authoritarian overreach took to the streets of the world.
I would break the law early in quarantine here in Colombia by taking long walks late at night on the way to and from the grocery store. We were allowed out to shop for food and only to shop for food, but I deviated, adding a half hour to and from. I was nearly always the only pedestrian in a silent, lonely city shrouded in blackness — a city once colorful, vibrant and chaotic populated now only by shadows and phantasms.
I travel a lot for work, and it’s unusual for me to spend so much time in one place. In the past I have described familiar places as “full of ghosts”. When I walk familiar places, old memories haunt me. I dwell on them and they affect me. I’m more accustomed to being on the go than living in the past. Exploring unknown places isn’t only how I make my living as a journalist, it’s also how I live my life.
The idea of a city full of ghosts took on new meaning in 2020 — less a poetic turn of phrase and more a cold reality. Almost 1.8 million people lost their lives. For loved ones haunted by the memories of these irreplaceable souls lost to global epidemic, there is no poetry, only grief. In Ecuador and Italy, morgues ran out of space.
In Colombia, ghosts also haunted the nation due to secondary effects of the virus. Those in the poor neighborhoods of the outer rings of Bogota hung red cloths in their windows as cries for help. Hunger ravaged the country. So did violence. Mass-killings and assassinations hit record highs since the peace accord was signed in 2016.
I didn’t lose anyone to COVID, but I talked to a lot of people who did, both directly and due to side-effects of rising violence. At the peak of lockdown here in Colombia, the United States burst into flames. Protesters surrounded the White House and burned down police stations in Minneapolis in a national anti-police movement that shook the very foundations of governance. They were the biggest protests in almost 60 years. Colombia burst into protest as well, and they were bloody. Anti-police demonstrations in the capital resulted in at least 13 dead and over 400 wounded as state forces fired on crowds with live ammunition.
public domain image of the Black plague
In many ways, 2020 was also a year of anti-authoritarianism as people pushed back against governments using the crisis to push their own objectives under cover of public health and a distracted global media. Belarus, Thailand, Guatemala, Chile, Bulgaria and Sudan spilled into the streets. Peru deposed a president.
It was a dark, lonely, fiery and deadly year, but it was also one in which people rose up with fury against their oppressors. It was a year of collective global tragedy. We all shared an experience of trauma, in one form or another. Conspiracy theories flourished and cities burned. Polarization and inequality grew alongside one another and the result was predictable — civil and political strife.
It’s a trend likely to continue in 2021. The full impacts of economic contraction have yet to be truly felt, and global political instability is likely to continue, especially here in Latin America. As for me, I’m now an illegal immigrant in Colombia and I end the year pretty much as I began it: broke, writing and single. But I’m alive, which is more than almost 1.8 million people can say.
I’m also hopeful. Many governments tried to use this tragedy as a cover to spread lies, impose authoritarian policies and to push shadowy agendas. Disinformation and chaos thrived. But people across the world also stood up, sometimes facing down State forces in the street. Global movements were born and grew, much to the chagrin of those who hold the reins of power. That is likely to continue. There is a silver lining to the global cloud of pestilence and tear gas.
And yet, I think the truest summation of 2020 I can find is “Fuck THAT year, amirite?” | https://medium.com/muros-invisibles/a-year-of-plague-fire-and-blood-but-also-hope-70f1b8d81b9f | ['Joshua Collins'] | 2020-12-27 06:11:08.503000+00:00 | ['Social Justice', 'Politics', 'Protest', 'Covid 19', '2020'] |
Failure Fails when you Rise & Act for one more time. | Failure Fails when you Rise & Act for one more time.
Our society has a tendency to display success in all its glory. The struggles behind that success never see the light of the day.
Sometimes, all I can see is the glory and the fame that success brings but the real struggle that those successful faced in their journey is hidden.
Failures are never discussed, only success story sells.
All of these conditions me to believe that failure is bad & I have to hide it from the public eyes. It is an event that I should feel shameful about.
Such Society conditions me to wear success as a badge of honor and to hide every failure we encounter in our journey.
The current belief system revolves around an erroneous and over-marketed opinion: Success is Glorious & Failure is Fatal.
Feeling shameful or hiding a failed attempt might be the normal and accepted trend but when I look into the life of the great achievers.
Their approach to failure changed my mindset.
Instead of feeling shameful and incompetent due to failure, they utilized every failure to optimize their approach.
They overcome that failure by developing a skill or two.
They find a mentor and utilize their experience to continue on the path to success.
Even today I can see this trend common is a successful achiever.
They try, try, try and try. And if they fail, they try again until failure accepts defeat.
They were never disappointed by failure but they choose to persist a little bit more after failure.
They know that failing is not fatal if you know how to rise up to the challenge one more time. | https://byrslf.co/failure-fails-when-you-rise-act-for-one-more-time-46ac06638219 | ['Hbr Patel'] | 2020-04-23 15:07:32.574000+00:00 | ['Beyourself', 'Inspirational', 'Hard Work', 'Success', 'Motivational'] |
How I learnt the technology used to build software products, in 2 days | How I learnt the technology used to build software products, in 2 days
My experience with crio.do micro experiences
Image credits: Crio.do
Most of the technology used in the software industry in building products is not available for many of the students in a regular university curriculum. We need to learn from external resources like online courses, e-books etc. Though most of these courses teach you well about the theory required, they lack a lot in practical approach.
Crio.do, as it states, is a website helps to “Build products to learn tech hands-on” by Learn-By-Doing methodology. This approach gained my attention and I started working on their free micro experiences, QReview and System Design. QReview helps us take the developer seat and build a review system for the existing QEats food ordering app. Users can also share their reviews to their social media profiles. System Design takes the game to another level by helping us build a scalable, distributed, and fault-tolerant system for our own personal website right from the scratch.
Both these micro experiences are good enough for a beginner like me, with a little programming knowledge in Python. QReview helped me understand the basic work flow of a back-end server written in Django. It also helped me in learning about APIs and their usage by implementing them in the app. There’s also a section where we can make use of a third-party AI model to suggest us the tags for the picture we post as a review. We write actual code for the API requests. Little did I know, I would be able to implement a working product in real life in such a small period of time. Now, I feel I can start building a product from scratch and implement all the things I learned in this micro experience.
System Design is another interesting micro experience that helps us setup a system for our product and make it online. This, I feel, is the most important aspect that every software developer should know. The micro experience helps us to setup a virtual machine and build a web server on a cloud platform like GCP(Google Cloud Platform). And it also helps us to setup a load balancer to make the system robust. This entire life cycle of building a scalable, robust product and using it in real life is truly amazing. You can experience it only when you do it on your own (Believe me! Its worth the effort). It also has many sub tasks that helped me understand the tiny yet important things happening between querying a website like www.google.com and the webpage that is returned back to you.
These micro experiences gave me enough confidence to start working on my idea and I feel in these two days I’ve learnt much more than I had, in this entire lockdown period. I feel it would be great for all the software development beginners out there, to start with one of these. My recommendation, start with System Design micro experience first. You will learn a lot and get inspired to start working on building products. | https://medium.com/dev-genius/how-i-learnt-the-technology-used-to-build-software-products-in-2-days-4e46721e8680 | ['Sumanth Karanam'] | 2020-06-12 17:10:51.757000+00:00 | ['Software Development', 'Learning', 'Productivity', 'Experience', 'Beginner'] |
Innovation in a time of uncertainty | Innovation in a time of uncertainty
In the age of Coronavirus, businesses and decision makers will need to think differently about how they strategise and steer their organisations through a more uncertain landscape.
Markets for transport and the built environment traditionally have exceptionally long lead times and planning cycles. Factors such as population growth, employment, economic forecasts and any number of other established metrics can all feed into decisions around the requirements for new infrastructure and services.
For years these metrics have been relatively stable and to some degree, predictable. Not so today.
Our nation, government and organisations will need to examine closely things that until recently would have been considered gospel. We have not historically needed to question official population projections from the Office for National Statistics or congestion forecasts from the Department for Transport when developing plans. However, in the short to medium term at least, we could be looking at a situation in which we have to completely rethink our modus operandi as a country and how we support innovation for UK Plc.
What might the advent of COVID-19 mean for the innovation economy?
The widely forecast economic slowdown is likely reduce the appetite for risk across a number of sectors. Innovations, particularly early stage applications of research, inevitably come with a greater element of risk than established technologies. Non-traditional approaches to procurement (explored in greater detail in our Challenging Procurement initiative) can help manage risk for buyers and should be encouraged to avoid a general retreat from investment in new, innovative solutions.
Just as there is a tendency for firms to gravitate towards established solutions and players in tough times, we may also see companies slashing R&D budgets and retrenching back to core offerings in order to weather the storm. This would be bad news for innovators. However, as organisations face difficult times and tighter than ever operating margins, they also face a greater than usual need to do things differently. Innovators who can evidence that their solution can deliver greater efficiency and productivity from existing assets stand to benefit.
What should innovators do to navigate the current complexity?
Plan for different outcomes
This is not the time for linear cause and effect planning. Businesses and place leaders alike need to consider a far wider number of impacts, outcomes and problems and opportunities in order to be ready for them as and when they occur.
Reconsider your offerings
The environment and challenges facing organisations are changing and fluid. Business seeking to seize opportunities that arise need to listen carefully to understand the new market needs and adapt offerings accordingly. Pulling the levers that worked pre-Coronavirus will not necessarily solve the problems places now face. In some cases, this might mean looking at solutions from completely the opposite direction: for instance, services designed to track and maximise the smooth flow of people through a space may now be repurposed to reduce crowding and help maintain social distancing.
Flexibility in everything
Things are likely to continue changing rapidly and will be difficult to predict. Businesses and place leaders alike will need to operate in collaboration with others, harness data and indicators to track change and be ready to adapt rapidly as the situation evolves. In a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world, planning will only get us so far; leaders will also need to be prepared to respond as things develop.
Danger/Opportunity
Even after four months of lockdown, uncertainty about the future remains. The coming months will present further challenges, but the strategies outlined above will help maintain the ‘high flex’ approach necessary to tackle the challenges and leverage the opportunities as they arrive. | https://medium.com/connectedplaces/innovation-in-an-age-of-uncertainty-66fa80273ada | ['Alfred Jackson'] | 2020-07-06 07:46:01.449000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Leadership', 'Business', 'Strategy', 'Coronavirus'] |
Create Choropleth Maps by Using Plotly | Create Choropleth Maps by Using Plotly Baysan Follow Jul 26 · 6 min read
Hello everyone. In this story we will try to cover, how can we create choropleth maps by using Plotly.
If we want to create choropleth we need to have GeoJSON file which related our target area. And I prepared before the jupyter notebook which we will use in this story. You can access from here.
About Our Jupyter Notebook
We will use this dataset while we create our notebook. This dataset contains the estimate of the total population in Turkey in certain years. You can access the dataset from here. And we will use this GeoJSON file for our target area. The choropleth which we will create will demonstrate the estimated population.
Let’s Start
Preparing and Importing Dependencies
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import plotly.express as px
import plotly.graph_objects as go
from plotly.subplots import make_subplots
import requests
import json
As unlike the Plotly packages we need to import requests and json packages. We will use requests for getting GeoJSON data from GitHub gists and use json for accessing data.
Import Datasets
Import the dataset which contains estimated population from CSV file.
df = pd.read_csv('Turkey Districts - Population Estimate - Sayfa1.csv')
For accessing the data from GitHub gist we will use requests and we will send GET request to URL which has our GeoJSON file.
As you know our response is storing in the response object. And now we need to extract the json data which we need to access as a GeoJSON from response object.
geojson = response.json()
If you print geojson variable which we stored the data in that, you can see the json data.
Inspecting Datasets and Preparing to Visualization
Print the data types and look how they looks like.
You see, the estimated columns are object type. But they are storing numerical data. We need to change their data type. Firstly I’m going to change their column names for easily access.
df.rename(columns={'Population
Estimate
2009': 'Tahmin-2009',
'Population
Estimate
2013': 'Tahmin-2013',
'Population
Estimate
2019': 'Tahmin-2019'
}, inplace=True)
I’m going to look first 2 rows by using df.head(2)
And now it seems better. But still there is a problem. They separated float values with ‘,’ in Excel file but we are separating by using ‘.’ in Python. We need to solve that thing. I will use apply function on the columns by using lambda function. I will split all values with ‘,’ and after that I will concatenate the all parts which I separated for each row as a string.
df['Tahmin-2009'] = df['Tahmin-2009'].apply(lambda x: ''.join(x.split(',')))
df['Tahmin-2013'] = df['Tahmin-2013'].apply(lambda x: ''.join(x.split(',')))
df['Tahmin-2019'] = df['Tahmin-2019'].apply(lambda x: ''.join(x.split(',')))
Now if you try to convert the columns as numerical data you will see the error. Because they wrote ‘…’ instead of null values. I’m replacing ‘…’ values with numpy.nan.
df.replace('...', np.nan, inplace=True)
Now I can convert the estimated columns as numerical data.
df['Tahmin-2009'] = pd.to_numeric(df['Tahmin-2009'])
df['Tahmin-2013'] = pd.to_numeric(df['Tahmin-2013'])
df['Tahmin-2019'] = pd.to_numeric(df['Tahmin-2019'])
I’m going to check data types.
Look. It seems like what we want. This dataset contains cities and districts in Turkey. But I want to choose just cities. So I’m going to filter dataset by using State column.
df = df[(df['Status'] == 'Metropolitan Province') | (df['Status'] == 'Province')]
Some Informations About Our GeoJSON Data
In this section we will use geojson variable which we created at the start of story.
geojson[‘features’] = we can access the array of storing cities’s coordinates
geojson[‘features’][0] = we can access the first item of array which storing cities’s coordinates
geojson[‘features’][0][‘id’] = we can access the first city’s geojson id
geojson[‘features’][0][‘properties’] = we can access the first city’s geojson properties
geojson[‘features’][0][‘properties’][‘name’] = we can access the first city’s name property in geojson properties
Plotly Choropleth looks GeoJSON’s feature (geojson[‘feature’]) objects’s id by default. If we want we can change that, we can say “you have to look geojson[‘feature’][‘properties’]”.
Let’s imagine. We don’t know that. We will create a variable as geoDict for binding city name and city id from geojson. That dict will contain city name as key and city id as value.
geoDict = {}
for i in geojson['features']:
geoDict[i['properties']['name']] = i['id']
Bind Dataset with GeoJSON IDs
I need to change some values’s value as what we want. There is spelling problem. Because these values are what we changed by using replace function in geojson.
df.loc[df['Name'] == 'Afyonkarahisar'] = df.loc[df['Name'] == 'Afyonkarahisar'].replace('Afyonkarahisar', 'Afyon') df.loc[df['Name'] == 'Elâzığ'] = df.loc[df['Name'] == 'Elâzığ'].replace('Elâzığ', 'Elazığ') df.loc[df['Name'] == 'Hakkâri'] = df.loc[df['Name'] == 'Hakkâri'].replace('Hakkâri', 'Hakkari')
As a start point I created a column and I set it’s default value as ‘Yok’.
df.loc[:, 'GeoID'] = 'Yok'
Now I’m binding geojson ids with dataframe by using dataframe’s ‘Name’ column and geoDict’s keys.
df['GeoID'] = df['Name'].apply(lambda x: geoDict[x])
We can see GeoID in DataFrame
Huh. We did preprocess our data for prepare as what we want format. Now we can create choropleths. Let’s start.
Choropleths by Using Plotly Express
Choropleth MapBox
Plotly created Choropleth MapBox for create choropleth with MapBox. You can use your own customized maps by using MapBox tokens which you created from MapBox.
df = which dataframe variable
geojson = which geojson variable
locations = Which column will be used from Plotly for binding geojson and dataframe
color = which column will set the colors
range_color = set the min and max values for set colors
center = which coordinates will using while map starting
labels = change labels which you used in plot
mapbox_style = mapbox map style
custom_data = you can send custom data for using them on hover etc. actions
fig = px.choropleth_mapbox(
df,
geojson=geojson,
locations='GeoID',
color='Tahmin-2019', color_continuous_scale="dense",
range_color=(df['Tahmin-2019'].min(),df['Tahmin-2019'].max()),
center={'lat': 38.7200, 'lon': 34.0000},
labels={'Tahmin-2019': '2019 Nüfus Tahmini'},
mapbox_style="carto-positron",
zoom=4.8,
opacity=0.5,
custom_data=[df['Name'],
df['Tahmin-2019'], df['Status']]
) # Some make-up for plot
fig.update_layout(
title='Türkiye Nüfus Tahminleri 2019',
title_x=0.5
) # I created my own hover template for on hover event
hovertemp = '<i style="color:red;">Şehir Adı:</i> %{customdata[0]}<br>'
hovertemp += '<i>Şehir Statüsü:</i> %{customdata[2]}<br>'
hovertemp += '<i>Tahmini Nüfus:</i> %{customdata[1]:,f}<br>' # I set my own hover template
fig.update_traces(hovertemplate=hovertemp) fig.show()
If you execute the code you can see that output.
Choropleth
As unlike our previous map which we created by using choropleth_mapbox function we used featureidkey parameter. It will bind the geojson and dataframe by using geojson’s properties property.
color_continuous_scale changes color palette.
update_geos function can set map settings. fitbounds can draw map borders and visible parameter can set the visibility.
fig = px.choropleth(
df,
geojson=geojson,
locations='Name',
featureidkey='properties.name',
color='Tahmin-2019',
color_continuous_scale="Viridis",
range_color=(df['Tahmin-2019'].min(),
df['Tahmin-2019'].max()),
center={'lat': 38.7200, 'lon': 34.0000},
labels={'Tahmin-2019': '2019 Nüfus Tahmini'},
custom_data=[df['Name'],
df['Tahmin-2019'],
df['Status']]
) fig.update_geos(
fitbounds="locations",
visible=False
)
hovertemp = '<i>Şehir Adı:</i> %{customdata[0]}<br>'
hovertemp += '<i>Şehir Statüsü:</i> %{customdata[2]}<br>'
hovertemp += '<i>Tahmini Nüfus:</i> %{customdata[1]:,f}<br>'
fig.update_traces(hovertemplate=hovertemp) fig.show()
The map which we created by using choropleth
Choropleths by Using Plotly Graph Objects
In this section I don’t want to explain as unnecessary. Because the technique is almost same. And If you don’t know how can create subplots you can read my story which about that topic.
fig = make_subplots(
rows=1, cols=2,
specs=[
[{"type": "choropleth"},{"type": "choropleth"}],
]
) fig.add_trace(trace=go.Choropleth(
featureidkey='properties.name',
geojson=geojson,
locations=df['Name'],
z=df['Tahmin-2009'],
colorscale='YlGn',
colorbar_title="Tahmin",
zmin=df['Tahmin-2009'].min(),
zmax=df['Tahmin-2009'].max(),
name='2009 Nüfus Tahmini',
hoverinfo='location+z',
showlegend=False,
showscale=False,
), row=1, col=1) fig.add_trace(trace=go.Choropleth(
featureidkey='properties.name',
geojson=geojson,
locations=df['Name'],
z=df['Tahmin-2019'],
colorscale='YlGn',
colorbar_title="Tahmin",
zmin=df['Tahmin-2019'].min(),
zmax=df['Tahmin-2019'].max(),
name='2019 Nüfus Tahmini',
hoverinfo='location+z',
), row=1, col=2) fig.update_geos(fitbounds="locations",
visible=False,
) hovertemp = '<i>Şehir Adı:</i> %{location} <br>'
hovertemp += '<i>Nüfus Tahmini:</i> %{z:,}' fig.update_traces(hovertemplate=hovertemp) fig.update_layout(
title='2009 ve 2019 Arasında Karşılaştırmalı Nüfus Tahminleri', title_x=0.5) fig.show()
We can see different maps from different years
I hope this story can help you for understand “how can we create choropleth maps in Plotly”.
Kind regards. | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/create-choropleth-maps-by-using-plotly-31771803da7 | [] | 2021-07-30 11:36:15.794000+00:00 | ['Choropleth', 'Dataviz', 'Python', 'Dash', 'Plotly'] |
What you need to know about your weight loss products? | The desire to look slim and trim is amazing. Most folks are tempted to shop for weight loss supplements as we see them displayed in market in attractive packing and influential cover. The strong desire to possess a toned body shape is difficult to resist and hence more and more weight loss products are emerging within the market? But are all definitely worth the cost and are superlative in quality? Are they safe to be employed? Are they FDA (Food and Drug Administration) certified? Do these products reduce your weight effectively or are enough to lighten your pocket? These are the many questions that you should ask yourself before making a purchase. Which is right for us or not.
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Three Basic Ingredients in Fat Burning products: Fibers, antioxidant and probiotics are the three chief ingredients that detoxify toxins from your body and develop immunity. Fiber combines with water to form a thick gel and binds with fatty acids. It induces better defecation and accelerates the removal of toxins. Vitamin C dilutes bile and helps the liver function by breaking down fats. It suppresses appetite and produces glutathione which aids in detoxification and reduces belly fat. Probiotics are healthy bacteria present in alimentary tract that breaks toxins and facilitate your change state. Best selling fat burner Dendroaspis augusticeps fat burner buy now in India
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Consult your Doctor for specific conditions: Do inform the doctor about your case history, allergies and Herbal/Allopathic medicines/ Supplements you’re already taking. Pregnant ladies, breastfeeding women or females having future getting to become pregnant mustn’t compromise with their health and will take proper care by consulting the practitioner. | https://medium.com/@rk9524834/what-you-need-to-know-about-your-weight-loss-products-5fe1761b5e2d | ['Rakesh Kumar'] | 2021-12-15 17:07:21.135000+00:00 | ['Diet', 'Weight Loss', 'Dieta De 17 Dias', 'Weight Loss Products', 'Fat Burning Foods'] |
“Vixenamoric” is TERF Ideology with Training Wheels | Let’s explore this.
There are many similarities between the talking points, but I will only be breaking down four which I find the most important.
Invasion
There is a common dogwhistle you’ll hear among spaces which prove themselves to be divisive, exclusionary, or just plain hateful. The notion of invasion is one of the first ideas you’ll notice being spouted by even those on the outskirts of discourse. Since the LGBTQIA2S+ community is meant to be a safe haven, this brings to the table an instinct to fend off “invaders,” however, these are often other people who don’t fit into the mold, being violently exiled and cast away. This becomes increasingly more intense as you enter sub-communities. Unsurprisingly, it also manifests in Vixenamoric spaces in a direct mirroring of TERF ideology.
Vixenamoric: “Non-binary lesbians are invading women’s spaces.” TERFs: “Trans women are invading women’s spaces.”
While not all non-binary people identify as trans, these are clearly both transphobic. Spaces that have proclaimed themselves to be designated to very specific identities can sometimes bring a closer-knit sense of community, but more often than not, it sows the seeds of exclusion on the most arbitrary of bases, or ends up telling other people who they are and where they belong.
2. Attack on Womanhood
The second point gets more into the way TERFs view gender non-conformity. They perceive trans men as “lost women” who transitioned due to the misogynistic pressures of being a woman. I’ve personally witnessed “vixenamorics” parrot shockingly similar rhetoric about gender non-conformity and lesbianism.
Vixenamorics: “Lesbians identify as non-binary people and use he/him, they/them, and neopronouns due to misogyny, and the normalization of this harms young women. Just because society makes lesbian womanhood complicated doesn’t mean you have to detach yourself from it completely.” TERFs: “Women transition into men due to misogyny, and the normalization of this harms young women. Just because society makes womanhood complicated doesn’t mean you have to detach yourself from it completely.”
Now, we see here a fundamental misunderstanding of non-binary lesbianism. Our detachment from womanhood is not something we chose, the same way that trans men don’t “choose to stop being women for the purpose of escaping misogyny.” It is simply our experience of gender identity. For more information, read my article on the history of non-binary lesbianism.
Trans men, in the eyes of TERFs, are “lost butches/gender non-conforming women.” In a similar vein, the lesbians who identify themselves as “vixenamoric” constantly say that they themselves are gender non-conforming, making sure to put it their in social media biographies. They state over and over that gender non-conformity isn’t the same as being non-binary, which is a simplistic statement too. While it’s true that gender non-conformity isn’t the same as being non-binary, identities that fall outside the binary don’t conform to the binary itself either. “Vixenamoric” rhetoric works off very reductive views of gender theory for gain, the same way that TERF ideology does.
3. Identity Invalidation
This is another very common thread running throughout exclusionism, but I’m going to show you how “vixenamorics” also take this to an extreme level within their talking points, all rooted in trans exclusion.
Vixenamoric: “Including people who aren’t women (i.e. non binary lesbians) invalidates lesbianism, which is same-gender attraction.” TERFs: “Including people who aren’t women (i.e. trans women) invalidates lesbianism, which is same-sex attraction.”
Lesbian attraction has always included a very diverse array of gender identities. Throughout history, lesbians have been trans women, genderqueer, used pronouns other than she/her pronouns, and more. It’s ingrained in our culture and history. This fact is just ignored.
Is lesbianism tied to womanhood? Yes. Do all of us identify with that womanhood? Absolutely not. Think of it like this: lesbianism is a branch on the “tree of womanhood” and some of us only feel connection with the branch and not the trunk. Some of us are so far out we’re basically a leaf. That doesn’t make them not lesbians, and if another lesbian is attracted to them, it doesn’t invalidate their lesbianism either.
4. Protection
We see this come up as a frequent theme in exclusionism as well, typically backed by an emphasis of lesbophobia, which is a real issue, but in these cases, it’s being misused and weaponized against transgender and non-binary people.
Vixenamoric: “Allowing non-binary people into our spaces harms real lesbians.” TERFs: “Allowing trans people into our spaces harms real lesbians.”
Excluding trans people on the basis of “safety” is textbook transphobia. Painting other LGBTQIA2S+ as a threat for existing is the same violence that the allocishet society has inflicted on us, and parroting that rheotic under the guise of protection will always look the same as real bigotry. Why? Because it is. There seems to be a certain level of awareness from “vixenamorics” about how it all sounds, because throughout all of the debates, they absolutely insist that they believe trans women are real women. This may be the only talking point they don’t have in common with TERFs.
Here’s why their claim of inclusion doesn’t matter…
Anyone who’s spent time in the trans community knows two things. First, “vixenamoric” rhetoric inherently drives away trans women due to the myriad of transphobic dogwhistles. Second, a lot of trans women are non-binary lesbians, and many non-binary lesbians also identify as trans. Any talking point that makes hard lines in the sand about who’s allowed in and who isn’t, and any ideology that establishes strict ideas of gender identity, expression, and inclusion, is an attack on trans people. The trans community already fights enough to be seen and accepted.
“Vixenamorics” can claim that they don’t exclude binary trans women, therefore they are nothing like TERFs, but they still exclude countless non-binary/trans lesbians, dictate how trans people must identify to be “real lesbians,” and parrot the same core of transphobic ideology.
The notion that lesbians must be protected from “invaders” in the form of people who don’t identify with gender the way they have determined to be okay isn’t just transphobic, it feeds into a greater hate ideology that’s led to an incredible amount of pain for the trans community.
So, if you come across lesbians identifying as “vixeamoric,” call it out for what it really is: blatant transphobia. To these people, I’m not even a “real lesbian.” Why? Because they’ve said so. Nobody gets to determine anyone else’s identity, especially not transphobes.
The best we can do to fight this rhetoric is to be trans and non-binary inclusive in our own spaces. Listen to non-binary lesbians, trans lesbians, and trans people in general. Our voices matter. We have a rightful place in the lesbian community and always have. | https://medium.com/@radiantbutch/vixenamoric-is-terf-ideology-with-training-wheels-dc7bb5ea01b1 | ['Jules Rylan'] | 2020-10-20 15:47:27.393000+00:00 | ['Transgender', 'Nonbinary', 'Queer', 'Terfs', 'Discourse'] |
Nadia recaps: School Babysitters, episode 4 | A new school year has begun for Ryu and company, and now they’re in high school. They get to wear ties now. But it’s only spring, and since the last episode was Valentine’s Day, I conclude that Japanese schools have a different semester system.
The first day of school is an important one because it’s the day students pick their after-school clubs. Ryu is joining the Babysitters Club because it’s a condition of his living arrangement. He makes a flyer to advertise for new members, but can’t fit it on the board with the other flyers, even though there’s a clear open space in the lower right-hand corner.
“On your right!” I yell. He doesn’t listen to me.
He goes to the daycare room where he is immediately bombarded by the kids, who bring him down like a lion pride catching a gazelle. It’s impressive on their part but embarrassing for him. He drops the flyer, and it falls on Kotaro’s head. Kotaro just stands there blankly, making no effort to move the flyer. I sigh. I get he’s a calm kid, but this is worrisome. It’s one thing to freeze in the face of a tiger, but another to have so little protection instincts that you can’t even free yourself from a piece of paper.
Dolls have better survival instincts than this.
Another person who makes no effort to help is Usaida, who simply reads the flyer off Kotaro’s head. This is what happens when you hire high school graduates with no childcare experience. No wonder he’s cheap labor. Usaida suggests they go around and see the other clubs, an idea that is very popular with the kiddos, who want to see what their parents (and siblings, in Taka’s case) are up to.
Out in the halls, the kiddos hold hands and make a parade, which involves chanting a song where they pretend to fart. It’s hilarious, and all the more so because Kotaro keeps missing the cue.
“Fartin’! Fartin’! Brap, brap, brap!” I love these kids.
Ryu is embarrassed. I don’t know why. So far this is the best thing that’s happened on the show.
They hit the drama club first, which is run by Teacher Kirin’s Mom. She’s made up in what appears to be zombie makeup, which scares the life out of the kiddos (except Takuma. I worry about his self-preservation instincts too).
No, thank you.
Usaida gets his face painted. This allows the kids to run away in the direction of the cooking club. Good job, Usaida.
At least one of the babies is having a good time in Kirin’s Mom’s House of Kreepiness.
On the way, Kotaro finds an ant, and we all have to stop and look at it for some reason. Meanwhile, the other kids have found the cooking room, but the cookies aren’t ready yet. Inomata is in the cooking club! For some reason the other girls don’t seem to know her, because they express surprise when she yells at Ryu for letting the kids run around unsupervised. “I thought you were a very quiet person,” one girl says. Really?
With all that stomping around the halls and yelling at people? Is the high school in a different building? Were none of these girls in middle school with her?
One of the girls tries to recruit Ryu, but another comments that he’s probably too busy with the daycare. He begins to reflect on his lack of social life in school. They go outside to see the sports clubs, and another student comments on how he’s basically stuck with babysitting. He wistfully watches Hayato and other boys play baseball. Hayato comes over to hit his brother, because why not? He tells Ryu the team sucks, but Ryu can’t help but feel that his peers are having a kind of fun that’s being denied to him. This is exactly why the babysitting for room and board situation is so unfair, even cruel. Let Ryu be a kid!
Kotaro finds more ants, but when he tries to get his brother’s attention he sees the sad look on his face. The other kids have noticed too. Ryu decides to leave the group with Usaida and find a place to put up the flyer. He asks Kotaro to come along, but Kotaro shakes his head. Ryu plays it cool but is obviously hurt.
Don’t take it personally, Ryu. Seriously.
Ryu puts the flyer in the very obvious spot I pointed out before. Then he sulks about his brother not wanting to come with. Jeez, kid. Do you really need him trailing you every second of every day?
Speaking of Kotaro, he appears carried by Hayato, who tells Ryu he wants to join the Babysitters Club. UGH. This guy had better shape up and be nice, or I am going to get really frustrated with the show. Kotaro recruited him by tugging on his pants determinedly. This is the most initiative the kid has ever shown. It’s also an impressive degree of empathy and understanding from a little kid. He knows his brother needs a friend! It’s very sweet.
The other kids come running. They got their cookies! They all offer them up to Ryu to cheer him up. He is moved. With club day over, the boys settle in, and Usaida makes them matching aprons. Inomata brings cookies for the kids. Unfortunately, they are inedible. She takes criticism of her cooking skills as well as you might expect.
Break! It seems like the format of the show from now on is going to be two separate storylines per episode, and part two today sees Ryu waking up with a fever. Saikawa mistakes Ryu’s sore threat as his voice breaking, but backtracks and says it was a joke. Who knows with this dude. His poker face is art.
Ma’am removes Kotaro from what has now become the quarantine room. Kotaro stands at the door and whimpers.
Aww! That smushed face!
She tells him to man up and come help her make medicine for Ryu. As Ma’am returns with a wool blanket for Ryu, Kotaro calls her shaggy. “Are you referring to this wool blanket or to my hair?” He says it again, and she dumps the blanket on top of him. They go to the kitchen, where she aggressively cuts a lemon in half. “Demon lady,” Kotaro mumbles. I snort.
There’s strong support for the hypothesis.
She instructs him to squeeze the lemon into a small cup so she can make Ryu some honey lemon. (For the record, I refuse to call this tea. It’s not tea. It’s lemon juice and honey in hot water. Tea requires the presence of tea leaves. End of rant). Kotaro sits on the floor, determination in his tiny face, and fails to squeeze any juice out. This is highly unrealistic. Toddlers have small hands, but they can grip. That lemon ought to be mush in his hands. It is a lot bigger than his hands, though, so maybe that’s the problem. He perseveres in the face of this adversity and is finally successful!
Believe in yourself!
But because he is a toddler and has a poor conception of how much space his body takes, he knocks the cup over as soon as he stands up. There’s still another half a lemon, so he tries again. Good for him!
Meanwhile, Ryu is having a bad dream. In it, his parents return and take Kotaro away. He cries in his sleep. It’s especially sad when you think of the implications, that Kotaro might die and leave Ryu alone forever. But Kotaro is alive, and he wipes his big brother’s tears, waking him. And also stinging his eyes, because his hands have lemon on them. Ryu gets up and drinks his honey lemon, and he internally thanks God for keeping Kotaro in his life. Aww. “I know it’s pathetic, but I think it’s Kotaro who’s been getting me through this,” he reflects. It’s not pathetic at all! It’s sweet and beautiful.
Kotaro thought Ryu would immediately get better, so he’s very upset to find that the quarantine is still in place. At dinner, he sits under a chair and pouts. Saikawa tries to lure him out with ice cream, but it doesn’t work, so you know he’s really upset.
This was a really fun and touching episode that made up for the creepiness of the last one, so I’m quite pleased right now. More of this, and less of creepy and angsty teens. | https://medium.com/@nadiaeldemerdash/nadia-recaps-school-babysitters-episode-4-5aa1e2e5da03 | ['Nadia Eldemerdash'] | 2020-12-27 06:43:21.460000+00:00 | ['Review', 'Television', 'Anime', 'Recaps'] |
Should you reuse participants in your next usability study? | Reusing participants certainly can be quite practical, convenient and honestly tempting, not just during current times. If you are working in an extremely niche or specialized product, it can difficult to recruit the right set of users. For example, it can be quite difficult to recruit participants for a product meant for law enforcement officers or paramedics or even wind turbine engineers.
A lot of people have the notion that reusing participants can reduce the participant’s anxiety as they know what to expect. Participants in this case will feel less stressed as they have been through one or more rounds of usability and know the drill. Besides, you would also have a rapport with them considering they have been moderated by you before. All of these factors would influence and improve data quality.
Despite all the advantages of reusing participants, however, the drawbacks are immense and outweigh the same.
The participants get comfortable with your product and research
Participants usually learn the struggles they went through the first time they participated in your research. In the following research, they would then look out for those learnt pieces and modify their actions accordingly. Participants will also recall the tasks you wanted them to perform and what was the workflow and predict the task based on that. Hence, the data you collect will not be accurate to the user’s natural behaviour and would be accounted for under learned behaviour. Further, you won’t be able to access the usability for a first time or an infrequent user.
Participants stop being users
The feedback from participants who have been part of more than one usability studies, tend to be more pinpointed. They evolve from being just your users to design critics. During repeat usability testing, these participants tend more towards providing an opinion than actually using your product/design. This results in collecting unactionable data.
Creating a biased view of users to your stakeholders
Stakeholders who attend your research usually recall the most vocal participant. The stakeholders, especially ones who are not familiar with user research, may start believing that these are the representative users. Further, if you continually test with the same participants, it's highly likely that the design is optimised for them than for a larger audience. The stakeholders will also develop a biased view of users, and will not be observant about the diversity in a larger set of users.
It goes against usability as a methodology
Usability testing usually has small sample sizes based on the assumption that the design process is done iteratively. The philosophy behind it is for each redesign, the design is tested with a new set of users. Hence, the sample size is then gradually built up through the iterations. For example, for the first iteration, the design was tested with 8 users. The following two iterations were tested with 8 respectively. Hence, the total number of users you tested the flow with is 24. On other hand, reusing participants would limit your sample size to just 8 in this case, which would be a very small user set.
Reusing participants can be quite pragmatic, considering you already have a pool of participants. In other situations, you may not have much choice in case it is quite difficult to find the right set of users. However, the pitfalls of using participants are overwhelming. Reusing participants doesn't affect just the current design but has implications for the future of the product as well. Hence, in my opinion, avoid reusing participants for your next usability study. | https://uxdesign.cc/should-you-reuse-participants-in-your-next-usability-study-2d44a18dc17e | ['Nikita Chandawale'] | 2020-12-21 06:06:38.537000+00:00 | ['UX Research', 'Usability Testing', 'UX', 'Usability', 'User Research'] |
How to save some money on Netflix each month | netflix.com
Secret ways to save lots of money on Netflix and other streaming services
These savings tactics can help whittle down what you pay for your streaming video subscription — monthly.
Not long ago, Netflix rolled out a price increase, but you don’t need to pay those prices.
One option is to depart Netflix. There are multiple cheaper streaming services.
But what if you aren’t willing to depart Netflix? Well, here’s a savings secret: you can still shave off some of your monthly subscription cost by paying with a discounted gift card. And here is how
1. Buy discounted iTunes or Google Play gift cards from a wholesale club
If you pay for your Netflix subscription through iTunes, you can pay for it with an iTunes gift card, Netflix’s website says. the same goes for Google Store.
And many warehouse clubs sell iTunes or Google Play gift cards at a reduction. For instance, Costco currently sells iTunes gift cards, while Sam’s Club offers both iTunes and Google Play gift cards.
Warehouse club discounts for these gift cards aren’t huge — generally up to around 5%, from what we’ve seen. Still, this tactic will shave down the cost of a recurring expense that rarely goes on sale.
2. Buy discounted Netflix gift cards through a marketplace
Another way to shop for discounted gift cards — no wholesale club membership necessary — is through gift card marketplaces. These are websites on which folks with unwanted gift cards sell them for fewer than their face value to folks seeking a deal.
If you purchase a gift card for 10% off its face value, for instance, you’ll effectively save 10% on everything you purchase with that card — which could include your Netflix bill. Netflix’s website states that you can pay for your subscription with a Netflix gift card.
You may not land a big discount with this tactic, but, again, you’ll still shave down the price of a recurring expense. and that kind of savvy savings is, well, not to be discounted.
3. Share an account with your friend or family member
It may sound obvious, but a lot of families, have multiple accounts on the same streaming service. Instead of paying both $8.99 every month, you could be paying $6,5 each month if you are two who splits. You could lower the cost with the premium version that contains 4 simultaneous streams at once for only $4 every month each.
4. Only having one streaming service at a time
Instead of having 3 or 4 different streaming services at a time, you could plan your subscriptions, so you only have each streaming service 1 month at a time. If you switch between 4 different services, by the time you are back at the first, there will be new shows for you to watch.
So what did we learn?
There are multiple ways to increase your savings within the entertainment world. You just need to be patient and choose the service that best fits you. We hope you enjoyed the article, and if you want to check out our other content, feel free to do so. | https://medium.com/@madsnchris/how-to-save-some-money-on-netflix-each-month-ae19e47781df | ['Mads Chris'] | 2020-12-18 20:15:05.843000+00:00 | ['Entertainment', 'Netflix', 'Money', 'Saving', 'Finance'] |
haw many rubber ducks are bought every year | as u know rubber ducks are a stable of the bathroom found a lot though media and there has been a craze though out the years
we all love the bouncy fun bath toy and when a Russian-American sculptor known for ceramic and chess sets Peter Ganine in the 1940s he made a sculpture of a duck then got the rights to his art and started to reproduce the floating toy and sold well over 50 million .
though we are all familiar with the classic yellow body orange beaked bath friend there are variations but do stick to the same basic themes, ducks themed as superheros, different professions,celebrities,different animals and even politicians . some glow in the dark,wind up, change color and have LED lights in the,
some say the increase of rubber duck sales are influenced by the rummer that Queen Elizabeth II has a rubber duck with a crown on its head after a work man repainted her bathroom increasing the sales in the United Kingdom but 80% for a short time period
there are even giant rubber ducks the biggest ribber duck was 54ft x 66ft x 105ft weighing 600kg or 1,300lb
this year over 400,00 ducks have been sold and that is a lot of ducks that is enough ducks to full 40 swimming pools, though rubber ducks are fun remember rubber ducks are hard to recycle with them being made with hard plastics so please look up your local areas to see the best possible place to say good bye to your bath time friend. | https://medium.com/@mimimcmahon/haw-many-rubber-ducks-are-bought-every-year-c5ab40fd344c | ['Mimi Mcmahon'] | 2020-12-26 00:22:39.113000+00:00 | ['Fun', 'Recycle', 'Bath', 'Bathroom', 'Rubber'] |
5 ways to save like a pro and not be broken by the end of the month! | Adulting is tough, but saving money is tougher. You can’t ask your parents for money and there is no hostel roommate to save your soul. But don’t worry, we have got you. Here are some tips and tricks to save like a pro and not be broke by the end of the month:
Stick to lists -
Make a list when you go grocery shopping and stick to it. There are a million products that catch our fancy on our grocery runs. If you make it a habit to buy what you have written-down and genuinely need, you will save a lot of money on unnecessary items. Added bonus — you will save enough time to finish another episode of the series you are watching.
2. Compare before you buy -
Do an online check before buying anything. Check various sites and even visit offline stores before you buy stuff. You know what, you might even lose the urge to buy the product if you wait long enough — and if that happens, you will realize that it wasn’t worth your money anyway.
You can also check with your insurance companies and banks for their interest rates, compare their services with that of other companies, and decide if you are paying more than what you are getting. The small difference of 0.5–1% might not seem big enough, but it adds up over time.
3. Saving starts from home -
If you are one of those people who eat out regularly or go on coffee dates with friends every weekend, take a rain check — not on your friends, but on these unnecessary expenses. Cooking your daily meals at home will not only keep your spending in check, but you will also be aware of the things you are putting into your body. Trust us, you will start eating healthy and feel better about yourself (with the added benefit of saving thousands on your hospital bills in middle or old-age. Now that is what we call saving like a pro!)
Instead of eating out with your friends or meeting for coffee and croissants every other week, invite them over for a game night or a binge sesh. You can also circulate your girls nights or have pot luck parties at one another’s places. It will save you a lot of bucks and will also give you the liberty to be as loud as you can without caring about any social etiquette.
Another way you can save money easily is by switching off your ACs, lights, fans, televisions, etc. when not in use. You can also go for energy-saving options like LED bulbs.
4. Check your subscriptions -
Check your entertainment-related subscriptions and note where you are spending your money without gaining anything. If you are a streaming-platform person, cancel your cable subscription. Cancel all the magazine and app subscriptions that you do not use. Another way to save money on entertainment is by chipping in with friends. Share your accounts and split-up the cost. That is a thousand bucks saved every month right away!
Talking about subscriptions, become a member of the stores you visit frequently and make a separate email account for these. Almost all of these memberships are free and come with added benefits. Check this email account for coupons or offers and use these while shopping.
5. Cashbacks -
Use apps that give you cash back and pay all your bills online. You will realize that you will save about 10% extra every month just by paying your bills from the comforts of your home!
This might get tricky while shopping online as you might want to buy things just because they are on sale and are convenient to buy. When this happens, remember that you have to stick to the list we talked about in point 1.
In addition to these easy tips, we strongly recommend you to keep a tab of your monthly expenditure. Be it 10 bucks or 1000, make a note of it and analyze it at the end of every month. You will know where you are spending uselessly and when you see things in writing, you will definitely want to spend less. Also, spending money on bags of chips, bottles of alcohol, and packs of cigarettes is a total waste. Save your body and money by cutting back on these things that you do not need.
Do not leave your gym though to save money (wink, wink).
If you are wondering what to do if you want to revamp your room but do not have enough dough, then read this blog.
For more such content, check our website www.fuzia.com
Image credits — Google | https://medium.com/@pr-26909/5-ways-to-save-like-a-pro-and-not-be-broken-by-the-end-of-the-month-b8452c729ae8 | [] | 2020-12-22 13:10:21.954000+00:00 | ['Money', 'Saving Money', 'Money Management', 'Debt Relief', 'Saving'] |
Multi-Class Image Classification with implementation in TensorFlow | Classification is a problem that requires the data to be separated into different categories based on the features extracted from the independent variables. When there are only two categories to be considered for categorization, then the problem is called Binary Classification. And when there are more than two categories, it is referred to as a Multi-Class Classification.
Note: Do not confuse Multi-Class Classification with Multi-Label Classification. The basic and the most crucial difference between the two is that, in Multi-Class Classification, we can have only a single category pointing to a single observation. On the other hand, there can be multiple categories associated with a single observation in Multi-Label Classification. For example, an animal can be a cat or a dog, not both. But, a movie can be adventurous and sci-fi at the same time.
Now, I hope you have understood the basic concept of Multi-Class Classification. So, let us move forward and look at the dataset on which we will be working further.
Dataset
We will be working on a Kaggle competition named Digit Recognizer. The dataset provided in this competition is popularly known as the MNIST dataset. It is about classifying the images into the digits represented by them i.e. from 0 to 9. The dataset consists of 42000 grayscale images of dimensions (28,28) for training the model and another 28000 images for evaluating the model. So let’s get started with the implementation.
Implementation
All the code written below can be found here.
First, we import all the required libraries that we will need in the future.
Import the libraries
Then we import the data. It is in 2 files: train.csv and test.csv.
load the data
The next step will be to separate the dependant variable from the independent variables and check for any class imbalance.
Separating dependant and independent features
Hopefully, our data doesn’t seem to have any class imbalance. Now, as the pixel values in our data are from 0 to 255, it is good to normalize the values in the range of 0 to 1. This will allow our model to converge faster. Then we will reshape the dimensions of our data in a format of [number of observations, height, width, channels] which will help us in feeding the input to the model.
Normalize and reshape the data
In addition to that, we will also need to encode the labels, as they are categorical.
Encode the categories
Finally, we can split the images and labels into training and test sets.
Split into train and test sets
Now, we have our training and test sets and now, all we need to have is a model to train our data on. But before that, let’s apply some data augmentation techniques to our train set. This will help to introduce variability in our dataset and hence, our model can generalize well on the data.
Applying data augmentation to train set
Now, we can proceed to the crux of our implementation i.e. our model. We will be having a relatively less number of layers as our data itself has dimensions of (28,28) only.
Defining a model
We will use categorical_crossentropy as the loss function for multi-class classification, RMSProp as an optimizer, and a callback to reduce the learning rate when our validation accuracy becomes constant.
Compiling the model
Finally, we will train the model for 30 epochs and a batch_size of 64.
Training the model
Then, we will use some Matplotlib to plot the accuracy and loss graphs.
Training and Validation Graphs
As a final and the last step of the implementation, we can make predictions on the test set provided in the competition and submit those to get the final leaderboard score of our model.
Make predictions for submission
The above results gave a leaderboard score of 0.99067 which means more than 99% accuracy. Now, we have made our multi-class classification model with an accuracy of more than 99% !!
Note: We have to take extra care while handling datasets where classes are imbalanced. One of the simple ways to handle this is to use a weighted loss function or upsampling or downsampling.
This is it for this blog. Feel free to give any feedback or suggestions in the comments section.
Thanks. | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/multi-class-image-classification-with-implementation-in-tensorflow-65e9f71607eb | ['Aditya Gupta'] | 2020-12-03 16:26:29.797000+00:00 | ['Multiclass Classification', 'Cnn', 'Deep Learning', 'TensorFlow', 'Keras'] |
How to Promote Cybersecurity without using Fear | We’ve seen quite a variety of online threats recently. A simple email containing a convincing subject line can compromise a computer, infect a network or shut down operations. Just recently, the security world had to deal with the Heartbleed bug which has weakened web encryption. And of course, there’s the never-ending case of identity theft and stealing of bank details. These issues are pointing at organizations to tighten up the defense of their data.
The predominant message seen today is BEWARE or PANIC because of this problem or that problem. While fear can be a motivator, continued usage of these tactics tends to diminish the impact they have, making them less effective in the long-term. So how does an organization spread the message of security without causing using fear?
Promoting cybersecurity to executives
Establish an understanding between executives and information security personnel. These two branches in an organization must come to an agreement. Data protection is the bread and butter of security personnel and they should be able to explain things clearly to executives in a way that doesn’t make it sound like they’re in a Terminator movie. Information security officers should be able to persuade management to put it security features that will ensure the protection of their data from basic security measures to more advanced ones as needed.
Sometimes, it’s difficult for security professionals to convince executives to spend more for security measures because there is no clear return on investment (ROI). For example, when an executive asks why he should allocate a percentage of the budget for a secure system, security staff have a much harder time showing the return than would be seen with other capital expenditures.
What those in charge of security need to do is to make executives understand the repercussions of not investing in security equipment. They can present case studies of companies who got hacked, what caused the attack and how they suffered. By doing this, executives become more aware of the pressing need for security.
Promoting cybersecurity to employees
Make sure employees understand the importance of security. Just like child rearing, companies must use constant reminders to reinforce the behaviors that will keep company data safe. Data security for employees should feel like an important part of their day rather than a chore. By raising awareness about the need to protect data makes employees much more informed about the limits of what they can and cannot do.
As an example, new employees should get educated on the security measures that the company has. In addition to just lecturing them on the proper creation of passwords and other protocols, making them understand that their data on their phone is vulnerable to attack. It may sound scary, but reassuring them that sticking to procedure limits the chances of them getting hacked and risking the entire organization in the process.
Essentially, we have become numb to fear. Security practitioners must be able to do more than scare people into implementing security. Security must be seen as valuable within the organization. | https://medium.com/security-thinking-cap/how-to-promote-cybersecurity-without-using-fear-bbe331d90fd4 | ['Eric Vanderburg'] | 2017-08-21 18:47:02.420000+00:00 | ['Cybersecurity', 'Roi', 'Information Security', 'Fear'] |
A guide to design Critique | There are different ways a problem can be solved and as a designer we often find ourself blocked or are unsure of the design direction we should take. This is where the design critique comes in. Design critiques should be part of every design team. The work of critique or any feedback is to help unblock the person to move them forward so that the individuals can deliver quality results. It is not about a bunch of people’s opinions on the work of the person presenting but rather collectively supporting the person to be able to get to the end result. Critique should be constructive, effective, professional, useful, and respectful.
Different critique methods (Credit Figma)
We will be looking at a standard Critique below.
Roles in critique
Facilitator: Makes sure that the critique stays on time and prompts in case the feedback is irrelevant and needs to move the discussion offline.
Notetaker: This person takes notes so that the presenter is fully focused on the discussion.
Presenter: The person receiving the feedback.
Listeners: People giving feedback.
Time slots
Time for critique: 1 hour
Number of presenters: 3 people
Time for each presenter: 20 minutes
How to do it
To get the most out of the design critique, you must have a clear format. Below are a few ways to present your work.
1. What is the context:
Tell about the work — Background about project/features, problems you are trying to solve, scope, platform, how the product fits in the overall company.
Goals about the project and how are you going to measure the success?
Who is going to use this? Where? How will be they discover it?
How far are you in the progress (early ideation, sketching, brainstorming)
2. Soliciting a Critique (what are you looking for):
What is the feedback you are looking for? What are you blocked by? What is the objective? Scope of the feedback you are looking for and not looking for? Be specific about What do you need — what questions you want answers to?
Don’t
Do you like it?
What do you think?
The design is completed.
Which one do you prefer?
Tell me anything that I am missing?
Do you have anything valuable to add to this?
This is where I am (don’t show and tell i.e. don’t show the progress).
What I am missing (this is your job, you need to figure out this yourself, the critique is not for that, you can do that in a brainstorming session)
Do’s
I am struggling with this pattern
I am pursuing this problem, I am trying to figure out the choice between direction A or direction B
What I am trying to figure out is…
The design problem I’m trying to solve is…
What I’m struggling with is…
What I’d specifically like to gain from this session is…
3. Clarifying questions
After you finish presenting your work, take a few minutes to allow listeners to jump in with anything that needs further clarification. This makes sure that everyone is on the same page.
4. Receiving feedback
Don’t defend your work and just listen. Be open to new knowledge and perspectives.
If you need further clarification, just say, “Can you help me understand and add more to what you said”? “Can you expand on the thing you said about…?” “You said you didn’t like this part — can you help me understand why?”
If you find that the feedback you are given is not relevant to what you were looking for. You can say, “That sounds interesting however the feedback is out of the scope of what I am looking for here but let’s sync afterward”
If you agree with the person just say, “Sounds like good feedback, I will look into this direction and explore further”
5. Concluding the critique
Thank everyone and you can say, “I have enough information to do another iteration and try out different design directions.”
What to do with the feedback you received:
You shouldn’t take all the feedback at face value. You are the owner of the product and you have more context than the team and so you need to make your own decision. Go back to the feedback and see if it worth pursuing. Also, document, why you don’t move forward with the feedback you received. List down all the issues in priority order of importance and start working on them.
Sample example videos of critiques
Credits and further read / listen:
New layer podcast — Design critique
Design critiques at Figma
UX critique guide | https://medium.com/@sumitnarangin/a-guide-to-design-critique-502088f0cd14 | ['Sumit Narang'] | 2020-12-24 21:48:17.439000+00:00 | ['UX Design', 'Collaboration', 'Design Process', 'Product Design', 'Design Critique'] |
Getting to Ultra Low Latency with Video | The next time you tune into a YouTube Livestream, Facebook Live Event, or Twitch Broadcast, remember one thing — live doesn’t mean live.
What does that mean? It breaks down to the fact that while the event you are watching is in fact currently live, the time it takes to encode the video into chunks, pass those chunks to the internet, and have the internet pass them to you is what we call latency.
If you take a step back, brands have regularly sacrificed latency in order to gain in other areas. In the flash era, we were helping customers deliver their broadcasted content to users over the internet using Flash Media Server. This made use of RTMP/RTSP protocols, which could produce latencies of sub 2-seconds if deployed correctly. Deployment issues, Apple ultimately killing flash, and high CDN costs introduced us, and the rest of the Media industry, to HTTP Streaming technologies.
HTTP Media Streaming has been great, it reduces bandwidth costs, allows us to switch bitrates mid-stream to reduce buffering, allows for better ad integration, and better encryption support. Those gains come at the cost of increased latency. See before, using Flash Media Server, we would just open a constant connection to the users device and push data through. Now we need to split our media into “chunks”, encode those chunks to a specific format and packaging, push those to the CDN, and have the CDN deliver them to you. If we add in the step of getting the broadcast from the camera to the encoder, this is what we refer to in the industry as “glass-to-glass” latency.
With application requirements getting more interactive and inclusive of an audience, the entire industry has been making moves to create workflows that decrease the latency we took on with HTTP Streaming. For example, to provide a live video experience where the latency is low enough that the viewers can feel the live interaction with the host, we considered the following:
HLS and DASH would be the most ideal, but common latency for glass-to-glass trends around 7–12 seconds.
RTMP has the latency required, we covered that, but we lose so much and increase our costs as most CDNs have began deprecating RTMP.
Research in the community
Over the past year, there have been large leaps made to support ultra low latency over HTTP Streaming; this includes showcased demos by a few open source vendors. Some of the largest media giants and infrastructure-as-service providers have become aware of the need as well.
CMAF is a community driven standardization for a common packaging format regardless of the protocol. This means we can use either HLS, DASH, or both and work with our CDN partners to provide CMAF support.
A great white paper published out of ParisTech outlines a proof of concept using DASH delivery with chunked-transfer, and some updates to the DASH manifest specification allows video players to be aware of segments before they were complete and request them as they’re still being published from encoder to origin. This POC resulted in a latency sample of ~1.5s on various network conditions.
Our Proof of Concept
After doing some of our own research, and going through the ParisTech white paper, we felt the best path forward was to make use of CMAF packaging, chunked-transfer, and test both DASH and HLS protocols. This required resolving a few dependencies first:
CDN providers needed to support both chunked-transfer and CMAF packaging.
We needed a hardware encoder that supported CMAF packaging.
Was there any iOS and Android players that supported chunked-transfer natively?
We worked with both of our CDN partners to educate their teams and test their CMAF implementations on their platforms. We found and partnered with hardware encoding company Keepixo, which is one of the few hardware encoders we could find on the market that supports CMAF packaging. We worked with them, testing their ultra low latency spec and helped write proxy code to authenticate with our CDN origins.
For video players, we tested many. Some who claim to already support ultra low latency (basically enabling chunked-transfer and some buffer configuration) and others who were willing to partner with us to implement it. To date, our most stable implementation has been a custom build of both AVPlayer and ExoPlayer.
Proof of Concept results
For our POC, we’re testing with a bitrate of 1 mbps which gives us pretty good quality when working with mobile resolutions. We understood the results published in the white paper were subjective to local network conditions. Prior to doing network stability testing and some buffer configuration our results for glass-to-glass resulted in average latencies of 3 seconds. We found no substantial edge latency difference between either of our CDN partners after fully implementing CMAF packaging support.
Moving Forward
3 seconds is crazy! To be able to offer this to our clients is an awesome achievement that we’re going to continue to work on. We tackled mobile first, whereas others have recently rolled out this latency support on Desktop Browsers only. We know having direct access to how we fetch chunks in the browser will be far easier than mobile and with our latest round of network stability testing we have drastically increased our stability without sacrificing latency. | https://medium.com/well-red/getting-to-ultra-low-latency-with-video-367eb660c571 | ['Mike Rudolph'] | 2018-10-05 12:56:59.170000+00:00 | ['Live Streaming', 'Live Video', 'Low Latency', 'Streaming'] |
First Things First: The Simple Step to Productivity and Reaching Elusive Goals | The lack of reaching a goal likely does not have to do with your will, want, or work ethic but the time you are able to put towards it. With a “First Things First” mindset you will not only create the time to achieve that goal but also create more motivation along with it.
Milano, Paul. “What to Do When You’Re Completely Overwhelmed With Work.” Ever Productive, everproductive.com/top-peformance/how-to-conquer-overwhelm-and-stress.
Overview
Simply put, this mindsets goal is to help you prioritize your actions and time to lead to a more efficient and productive life. Putting “First Things First” is as easy as analyzing the tasks you have yet to complete and do them in the order of importance. This will not only allow you to get more done but more importantly help manage your time without much effort. In addition, this mindset helps build a more proactive lifestyle where instead of waiting for a deadline or command you will seek out what you need to do and complete it effectively and efficiently. Below are the 3 steps I take to put a “First Things First” mindset into effect and how I have managed to make it a part of my daily mindset.
Calm Down
The First step in adopting this mindset is to evaluate your situation. Ask yourself, “What do I have to do?” and “What am I doing right now?”. The simple way to say this is don’t put your focus towards stress or recounting the many objectives you have to achieve but towards the completion of the most important or urgent of those tasks. Only once you can acknowledge and set your priorities straight can you begin your journey to productivity.
Turn Your Haves Into Your Wants
The main thing stopping us from being productive is simply that we don’t want to do the things we need to achieve a goal. Although seeing only one task and not worrying about any others is an effective way to do something efficiently, it is not an effective form of motivation. Instead of just telling yourself to do a task, address why you are doing it; take a moment to see the bigger picture. This will make you realize that your goals are not only possible, put probable if you sit down and put “First Things First”. Doing this gives you the want and desire to tackle the task ahead. No longer will you sit dreading the next step but willingly and optimistically work.
Signore, Dino. “The Optimistic Organization: Leadership Lessons from Neuroscience.” The Edward Lowe Foundation, 2018, edwardlowe.org/optimistic-leader/.
Prioritizing
The idea of a “First Things First” mentality and its effectiveness stems from its successful way of organizing your tasks. By doing the steps above you should not only be able to compose yourself to do work but also create the motivation to get it done, and the next step is the simplest yet most difficult: beginning to work. In contrast to zooming out and seeing the bigger picture, now you have to only see whats in front of view and identify the most important task at hand. With this newfound motivation and optimism you should be able to get to work and tackle this previously daunting task. In turn the completion of this task will serve as praise and further motivation to get the next task done; ultimately creating a loop of productivity!
Simple Yet Effective
The steps and strategize listed above are straightforward and more importantly easy. A “First Things First” mindset is not difficult to adopt but it can be difficult to make it a habit. Everyday you must ask yourself, “What do I need to do?” and if lacking motivation, “Why am I doing it?”. With this mindset you can turn your unrealistic goals into probable ones and the steps to take from needs to wants. It sounds too good to be true but simply adopting this mindset will change your life immediately and for the better.
Further Explored
If you enjoyed this article here are some book recommendations to fuel further curiosity: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey and The One Thing by Gary Keller. | https://medium.com/@magnusgadowsky/first-things-first-the-simple-step-to-productivity-and-reaching-elusive-goals-5fe3cbd5a520 | ['Magnus Gadowsky'] | 2020-12-27 22:23:16.045000+00:00 | ['Goals', 'Lifestyle', 'Time Management', 'Mindset', 'Productivity'] |
HyperPay Weekly Report 0831–0906 | Dear Users,
we have updated the weekly report 0831–0906, read more detail as following:
Off-chain
1. App V3.9.40 is launched
2. Share wallet optimization is being tested
3. App encryption method optimization is being tested
4. HyperCard purchasing digital currency function is on development
5. Red Packets phase II function optimization is on development
6. Market 2.0 optimization is on development
7. DeFi current investment products is on development
8. App overall revision is on development
9. Invitation&Referral supporting fee rebate is sorting demand
10. OTC adding fast purchase function is sorting demand
On-chain/HyperMate
1. Home page restructure is being tested
2. DApp interface optimization is being tested
3. Market module upgrade is on development
4. WallerConnect service is on development
Operation Dynamics
1. HyperPay Launched DeFi Staking (Sushi)
In order to meet the needs of users for DeFi staking, HyperPay launched the Sushi staking, which supports USDT and ETH with an expected annualized yield to be 50%-800%. Fundraising has been completed. DeFi staking is committed to providing users with simple and convenient DeFi participation method.
2. HyperPay On-chain Launched Multiple Public Chain DeFi Projects
In order to cater to users’ demand for DeFi, HyperPay has launched a number of public chain DeFi projects, such as MiniSwap, Sushiswap, SalmonSwap, Kimchi, HiSWAP, etc. HyperPay is working to provide users with the most popular DeFi projects.
Marketing Dynamics
1. The Fourth AMA of “HyperPay Focus | DeFi Roundtable” Is a Big Success
At 16:00 (UTC+8) on September 4, Conflux co-founder Zhang Yuanjie, Ontology founder Li Jun, NEO global ecological development director John, Bytom chain CEO Lang Yu, NULS co-founder & community director & SCOLab initiator Ran Xiaobo were guests of the fourth AMA of “HyperPay Focus | DeFi Roundtable” to discuss the DeFi process of the public chain and public chain investment opportunities around the topic of “DeFi Race, the Overtaking for Public Chain”.
2. The Third AMA of “HyperPay Focus | DeFi Roundtable” Is a Big Success
At 16:00 (UTC+8) on September 3, founding partner of Chain Capital & Cointelegraph China co-founder Li Xiangmin, Darwinia CMO Bree, Stafi Cofounder Liam, Phala co-founder & COO Wang Zhe, PolkaBase co-founder Shawn were guests of the third AMA of “HyperPay Focus | DeFi Roundtable” to discuss the new opportunities for Polkadot and DOT related investment opportunities around the topic of “Value Discover or Bubble, What’s under Polkadot, “.
“HyperPay Focus” is dedicated to let more people who are interested in investment understand the logic of DeFi. Investment regardless of CeFi and DeFi is a game of risk and return. “HyperPay Focus” will continue to focus on topics in the DeFi field and bring more exciting sharing.
Operation Data
Countries that users belong to: 73+
Cumulative registered users: 1,061,000+
Users benefited from investment: 330,000+
The most popular investment currency: USDT
The most popular Investment product: Holding&interest-bearing
Currencies of PoS minging pool: 11
Currencies support instant exchange: 28
Off-chain public-chain support: 44
On-chain public-chain support: 21
HyperMate public-chain support: 10
Digital assets stored: $1,000,000,000+ | https://medium.com/@hyperpay-info/hyperpay-weekly-report-0831-0906-b49a51446c9 | [] | 2020-09-08 03:13:36.069000+00:00 | ['Wallet', 'Blockchain', 'Hyperpay'] |
HYDRA Pre-Airdrop Trading Setup | In this article we will examine the following questions:
How much HYDRA will be released for liquidity/trading purposes prior to the airdrop distribution event?
At what price levels will the HYDRA be released?
How will any potential funds coming from this liquidity event be utilized to benefit the whole HYDRA community?
As outlined previously, the HYDRA blockchain project will be distributed via a 1:1 airdrop to LOC owners. This is so because HYDRA has been privately funded via the LockTrip fund that comes as a result of the crowdfunding that took place in 2017. HYDRA, despite being a completely independent project with a completely proprietary and powerful staking economy, is the result of the combined human, financial and technical capital that the LockTrip entity and community have accumulated over the last 3+ years.
In this post we want to remind everyone that the ERC20 migration will take place 2–3 months before the airdrop initiative in an effort to:
Give LOC holders enough time to swap their tokens before the start of the airdrop. This will ensure that everyone can receive the full amount of the HYDRA airdrop.
Avoid a situation where holders are pressured to rush the swap, possibly resulting in mistakes that would not have happened otherwise.
Give holders enough time to setup their Hydra wallets and to read through the new developments.
Since the migration of the LOC token on top of the HYDRA blockchain comes as unprecedented in the context of a token being migrated on top of a blockchain prior to the same chain’s main supply distribution event, we will be releasing a very limited amount of HYDRA in the form of market-making liquidity on HitBTC as a debut listing, together with the swap.
This will enable users to buy and use HYDRA for gas purposes (because once you withdraw the swapped LOC onto your own wallet, you will need to have some HYDRA in order to cover transaction costs).
For the more enthusiastic users, this could also be an opportunity to grab a few HYDRA to get a feeling of how the staking experience works prior to the airdrop event.
And since we have received a number of requests about the details of the pre-airdrop HYDRA liquidity event, we are sharing the key insights below:
150,000 HYDRA fixed supply will be placed evenly in the order book: This comes to 0.8% of total supply to ensure we don’t create an overflow of HYDRA before the main distribution event.
100% of funds that come in as a result of debut-HYDRA sold during the liquidity event will be repurposed back in the form of liquidity market making . This means that if e.g. $50,000 worth is liquidated, we will circle back the $50,000 and use it as a market-making inventory in order to strengthen liquidity and thicken the order books. Having strong liquidity will make it much easier to buy and sell HYDRA, which will benefit all holders.
during the liquidity event will be back in the form of . This means that if e.g. $50,000 worth is liquidated, we will circle back the $50,000 and use it as a market-making inventory in order to strengthen liquidity and thicken the order books. Having strong liquidity will make it much easier to buy and sell HYDRA, which will benefit all holders. The supply will be distributed evenly in chunks of 4,000 HYDRA per price level step.
per price level step. Each price level step will increment with a fixed 3% — this will ensure the price is defined by the market while offering gradual price options to choose from.
The starting price level will be $0.70 and the trading pair used will be USDT/HYDRA on HitBTC.
The order book will be static. Once orders are deployed they will not be changed for 7 days. After the 7th day, we will remove any orders that have not been fulfilled and will initiate the market-making system to repurpose all gathered funds in the form of liquidity.
NB! It is essential to understand that the open order book makes this a market-driven event. As the orders will be static, any other orders coming in from community members will have a direct impact on supply/demand and will influence the price discovery process.
To make things fully transparent, here is how the order book will look like and what its impact will be on the subsequent HYDRA liquidity:
The price starts at $0.7 and has a theoretical peak at $2.09. If the price surpasses $2.09, it will continue based on the natural supply and demand forces of the market, without an artificial expansion of the static order book.
Any amount that comes as a result of liquidating HYDRA during this pre-airdrop event will be used in full amount to strengthen and establish HYDRA’s liquidity.
For example, if HYDRA reaches $1.5 as a price, $113,986 will be raised. After the 7th day of the listing, all orders that remain unfilled (above $1.5) will be canceled. And the raised amount will be repurposed back into the order book in the form of advanced market making which will strengthen the liquidity around the spread.
The $113,986 will be used as market-making inventory on the USDT side, while we will use the income from the core nodes that sustain the network prior to the distribution event to double the inventory on the HYDRA side.
This will essentially mean that the combined liquidity in such an example would come to a total of $227,972 which will be broken down into cycles to strengthen the liquidity around the spread.
The more funds are generated, the stronger the initial liquidity of HYDRA will be as those funds will be used to establish the trading infrastructure. Any community activity on the order book will be on top of that base liquidity.
The target debut listing of HYDRA is set for Dec 2020 and we are waiting for our partners at HitBTC to confirm exactly. The swapping date for LOC is not dependent on this event and will be announced over the next few days.
Don’t hesitate to follow the new official Hydra Twitter :https://twitter.com/hydra_chain
And make sure to join Hydra’s Telegram https://t.me/hydrachain
Hydra is a truly decentralized POS (proof of stake) blockchain and emerged out of the combination of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Qtum. It unifies the best features of all three chains and carries a unique economic layer on top. This makes Hydra not only cutting-edge technology, but also enables a very strong shared economy of which all parties can benefit fairly. | https://medium.com/locktrip/hydra-pre-airdrop-trading-setup-424920411339 | ['Locktrip.Com', 'Loc Token', 'Official Blog'] | 2020-12-11 16:41:57.616000+00:00 | ['Altcoins', 'Blockchain', 'Airdrop', 'Crypto', 'Bitcoin'] |
TOP TIPS FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS | THE ONLY SHIPS THAT DON’T SAIL ARE PARTNERSHIPS
If you’re an entrepreneur, you will easily recall this scene. We’ve all been there before; huddled in a corner, pens across the desk, sketches ideas and fireworks of creativity being shot all over the room. You and your friends have just stumbled across ‘the next big thing,’ and its going to make you all a fortune.
It all makes sense, the idea is fantastic, you’re five G&T’s down, you’re all friends, you’ve known each other for years — what could go wrong!?
Well, I’m sorry to burst the bubble, everything, everything will go wrong. Without repeating the title, but I’m afraid it needs it; the only ships that do not sail, are partner-ships. It is an age old saying that just doesn’t tire simply because it is true.
Only in very rare cases do partnerships in businesses (with more than 3 Directors who are friends) succeed. Human instincts for competition, errors, personalities — whatever you want to call it, never melt together well after a certain amount of time. Especially when there is money, power and pressure involved. It will almost always blow up in your faces, ego, especially with men will become a factor. Starting a business will peel the layers back of your character, it will change you from the inside out, and friendships will be test ubeyond measure.
If you are headstrong in starting a business with your friends take this advice’ ‘sort the divorce out, before the marriage’ — In your shareholders agreement, make sure you make note of what happens if it all goes wrong. What if you disagree on next years budget, who gets that final decision — this is in the voting rights. So that you can always refer back to ‘your bible’.
Another good practice is to draw up a chart of ‘Corporate Governance,’ this document states everyone’s role and responsibility throughout the Company, from upper to lower, from the Board of Director’s to Management.
Not only does kick start you thoroughly writing your employee’s job descriptions; it will ensure that between directors, all parties know what part of the business they are covering. Overlapping responsibilities is a quick way to failure. Clashing opinions will confuse employees, waste time and distract away from drawing in new business.
IF YOU DON’T CONTROL THE MONEY, YOU ARE OUT OF CONTROL
As an entrepreneur, you have a duty to understand all aspects of your business — to know how and why every penny got into your till. Squeezing margins to scrape more profit from your takings will slowly become a part of your everyday habits.
One obvious, but key part is the control of the money. It is all too easy to trust your team, your accountant, your friend. In business, you must trust no one. You must always give out trust, but deep down, you must need to know that anyone, at any time could try and take advance of your green wings.
Always. Be in control.
Do not allow any spending without your approval.
Create airtight systems and procedures between staff and accounts team.
Have a paper trail — no trail, no payments.
Arrange weekly finance meetings on the phone with accounts.
Arrange monthly sit down meetings for over 2 hours to go through figures.
Question every out going. Be ruthless. This is your money going in and out of the account, make sure you understand the flows back and forth. Find the anomaly and act fast if you see something odd.
The act of constantly checking, the routine of it all, even when you feel things are ticking over nicely — must become a staple of your working week. It will give confidence to your accountants you are on it, that you care — and with that, they will give you a better service, communication and you will learn a lot faster about finances.
KNOWING YOUR STRENGTHS
Maturity is knowing when to take a step back and letting a true professional do their job. Knowing when a certain skill has surpassed your common knowledge threshold and it is time to make that call.
You are not an octopus, signing, writing and playing the theme tune. You as boss are the architect, the conductor. Lead, direct but do not meddle. Employee positions that will improve the business, that will save you time and make you more efficient.
We all start off our careers, or life I guess, thinking we can do it all. That with a few short youtube tutorials, we can put up that shelf, fix the mower or put together that table with the drawers. But this is business; and no matter the business, you will be employing someone to do a job — let them do that job. You are paying them real money, you have presented them with their roles, their responsibilities and their targets. It is in black and white. You know what you want, you have communicated it — if your staff cannot deliver this, then it is time for them to leave.
EVERYTHING WILL GO WRONG. EVERYTHING.
At one point or another, something catastrophic in every department of your business will happen. It will feel like the end of the world on a weekly basis and every day will feel like an episode of ‘the apprentice.’ As a new leader you have the worlds responsibilities on your shoulders, your new world being the business. The be all and end all. With this kind of focus you will see problems arising before they happen, constantly talking to your heads of departments will open up conversations to solve problems faster than if you were unavailable or out of touch with the happenings of your teams.
You must be prepared for almost any eventuality. Which on paper is easy to do, but in practise impossible. You cannot be everywhere at every time. So the advice is to always stay calm, always take a moment to think before any action. Strategy in times of panic is the way forward, rather than knee jerk decisions.
Most of the time, rash decisions end up costing you more money that the original problem would have taken to fix in the first place. Remember to stay calm, the storm always passes, and ship stays on course with a strong, focused Captain at the wheel.
BE PASSIONATE.
Never forget why you got into your business in the first place. It will get tough, you will be tested on the daily. The passion to achieve what you set out to do should be your fuel, that gets you up in the morning, willing to take on another day.
Passion for your project is infectious. When you truly believe in what you are doing that energy magnetises others towards you. Try and keep that energy up, and let your staff see your passion come through. Spend time on the floor, shadowing the team, give advice and tell stories; break the office day and get to know your team — hopefully you’ll have a chance to retell your journey of how you got to where you are, potentially inspiring your workforce and reenergising your passion.
Whenever things get on top of you or the inbox is overflowing, taking an hours break away from the office, a walk, fresh air, will hopefully clear your head. Every day should be a reminder of your of journey, every inch forward is a moment closer to your goal — and when you get there the success will be ever so sweet as you will deserve it. | https://medium.com/@steviethomas/top-tips-for-new-entrepreneurs-335298e90fff | ['Stevie Thomas'] | 2020-01-01 22:03:55.981000+00:00 | ['Leadership Development', 'Leadership', 'London', 'Tips', 'Entrepreneurship'] |
10 reasons to say ‘no’ to the GOP’s budget-busting, millionaire-windfall tax plan | 4. Makes it harder to afford a college education. The GOP plan would eliminate the student loan interest deduction, forcing more than 275,000 Washingtonians to pay over $1,000 more each year, on average, on their student debt. It also would impose massive tax and tuition increases on thousands of graduate students at the University of Washington and Washington State University, and would prevent major employers in our region — such as Amazon and Starbucks — from continuing to offer tax-free tuition assistance programs to their workers.
5. Harms the retirement of Washington’s teachers, firefighters and law enforcement officers. The GOP plan effectively would take money out of the pockets of nearly 320,000 public workers in Washington — including teachers, fire fighters, law enforcement officers, public safety employees and judges — by unfairly taxing public pension plans to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. These workers already pay more than $3.6 billion each year toward their retirement. At a time when too many Americans are having trouble saving for retirement, we should not be making it even harder.
6. Reduces incentive to give to charity. Washington is home to some of the leading philanthropic organizations working on cures for devastating diseases, eradicating poverty and improving public education. According to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), 32 million fewer Americans would donate to charitable causes under the House bill — and charitable donations would drop by $95 billion each year.
7. Immediately stops development of affordable housing and worsens the homelessness crisis. The GOP plan would immediately halt the development of more than 2,000 affordable housing units in Washington, by eliminating tax-exempt bonds that have already produced almost 55,000 apartments and supported more than 87,000 jobs across the state. The immediate effects would deny affordable housing to an estimated 4,000 families in Snohomish, King, Clark, Pierce, Whitman and Spokane counties, including more than 1,000 elderly households and over 300 people with disabilities.
8. Ends incentives to hire veterans, people with disabilities and unemployed Americans. The GOP plan would eliminate the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), which helped more than 50,000 disadvantaged workers in Washington find jobs last year — including 2,000 veterans, almost 500 of whom were unemployed for six months or more and over 40 of whom were veterans with disabilities. WOTC has shown tremendous success in increasing self-sufficiency and moving people from public assistance to employment.
9. Threatens infrastructure projects and thousands of construction jobs across Washington. The GOP plan would abolish an essential financing tool used by entities across the state — including colleges, ports, hospitals, charities, municipal governments, businesses and nonprofit organizations — to develop 21st century infrastructure and put Washingtonians to work. Tax-exempt bond financing creates thousands of jobs each year that help build new educational facilities, expand manufacturing operations, conduct environmental restoration, and more. Without these bonds, thousands of Washington jobs and dozens of critical infrastructure projects would be lost.
10. This plan increases the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion to benefit the wealthiest 1 percent.
Some of you might remember this…
Republicans rolled out the “Contract with America” in 1994.
On September 27, 1994, Minority Whip Newt Gingrich joined hundreds of Republicans to sign a “Contract With America” that included legislation to enact a balanced budget requirement and “restore fiscal responsibility to an out-of-control Congress.”
Yet here we are today, with sweeping legislation that balloons the deficit by a whopping $1.5 trillion. And instead of using tax savings to help working families, it heaps nearly 50 percent of the benefits on the wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayers while increasing taxes on 36 million middle-class families.
It is clear the plan will have damaging and far-reaching consequences for Washingtonians — from exacerbating homelessness to worsening student debt. The decision to release the GOP tax plan less than a month before scheduling a vote in Congress means federal lawmakers and our state — not to mention Washington families — have been given no meaningful opportunities for input on wide-ranging tax proposals that affect each and every Washingtonian. That should be considered an essential step to crafting thoughtful policy that benefits, rather than harms, our state.
That’s why I have called on the state’s congressional delegation to reject this partisan approach. We can and must do better. | https://medium.com/wagovernor/10-reasons-to-say-no-to-the-gop-s-budget-busting-millionaire-windfall-tax-plan-d0ff2975e279 | ['Governor Jay Inslee'] | 2018-05-16 16:33:16.683000+00:00 | ['Opinion', 'Health', 'Public Safety', 'Education', 'Government'] |
-> The Never Game (Colter Shaw, #1) by Jeffery Deaver -> Available in Hardcover \ Kindle \ Paperback \ AudioBook | -> The Never Game (Colter Shaw, #1) by Jeffery Deaver -> Available in Hardcover \ Kindle \ Paperback \ AudioBook Unikeert Sep 1, 2019·1 min read
Just For Today get free read 30 days !!!
From the bestselling and award-winning master of suspense, the first novel in a thrilling new series!
Colter Shaw is an itinerate “reward-seeker,” traveling the country to help police solve crimes and private citizens locate missing persons. When he learns of a reward for a missing college student in Silicon Valley, he takes the job. The investigation quickly thrusts him into the dark heart of Silicon Valley and the cutthroat billion-dollar video gaming industry — and then a second kidnapping happens…and this victim turns up dead. The clues soon point to one video game, The Never Game, in which the player has to survive after being left abandoned. Is a madman bringing that game to life? If so, Shaw has to stop him before he strikes again…and before he figures out that Shaw is on his trail. … (More info! -> https://ebookfirstbestpopular.blogspot.com/?book=41960011-the-never-game) | https://medium.com/@unike12338/the-never-game-colter-shaw-1-by-jeffery-deaver-available-in-hardcover-kindle-9f7707701db4 | [] | 2019-09-01 16:29:02.255000+00:00 | ['Startup'] |
Tropic 11 | Tropic 11
Jean wasted no tears in the aftermath—she had to save them for herself. Despite her loneliness, Jean had plenty of company. Between hacking at endless trees and the gnats swarming her sweaty skin, boredom didn’t exist during her forest “hike.” It was just one of many she braved in the last two decades of her journey.
Above, the towering branched ceiling of the forest quaked. Sonic booms and screeches broke the leafy ceiling, throwing branches about. Seconds later, an earthquake threw Jean off balance. Silence followed. A warship crash: the usual. Jean brushed mud off her Bermudas and continued to hack away at the new wall of branches in her way.
Adrenaline still shook her bones hours later. With one bold slice of her sword, Jean fell into a rocky clearing from an invisible cliff. Her knees were scraped up but she was fine otherwise. She squinted in the spitting rain, looking for answers.
The melted keel of a warship sat nestled between hills, only two miles away. The keel’s shadow waved to her in the shimmering storm clouds. “Hello?” Her voice wheezed. No response. Without further prompt, Jean nestled into the nooks of the warm metal ribs of the ship. In life, it killed. In death, it became Jean’s shield from lighting. All she worried about now were memories and her rheumatism. Perhaps she did prefer rain, after all…
The villagers forgotten her, she knew. They saw the same ozone storms. They drank from the same acidic waters. They suffered the same deafening crashes of intergalactic warfare. But her face wrinkled during her time away. Her auburn hair was completely grayed. She survived falls, tumbles, poison, and battles. She didn’t mind at all. What killed her slowly, she felt it deep in her soul, was the silence. Who reassured her that this glowing crick at her feet wouldn’t explode any minute now?
Although, she saw enough tragedy in the last year alone. Even a voice of reason couldn’t reassure her anymore. Two decades ago, she set out with a party of fifteen. Only she survived. The navigator, a seasoned explorer before the War Beyond, fell off a cliff about three seasons ago. Not even reason saved anyone in times of chaos.
Jean outlived those who played fate like a clueless mistress. Jean recalled AWOL soldiers and stray vagabonds who brought stories from beyond the stratosphere. Their extinguished voices merged into one. They called her the madwoman. That was their stories—her own was to end this suffering. Unmarked graves became her highway, blooming trees were her north star. Loneliness was her price to pay for the glory.
The next morning, Jean climbed the top of the ship’s skeleton and looked out into the clearing skyline. She immediately spotted a city skyline. She almost forgot what those looked like. Her heart sank. Was this the end she sought to her tale, to be locked up after so many years of freedom? Was this the answer to humanity’s agony? Her quest continued, personal grievances aside.
After a three day rest, Jean approached the city. She refused to leave her refuge until the storm clouds broke. By the last day, she had lived on found berries in the forest and rainwater. Jean didn’t falter, crushing weeds along the overgrown, crumbled asphalt highway for fun. At the abandoned toll booth, Jean slowed. This "mighty" city was also a grave for warships. What were the chances of that?
With hysterical laughter, Jean danced around the abandoned city. Buildings sank into the mud. Most were overturned by the same warship skeletons that dotted the streets. Nothing about this city remained—not a working well, not a statue, not a readable plaque. It’s funny what the Earthlings deemed important. Although her journey was in vain, the truth remained the same.
It took her half a day to get out. By the time she escaped, she crossed an old dam filled with trapped fish—spawning season. She sat on the edge of the city, smoking them over a tiny fire. Jean stared out into the sunset. Maybe her quest had been in vain, but it was certainly too late to turn back. Would she recognize anyone when she went home? Jean set up camp by the fish stream. Jean went to sleep, dreaming instead of the glory she would find. One day. Soon. For them.
The next morning, she pushed onward. New growths lined the crumbling highways. Of course, it meant someone had passed through recently. Aid? An enemy?
No one bothered to stop here. The Universe long grew sick of oil. The sparks above in the sky trailed from crashing ships. Over the last few years, they seemed to have doubled. It was only a matter of time before they poisoned the waters again.
Jean followed the new growths. They lined a highway she realized was the astrobleme of a ship that crashed recently. Jean stopped, climbing over the ship for a view. It had been a few days, and the city was far gone behind her with its accidental fish farm. Up ahead, what wonderful surprises! Another village, more forest. Jean picked up her pace.
The village was ashes. How did she not notice? Were her eyes going too? “Hello?” Jean whistled.
Every village looked the same. Hell, they had the same straw-like rooftops of her village back home. The same circular, wood panels holding up wood walls. Not all had collapsed. She stopped in front of one, stumbling over a freshly dug mound—graves. She mumbled an incoherent apology. Her family’s grave, all six—no. That was a mistake. Jean hadn’t been home for decades.
Jean backed away from the village, escaping the camouflaged graveyard. She threw away the pouch of smoked fish. She didn’t look back.
Realizing she was lost, Jean turned her head. She circled back around, following the old warship back towards the city. There was help there—she only had to look in the right corners for it. | https://medium.com/@taliyaahofficial/tropic-11-2507c816fd91 | ['Taliyaah Onze'] | 2020-12-21 07:35:34.379000+00:00 | ['Science Fiction', 'Creative Writing', 'Short Story', 'Loneliness', 'Apocalypse'] |
Three Ways to Title Case a Sentence in JavaScript | 1. Title Case a Sentence With a FOR Loop
For this solution, we will use the String.prototype.toLowerCase() method, the String.prototype.split() method, the String.prototype.charAt() method, the String.prototype.slice() method and the Array.prototype.join() method.
The toLowerCase() method returns the calling string value converted to lowercase
method returns the calling string value converted to lowercase The split() method splits a String object into an array of strings by separating the string into substrings.
method splits a String object into an array of strings by separating the string into substrings. The charAt() method returns the specified character from a string.
method returns the specified character from a string. The slice() method extracts a section of a string and returns a new string.
method extracts a section of a string and returns a new string. The join() method joins all elements of an array into a string.
We will need to add an empty space between the parenthesis of the split()method,
var strSplit = "I'm a little tea pot".split(' ');
which will output an array of separated words:
var strSplit = ["I'm", "a", "little", "tea", "pot"];
If you don’t add the space in the parenthesis, you will have this output:
var strSplit =
["I", "'", "m", " ", "a", " ", "l", "i", "t", "t", "l", "e", " ", "t", "e", "a", " ", "p", "o", "t"];
We will concatenate
str[i].charAt(0).toUpperCase()
— which will uppercase the index 0 character of the current string in the FOR loop —
and
str[i].slice(1)
— which will extract from index 1 to the end of the string.
We will set the whole string to lower case for normalization purposes.
With comments:
Without comments: | https://medium.com/free-code-camp/three-ways-to-title-case-a-sentence-in-javascript-676a9175eb27 | ['Sonya Moisset'] | 2017-02-16 09:31:57.309000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'JavaScript', 'Learning', 'Algorithms', 'Programming'] |
Learning to Birth — Call for Speakers | Introducing a new online birth education platform “Learning to Birth” where expectant mums learn from experts how to give birth calmly, easily, on time, at home or in hospital — your way and on your terms.
Hi, I’m Akasha. I’m creating a global online platform called “Learning to birth.”
I’m creating this platform because I have a dream for womenkind. What if we don’t just go to experts to birth our baby. What if we learn from experts how to birth our baby — for ourselves?
If you’re an expert who teaches women how to have amazing, positively life-changing, empowering births, I’d like to invite you as a speaker and teacher. Fill out our expression of interest form!
A decade ago, I went to the hospital for my first birth. I went what I thought of as prepared — with a birth plan and an intention for a natural birth. But just because birth is “natural”, doesn’t mean it’s a good experience for mum or baby.
Birth can be an incredible experience. A mum-to-be shouldn’t have to put up with the possibility of anything less.
That birth taught me if you go into a birth not trusting yourself to know how to birth, the people who are there to help won’t trust you, either.
I learnt that day that the first step to being a mum is to trust — ourselves.
Trust our bodies, our knowings, our hearts.
So, for my next birth, I read even more books, even more articles. I consciously chose other women who’d had positive birth experiences as my role models. If they could do it, so could I!
Belief in myself and my body was the key. This second time, I had the confidence to ask for what was best for my body and baby even when so-called “experts” yelled at me to make me do what they wanted. I said no. I resisted. I was strong — because I and my body were a team.
This new platform will be for women around the world to access wherever they are, whatever their age, whatever their stage of the journey to birth.
It’s going to provide often hard to find information from a host of experts who teach valuable skills like:
How to give birth without tearing
How to give birth easily
How to give birth quicker (yes, it is possible to actually learn this)
How to give birth calmly
How to give birth at home
How to give birth by C-Section
How to give birth on time
Are these the skills an expectant mother would like to learn? YES!
My first birth was a bit of a mess.
Next time around, I chose to consciously choose a different birth by teaching myself how to birth so I could have the most empowered, ecstatic birth that was possible for me.
I analyzed my first birth minute by minute, hour by hour. I committed to turning things around. I sought out the skills I’d been missing. Second time around I gave myself a birth where:
I gave birth on the due date (exactly)
I gave birth after only 1 hour of active labour (exactly)
I gave birth easily, and calmly
I gave birth ecstatically
And with barely a graze
All this after I’d been told that I’d never give birth naturally again.
I don’t want any woman to have to go through the physical and emotional trauma I went through from my first birth. It took many years to forgive myself for not looking after myself to protect myself during those hours.
The information about how to birth is out there — but it’s fragmented, and not available as a comprehensive resource, and there’s a lot of judgment about right and wrong birth being pushed upon women who are just looking for information about what their body is capable of doing.
We’re adult women here — we know things don’t always go to plan. They didn’t even in my second birth — I went to the hospital, after planning a home birth. And I’m glad I did.
Because I’d learnt how to birth, I was able to make that choice. I knew, in my body, what was best for me and my baby to achieve the best outcome we could in the circumstances life presented us.
If you consider yourself as an expert teaching women how to give birth in ways that make them feel incredibly worthy, empowered, alive, and strong— however they do it — I would like to hear from you.
I’m going to be inviting teachers that I learned most from during my journey, and I’d like to open the invitation to the world’s top teachers too. You’ll be interviewed by me, a person with 20 years of experience in events and media, who is also committed to empowering women through all aspects of pregnancy, birth, and motherhood.
There is always something more to learn about birth.
If you are a birth educator, wherever you are in the world, please use the form speaker.learningtobirth.com. If successful I will contact you to interview you for our next upcoming Learning to Birth webinar.
Follow Learn to birth on Twitter and Instagram @learntobirth | https://medium.com/@learntobirth/learning-to-birth-call-for-speakers-8b344ea1a904 | [] | 2019-07-13 12:23:17.484000+00:00 | ['Birth', 'Women', 'Motherhood', 'Health', 'Pregnancy'] |
5 Reasons why you could be financially Struggling | 5 Reasons why you could be financially Struggling Sanjay Follow Jul 6 · 6 min read
These 5 Psychological blocks might be holding you back from manifesting financial abundance
Photo by REX WAY on Unsplash
Everyone wants to be rich and financially independent. However, only a few have such freedom of financial abundance. The rest have to struggle for their financial freedom.
You would have heard this phrase “Rich get richer and poor get poorer”. We all know this phrase is a cliché and heard this out of many. However, have you taken some time to realize why the phrase is true in most cases?
The common answers could be:
- Rich people have college degrees and the poor do not have one.
- Rich people have white collared jobs, and the poor have the blue collared jobs
- Some are born rich, and some are born poor
And the list would go on.
The reasons you hear are just the tip of an iceberg. Also, these reasons always get centered around external factors like education, jobs, and surroundings.
What we do not realize is that our financial abundance greatly depends on internal factors such as our mindset, focus, emotions, beliefs, and perception.
The following 5 psychological blocks could be on your way for lack of your financial abundance.
1. You don’t love money.
Photo by Tanjir Ahmed Chowdhury on Unsplash
I know that you need money, but ask this question to yourself, do you really love money? Like a mother who loves her kids unconditionally whether they love her back or not.
In a similar way, do you love the money you want? No matter if it stays with you or not.
Financially successful people love their money unconditionally. They always have a passion for money-making.
However, those who are struggling financially have conditional love for their money. They love when they have money and hate when it goes out from them.
To put it in a perspective, if you love a person unconditionally, it could be your partner, wife, or kids, you work for them with passion.
That unconditional love and passion for that person will drive you to commit to taking care of them and to provide for them.
The same thing applies to money. When you love money unconditionally, you naturally get committed to making more money and the drive will naturally help you explore more avenues to expand and manage your finances. | https://medium.com/illumination/5-reasons-why-you-could-be-financially-struggling-5f54b3d3f3f1 | [] | 2021-07-06 17:44:45.008000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Abundance', 'Money', 'Mindset Shift', 'Growth'] |
Give feedback, not opinions | At one point i started posting my work and progress in Design Group on Facebook. And seeing the comment i’ve attached at the top is what 80% of answers and comments were on my posts.
You might say that other peoples opinion doesn’t matter, which is mostly true. But in that specific moment, once you read something that shouldn’t be written the way it is, or once you hear someone saying something negative about you, your skill or work, you actually start questioning yourself and if you are even doing something that make sense.
Even if this questioning is temporary and you’ll forget about it, it still matters to some degree.
Don’t give opinions — Give Feedback
I took Design as example, but honestly i think this can be applied to much more then that, in a lot of real life examples, day-to-day conversations, empathy…
Instead of saying:
Something is bad
Something is good
And the whole idea of something being bad or good is completly relative. Maybe i think that it’s bad but it doesn’t define that thing as a bad thing, it just define my view and my opinion.
Now Imagine being a person that posted something that you made, and someone commenting — It’s bad. Is that creation bad? No, it’s opinion of the person who commented.
That is bringing me to another point.
We cannot improve in life if all we hear are opinions.
You are trying to teach your kid to ride a bike, would you sit on a bench in park and yell at him, telling him “DRIVE BETTER! I DONT LIKE HOW YOU RIDE IT AND HOW YOU ALWAYS FALL” — Or would you stand with him, supporting him with your arms, giving advices how he should turn the pedals, how he should move his body and head while driving, etc..
You might think that i took stupid example, and i agree — example is stupid, but if you really think about it, if you try to find connection with this in your life, you’ll most likely be able to find a lot of them, at least i can.
None is giving constructive feedback, 90% of conversations that i hear are purly based on people giving their own opinion on certain topic/subject.
At the end, question might be why i care so much about this topic and why do i even think about this?
Again looking back at my life, i was tought most of the things with that opinion based way of thinking — And i just wanna make sure i remember this, so tommorow when i have kids, i would never tell them what they can or cannot do, what is bad for them and what isnt. What they have to belive in and what they shouldn’t belive in. | https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/give-feedback-not-opinions-3765e458fc55 | ['Jovan Belic'] | 2020-12-21 01:59:42.093000+00:00 | ['Conversations', 'Empathy', 'Design', 'Feedback', 'Philosophy'] |
√9832463309.7908317516.reboxed | √9832463309.7908317516.reboxed customer care number any problum helpline number call me√9832463309.7908317516.reboxed customer care number any problum helpline number call me√9832463309.7908317516.reboxed customer care number any problum helpline number call me√9832463309.7908317516.reboxed customer care number any problum helpline number call me√9832463309.7908317516.reboxed customer care number any problum helpline number call me√9832463309.7908317516.reboxed customer care number any problum helpline number call me√9832463309.7908317516.reboxed customer care number any problum helpline number call me√9832463309.7908317516.reboxed customer care number any problum helpline number call me√9832463309.7908317516.reboxed customer care number any problum helpline number call me√9832463309.7908317516.reboxed customer care number any problum helpline number call me | https://medium.com/@rk5145060/9832463309-7908317516-reboxed-24b3c04cbe7e | [] | 2020-12-22 12:45:58.903000+00:00 | ['7908317516', '9832463309', 'Online Shopping'] |
Facebook & Instagram — Nunca mais erre o tamanho das imagens | in In Fitness And In Health | https://medium.com/desafiando-o-marketing/facebook-instagram-nunca-mais-erre-o-tamanho-das-imagens-677f9ec22f2 | [] | 2018-02-22 00:27:13.501000+00:00 | ['Dicas', 'Facebook', 'Imagens', 'Infográfico'] |
Maximum Number of Coins You Can Get | There are 3n piles of coins of varying size, you and your friends will take piles of coins as follows:
In each step, you will choose any 3 piles of coins (not necessarily consecutive).
3 piles of coins (not necessarily consecutive). Of your choice, Alice will pick the pile with the maximum number of coins.
You will pick the next pile with maximum number of coins.
Your friend Bob will pick the last pile.
Repeat until there are no more piles of coins.
Given an array of integers piles where piles[i] is the number of coins in the ith pile.
Return the maximum number of coins which you can have.
Example 1:
Input: piles = [2,4,1,2,7,8]
Output: 9
Explanation: Choose the triplet (2, 7, 8), Alice Pick the pile with 8 coins, you the pile with 7 coins and Bob the last one.
Choose the triplet (1, 2, 4), Alice Pick the pile with 4 coins, you the pile with 2 coins and Bob the last one.
The maximum number of coins which you can have are: 7 + 2 = 9.
On the other hand if we choose this arrangement (1, 2, 8), (2, 4, 7) you only get 2 + 4 = 6 coins which is not optimal.
Example 2:
Input: piles = [2,4,5]
Output: 4
Example 3:
Input: piles = [9,8,7,6,5,1,2,3,4]
Output: 18
Constraints:
3 <= piles.length <= 10^5
piles.length % 3 == 0
1 <= piles[i] <= 10^4
Solution:
If i want to gain max, i have to take the max each time of my turn. Since Alice will pick the max, i will take second max in each term.
What about my third friend, I will give him the smallest always.
Here is my rust solution:
Time complexity: For sorting: nlogn and to iterate over less than n/2; So we can say n/2+nlogn more precise. In general we can say nlogn. | https://medium.com/algorithm-and-datastructure/maximum-number-of-coins-you-can-get-d8d451518214 | ['Omar Faroque'] | 2020-08-29 01:41:18.183000+00:00 | ['Rust', 'Vec', 'Max Num Of Coins', 'Leetcode'] |
End Times Economics From a Reptilian Cult | End Times Economics From a Reptilian Cult
The editor’s correction said, “It’s Dogecoin, not Dog coin.”
This was 2019 or so, and I hadn’t heard of Dogecoin before, so “dog coin” made as much sense as anything else. I was reproducing a story from a Facebook chat I found among the evidence in Barbara Rogers’ murder trial. Barbara was accused of killing her boyfriend, Steven Mineo.
That she pulled the trigger is almost undeniable, whether or not she was responsible hinged on the couple’s feud with an internet cult. I’d come across the Dogecoin conversation in my research into what would become a book about the whole affair, and although the story had to be cut from the book, I think it provides insight into the weirder side of cryptocurrencies.
Just as with the wonderful tale of the Bigfoot Chewies, the “dog coin” story didn’t really move the narrative and only made a convoluted story feel a little more oblique. Also, I didn’t want to apply the breaks just to explain cryptocurrencies (as far as I understood them).
I’m not going to do it now, either, except to say that cryptocurrencies are alternative methods of payment not backed by any government or bank. Dive deeper here if you wish.
People worry that cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin facilitate criminal behavior, and I don’t doubt that there are some really dark uses for it, but I want to tell you about a bizzarre one: I might have been the last person on the planet to know that the “Doge” of Dogecoin was a meme dog, a Shiba Inu who had taken the internet by storm more than five years before.
The Prophet, the Acolyte, and dog coin
Steven Mineo was one of the early adopters of a cryprocurrency openly based on a joke internet meme. A little more than 45 days before his death, Steven was friends with Sherry Shriner, the cult leader who would drive him over the edge and then to his grave. As a friend he wanted her to get in on “dog coin,” and signed into her private Facebook chatroom to explain the pros (he presented no cons) of investing in cryptocurrancies.
Steven Mineo, the 32-year-old man-child who worshiped an internet prophet and tried to live off the grid was a suburban survivalist type, all gear and no skill, but he had a leg up on me when it came to alternative cryptocurrencies. He had a leg up on Sherry Shriner, too.
“I just don’t understand that stuff,” Sherry told him. “Not a money person.”
Steven didn’t understand it in any meaningful way, either. What he did know was that you could buy them on Ebay and have them deposited into your virtual wallet.
Sherry told Steven that Bitcoin, the first and still most popular cryptocurrency, was too expensive at $900 (today that coin is worth more than $50,000, calling her status as a prophet into question).
“I got 6,000 dog coins for like two or three dollars and now it’s $14, it’s worth,” he told Sherry and the rest of the people in the chatroom. His investment was worth $17 by the end of the conversation. It’s worth more than today if you’re curious.
There’s a weird tension between the speculators, the true-believers, and the doomsdayers who invest in cryptocurrencies. Speculators hope to make money on big price swings, and true believers see crypto as a liberating technology that also can be used as money. Doomsdayers, prepers, and other anti-social types have a different angle altogether.
The Economic Reset
Their interest is almost exclusively related to a conspiracy theory called NESARA, or the economic reset. The short version is that one day the government will declare all money worthless and close the central banks, clearing everyone’s debt and starting the economy from scratch.
You can see the appeal for a doomsday investor. They buy cryptocurrencies so when the big financial crash finally occurs they will be elevated to billionaires, and we’ll all be sorry we made fun of their asinine belief in the economic reset.
NESARA is also tied in to end times prophesy as one more way God will know his true people and more efficiently separate the wheat from the chaff.
That is the future they crave, that fuels them; a future where they’re elevated from meaningless cogs to masters of the universe. The mechanics of it is hazy, but here is the doomsday case for cryptocurrencies as I understand it.
Something catastrophic happens to the government and the economy collapses. Martial law is instituted. Power-grids fail, there is open rebellion in the street, mass death, starvation, and disease. If you have cryptocurrency, though, you will still be able to buy and sell goods, bribe officials, and hire armies if you want.
As with so any other parts of conspiracy theory living, investing in crypo takes something that’s new and complicated and misunderstands it as a sign the world is ending.
It’s a baffling craving, but let’s set it aside for now. Instead let’s occupy the mind of a person who believes in his heart that he’ll get cell service after society collapses. That Verizon employees will be maintaining the infrastructure between their nightly marauding runs in search of one last drop of gasoline.
As laughable as it is, it doesn’t make less sense than any other end times Christian prophesy based on the Book of Revelations. Today, the idea of litaral horsemen and actual trumpet-blowing seems a little, well, primitive. It is convenient then, that even Bible literalists allow for symbolism when it comes to the apocalypse. By those lights, people can interpret War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death more broadly.
The most striking thing about investigating truthers and conspiracy enthusiasts is discovering that their stories are the same Christian stories I learned as a child, only amplified and stretched to accommodate and abiding fear of technology and change.
What I love most about the crypto tie-in is the salvation aspect of it. If you’re prepared for the coming of the lord, you will be saved (you’d be hard-pressed to find a Christian who disagrees). For people like Steven Mineo, though, that promise doubled over on itself into something even more grand: Not only will you be saved if you’re ready for the end of the world, but if you’re ready for the before part of the end of the world, if you accumulate enough money and power, you’ll be saved here on Earth as well.
I mean, who wouldn’t want to sit, feet up, as the people who mocked your beliefs burned, safe in the assurance that you had enough Dogecoin in your virtual wallet to literally get you through the apocalypse? | https://medium.com/@bytonyrusso/buy-dogecoin-and-enjoy-the-apocolypse-in-style-aa17ea106cb9 | ['Tony Russo'] | 2021-07-13 17:28:48.376000+00:00 | ['Sherry Shriner', 'Conspiracy Theories', 'Dogecoin', 'End Times', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
The global shift in crypto, or: how i stopped worrying and learned to love the coin | The global shift in crypto, or: how i stopped worrying and learned to love the coin Alex Romanov Jun 17·5 min read
This will be the first article of my blog, however for the last 4 years i have written dozens of articles and posts concerning crypto as an in-house analyst in various tech startups. And boy, do I have something to share it with you in this context, but: Everything written here is by no means financial advice and should not be considered as such.
For a long period of time only technical analysis was more or less applicable to what we call crypto trading. Today, however, we could think of it in terms of investing money as in penny stocks: high risk — high reward. TA worked pretty well for me, but the market always lacked fundamentals: some impact on our everyday lives from all of the projects that I believed in so much.
What was that shift I mentioned in the title? The real world’s businesses begin to pay attention to the sector which only 1 or 2 years ago was considered gambling or ponzi schemes rather than the central force of innovations which may in a few years redefine the global fintech landscape.
Why am I so optimistic about crypto in the long run? I can name a lot of reasons, and I will begin with what seems to me the most important:
Financial reason 1 — obnoxious KYC/AML policies of traditional banks . Well, try to make a crossboarder SWIFT transfer of, let’s say, 10–20k USD. This might seem a big sum of money for an individual, but it’s almost nothing in terms of an operational business. And believe me, you don’t want your transef to be blocked even though it’s completely legal and transparent. Traditional banks have the right to block any suspicious transaction for a couple of days. And now let’s imagine your overseas partner is waiting for your payment and stops the shipment untill the money is safe and sound in his pocket. Everyone loses money, the shipment is stalled, and you might even get some serious problems with your national regulator. Why? You sent the money abroad and received no goods in exchange, it seems like… you made an illegal withdrawal of funds abroad (e.g. in Russia it is a great problem). Double trouble. Go see for yourself: AML policicies are failing. Should I really name the perfect alternative or you already guessed what it is? If the transfer was sent via e.g. ERC-20 USDT, not only would be complete in 10–20 minutes, it could also be triggered by an IoT-tracking device on your shipment container. The money would be withdrawn from your account and sent to your partner’s account as soon as the container arrives onboard of your ship (according to the Incoterms FOB practice). No papers, no middlemen.
. Well, try to make a crossboarder SWIFT transfer of, let’s say, 10–20k USD. This might seem a big sum of money for an individual, but it’s almost nothing in terms of an operational business. And believe me, you don’t want your transef to be blocked even though it’s completely legal and transparent. Traditional banks have the right to block any suspicious transaction for a couple of days. And now let’s imagine your overseas partner is waiting for your payment and stops the shipment untill the money is safe and sound in his pocket. Everyone loses money, the shipment is stalled, and you might even get some serious problems with your national regulator. Why? You sent the money abroad and received no goods in exchange, it seems like… you made an illegal withdrawal of funds abroad (e.g. in Russia it is a great problem). Double trouble. Go see for yourself: AML policicies are failing. Should I really name the perfect alternative or you already guessed what it is? If the transfer was sent via e.g. ERC-20 USDT, not only would be complete in 10–20 minutes, it could also be triggered by an IoT-tracking device on your shipment container. The money would be withdrawn from your account and sent to your partner’s account as soon as the container arrives onboard of your ship (according to the Incoterms FOB practice). No papers, no middlemen. Financial reason 2 — global money laundering industry needs some new cards up its sleeve. We may see that in the near future not only El Salvador, but also Panama and the places alike will adopt cryptocurencies. Why is this topic so hot for these countries now? So boiling hot, El Salvador’s president wants to build a geothermal power plant to welcome miners all over the world so that they utilize only green energy (pun intended). Let’s dive into some details:
chart built based on the data from knoema.ru and statista.com
Even if we put aside that severe COVID-related decline of GDP in 2020, the chart may be interpreted as: Panama’s GDP growth rate is declining due to decreasing volumes of “suspicious” transactions in the national economy as the AML regulations become stricter.
What’s about El Salvador?
chart built based on the data from knoema.ru and statista.com
Well, it is not so clear due to lower impact of financial sector on the national GDP, however the main message is the following: these countries are looking for any ways to fill their economies with money. What can suit better than being the world’s biggest crypto offshore?
Technological reason 1 — the emergence of 5G networks and global satellite internet coverage. Imagine you have full access to your funds all over the world. The funds no bank can stop you from managing, with no middlemen and unnecessary fees. It’s like cash — it’s everywhere with you, only you know how much money you carry in your pocket. We are about to get this “features” of cash without its disadvantages: you can carry $1 or $1 000 000 in your pocket, nobody knows you carry it with you, no pickpocket can steal it from you for only you know the phrase/pin/or another means of securing your funds. It might seem a little bit naive now, but these are the features we always underestimate in managing personal finance.
Imagine you have full access to your funds all over the world. The funds no bank can stop you from managing, with no middlemen and unnecessary fees. It’s like cash — it’s everywhere with you, only you know how much money you carry in your pocket. We are about to get this “features” of cash without its disadvantages: you can carry $1 or $1 000 000 in your pocket, nobody knows you carry it with you, no pickpocket can steal it from you for only you know the phrase/pin/or another means of securing your funds. It might seem a little bit naive now, but these are the features we always underestimate in managing personal finance. Technological reason 2 (closely connected with reason 1 though) — the dawn of the Internet of Things. I don’t speak about refrigerators which order food for you or personal assistants in shape of a portable speaker. It reminds me of some early aircraft prototypes — a lot of hype with no functionality.
5G networks will allow us to stuff everything with sensors, ARM-based devices and microcomputers connected to the Internet ultimately creating more data and traffic than all the humans in the world.
IoT-based logistics triggering payments,
IoT-based insurance charging extra or lowering your payments if you drive carefully,
IoT-based monitoring infrastucture which can order some spare parts for an engine before it breaks, detecting any anomaly when it still runs and triggering payments for the repair, —
this is not some distant future. This global change is about to happen: let me remind you of NVIDIA & ARM merger, and the ongoing microchip deficit.
In my conclusion I want to be very concise:
While the majority of people go on with their lives and use “interfaces”, consuming goods and services like they were used to, “the backend” is rapidly changing.
Everything: from mining (traditional, not cryptocurrency) to production, logistics and commerce will adopt the new technologies over 3–5 years. Decentralized finances will become one of the cornerstones of the new technological era for 30–50 years to come. | https://medium.com/@alex-romanov/the-global-shift-in-crypto-or-how-i-stopped-worrying-and-learned-to-love-the-coin-fff319d2e6b9 | ['Alex Romanov'] | 2021-06-17 18:25:31.510000+00:00 | ['Future', 'Finance', 'Blockchain', 'Technology', 'Vision'] |
What Is The Deal With Christians And Choice? | Do you have a choice?
Choice and the concept of having a choice, show up early in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible. It comes before the snake. It comes before the fall from grace. It comes before Adam and Eve have Cain and Abel. It comes, in fact, in Genesis two. That is, it follows quite quickly after “In the Beginning…”
Two trees and all choice
It comes in the form of two trees. One is the tree of life. The other is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The creator liked everything that He had made and declared it good. The waters, land, creatures, and gardens were good. The two trees were good. They are, after all, like all of Creation; “Made in our image.”
Choice, then, is of supreme importance. Free will matters. Choosing or rejecting rules is crucially central to all spirituality, if not every religion, everywhere.
But Christianity has a real problem with choice. They often want to save souls by denying choice. This is evident when adherents to any religion try to convert through brutality, inquisition, conquest, pillage, theft, rape and murder.
But it is also evident when a ‘Christian’ would deny full humanity through simple prejudice, discrimination, and disenfranchisement or when we deny another human being, equality. And, of course, not just humanity suffers, all of the Creation, the “Us” in “Let Us create man in Our own image” suffers when we choose extinction, deforestation, pollution and contamination.
How do we know the “Us” in “Let us create…” is the biosphere? It is because only God, not angels, or unseen ‘creators” is present in the origin story of Genesis.
Besides a heavenly creator, only the glorious and miraculous creation itself has the power to reproduce lifeforms, if Genesis is to be believed.
A New Covenant of choice
Then, there is the entire New Testament. The New Testament, according to Jesus Christ, was created to create a new covenant. This new covenant depended, as the old one did, upon choice.
Humanity fell short of God’s hopes and lost the promise of eternal life by making bad choices.
Everything about the Old Testament is re-invented in the New Testament except this issue of choice. Choice, the option to choose eternal life through salvation, is the central feature that God presents to all people on either side of the BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini) timeline.
When I was a young Jesus Freak, I took the radical approach that Jesus had for loving and forgiving very seriously. It was evident that he was adamant about choice, and of course, about allowing men and women of every hue and gender, full equality.
Why, then, do some Christians, then seek to diminish this issue of choice? Obviously, the most common application is in denying women the right to choose whether or not they have enough babies. Or whether they should have the free choice to have no babies.
The thinking goes something like, the unborn baby does not have a choice, therefore the woman should have no choice, either.
This seems a very twisted, and un-Christian way to look at choice. It is judgmental. It is restrictive based on female body mechanics. It is punishing to the woman, but not so much the man. It is the basis for divided love among families, political parties, and even entire nations.
It is also easily manipulated to attain power and persuasion. Most people support a woman’s right to choose just as much as they would support a man’s right to his bodily autonomy.
But many people are against choice and free will think that access to birth control somehow supports the frequency of abortion. In fact, access to women’s health and reproductive care prevents a great number of abortions performed.
But what about the sanctity of life?
More than half of all women seeking such a choice already have children.
Given a choice, many of these mothers would opt to provide their present children with all the best resources, time and attention that all children deserve. Who is to choose whether a family is too poor, or too busy, to have more kids? It is those most affected who should choose.
When a mother has enough kids, those children, all children, deserve to live in a clean, green, lovely world. We have to love one another and choose life — biology — if we are to honor a creator at all.
Human life cannot come first, because there is no first.
There is connection, shared DNA, and a web of life. There is no strand apart from the continuation of the biosphere. If you cannot feel the breath of God upon the wind, you may well have lost the true sense of choosing life that the creation offers.
We are not a species apart. Even if this were not obvious with science, it is obvious in every lesson of humility. Humility is a lesson we are meant to learn from humble stables, a King without a gold crown, and a reward that only comes from a willingness to kneel before something greater than yourself.
Choosing and honoring God and Life
The creation is in trouble here in the Sixth Extinction. Life, like it was in the original garden is an important connection to God. A cathedral may be splendid, but compared to the beauty of the natural world and our connections to stars, flowers, and all the beasts with which we share our domain, (and are requested to protect and defend), a church is just a pile of dead forest and dug up rocks and clay.
More than that, of course, the Kingdom of God is not a place, but a free choice within us. It is the beating heart of all beauty, righteousness, and glory. | https://medium.com/publishous/what-is-the-deal-with-christians-and-choice-68ecdeffeda6 | ['Christyl Rivers'] | 2020-02-07 18:01:01.098000+00:00 | ['Spirituality', 'Nature', 'Believing', 'Science', 'Better Living'] |
Weekly Update: Feb 1－Feb 7 | Weekly Update: Feb 1－Feb 7
OKEx Jumpstart #10 — HyperDAO
Welcoming HyperDAO to OKEx as our 10th token sale project. It will be launched on Feb 25, 2020 (UTC) and we’re happy to have this project devoted to developing DeFi with us!
HDAO token sale details:
MakerDAO (DAI) VIP Exclusive Bonus — Up to 20% Annualized Yield
During the promotion period, you can become a DAI VIP and enjoy 20% annualized yield by depositing and staking a minimum of 10,000 DAI in your Mining Account. You are entitled to the special annualized yield for the days staking over 10,000 DAI.
Details:
New Feature on OKEx API: Tick By Tick
We just launched ‘Tick By Tick’, a push notification that allows you to trade with faster and more accurate real-time data. To stay on top of real-time price movements in all crypto markets, check it out on OKEx API now!
OKEx Savings: SAVE MORE, EARN MORE
The USDT limit for our well-loved Savings service is now up to 100,000 USDT! Enjoy more profit every day with Savings.
Details:
Event:
The State of Bitcoin Mining & Gaming on Lightning (Feb 11)
Come meet our VP of Financial Markets — Quentin Issele on 11th Feb at Coinscrum where he will be introducing our product suite!
RSVP: | https://medium.com/okex-blog/weekly-update-feb-1-feb-7-e4388c5cb6d | [] | 2020-02-07 11:52:03.367000+00:00 | ['Bitcoin', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain', 'Crypto', 'Progress'] |
#ucumigrant: Fighting back under Hostile Environment | At this year’s UCU Congress (May 25–27, 2019), we got UCU to officially recognise migrant status as a protected characteristic under its Equality structures, thereby altering the union’s form and shape. This change will enable direct and organised mobilisation for and by migrants: to protect, support and defend whilst we live under Hostile Environment. Those changes will bridge that representational gap within UCU by securing both a Migrants Members Standing Committee, as well as two seats on the NEC for migrants, one of whom shall be non-EU. To see the full details of the changes see here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/10089/Democracy-commission-report-and-rule-changes#82. This was a collective effort without a doubt, but this article is specifically about our need to share our experiences as two young Women of Colour, immigrants navigating institutional barriers, pushing from grass root efforts to ultimately being successful in our campaign. Some stories we will keep tight to our hearts but other we will share, with the hope and intention that those who wish to challenge and/or change their institutions might benefit and learn from our story. We write this paper as a cathartic exercise after over a year of activism to change University and College Union (UCU)’s national structures.
We would like to start this post in the same way we did our speeches at UCU congress which led to the historical changes of #ucumigrant: by acknowledging and naming those who have been subject to and victims of the Hostile Environment: Ahmed Sadeeq, Bamidele Agbakuribe, Ernesto Shwartz, the Windrush Generation, the thousands of overseas students who were accused of cheating in their English tests and were deported, to name a few. These are just the stories that are visible, how many don’t we know of? We also start by sending solidarity, again — and everyday — to the Anti-Racist occupation at Goldsmith. This is the longest led POC student occupation in the UK. As we write this, they are now in their 81st day of occupation. They are fighting against institutional racism and Hostile Environment in education (see their manifesto here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l6Jn-q8TLqnZtEGiEjEt0d_egF70q2ENcOmwJyk5ulM/edit). Our activism means nothing if we do not centre smashing white supremacy, anti-blackness and xenophobia in our universities and in our union. Those who tend to speak out are those who are often in the most vulnerable position either because of their age, race, gender, sexuality, immigration status, disability, religion, or all of these at once. This is why we need to impress upon the history of trade unions, as well as the field of education. We are all in both because we are dedicated to making the world a better place; for everyone. And this is why an academic trade union must be a union for everyone, for those who come from all over the world to be in education, for those who want to make the world a better place, together.
And so to reflect that history, we want to acknowledge the work that UCU has done in the past in support of us, migrants; In 2014, Congress passed the NEC’s motion Num.64, which instructed UCU to carry out surveys to determine the different practices of surveillance of international staff and students and to campaign for the repeal of this legislation. Also in 2014, HE29 proposed by Black Members Standing committee, called on NEC to raise concerns of the use of technology to monitor international students and staff and collate information about misuse of biometric surveillance. While we acknowledge and appreciate these stands and the efforts behind them, the ever changing rules and increasingly volatile Hostile Environment have forced us into a corner: we can no longer enjoy any civil, social or intellectual liberties without having to fight for them, to defend them, and above all, to ensure that we are protected.
Hostile Environment is a group of policies introduced and implemented in 2012 by then Home Secretary Theresa May. These policies have been designed to make life so difficult and unbearable for people without ‘leave to remain’, that they voluntarily leave the country, or indeed find it as difficult to come in at all. Of course, Hostile Environment has become a blanket policy for all those unwanted racialised bodies from the — predominantly — Global South, as evidenced by the ‘Go Home’ vans which roamed the country in 2012. Evidently not simply a policy to deter ‘illegal’ migration, Hostile Environment was extended to existing and incoming international students and staff — and even to Black British citizens as well! These policies are tied to a Point Based Immigration System which determines your value, worth and legibility to enter and remain in the U.K. For example, if you are a Non-EU student and/or staff, you need to apply to this points-based system in order to enter the country, either under Tier 4 (Non-EU student) or Tier 2 (Non-EU staff) visas. For the purpose of this article however, we will be concentrating on Hostile Environment in UK universities, our experiences living under it, and our campaign to fight it by changing UCU’s structures. There are several other organisations and campaigns fighting Hostile Environment in universities such as the Unis Resist Border Controls campaign (https://en-gb.facebook.com/UnisResist.BorderControls) and International and Broke campaign (https://intnlandbroke.co.uk/).
For context, three in every ten staff in UK universities are not British (29 per cent). Half of research-only staff (mostly postdocs) are from overseas (47 per cent) (https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Pages/international-facts-figures-2017.aspx). As much as 63 per cent of students at a postgraduate level are international and of those 42 per cent are from outside the European Union (https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/Research--Policy/Statistics/International-student-statistics-UK-highereducation). As seen through these numbers, migrants constitute a large demography within British academia (both in Further Education and Higher Education). Universities brand themselves under the slogan “We Are international” and yet, just like border agents, are complicit in the control, subjection and surveillance of Non-EU students and staff. In order to not lose sponsorship rights, universities — and by extension — supervisors, line managers and colleagues, are obligated to monitor attendance, supervision meetings, and work schedules through swipe cards, weekly emails requesting report of attendance, often accompanied with written threats to report staff and students to the Home Office for ‘non’ compliance, among other forms of surveillance. Other differences between us (Non-EU students and staff) and our UK and EU peers include not being able to apply to jobs which are less than 12 months long (noting that in today’s precarious climate of heightened casualisation, most contracts are 9-months only); a minimum salary requirement of £30,000 for a Tier 2 sponsorship; not having access to public funds and as students no right to maternity and/or sick leave. We cannot leave the country for more than 180 days during any 12-month period (this includes research abroad, conferences, workshops and personal travel). Then we have the exuberant visa and NHS surcharge fees which for a postdoc can equal 30% of the first year pay check and are often not covered by universities (https://medium.com/ussbriefs/the-hostile-environment-in-british-universities-c8d2c04da064). Adding to this is the difficulty of speaking up in cases of bullying, harassment and/or inadequate studying and working conditions because of fear of having our sponsorship revoked, meaning you would have to leave the country. See the recent case of Nigerian student Bamidele Chika Agbakuribe (https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/may/13/blind-student-facing-deportation-says-university-reneged-on-promised-support-dundee-university).
We are expected to produce quality work which rivals and equals our EU and UK counterparts who are not subjected to Hostile Environment, without considering the mental, emotional, financial and physical burden and impact that this has in our studying and working conditions. Everyday is a struggle. Everyday is encountering some form of harassment, admin requests, surveillance; en breve, everyday is a reminder that we don’t belong here. From having my ability to speak English questioned (at the level of the sentence) by the module convenor for whom I lectured, tutored and marked, to being passed up for a tutoring post in Postcolonial studies by 4 white students because “you are too close to it.” Hostile Environment is not simply a set of violent policies against migrants, it is also an ingrained, unconscious and pervasive state of mind in everyone who is not subject to it. Because it is not visible, it is not felt, it is not endured by all. For all the visible instances of Hostile Environment in action (deportations, incarcerations, JUST 25 black professors in the UK, a race and ethnicity pay gap that no1 is attuned to…) we bear the invisible brunt of it, everyday, and at every stage of our careers.
As we navigate our daily lives under these conditions, we necessarily look for support in many places, among them our union. UCU represents around 120,000 academics, lectures, academic related and professional staff, postgraduate students in colleges, prisons, adult education and training organisations across the UK. It is the largest further education and higher education union in the world. In February and March 2018, members took strike action for fourteen days as a response to a dispute between Universities UK (UUK) over the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) (see here for more information https://medium.com/ussbriefs/the-drive-to-convert-to-dc-a-short-history-15079dc18182). This was our first encounter with the union and where our paths began to cross.
Unions do not have a good reputation where I am from and so I was hesitant to join. I prepared for the picket line; baking cookies to share with my fellow strikers. I felt excited and happy to be part of a union who defended our pension and who were fighting against the marketisation of FE and HE. As I came back from my first ever strike and picket line, I came across a tweet from another Non-EU colleague warning us that we, as Non-EU, did not have the right to strike. That is, migrant staff who took ‘unlawful’ absence from work for more than 10 days were eligible for having their contracts ended and at risk of deportation. It took individual members across diverse branches to notify UCU of this. For many, the USS strikes represented a change in our union: thousands of new members joined and showed solidarity on the picket lines through singing, dancing and cheering even in horrific weather conditions (let’s not forget the Beast from the East). Some of us decided to strike the full 14 days, others decided to for less and some of us did not strike at all out of fear of deportation. It was this moment that initiated our long journey to change UCU to not only recognise migrant status as a protected characteristic but to also acknowledge that being subjected to Hostile Environment is a fundamental equality issue.
During the strikes, our local branch convened a meeting to hear the concerns of International staff and students. It was during this meeting that Maki Fukuoka (fellow colleague at Leeds) and I drew up a list of short, medium- and long-term goals around migrant issues and UCU. We were the only ones in the room. Our first goal was to be able to have a consultation with an immigration lawyer, not only about striking concerns but also about several other doubts that we had around Hostile Environment policies in universities. We asked our local branch to create “international staff” and “international PGR” representatives on the committee, who would advocate for specific issues affecting us. As our long-term goal, we wrote that we wanted to change national structures in UCU. Without significant and wide spread transformation nothing would change and it would be left again to us, individual members, loudly vocalising the gaps in our union. Our local branch, UCU Leeds, took this matter seriously and supported our goals even though the local committee were under extreme pressure because of the strikes. It was through several local branches, amongst them Leeds, that put pressure on UCU nationally to lobby the UK government for our right to strike. On July of 2018 it was announced that the UK government would be changing policy to exclude striking from unauthorised absences (https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/9575/Home-secretary-changes-rules-to-ensure-migrant-workers-can-take-strike-action?list=1676). While gaining the right to strike was a significant and historical change, for those of us living under Hostile Environment, it represented a very small part of the materiality of Hostile Environment in our lives. It also represented what true, intersectional and radical solidarity can do: it can hold government accountable. Our fight had just started.
The USS strikes showed the significant lack of migrant representation in our union, but they were also a good momentum for a significant change. Thus, our journey to change UCU began. Our activism had begun under difficult circumstances not only fighting for our right to strike but also to have our experiences as migrants heard. We cannot count the number of times we have had to regurgitate our experiences, open wounds of racism and xenophobia to justify why we urgently needed change. For us, Hostile Environment did not end with our right to strike. I was in the middle of uncertainty with having to leave the country, visa renewals, financial burdens in conjunction with the emotions that come under living under these immigration policies such as embarrassment, isolation, sadness, hopelessness and anger. What fired our will to keep going was the hundreds of stories that were shared from loved ones, friends, colleagues and strangers from across the UK.
Amidst all the above, or perhaps because of all the above, I became more active in UCU — it was a lifeline. But I knew that there were limits to what individual/branches could do, just as I knew that there was so much more potential for what the whole union could do. And so the direct action plan crystallised during a UCU rep course, where, in the presence of senior equality officers and past presidents, I questioned UCU’s historical blindness when it came to its migrant members. There was, naturally, some resistance to this perceived accusation: “We already protect members based on race and nationality!” and “This is upsetting to hear! There are posters of migrants as firefighters in our HQ building!”. But these responses had only proved my point: nobody knows what is happening to migrants and nobody knows the extent of it. We all share this sector together, and so we naturally feel that we are in this together. And yet, beyond those shared expressions of idealism and solidarity, motions in support of free movement and against racism, migrants are still forcibly cynical, isolated, not free to move, and racially and legally discriminated against and abused. And even as I explained this, there were a few protestations, questioning, doubting. Because no one could see it, unless they could feel it too. I was isolated in that moment, chokingly trying to explain why posters of firefighters didn’t equate with being seen by the union. But then my voice became two, and the other migrant in the room, Mark Pendleton (E&D officer at Sheffield UCU) shouted with me, and fought for me. The senior equality officer, still taken aback, reflectively claimed that he had seen this before: when the LGBTQ+ had to fight for their rights, and when Black members, and women members, and disabled members had to fight for their own rights too. So coming out of that room was a new fight, one which continued on from the ones previously fought and won. What we were proposing were changes which would recognise migrants, and protect them until their status did not prescribe legal inequality and discrimination.
This felt insurmountable, so we knew that we had to delegate and reach out to other individuals who were also campaigning for migrant rights in other parts of the UK. In January of 2019, we began to coordinate with other local branches such as Sheffield, University of East Anglia, Cambridge and Manchester to strategise the best way to change UCU at a national level. Our initial email read:
Main objective to change UCU National Executive Committee (NEC) and Equality structures but also address the following issues:
a. Visa fees and NHS surcharge for you and dependants.
b. Bullying and being afraid to report it because of your immigration status.
c. Hostile environment and surveillance. There is currently no national guideline, so each line manager applies as they see fit, generating anxiety, depression and fear of reporting again because of immigration status.
d. Sexual harassment towards international students and staff. We have heard numerous cases of students and staff being unable to report for fear of having their sponsorship revoked.
e. Precarious employment and fix term contracts. As we know, many times international students and postdocs are the most exploited, are not paid on time or simply are unable to apply for jobs that are under 12 months or are under the £30,000 threshold.
f. Tackling racism and colonialism implied in these policies.
If you wish to add to the list please feel free to do so. We would also like to point out that the intersection of gender, race, ethnicity, (dis)abled bodies and being part of the LGTBQ+ community exacerbates these situations.
And thus, it began. Our first hurdle was overcoming resistance in highlighting the different treatment between EU and Non-EU students and staff. Despite the fact that many of us have been living under Hostile Environment policies for a number of years, immigration only came to the forefront of the conversation in our universities because of Brexit. While we absolutely deplore the position that many of our friends and colleagues may come under, we often heard statements like “we will now also be subjected to immigration controls” or “we need to worry because Hostile Environment could apply to us as well.” These types of affirmations gaslighted our experiences, our lives, under Hostile Environment, specifically because the underlying message was that this inequality now matters as Brexit could make them just like “the rest of us.” This lead us to our second hurdle: terminology around international versus migrant representation. There was hesitation from colleagues to be called migrants as they found the term alienating. Often than not, being a migrant is associated with being racialised, and or destitute. The “Refugee Crisis” attests to this. We were now reminded of the fact that Hostile Environment policies were specifically designed to keep racialised bodies from the Global South out. Given this political climate, we decided that it was an ideological and political statement to own our migrancy, and set up the committee under UCU’s Equality structures as the Migrants Members Standing committee. The resistance to this move emanated as well from the fact that race and nationality are already covered under Equality structures, so why migrant status? The answer is simple: while race and nationality are intricately linked with migration, they are not exclusive of one another, but rather intersectional. Not all nationalities are currently subject to Hostile Environment and not all who are subject to Hostile Environment are racialised. But let there be not doubt that Hostile Environment is a racist and xenophobic policy which disproportionately affects Black and POC from the Global South.
Our colleagues came through, and over the next four months we had a rule change motion from UEA calling for migrant status to be added to the Equality lists. This was coordinated with Gareth Edwards, co-founder of International and Broke. Cambridge submitted a motion which addressed the financial burdens faced by migrants because of various fees. This was moved by Waseem Yaqoob. Manchester submitted our main motion laying out the principle behind those changes, in solidarity with us. Sheffield were on standby to pass our motion at their own GM, in case ours wasn’t quorate and couldn’t pass. This was a collective effort and we want to thank each and every one of you for getting those motions to congress. We then launched a concerted social media campaign ahead of Congress, with the hashtag #ucumigrant. We needed to raise awareness, we needed to ensure that our motions would get passed. We tweeted, everyday, our realities as migrants. Our community came through, and collectively spread the word.
But our campaign didn’t end once we got to Congress, this was a whole other beast in an of itself. We lobbied. We leafleted in the rain. We regurgitated our positions, our arguments, our reasons, our motions, our emotions, our entire lives. We worried about having to speak, to bare ourselves in front of hundreds. We burned out not just emotionally, but physically too. Neither of us have ever fallen ill as often as we had during this year. It culminated at Congress. We worried that items would fall off the agenda due to lack of time. We worried that there would be resistance. We were overwhelmed. But we were supported, invaluably, by our branch, our friends, our colleagues. And often one single act of kindness can undo you in ways that acts of violence can’t. There was a sit in protest during the last session of Congress — the rule changes — where our motions needed 2/3rd to be carried. And because our motions were there to address representational gaps within the union, we found it highly ironic that had they not been heard, we would potentially not have been able to pass them in future — this is the nature of migrancy, it is precarious, unstable, and pushes us down those gaps. So in an act of extreme solidarity, Mark quickly intervened on our behalf, crucially orchestrating a change in the standing order to move our motions up the agenda so that they wouldn’t fall due to a gap in numbers or time. He did this by asking all members to suspend their strike and support this move in solidarity with us. We were shaking, but we went up to the pulpit and moved our motions, in fear, and in extreme bravery.
As I stood in front of the hundreds of people, finishing my speech, I was suddenly hit by a brick of emotions. I use this term because it felt exactly like that, like we had been banging our heads against a metaphorical wall for months, and it suddenly gave way. A wall built of bricks of racism, xenophobia, lack of understanding and compassion but also bricks of solidarity, alliances, care, collectiveness and happiness. Emotions that regardless of what could come next we had made it this far. We got a standing ovation and our motions passed unanimously. As I looked forward and saw Dima and Mark, their faces also overwhelmed with emotions and tears, those bricks turned into tears. I was unable to say the last words of my speech, so I say them now:
Por los que estuvieron, por los que están y por los que vienen.
لمن كانوا هنا و لمن هم هنا و لمن سيأتون
For those who were here, for those who are and for those to come.
We want to say thank you: Thank you to the many who helped us on this journey. Thank you Leeds UCU branch committee, in particular Vicky Blake, for welcoming us into the union, and supporting us every step of the way. For helping us navigate union structures, for drawing weird but helpful doodles of those structures, also of congress hall and what it looked like (it was much bigger in real life!), and for encouraging us, at all times and places, even at 11pm on Whatsapp. We would not have been able to do this without you. Thank you to Alan Smith for helping with technical, emotional and administrative support. Our fellow Leeds delegates at Congress, who supported us, stood with us, and cried with us when our motions passed, especially Chloe Wallace, whose hugs sustained us. We are grateful and indebted to Mark Pendleton and Robyn Orfitelli, who met with us, skyped with us, strategised with us and support us in our #ucumigrant campaign. They were fundamental in helping us navigate UCU congress, they were always willing to stand by our side to show support and solidarity in times where we felt like we were drowning. To our loved ones, who stood by us, encouraged us, where there with our other loved ones in times when we couldn’t be there. Finally, to all those who feel invisible, not heard or supported: we hear you, we are here for you and will fight alongside you for a university that is no longer driven by neoliberal and market policies, a university that denounces white supremacy, anti-blackness, homo and transphobia, misogyny and ableism.
In solidarity always,
Dima Chami and Laura Loyola-Hernández | https://medium.com/@dimachami/ucumigrant-fighting-back-under-hostile-environment-ff8dcb2f67bf | ['Dima Chami'] | 2019-06-06 12:21:21.297000+00:00 | ['Hostile Environment', 'Activism', 'Education', 'Ucu', 'Migrants'] |
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Men Who’ve Been Proposed to by Their Girlfriends Seem to Really Love It | Men Who’ve Been Proposed to by Their Girlfriends Seem to Really Love It
Male redditors share the joy that they felt when their girlfriends popped the big question
You might expect that some men would feel emasculated after being proposed to by their girlfriends, since men are historically — and yes, currently — the ones who usually do the proposing. According to CBS, only five percent of people who are currently married say that the woman was the one who popped the big question (and the report is unclear as to whether this includes same-sex couples).
But according to the vast majority of male commenters in this popular Reddit thread asking men who were proposed to by their girlfriends how they felt about that turn of events, most appear to have actually thoroughly appreciated being on the receiving end.
Here are some of our favorite excerpts from the thread (sic, obviously, throughout)…
Hold onto your seats (and your butthole) as commenter Azrolicious explains how his significant other not only became his girlfriend while he was displaying his posterior tunnel, but also became his fiancée in the very same fashion:
“Okay so a few weeks after we met, we were taking a shower together and she corners me and says ‘so are we dating? Are you okay with us dating? It’s okay if you say no. Will you be my boyfriend?’ “Of course being the absolute specimen of an gentleman that I am (/s) I say ‘well you caught me with my butt hole out, I can’t say no.’ “Fast forward 4 years. We are camping. The nearest town is 60 miles away, the car is a few miles away, it’s cold, and…………I’m changing clothes. I’m butt naked in the tent. “She says ‘so baby I’ve been thinking.’ I say ‘oh lord let me at least put my pants on.’ She says ‘could you see yourself marrying me?’ ‘Have you thought about it before?’ ‘Will you marry me?’ “I said ‘well you caught me with my butthole out, I can’t say no!’ “She thought that was hilarious, then we had a good long chat about it. On track for getting married in April. I think it’s pretty cool that she did it both times. Definitely made my life easier and I’m sure I’m under appreciating the clarity.”
In response to the prompt, which again, asked how men felt about being proposed to by their girlfriends, commenter evilbrent writes, “Pretty good about it I guess because I said yes. Even better now because 20 years or so later I get to say ‘hey this was YOUR idea.’” Well, he’s not wrong.
After commenter RadioBlinsk finishes his final exam, his girlfriend proposes to him in an epic fashion, making him the happiest man ever — not once, but twice — in the same day:
“Long story if you are interested: It was the day of my final exam of my 3 year apprenticeship. She took the day off and was more nervous than me when we had coffee together. I was sure she was nervous for the same reason as I was and didn’t pay much attention as my mind was occupied by the exam. 2 hours later: I passed the exam and we were standing outside with a colleague having a smoke and talking. And talking. And another cigarette. I was just so relieved and felt light as air and happy to not have a single thing on my mind than ‘I did it’. My girlfriend though was shuffling her feet not really taking part in the conversation. After what must have been hours for her she asked what I wanted to do. Going downtown, shopping or grab something to eat, I didn’t care at all! She drove to the record store first. We walked to the window to have a look at the recordplayers as we were thinking about getting a new one. ‘How do you like that one?’ she asked pointing at one in the back. There was sign next to it with my name on it. And bright as I am I said ‘It has my name on it’ ‘What else?’ It had ‘Let’s face the music and dance’ written on it. I just stared blank at it and then at her having not the foggiest. She said ‘Now that you are a Technician I wanted to ask you if you also want to be my man?’ I said I would love to! Hugs and kisses. When I looked at the player again I noticed three of the staff standing behind it smiling and cheering with a bottle of Champaign and glasses. It was a 11/10 day!”
“It was humbling,” commenter FFaw writes. “She had a learning disability and wrote, and then read out loud her proposal. She was terrified of blowing it, and it was the most important moment in her life. We were both in our forties, and I was blown away because after being with her for seven years, I didn’t know how important it was to her. We’re in our sixties now. Still humbled.” *tears of joy roll down cheeks*
Sit back as commenter djstizzle recounts how his girlfriend proposed to him during a music festival before he ever had the chance:
“She did it on my golden birthday at a music festival, so needless to say i was quite inebriated. Right before she did it, we sat on a bench and she asked me ‘So, how are you feeling?’ I replied ‘Fuuuuucked up!’ Then she got on one knee, and i started crying… it’s two years later and we’re still doing the same shenanigans without the proposing and crying. I feel a complete indifference that she was the one to do it. People are almost always shocked when they hear it. Except my dad’s family, they’re so open and awesome. But honestly with my semi apparent commitment issues i may never have done it in the long run who knows, so better that she did!”
Commenter team_player_of_one explains how he got proposed to and married within a single week:
“She just said one day, ‘hey wana get married?’ ‘Ah yeah, sort it out if you want’ We got married the next Friday at the courthouse. Had a few beers at the local pub and went home. “We are pretty relaxed”
Clearly!
Commenter Sir_Hapstance chronicles how he (and his now-wife) enjoyed getting ragged by a conservative blogger after posting a video of her proposing to him on YouTube:
“I loved it, but I also kinda asked for it. We’d been together for almost seven years (and had talked about marriage a lot) when we brought up the idea of actually tying the knot. We both thought that it would feel weird to do a standard surprise proposal because we’d already felt like we’d been married for years. Somehow I got the idea in my head that if one of us were to propose, it should be her… perhaps because she’d taken the lead early in our relationship, too. She seemed to love the idea and told me to forget we ever had the conversation, which I promptly did. “A few months later, she proposed while were out at the beach with her family and it was pretty damn great. (proposal vid for those curious.) “Interestingly enough, despite it all being my idea, I guess I came across as awkward and uncomfortable in the video — or at least enough so to draw the attention of a conservative women’s blog that posted it and ragged on my wife pretty hard, basically saying it was the weirdest thing they’d ever seen. A bunch of judgmental followers of the blog chimed in too, bemoaning my wife’s humiliating, ‘emasculating’ actions, much to our bemusement (and amusement). “I know it’s uncommon, but I think it’s honestly weird that a woman proposing to a man is still seen as some kind of statement. I’d love to see it completely normalized and viewed as nothing more than a romantic expression. As someone who isn’t great with words on the spot, not only was I thrilled to receive such a wonderful surprise but it was also an absolute blessing to have the responsibility of proposing taken off my shoulders, and instead given to someone who was a little better suited to doing it.”
“It was great,” commenter Willowtip writes. “We had lived together for about a year, and one Sunday afternoon we were sitting on the couch talking shit, and she started talking about how women could use boobs to get men to do literally anything. I argued that she was wrong and we weren’t that simple. She sat on my lap facing me, lifted up her shirt and said ‘will you marry me?’
“I was sworn to secrecy afterwards, but I’m pretty sure Reddit doesn’t count.”
Commenter JohnnyKeatth recites how his then-girlfriend, now-wife competitively proposed to him:
“My gf said ‘if your friend Matt and his gf get married before us that’s BS.’ “I said ‘are you proposing?’ “She wasn’t but got down on one knee anyway and did. “I cried. “She’s made me a happy man.”
As commenter Cosimo_Zaretti was proposing to his wife, she swoops in to reverse roles.
“I had the ring in my hand, I was saying how happy she made me, and how I wanted us to be together forever. “And then she interrupted and said ‘will you marry me?’ And I said yes and put a ring on her finger. “Then I said ‘hang on, that was my line’. And she said ‘sorry, I got excited’. Then she cried a lot.”
Ian Lecklitner is a staff writer at MEL. He last ranked every popular fruit by how healthy they are.
More Ian: | https://medium.com/mel-magazine/men-whove-been-proposed-to-by-their-girlfriends-seem-to-really-love-it-e2e4f4351b56 | ['Ian Lecklitner'] | 2018-09-24 12:01:01.844000+00:00 | ['Proposal', 'Reddit', 'Love', 'Relationships', 'Marriage'] |
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Is your dog giving you deaf ears? When this happens, avoid repeating the command over and over and imposing yourself until you get a response; instead, take a step back and consider the following scenarios which are some of the most common issues encountered when training dogs.
1) Low Value Treats: Are Your Treats Worth Working For?
It’s a romantic and hard to debunk myth that dogs work for us just to please us. In reality, as opportunistic beings, dogs are most likely thinking “what’s in it for me?” according to the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT). The right use of treats can really make the difference between a dog who is eager to work and one who couldn’t care less. The use of low-value treats (such as kibble) can be detrimental if your dog isn’t excited by them, especially during the initial stages of learning or when there are distractions around, so make sure your treats are worthy of attention.
Also remember to stick to treats which are soft, smelly, and in small bite-sized pieces. This allows your dog to quickly gobble up the reward and focus his attention back on you, rather than being distracted by a longer-lasting treat.
A suggestion? Try to use what respected veterinarian, trainer and writer Dr. Ian Dunbar calls the Ferrari of dog treats: Freeze-dried liver.
2) Low Rate of Reinforcement: Are You Missing Out on Rewarding?
In the initial stages of learning or when there are lots of distractions around, your dog may find sniffing the grass, looking around, marking territory and pulling on the leash more rewarding than training. Why is that? It’s probably because there are stimuli that are extra interesting and are worth paying more attention to. If your dog has received little training in the past, he may have been doing this for a good part of his life. Increasing the rate of reinforcement during this time by giving your dog more treats for his training efforts may help to motivate him, and will teach him to pay more attention to you than to the distracting environmental stimuli.
A low rate of reinforcement can also cause your dog to get frustrated and give up trying; remember, during the initial stages of learning you need a continuous rate of reinforcement (giving rewards for every success), and only once your dog shows signs of responding well can you move on to a variable schedule (only giving treats for success every now and then).
3) High Criteria: Are You Asking Too Much at Once?
This is where the saying “be a splitter and not a lumper” comes into play. It is often tempting to try to teach new behaviors all at once in a single evening. When your dog stops working for you, you start thinking: “Am I asking for too much at once?” Truth is, often when dogs fail to respond to a command it is because it is too hard for them. So try not to ramp up the difficulty too quickly; rather, break the objective down into several attainable steps to help your dog succeed. As an example, if you were trying to train your dog to touch the tip of a target stick with his nose, you could reward him for touching ANY part of the stick at first. Over time once your dog gets a hang of this, you could then move on to rewarding him only for touching the rounded tip at the top of the stick.
Try your best to prevent your dog’s progress from stalling, and do not make your training sessions too long — keep them short and sweet!
4) High Level of Distractions: Is there too Much Going on?
Dogs learn best when there are little to no distractions around, so be sure to start your training sessions in a quiet room where there is not much going on.
Once your dog is able to perform the behavior in the quiet room, build from there and gradually start asking your dog to perform the behavior in a noisier room. Then, progress to the yard, a busy street, the dog park and so forth.
If you start on a busy street or at the dog park right away, your dog may not respond because you have not yet built a foundation for the behavior.
5) Lack of Training: Has Your Dog Ever Been Trained Before?
If the handler has a history of being inconsistent and not following through with the dog, there’s a chance the dog may have learned he could get away from certain behaviors and has learned to ignore the handler. Dogs who have never been trained and have been allowed to do as they please for a good part of their lives often find the initial stages of learning difficult, since the concept is entirely new to them. It is up to the handler to become interesting and worth listening to by investing in reward-based training methods, like the ones taught in Adrienne Farricelli’s Brain Training for Dogs course.
6) Unclear Cues: Are You Confusing Your Dog?
Dogs thrive on consistency, so make sure you always use the same command cue and that all other people training the dog are on the same page. If you ask for a command and your dog just stares at you, consider if that command has a history of being used consistently.
In classes, it is not uncommon to encounter a family where the wife uses “come” to call the dog, the husband uses the dog’s name, and the kids just say “here!” Don’t ask for behaviors in multiple ways, and make sure your body language is congruent with the verbal command. Dogs find body language more salient then verbal cues.
Also, try your best not to repeat commands over and over, otherwise your dog will learn not to listen to the first time you say it, but will wait for you to finish your sentence instead!
7) Frustration Buildup: Are you Getting Frustrated?
Dogs are masters in body language and they can easily detect frustration. When the handler’s frustration builds up, dogs often shut down instead of becoming more compliant. In this case, it helps to ask the dog for a behavior he knows well (such as a sit) followed by a reward to end the session on a positive note. You can try the exercise again a little bit later, possibly further splitting the exercise into smaller sections if it was too hard for your dog.
Also, keep in mind that if you start raising your voice, bending down or getting into your dog’s face, you are intimidating him dog and he will feel the need to send you appeasement signals and default behaviors, rather than listening to your commands.
8) Emotional Problems: Are Emotions Getting in the Way?
If a dog is fearful, anxious or nervous, his emotional state may interfere with training. This is because the dog is often in a fight or flight state which affects his cognitive function, impairing his ability to learn. In such a case, you may need to work in areas where your dog is less likely to be frightened and then gradually introduce more and more stimuli in a way which does not cause him to react.
As an example, if your dog was frightened of thunder, instead of immediately exposing him to recordings of thunderstorms on full volume, you should first play them at a very low volume, where he acknowledges the sound but does not become scared. After rewarding your dog while the sound is played, you would, over time and numerous training sessions, increase the volume at which you play the recording. This process is known as desensitization and is a common technique used in dog training.
9) Health Considerations: Is Your Dog in Pain or Uncomfortable?
If your dog ignores you, he may be feeling unwell or uncomfortable. If your dog has always been obedient and is now slacking off, it is best to have your veterinarian rule out any medical problems. Sloppy sits or a reluctance to lay down may be indicative of orthopedic problems.
Aside from medical problems, some dogs may not like to be trained on certain surfaces, or perhaps the weather is too hot, too windy or too cold — there are a multitude of possibilities. Often, a distracted dog may simply need to relieve himself or get a drink of water. Consider how well you could perform in an exam if you were busting to use the bathroom!
10) Are You Forgetting to Brain Train Your Dog?
Many owners are not aware of this, but when it comes to dogs, idle minds are the devil’s workshop. Yet many owners are happy to leave their dogs bored by the fireplace all day, leading to untold behavior problems. The simple secret to a well-trained dog is engaging their mind and getting them thinking.
In the wild, before domestication, dogs would spend much of their lives performing tasks necessary for survival. Even in more modern history, dogs had special roles to perform in their relationships with humans. You can still see these natural drives in dogs today! For example, you will notice how beagles love to follow scents, how some terrier breeds love to dig, and how treeing coonhounds bark upon noticing prey up a tree. Unlike humans who perhaps dread the 9 to 5 grind, dogs actively WANT to work, and when they do not, they become prone to behavior problems, disobedience, and poor psychological well-being. Many owners spend THOUSANDS on dog training when the solution could be as simple as providing Rover with more mental stimulation!
Fortunately, Brain Training for Dogs offers a solution to this problem. Written by professionally certified trainer Adrienne Farricelli CPDT-KA (who’s work has appeared in USA Today, Everydog Magazine, Nest Pets and more), Brain Training for Dogs is one of the first training programs to not only teach obedience, better behavior, important skills and tricks, but to also work on increasing intelligence and engaging the dog’s brain too. Through 21 fun and simple games, the novel and scientifically-proven methods taught by Adrienne are sure to improve the lives of both you and your dog! By the end of Brain Training for Dogs your dog will be able to tidy up his toys, play the piano (yes, really), and identify his toys by name — all while being a better behaved and more obedient dog.
Want to get started with brain training? You can check out my course by clicking here:
>>>Get brain training for dogs today
As seen, there are many reasons why your dog may not be listening to you. Don’t quickly label your dog as stubborn, don’t begin shouting commands like a drill sergeant, and don’t give up training altogether — instead, try to give your dog a break and consider what may really be going on. A better understanding of how dogs learn should pave the path to better training.
Hope this helps! | https://medium.com/@raisaab1720/develops-your-dogs-hidden-intelligence-to-eliminate-bad-behavior-and-create-the-obedient-cb537084fb03 | [] | 2020-12-27 14:10:18.818000+00:00 | ['Dog Training', 'Cute Dog', 'Dog Lover', 'Love', 'Dogs'] |
numpy.random — Generating Random Numbers In Python | Random number have lots of application like, cryptography, game and Neural Network. Here we’ll discuss and identify different methods for generating random numbers in NumPy module in python.
import numpy as np
numpy.random.random (size)— Return random floats in the half-open interval [0.0, 1.0), ie 1.0>x≥0.0
>>>np.random.random((2,2)) array([[ 0.66032591, 0.91397527],
[ 0.63366556, 0.36594058]])
numpy.random.randint(low, high, size, dtype=int) — Return random integers from low to high from the “discrete uniform” distribution.
>>> np.random.randint([1, 3, 5, 7], [[10], [20]], dtype=np.uint8) array([[ 8, 6, 9, 7],
[ 1, 16, 9, 12]], dtype=uint8)
numpy.random.randn(d1,d2,..dn) — Return a sample/s from the “standard normal” distribution, for given dimension.
>>> np.random.randn(2,2) array([[ 0.6762164 , -1.37066901],
[ 0.23856319, 0.61407709]])
numpy.random.rand(s1,s2,..sn) — Random values in a given given dimension and ranges between (0,1).
>>> np.random.rand(3,2)
array([[ 0.14022471, 0.96360618],
[ 0.37601032, 0.25528411],
[ 0.49313049, 0.94909878]])
random.rand and random.randn are similar function, both in functionality and syntax and can be confused easily.
random.rand — Returns sample according to standard normal distribution.
random.randn — Returns numbers ranging between (0,1)
numpy.random.normal(loc=0.0, scale=1.0, size=None) — Draw random samples from a normal (Gaussian) distribution.
loc : Mean (“centre”) of the distribution
scale : spread or “width” of the distribution >>> np.random.normal(3, 2.5, size=(2, 4))
array([[-4.49401501, 4.00950034, -1.81814867, 7.29718677],
[ 0.39924804, 4.68456316, 4.99394529, 4.84057254]])
These are the most methods used for creating random number. More details can be searched in documentation. To get broader knowledge on numpy check my article. | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/numpy-random-generating-random-numbers-in-python-fc5fff3a1594 | ['Om Rastogi'] | 2020-06-11 16:07:14.607000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Data Science', 'Numpy', 'Python', 'Random'] |
SET to be listed on LATOKEN. Here’s how to set up your wallet | We’re pleased to announce SET will be listed on LATOKEN in January 2019. Please visit the following link to set up your deposit wallet so you can begin using this exchange. Swytch is swiftly moving forward with our business plan, and we believe LATOKEN offers users many benefits through their professional services. The Swytch team is excited to partner with the LATOKEN team.
LATOKEN Description:
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
LATOKEN is a rapidly growing Top-30 crypto exchange focusing on providing liquidity for new tokens:
● $50+ million daily turnover
● 120,000+ registered traders
● 250+ crypto pairs available for trading
Besides crypto trading, LATOKEN users can participate in selected Tokens Sales at pre-sale and crowd sale stages. | https://medium.com/swytch/set-to-be-listed-on-latoken-heres-how-to-set-up-your-wallet-57462eab2264 | ['Dwight Sproull'] | 2019-01-09 05:21:46.838000+00:00 | ['Blockchain'] |
How to Mentor and Develop Others | Expecting the best of people can be a self-fulfilling prophecy
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
The standard image of coaches or mentors that most people have is that of a seasoned veteran or executive helping a favoured younger person along or grooming a promising talent. However, anyone can be a coach and provide help to others; colleagues, novices, peers and even superiors. Managing upward and helping superiors and managers do a better job is also part of the art of sensing other people’s development needs and bolstering their abilities.
Sensing other people’s development needs is an important skill for professionals in today’s ever collaborative and decentralized work environment. Coaching and developing others is a person-to-person art that is centred around counselling. The effectiveness of counselling hinges on empathy and the ability to focus on one’s feelings, insights and perspectives, and sharing them with others.
Many people resist coaching because they are afraid of seeming inadequate or incompetent or struggle with vulnerability. To win over people like this, you can’t afford to be impersonal, cold, self-serving or one-sided in your interactions with those you want to influence.
If you can’t win the trust of people you wish to influence, your advice won’t be received and will go unheeded. I was only able to trust, show vulnerability, honesty and work better with coaches who showed respect, trustworthiness and empathy.
An open and trusting relationship is the foundation of success in coaching and developing others. The best coaches I have had the privilege of working with were the ones who showed a genuine personal interest in me, my abilities and goals, they also showed empathy and understanding of my situation and challenges. In the absence of trust, coaching is impossible. So how can you develop this skill?
The art of giving feedback
Providing effective feedback is a delicate business. It requires a combination of giving out both praise and constructive criticism. While praise is easy to give, it is far more challenging and tricky to criticize. People generally respond more strongly to negative events than positive ones, and in John Gottman’s influential book on managing relationships, Gottman suggests that positive interactions must outnumber negative interactions for relationships to succeed.
Showing positive appreciation to people you coach and finding something positive about what they’ve done is key to effective feedback. When I provide feedback to people I coach, I try to find one or two positive things to highlight. This could be as simple as appreciating their openness to hearing my feedback or highlighting their overall effort at a task or exercise.
The worst time to give feedback is during an emotional hijack. An emotional hijack is an episode where you lose control of yourself, this is commonly referred to moments where one “goes bananas” or “lost it”. Feedback given in this situation is usually not objective and results in a character attack, avoid giving feedback if you are not in the right emotional state.
In a study of the effects of performance feedback on self-confidence among several MBA students. These students were either praised, were criticized or received no feedback on their performance in a simulation of creative problem-solving. They had been told that their efforts would be compared with how well hundreds of others had done on the same task. Those who heard nothing about how well they did or who only received criticism suffered a great blow to their self-confidence.
Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash
The Pygmalion effect
The Pygmalion effect is a psychological phenomenon wherein high expectations lead to improved performance in a given area. Its name comes from the story of Pygmalion, a mythical Greek sculptor. Pygmalion carved a statue of a woman and then became enamoured with it. Unable to love a human, Pygmalion appealed to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. She took pity and brought the statue to life. The couple married and went to have a daughter, Paphos.
Expecting the best of people can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Athletic coaches and good managers can boost a person’s performance by giving them a suitable challenge coupled with a boost of confidence.
A reliable method of promoting positive expectations is to let others take the lead in setting their own goals, rather than dictating the terms and manner of their development. This communicates the belief that the person being coached can achieve their desired outcome.
Another technique that encourages people to perform better is to point to problems without offering a solution. This implies that they can find the solutions themselves. This approach involves initiating a Socratic dialogue by leading the person through a series of questions. This lets students find their way to the answers which bolsters confidence in decision making.
At a higher level of development, coaches or mentors can arrange ongoing assignments and tasks that will give the person being coached needed training, exercise or challenges. This might take the form of delegating responsibilities or putting the individual in charge of projects or situations that will demand using new skills.
Although doing this demands sensitivity to the readiness of the person being coached — If the assignment is too easy, little will be learned; if it is too difficult, the person may experience a setback. The skill lies in arranging successful stretch experience that gradually increases capability and confidence.
In conclusion, individuals who are competent in developing others are able to acknowledge and reward the strengths and accomplishments of people they coach. They are also able to offer useful feedback and properly identify people’s needs for further growth. Furthermore, they are able to give timely coaching and offer assignments that challenge and foster the skills of those they mentor. | https://medium.com/the-innovation/how-to-mentor-and-develop-others-f93e9d6ec42a | ['David Owasi'] | 2020-08-09 19:26:07.972000+00:00 | ['Emotional Intelligence', 'Self', 'Leadership', 'Mentorship', 'Work'] |
What is the Nature of Ultimate Knowledge? | Ultimate Knowledge
Let’s finally pose the question: What could be the use or causal role of ultimate knowledge of the nature of reality? In attempting to extend our empirical knowledge that far, we run up against two problems.
First, the model of reality couldn’t proceed by analyzing the subject matter into parts, ignoring the foreign systems that are of lesser interest. Rain can be mentally divided from snow or from wind, but everything we perceive would be infused with whatever is most real. Alternatively, all would be part of the whole, and it makes no sense to speak of isolating the whole from something else. There would be nothing apart from the universe.
Thus, if empirical knowledge consists of a reductive model that divides and conquers, as it were, there can be no empirical knowledge of the ultimate constituents of matter and energy or of the universe as a whole.
Second, we’d need direct or indirect (technological) access to these final objects of inquiry. The more tenuous our physical grasp of something, the more speculative or otherwise dubious our understanding of what we’re talking about.
For these familiar reasons, ultimate knowledge has typically been couched in mythological and religious language. Just as the unvisited parts of the world were represented on old maps by such vague warnings as “Here be dragons,” we posited gods or spirits to answer our ultimate questions about how the universe came to be or why we’re here.
Scientific cosmologists use exotic mathematical reasoning and powerful technologies to probe the universe at high energy levels that resemble the universe’s earliest conditions, close to the Big Bang. Again, we can ask about the purpose of that cosmology. After all, a physical theory of everything would compete with a religious myth that likewise packages human knowledge and experience.
How would we show that the naturalistic answer to life, the universe, and everything is superior, say, to a monotheistic one? The latter would be incoherent and archaic, of course, but so would be the former, as I show elsewhere.
Again, empirical, naturalistic, or scientific reasoning consists in analyzing and dividing the territory, but that can’t be done when confronting the ultimate subject matter. Indeed, “ultimate subject matter” is oxymoronic. Whatever the universe as a whole or the ultimate consistent of matter is, that X can’t be more matter in so far as matter is understood as stuff that can be further divided. The whole of the universe can be divided into its many parts, but that whole wouldn’t itself be a part of a greater whole. Likewise, the rock-bottom level of matter couldn’t be scientifically explained by positing yet further conditions, elements, or forces, since there would be no such resources.
The physicist’s theory of everything might tidy up and tie together all our other scientific theories, but the monotheistic myth would prevail in the normative domain, unifying not so much our beliefs but our desires and interests, by providing an ultimate answer that guides our choice of how we should live.
We’d say that God created the universe and expects us to be good. That myth might be illogical and childish, but the cynicism required to condescend to religious people isn’t conducive to a well-functioning society. You’d have to keep that secular enlightenment to a minimum or risk mass depression and anxiety.
Thus, religions have their causal roles too. This isn’t to suggest the myths are empirically true or factual. But neither are scientific models factual in the naïve sense that they agree with or somehow picture or correspond with what they’re about. At this point of the argument, we’ve arrived at a pragmatic account of empirical truth, according to which empirical knowledge is a way of working with mental or linguistic intermediaries to manage our environment.
As to a more precise account of that management, I’ve referred to the evolutionary function, to empowerment, and to certain ethical implications. But perhaps the key factor is the one that distinguishes ultimate rational knowledge from religious myth. The former would have universal technological potency, meaning that scientific knowledge of ultimate reality, of the universe as a whole or of the essential nature of matter would enable us to edit, destroy, or recreate natural reality, at least in principle. By contrast, myths and religious creeds and institutions are useful in stabilizing society, in managing us rather than the world at large.
The picture begins to come together: the act of acquiring empirical knowledge is the original sin, as it were, of alienating ourselves from the world by pretending the world can be divided into isolated pieces which we can study and simplify. We use those models to generate technological applications that modify natural processes. A model of how rain works gives us the power, in theory, to change how the planet rains. A model of what the universe really (fundamentally or ultimately) is would amount to the potential to do to the universe what we’re presently doing to the wilderness on Earth, to humanize or to artificialize all of nature.
If so-called pure science is the sin that results in alienation, applied science is the cure we think can redeem us. Religions tend to be anthropocentric and therefore infantilizing rather than alienating, and they organize society in some uplifting way rather than attempting to test or to apply intuitive personifications as though they were objective or rigorous. | https://theapeiron.co.uk/what-is-the-nature-of-ultimate-knowledge-664642cf8147 | ['Benjamin Cain'] | 2020-12-26 15:34:17.966000+00:00 | ['Truth', 'Religion', 'Science', 'Knowledge', 'Philosophy'] |
Basic Understanding on Python Virtual Environment | Python virtual environment; source: google
In Python programming, we need an interpreter to compile our python program. We know that python has several versions, commonly python2.x and ptyhon3.x . To build a python application, we often use third party packages and modules. Each package and module may have several versions in which one version may support python2.x whereas another version may support python3.x .
This means it may not be possible for one Python installation to meet the requirements of every application. If application A needs version 1.0 of a particular module but application B needs version 2.0, then the requirements are in conflict, and installing either version 1.0 or 2.0 will leave one application unable to run.
The solution for this problem is to create a virtual environment, a self-contained directory tree that contains a Python installation for a particular version of Python, plus a number of additional packages.
Virtual Environment
A virtual environment is a tool that helps to keep dependencies by different projects separate by creating isolated Python virtual environments for them.
Overview of virtual environments; source: spurin.com
Whenever you start working on projects, you can create different virtual environments for each project separately with different python versions. In the above pictures, It’s shown that each virtual environment uses a different version of a module ansible . Each environment will be its own virtual space. All packages installed within that space would not interfere with packages outside the environment and will be contained only inside this space.
Why do we need to use Virtual Environment?
When you install packages and modules, there are few different locations where these packages are installed.
Run below program:
#python3.x import site
import sys print(sys.prefix)
print(site.getsitepackages())
You will get an output like below:
/home/imshakil/PythonVenv
['/home/imshakil/PythonVenv/lib/python3.6/site-packages', '/home/imshakil/PythonVenv/local/lib/python3.6/dist-packages', '/home/imshakil/PythonVenv/lib/python3/dist-packages', '/home/imshakil/PythonVenv/lib/python3.6/dist-packages', '/usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages', '/usr/local/lib/python3.6/dist-packages', '/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages', '/usr/lib/python3.6/dist-packages'] Process finished with exit code 0
Here, the 1st line is the virtual environment directory, others where packages are installed.
By default, every project in your system will use these directories to store and retrieve site-packages (third party libraries). It’s not a problem for the system-packages(Python standard library), but it must be concerned about the scenario in the above example I have discussed earlier in this article. This is a real problem for Python since it can’t differentiate between versions in the site-packages directory. So both v1.0.0 and v2.0.0 would reside in the same directory with the same name
To solve this problem, we just need to create two separate virtual environments for both the projects. The great thing about this is that there are no limits to the number of environments you can have since they’re just directories containing a few scripts.
Installation Virtual Environment
There are few options to install the virtual environment on your system. Let’s go with the easiest one ‘ venv ’.
Venv
Venv will usually install the latest python version that you have available. If you have several Python versions on your system you can use a specific version, i,e; python3 or whatever you want. to check available python version on your system following commands in linux:
which python
which python3.x #
check installation path and versions of the software
Go to a directory where you want to create a virtual environment and then run the following command:
sudo apt install virtualenv
sudo apt-get install python3-venv
python3 -m venv TestVenv
This will create a virtual environment directory as “ TestVenv ” with Python3.
to activate this:
/TestVenv/bin/activate
Virtual Environment should be used whenever you work on any Python-based project. It is generally good to have one new virtual environment for every Python-based project you work on. So the dependencies of every project are isolated from the system and each other.
That’s all for a basic understanding of the virtual environment. I’m still learning about it. I will write more about it later. Thanks.
Reference:
[1]. https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/venv.html
[2]. https://realpython.com/python-virtual-environments-a-primer/
[3]. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/python-virtual-environment/ | https://medium.com/big0one/basic-understanding-on-python-virtual-environment-b3accf5d94c6 | ['Mobarak Hosen Shakil'] | 2020-06-17 13:37:22.988000+00:00 | ['Python3', 'Software', 'Virtual Environment', 'Python Programming', 'Programming'] |
Changes in the Hotel Industry | “Today,” says Mr Marriott, “guests check in, they go to their room, drop their stuff. Then they go back to the lobby and hang out with friends or work on their computer.” As a result, lobby designs must now accommodate what he calls “this new desire to connect”. Take Courtyard, for example, one of the company’s cheaper brands. “In an old Courtyard hotel, two or three years ago, there was nothing going on in the lobby,” says Mr Marriott. “Today we have a bistro. And we have a lot of cubby places where people can get together.”
Bill Marriott has spent 60 years working for his family hotel group and talked to The Economist about how he’s seen the industry change. Besides making the lobby a more exciting place to hang out, Marriott says they’ve made desks smaller in hotel rooms to provide more space and because people just like working from bed. Also: guests don’t really use the closet and just grab things from their suitcases on the luggage rack.
The not unpacking of the suitcase is definitely true (for me at least). All of the hotels I’ve stayed at in the last two years were for weddings, and the main reasons for hanging out in the lobby were because it was the place that made the most sense to meet before heading out, and because they were always handing out free cookies. Suggestion to hotels: more free cookies, please.
Photo: Philip | https://medium.com/the-billfold/changes-in-the-hotel-industry-53e2d4383214 | ['Mike Dang'] | 2015-12-09 19:14:33.233000+00:00 | ['Hotels', 'Cookies'] |
RxJS: Retry and RetryWhen, retry with delay when error | What is retry function?
You may know that it is easy to handle an error with RxJS. With retry(count: number) function, the program will restart with a maximum of count times when an error occurs. For instance, let’s think about tossing up in each second. Heads we continues to flip, tails retry with a max of 3 times and throw error after. So, program should throw error 4th time of tails up.
Retry with Delay
Now, let’s think about real situation like fetching data through API. We sometimes return error from API due to timeout. At this moment, some of you may want to retry the call after a few seconds. We can implement using retryWhen function. It recieves function which modifies error stream, and retry until the stream actually throws error. Using this function, let’s make retryWithDelay(ms:number, count:number) function which is a RxJS operator to retry at a max of count times with ms delay.
const {of, throwError, pipe} = rxjs
const {mergeMap, retryWhen ,delay} = rxjs.operators const retryWithDelay = (
ms:number,
count:number,
) =>
pipe(
retryWhen(errors =>
errors.pipe(
mergeMap((err, i) => {
return i >= count
? throwError(err)
: of(err)
}),
delay(ms)
)
)
)
Here is example: | https://medium.com/@isseimorita/rxjs-retry-and-retrywhen-retry-with-delay-when-error-3726cc74d485 | ['Issei Morita'] | 2020-12-27 08:44:53.066000+00:00 | ['Typescript', 'Rxjs'] |
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